Chapter 1173: Why Can't I Farm? (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

"Two hundred million mu, gulp!" Yu Zi swallowed hard, her eyes filled with longing. "If we could cultivate two hundred million mu of land, even if we only harvested once a year, that would be a lot of grain!"

Then we won't even feel bad about wasting food.

Yu Zi imagined herself eating one bowl and throwing away another, and shook her head inwardly. No, no, even if she couldn't finish it, she would still feel bad.

"First, we need far more land than 200 million mu, and only then do we need 200 million mu of land suitable for growing grain." Lin Feng ruthlessly shattered Yu Zi's imagination. "That's too difficult."

What makes this successful ceremony so difficult?

It's not about how to produce so many grain seeds, it's about the territory!

Territory limitations hindered Lin Feng's path to success.

Yu Zi subconsciously said, "Collective wisdom and effort can always..."

She fell silent before she could finish speaking.

This problem cannot be solved by pooling collective wisdom and efforts.

Lin Feng's tone carried a hint of resentment.

"We can only expand our territory by pooling our wisdom and efforts."

There is no other way out.

If Lin Feng were a free spirit, unserving in officialdom, with neither a loyal lord nor a trustworthy country, she might join the Pantheon, leveraging its network of connections across its five branches to sell all the grain seeds at exorbitant prices, thus completing her own ritual through opportunistic means. Once the grain seeds she provided were sown, the cultivated land would be considered effective, and completing the ritual wouldn't be difficult.

But Lin Feng simply couldn't do that.

She couldn't possibly spread superior seeds across the continent to fulfill her scholarly ideals, under the guise of ensuring more people had enough to eat. Lin Feng saw this as foolish, vicious, and wicked!

Food is the lifeblood of chaotic times!

There is no idle land under heaven, yet farmers still starve to death.

Even if ordinary people were given high-yield grain seeds, starvation would still be widespread, because the grain they grew would not belong to them, but to the various warlords who held powerful armies and high positions of authority! These warlords, once they had the grain, would not think of resting and recuperating!

All they do is recruit soldiers and buy horses!

If all warlords do this, the war will only drag on longer.

The result will be that even more people will die!

All the deaths were caused by Lin Feng!

For this reason, Lin Feng tried his best to restrain himself, not to be obsessed with the so-called perfect path of the scholar, and to focus on the things at hand.

So what if it's not perfect?

At least in Lin Feng's view, her Dao heart was perfect.

Yu Zi silently calculated: "If we calculate based on 200 million mu of arable land, we would need to take over at least half of the entire continent. The Northwest Continent already belongs to our Kang Kingdom, and our lord has been laying the groundwork for the Southwest in recent years. If we calculate it this way..."

Doesn't this mean the future is promising?

Lin Feng poured cold water on his friend's enthusiasm.

She said with a sense of helplessness, "Wei Heng, you can't calculate it like that. There isn't much arable land in the Northwest Continent, and the Southwest has many mountains and rivers but little arable land. It would be good if there were even a small amount of arable land. Even if we take over the Southwest Continent, there still won't be enough arable land."

The arable land area in the Northwest Continent has increased dramatically in recent years. This is not because the land is particularly suitable for cultivation, but entirely due to the pioneering spirit of martial artists who have reclaimed wasteland everywhere. In addition, the national fortune has blessed the land, making it fertile, which has led to the thriving scene we see today.

Even if we acquire this area in the southwest, we still need to transform it.

It takes at least three to five years, and at most seven or eight years.

The most fertile areas on the entire continent are in the central and eastern parts. From the information gathered, those areas have vast natural arable land, fertile soil, and a suitable climate. They require less effort in planning and cultivation, and have more farmland than the northwest.

For Lin Feng's path of the literati to pass the completion ceremony, the Kang Kingdom would need to occupy at least two-thirds of the continent, and at least one of the Northeast or Southeast continents. This would bring them just one step away from unification. The difficulty involved is immense!

Even the Wu Kingdom back then was somewhat lacking.

Yu Zi said, "If the southwest isn't enough, then the central region will make up for it! Our lord is not one of those mediocre rulers who are content with a corner of the country. After the northwest is stabilized, it will be the southwest, then the central region, then the southeast and the northeast. In the end, this world will belong to the Kang family!"

