By the time the lagging eunuchs and imperial guards finally caught up with the Emperor, they saw Prime Minister Shentu Yang standing next to the Emperor’s horse in total disarray. A few strands of dried wild grass clung to his hair, and his face and body bore visible traces of scratches and bruises.

Could it be that he fell off his horse? Was the Prime Minister’s horsemanship really that poor?

That was, of course, impossible. Setting aside the fact that Shentu Yang grew up among the Xiongnu nomads and was intimately familiar with the nature of horses, one only had to look at his military record. He had led five thousand elite cavalry to crush the rebels at Sishui Pass and had personally decapitated the rebel leader Liang You amidst an army of one hundred thousand men. How could anyone achieve such feats with poor horsemanship?

Yet, under normal circumstances, Shentu Yang would never fall from his horse for no reason. Unless, while the Emperor and the Prime Minister were galloping together, something else had transpired that they knew nothing about.

The group of eunuchs and guards kept their eyes cast down and maintained perfectly expressionless faces, though they were actually dying of curiosity inside.

Having been angrily kicked off the horse by Yin Shuhuai, Shentu Yang did not care in the slightest. He casually wiped the bruise on his face, grabbed the reins, and flipped back into his saddle. “Does Your Majesty wish to keep riding? This minister will accompany you to the very end.”

Yin Shuhuai glanced at Shentu Yang and said with a faint smile, “Then the Prime Minister had better sit tight in his saddle and make sure he doesn’t fall off again.”

With that, he spurred his horse forward.

Shentu Yang whipped his horse to follow closely behind. It was only when they had once again left the eunuchs and guards far behind that Shentu Yang finally spoke up: “Why does Your Majesty act like the victim when you were the one who did wrong?”

Looking at Shentu Yang’s black and blue face, Yin Shuhuai suddenly felt completely refreshed. He smiled broadly and said, “This is probably a case of a bad person meeting someone even worse. Is the Prime Minister not satisfied?”

Shentu Yang laughed uproariously. “How could I not be satisfied? This minister has always been completely obedient to Your Majesty and cannot wait to submit beneath your imperial robes. My only fear is that Your Majesty might leave me tucked away on a shelf, causing a fine sword to gather dust.”

Yin Shuhuai had not expected Shentu Yang to still be trying to score petty verbal points even while looking so thoroughly disheveled. He was driven to a furious laugh. “The Prime Minister commands hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Luoyang, holds immense power, and is an unstoppable force, so why be so humbly self-deprecating? Rest assured, Prime Minister, I have always put everything to its proper use and made the most of everyone’s talents. I will absolutely never let you gather dust.”

Shentu Yang’s heart fluttered at Yin Shuhuai’s smile. He immediately leaned in closer and said, “Since Your Majesty does not cast me aside, this minister is willing to exert the labor of a dog or a horse, and I will certainly not fail Your Majesty’s high expectations.”

The smile on Yin Shuhuai’s face grew even more radiant. “There is no need to exert the labor of a dog or a horse. An ox or a donkey will do.”

What?

Shentu Yang was startled upon hearing this, completely failing to grasp the deeper meaning behind Yin Shuhuai’s words at that moment.

However, once everyone returned to Chongde Hall, Shentu Yang finally understood.

“…You actually want me to take an army of twenty thousand men to clear wasteland?”

“Wasn’t this the Prime Minister’s own suggestion?” Yin Shuhuai said with a beaming smile. “The young men of Guanzhong and Luoyang have all been drafted into the military. This will not only disrupt next year’s spring farming, but even the winter wheat that needs to be planted right now will be delayed. Fortunately, the Prime Minister commands twenty thousand soldiers stationed in Luoyang. These twenty thousand young and healthy men can resolve the court’s urgent crisis, and they can also let the common people of my Yin Dynasty deeply experience what it means for the military and civilians to be as close as fish and water.”

Shentu Yang was so angry he could only laugh. “Does Your Majesty mean that not only do I have to lead twenty thousand soldiers to clear wasteland, but we also have to help the people of Guanzhong plant their winter wheat?”

“Helping others is helping oneself. The Prime Minister must know that the food for these twenty thousand soldiers and their horses for the coming year will ultimately depend entirely on the backs of the Guanzhong people.”

“No wonder you called it the labor of an ox or a donkey.” Shentu Yang suddenly realized. “Your Majesty originally wanted me and my twenty thousand soldiers to act as beasts of burden for your Guanzhong people!”

