Harvest and Insurance Fraud

With the harassment from the Gale Falcons gone, the twelve mu of spirit fields were quickly harvested under the efforts of the strong villagers.

Out of the twelve mu of spirit fields:

Ten mu were planted using the traditional farming method, yielding a total of 1131 jin.

Around 12 jin were lost due to the fight with the Gale Falcons; otherwise, the harvest should have been even greater.

The improved planting experimental zones, managed by teams eleven and twelve, One mu yielded 136 jin, and the other mu yielded 148 jin.

The yield per mu had undoubtedly increased significantly.

This seemed a bit exaggerated, but after Shen Changchuan integrated the increased harvest from the ten mu that didn't change their farming methods, he roughly understood the reason.

This was not surprising, for no other reason than diligence.

In the past, farming the spirit fields involved everyone, regardless of gender or age, being driven to work.

And the harvest obtained after hard work

had nothing to do with them.

Under these circumstances, the villagers' mindset was likely "good enough is good enough," with no initiative for positive change.

After all, there were no rewards for doing well, and conversely, they would be reprimanded for doing poorly. Any normal person knew how to choose.

After he, Shen Changchuan, arrived, and began to try new reforms, the output of the spirit fields became closely related to every villager.

As a result, the villagers became more diligent in planting spirit grain and took better care of the spirit grain.

This alone

led to a ten percent increase in the spirit fields' output.

In contrast, the thirty to forty percent increase in yield for teams eleven and twelve could be understood.

Shen Changchuan was very satisfied with the specific data he obtained.

When the spring plowing arrives next year, the planting experience of teams eleven and twelve will be promoted, and the increase in output will only be greater!

Moreover, Shen Changchuan could clearly feel

that there was still potential for further excavation and improvement.

"The Spirit Grain Planting Manual still has room for improvement."

"And now that I have slain the Crocodile Demon in the Great Bay River, next year, I can dig up the sediment formed by the combination of water and earth vein essence from the riverbed to use as fertilizer, and my harvest will be even greater!"

Reviewing the harvest after reaping the spirit grain, Shen Changchuan felt elated.

Even the fatigue accumulated from the previous battle with the Gale Falcons had dissipated significantly.

After all, although Great Bay Village was his main base, he had other sources of income outside.

For example, the two mu of spirit fields in Zhao Family Village belonged entirely to him.

And the contributions from the other six surrounding villages were also a substantial income.

Shen Changchuan calculated briefly.

Excluding the one thousand jin submitted to the Shen Family, plus the output from the two mu of spirit fields in Zhao Family Village, and the six to seven tenths contribution from the other six villages for a total of four mu of spirit fields, his harvest this season would be over eight to nine hundred jin!

Converted to spirit stones, that would be almost eighty to ninety pieces!

Although there were still some expenses to be paid from this.

For instance, bonuses and compensation for the people below, and payments to his maternal grandfather and eldest uncle, who had now become cultivators.

But those were minor expenses.

Even after deducting all expenses, Shen Changchuan's final income would not be less than seventy to eighty spirit stones!

This number made him gasp for a moment.

Don't think that because he obtained over a hundred spirit stones after killing the Four Fiends of Heshan, this harvest of seventy to eighty spirit stones is insignificant.

But the former was a one-time deal, and it also involved risking one's life, fighting enemies in challenges beyond one's level, where a slight mistake could lead to instant death.

But cultivating spirit fields, on the other hand, was a stable source of income every year! And it was two seasons a year. This continuous stream of income, both in terms of safety and actual value, far surpassed the former!

Such a huge harvest was something Shen Changchuan could never have imagined when he was at the Shen Family Manor!

"I wonder how far the internal struggles within the Shen Family have gone."

"But no matter how they fight, my decision to leave the Shen Family Manor and come to this borderland was the right one."

"If I had stayed at the Shen Family Manor, how could I have had an income of seventy to eighty spirit stones every six months like I do now?!"

Shen Changchuan was overjoyed, and couldn't help but feel very satisfied with his decision back then.

With such a large income of spirit stones, the next step would definitely be to use it to improve his cultivation. But how should he use it?

Shen Changchuan pondered in his mind, wondering what the merchant caravan in Wu Family Market had. However, his primary goal should be pills that could improve his cultivation speed. Having personally experienced the benefits of pills in improving cultivation speed, Shen Changchuan had advanced from the middle stage of Qi Gathering Fourth Level to Qi Gathering Fifth Level in just two months after taking a Qi Gathering Pill.

As for the pill toxicity mentioned by novelists, it was like saying it's a scam to only talk about the properties of medicinal ingredients without mentioning the dosage. As long as one didn't treat pills as food and ate one every few days, a cultivator's body could naturally digest and expel the imperceptible pill toxins during the cultivation process, so there was no need to worry too much.

And besides pills, he also needed to look into means to enhance himself, such as spells, magic items, and formations, especially things that could deal with Gale Falcons, which should be the focus. After all, those Gale Falcons were a big trouble for Great Bay Village.

If he was lucky enough to find inheritances for alchemists, artifact refiners, or formation masters, he could also consider them. Of course, this last point was a bit of wishful thinking. A craft was enough to become the foundation of a cultivator family's existence. A mere hundred or so spirit stones probably wouldn't even qualify him to smell its scent.

