Celestial Master： I Have an Otherworld-Chapter 295 - 98: Natural Disaster or Man-Made Calamity? (Part 2)
The entertainment company was Wen Lei’s proposal.
According to her, if successful, they could use the artists under their banner to promote Fangtian Group’s products and expand their influence among the people.
Everything is in place.
Just waiting for the right moment.
Unnoticed, time slipped through the fingers.
In a blink.
More than a year has passed in modern society, Fangtian Group’s reputation has gradually risen, and nearly three years have passed in the Otherworld.
......
At the banquet table,
everyone was in high spirits.
"How many acres of land does Brother Zhang want to buy?"
Fang Zheng was taken aback by the question, putting down the wine cup in his hand:
"Are you planning to settle in Gu’an County and not return to the Pure Yang Palace?"
"Return?" Zhang Mingrui’s face showed bitterness as he shook his head and drank the wine in his cup:
"I am already forty years old this year, yet advancing to Mage remains a distant prospect. If I cannot make further progress, I’m afraid the palace won’t summon me back."
"In that case, I might as well make early plans."
Whether practicing martial arts or magic, after the age of forty, one loses the vigor of youth, and the possibility of further advancement is exceedingly low.
Many years ago, Zhang Mingrui was already a High Tier Warlock.
But,
all these years, he has never managed to develop mana.
Perhaps he was too old when he entered the path; perhaps his foundation was lacking, or maybe the teachings were incompatible with him. In any case, he had given up hope.
"What a pity!" Fang Zheng sighed softly:
"Brother Zhang’s talent is not low. If he had received the true teachings of the Pure Yang Palace, he might have become a Mage long ago, without wasting so many years."
Warlocks, Mages,
a difference of just one word, but worlds apart.
This differs from martial artists and martial masters; although Three Blood martial artists are not as esteemed as martial masters, in a county town their status is still decent.
As for Mages...
a county town can no longer accommodate such an existence; even in a Prefecture City, their status is respected.
Warlocks are not favored in the Pure Yang Palace; even High Tier Warlocks, as long as they are not true disciples, do not receive much attention.
But once one becomes a Mage, their status becomes entirely different. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
Becoming a Mage and having mana allows one to cast spells without the need for a Magic Altar or their own vital essence and blood; they can freely cast magic.
The power will also greatly increase.
The means at their disposal will greatly expand.
According to Fang Zheng’s knowledge, a novice Mage can almost easily kill a Minor Circulation Martial Artist, and with proper preparation, even a Great Zhou Celestial Martial Artist is no match.
Moreover, compared to martial combat, Mages have more to offer.
Over thirty years ago.
There was a severe drought in Jizhou, and the land of several Prefectures produced nothing.
Dozens of Mages performed rituals, using their own vital essence and Divine Thought to appeal to Heaven, bringing on heavy rains and saving countless lives.
This is something martial masters could never accomplish.
And because of this,
even though True Qi has properties similar to mana, the standing of Mages remains revered, whether among the people or in the Imperial Court.
"Now is not the right time to buy land."
Master Zhou shook his head:
"In the face of a disaster year, land prices plummet. The current price of one acre of land can buy two to three acres, the price of barren land can purchase fertile land."
"Isn’t Young Master Fang’s fertile land obtained during such times?"
"Disaster year?" Zhang Mingrui shook his head upon hearing this, his face filled with reluctance:
"Isn’t that taking advantage of people’s plight?"
"You can’t say it like that." Landlord Qi at the same table shook his head:
"Without a disaster year, when food is not scarce, why would ordinary families sell their fertile land? All of us prospered during disaster years."
"Indeed!"
"Quite right!"
The people at the same table, all local gentry, nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
"Daoist Zhang, hoping to become rich by farming is unnecessary." Fang Zheng chimed in:
"I have a tenant who farms five acres of his own land, producing just over ten dan of grain annually, barely enough for a family’s subsistence."
"He also rents ten acres from me, splitting the harvest equally, to support his living expenses, but only in good years."
"This year, his family has another child, and he just discussed with me about renting a few more acres from me on a sixty-forty split."
"He keeps sixty percent, I take forty."
"Young Master Fang is indeed kind-hearted." Master Zhou cupped his hands:
"We all set annual quotas, ranging from one dan three dou to one dan two dou."
One dan equals one hundred and twenty catties, and the yield per acre here is mostly less than two dan. If it’s top quality land, carefully cultivated, it might exceed two dan.
But one dan three dou, one dan two dou, definitely exceeds a fifty-fifty split.
Moreover,
in a disaster year, the grain from the fields must be prioritized for the landlord’s family, and it may be that after a year’s labor, you end up with nothing.
Even owing grain to the landlord.
Adding in the taxes to be paid, most go to do some odd jobs during the agricultural off-season to make ends meet, fighting tooth and nail over every patch of land.
"Speeking of which, several years ago there was a wealthy farmer in our village who had seventy acres of land, forty of which were fertile."
One person smiled and said:
"He used to be a regular visitor to my manor, saying that with proper management, when the granaries are full, he would exchange the grain for silver and buy fertile land to become a landlord like me."
"What a pity!"
"When the disaster year truly arrived, his harvest was less than ten percent, and he had to dip into his savings. No matter how cheap others’ lands sold, what good was it?"
"Didn’t those lands end up being bought by us and the wealthy merchants in the city, and when it was time to pay taxes, he had to sell off his assets."
"In just a mere five years!"
He gestured with five fingers, smiling:
"The tens of acres of land he once had were reduced to just a few acres to barely make a living, and he had to come to my house to be a tenant, renting land to farm."
"To think he once employed people to work for him."
"Hahaha..."
Everyone at the table laughed in unison, their laughter hearty, yet leaving Zhang Mingrui with a heavy heart, turning the delicious fish tasteless and bland.
"Starting from scratch is not so simple, is it?"
Master Zhou said:
