Chapter 232: Chaos of War

Shaanxi was ravaged by warring chaos; turbulent currents surged beneath the world’s surface.

In August, Captain Yan Qianer, leader of the first squad under Bu Zhan Ni, led his forces into Chengcheng County, their blades pointing straight at Fengyuan Town.

Liang Shixian, Chengcheng County Magistrate, rallied the Village Militia from both Chengcheng County and Fengyuan Town to once more make a desperate stand at Fengyuan Town. This time, Liang Shixian was extremely well-prepared. Besides the five hundred plastic bows borrowed from Gaojia Village, they had also made several hundred proper bows themselves. Nearly a thousand militia members defended the walls, arrows raining down.

Then, Patrol Officer Fang Wushang led his troops to the fight, repelling Yan Qianer.

By September, the labor offenders in Gaojia Village had completed their sentences. They were all released from prison and began new lives. At the same time, the bandit Fan Shanyue, leader of the He Yang bandits, re-entered Chengcheng County and launched a major assault on Quangou Village. He was beaten back by the Quangou Village Militia and Patrol Officer Fang Wushang.

In October, the power of Yichuan’s Zuo Guazi had grown immense. He no longer hid his true identity, revealing his real name as Prince Shun, known in the Jianghu as Wang Zuogua. Leading an army of eight thousand, he swaggered through Yichuan County. Unfortunately, swaggering made it hard to see the road ahead, and he ran headlong into Hong Chengchou, Shaanxi Grain Transport Supervisor. Wang Zuogua’s forces were brutally beaten into submission by Hong Chengchou’s hired guards. Suffering a severe defeat, Wang Zuogua fled back into Huanglong Mountain once more, placing Bai Family Fortress back on high alert.

On the third day of the eleventh month, an imperial edict summoned the court officials to nominate cabinet members. Court ministers submitted names including Cheng Jiming, Left Vice Minister of Personnel, Qian Qianyi, Right Vice Minister of Rites, and others. Simultaneously nominated were eleven others: Zheng Yiwei, Li Pengfang, Sun Shenxing, He Ruchong, Xue Sanxing, Sheng Yihong, Luo Yuyi, Wang Yongguang, Cao Yubian, and so on. The Minister of Rites, Wen Tiren, and the Vice Minister of Rites, Zhou Yanru, were not nominated due to their lack of reputation. The grand factional strife of the late Ming Dynasty had officially begun…

In just these three and a half short months, the outside world had boiled into utter chaos.

But Gaojia Village remained enveloped in an atmosphere of peace and harmony – oh, no, perhaps “peaceful” wasn’t the right word. It should be described as: nervous.

In Refugee Valley, the farmers gazed at the cornfields they had painstakingly cultivated since breaking the land, their expressions a mixture of fear and anticipation!

The harvest time for the corn had arrived.

Li Daoxuan was actually a little nervous too. After all, he was a city kid, unable to distinguish the five grains and utterly clueless about agriculture. Though he had printed out the complete “Guide to Growing Corn from Zero” for Zhao Sheng, he had no idea if this guide was reliable or if it would yield results.

If it failed, causing the common people to waste immense effort and become heartbroken, disappointed, and sad, he, as the Deity, would not be happy either.

Now was the moment of truth.

Zhao Sheng walked nervously toward a patch of thick, lush corn stalks.

The corn stalks, standing as tall as a person, held up one plump ear of corn after another. However, they were still wrapped in green husks, hiding what lay inside.

Had this been a crop planted by the farmers themselves, someone would have already secretly peeled back the husks to peek within long ago. But this was “Celestial Food,” grown by “celestial methods,” and the Deity had decreed that they “must strictly follow the planting instructions written in the Celestial Book.”

The simple-hearted farmers dared not disobey the Deity’s will. They dared not peek, completely ignorant of what grew inside those spindle-shaped ears.

Only now, when the harvest time recorded in the “celestial prescription” had come, did they summon Zhao Sheng to personally reveal what this miraculous “Celestial Food” truly was.

