Population is indispensable for a developing force.

And the ones Wei Qing recruited were those who had no stable means of living, as well as able-bodied men and women, along with their families.

Adding the more than seven hundred Qingzhou Army, Wei Qing and his group brought a total of over four thousand people.

These people weren't forcibly taken by Wei Qing; they followed voluntarily.

It was all thanks to Yang Minggui's deeds.

To construct the Celestial King Hall, even in the middle of winter, they were rushing the work, capturing able-bodied men everywhere, and the surrounding people were lamenting.

Their lives were already difficult, and with this added burden, everyone was in danger. Now that there was a place that could protect them, where would they dare to stay any longer in the original place?

As for these more than four thousand people, Qingtian County could completely accommodate them.

There were many idle fields outside Qingtian County. Before winter, Geng Songfu once led people to dig channels on a small scale and introduced water from Dadong Lake, which could irrigate hundreds of qing.

In spring, we can dig channels on a larger scale.

Of course, these fields certainly cannot be distributed to those who contributed nothing to the development of the two counties.

Currently, there are only two ways to obtain land.

The first is joining the army. The military household system has been implemented, and land can be distributed.

The second is paying money to the government office to buy idle land, with a set limit on how many mu one can purchase.

But for those with no means of living, it was clearly infeasible.

So, after pondering for a while, Geng Songfu proposed a suggestion: "Marshal Chen, we can let them open up wasteland. During the autumn harvest, I once led people to re-measure the fields in Ping Court and found many barren lands. We can completely open up these barren lands and turn them into fertile fields.

The specific method is to let them cultivate the wasteland, and the cultivated land will belong to them, but with a set limit on how much each person can cultivate."

"This method is good, but currently, the work and houses in the two counties are already saturated. Even if we help them through this winter, where would they get the money to buy tools for reclamation? Later, there will be seedlings and other places needing money; we can't expect the government office to provide all the aid. With so many people, the government office can't handle it."

Geng Songfu stroked his white beard and said, "Have you ever heard of the Cyan Yang New Technique?"

As a scholar, Chen Mo naturally knew that this was the Green Seed Technique from the Otherworld, implemented during Emperor Zhong of Song's Cyan Yang period, and abolished during Emperor Jing of Song's reign.

This method involves converting stored grain into cash and lending it to the people at an interest rate of two percent. When borrowing, five or ten households must form a guarantee, with wealthy households as guarantors. Spring supplies must be borrowed by January 30th and autumn supplies by May 30th, repaid with interest during the two tax collections in May and October, respectively.

The purpose of this law is good; it can curb land annexation, and aid the people during times of scarcity. If successful, it can achieve the effect of "not increasing people's burden while ensuring national use," ultimately achieving a strong army and prosperous people.

But the flaws lay in its implementation, such as some citizens not needing loans, but local officials forcibly requiring them to borrow, arbitrarily raising interest rates, and for officials to seek merit, they imposed numerous extortions, leaving people suffering.

Thus, the Cyan Yang New Technique became high-interest lending and usurious taxation by the government, implemented for over a hundred years, and due to the inconvenient guarantee method, it was eventually stopped by Emperor Jing of Song.

"Didn't it prove to be unfeasible? Why mention it?" Zhao Daoxian asked.

"The failure of the Cyan Yang New Technique was less because of the method itself and more due to those who implemented it and local economics. When I worked at the Supreme Court, I saw many case files proving that the technique had a positive impact in many Jiangnan areas, achieving the intended purpose. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been implemented for over a century.

These successful implementations occurred in places with relatively competent officials who only imposed and urged payments for their own merit." Geng Songfu explained slowly.

Zhao Daoxian didn't quite understand what Geng Songfu meant.

Chen Mo had some insight and said, "The scope of the country is too vast, officials vary greatly, and there are differences in local economic development, negatively impacting the Cyan Yang New Technique's execution. Such a large scale is not conducive to supervision.

Yet, we only need to care for two counties, totaling less than a hundred thousand people, we can supervise it tightly, and based on the lessons from past failures, adjust related management systems. At the very least, in current circumstances, it is very useful."

Geng Songfu's eyes lit up, and he said, "Marshal Chen is right, the Cyan Yang New Technique can resolve the current dilemma, and as for whether to stop it later, we can discuss it then."

Thus, this method was established.

At Chen Mo's request, it was renamed the Green Seed Technique.

...

January 15th.

After the Loyalist Army's night raid on January 1st, Lu Sheng was defeated and fled. Today, the Loyalist Army occupied the entire territory of Hedong and once again threatened the Heaven-Suppressing Gate.

If the first time the Loyalist Army threatened Heaven-Suppressing Gate, there were forces optimistic about Xu Guozhong.

The second time they threatened it, those who had been on the fence immediately realized that Xu Guozhong's doom was imminent, and hesitated no more, joining the Loyalist Army.

As a result, those in Xu Guozhong's "pseudo-court" became anxious, and those who originally sided with Xu Guozhong began secretly contacting the Loyalist Army, intending to "surrender."

