I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 444 Jiangxia Development

As Fan Ling and Huang Zu continued to move forward, suddenly, a few people dressed as barbarians appeared not far away, looking and spying in this direction.

Upon seeing this, Huang Zu immediately took his bow from his attendant and was about to draw the bow and shoot an arrow to intimidate the enemy, but Fan Ling waved his hand to stop him.

He waved at the barbarians.

Not long after, a barbarian who really looked only twelve or thirteen years old was called over by Fan Ling.

"Can you speak Chinese?" Fan Ling asked kindly.

The barbarian boy nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Xiong Heihu."

Fan Ling looked at the bear Heihu, whose body shape had nothing to do with either a bear or a tiger, and smiled.

"Hei Hu, do you live here?"

Xiong Heihu opened his mouth, then looked timidly at Huang Zu and his followers behind Fan Ling, without saying a word.

Fan Ling thought about it, took out two wrapped pancakes from his arms, and handed one of them to Xiong Heihu.

This was originally prepared by Fan Ling as a lunch, and the pancake was filled with his favorite mutton filling.

The cake was still warm. Xiong Heihu thanked him, took it carefully, and sniffed it slowly. After he smelled the fragrance of the cake, he tried to take a small bite.

Before he even took a bite of the meat filling, the aroma of the pancake already made his eyes light up, and he couldn't wait to take a second bite.

When he took the second bite of the fragrant mutton, Xiong Heihu was so happy that he almost jumped up on the spot.

The third bite, the fourth bite... After eating half of the pancake, Xiong Heihu finally did not forget his little friend. He raised the pancake in his hands high and called out.

Soon, several young barbarian boys who were hiding not far away ran out. Fan Ling looked over and saw that the oldest was at most fourteen or fifteen years old, far from the age of adulthood for the Han people.

Then, Fan Ling contributed a few more steamed buns.

After the people in front of him had finished eating what they considered to be absolutely delicious food, Fan Ling continued to ask kindly, "Are you living here?"

"Ah."

Xiong Heihu nodded.

"Can you take me to meet your family's adults?"

Xiong Heihu nodded first, then looked at the group of followers and guards following Fan Ling, and immediately shook his head.

Fan Ling noticed this and said, "Then how about I not take them with me?"

Huang Zu on the side said quickly: "Mr. Fan, no, be careful, there is danger."

"How could this be dangerous?" Fan Ling didn't care. He said, "Look, Hei Hu and the others are speaking Chinese. When Hei Hu received the pancake just now, he even knew to say thank you!"

However, among the barbarian teenagers, only Xiong Heihu expressed his gratitude.

After hearing Fan Ling's praise, Xiong Heihu smiled at Fan Ling and said, "Too many outsiders. No, my father will beat me."

When Fan Ling heard these childish words, he burst out laughing and turned to Huang Zu and asked, "Shi Xian, do you want to go with me?"

Huang Zu replied, "Wherever Mr. Fan goes, I will go there."

Fan Ling nodded and asked Xiong Heihu, "It's okay for just the two of us to go, right?"

After asking, Xiong Heihu grabbed Fan Ling's hand and left a sentence "You two should find a place to rest nearby". Fan Ling was then forced to be dragged away by Xiong Heihu impatiently. Seeing this, the other barbarian teenagers ran ahead.

Huang Zu saw this and hurriedly followed with only his sword.

On the way, Fan Ling noticed some reclaimed fields on the mountain. He realized that these should have been planted by the local Jiangxia barbarians.

As far as he could see, if the nearby mountain springs could be utilized well, more land could be reclaimed here.

In addition, the ditches in other areas have been repaired, and some of the original wasteland and saline-alkali land can be reclaimed and utilized. If these can be completed this year, it can also accommodate many people who have moved from the north.

Compared with Jingnan, the climate in Jiangxia, which is crossed by a large river, is undoubtedly more suitable for northerners.

While he was thinking, Fan Ling was brought by Xiong Heihu to his village.

The Jiangxia barbarians in the village were very wary of the appearance of the strangers Fan Ling and Huang Zu. It was not until Xiong Heihu and his friends told them that they had eaten the good things from the strangers that the attitude of the barbarians in the village gradually changed.

There were also people who brought three or four dried fruits that Fan Ling couldn't even name, and wanted to give them to Fan Ling and Huang Zu to taste.

Fan Ling glanced at Huang Zu, who, as a local, didn't even raise his hand, and had a look of faint disdain on his face.

Faced with the barbarian's hospitality, Fan Ling, who was unable to refuse, said: "I am old and my teeth are not good. Shixian, I can't refuse the host's hospitality, so you can eat it for me!"

