After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Chapter 1132 - 1114: The Land Dispute

Zhao Kuan: "Put the land dispute aside for now. I’m asking you, have you planted the spring wheat this year?"

"Planted, yes we have," the Village Elder said, "How could we dare miss the farming season?"

Zhao Kuan said, "That’s good."

The Village Elder breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to arrange accommodations for Zhao Kuan.

Who would have thought, early the next day before breakfast, Zhao Kuan went out to inspect the wheat fields, dragging along curious villagers.

The Village Elder had just grabbed a chicken when Zhao Kuan disappeared, scared enough not to kill the chicken for him and rushed to chase after.

The Village Elder couldn’t hide the truth from Zhao Kuan alone, let alone so many people?

Everyone was eager to speak, and the truth quickly slipped out.

The entire village’s attention was on the land at the boundary with the neighboring village. To fight for the land, they not only sent people to dig ditches and put up fences but also engaged in fights.

No household genuinely planted all their wheat; even sowing was like this, let alone fertilizing the winter wheat.

When the Village Elder arrived, Zhao Kuan’s expression was already dark as ink. Seeing the Village Elder, he immediately erupted in anger, "Those who have no long-term plans must have near-term worries. I see you’ve read books into the dog’s belly! You can’t even fill your stomachs, and the lean season is about to arrive. Yet, you’re thinking about splitting land decades from now. If you can’t grow food this year, living till next year will be uncertain, yet you’re thinking about matters years down the road, fools!"

The villagers promptly looked at the Village Elder, their faces anxious. They all knew Zhao Kuan was an Inspector, a higher official than the County Magistrate, rumored to be the Great General’s brother.

None dared refute his words, seeing the Village Elder kneel to plead guilty, they also followed suit, trembling and kneeling on the damp ground.

Zhao Kuan was so furious he turned and left.

The Village Elder quickly crawled up to chase after him. After pursuing for a distance, the neighboring village’s elder arrived with people carrying large hoes and a big stone, which they promptly placed on the ground, shouting loudly, "Old Yu, look closely, this is the boundary. From here eastward belongs to our village, westward is yours!"

Zhao Kuan abruptly halted and raised his head to look at him, unable to contain his anger any longer, waving his hand, "Bring him over!"

His trusted aide immediately rushed forward.

The neighboring villagers saw the scene and waved their hoes to fight, "Old Yu, you’re playing tricks, bringing outsiders!"

"Bold, this is the Inspector!" His trusted aide drew his sword, slashing a hoe askew and kicking a person away, pressing his sword coldly to the opponent’s neck, "Dare to move wildly again, and it’s death without pardon!"

The villagers jumped in shock, promptly looking at their village elder.

The village elder hadn’t seen Zhao Kuan before, but Zhao Kuan clearly differed from them. He quickly dropped his hoe, gesturing for the villagers not to move, then rushed forward.

Yu Village Elder had already knelt down first, and upon seeing this, Jiang Village Elder from the neighboring village followed suit by kneeling.

Zhao Kuan stood before the two, first asking Jiang Village Elder, "How many acres of spring wheat remain unplanted?"

Jiang Village Elder hadn’t counted, softly saying, "I’ll calculate once I return."

Zhao Kuan sneered, "How many acres do you personally have unplanted? This surely doesn’t require calculation, correct?"

Jiang Village Elder’s heart trembled; facing Zhao Kuan’s direct anger left him bewildered and scared to lie, "Still, three acres left."

"You still have three acres, let alone other families?" Zhao Kuan sneered, "You certainly have long-term vision, forsaking the farming season for a piece of land uncertainly divided in ten years."

"Who told you that piece of land belongs solely to your two villages? All lands of the world belong to the court, belong to the Great General! Besides your villages, there are settlements all around, and in the future as the population grows, new villages will arise here!"

"If they can farm diligently, pay taxes to the nation, store more food for their families, then they will be more capable of nurturing children. When they have more children, this land will be theirs to distribute!" Zhao Kuan pointed at their noses and berated, "Can’t even finish planting spring wheat, eyes higher than hands, thinking of matters decades away yet dared deceive me! Let me tell you, if your grain output is below average this year, serve labor duties in the winter!"

Zhao Kuan angrily declared, "Both villages together, if you delay farming seasons, spoil harvests, face twenty days of added labor duties!"

The villagers turned pale instantly, kneeling without daring to speak.

Zhao Kuan coldly said, "Bring your village chief here, if both village elders can’t restrain villagers and delay farming seasons, replace them! Those leading the land disputes after spring plowing ends must serve at the salt fields for twenty days as a warning!"

Both village elders collapsed to the ground, not daring to oppose.

Zhao Kuan turned and left.

When the village chief arrived, Zhao Kuan was already on horseback waiting, "Sir, the County Lord received word and is heading here. Would you like to rest at home for a while, waiting for the County Lord?"

"I won’t wait for him," Zhao Kuan was somewhat calm, since this matter was merely occasionally mentioned in official documents by the County Magistrate, he was passing by here on his way to resolve mountain bandit peace negotiations in another county, thinking promoting agriculture is also important, he came to have a look.

No one expected the land dispute’s truth to be like this.

Zhao Kuan said, "You are the village chief, still need to be diligent, urge timely spring planting and fertilization to avoid missing farming seasons."

Zhao Kuan asked, "The calendars issued by the government need more reading, don’t just place them at home as decorations, it’s best to explain them more to the people."

The village chief promptly agreed.

Before the end of the first month, Guo Pu released a calendar, essentially based on current astronomical phenomena, making slight modifications to the previous dynasty’s calendar.

Once Zhao Hanzhang received it, she immediately ordered the bureau to print it, with swift speed delivering to the post station on the fourth day of the second month for distribution to various prefectures and counties.

Then, each prefecture and county printed it themselves, distributing to each village chief and elder.

Currently, it’s impossible for every household to have a calendar, but at least ensuring each village chief has a copy, some elders possess one, holding the calendar they can clearly grasp farming seasons.

But evidently, not everyone can comprehend the court’s painstaking efforts.

Zhao Kuan believed county magistrates still need to enhance supervision.

Sun Linghui from the neighboring prefecture recognized this as well.

What she considered common sense wasn’t clear to everyone, most people lived muddled lives, and due to war, many young people now lacked elder guidance, not knowing when to plant, whether to weed first or fertilize first; they truly were clueless.

Many county magistrates were also clueless.

Therefore, to promote agriculture, Sun Linghui was mostly traveling outside, reviewing documents on the go, in twenty short days she thinned significantly, forcing herself to eat despite no appetite for the sake of health. Sitting in a thatched hut watching the drizzle outside, she sighed and said, "It seems, besides calendars, people need agricultural books too."

Her secretary said, "But many people cannot read, and few readers actually look at agricultural books, right? Plus, current agricultural books mostly lost, truly challenging to find and print."

Sun Linghui said, "Just annotating on the calendar would suffice, not overly complex agriculture books."