Everyone’s breathing was heavy.

Even Li Daoxuan was sweating with tension.

With trembling hands, Zhao Sheng grabbed an ear of corn and gave it a mighty wrench…

A collective cheer went up! “He got it!”

“Yaaaaah!” Zhao Sheng let out a grunt. It hadn’t come off.

“……” The crowd fell silent.

Zhao Sheng strained again, roaring! “Wo ya ya ya!”

Still didn’t snap off.

“!!!” Everyone stared in disbelief.

Zhao Sheng gasped for breath, panting heavily. “Hu hu hu! Pulling this off… takes so much… strength! Doing farm work… is… this… tiring?” Puff puff puff… “Someone… help me…”

Everyone facepalmed at the same time, the sound of hands slapping faces echoing “slap!” all around.

Did you stupidly try to snap it off the wrong part? Why are you wrenching so hard on the corn stalk itself?

Finally, it was the Old Village Chief of Jiejia Valley who stepped forward. Though gaunt and lean, standing no taller than Zhao Sheng’s shoulder, he exuded a wiry strength. Grasping an ear of corn as though snapping a man’s neck, he gave it a sharp twist—crack—and broke it off.

All the farmers in Refugee Valley cheered together, “It’s off! Wonderful, it finally came off!”

Li Daoxuan couldn’t help but clench his fist: Whoohoo! It came off. Eh? Wait… no! It’s just one ear of corn off its stalk. What in blazes is there to cheer about? Darn Zhao Sheng, leading everyone astray.

The Old Village Chief stood dumbfounded, clutching the ear, utterly lost about what to do next. Only after several seconds did he remember to peel it open. Fumbling hurriedly, he finally stripped off the husk.

A golden-yellow ear lay unveiled before their eyes—each kernel plump, rounded, and glossy.

Everyone stared in stunned silence: “So… this was what we planted back in July. Its fruit grew clustered together, much like grains of rice or wheat grow on their ears.”

As this sunk in, a sudden realization struck them: “Good heavens! This crop bears such huge ears! How heavy must this be?”

The Jiejia Valley Village Chief hefted the ear, his expression one of disbelief. “This one alone weighs well over half a catty.”

“Heavens! Over half a catty for just one?”

“It has a core inside—that should be subtracted to weigh just the kernels.”

“Even after removing it, it’d still be close to half a catty.”

“Good heavens! This yield… it’s staggering.”

“If one ear is this heavy, how much could one acre produce?”

“Surely five hundred catties at the very least!”

They were familiar with wheat ears, yet those seemed minuscule beside this corn ear—utterly incomparable in scale.

The simple, hardworking farmers were shocked senseless by the terrifying yield potential of corn.

After a rigid pause, the villagers burst into ecstatic shouts: “Celestial Food! Incredible! The Celestial Food’s truly miraculous!”

“Here in the barren Loess Plateau, we’ve grown five hundred catties per acre. Gracious!”

“It’s not Celestial Food. It’s just an earthly crop brought to us from Xi’an by Brother Xing. It was only through the Deity’s celestial methods and celestial fertilizer that it grew so bountiful.”

“Ah, yes! Yes! The credit goes to those celestial methods and fertilizer!”

“Praise the Deity!”

“Blessings of the Deity!”

The farmers of Refugee Valley danced in unrestrained joy, their hearts brimming with elation.

Li Daoxuan also breathed a sigh of relief: Success! Wonderful. At last, the little people hadn’t toiled in vain. Armed with this planting experience, they could continually refine methods, remove pests diligently, and likely squeeze out even higher yields.

Of course, gains like that couldn’t be rushed.

Just as he thought this, specks of light began rising from the villagers of Refugee Valley, merging into the chest. Then, a blinding golden light erupted—the Rescue Index soared once more.

His field of vision expanded again. This time, however, the increase was monumental, for a great many farmers, their souls saved, had found joy and contentment in life at last.