39 Chapter 39

◎Riding a horse and destroying the land◎

The moon sets in the west, the sky brightens, and a group of people rush out from Shangguan Horse Farm.

The horse's hooves stepped on the solid ground, making a regular rhythmic sound.

An experienced scout would be able to judge the number of troops and horses coming and their distance from the vibrations of the ground. However, Cheng Mu only had her ear pressed against the kang when she heard the powerful vibration. She was startled and quickly sat up.

Mu Yun in the backyard had already rushed out of the house and was looking into the distance at the fields.

Almost everyone in Zhaojia Village was awakened by the sudden arrival of the group of people.

Qi Song stood on the high platform of the hill behind the mountain and could see the direction the group was coming from. He was not sure whether it was an enemy attack, so he went to where Mu Yun was immediately.

The morning dew was slightly cool. Cheng Mu put on a smock and looked out with Mu Yun for the approaching men and horses, moving from the front to the back of the house.

"Qi Bo is here."

"Madam Cheng, Master Yun."

Qi Song looked worried. "There are twelve riders coming from the direction of Shangguan Horse Farm. They are all good horses." Their speed and strength are different from those of ordinary horses.

Cheng Mu said, "There is a racecourse at the horse farm, but they have never seen horses racing here." At least they hadn't seen any in the two years they had been here.

Cheng Mu was worried that Prince Yanyun would rise up in rebellion and that the world would be in chaos.

At this time, the men and horses were very close, and the sound of the young men on horseback laughing and chatting could be heard. Their white shirts fluttered in the wind, and the sound of horses' hooves was like heavy rain.

Following the sound, Cheng Mu and the other two turned to the front of the house and saw clouds of dust rising from behind the horses. The group of people and horses gradually went away.

Qi Song breathed a sigh of relief. "Looks like the racecourse is really running."

Mu Yun led Cheng Feng out of the barn and said to Cheng Mu and the others, "I'll go with you to take a look."

Cheng Mu warned, "Be careful, don't follow too far. Don't go beyond the Santou River."

Qi Song was worried about Mu Yun being alone, "Madam Cheng, I'll go take a look too."

Before daybreak, Zhao Dezi from Zhaojia Village went to the fields to check on the seedlings.

Now the crops in the field are growing well, and just looking at them makes people feel happy. He has never cultivated such good fields before, and sometimes he really fears that he is dreaming.

He came out very early today, weeded in the field, and dozed off for a while.

I was awakened by the sound of horse hooves.

The horses' hooves trampled on the fields he had carefully tended, crushing his precious seedlings.

"Stop! All of you stop!"

Where did these people who destroyed the crops come from? "You guys are destroying my crops! My crops!" His shouts were drowned out by the chatter and laughter of the group of people. No one noticed this thin and shriveled old man at all.

Zhao Dezi rushed towards the man and the horse. The horse was frightened and raised its front legs high. The man on the horse cursed and was thrown off the horse's back.

The sudden incident woke up the group of people riding their horses.

"Master Cricket! Master Cricket fell!"

The man who fell off his horse was a distinguished guest of the stable, a steward from the Prince of Yanyun's Palace, named Lu Quer, who was the brother-in-law of the palace's chief steward.

He cried out in pain and everyone helped him up. After he saw who caused him to fall off the horse, he whipped out his whip and hit Zhao Dezi without saying a word.

When Mu Yun arrived, the group of people had already left, leaving Zhao Dezi wailing in the field.

"Thirty to forty acres of farmland were damaged. Master Dezi was whipped seven or eight times and trampled by a horse. The doctor came and said the injuries were minor, but the serious problem was a broken rib." Mu Yun recounted to Cheng Mu the details of what had happened that morning. "Nine families whose farmland was damaged have come with Master Eight to go to Zhengzhuang Village to see the village headman. They want to go."

Most of their fields were along the Santou River, and the thirty-four acres included their ten acres. Cheng Mi had gone to check and found that the group was walking along a small path, but the path was not wide enough, so they had trampled out another path along the existing one.

The same was true for other people's fields, where an area more than a foot wide at the edge of the field was flattened by horse hooves.

The horse farm is also in Shang'an Township, so Zheng Lizheng has to take action in this matter.

"You can go and take a look. This little loss is nothing to us. There's no need to intervene."

"OK."

Cheng Mu sighed, "Master Dezi has suffered such an unforeseen disaster. Why are the people at this horse farm acting like this today?" Was it an accidental act of the horses, or were they letting the horses run wild and destroying the land? Were they specifically targeting Zhaojia Village?

Cheng Mi could not help but speculate maliciously why the horse farm wanted to destroy their crops.

Now both rice and corn are in the growth stage and have only grown less than two feet high. They are destroying them so blatantly without any sympathy for farmers.

People only care about their own interests. What are their interests? Not the farmers, but the horses. They want what grows on the land, not grain, but horse feed and alfalfa.

When she came, almost the entire Shang'an Township was growing alfalfa. They could only grow alfalfa because it was excellent horse feed. People in Zhaojia Village said that the horse farm here was not there since ancient times. Shangguan Horse Farm had only been open for less than ten years. In other words, since more and more alfalfa was grown, a horse farm was able to be supported.

She came here to clean and transform the land and grow food, touching upon their core interests.

The people at the horse farm should hate her the most.

Wouldn't that mean he would come after her sooner or later?

