Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 458 Calling the Wind and Rain
As Yang Wan watched the villagers leave with the offerings, he felt a pang of reluctance.

If these villagers hold a sacrificial ceremony, he can also take the opportunity to collect some incense offerings.

Unfortunately, Lu Zheng and the other two were here, so they obviously wouldn't let him do that.

The heat was intense, and even under the shade of a tree, Yang Wan felt uncomfortable.

His clay sculpture body had become somewhat stiff.

Yang Wan looked at the sky and said quietly, "One rain probably won't alleviate the drought for more than a few days."

Of course, no matter how much rain or how heavy the rain Lu Zheng could bring, he was happy to see it happen.

After all, this way, the local villagers would have even greater respect for him as a deity.

Lu Zheng didn't speak, and sat there cross-legged with his eyes closed.

His thoughts had settled in his small world, and he arrived at a mountain.

On the green hills, lush greenery grew abundantly, covered with various crops.

Lu Zheng arrived at a wide field and inspected the bean seeds in the field.

He remembered that the beans grown here were a newly cultivated variety, extremely drought-resistant and rich in nutrients, and could be eaten as a staple food for a long time.

With a wave of his hand, Lu Zheng collected the mature seeds.

Before long, Lu Zheng's consciousness returned to the outside world.

He reached out and pulled out a storage bag, which he then handed to Qingwan.

Qingwan took the bag and examined it, discovering a small mountain of bean seeds inside.

She instantly understood Lu Zheng's plan, and her eyes lit up.

Lu Zhengdao said, "Go and see the population and land situation in this village, and figure out how much is appropriate for them."

"Okay." Qingwan nodded emphatically and ran off to investigate.

Yang Wan, standing to the side, was completely bewildered, wondering what the two were up to.

Yang Wan couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

He was afraid that he would lose his value and be suppressed by these two.

Lu Zheng took out a bean and handed it to Yang Wan.

Yang Wan gently picked up the beans, examined them carefully, and said, "These are peas, but they are much bigger than ordinary peas."

Lu Zheng said calmly, "I thought you were really unable to distinguish between the five grains after watching for so long."

Yang Wan gave an awkward smile and said in a low voice, "How could I... You want to give them these beans to grow?"

Yang Wanneng, having become a righteous god, was no fool and quickly guessed Lu Zheng's plan.

Lu Zheng nodded slightly and said, "We don't know how long this drought will last, and ordinary crops certainly won't survive. Without food, how can these people live?"

"This is an extremely drought-resistant bean, hopefully it will help them get through this year's natural disasters."

Of all the crops currently being grown and cultivated in this small plot of land, this type of bean is the most suitable for sowing under the current conditions.

However, Lu Zheng doesn't have many seeds, so he doesn't know how many people he can help. He can only do his best.

Yang Wan held the peas in his hand, wondering why Lu Zheng would have such peas on him.

In the Great Chu, there was an official in charge of agriculture who would occasionally conjure up some special spiritual plants, but few people cared about the crops grown by the common people.

After all, ordinary people can't cause any major trouble. With a little management, it's enough to keep them from starving to death in normal years.

Who cares what kind of food these ordinary people eat? Or whether they can get enough to eat?
Given the time and energy available to cultivate ordinary grains, those agricultural officials would rather cultivate spiritual plants and medicinal herbs to seek greater benefits.

Yang Wan's mind raced. He threw the beans in his hand onto the ground in front of him, and then a wisp of divine golden light shot out.

The beans, influenced by divine power, sprouted at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The slender roots are very tough, burrowing straight into the dry soil in search of moisture in the surrounding area.

The stem above ground also began to grow rapidly, sprouting lush green leaves.

Even under the scorching sun and swaying in the rolling heat, this bean sprout remained vibrant and showed no signs of withering.

Yang Wan looked at the pea plant in front of him, which was almost as big as a small tree, and couldn't help but marvel.

His mere wisp of divine power only served to accelerate growth; the peas' excellent growth was entirely due to the variety.

Lu Zheng picked a few grass leaves, tasted them, and said, "Grass leaves are also edible and can fill our stomachs."

In years of great disaster, in some places people may not even have anything to eat, let alone grass, or tree bark to chew on.

There is great hunger in old age, and people eat each other.

Lu Zheng had read many historical books, and they all contained such records.

He didn't want to see this happen in front of him.

Yang Wan looked at Lu Zheng, his expression shifting, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

When he first met Lu Zheng, he thought he was a powerful figure from a celestial sect. But now, seeing Lu Zheng like this, he couldn't help but think of those who saved the world and helped the people.

Who exactly is this person? Yang Wan wondered.

Lu Zheng transplanted the bean seedling in front of him to the dry field next to him and continued to observe its growth.

Not long after, Qingwan returned with light steps.

"I've found out, this village has a total of..."

Qingwan took a small notebook, compiled the detailed information about the village into pages, and handed it to Lu Zheng for review.