Huang Zu looked at the preserved fruit, then looked at Fan Ling, took the preserved fruit with a forced smile, and ate it.

Not long after, the leader of the village finally arrived.

Only then did Fan Ling realize that Xiong Heihu was actually the son of the leader of this village.

After introducing each other, the barbarian leader who called himself Xiong Heibei opened his mouth wide when he learned that Fan Ling in front of him was once one of the Three Dukes of the Han Dynasty and was now a high-ranking official beside the emperor.

Even though they didn't actually understand what the Three Dukes were, the emperor and his men knew.

The person who had spoken to the emperor was actually speaking to them.

Shocked, they immediately took out wild game to entertain the distinguished guests. Even for the mountain barbarians, these were extremely precious things.

Fan Ling didn't intend to eat and drink for free, so he didn't refuse.

Taking this opportunity, he started a chat with Xiong Heibei.

During the period, when asked about the fields in the mountains, Xiong Heibei replied:

"Originally, officials from the prefecture asked us if we wanted to go down the mountain, but there was nothing good to do down there. After we went down the mountain, everyone in the village would be dispersed to different places... We were worried that we would be bullied in the future, so we didn't go."

"I also want to plant more land, but there is only so much land that can be planted over there. If I want more, I have to go to a farther place, and that place is not under the jurisdiction of our village."

"Build a canal? Can we really plant more crops after we build it? Don't be kidding me, we've been fooled so many times in recent years!"

Huang Zu was particularly troubled as he heard Xiong Heibei's words getting more and more outrageous. As a county official, he had to consider the reputation of his lord, but if he interrupted him, Fan Ling would be displeased.

"How did you lie?" Fan Ling asked. He added, "Don't be afraid. I am close to the emperor. The governor here can't control me. I won't tell anyone that you told the truth."

"Let's talk about money. When we were short of money, we usually used cloth to pay for it. The small cloth was two feet long. Later, the officials said that cloth was not acceptable and we had to sell it for money. However, the two-foot cloth that could be sold for 40 coins before suddenly could not be sold for even 20 coins... The officials urged us to pay them urgently. After two years, we found out that other places were not like this and they also collected cloth. Later, many villages were dissatisfied and rebelled under the leadership of several barbarian kings... It was a big commotion at the time. I heard that it was connected with the big thieves in Lujiang..."

Although it is all a thing of the past, the oppression that Blackback Bear once suffered is real and will not disappear with the passage of time.

"What about now? Is there still such a thing?"

Huang Zu suddenly became nervous, praying that Xiong Heibei would not say anything that he couldn't say. Xiong Heibei shook his head and said, "It's much better than before."

"A few months ago, a general named Annan came and killed several officials who bullied others! He even sent someone to ask me if anyone had bullied me..."

Huang Zu breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, Fan Ling looked at Huang Zu. Huang Zu reacted and explained, "It was Liu Annan who came here. In the past few years, Liu Annan cultivated land mostly in Wuling County and Nan County. This year, Liu Annan seemed to have intended to come to Jiangxia, but later on, probably because of the migration from Jingnan, he only came here once."

Fan Ling nodded and commented: "It seems that Liu Jingsheng has done a good job."

"Go back to Nanjun to see his achievements! If possible, write a letter to praise him."

When Xiong Heibei saw that Fan Ling called the general by his name and said it in a casual manner, he looked at Fan Ling with even more respect.

He also had more confidence in what Fan Ling said about building the canal.

Even before Fan Ling asked again, he took the initiative to ask: "After building this water diversion ditch, how many acres of farmland can be added in the mountains?"

Fan Ling said, "There is limited land in the mountains. I haven't seen the whole area yet. I don't think I can get more than a thousand acres, but three to five hundred acres should be no problem."

"Great!"

Fan Ling was making smooth progress, while in the east of Jiangxia, another group of people were going upstream from Lujiang.

On the boat, one of them could not hide his excitement and said, "Captain, this method has been used successfully in Wujun, Danyang, Jiujiang, Lujiang and other places. I think there will be no accidents in Jiangxia, Nanjun and other places."

The captain shook his head and said, "We will have to wait until the day we get there to see if there are any accidents. Your Majesty once said that only experiments can verify it. Don't forget that during the previous experiments, some fields had reduced yields due to insufficient soil fertility. We should not be careless..."

The speaker was Zao Zhi, the agricultural promotion officer who came here to promote the rice seedling transplanting technology.

"Yes, Captain." Ren Jun replied.