After finishing speaking, I realized something was off and corrected myself.

"No, this world will ultimately belong to the Chen family!"

Lin Feng couldn't help but smile: "I believe it too."

"Does the Lord know?"

Lin Feng shook his head slightly: "Currently, I haven't mentioned this matter to anyone other than you, including the Lord and the teacher."

She didn't want to cause trouble for the Lord and her teacher because of her own affairs, so whenever the topic of the completion ceremony came up, she either avoided talking about it or deliberately concealed it. Although Wei Heng was older than her, the two had studied and practiced together for many years, and their relationship was closer than that of sisters. Wei Heng was tight-lipped and wouldn't easily reveal anything, so she could confide in her without worry.

Yu Zi sat on the edge of the field, hugging her knees in distress. Looking at the endless wormwood, she rested her chin on her hand and complained.

“Lingde, you said we just want to farm, why are people in this world so mean, refusing to let us farm? They only care about fighting and don’t care about the land, it’s such a waste. Why not find them a place to fight their wars, and they’ll give us their land to farm? Wouldn’t 200 million mu of arable land be within our grasp? They can fight to their hearts' content, and we can be comfortable too.” Yu Zi spread her hands and praised, “A win-win situation, isn’t that wonderful?”

Lin Feng was amused by Yu Zi's fantastical tale.

She pretended to think about it seriously.

"There's nothing we can do; they probably don't understand the difference between good and bad."

His eyes gleamed slyly: "So we'll just have to learn a little bit of martial arts."

If reasoning with people doesn't work, then one has no choice but to diligently practice martial arts to subdue them with force.

The two stared at each other for a few moments, then burst into laughter.

They all seemed amused by their own shameless logic.

They bickered and joked their way back to the camp.

Kang Shi and Yu Zi needed to go into seclusion to familiarize themselves with their respective paths as scholars, and both requested permission from Shen Tang to do so. Shen Tang generously granted them a month's paid leave. The very next day, Kang Shi unexpectedly ran into Yu Zi, who was supposedly in seclusion, dressed in casual clothes.

"Wei Heng, didn't you go into seclusion?" Yu Zi was about to bow when Shen Tang stopped her. If Yu Zi bowed, Shen Tang would have to return the bow, which was also annoying to her. "It's not duty time. We're not ruler and subject right now, so there's no need for so many formalities."

"When you hit a bottleneck, you need to get out and relax."

Shen Tang: "..."

That's true. Seclusion doesn't mean locking yourself in a dark room and thinking non-stop, eating, drinking, and using the restroom all within the room. Calling it seclusion is really just taking a short vacation, free from worldly distractions, allowing you to focus on one thing in peace, while your daily life continues as usual.

Shen Tang's gaze fell on the object she was carrying.

"These weren't provided in the camp?"

Yu Zi explained, “In the past, he always arranged everything for me. He took such good care of me that I’m not used to being rough around the edges. The camp has everything in place, but it’s never as good as being attentive myself. I’m also not used to having too many people around me. My great-uncle is getting old, and he might not be able to take care of all his needs, so I came out and made this trip myself.”

Previously, her daily life was arranged by her trusted confidants, allowing her to focus on her duties and cultivation without worrying about household chores. Now that person was suddenly gone, she felt somewhat uneasy.

Shen Tang noticed the pause in Yu Zi's words.

I instantly realized who she was referring to.

Before Shen Tang could speak, Yu Zi said, "My lord, there's no need to try to comfort me. I've actually been through this for a while now. Scouting is a life-or-death situation, and I was prepared for it. Life is full of joys and sorrows, and no one can accompany another for a lifetime."

Her friends all tacitly avoided his presence.

Yu Zi could sense it, but felt it was unnecessary. Her expression was calm: "Men are saddened by the loss of a concubine, and so are women. It's true that they like someone, but it's also true that they don't like them to the point of sharing life and death. Perhaps it sounds a bit heartless to say that..."

She could no longer recall how she felt when she heard the news of that person's death.

Regret, heartache, heartbreak?

Perhaps there are both, but there is no despair.

