"oh?"
Shui Daozi looked at Zhao Lin in surprise: "Are you the youngest number one scholar in history, the youngest prefect, and now the youngest governor-general, Zhao Lin?"
Sudi shouted, "How dare you address the Governor by his name?"
Zhao Lin waved his hand and said with a smile, "That's right, kid."
Shui Daozi asked, "What are you going to do with the rice after it's harvested?"
Zhao Lin said, "Part of it will be sent to the capital as a gift to the emperor, to let him know the thoughts of the people of Jiujiang. Part of it will be used to replace the people's taxes, so that the people can pay less. The rest will be stored and used as relief for the people when they are in trouble next year."
Shui Daozi asked, "That's it?"
Zhao Lin said: "Master, do you have anything to teach me?"
Shui Daozi said, "Why not hoard it and wait for a famine and food shortage to come and sell it at a high price?"
Zhao Lin laughed: "That's just small money, I don't care about it."
Shui Daozi was silent for a moment, then bowed to Zhao Lin and said, "I am sorry for the rudeness."
Zhao Lin quickly responded, "Master, you're welcome. While I can earn money by accumulating rare treasures, buying low and selling high, and profiting from the difference, I'm not interested in making that kind of money. If I want to make money, I have plenty of quick and effective ways."
For example, suppressing bandits.
All the wealth that the bandits had accumulated with great difficulty was taken away by Zhao Lin.
Another example is catching corrupt officials.
Corrupt officials are richer than bandits and rebels. Catching a corrupt official is like wiping out a gang of bandits.
Zhao Lin only dealt with the corrupt officials in the Jiujiang Governor's Office, but the corrupt officials in various prefectures and counties were still there.
There are also corrupt officials throughout Bac Nguyen Province.
These are all Zhao Lin’s money houses. He can just take two of them when needed.
Everyone bowed in admiration.
Zhao Lin is the only one who does such a thing so brazenly.
Now there are censors impeaching him, saying that he has embezzled money and that the money should be turned over to the national treasury.
"Put the painting away. This is the birthday gift for the emperor." Zhao Lin ordered.
Shui Daozi almost pulled his beard off: "Are you going to give this painting to the emperor as a birthday gift?"
"Yes." Zhao Lin said, "For the Emperor's sixtieth birthday, I think there is no more appropriate gift than this. What do you think, Master?"
Shui Daozi circled the painting several times and said, "If I had known it was to be used as a birthday gift for the Emperor, I would have put more effort into it."
Zhao Lin laughed and said, "How can putting more thought into it make it any better than it is now? Being too deliberate is not beautiful."
Shui Daozi was delighted when he heard this: "I didn't expect the Governor to understand this. Indeed, painting emphasizes the unity of man and nature, letting nature take its course. Anything that is deliberately drawn is not worthy of being called a painting. It is my honor to present this painting to the Emperor as a birthday gift. Thank you, Governor."
Shui Daozi bowed to Zhao Lin.
Shuidaozi is also a mortal.
As a mortal, you will desire fame and fortune.
It is a great honor to have his paintings presented as birthday gifts to the current emperor.
Of course he would say thank you.
Zhao Lin quickly stepped forward to help him up and said, "Master Shui, you are too polite. This is an honor for this governor."
The two smiled at each other.
Sudi said, "Sir, you can use the sickle now."
Zhao Lin nodded.
Immediately, his men brought sickles, one for each person. Zhao Lin led them down to the rice fields and began to harvest the first bunch of rice in autumn.
Immediately, the Qingzhou army, which had been prepared long ago, rushed down and began to harvest.
"It's such a lively scene." Chi Qiaoyu praised.
"Hurry, hurry, prepare the pen, ink, paper and inkstone." Shui Daozi urged.
Seeing everyone looking over, Shui Daozi hurriedly explained, "I've been inspired by something and I'm going to paint another picture of the autumn harvest."
Everyone immediately made way to give Shui Daozi room to perform.
The painting lasted until sunset, and the picture was finally finished. Shui Daozi was exhausted and said, "This picture is for the Governor-General. Please accept it."
Zhao Lin took a look at it and his eyes lit up immediately. He blurted out, "What a nice painting."
Everyone praised it.
The painting is indeed good.
This autumn harvest picture is different from the previous picture of ten thousand acres of rice fields.
Although the main subject of the painting is still rice fields and farmers, the charm lies in the harvest. The heavy rice ears shine brightly in the dusk, making it difficult to distinguish whether the golden color is sunlight or rice ears.
In the rice fields, some farmers were working hard to separate the rice, some stood up to wipe their sweat, some were carrying rice, and some were laughing towards the sky. Even the children were playing with the rice.
There were dozens of people among them, and each person had a different expression, but they all revealed the joy of the harvest.
It’s a very simple painting, but as Zhao Lin said, whether it’s poetry or painting, what matters is the artistic conception.
Shuidaozi's painting of autumn harvest has fully expressed the joy of autumn harvest.
After painting two paintings in a row, Shui Daozi was very tired. He bowed to Zhao Lin and said, "I am exhausted and will not accompany you to view the paintings any longer. I will take my leave now."
"Master, please go ahead. I'll treat you to tea after I'm done with my work," said Zhao Lin.
Watching Shui Daozi leave, Su Di praised him, "Painting is quite exhausting. Generally, a single painting can take several hours, or even months or even years. Master Shui painted two paintings in one day, and both are so large. He truly deserves the title of a master."
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "That's why people call you Master."
The two paintings, one of ten thousand acres of rice fields and the other of autumn harvest, made Zhao Lin very satisfied. After returning, he ordered people to frame them and waited for the rice to be harvested and dried before setting off for Beijing.
The 30,000 Qingzhou troops plus thousands of auxiliary troops fought continuously for more than half a month and finally harvested and dried all the rice fields.
"General, a total of 1,073 mu (approximately 1,073 acres) of land was planted, yielding over 453,250,000 jin (approximately 1,000,000 catties) of rice. This averages out to over 450 jin (approximately 1,000,000 catties) of rice per mu. Based on a 70% yield, this translates to 315 jin (approximately 1,000,000 catties) of rice per mu, for a total of 317,275,000 jin (approximately 1,000,000 kg)."
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