“The Prime Minister misunderstands my meaning.” Before Shentu Yang could express his opinion, Yin Shuhuai immediately corrected him, “It is not twenty thousand, but thirty thousand.” Did the ten thousand soldiers stationed at Sishui Pass not require logistical support? Since so many people had gathered together and insisted on staying in Guanzhong without leaving, then they could all go cultivate wasteland and farm the fields.

As a great leader once said, one must be self-sufficient and have ample food and clothing. Aside from cultivating wasteland and farming, this army of thirty thousand could also plant mulberry trees and hemp. The court would not make these thirty thousand soldiers work for nothing either. Once the summer harvest passed next year, the court would replace the soldiers’ weapons and equipment, absolutely refusing to let any middlemen profit from the transaction.

“Good! Truly excellent!” Shentu Yang clapped his hands and laughed. “Your Majesty is truly a benevolent ruler who loves the people and follows the right path. This minister has learned a valuable lesson.”

“It is enough that the Prime Minister can appreciate my good intentions.” Yin Shuhuai smiled slightly, counting options on his fingers.

After planting the winter wheat came the spring farming. Once the spring farming concluded, the army could be sent to repair dikes, manage rivers, and clear irrigation channels. After that would be the summer harvest, and when the summer harvest ended, it would be time to sow soybeans and transplant rice, followed finally by the autumn harvest. Thinking about it this way, the army of thirty thousand under Shentu Yang’s command could take over so much forced labor for the people of Guanzhong! At the very least, the common people would not have to perform any corvée labor for the entire year.

“The people of Guanzhong prepare provisions for the soldiers, and the soldiers perform manual labor for the people of Guanzhong. This is a case of the military loving the civilians, the civilians supporting the military, and the military and civilians being united as one family. Since the Prime Minister is so profoundly reasonable, the people of Guanzhong will surely be filled with immense gratitude toward you.”

Shentu Yang offered a fake smile as he replied, “…Should they also set up ancestral tablets to pray for my longevity?”

Yin Shuhuai replied in all seriousness, “That will depend entirely on how well the Prime Minister performs. If you can be as deeply loved by the people as Marquis Wen of Wei, a longevity tablet is not out of the question.”

The veins on Shentu Yang’s temples throbbed with rage.

Yin Shuhuai clearly knew that he loathed Huo Yan the most, yet the Emperor insisted on comparing him to that old scoundrel. It was truly infuriating!

However, no matter how annoying it was, the work that needed to be done still had to be done.

According to the policy of encouraging the planting of winter wheat that had already been promoted in the Yin Dynasty for decades, winter wheat could be planted seventy days after the summer solstice. That meant the optimal time for planting winter wheat in the Guanzhong region was from late September to early or mid-October. In the Sichuan and Jiangnan regions, the planting time for winter wheat would be even later, stretching from mid-October to early November.

In other words, when Yin Shuhuai ordered Shentu Yang to lead his army of thirty thousand to help the Guanzhong people plant winter wheat, the common folk had already spontaneously begun planting it on their own. Furthermore, because the court had drafted all the young men from Guanzhong and Luoyang into the military, the people left at home to plant the wheat this year were entirely the elderly, the weak, the women, and the children. To some extent, this would inevitably delay the farming schedule. But there was simply no other way. After all, the timeframe for the people to plant winter wheat happened to coincide with the period when Marquis Wen of Wei, Huo Yan, had summoned the grand army to Sishui Pass to crush the rebellion, when the eighteen lords had come to save the throne, and when Shentu Yang had led a massive army to the city gates, forcing Marquis Wen to suffer defeat, settle his final affairs, and respectfully request His Majesty to take full control of the government.

During such a tumultuous time, the civil and military officials across the court were barely able to look after themselves, so how could they possibly find the time to care about the trivial matter of the common people’s farming?

Even Yin Shuhuai himself had only realized after everything had finally settled down that he could not allow the people’s farming to be disrupted.

Fortunately, it was a case of fixing the pen after the sheep were lost, which was still better than never. With a single command from Shentu Yang, thirty thousand soldiers flooded into the ridges of the Guanzhong fields. In just a few short days, they helped the local people finish planting their wheat.

To race against the seasons, Shentu Yang even personally led the army of twenty thousand from outside the city, racing against time to farm and clear wasteland across various parts of Guanzhong.

However, by this point, it was no longer very suitable for planting winter wheat. Yin Shuhuai intended to have Shentu Yang lead the army to plant mulberry trees first once the wasteland was cleared. This was because the planting season for mulberry trees usually ran from December of each year to March of the following year.

To ensure that the newly cleared wasteland possessed soil that was sufficiently loose and fertile, Yin Shuhuai also had the army transport coal cinder from the coal yards to enrich the earth. He remembered reading in reference materials during his past life that mixing coarse sand or coal cinder into the soil could improve its water permeability and aeration.

