Great Power

The tragic news of the burning ship came on the lingering snow of early spring in Weizhou.

When the messenger stumbled into the government office, Ning Lingyi was checking the books with Su Qingfan.

Those dozen ships of grain, medicinal materials, and cloth were the result of Ning Lingyi, Mingzhou, the Jing family, and countless others putting all their efforts and risking their lives to prepare for loading. They were the key to keeping the hungry wolf of Beishuo from attacking temporarily and supporting the military and civilians to survive the lean period.

Now, it was sunk to the bottom of the sea by the imperial navy which called itself the royal army.

How ridiculous and how sad.

Su Qingfan closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened her eyes again, she had regained her composure. She had been bullied many times, so this time, she didn't take it seriously.

She said, "Your Highness, since the waterway has been deemed a thorn in the court's side, if the open route doesn't work, I'll go covertly. Large ships are too conspicuous, so I'll break them up into smaller pieces, using sampans and speedboats, taking a longer route. If ten ships sink, I'll send a hundred! We'll eventually get them in! I, Su Qingfan, will fight with all my might..."

"Qingfan." Ning Lingyi interrupted her softly.

Ning Lingyi held her hand. It was not just her who was tired along the way.

Ning Lingyi looked at the woman in front of her. She was obviously younger than herself, but much more resilient than herself. She grew up in the waves and never gave up.

But I can't let her suffer like this.

Ning Lingyi said, "That's not necessary."

Su Qingfan looked up in surprise.

Ning Lingyi looked over the window lattice at the ruined streets outside the government office, where people were hunched over, searching for anything usable among the ruins. The people were the most resilient.

"This road will incur too much loss. We can't afford to lose, and the people can't afford to lose even more. The imperial court can continue to squander the people's blood and sweat to block us, but what about us? Can we still let the people of Mingzhou and the merchants of Jiangnan shed their last drop of blood for us?"

"Then what should we do?" Su Qingfan felt powerless.

Even if one has all the resources, without food and money, how can one feed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians? How can one sustain this difficult war situation?

Ning Lingyi looked into the distance and saw more people struggling to survive, their vitality like the tender buds of early spring.

Perhaps the path to salvation lies within this.

*

The next day, the open space in front of the Weizhou government office was crowded with people who had heard the news.

Their faces were pale, their eyes were filled with fear, yet there was a faint hint of hope. The cold wind blew their tattered clothes. They didn't know how to survive, but perhaps the old man knew. Today, the old man came to tell them how to survive?

Ning Lingyi was dressed in plain green clothes, without any hairpins or jewelry, and stood on a temporary platform.

Her eyes swept over every suffering face in the audience, and she finally spoke: "Fellow villagers!"

"The iron hooves of the Western Qiang trampled our homes! The imperial army cut off our food supply! We lost our loved ones, our homes, and our savings. Many people feel like they can't survive anymore, right?"

As soon as the words came out, suppressed sobs were heard from the audience.

The people have it so hard.

"Yes!" someone shouted with a sob.

Ning Lingyi knew that this land had suffered too much and the people here had too many traumas in their hearts, but there was no more time left for them.

She said, "But our land is still here, Weizhou is still here, Youzhou is still here! Our people are still here!"

"Our land was invaded, our homes destroyed. The pain was excruciating, and I felt it too. But we persevered and recaptured the city! How will we live from now on? Can this land revive again? We no longer rely on the gods, or on the imperial court that treats us like dirt!"

She looked around at everyone and continued, "It all depends on ourselves, on our own hands. The future is entirely in your own hands! I, Ning Lingyi, implore you to wipe away your tears, clench your fists, and never give up this hard-earned chance for life. As long as people are alive and the land is being cultivated, there is hope!"

The crowd was silent for a moment, and everyone raised their heads, looking intently at the person shining in front of the stage.

Immediately afterwards, Ning Lingyi issued a series of decrees.

"In Wei and You states, all the land and property of those who have surrendered to the enemy and betrayed their country, and assisted the enemy, will be confiscated!"

"All landless and landless people will be allocated land based on household size and headcount. For the first three years, they will be exempt from all taxes and only need to hand over 20% of their harvest as grain to be used as military funds!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the audience fell into a dead silence. The people looked at each other, as if they didn't understand the meaning of these words, or perhaps doubted their own hearing.

After several breaths, an old voice trembled and asked, "Your Highness, is what you said true? Can I really get a share of the land?"

After getting Ning Lingyi's firm confirmation.

"Long live His Highness!" Someone shouted first, and then waves of ecstatic cheers rose to the sky. Many people were so excited that they knelt on the ground, kowtowed repeatedly, and tears streamed down their faces.

Who would have thought that the land owned by 100,000 people was not as much as that of a single wealthy family.

Now, the powerful families have been defeated and the land has been distributed among the people.

Ning Lingyi could have gathered all the wealth in her hands or distributed it to her soldiers, then she might have been able to enter the capital sooner and compete for the throne.

But she didn't. She listened and made the land come alive.

Before this decree was issued, some people questioned: "Your Highness, distributing land and grain is good, but if the military is short of supplies and the soldiers are hungry, how can we resist the enemy?"

Ning Lingyi replied: "The people are the foundation of the army. With the people's support and food supplies, why worry about not having a strong army?"