Qingwan gestured and calculated, "I've estimated that to help them survive this year, we need to prepare at least..." "I've factored in reduced yields due to environmental factors and weather, as well as taxes to the government... Oh, right, their land taxes are very high, and they also have to make a lot of offerings to the gods every month. These take up more than half of their harvest; they're practically eating people alive..."

When Yang Wan saw the look in Qing Wan's eyes, he quickly explained, "Those offerings weren't just for me; there was also a portion for the county officials, that was the bulk of it. I didn't take much... I told them to offer less this year."

Qingwan slowly withdrew her gaze and then turned to discuss with Lu Zheng.

Yang Wan was still shaken; these two were people he couldn't afford to offend.

The last time he felt so aggrieved was when he offended a powerful figure and was demoted.

Qing Wan said, "The drought in this area seems to be very severe, with probably more than a million people affected. Our amount of bean seeds is simply not enough; we need to prepare more..."

Qingwan felt she had underestimated the population; the combined population of several nearby prefectures and counties exceeded one million.

According to Yang Wan, the drought affected a much wider area than that.

However, Yang Wan had no way of finding out the situation and didn't take the drought to heart, so he didn't know more details about the disaster.

Yang Wan was shocked. "No, you're also thinking about helping people in other places? Isn't that a bit too much?"

This concerns millions of people... Yang Wanxin thought that these were things that the big shots in the prefecture should be concerned about. Weren't you two meddling too much? Could you possibly manage it all?
Seeing that the two seemed quite serious, Yang Wan was at a loss for words.

He simply didn't believe that these two people alone could help so many people.

Moreover, what benefit could there be in doing such a thing? Yang Wan didn't understand at all.

"Could these two be sent by someone higher up to help me?" Yang Wan wondered to himself, then thought it unlikely. If they were people from above, they should have revealed their identities to him.

He is, after all, a true god. Although his current divine position is a bit small, there is no reason to hide it from him.

While Yang Wan was lost in thought, Lu Zheng and Qing Wan had already made a preliminary plan.

First, alleviate the drought in Yang Wan's three villages, and then go help the nearby people.

As the sun set, the scorching heat was still visible to the naked eye, causing the withered crops to sway slightly.

In the village, villagers stood there, craning their necks in anticipation, waiting for the gods and the invited masters to perform their magic, so they could witness it for themselves.

Lu Zheng noticed the villagers' gazes in the distance and slowly took out his brush and ink.

A sheet of white paper, radiating a spiritual aura, is unfolded and placed in front of you.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Zheng held the Donghu brush and used his own righteous spirit and the essence of water as ink to draw clouds on the paper.

Upon seeing this, Yang Wan, who was standing nearby, immediately focused his gaze and looked slightly surprised.

Is this an attempt to use painting to command the wind and rain?

It looks somewhat like the methods of Confucianism and Taoism. Of course, skilled painters in Taoism or the immortal sects can also have this kind of ability.

However, regardless of the circumstances, Yang Wan himself did not possess such Taoist techniques.

Seeing that Lu Zheng had started painting, Qingwan quickly grabbed her storage bag and ran to plant seeds in the parched fields.

Qingwan already knew the ownership of these fields, and she often farmed in her small plot of land, so the sowing speed was very fast, ensuring that every household would have a harvest later.

The villagers only saw Qingwan sprinkling something in the field and assumed she was performing a ritual, so they didn't dare to approach and disturb her.

Before long, Lu Zheng had already drawn a picture of a thunderstorm.

Standing beside him, Yang Wandu clearly sensed the extraordinary nature of the painting, as if thunder and rain were about to burst forth from it.

But that wasn't all; Lu Zheng started drawing again in the blank space of the picture.

Each powerful character leaps off the page.

Good rain knows the season, and it happens in spring.

Sneaked into the night wind, moisten things silently.

It is no longer springtime, but Lu Zheng directly used the power of springtime to add a touch of spring vitality to the thunderstorm painting.

"Hiss, the immortal master is truly a master..."

Yang Wan was well-informed and naturally recognized that the painting had become even more extraordinary.

If this were auctioned off, it would fetch a lot of spirit stones, wouldn't it? Yang Wan muttered to himself.

For a moment, I even felt that using this painting like this would be a terrible waste.

However, this painting was not as valuable to Lu Zheng as it was to the villagers.

He used his own energy to write and paint, not to exchange it for spirit stones.

Soon, Qingwan returned from a dry field in the distance.

"I've got it all done, nothing's missing!"

Lu Zheng nodded slightly, then tossed it away with a wave of his hand.

The picture in front of him transformed into a streak of light and flew into the sky.

Everyone's eyes turned to the sky.

A flash of light appeared, the picture vanished instantly, and an invisible force spread out.

In the blink of an eye, dark clouds appeared in the sky.

A gentle breeze was blowing, no longer the scorching wind, but bringing a touch of coolness.

A flash of white light, followed by a sudden clap of thunder.

"Boom!"

The villagers felt as if thunder had struck their hearts, and their expressions were filled with excitement.

(End of this chapter)