Outside the City

If you leave the secret place where the Holy Mother of Wudang is located and head west along the desolate mountains and ridges, you will reach the outer area of Chang'an City, which is the slums.

This is the area that Zhang Xuezhou believes is more suitable for the people of Zhang Household Village to live in.

Even if the Chang'an City is chaotic and rife with dark secrets, it is still right under the emperor's nose, making it unlikely that any major upheavals will occur.

As long as they live here, even if the King of Huainan's men discover the people of Zhang Household Village, they will have to abide by the rules, and it will be difficult for them to easily take away hundreds of people at once.

The Chang'an City borders the Jing River and the Wei River, possessing certain water conservancy conditions, making it a good place for reclamation and survival.

Once you get through the months of sowing and harvesting, the hardest days will be over.

Zhang Xuezhou was on official business at the time, and he didn't dare to make a scene by searching for people from Zhang Household Village.

After leaving the secret place of the Holy Mother of Wudang, Zhang Xuezhou tidied up a bit before traversing the mountains.

"A field that yields ten bushels per mu is considered fertile land!"

How could there possibly be a plot of fertile land yielding ten bushels of grain in this world?

"As long as you work hard, you'll definitely succeed!"

In folk tradition, "hu" and "shi" are the same unit. Ordinary fields yield three shi per mu, while fertile fields can yield four to five shi in good years.

To achieve 10 bushels per acre, the yield would need to be tripled for ordinary land and doubled for fertile land.

The standards for this fertile land are so high that many farmers find it hard to believe.

"We work from sunrise to sunset, putting in the utmost care for our fields, but we've never seen such productive farmland!"

"Good land first needs good seeds; good seeds are the foundation of a bumper harvest. Without this foundation, no matter how hard you try, it's difficult to increase yields. It's like having a sprained leg—no matter how hard you run, you can't go far!"

"This seed..."

"We don't sell seeds, we're just explaining the reasons behind it!"

If someone in the fields is teaching farming skills, there's a 70-80% chance they're from the agricultural sect.

Few members of the Agricultural Clan come to Chang'an City, so it's not hard to guess who the remaining people are.

When Zhang Xuezhou re-entered this slum Chang'an City, he saw Xu Ji, who was talking eloquently, with Xu Yuan by his side, and many farmers around them.

Xu Yuan hastily started farming last year, but the harvest was still gratifying. He also frequently taught farming skills, accumulating a considerable reputation outside the city.

When the elderly Xu Ji arrived, many people listened and learned with great care.

"We're not here to do business!"

Xu Yuan chimed in.

"Ge Sanhao Grain and Material Store" had a lot of millet seeds stored up. This was originally a business to sell for money. Although it wouldn't make a fortune, it was enough to support a family.

But human plans can't keep up with changes.

When Xu Yuan returned, a large group of Zhang Xuezhou and his poor relatives arrived, numbering over a hundred, waiting to cultivate the land and make a living.

With so many mouths to feed and drink, settling down in peace is not an easy task.

Farming is a long-term strategy, and these seeds were also used on the newly reclaimed land by the people of Zhang Household Village.

The people of Zhang Household Village are skilled hunters, but when it comes to farming, they rely entirely on the weather. They only care about sowing seeds and don't care about the process. When it comes to the autumn harvest, it's purely a matter of luck. Very few crops can survive in the fields of Zhang Household Village.

This forced Xu Yuan and others to patiently teach and even demonstrate again and again.

Many people from Zhang Household Village, as well as many farmers who came to learn from them, surrounded Xu Ji and Xu Yuan.

Zhang Xuezhou waved to Xu Yuan, and when Xu Yuan noticed, he excitedly pushed through the crowd and rushed over.

"Brother Zhang!"

"You've grown quite a bit taller in the past six months!"

Xu Yuan exclaimed, and Zhang Xuezhou also looked Xu Yuan up and down.

Compared to when he left, Xu Yuan was much more muscular and looked much stronger.

This wasn't just about physical development; Xu Yuan's cultivation level was also improving.

With the help of the Origin-Nurturing Pill given by Zhang Xuezhou, Xu Yuan's cultivation level has the potential to accumulate resources in the first three realms, and he is currently at the Body Control Realm level.

Although Technique Method at this level are still cultivating their inner energy channels and thus find it difficult to manifest their Law Power outwards, their bodies possess the basic ability to resist Technique Method, curses, and extreme temperatures. Their physical abilities far surpass those of ordinary people, and some minor Technique Method are quite useful.

Xu Yuan has changed drastically, which is perhaps an important factor in Xu Ji's willingness to come to Chang'an City.

"Grandpa Xu seems to be in good health," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Thanks to Brother Zhang's generous donation, my grandfather was less burdened by the journey and his health even improved somewhat," Xu Yuan said, bowing in gratitude.

"Your grandfather's illness isn't a big problem!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

As long as Xu Ji's body can endure it, the Supreme Purity True Technique will heal Xu Ji's internal and external injuries.

It takes a period of adjustment before this procedure is suitable for elderly people.

Zhang Xuezhou explained the cause and effect, which made Xu Yuan nod repeatedly.

"Have you seen the baby added?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"Brother Rong said he had urgent business to attend to, and after handing over many things to us, he rode off to Huainan," Xu Yuan said. "He must have gone to look for you!"

"Um!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

He left a letter at the post station, Rong Tianding should return to Chang'an City after receiving the letter.

Two months have passed since the Zhang Household Village family fled Huainan, Rong Tianding will most likely return during this time.

"Did you see someone Zhang Cigong?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"I saw him," Xu Yuan nodded. "We had too many people here, and we couldn't get rid of the horses, so he led them to find some princess from the King of Huainan's Household to see if he could get some rewards to help everyone. But he hasn't been back for a while!"

"His solution is good!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

Aside from slaughtering some horses along the way to use as food, horses from Shouchun City would be subject to inspections no matter which city they entered or left, especially if they were of a certain size or number, let alone selling them for money.

Zhang Cigong's plan to hand over these horses to the King of Huainan's Household was somewhat risky, but the way he handled it was very correct, which prevented the people of Zhang Household Village from being implicated later.

However, Zhang Cigong still needs to get past the Princess of King of Huainan's Household.

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't go to the princess to check on the situation at this point, but Zhang Cigong must have some confidence to do such a thing.

Since Xu Yuan brought up the issue of relief, it's true that the people of Zhang Household Village, being newcomers, faced significant problems.

"I earned three strings of cash in Huainan, and one hundred strings in Jiangxia..."

"Hmm... Ah?"

Zhang Xuezhou said that three strings of cash was nothing, after all, Xu Yuan was used to Zhang Xuezhou being a rich man.

But when Zhang Xuezhou casually mentioned one hundred strings of cash, he couldn't help but gasp, feeling that he couldn't earn that much money even by robbery.

If they had so much money, the people of Zhang Household Village could eat their fill of millet and rice even if they didn't work for two or three years.

"I have some loose gold and silver here. Take it and buy some grain to buy some food. Try to buy some time and hold on. I'll send this money back to Chang'an City as soon as possible!"

As long as the King of Jiangdu keeps his word, Zhang Xuezhou still has 100,000 taels of gold in Jiangdu, which is equivalent to 100 strings and half taels of silver, involving a total of one million half taels of silver.

These half-ounce coins weigh approximately 700 jin (350 kg) in total.

The reward was hard to come by, and it wouldn't be easy for Zhang Xuezhou to get the money back.

This involves more than just transportation issues; the sheer amount of money involved could easily attract the attention of thieves.

If he couldn't exchange it for something of higher general value, it would be a troublesome matter for him, since he couldn't possibly use magic to stuff one and a half taels of coins into his storage bag one and a half taels at a time, and the storage bag's limited capacity couldn't hold that many half taels of coins.

He could only ask Xu Yuan to maintain the basic living conditions of the people in Zhang Household Village as much as possible, while he himself would try to transport the money back as soon as possible.

"Your father took some men hunting, and they've dug up all the ground squirrels in this desolate mountain. The hunting harvest hasn't been good lately, and they're coming back quite late. Do you want to...?"

I'll be back early!

Zhang Xuezhou did not wait for Zhang Zhong to return from the hunt.

Time has always been a problem for Zhang Xuezhou. When things are urgent, he can't afford to waste time, lest he fall back into the waiting period of returning to the real world.

Given the limited time available, Zhang Xuezhou would act as quickly as possible.

He was also glad that he had accidentally entered the Gaoyou Water Palace, which allowed him to condense the Golden Wings.

Although the immense Demon Power forcibly injected into him by the Dragon Balls has subsided, his Demon Power will gradually return to a more balanced level.

With his Technique Within the Clouds combined with his cloud-riding technique, and the black and white twin horses as backup, he now possesses the basic ability to undertake short-distance voyages.