After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 555 - 549: Full of Spring Vitality

Chen Chuan stayed silent. Honestly, he was intrigued; there was an iron mine here, securing it meant they could continuously replenish their military supplies.

Chen Wu snorted coldly, saying, "Do you dare to occupy it? How long can you hold it after you do?"

"Is it one month or two months?" he said, "Zhao Hanzhang delivers food supplies once a month, and the times might get compressed further. Can the seeds just sown in the fields be harvested?"

"Without food, everything is in vain. Even with food, the journey from Luoyang to Guy City takes a day, and we only have five thousand soldiers. How many troops does she have?" Chen Wu said, "Do you think we can defend Guy City?"

"In this world, there are quite a few people as clear-headed as me, but not many with the broad vision and trust that she possesses. For her trust, we cannot act treacherously." He sighed deeply, "This is precisely her brilliance."

Chen Wu would not betray Zhao Hanzhang, at least not within this year.

Outside of Luoyang City, changes were happening, and it was no longer a barren and desolate place.

Beside the official road, people were driving cattle to plow the fields. The fields that were overgrown with weeds before had turned primarily yellow-brown, with the soil overturned and burying the green grass underneath.

Many people were also working on the slopes nearby, wielding hoes, and there were quite a few people, almost every piece of land had people working.

Zhao Hanzhang reined in her horse, letting Zeng Yue lead the men ahead while she dismounted with Fu Tinghan and walked towards the field.

Ting He and Fu An quickly dismounted and followed.

Old Man Chen scattered beans along the ridges, while his little grandson walked barefoot behind him, using his feet to sweep soil over the beans, some places deep, others shallow.

Old Man Chen saw this, scolding him while dragging him in front of him, hung a basket loaded with beans on him, and lamented, "I told you to scatter seeds, you stuffed them in your mouth; told you to cover the soil, but you don’t know. These are the rations for this year, if you don’t plant them well, there’ll be nothing to eat."

Old Man Chen gently patted the back of his hand several times, admonishing him, "Do not steal the beans to eat, follow what I taught you, scatter the seeds properly, not too much nor too little."

The grandson obediently agreed, grabbed a handful of beans, and carefully scattered them into the furrow.

Old Man Chen inspected the density and was barely satisfied, following behind to cover the soil, occasionally glancing up to ensure he wasn’t stealing them before feeling at ease.

Zhao Hanzhang walked into the field, picked up an exposed soybean, examined it, finding the grains full and looking nice.

She smiled, tossed it back, and naturally covered it with soil.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at Old Man Chen and his grandson walking away with their backs turned, and went to the edge of the field to watch people plowing.

The soil in the field was somewhat moist but not watery. Luoyang had been experiencing drought for the past two years; apart from areas near the river that could retain water for paddy fields, most other fields were dry most times.

Old Man Jin, who was driving the ox in circles, saw Zhao Hanzhang and the others too. They had noticed the troops passing by earlier.

He glanced at the horses and the dozen soldiers standing nearby, raised his voice, and asked, "Are you officials?"

Although there were two, a woman and a man, currently, three or four of the officials responsible for settling them in Luoyang City were women.

They already knew that the new Yu State Governor, Ru Nan County Duke, was a woman, known for her great fame before—Zhao Hanzhang.

Perhaps because she’s a woman, many women served as officials under her.

In such chaotic times with constantly changing leaders, the common people accepted these changes well.

If someone told them a pig became emperor the next day, they wouldn’t be surprised and would accept it quickly.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t deny it, nodded with a smile, and asked, "Elder, what will you plant in this field?"

"Millet."

"Millet is good, aren’t you planting wheat?"

"Wheat has already been planted," Old Man Jin raised a hand, pointed to a large area in the distance, "Look, over there."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded in satisfaction and asked, "How many people are in your family, and how many acres will you plant this year?"

"There are four of us, just me and the wife with two grandsons," he said, "Five acres of wheat, five acres of millet, and five acres of beans."

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "How many acres did you receive at home?"

"Forty acres," Old Man Jin said, "Twenty acres each for me and the wife."

But truthfully, they couldn’t finish planting; one reason being insufficient labor, another being time constraints.

Zhao Hanzhang wasn’t regretful about the unfinished planting, smiling, "That’s good too. Whether millet or wheat, both treatments nourish the soil; after the autumn harvest, you can rotate the crops and let the land regain vitality."

Upon hearing this, Old Man Jin knew she understood farming and became immediately happy, "Exactly, that’s what the village chief told us. He also asked us to plant beans in the fields, claiming beans nourish the land. But we’re so busy, how can we plant beans just for nourishing the land, so we only planted a few acres."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded in agreement.

Fu Tinghan was curious, pointing to the slope above, "Given you have fields to plant beans, why does he plant soybeans on the slope?"

"That’s Old Man Chen, he’s stubborn, insisting that after entering summer, Luoyang will receive abundant rainfall, and soy is bad on the field, so he planted it on dry land. Don’t underestimate that plot on the slope; the soil is loose and brown, excellent for beans."

Zhao Hanzhang reflected, "Will Luoyang have abundant rainfall this year?"

"Who knows? He says it will be, but I feel it won’t. From last year until now, Luoyang hasn’t had much rain," Old Man Jin dismantled the plow to let the ox rest and graze, leaned against the embankment chatting with them, "Just had two drizzles recently, otherwise we wouldn’t even think of planting wheat, millet and beans are more drought-resistant."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded with a smile, encouraging him, "Keep up the good work, elder. Judging by this, there should be a good harvest this year."

"Hopefully, though this year life is easier," he laughed, "The court provided relief grains, even had soldiers helping with composting, General Zhao is kind-hearted, the new County Magistrate is capable, life has more hope."

He then remembered to ask, "I’ve never seen you two in Luoyang, uh..." He looked at Fu Tinghan, "This gentleman looks familiar, but the lady I haven’t seen. What official position are you here in Luoyang for?"

Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t had the chance to answer when a young man ran from a distance, shouting, "Old Man Jin, it’s time, the ox is due for my household."

Upon hearing this, Old Man Jin instinctively ran towards the ox, grabbing the rope, "Where was it enough? It’s my family’s for the whole day."

"It’s sunset now."

"It’s not your turn until tomorrow morning, come to my house to get it then, I need to graze the ox."

"No way, I’ll graze it myself, don’t need you." The two argued while tussling over the rope.

The rope was quite long, and the ox was undisturbed, continuing to graze, completely ignoring the humans competing for it.

The young man couldn’t use too much force, unable to out-reason the old man, so he angrily glanced at Zhao Hanzhang and the others. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Zhao Hanzhang and her followers watched with interest; when he looked over, she tapped her rear and started to leave. The young man, however, widened his eyes in shock, sprinting over to kneel on the ground, "General, Prince, are you here to judge for me?"