Chapter 111: High Hope
Editor: Atlas Studios
Madam Ma-Liu was very happy to see her bring back so many things. Touching the iron plow with her hand, she said, “This was left behind by your uncle. It’s been used for 11 years. I didn’t expect to find this thing again.”
Madam Ma-Liu put the things aside and said, “Since there’s an iron plow, let’s start plowing the soil after we burn all the weeds in the field.”
Of course, Mu Yangling agreed.
The next day, the four of them set off to burn more than 20 acres of land. After noon, they went to set up a firebreak. When the Hu family saw this situation, they were secretly tempted. After the Mu family finished burning this piece of land, Old Hu walked on the edge of the field. As he looked at the black ashes that did not go beyond the firebreak, he said with a sigh, “This is a good method.”
“Why don’t we ask them? If we don’t ask in detail, I won’t dare to set fire to it.”
Old Hu nodded thoughtfully.
However, before the Hu family could ask, Qi Haoran rode his horse to look for Mu Yangling. “I heard that you saved a lot of effort by burning all the grass in the fields.”
“Easy for you to say. I’ve spent several days setting up a firebreak. If I’d set fire directly, the fire would probably have spread to your camp.”
Qi Haoran’s eyes lit up. “That means there’s a way to burn it. Tell me and let others learn from it. Fan Zijin said that we haven’t gotten the farming tools yet. I’m afraid the sowing of the crops in spring will be delayed and the rations will become a problem. If there’s a good way, you’ve got to share it with me.”
Mu Yangling’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go. Bring me to the fields. Since you said so, I’ll tell you whatever I have in mind. However, I can’t promise that it will work. It’s up to you whether you believe it or not.”
“Alright.” Qi Haoran originally only wanted to train his troops, but two days ago, he went back and saw that Big Brother was so anxious about the rations that dark circles had appeared. Also, he almost fought with a few generals from Xingyuan Prefecture. Coupled with the emphasis on the importance of rations in the art of war, he felt that he could not relax.
Among the farmers, Qi Haoran was most familiar with Mu Yangling, so he naturally came to her immediately.
Qi Haoran mounted his horse and pulled Mu Yangling up to sit behind him. He asked, “Where are we going?”
“Let’s go to the east first. My family has 110 acres of land there. We just burned that yesterday.”
“I know.” Qi Haoran took credit and said, “I was the one who specially assigned that plot to you.”
The corners of Mu Yangling’s lips twitched. “Thank you, huh.”
“No need to thank me. In the future, if there’s more land to be assigned, I’ll help you choose the best.”
Mu Yangling snorted. “Please don’t be so kind. The land adjacent to ours which belongs to the Hu family is all of medium-grade on the east side. And 30 acres of their land in the south is high-grade land. Although it’s a little scattered, the land is fertile. They also have 20 acres of high-grade land in the west…”
Qi Haoran tilted his head in confusion. “The Hu family? I don’t know them. Are you old friends with them?”
“No, I just want to tell you that there are only 23 acres of high-grade land in my family’s 180 acres of land. Most of the remaining land is low-grade land that produces a poor harvest of even corn. Slightly under half of it is medium-grade land.”
Qi Haoran’s body stiffened slightly. “The fields are classified into high-grade, medium-grade and low-grade?”
“Yeah.” Seeing that the tips of his ears had turned red, Mu Yangling burst out laughing. She poked his waist and said, “Alright, actually, this isn’t bad either. My family’s land is of poor quality, but we don’t have many family members, so we might not be able to plant so much. It’s even more of a loss if someone else receives such land.”
Qi Haoran scratched his head, not knowing what to say. He was being kind, but he didn’t seem to have done anything good.
When they arrived at the edge of the field, Mu Yangling pointed at the Mu family’s land and said, “Here, these are all burned out.”
Qi Haoran saw the ashes on the ground and nodded. “How many days did it burn?”
“Eight days. I almost died of exhaustion when setting up the firebreak. If I did it bit by bit and plowed the soil like other people, I’d probably have died a hundred times. Therefore, if you want others to adopt my method, I’ll definitely teach them. However, you have to be careful when setting the fire. If the firebreak isn’t done well, it’ll be very difficult to control the fire once it spreads. Qi Haoran, there are many forests in Mingshui County. If you’re not careful, it’ll result in a disaster. Therefore, you have to think carefully.”
Qi Haoran said solemnly, “Don’t worry, I know what to do.”
The two of them rode to the river. Qi Haoran jumped off the horse first before picking her up. “What are you doing here? The river has long frozen.”
“This is really what I wanted to speak to you about. It’s snowed five times this year, right?”
Qi Haoran, who hadn’t counted, looked at Mu Yangling blankly.
Mu Yangling walked to the river and stopped. “Other than mountains, there are many small rivers in Mingshui County. However, as long as there’s a drought, the river will stop flowing. Few can store water. Qi Haoran, it’s only early winter now, right? There might still be heavy snow later. If what I told you about the summer drought is true, the water level in the river will definitely rise when spring snow melts. Should that happen, we might not be able to keep land like this.”
Mu Yangling stepped on the ground and said, “After summer comes the crucial growth period of wheat. If there’s no water at this time and the river is cut off, how much rations do you think we can guarantee next year?”
Qi Haoran’s face darkened. “Then what do you think we should do?”
“Repair the water conservancy facilities.” Seeing that he was frowning, Mu Yangling was about to persuade him when he said, “Alright, I’ll get them to stop training and take half a day off every day to repair water conservancy facilities.”
Stunned, Mu Yangling stared at Qi Haoran in a daze.
However, Qi Haoran looked up at the endless field and sighed with melancholy.
Qi Haoran ran back to the camp in low spirits. At the thought that he didn’t have to work tomorrow, he simply rode his horse and returned to the West Camp overnight.
He barged into Big Brother’s study and looked at him aggrievedly.
Qi Xiuyuan put down the brush and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Pursing his lips, Qi Haoran said aggrievedly, “Big Brother, if the Hus invade, will you let the 5th Division go to war?”
“That depends.”
“Depends on what?”
Qi Xiuyuan said coldly, “The 5th Division is a ragtag army. Unless more than half of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions end up dead or injured, I won’t send 5th Division to the battlefield.”
Although he had long known that this would be the outcome, Qi Haoran still felt terrible hearing it with his own ears.
Qi Xiuyuan’s expression softened. “Haoran, if you want to bring them to the battlefield, you have to train the 5th Division like how you trained the 4th Division.”
“How is this the same? When I was in the 4th Division, I only focused on training them. But now that the military system has changed, everything has changed. Since the 5th Division has to build houses and whatnot, there’s almost no time for training,” Qi Haoran said irritably.
Qi Xiuyuan’s face turned cold. “You’re just managing a division and you can’t take it already? Then what about me? Do you think I just need to train them to know how to fight? I have to take care of rations, weapons, winter clothes, military salaries, the soldiers’ pensions, and even deal with the cooperation and confrontation with the Xingyuan Prefecture. If you want to catch up or even surpass me, you have to learn all of this.”
Seeing his younger brother lower his head in frustration, Qi Xiuyuan stood up and walked to his side to pat his head. He said, “Sharpening a knife will not delay the cutting of firewood. You’re already great at training soldiers, but it’s far from enough to only train soldiers. I asked you to take over the 5th Division not only because you’re young and can’t receive a title, but also because I want you to slowly learn how to be a good general. I will let you do whatever you want in the 5th Division. No matter what you do, I will support you. I hope that one day, you can surpass me.”
Qi Haoran’s eyes lit up as he looked at Big Brother.
Smiling, Qi Xiuyuan couldn’t help but pat his head again.