In addition to this, Yin Shuhuai had the Imperial Workshop and the Grand Minister of Agriculture produce large quantities of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to enrich the fields. The methods for making these two types of fertilizer were actually quite simple. The former involved gathering leftover animal bones, boiling them over a large fire for half an hour, crushing all the bone fragments into powder, and then mixing them with equal parts sand and soil after decomposition. The latter consisted of what was commonly known as rice-washing water and wood ash.

It was quite a pitiful sight for Shentu Yang, a mighty warrior who seemed to have dropped out of the sky, an undefeated general capable of slaying a rebel leader amidst a chaotic battlefield, to be coaxed by a few words from Yin Shuhuai into spending his days surrounded by coal cinder and fertilizer. Fortunately, Yin Shuhuai had not made him lead the soldiers to manage compost piles, otherwise Shentu Yang really would have thrown down his tools and quit.

“Your Majesty is truly heartless.”

On this day, a thoroughly dusty Shentu Yang returned from farming the fields and immediately spotted Yin Shuhuai sitting gracefully before his desk, reviewing memorials.

The Emperor wore a grand crown and beautiful robes, his face as flawless as jade. His refined and elegant presence high within the bright hall only served to make Shentu Yang look like a crude barbarian by comparison.

The more Shentu Yang thought about it, the angrier he became. He suddenly strode forward and caught Yin Shuhuai in a tight embrace, completely covering the Emperor in the dust and soil from his own body. He even deliberately rubbed a bit of dirt onto the Emperor’s nose.

With a dirty tip of his nose, Yin Shuhuai looked at Shentu Yang in utter astonishment. “Are you sick?”

Shentu Yang countered with a question, “Does Your Majesty find me repulsive?”

Yin Shuhuai found it somewhat amusing. “The Prime Minister encourages agriculture and sericulture, personally tilling the fields to promote farming. These are things only the virtuous ministers of ancient times would do. I barely have enough time to respect the Prime Minister, so how could I find you repulsive?”

The Emperor was beautiful to look at and wonderful to listen to, completely dispelling Shentu Yang’s nameless anger with just a couple of sentences.

With his anger gone, Shentu Yang noticed that he had dirtied the beautiful clothes the Emperor was wearing and began to regret it. He immediately offered an apology with a playful smile. “Once the mulberry trees I planted grow leaves to feed the silkworms, and the silkworms spin silk to be woven into brocade, I will surely make many more beautiful robes and fine clothes for Your Majesty. Please forgive my offense, Your Majesty.”

Accepting the grand promises Shentu Yang was making, Yin Shuhuai said with a smile, “If that is the case, I shall thank the Prime Minister in advance.”

“Why should there be such formality between you and me?” It was rare for Shentu Yang to see Yin Shuhuai smile at him so gently and brightly. His eyes stared straight at him as he spoke incoherently, “…This is all entirely of my own free will. As long as Your Majesty smiles at me often, I am willing to do absolutely anything for you.”

Wasn’t it just clearing wasteland and farming fields? He was a capable official destined to govern the world, a man who could secure the realm on horseback and stabilize the nation off horseback!

There was a term called serving as both a general and a chancellor, and it described none other than Shentu Yang! His capabilities were so immense that he could absolutely never be compared to that old man who had lost his very life the moment a war started.

Seeing that Shentu Yang was already acting lightheaded without having drunk any alcohol, Yin Shuhuai discreetly introduced the main topic: “When the Prime Minister led the soldiers to help the Guanzhong people rush the planting of winter wheat, did any local powerful figures secretly defy the orders, coveting the profits of mulberry and hemp and refusing to plant wheat?”

This was also what Yin Shuhuai worried about the most. Agriculture was the foundation of the state, but every dynasty had individuals blinded by greed who disregarded the court’s grand plans for the sake of immediate profit.

“Of course there were, but I took care of all of them. When Your Majesty had me lead the army to help the people plant wheat, didn’t you just want to borrow my blade to cut down the greed of those powerful and wealthy houses?” Taking advantage of Yin Shuhuai’s distraction, Shentu Yang held Yin Shuhuai’s hand with a smile. His thumb began to rub quite improperly against the back of the Emperor’s hand.

The young Emperor’s hand was truly pale. It was pale and smooth, even more tender and smooth than the fine piece of white jade hanging at his waist. There was not a single callus on his palm. It was truly bizarre. Since His Majesty’s hands were so delicate and white, how had he practiced his swordsmanship and horsemanship?

