Chapter 3 Jia Xu's Three Questions After spending nearly an hour explaining his plan in detail and making clear arrangements, everyone returned to their rooms to rest. Tian Ze lay on the bed, closed his eyes but did not fall asleep. Instead, his consciousness sank into his dantian. Since breaking through the third level of Qi Refining, the dragon-patterned jade pendant has continuously produced hundreds of strands of spiritual energy, all of which were accumulated by Tian Ze. Opening the "mini map", Tian Ze zoomed in on one of the village areas he had selected, then absorbed a wisp of spiritual energy and released the soil moistening technique. Since practicing, Tian Ze has gradually mastered the low-level spells that come with the three kinds of exercises, namely the Qi-Watching Technique, the Spirit Rain Technique, and the Soil-Moistening Technique. The art of looking at qi can be used to check other people's fortune and talent, helping Tian Ze to discover many talents from the vast sea of people. The two hundred soldiers and eight hundred hermits under his command were carefully selected based on this technique, and all of them possessed outstanding qualifications. The Spiritual Rain Technique can bring about spiritual rain to irrigate crops, and the Soil Moisturizing Technique can enrich the soil to create good fields. It is a magical tool for farming and the reason why Tian Ze chose Changxing Island. Because of the existence of the rules of this world, spells that could only be released nearby can actually be released on the "small map", but the speed is a bit slower. Moreover, it can be directly cast through spiritual energy, and Tian Ze only needs to determine the location, which is very convenient. Otherwise, with Tian Ze's cultivation level, he can't activate it more than a few times.
As the soil moistening technique took effect, the originally large area of saline-alkali land immediately turned into hundreds of acres of fertile farmland. After creating a total of 2,000 acres of fertile land, Tian Ze moved to a village to continue creating fertile land. Soon, 20,000 acres of fertile land appeared on this barren island. "Alas, we must recruit people as soon as possible. Otherwise, if we continue to spend more than we earn, it will take us forever to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining." Seeing that half of the spiritual energy accumulated so far was gone, Tian Ze couldn't help but feel distressed. On the second day, all the generals took action according to their respective tasks. Jia Xu seemed to have nothing to do, so he followed Gao Shun, along with ten guards and 160 hidden households, to a place designated by Tian Ze yesterday to build a village. Although Changxing Island is large, it is full of saline-alkali land and hills along the way. Everyone couldn't help but doubt in their hearts. Is it really possible for fertile land to exist in such a desolate place? Just when everyone arrived near the place marked by Tian Ze with doubt, they saw a black shadow in the distance. Could it be! Everyone couldn't help but quicken their pace, and when they clearly saw the two thousand acres of neatly laid black soil, they couldn't help but widen their eyes. Jia Xu, who was always calm, couldn't help but walk forward quickly, squatted on the black soil, grabbed a handful of the dark soil and rubbed it gently. After feeling the moisture and viscosity of it, he put a small piece into his mouth and chewed it for a few times, with more and more surprise in his eyes. He drew the sword from his waist and used it as a shovel to dig continuously. Soon he dug out a long and narrow hole more than three feet deep. After all, it was normal for Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty to be good at fighting, especially those who were born in border areas such as Liangzhou. Jia Xu reached down and found that the soil inside was exactly the same as the surface, still extremely fertile. He sat on the ground with a dazed expression. The hermits nearby cheered loudly. "Good farmland, so much good farmland!"