She even had the rationality to suppress these superfluous emotions, fighting when necessary and killing when necessary. During the period when her title was sealed due to overuse of the Scholar's Way, her mind was mostly focused on military affairs and cultivation. Only when she habitually checked the other party's location would she vaguely remember that the person had already died in battle. Lin Feng and the others were cautious towards her, which she found somewhat amusing, but also somewhat helpless.

A man who is widowed but can still focus on his career is praised.

Why was she treated with such care when she faced the same situation, as if they were afraid that she would be heartbroken by the sight of the scene?

The outside world seems to overestimate the depth of her feelings.

Yu Zi's family background was a mess, and during her childhood, she never witnessed a truly blissful couple, nor did she see two people with no blood relation bound together by love, sharing life and death. She had never seen it, so she had no concrete experience of it.

But there was one thing she knew.

If someone truly loves another person to the core, they will rack their brains and do everything in their power to offer the best of everything and lift them up to the highest possible standard. Yu Zi asked herself honestly, and she knew she couldn't possibly achieve that.

She hadn't even considered a legitimate future for the two of them. In terms of conventional male-female relationships, he was practically a concubine.

Admit you haven't moved on?

lie!

Is he explaining that he has already let it go?

fickle!

She simply chose not to know.

Shen Tang said, "Heartless? Why would you be heartless?"

At best, they are boyfriend and girlfriend.

"If one party dies young, does that mean the other is abnormally hopeless? Does the other party have to be listless and drown their sorrows in alcohol to be considered worthy?" The devoted lover persona is established, while the workaholic persona is out of character. If romance affects governance, the ministers should just remain abstinent.

Yu Zi wasn't as carefree as she claimed.

If he really comes out, what is he doing staring at Gong Shuwu?

Speaking of Gongshu Wu—

Shen Tang and Yu Zi strolled around for a while. Seeing someone at the fabric shop taking their daughter's measurements, she used this opportunity to mention Gong Shuwu's daughter. When Gong Shuwu was mentioned, Yu Zi's body stiffened almost imperceptibly for a moment. Shen Tang pretended not to notice.

This serves as an opportunity to reveal the true identity of the Queen Gongshu.

His biological mother was from the northern desert, and his biological father was from inside the Great Wall.

This child was adopted by Gong Cheng, who entrusted him to Gong Shuwu before his death. He was also a man with a tragic life.

Yu Zi lowered her eyelids, lost in thought.

Shen Tang also stopped there.

The emperor and his minister strolled around the city.

It was supposed to be a casual stroll, but it was actually an inspection.

The original capital of Gao Kingdom was burned to the ground, and the current buildings are all rebuilt on the ruins. The wounded who were treated have almost recovered and are now engaged in intensive reconstruction work. The place is changing every day, and smiles are appearing on the faces of the common people.

"It would be great if there were fewer black scales."

Shen Tang weighed the things she had bought and realized that she was definitely short three ounces.

Seven out of ten companies are like this; the difference lies in how many are black.

"Write it all down, and we'll organize it later."

The scales are so black they've reached her head; she really doesn't know how to describe her fate.

Yu Zi felt sorry for those merchants.

After we'd finished shopping, someone suddenly shouted, "Someone's handing out candy on the street!" A dozen or so children ran over laughing.

Hearing the commotion, Shen Tang also went to join in the fun.

Sugar was still a rare commodity these days.

Someone is actually giving away candy for free?

Could it be that they have malicious intentions?

Upon closer inspection, wow, they were our own people.

Shen Tang was stopped by the woman beside her: "Why are you, a grown man, running over there to compete with the child for candy?"

"I can't eat it?"

"These candies are only given to children."

Previously, some adults who tried to queue up were kicked out.

Shen Tang then inquired, "Do you know why these people give candy to children? Candy isn't a rare thing, is it?"

She's not the type to do good deeds anonymously; if she does something good, she wants everyone to know. The fact that the woman doesn't know is a serious dereliction of duty on her part—a failure to effectively publicize her actions!

The woman clearly knew something.

"Some people who give out candy say that eating candy can cure worms."

Shen Tang asked again, "A worm? Can a piece of candy kill a worm?"

The woman's face lit up as she spoke of it: "I don't know if it works, but my child said his anus was itchy yesterday. Guess what? He pulled out this long thing, and it even crawled around. It was disgusting and scary."

