My game can make money starting from the Three Kingdoms period.

In fact, Da Qingjiao overlooked Lu Xiao's original intention.

Is he trying to make money through live streaming?

No.

He wanted more players to know about this game with its revolutionary gameplay.

Whether "The Family" will last is not important; what matters is the impact this game has had, which has broken the gameplay mechanism of other games that encourages players to use cheat codes.

So, no matter how players are attracted, as long as they become interested in "Family" and compare it with the games they've played before, they can resist trash games from the bottom of their hearts.

In this way, Dingdingmao's live stream was very effective for Lu Xiao.

He only needs to focus on attracting traffic; the rest is up to Lu Xiao!

Focus on your own image

Lu Congtian received a letter from his son.

With his family safe, Lu Congtian felt at ease.

As for his future, with his mentor Zhuge Liang around, he certainly wouldn't be wronged or treated unfairly.

Now, Lu Congtian only needs to do his job well, and he will surely be able to get back on track after the evaluation by the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate next year.

That's what he thought.

The duties of the Shu Han's Commandant of Agricultural Settlements were almost identical to those of the Cao Wei's Commandant of Agriculture.

Liu Bei's system of military farming differed from that of Cao Wei.

There's something more: humanity.

Cao Wei classified refugees, prisoners of war, and ordinary people as military settlers. Apart from their rations, all the income from their labor was used by the army.

Liu Bei was known for his benevolence and righteousness, and would not be as harsh as Cao Wei.

The officials in charge of agricultural settlements were in charge of various levels of administration: the governor-general oversaw a prefecture, the colonel oversaw a county, and the captain oversaw a county. They distributed grain to the people and collected rent according to a set ratio.

On the surface, the Shu Han system seemed to be more humane.

However, only ordinary people know what happens after the government orders are implemented.

Lu Congtian asked a minor official to report on the situation of the fields in Dianjiang.

Dianjiang is located in Ba County, where the Qianshui River, Xihan River, and Fushui River converge.

The area is mostly mountainous, and is prone to natural disasters such as floods, landslides, and collapses, resulting in poor harvests almost every year.

Dianjiang is rich in coal, and the mining of coal has exacerbated the frequent occurrence of disasters.

Establishing settlements here is hardly a wise choice.

However, since it was the imperial court's order, Lu Congtian had no choice but to comply.

With winter fast approaching, Lu Congtian must seize the time and start with flood control.

Only by controlling the water can we guarantee a good harvest next year. Otherwise, he will be guilty of dereliction of duty and will surely be impeached by petty villains!

Lu Congtian first submitted a report and obtained written approval from his superior. Then, he paid a visit to the county magistrate of Dianjiang County.

A county official is called a county magistrate if the number of households exceeds 10,000, and a county head if the number of households is less than 10,000.

Dianjiang has a small registered population, mainly due to severe flooding, which has led to insufficient grain production and a large exodus of people. Fertile land is easily flooded and difficult to cultivate.

If Lu Congtian wants to establish a settlement here, he needs to take advantage of the winter when there is little rain and the water level drops to repair the water conservancy system.

Coincidentally, the county magistrate of Dianjiang was an acquaintance of Lu Congtian, Deng Kai, who had helped Lu Congtian stop Lü Meng in Zigui.

When Deng Kai learned that Lu Congtian had taken up his post as the Commandant of the Agricultural Settlement in Dianjiang, he treated him with courtesy.

"It is my great honor to see the General again, Kai."

Deng Kailian instructed his son, Deng Yi, to place Lu Congtian in the main seat.

Lu Congtian refused, saying, "Now you are the county magistrate, and I am only a county commandant. According to the hierarchy, I cannot be in a superior position."

This seemingly simple seating arrangement actually reflects the two men's mutual humility.

In terms of rank, the two are at the same or near-same level.

They just have different roles.

Deng Kai's humility meant that he was willing to let Lu Congtian take the lead.

Deng Kai's current position as county magistrate is inseparable from Lu Congtian. It was Lu Congtian who made him who he is today.

"General, you are too kind. I will serve you from now on," Deng Kai immediately declared.

Although they are now almost equals, Deng Kai will not treat them as equals. Lu Congtian was demoted from the position of military governor of the agricultural settlements. Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.