After the land was divided, there were still government decrees.

"Wounded soldiers who surrendered and wished to stay and cultivate the land will be organized into military camps and given land to cultivate on weekdays and train in their spare time. They will be self-sufficient and both soldiers and farmers!"

"Any good family in Weizhou or Youzhou who voluntarily joins the army will receive, in addition to military pay, an additional ten mu of permanent farmland per adult male in their family to help us protect this hard-earned homeland."

Every government decree, like a spring breeze, has revitalized this dead land.

Hope is something that cannot be seen or touched.

But the hope is that hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians can be completely changed.

The officials under Ning Lingyi acted quickly to survey the land and register it. The people flocked to the land, and their hands were shaking when they received the land deeds with Princess Mingzhu's seal on them.

Land! Land that belongs to you!

No need to pay heavy taxes and no need to be exploited by landlords!

Almost overnight, the scene in the wilderness of Weizhou and Youzhou changed drastically.

Countless figures wielded hoes, clearing the ruins, dredging ditches, and carefully burying the treasured seeds in the soil that had become soft again.

The soldiers also worked hard, keeping watch and reclaiming wasteland. There was no more exploitation and no more extortion. Every bit of their strength was for their own harvest and their family's future.

From spring planting to autumn harvest, time flies by in the busyness.

This period was not all smooth sailing.

The remaining gentry and powerful people resisted secretly and even colluded with small groups of Western Qiang to carry out sabotage, but their methods seemed pale and powerless in the face of the already united people's will.

Any act of disrupting spring plowing or looting food was met with spontaneous and fierce counterattacks from the military and civilians. After several bloody crackdowns, the voices of opposition completely disappeared.

The Western Qiang cavalry also attempted to counterattack several times, harassing and looting, especially during the summer and autumn harvests. Each time, there were tragic sacrifices, and many people fell on the ridges of the fields that were about to be harvested.

But those who survived wiped away their tears, buried their loved ones, and guarded their crops even more desperately. They knew that what grew in the land was not only food, but also life.

When the golden autumn sun once again shone on the Heshuo land, the granaries in Weizhou and Youzhou became fuller than ever before.

Ning Lingyi stood in front of the mountain of grain, grabbed a handful of plump wheat grains and let them rustle through her fingers.

She turned her head and whispered to Ning Lingyao, who was also staring at the grain stack in a trance, "Yaoyao, you see, this is the great power of the people. Give them a chance to breathe, and they will give you a miracle."

Ning Lingyao nodded vigorously. She had witnessed with her own eyes the rebirth of this land and how her sister's words turned into rich harvests.

Ning Lingyao went to Yaya's house again. Yaya's family was allocated five acres of land based on the population and also received seeds for farming. Yaya's father went to the fields before dawn every day and was very busy.

In the city, food was distributed based on the number of people and the amount of food, so Yaya's family managed to get by.

The last time I saw Yaya, her father gratefully handed her a freshly baked pancake with his hands covered with calluses and dirt. She took a bite without hesitation. The taste, a mixture of wheat aroma and the smell of fireworks, was more satisfying than any delicacies she had eaten in the palace before.

This was the first time she took the initiative to extend her hand, not to give alms, but to accept the gift from the other party.

The whole family kept talking about having a full meal and thanking her very much, and especially thanking her sister.

After Ning Lingyao burst into tears that day, she no longer considered herself a noble princess. She took off her gorgeous clothes and ate the same food as ordinary people. In just half a year, she looked like a little adult.

She is also often busy, and occasionally follows her sister, listening to her sister's words and actions. If she is a relative, her sister is the closest to her, and if she is a teacher, her sister is right in front of her.

The girl who was picking flowers in the hall yesterday is now working on mulberry and hemp. She has understood that the land and people's livelihood are the most important things in the world and the ones that deserve the most effort.

The sufficient food and fodder not only fed the military and civilians in the two places, but also had a surplus enough to support the army's continued fighting. A steady stream of young and strong people enthusiastically joined the army. The Youzhou army quickly recovered and grew to 30,000 elite soldiers. Weizhou also trained 20,000 tiger soldiers and even more auxiliary troops.

Today's Mingzhu Guard has become a truly powerful army capable of fighting tough battles.

For half a year, the main forces of Beishuo and Xiqiang fought back and forth in Zhenzhou and other places, with both sides winning and losing. The central army of the imperial court also went north several times, but they seemed more keen on publicizing Ning Lingyi's crime of "aiding the enemy and selling out the country". Occasionally, they would recapture one or two unimportant cities, but they never really fought to the death. Instead, they waited like vultures to clean up the mess.

These temptations were either repelled or resolved by Ning Lingyi and Xue Cheng.

On this day, Ning Lingyi climbed to the top of Weizhou City again.

The autumn wind blew, blowing her black cloak.

Outside the city, there are fields that have regained their vitality, and further away is the direction of Zhenzhou, which is still ravaged by war.

Nong Zishi, Xue Cheng, Wang Mengzi and Su Qingfan stood solemnly behind her.

Ning Lingyi's eyes swept across this land soaked in blood and tears but revitalized, and she spoke slowly:

"The time has come."

"It's time to drive out the Western Qiang people completely."