Just when everyone thought Xu Guozhong would sit and wait for death, the Capital City of Celestial River issued a public announcement to the world.

Luo Guang, leader of the Celestial Master Army, was appointed as the Grand General of Pinghuai, conferred the title of An Country Pavilion Marquis, and his confidants and commanders were sequentially appointed as Left and Right Generals, Central Langjun, and so forth.

All these positions were stamped with the Emperor's Seal.

In other words, the once infamously notorious Celestial Master's Rebel Army transformed into the Official Army overnight, legitimized.

As soon as this announcement was released, places like Hedong and West River were in an uproar.

Anyone could see that these imperial decrees were not from the Emperor but were Xu Guozhong's deeds behind the scenes.

Upon receiving this news, Prince Huai immediately announced to the world that these decrees were false, and he did not recognize even one, condemning Xu Guozhong's crimes again and claiming that the other party was coercing the Emperor.

Subsequently, officials and royal relatives such as King Chong, King Ming, King Ning, and noble families, all refused to recognize the decrees.

Xu Guozhong didn't expect them to acknowledge it anyway because, from a legal perspective, he held righteousness, with the Emperor at his side. The Loyalist Army was the treacherous ministers and rebels.

Of course, Xu Guozhong didn't appoint them for nothing; the announcement stated that the Celestial Master Army was ordered to suppress the Loyalist Army, allowing Luo Guang to act at his discretion.

...

Qingzhou, Ping Court.

Chen Mo was still unaware that he had transformed into a court martial general.

In the silent study, Chen Mo sat cross-legged on the floor, working on a breakthrough. He had instructed Sun Meng that no matter what major event occurred, no one should disturb him in the study.

Boom!

A vast, cooling stream of energy appeared, larger than any previous instance, flooding into his body like a torrent.

Within.

Countless realizations exploded in his mind like fireworks.

In the Dantian, the purple solar orb became incredibly substantial, almost tangible, while the ocean below it roared like a furious sea.

Without.

The same overwhelming, hot aura felt like fuel, refining the viscera inside. Chen Mo's heart beat powerfully in his chest, its sound growing louder and eventually resonating throughout the entire study, as if ready to explode.

During this process, the power residing in his flesh seemed to be sublimated to a higher form of extraordinary energy.

Fourth Grade, named Transcendence.

Chen Mo opened the system panel.

[Name: Chen Mo.]

[Age: 17.]

[Cultivation Technique: Purple Sun Transformation Skill (Mastery 0/50000).]

[Realm: Transcendence (Fourth Grade).]

[Power: 1221.]

[Skills: Great Sun Qi Slash (Basic 2599935/5000000), Cloud-Chasing Arrow (Advanced 143582/200000).]

Chen Mo clenched his fist, his eyes shining brightly.

How much did Liang Song have again?

If he remembered correctly, it was around 1071.

He surpassed him by over a hundred.

Not counting the additional power.

Adding the power bonus from wielding a blade, which was 72, it approached 1300.

Remember, Liang Song wasn't an ordinary Fourth-Grade Martial Artist. He was from the prominent Liang Family, where the cultivated techniques and martial arts were top-tier.

This illustrated the strength of Solar Purple Qi.

At this moment, Chen Mo felt as if he held the world.

Liang Song was only 1071, could Yang Minggui, who came from a bandit background, be stronger than Liang Song?

This meant his strength was the greatest in the vast Qingzhou. How could this not be pleasing?

Of course, Chen Mo did not let this make him complacent.

To secure a position in the world, Fourth Grade was still not enough.

The Upper Three Grades were his target.

"If someone asks next time, should I claim to be Fifth Grade..."

Chen Mo hummed a little tune and walked out of the study.

...

The Factory.

The expansion work was completed.

The festive joy of spring had passed, and the craftsmen in Soldier Square were working hard in three shifts.

Additionally, the colors of the Three Guards' uniforms began to be standardized.

Previously, the Three Guards wore variously colored uniforms.

The battle armor styles were also varied.

There were Step Armor and Leather Armor from the Qingzhou Army, seized Leather Armor from the Defense Army, Iron Armor from the Yu State Army, as well as battle armor seized by the Celestial Master Army from various counties in the Northern Land, and handmade Bamboo Armor from the villages.

While Chen Mo couldn't standardize the styles at the moment, since these battle armors were still needed, he could at least standardize the colors.

In Chen Mo's vision, the Divine Brave Guard's uniform should be gold and red.

The Divine Martial Guard's should be black.

The Xianzhen Guard's would use a dirt yellow.

Besides this, the Xianzhen Guard's military flag was already completed.

The halted nitrate plant also resumed operations.

Previously, the plant had stopped due to running out of nitrate, and Chen Mo hadn't found a nitrate mine.

This time, although Chen Mo still hadn't found a nitrate mine, the accumulated urine over the past few months was sufficient.

He returned to the old method, extracting nitrate from urine.

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