If it's an old acquaintance, then things will be much easier.

"It is not to serve me, but to relieve His Majesty's worries."

Lu Congtian then went straight to the point, explaining his intention to recruit people to help control the floods before winter arrived, thus addressing the issue of land reclamation at its source.

Deng Kai, of course, supported Lu Congtian's work, but looked troubled. "General, you may not know, but the Cheng family controls most of the supplies entering and leaving Dianjiang. If you want to manage the Dianjiang River, the county government's tax revenue is insufficient, so you must seek the Cheng family's help. The Cheng family of Langzhong is most powerful in Chengji. Although Dianjiang is only a branch of the Cheng family, it is still a behemoth."

Cheng Ji was known to Lu Congtian. He had previously been appreciated by Liu Zhang and served as the Prefect of Jiangyang. Now he was serving as a libationer under Liu Bei.

Now Cheng Ji is following Liu Bei to attack Cao Wei.

As a local official, the biggest headache is not whether the people will obey, but how to coexist peacefully with local forces and gain their support.

Moreover, the Cheng family has high-ranking officials backing them, and Deng Kai knows he cannot bear the pressure from the imperial court if their interests are infringed.

"We can first negotiate with the Cheng family to gain their support. If they don't agree, General, you will find it impossible to move an inch."

Deng Kai has his reasons.

Being a county magistrate is not an easy job for him.

If this were Zigui, the Deng family would be the dominant force there, and they would naturally have the final say. But this is not Zigui.

They hit it off immediately and the two went to visit the Cheng family.

The representative of the Cheng clan in Dianjiang is Cheng Dong, who is a cousin of Cheng Ji.

The county magistrate and the military commander both came to his door to make the request, so Cheng Dong naturally wouldn't refuse them.

He immediately promised to supply the county government with coal and ironware at cost price, and to fully support the officials in their efforts to manage the Dianjiang River by leveraging the convenience of trade.

I thought it would be a lot of trouble, but it turned out to be so easy.

Based on this calculation, the funds allocated by the authorities are sufficient to cure the flood.

Lu Congtian felt that his own forces were truly harmonious and united in their pursuit of a great cause.

Several days later

Lu Congtian recruited several hundred laborers to carry out water management work.

Deng Kai also fully cooperated, providing various conveniences for Lu Congtian's water management efforts.

however

Is everything really getting better?

Half a month later

While Lu Congtian was directing the laborers of the people to dig canals, dredge silt, and build dams, the stone and timber supplies that were supposed to be delivered the day before yesterday only arrived slowly today.

Not only is the quantity insufficient, but there are also cases of inferior products being passed off as superior ones.

When asked about the goods, the Cheng family members who were transporting them ignored him, giving him a "take it or leave it" attitude.

This infuriated Deng Kai. "General, I suspect the Cheng family did this on purpose!"

Deng Kai made a guess:

"They kept saying they'd fully support it, but now that the flood control work is proceeding normally, they're dragging their feet! Isn't this just blatantly trying to raise prices?"

Lu Congtian looked displeased, as the Cheng family controlled most of the supplies and goods entering and leaving Dianjiang.

In addition, the allocated funds were insufficient to purchase goods from other counties.

Therefore, Lu Congtian would not have been able to do without the support of Cheng Dong's coal and iron resources.

Lu Congtian could only suppress his anger and then went to visit the Cheng family with Deng Kai.

Cheng Dongzai warmly received the two.

When asked about the supplies during the meal, Cheng Dong looked troubled and said, "You two don't know, but I'm willing but unable to help."

"How so?"

"The work of water management benefits future generations. Like the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, it has brought blessings to countless people. We scholars should naturally contribute our money and effort. And to support your great cause of water management, I previously ordered a significant increase in mining and quarrying. And this mining..."

Cheng Dong wiped his eyes with his sleeve, his lips and beard trembling. "This accelerated mining has created danger for the workers, causing a sudden landslide that buried a strong man. We don't know if he's alive or dead. All the workers have gone to participate in the rescue, which has caused some delays."

He took another deep breath and said, "Don't worry, I will have my subordinates speed up the rescue efforts so as not to delay the flood control process."