As he spoke, he gestured with his hands to indicate the length.

Oh, I can't even begin to describe how terrifying the scene was.

The woman had a loud voice and spoke with great enthusiasm, drawing in the commoners nearby: "My two kids' worms were even longer than usual, and it was the middle of the night. That brat was so ignorant, he was pulling them out and trying to shove them into my mouth."

The child, young and unaware of the world's complexities, had no idea what was coming out of his anus; he simply found it amusing. The adults, who understood a bit more, nearly had a heart attack watching it. Complaining about the same thing easily resonated with others, and soon two more people joined in.

Throughout the entire process, Shen Tang listened with a smile.

She would occasionally glance at Qi Miao, who was handing out candy on the street.

His eyes were filled with relief.

Qi Miao's progress is much faster than expected.

Everything is progressing smoothly in Kangguo, but things are much more complicated for [Wuyou] and [Zixu]. [Wuyou], backed by Cui Hui, is using the guise of a "martial arts contest to find a husband" to run shady competitions, exploiting martial artists to work for them, and there's no sign of them being exposed yet. In contrast, [Zixu] is progressing much slower.

Every day, they were clearing up the old cases piled up in the government office.

As soon as Shen Tang's mind synchronized with this place, she saw a long line of people kneeling below. In an instant, she knew what was going on.

The two families are fighting over their daughter.

It's not a typical soap opera like "the real and fake daughters were switched at birth," but it's far more dramatic than any soap opera. Both families are wealthy and influential in the area, one living in the east of the city and the other in the west. Each family has a daughter, who, coincidentally, were born on the same day, month, and year. At the beginning of the year, the Wang family in the east and the Li family in the west held funerals one after the other. Then, the daughter from the east family suddenly awoke from her coffin on the third day of the mourning period.

This should have been a joyous occasion.

The daughter, upon waking up, claimed to be a daughter of the Li family!

She insisted on returning to the Li family.

Upon hearing this, the Li family came to verify the matter, bursting into tears and immediately offering to take their daughter back. Naturally, the Wang family refused. The two families argued over this for over half a year, but because the previous magistrate had died a violent death, the matter remained unresolved.

Until [Zixu] took office.

The two companies continue their legal battle.

Shen Tang looked at the two lawsuits with the expression of an old man on the subway, then called on the woman to recount the events of the case. The girl looked young and had not yet reached marriageable age. Despite being called upon by Shen Tang, she remained calm, bowed, and repeated the same points she had said countless times.

"...I remember that at midnight that day, Ox-Head and Horse-Face broke into my room, and with a single chain, they locked my soul to the underworld. I waited for several days on the road to the Yellow Springs, and when I went to the King of Hell's palace, the judge discovered that my lifespan had not yet ended. It turned out that Ox-Head and Horse-Face had mistakenly taken my soul; they were supposed to take the soul of Lady Wang. The King of Hell ordered Ox-Head and Horse-Face to take me back to the living world, but unexpectedly, time in the living world is different from that in the underworld, and my physical body had been destroyed. So the judge suggested that I borrow Lady Wang's body to return to the living world..."

Her soul is that of a woman from the Li family, and her body is that of a woman from the Wang family.

What's even more coincidental is that both families have only one daughter, and they need to find her a husband to continue their family line; otherwise, the collateral branches will eat her away and leave no descendants. Both families feel that this is their daughter, and the only way to save her is through a lawsuit. Shen Tang listened carefully to the requests from both families.

He asked the girl, "Do you have any ideas?"

The girl bit her lip, torn between her choices.

Shen Tang waved his hand: "Since you can't agree on the outcome, and there's no precedent for this in our dynasty, then I'll propose a solution. You two can listen to it and see if you can each compromise. What do you say?"

The two families exchanged a glance: "We'd like to hear the details."

"Let each family take one son-in-law."

The written testimony was word for word; it must have been very difficult to memorize it.

(_)

PS: The 200 million mu setting in the previous chapter was due to the 1.8 billion mu red line for arable land, and arable land area cannot be calculated repeatedly. The day Lin Feng achieves this will be the day when the world is well-fed and clothed, and it's not just a perfect state, but a step towards ultimate perfection!

PPS: Luan Xin: You're so happy again.