Chapter 1343 – Decapitated Bones and the Seal (Part One)
Jiang Pengji was strict in her military management, but the soldiers’ wages and benefits were the best among the warlords.
She spent half a month handling this matter, using her spare time to inspect the terrain of Changye, figuring out where improvements could be made.
Not only did she go herself, but she also brought Huang Song along.
“They’re all busy. After thinking it over, you’re the only one who’s still free.”
Jiang Pengji stated calmly, her demeanor as if she was merely discussing the weather for the day.
Huang Song felt like he could explode from frustration. Didn’t she remember that just twenty days ago they were deadly adversaries?
Was she indirectly calling him a freeloader?
Dressed in her loose, casual scholar’s robe, with her long sleeves fastened to reveal her smooth arms, she looked completely at ease.
The weather was edging into late autumn, and Huang Song felt a chill just by looking at her attire, wishing he could distance himself a bit.
With wide-toothed wooden clogs underfoot, Jiang Pengji was accompanied by Huang Song, along with more than twenty knife-wielding guards trailing behind.
They climbed to the nearby mountain peak, gazing down to see the sprawling military camp below.
“Changye is currently a desolate place, but I heard it used to be a prosperous granary city,” Jiang Pengji observed, ignoring the fearful looks from her guards as she stood atop a stone for a better view. “Do you know about this, Bogo?”
Huang Song felt his scalp tingle at her reckless behavior and quickly stepped back to clear himself of suspicion.
He didn’t want to be misunderstood as having intentions to murder Jiang Pengji; by the time he was planning anything, they would have already arrived to strangle him.
“I’ve heard some things. It’s said that backflow from rainwater caused a plague—”
Jiang Pengji replied, “The terrain here is low; if a rare heavy rain occurs, combined with blocked waterways, it could indeed lead to backflow in the rivers.”
Dongqing suffered constant disasters, droughts and floods, and no one could guarantee that Changye wouldn’t experience a rare downpour again.
If this place is to develop, this issue needs to be resolved.
If Changye could be properly managed, it could become a major grain-producing county in the future; grain was always in demand.
In this era, having grain prices that hurt farmers was seen as a kind of fortune, but the greatest fear was running out of food.
Huang Song glanced and asked, “What does Lan Ting plan to do?”
Jiang Pengji replied, “Divert the river water to enrich the land.”
Given the backward tools of ancient times, a large number of manpower and labor must be dispatched to compensate for this.
Following the previous methods, Jiang Pengji would recruit nearby refugees for labor in exchange for rations, solving both local law-and-order issues and the livelihood needs of the common people, all while not delaying construction projects. Naturally, the same would apply for Changye.
However…
Changye was an uninhabited place; it was difficult to find even a single living person, let alone refugees.
If she wanted to develop this area, Jiang Pengji would need to allocate manpower from elsewhere.
This would incur additional expenses, and relocating people would take time.
“I plan to clean and sort out the battle gear…”
Speaking of prisoners of war, weren’t they former soldiers of Huang Song?
Jiang Pengji intended to recruit the young and strong prisoners to expand the military camp, while the rest could be utilized for labor.
Of course, even though they were prisoners, Jiang Pengji planned to compensate them, although the pay would only be half of that of normal labor.
Once the work here was finished, these captives could choose to stay in Changye as residents or return home.
Huang Song said, “Whatever Lan Ting decides is fine.”
From his perspective, Jiang Pengji’s methods were gentle and benevolent. In times of grain shortages, prisoners would have been killed for their rations.
Prisoners weren’t considered people; their social status was even lower than that of slaves.
Jiang Pengji, if she disliked them taking up food, could easily execute them to save costs.
Instead, by keeping them alive, she was giving them work and even offering a chance for them to regain their civilian status in the future—
Even Huang Song couldn’t find fault with her approach.
After staying on the mountain for a while to enjoy the view, Jiang Pengji jumped off the large rock.
“Let’s head back; it’s getting dark.”
As everyone descended the mountain, they had just reached halfway when Huang Song accidentally stepped on something and nearly tumbled down.
Jiang Pengji, quick-witted, yanked him back, startling Huang Song into a cold sweat.
“What did you step on?”
“Something underfoot—”
Huang Song stepped aside and discovered a segment of blackened bone revealed where he had stepped.
At first, Jiang Pengji didn’t pay it much mind, but as she looked down, she noticed a patch of green earth around the black bone.
She stood up and told the guards, “Dig it out.”
The guards dug deeply, taking a quarter of an hour to unearth the decapitated bones from the mud, alongside a mysterious seal.
Jiang Pengji was unconcerned about the bones; her focus was on the seal.
Huang Song took a look and said, “This seal is of excellent quality. Based on the carving and style, it seems to be from the early days of the Great Xia Dynasty.”
The Great Xia Dynasty unified the Central Plain, and neighboring small countries surrendered. It was a time of great economic prosperity, characterized by lavish lifestyles.
This trend influenced all trades, and many areas shared a hint of that era’s hedonism.
Even the talismans used commonly by Taoists were somewhat affected.
Jiang Pengji asked, “Early days of the Great Xia? Was Taoism flourishing then?”
This seal was of the same origin as the one Wei Ci carried, differing only in the seal script; otherwise, it looked like a clone.
Huang Song replied, “Though it wasn’t the state religion, it was far more favored than the Buddhist monks.”
Buddhism was an imported religion, not a native sect.
At its most powerful, the monks virtually shook the foundations of society.
When Buddhism first arrived, it faced challenges as it struggled to integrate; however, once it found its footing, it became unstoppable.
To escape taxes or conscription, commoners would often shave their heads and become monks. Even after becoming monks, their behavior was no different from ordinary laypeople.
They occupied vast tracts of fertile land to build temples without paying taxes, supporting legions of monk soldiers, and expending a fortune on statue constructions, severely impacting society. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, it was the height and darkest age of Buddhism.
After the establishment of the Great Xia, the founder, based on Prime Minister Huangfu’s advice, eradicated Buddhism, destroying countless temples, confiscating millions of acres of illegally occupied fertile land, and seizing tens of thousands of slaves. Those illegal monks and nuns without the proper texts were ordered to return to lay life. Furthermore, copper and gold statue materials were repurposed into currency or farming tools and weapons, establishing strict regulations concerning monastic life.
As a result, Buddhism declined, while Taoism rapidly rose with government support.
Of course, there were rumors that Prime Minister Huangfu had been a registered disciple of a Taoist temple in his youth, thus his special affinity for Taoism.
Thanks to Huang Song’s history lesson, not only Jiang Pengji understood, but the stowaway non-money viewers did too.
【Stowaway Non-Money】: Sounds a lot like the Three Wushuo clergy exterminating Buddhism, right?
【妖精女王的绯红】: I thought all monks were kind-faced… now I’m just confused.
【依依紫眸】: The monks in Huaguo’s history are pretty much like that too.
The audience debated animatedly, but Jiang Pengji’s gaze remained glued to the seal in her hand.