Mu Yun: "From afar, I saw that one of them was particularly respectful to one person. Master Dezi said that they called that person "Cricket Master". When Cricket Master beat him, he seemed to be scolding him - he didn't take the palace seriously."

"The palace?"

Cheng Mu's heart skipped a beat. Among the nine states of Yanbei, the only palace that could be called a royal palace was the Yanyun Palace. Could it be that the horse farm was related to the palace?

Once the palace was involved, Cheng Mu had to be extra careful. Her original body had lived in the Yanyun Palace for a period of time with several sisters in her family, especially the current Crown Prince's Consort. Someone might recognize her.

She thought she was far away from Yanyun City, but she didn't expect that this horse farm was a hidden mine.

"Muyun, when you go with them, find out what the locals know about the owner of the horse farm. No matter what the outcome today is, you will go to Puyang City to see Mr. Huang tomorrow, tell him what happened today, and then ask him about the Shangguan Horse Farm. Who is the owner of the horse farm and what is his background."

We had originally agreed that Mu Yun would go to Puyang City in the next few days to bring Master Huang information on the wheat harvest and the rice and corn plantings, and to give him some edible corn cobs from the greenhouse. Now that this has happened, I have to find out the whole story before going.

Mr. Zhao took a few heads of households to find Zheng Lizheng, and then went to the horse farm with Zheng Lizheng. It took them a whole day to go back and forth, and they returned to the village after dark.

Everyone in the village was waiting for Yin'er in the drying yard.

Cheng Xi felt uncomfortable when she thought that this matter was probably related to her.

Mu Yun found out everything clearly and came back to tell Cheng Mu.

The horse farm insisted that the Cricket Master from the palace also had his bones broken by the frightened horse, and that Zhao Dezi had frightened the horse and caused the Cricket Master to be injured first, and the Cricket Master was taking revenge, so they were not responsible for Zhao Dezi's injury.

After all, they had trampled on Zhao Dezi's fields. If Zhao Dezi needed money for medical treatment, he could sell the fields to the horse farm and they would pay double the market price. If anyone's fields were damaged and could not be planted this year, they would be willing to pay double the market price.

The so-called market price is nothing more than Cheng Mu's price. Several families pawned their land to Cheng Mu at a price of 500 wen per mu for three years. Now the horse farm is offering double the price, one tael of silver per mu for three years.

The price offered by the horse farm is a bit insignificant considering the alfalfa they can harvest.

After hearing this, Cheng Xi felt much more at ease.

If the goal is to compete for land and output, this is her area of ​​expertise and she is not afraid.

Cheng Mu asked, "What did you learn about the horse racing field?"

Mu Yun: "The locals don't know much. Li Zheng said the owner of the horse farm has the surname Shangguan and the given name Duan. His family used to go to Xixia for business, but now they're down and out. That Cricket Master is the Sima official in the Yanyun Palace, and the palace's chief steward Lei is his brother-in-law."

If it was Sima Guan, he should not have seen the original body.

Sooner or later, they would have to confront the horse farm owner head-on. The sooner they understood their opponent's situation, the better. Cheng Meisi said to Mu Yun, "You should go to Puyang City tomorrow morning. The sooner you go, the sooner you can return."

Mu Yun was still pondering, "Sister-in-law, what exactly is the purpose of the horse farm doing this today?"

"Isn't it obvious, Earth?"

Mu Yun: "If you pawn an acre of land for three years, you can get one tael. But if you grow grain on an acre of land, you can get at least two or three taels a year. Who would pawn it?"

To double the alfalfa yield was already a disregard for cost, so how could he possibly harvest the land at twice the grain yield? Cheng Mu sneered, "In this case, at least he disgusted people."

The people of Zhaojia Village did not get an explanation today. None of them were willing to mortgage their land. One tael of silver in three years was not enough compared to three taels of silver in one year. They asked the horse farm to pay compensation, but the horse farm was naturally not happy about it. They simply did not admit that one acre of land could produce three taels of silver in a year.

This tug of war is still going on.

But time waits for no one.

Early the next morning, several families who had suffered losses in their fields came to Cheng Mu to borrow seeds.

It is too late to replant rice, but corn is still okay.

Cheng Mu readily borrowed them all.

Among them, Zhao Dezi's mother came to Cheng Mu's house and cried, "I am over sixty years old and I can only watch over this child. If anything happens to the child, I will not live anymore..."

Zhao Dezi is almost fifty years old. Cheng Mu and the others call him Grandpa, but in his mother's eyes he is still a child. It is true that no matter how old a person is, he is still a child in the eyes of his parents.

Zhao Dezi's mother's back was still strong. She gave birth to several children, but now only Zhao Dezi is left.

No matter how many children Zhao Dezi has, he is his mother's only child. He has always been a good farmer. Now he is paralyzed on the kang and his life is in danger. How can his mother not be worried?

Zhao Dezi's mother came here not for corn seeds, she wanted to pawn her land to Cheng Mi and use the money to save Zhao Dezi's life.

"Madam Cheng, if you can save my child, I will carve a Bodhisattva body for you."

"No, I don't deserve it."

It is a bit difficult to agree on the price for pawning the land now. Who in the village can accept the price that Cheng Mu paid for Zhao Datian and his family's land, especially after seeing her full warehouses of harvest.

"The doctor said it would cost ten taels of silver to cure it. The main cost is the ginseng."