Good News
Jiang Youfu, on the other hand, was busy practicing his skills while also honing his culinary craft.
With their small portion of the spoils from that mountain stronghold, the sect was able to eat meat almost every day.
Liu Yunan meticulously calculated the accounts, setting aside most of the money for future use by the sect, while the grain was to be used as the sect's current rations.
Seven or eight days ago, the village had already carried out a round of crop harvesting.
It is now the Grain in Ear season, the time when the second round of crops begins to be planted.
Every household in Xiushui Village was busy in the fields. Despite the torrential rain that lasted for many days, the fields in Xiushui Village did not seem to be greatly affected, and the crops were very plump. The villagers of Xiushui Village were very happy.
However, many villages in the surrounding Ten-Li were not so lucky. Many villages were affected by the rainstorm to varying degrees, and their grain harvests were reduced to some extent. Fortunately, the county immediately announced tax reductions for the disaster-stricken areas.
The people, who had been somewhat confused, breathed a sigh of relief.
This time, not only did Xiushui Village not suffer a reduction in yield, but thanks to the abundant rainfall around Xiaoman (the 8th solar term), the crops ripened well and the grain production actually increased slightly. This has led the villagers of Xiushui Village to boast to others in the surrounding villages during their busy farming season.
For a time, many people in the nearby villages felt that Xiushui Village seemed to have really good feng shui, and many villagers who were not from prominent families even considered moving to Xiushui Village.
It's that time of year again for busy farming.
The Lingxian Sect was no exception.
The spirit grains planted in the spirit fields have ripened in the past few days and have been harvested by the combined efforts of everyone in the sect.
Because there weren't many initial seeds, Lin Dayou strongly restricted the harvested spirit grains, preventing them from eating any of them and forcing them to be used as seeds!
There's no way around it; we haven't harvested much spirit grain in total. If we cook a meal for this large group of people now, it will be too difficult to grow enough spirit grain to eat as soon as possible.
So the members of the sect, who had been craving the alluring aroma of Linggu Valley, had no choice but to satisfy their cravings with the food prepared by Jiang Youfu.
As for the newly joined Mo Yuanjiao and Mo Que, they hadn't tasted the Spirit Valley yet, but seeing everyone's eager expressions, they also began to look forward to it.
Under Lin Dayou's leadership, the Lingxian Sect's farming endeavors unfolded vigorously, with everyone actively participating in the fields to cultivate and sow seeds, awaiting the autumn harvest.
A few days later, on a scorching afternoon, several bailiffs riding tall horses, followed by a group of villagers, approached Xiushui Village with gongs and drums.
"Hey! Old Hu! The constable's come to your village with good news!"
A middle-aged villager following behind the constable's horse shouted at a person under Dashu at the entrance of Xiushui Village.
The villagers of Xiushui Village, chatting idly under the Dashu, were puzzled. Why was this constable coming to their village to deliver good news? What good news could he have?
Look at that tall horse, adorned with a festive red flower!
Some of the younger, more clever ones had already run off to find the village chief and the clan elders.
The remaining villagers gathered around, following the horse at a distance as it walked into the village.
The bailiff on horseback struck the gong in his hand, but dared not strike it too loudly, lest he frighten the horse beneath him.
This horse was borrowed from the county magistrate and the inspector; it would be quite a shock if it got too scared.
Moreover, they usually ride ponies, and this is the first time they've ridden such tall horses. It wouldn't do if they fell off.
But there was no other way, because this was the first time in decades that their county had produced a top scholar in the provincial examination, and the county magistrate said that the celebration of the good news had to be grand.
It was only the servants who had never ridden such tall and majestic horses who suffered.
But what can they do?
We can only be careful.
The men sat upright on their horses, their foreheads covered in large beads of sweat that rolled down into their collars as the sun shone through.
So the villagers from Xiushui Village who came to watch after hearing the news, as well as the villagers from nearby villages who had met them on the way, watched as these bailiffs, draped in red silk and adorned with large red flowers, were sweating profusely, raising their gongs high and striking them very gently.
They stopped when they reached the open space in the village where the village chief usually announced news and held meetings.
Village chief Du Liushui also rushed over at this moment, bowing to the constables and saying:
"I was unaware of your presence, officers. Please forgive my lack of proper welcome."
"Village Chief, don't be so polite!" the constables on horseback quickly said. Then, one by one, the constables awkwardly and very carefully climbed down from their horses.
The leader dismounted, steadied himself, wiped the sweat from his brow, flicked it to the ground, and pulled a piece of paper tied with a red ribbon from his pocket. He then said to Village Chief Du:
"Village chief, we've come to announce some great news for your village! Quickly, call all the villagers who are free over here so we can tell you!"
So the village chief quickly sent people to call out all the villagers who were hiding in their homes from the sun.
Once the villagers had surrounded them in layers, they cleared their throats and called out loudly:
"Today, a man named Sun Yigao from Xiushui Village, Emerald Peak Town, Anqun County Xiushui Village, has achieved the top rank in the provincial examination of the ninth year of the Longchu Hufang Province! To reward the outstanding people and abundant resources of Xiushui Village, the County Magistrate has specially exempted Xiushui Village from miscellaneous taxes this year."
Upon hearing the first part, many villagers didn't understand what it meant. It sounded like the young man from the Sun Household had gotten the top score in some exam, but they had no idea.
But they understood the second half of the sentence all too well!
Exempt this year's miscellaneous taxes!
Although the miscellaneous taxes were exempted, they still had to pay the regular taxes. For the impoverished Xiushui Village, the miscellaneous taxes were a considerable expense!
In this way, even if no one knew how well Sun Yigao had done on the exam at first, when they heard that the county magistrate had exempted them from all the miscellaneous taxes this year, they assumed that he must have done very well, which was why he was able to exempt the entire village from miscellaneous taxes as well!
So, under the blazing early summer sun, the villagers cheered in unison from the bottom of their hearts.
At this moment, many villagers suddenly realized that reading might actually be quite useful.
Sun Yigao was a good student, and he alone could exempt the entire village from miscellaneous taxes. Those who were less academically gifted wouldn't even be able to exempt an entire village; exempting just one household would be quite an achievement.
The people who were busy farming on the mountain had already heard the commotion in the village below and rushed down to watch.
Unexpectedly, I heard the good news that Sun Yigao had topped the college entrance examination.
Lin Xiao was also very happy.
Although passing the provincial examination only grants him the title of Xiucai (a lower-level scholar), he is still the top Xiucai in this year's examination.
Lin Xiao believed that with Sun Yigao's talent, he would surely succeed in the provincial and metropolitan examinations.