"So, does that mean I'm still just a pauper?"

He needed to spend spirit stones here, and he needed to spend spirit stones there. After a brief calculation, his budget was gone. Shen Changchuan couldn't help but let out a wry smile, which made him deeply realize the fact that he was still a pauper! Utterly pathetic!

Just as Shen Changchuan was taking stock of his assets and sighing in his heart.

Han Qinhu walked in with a few pages of paper recording something.

"Changchuan, there's something I think you should know."

Han Qinhu looked at Shen Changchuan, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke.

"What is it, Grandfather?"

"You are the person I trust the most, so please speak frankly."

Seeing Han Qinhu's reaction, Shen Changchuan felt a bit strange.

Han Qinhu did not answer. He handed the few sheets of paper in his hand to Shen Changchuan. Shen Changchuan curiously took them. They recorded some people's names, followed by their ages, families, and other detailed household registration information. Shen Changchuan was initially a little puzzled, but after looking for a while, his eyes suddenly sharpened, and he quickly flipped through the next two pages.

His brow furrowed at that moment.

"The first page lists five people. The first four were villagers who rushed forward during the spirit fields battle yesterday and were killed by Gale Falcons. The last one died of exhaustion this morning while harvesting the remaining spirit grain in the spirit fields."

Han Qinhu's voice was steady.

"The people on the second page are the six who died during the battle when the Crocodile Demon came ashore and we ambushed it."

"Among these people, some are already over fifty, others are disabled, and some are chronically ill. I checked the old records, and this situation has never happened before."

Han Qinhu explained in a low voice.

He didn't elaborate further.

In the air, the atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

"So, you're saying it's insurance fraud?"

After a long pause, Shen Changchuan said in a low voice.

"Insurance fraud?"

"Oh, you mean defrauding the family settlement fee."

"Then it is indeed insurance fraud."

Although Han Qinhu didn't understand how the "insurance" in Shen Changchuan's term "insurance fraud" was related to the family settlement fee, it didn't stop him from following along with what the other person said.

"Changchuan, I've actually wanted to talk to you about this for a long time. The compensation you set for the two villagers who were attacked and killed by the Crocodile Demon was too high."

"Ten catties of spirit grain, with a bit of luck, is enough for someone to embark on the path of cultivation. It's enough for someone to sell their life!"

"It was only because you announced the reform back then, stating that a portion of the increased yield would be used as rewards for them, giving them hope of obtaining spirit grain, that large-scale self-sacrifice didn't occur."

"But even so, those mortals who felt they had no further use in life and were a burden to their families didn't mind trading their broken bodies for the prosperity of their descendants."

Speaking of this, Han Qinhu's voice became somewhat murderous as he recalled those old, weak, disabled, and sick people who died for the sake of defrauding the system.

"These scumbags are just taking advantage of your youth and kindness."

"In my opinion, we should make an example of them, revoke the previous decision, and absolutely not give these fraudsters a single grain of spirit grain!"

Shen Changchuan remained silent.

A period of silence.

When he decided to compensate the two villagers who died at the jaws of the Crocodile Demon with ten catties of spirit grain, it was because he had proposed using the riverbed silt to fertilize and improve the yield of the spirit fields.

The other party had followed his suggestion and died in an accident.

In a sense, they could also be considered to have died because of his, Shen Changchuan's, mistake.

Having only been a transmigrator for two and a half years, he still carried the humanist values shaped by his previous life's industrial civilization, which made him feel guilty, and thus he decided to give them that compensation, which was extremely generous for mortals.

But the subsequent developments were something he hadn't anticipated.

After all, the Shen Changchuan before his transmigration was just an ordinary person.

Not a sage who planned everything, unable to foresee all possibilities.

"No, the compensation and family settlement fees for these people will be at the current standard."

Shen Changchuan closed his eyes, thinking for a long time.

After a quarter of an hour, he opened his eyes and said with a firm gaze.

Upon hearing this, Han Qinhu's expression became anxious, and he wanted to say something.

But Shen Changchuan raised his hand to stop him, as if explaining to himself, he said:

"The matter of family settlement fees was my oversight; it was my mistake."

"Although these people may have engaged in insurance fraud, they ultimately died because of the family settlement fees I proposed, and they lost their lives. Furthermore, they weren't entirely useless in the battle."

"Consider these contributions as the price for my mistake."

"Of course, starting today, anyone who dies on official village business will have their family settlement fee adjusted to 1 catty of spirit grain as compensation."

1 catty of spirit grain compensation, was already very low.

Moreover, if the reform is implemented next year, the portion exceeding one hundred catties per mu will be divided into a 70/30 split, No one else would dare to risk their lives for such a small settlement fee.

As for the expenditure of over ten spirit stones, he considered it a lesson learned from his mistake.

Alright, This lesson was quite painful to pay for, After all, it was an expenditure of over ten spirit stones.

But he had always believed, That making mistakes wasn't scary; correcting them was what mattered.

What was truly terrifying was not knowing you were wrong, Or worse, knowing you were wrong but refusing to change.

So, although Shen Changchuan felt a pang of regret, He simply filed away the lesson in his heart, without anger or resentment.

The expenditure of over ten spirit stones was a lesson and a warning to himself, To be more cautious in the future and consider things more carefully before making decisions.