"I told you that the young master wouldn't lie to us!" "Haha, twenty acres of good farmland! We won't have to go hungry anymore!" Groups of hidden households excitedly pounced on the field and rolled around in the fields, not caring at all even though they got covered in mud. The stunned Jia Xu was suddenly awakened by the cheers of the crowd and smiled from the bottom of his heart. "hehe!" No one knew what this meant better than him. These are all fertile fields, and they are all top-quality fertile fields. He came from a poor family in Liangzhou and had been extremely sensitive to land and food since childhood. During his travels around the world, he had seen the finest fertile fields, but the fields before him were just as fertile as those, if not more so. If Tian Ze was present, he would find that the small dot representing Jia Xu turned light green in an instant. Jia Xu came back to his senses and slowly stood up and patted Gao Shun on the shoulder: "Bo Ping, you go ahead, I'm going back." Gao Shun finally woke up as if from a dream, and bowed to Jia Xu and said, "Goodbye, Mr. Wenhe." Then he arranged two guards to escort Jia Xu back to Tian Ze's station. Looking at the extremely excited people, Gao Shun also smiled for the first time. After making arrangements, he left half of the people to be managed by his deputy, and took the rest of the hidden households to the next location. …… In the temporary residence, Tian Ze was lying on the beach chair he designed, enjoying the sea breeze under the parasol. A wise man works hard. He has been preparing for this foundation for several years. Now there is nothing urgent for him to deal with, so naturally he needs to take a proper rest. The continuous running around for dozens of days really made him a little tired. He never expected that after becoming a cultivator in this life, he would still be so busy. Suddenly, noticing Jia Xu's figure not far away, Tian Ze instinctively glanced at the "small map", revealed a knowing smile, slowly stood up, and sat on the carpet that had been laid nearby. Jia Xu came closer and saw that Tian Ze was well prepared and was sitting opposite Tian Ze with a serious expression. After asking the guards to stand guard at a distance to prevent their conversation from being overheard by anyone, Tian Ze spoke. "Wenhe, I think you have seen what you wanted to see." Jia Xu nodded. "You are one of the smartest people in the world. You should understand what this means." "Xu has three questions." Jia Xu did not answer, but asked. "Please say." "One question, what is the young master's ambition?" Tian Ze hesitated for a moment, then said slowly, "Wenhe, you and I have come from Liangzhou via Sili, Zhongyuan, Hebei to Youzhou. I believe you already know the situation in the world." "The Han Dynasty has been plagued by corruption for a long time. The aristocratic families are like termites, corroding the tree completely."
"The emperor wanted to change but was unable to turn the tide. After several failures, he allowed the border to rot and the eunuchs to run rampant." "The Taiping Sect has tens of thousands of followers, and it has become too big to be eliminated. If time passes, trouble may arise." "The signs of troubled times have appeared, and I want to protect myself." "If the world is at peace, I would like to serve as General Zhengbei to guard the border." "If there is change in the world, I want to turn the tide and protect the people." Tian Ze's words were a little reserved, but Jia Xu understood them and was very satisfied with the answer. "Second question, can the young master's ability to manifest last?" "Yes. If I can get Liaodong, I can at least create tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land, and ensure good weather and good harvests under my rule, without the worry of shortage of food and fodder." Tian Ze said confidently. As long as he has enough spiritual energy, he is confident about farming, no matter what else. Upon hearing this, Jia Xu's eyes became brighter. If Tian Ze revealed this ability, he would probably be worshipped by people all over the world. But the greater possibility is that it will bring about a fatal disaster, or become a bird in a cage. Because the problem of food shortage in the world does not lie in the amount of good farmland, but in land annexation. Tian Ze had already seen through this, otherwise he would not have hidden it so carefully. "Question three, if Xu wants to leave, what will the young master do?" Tian Ze looked at Jia Xu steadily and said calmly: "Wenhe, you are my confidant. If you can't be of use to me, I'm afraid you will have to spend your life on this island." Although he was a bit soft-hearted, he would never let such a vicious scholar escape from his control, because Jia Xu knew too much, and imprisonment was the best outcome. Jia Xu slowly stood up, looked at Tian Ze steadily, and bowed respectfully: "Xu, I pay my respects to my lord!" Tian Ze was overjoyed and quickly helped him up: "I have Wenhe, just like a fish in water!" He sincerely hoped to get Jia Xu's full support. After these years of operation, he has a clear understanding of his internal affairs capabilities. Knowledge is not the same as ability, and theory cannot represent practice. With his level, managing a county is not a problem, but he can only be said to be mediocre, far from top talents like Jia Xu. (End of this chapter)
