From Chen County to Luoyang wasn’t far. If Zhao Hanzhang led soldiers on fast horses, they could arrive in two days, but because many people were returning this time, the speed was much slower.

As an aside, Zhao Hu, who had been proudly refusing to show Zhao Hanzhang a pleasant face, still silently followed along after seeing that both his son and grandson were going to Luoyang with Zhao Hanzhang.

Slower speed had its advantages—they could appreciate countless landscapes along the way.

Zhao Hanzhang spent half her time in the carriage handling government affairs or discussing the future construction of Luoyang and Yuzhou with Fu Tinghan, Wei Jie, Zhao Cheng, and others. The other half she spent riding ahead on horseback, viewing the scenery or inspecting the farming conditions along the route.

On the road from Chen County to Luoyang, vast stretches of farmland lay empty. The population was sparse—one had to travel a long time before seeing signs of human habitation, scattered sparsely across the fields.

Zhao Hanzhang reined in her horse, sitting atop it and gazing into the distance.

Fu Tinghan fell back a step behind her, also reining in his horse. Raising his eyes to look, he said, “The location of the land they’ve chosen is very ordinary. Look at that plot—it has ditches connected to the river channel, and the ditch is right beside it. Generally speaking, such farmland shouldn’t be poor, yet it’s overgrown with weeds and no one is cultivating it.”

Zhao Hanzhang dismounted, handed her horse to Ting He, and led Fu Tinghan down to inspect.

Walking into the field, she pushed aside the wild grass. Beneath was gray soil. She grabbed the grass and pulled—it came out very easily. The soil was loose. She shook it, and the gray earth fell away in a rustle. Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help praising, “Good land!”

Zhao Hu, who had rarely been riding for leisure, stood by the road watching for a while, then descended with his attendant’s help to see what was happening.

With one glance at the grass in Zhao Hanzhang’s hand, then looking down at the soil quality, his eyes immediately lit up. He said to Zhao Hanzhang, “This plot is excellent. I’ll buy it!”

Zhao Hanzhang casually tossed the grass aside and asked, “Does Seventh Grand-Uncle have people who can cultivate it?”

Zhao Hu looked around and pointed at people wielding hoes in the distance. “Aren’t those people right there? I’ll buy them and have them farm for me. Surely they won’t refuse?”

Zhao Hanzhang snorted lightly, picked up her riding whip, and walked toward those farmers.

Zhao Hu immediately followed, while walking he took time to look at the ground beneath his feet, occasionally commenting, “This plot is a bit inferior, but it’s also near the water channel—counts as medium-grade farmland. This one’s good—plant wheat here and the harvest will definitely be excellent… This one’s a bit far from water, but it could be used to plant beans. Plant a season of rice first, then the second year it can be planted with millet…”

By the time they approached the farmers who were cultivating, Zhao Hu had made up his mind. “Sell me this entire area. By the way, is this your territory?”

Zhao Hanzhang only glanced at him once.

Zhao Hu understood and happily followed behind her. “Sell it to me. I can buy this entire area.”

There was a river channel here, and ditches too. Although the ditches had considerable silt and were overgrown with weeds, with a little cleaning they could be used.

With a water network covering the area, as long as they didn’t encounter major disasters, even under slight drought or flood conditions, harvests could be guaranteed.

Good land!

The more he thought about it, the more Zhao Hu wanted to buy.

However, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t answer him. She found the farmers who were cultivating.

Seeing so many people walking toward him, the man couldn’t help gripping his hoe tightly. Farmers working not far away saw this and ran over carrying their hoes, puffing out their chests yet looking timid, staring at them with frightened eyes.

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t understand how they managed such a show of bravado while being so obviously afraid. She stopped and raised her hands in salute. “Brothers, we’re passing through here and are rather thirsty. I wonder if you have any water?”

The farmers didn’t relax, directly pointing at the distant river channel. “There’s water right there. Just draw from there. You just crossed over the ditch—there should be water in there too.”

Zhao Hanzhang: “…That’s raw water.”

The farmers couldn’t help saying, “What we brought is also raw water. It’s not cold yet at this time—why waste firewood boiling water?”

“But raw water is unclean. Drinking it easily causes illness,” Zhao Hanzhang frowned slightly. “Have you always been drinking raw water? I remember the county office should have publicized that boiled water should be consumed.”

The farmers relaxed somewhat. Someone said “Hey” and replied, “The county office just says it, we just listen. How did you take it seriously?”

Zhao Hanzhang: …This was a policy she had issued. If she didn’t take it seriously, who else would?

Fu Tinghan couldn’t help lowering his head with a smile. After Zhao Hanzhang glared at him, he restrained his smile, raised his head, and said, “Is the raw water you use also river water?”

“Yes, we draw everything we use for eating and drinking from the river.”

Only then did Zhao Hanzhang speak again. “Don’t you have wells?”

“Hey, river water, well water—isn’t it all water?” he said. “It’s already good to have water to drink. Two years ago this area was in drought—even muddy water was hard to come by. Now the river water is so clear, what’s there to complain about?”

Zhao Hanzhang fell silent. After a long while she said, “Nowadays there’s firewood and straw everywhere in the wild. If you have children at home, you can have them boil water. It doesn’t take much effort. Raw water contains algae and often breeds parasites. Drinking it like this easily causes abdominal pain. If internal ailments develop, the body becomes vulnerable to external factors, and illnesses like colds also become easier to catch.”

