The ice and snow on the ground melted. With a spring breeze, overnight, green shoots eagerly broke through everything pressing down on them and emerged. Moreover, they grew rapidly. In just another night, the emerald green turned into verdant green. Originally, yellow earth could still be seen, but in just a few days, looking around, everything was a sheet of green—the grass could already cover one’s toes.

The farmers immediately went to the fields to check the wheat seedlings. They saw the wheat seedlings verdant green with dewdrops hanging on the leaves, very pleasing to the eye.

The farmers became happy. Unable to care about anything else, they immediately shoveled up all the newly grown grass and pressed it into the soil to fertilize the wheat seedlings’ roots, while beginning to plow the fields in preparation for spring planting.

Zhao Hanzhang went to inspect the fields cultivated by the soldiers and was also very pleased. She immediately issued an order: throughout the nation, all labor service, military affairs, and ceremonial music activities must stop, with spring plowing as the priority.

No one was permitted to obstruct spring plowing.

The entire nation became bustling with activity for spring plowing. For this purpose, Zhao Hanzhang even brought the young Emperor to the suburbs to personally demonstrate plowing. She and the young Emperor both held the plow and walked two circles in the field, then had the officials below lead by example in doing a good job encouraging agriculture and sericulture.

At this time, state affairs became fewer. The number of official documents requiring Zhao Hanzhang’s review each day didn’t even reach twenty. The common people were busy, and the officials were also busy, with no time at all for other matters.

Zhao Hanzhang rolled up her sleeves, shouldered a hoe, and went with Fu Tinghan to their own estate to farm.

Mainly to fertilize the wheat and then begin plowing in preparation for planting wheat and beans.

Besides wheat, beans and rice were relatively important grains in the Central Plains area.

In the Luoyang region, they could plant winter wheat as well as spring wheat, soybeans, rice, and other crops.

Last autumn and winter, the amount of winter wheat planted in time wasn’t much, so this year the Luoyang area was widely sowing spring wheat.

Not only Luoyang was like this—Bingzhou, Jizhou, Qingzhou, and all areas affected by war were the same, not to mention Youzhou.

Youzhou was a disaster area. The main focus was all placed on this year’s spring planting. Not only did Zhao Hanzhang value it highly, Shi Lei also valued it highly.

Zhao Hanzhang personally went to the fields, from time to time inspecting the field edges in Luoyang, encouraging the people to cultivate. Shi Lei did the same.

He traveled between various commanderies and counties every day, occasionally checking whether some county’s seed grain had been distributed, or whether some area’s seed grain wasn’t enough, rushing to buy and send it down while still within the farming season.

Thus, Zhao Hanzhang received telegrams from Shi Lei every day—one in the morning and one in the evening.

Basically, in the evening he would complain to her about which area was short of seed grain and farming tools, where the people’s cultivatable land didn’t even reach one-tenth, yet Youzhou was impoverished with no money to buy seed grain, farming tools, etc., hoping the court could provide some support.

In the morning, a telegram would come urging her: “Can the matter we discussed last night be accomplished? When will the things arrive?”

Zhao Hanzhang could only reply to him, “Understood, understood. We’re working on it. Don’t rush me.”

It was difficult to write at length in telegrams, so she could only write him letters, telling him to think of solutions himself too. The national treasury was very poor. She had already given Youzhou special preferential treatment. What other places had, Youzhou had. What other places didn’t have, Youzhou also had.

Zhao Hanzhang told Shi Lei, “There are mines within Youzhou. Send people to search for them. Financial difficulties can be resolved.”

Now she had sent quite a few people out to search for mines. No matter what kind of mine, Dajin was currently lacking everything. The current Youzhou covered most of Hebei and Shanxi—the mineral resources there were considerable.

She planned to have people search first, then once the roads were built, products from Youzhou could be transported into the Central Plains, and things from the Central Plains could also enter Youzhou more quickly.

In comparison, Qingzhou and Guangzhou were much more self-reliant.

Since Zhao Kuan and Sun Lingxiu went to Qingzhou and Guangzhou, the two of them rarely complained to Zhao Hanzhang and rarely asked the court for things. They were very independent and self-reliant—two very good children.

Although they were well-behaved, Zhao Hanzhang still needed to write letters to show concern and inquire about the situation in both provinces.

Zhao Kuan hadn’t received the letter yet. He was currently leading a horse through the rain. Because the road was muddy and slippery, the entire group could only dismount and walk through the mud.

The rain was still falling. They didn’t dare take shelter under the trees—thunder rumbled, and thunder in early spring was rare.

“Commissioner, there’s an earth god temple ahead where we can temporarily take shelter from the rain.”

Hearing this, Zhao Kuan immediately quickened his pace. He accidentally fell, and his guards and attendants immediately came forward to help him, but their footing was unstable and they nearly fell on top of him.

Zhao Kuan supported his waist and struggled to get up from the ground, watching them nervously and quickly stopping them, “I can do it myself, I can do it myself. Don’t come over.”

After he got up from the ground and walked past this section of road, helping each other into the earth god temple, they searched for a long time before finding a slightly drier spot in the corner.

Outside, heavy rain was pouring down. Inside the temple, medium rain was pattering.

Zhao Kuan took off his rain cape and bamboo hat, shook off the water, and set them aside. His attendant quickly brought a handkerchief to wipe him dry. “Young master, this is spring rain. What if you get sick?”

Zhao Kuan stepped back and pulled him to the side to avoid being drenched by rainwater leaking from the roof. “I was wearing a hat. It’s fine.”

He looked at the road outside being washed by rain and becoming increasingly muddy, saying indignantly, “Someday I’m going to get this road built!”

The attendant said, “How much money would that cost?”

Zhao Kuan replied, “It’s just money, isn’t it? Once my people in Qingzhou finish spring plowing, I’ll have them continue making salt. Just from selling salt alone I can earn quite a bit of money. We’ll plant more mulberry and hemp, weave more cloth—money can always be earned.”

Zhao Kuan was full of confidence. “In a couple of years when the court builds the docks and there are more traveling merchants, I refuse to believe I won’t even be able to come up with money to build one road.”

Zhao Kuan stood in the rain looking forward to the future. He only continued on after the rain stopped, arriving at his destination when it was nearly dark.

The village elder came out to greet him with a look of astonishment. “Are you really our provincial governor?”

Zhao Kuan said, “Didn’t you see the official seal? I heard you fought over land? Now there’s plenty of land. Didn’t each of your families receive a full allotment? How can you still fight over land?”

The village elder perked up when he heard this and said, “Commissioner, we did receive full allotments, but there’s the next generation to think about! Our village has had twelve new couples in the past six months. Three families now have pregnant daughters-in-law, and they’ll probably add children this autumn. When there are children, won’t we need to divide land? That plot is close to our village, so it should naturally be divided to our village. In the future, children in our village can get their share from that land.”

Zhao Kuan said, “Children can only receive land after they come of age. That’s still sixteen years away. You’re thinking a bit too far ahead, aren’t you?”

“Not far, not far at all! Our village has children attending the academy in the county seat. They came back saying something about… what was it… if people don’t consider the long term, troubles will definitely come knocking.”

Zhao Kuan said, “…Without long-term considerations, one will have immediate worries.”

“Right, right, right! That’s the saying! Commissioner, could you please tell the county office to divide that land to our village?”

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