He was originally a powerful man in Zhongmou County under the jurisdiction of the Yin of Henan Province. He thought that he had no hope for a career in politics, but one day he suddenly learned from the county's official newspaper that the court was recruiting talented people who were proficient in farming. So, with his talent in this area, he seized this opportunity.

Until now, he has become Zao Zhi's most useful deputy.

After telling Ren Jun not to be careless, Zao Zhi added, "Although I also don't think anything unexpected will happen."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Afterwards, the group arrived at the Jiangxia prefect's residence, but heard that the prefect was not there and had gone out on inspection.

Zao Zhi didn't care. He went to the places where the transplanting method was first promoted, calculated the time and observed the growth of rice.

No surprises, no surprises, no surprises...

After checking many places, everything is normal.

Zao Zhi was very satisfied.

In this way, next year, the transplanting method can be taken a step further and fully promoted in all areas near the Yangtze River and Huaihe River.

With the help of farmers who have learned this year, the difficulty of promotion will be reduced.

Afterwards, Zao Zhi was about to take his men to Nanjun, but he never expected to be "kidnapped" by someone.

"Mr. Fan, it's not that I don't want to contribute, it's just that the environment in the mountains is different from that in the plains. The growth of grains on the mountains is slower than that on the mountains..." Zao Zhi said helplessly.

"I don't care about all these reasons, you have to give me a solution to the problem."

Seeing Fan Ling acting like a rogue, Zao Zhi said with a bitter face: "Lord Fan, I am following the order of His Majesty to promote the method of rice transplanting. Now I am in a hurry to go to Nanjun. I dare not delay the emperor's order!"

Zao Zhi brought up the emperor, but Fan Ling didn't buy it at all: "Don't you have subordinates? I think Ren Boda is very good. Since you can't leave Nanjun, it's okay to let him go."

"Or do you not want to stay because in your heart, these barbarians living in the mountains are not your Majesty's people?" Fan Ling said with a smile.

He thought to himself: You are still a little naive to play tricks on me.

After these words were spoken, Zao Zhi was completely at a loss.

He had no choice but to stand up and bow to Fan Ling, saying: "Lord Fan, I can agree to stay here for a while and try my best to find a way to increase production... But a skilled cook cannot cook without rice. If you still can't find it in the end, please don't do it like today..."

Upon hearing this, Fan Ling immediately stepped forward and grabbed Zao Zhi's hand: "Why do you say that? I will only thank you for your help on behalf of the people in the mountains. Just do your best!"

Zao Zhi, whose hand was being held, gave a bitter smile. If he didn't agree, he would be "you", and if he agreed, he would be "Jun".

He is worthy of being Lord Fan who has been sitting firmly on the position of one of the Three Dukes for so many years.

In this way, Zao Zhi was forcibly kept in the mountains of Jiangxia County, where he began to study how to increase the yield of farmland in the mountains.

After living there for a while, he actually found many areas that could be improved.

At this time, the South was less developed than the North, and even had a gap in farming technology.

It can also be said that the increasingly severe climate environment and human-land relationship in the north forced the north to move towards intensive farming. In this regard, the relatively comfortable south lacked some external driving force.

If this is the case even for the Han people, it goes without saying that the barbarians whose farming techniques are not as good as those of the Han people.

This was also the solution Zao Zhi finally came up with.

This is the objective condition in the mountains. If the mountain is higher, the time for planting grains will be at least 10 to 20 days later than at the foot of the mountain. It just so happens that the per capita acreage of farmland in the mountains is not that large.

……

Xiong Heihu had a very comfortable life recently.

After bringing the kind father-in-law home, he found that his father never beat him again.

In the past, his father would worry, saying that with his frail physique, he might not be able to convince the people if he became the next leader. But now, he has heard his father and mother say that he can definitely become the next leader.

If being a leader could make him like his father, bossing everyone around, and also beat his father like his father beat him, then he would really like to be a leader.

When he told his friends about this idea, it somehow reached his father's ears.

As a result, Xiong Heihu, who had not been beaten for many days, was beaten again.

Moreover, after beating him, his father would drive him out of the village.

When he left, he cried very sadly and told his father several times that when he became the leader in the future, he would never beat his father and that he had only said it as a joke before.

But he still failed to win back his father's heart.

Even his mother, who had always protected him, did not help him this time. Instead, she and his father sent him to a place called Xueshe at the foot of the mountain, and left without looking back.

Sitting in the school, thinking back to the backs of his father and mother as they left, Xiong Heihu made up his mind to go back and be the leader!
Snapped!
When the bullet hit him, Xiong Heihu immediately covered his head.

"Listen carefully!"

"is teacher!"

(End of this chapter)