The farmers were stunned. Seeing her earnest advice, they also became serious. “Miss, it’s not that we’re unwilling, but the children also have work to do. From the moment they open their eyes they can’t stop. Where would they have time to boil water?”

He said, “Now that it’s getting cold, we haven’t even prepared much firewood for winter. How dare we waste more wood boiling water? When it gets colder, we definitely won’t drink raw water then.”

The other two farmers were more direct: “We have no children at home.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “How many people are in your households?”

The farmers were very guarded and unwilling to easily reveal their information.

Zhao Hu on the side interjected, “Are there many able-bodied adults in your families? How many can cultivate? Are your teeth still good? How’s your stamina? If I buy you, besides rations, what other requirements do you have?”

Zhao Hanzhang turned to glare at him, but what surprised her even more was that several farmers immediately became excited, yet quickly looked at Zhao Hu with worry and asked cautiously, “Is the master buying people? But what would you buy people to do?”

Zhao Hu said irritably, “Besides farming, what else can you do?”

“We can’t do anything else, we can only farm.” The farmers considered for a moment, then said, “But how much annual rations are given? Are they given monthly or quarterly? Do they come directly from the land, or from the household?”

And so they seriously began discussing the business of buying and selling people right in front of her.

Zhao Hanzhang simply stood to the side listening.

Zhao Hu wasn’t a fool either. He had two methods for buying people. One was a living contract, buying just a few years—he preferred to call this “long-term labor.”

He wouldn’t pay a buyout price. Grain and money were given monthly. Each month he would assess their work efficiency. If suitable, he’d continue. If not, he would either dismiss them or throw them to dig river mud. Try daring to disobey.

The second type was a death contract, directly buying someone’s life. Generally, in this type of transaction, the person still had close relatives outside, and the money and grain from the sale went to those relatives.

Since it was a death contract, naturally there was no such thing as wages. Each month a certain amount of grain was given—just enough not to starve to death. The rest depended on what else they could do during farming off-seasons, which might make their days slightly better.

Zhao Hanzhang found his terms harsh just listening, but the farmers seriously thought it over, asking repeatedly, “Can the master truly give one dou of grain per month?”

Zhao Hanzhang thought, what could one dou of grain accomplish?

Zhao Hu nodded proudly.

Several farmers were all tempted and then withdrew to one side to discuss.

Zhao Hanzhang had sharp ears. While listening to their discussion, she asked Zhao Hu, “Are these terms very good?”

Zhao Hu said, “So-so. Although I haven’t treated them exceptionally well, I haven’t mistreated them either.”

Zhao Hanzhang frowned. “One dou of grain per month isn’t even enough to feel half full.”

Zhao Hu looked at her curiously and frowned. “How many people in this world can be half full now? One dou of grain per month isn’t little. Mix it with vegetables to make vegetable cakes, and not starving to death is already quite good.”

He said, “Do you know how many people are starving to death outside each day now?”

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him. “Seventh Grand-Uncle actually knows.”

Zhao Hu laughed heartily. “I’m not one of those scholars who knows nothing of worldly affairs. My merchant caravans travel everywhere. How would I not know?”

Zhao Hanzhang suddenly felt deeply sorrowful, forcing the corners of her mouth to twitch. “Scholars who know of worldly affairs have no heart to save the nation. Those with hearts to save the nation don’t know worldly affairs and are unwilling to lower themselves to learn. This world is truly lamentable.”

Zhao Hu was stunned for a moment, then said, “You needn’t say this to me—you should say it to Wang Yan.”

After speaking, Zhao Hu reacted. “Oh, Wang Yan is dead. Now you and Gou Xi hold power.”

Zhao Hanzhang’s face darkened. “Can you change your wording?”

“Fine, you’re a good official. Yuzhou is fortunate to have you. The detestable ones are people like Gou Xi.”

This praise was clearly insincere. Zhao Hanzhang felt no happiness whatsoever. Those farmers had also finished discussing. Even having made their decisions, each person’s face still showed hesitation and difficulty. Clearly they didn’t know if their decisions were correct.

Because her hearing was too good and she already knew their respective decisions, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t wait for them to speak. She asked directly, “Can you not survive by farming yourselves?”

The one who spoke was the farmer who had decided to refuse Zhao Hu and continue as a commoner. Sighing, he said, “Currently my family has five dou of wheat and half a shi of beans. Mixed with vegetable cakes, we should be able to survive until March or April next year, but I don’t know what next year’s situation will be.”

“Selling oneself might be a way out.”

Another farmer who had decided to sell himself said, “But the master must also be good. Otherwise, if driven day and night, we might not even survive this winter.”

Death contracts meant life and death were in the master’s hands.

Both looked at Zhao Hu with worry and trepidation.

Zhao Hanzhang sighed. Clearly, those selling themselves were anxious, not knowing if selling themselves was right. Those deciding to remain commoners were also hesitant, uncertain if their persistence was correct. So both doubted their own choices.

She raised her hand to stop what Zhao Hu was about to say and cut straight to the point, pointing to the good farmland by the ditch. “Those plots are also ownerless wasteland, right? Why don’t you cultivate those but choose the land here instead?”