At this thought, Shentu Yang’s gaze drifted imperceptibly toward the space between the Emperor’s legs. If there were no calluses on his hands, then…

Yin Shuhuai clearly failed to notice Shentu Yang’s petty thoughts. Hearing this, he asked again, “When the Prime Minister led the troops to help the local people plant the winter wheat, did you happen to note…”

Yin Shuhuai paused slightly at this point, reflecting for a long moment before finally asking the question, “Just how many fields and slaves do those powerful and wealthy houses in Guanzhong actually possess?”

One had to realize that Shentu Yang leading hundreds of thousands of soldiers to various parts of Guanzhong to help the people plant winter wheat on the Emperor’s orders was not done for nothing. The local aristocratic and powerful families were bound to provide provisions for the army, and even fine wine, pigs, and sheep to reward the troops.

If Shentu Yang possessed a meticulous mind, he could completely utilize this opportunity to uncover every last detail of the major aristocratic and powerful families in Guanzhong. This was also the deeper meaning behind Yin Shuhuai’s sudden idea to order Shentu Yang to lead twenty thousand soldiers into Guanzhong. Those twenty thousand soldiers came from the alliance of lords and were not locals of Guanzhong, nor were they familiar with the powerful local clans. Since they were unfamiliar, if they accidentally discovered something while farming, it was expected that they would not hide it for the sake of those powerful families.

He just did not know whether Shentu Yang would be able to grasp this layer of meaning.

Yin Shuhuai intended to kill two birds with one stone. The reason he had not stated it clearly beforehand was also to test Shentu Yang. He wanted to know whether Shentu Yang possessed grand vision and strategy, or merely the courage of a crude warrior. This would dictate Yin Shuhuai’s future strategy toward Shentu Yang.

Shentu Yang glanced at Yin Shuhuai, then simply lay down right in front of him. Like a fierce tiger resting after a full meal, he contentedly licked his paws. “Does Your Majesty wish to measure and audit the land?”

Yin Shuhuai’s heart sank. He instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but Shentu Yang held onto it firmly.

Yin Shuhuai bit his lip with some unease. The moment he asked certain questions, he concluded that as long as Shentu Yang was not an idiot, he would definitely peer into his true intentions through that question.

This was also a strategy Yin Shuhuai had resolved upon long ago, which was to show weakness to the enemy. Although he did not know why Shentu Yang cared so much about the deceased Huo Yan, Yin Shuhuai had keenly sensed Shentu Yang’s personal rejection of the aristocratic and noble families from his sudden aggressive actions.

That being the case, if Yin Shuhuai appropriately displayed suspicion and unease regarding the noble families, he would surely be able to win over and please Shentu Yang.

Yin Shuhuai had decided on this course of action. Yet when Shentu Yang casually tore away this layer of disguise, Yin Shuhuai still suddenly felt a wave of anxiety. This anxiety stemmed from Yin Shuhuai’s concern for his own safety.

Yin Shuhuai had to admit that his two years as a puppet had completely altered the fundamental core of his personality to some degree.

This once peaceful and innocent university student had ultimately become thoroughly wide awake after experiencing the betrayal of the scholars, the constraints of his ministers, and the death of his ally.

One could not blame Shentu Yang for always brooding over the dead Huo Yan. This rebel, whose intuition was sharper than talent or capability, had actually sensed Huo Yan’s influence on Yin Shuhuai a step ahead of the Emperor himself, back when Yin Shuhuai had not even realized it.

It was hard to say what Huo Yan’s death truly meant to Yin Shuhuai.

Although this overbearing and arrogant minister had ruled arbitrarily during his lifetime, controlling the government and refusing to let anyone touch his power, he had also unreservedly handed over every political resource he could control to Yin Shuhuai right before his death. This ensured that Yin Shuhuai could take full charge of the government after he passed away.

At first glance, Huo Yan’s choice seemed to be his final act of lifting the Emperor up.

Yet it was precisely because of Huo Yan’s death that Yin Shuhuai, this puppet emperor, was completely exposed to the most treacherous vortex of power in the Yin Dynasty. It forcibly dragged him out of a self-deluding protective shell, forcing him to independently face the most corrupt, cunning, cold-blooded, and cruel group of people in this declining dynasty.

These people were his ministers, and even more so, his enemies.

When Huo Yan was alive, Yin Shuhuai could deceive himself into being a puppet emperor, shifting all troubles and risks onto Huo Yan to handle, and he could even project his own ideals onto Huo Yan. Because the two of them could tentatively be considered like-minded.

But after Huo Yan died, all the wind and rain came crashing down upon Yin Shuhuai himself.

In his court, there were the aristocratic companions who had once plotted to depose him, there were Huo Yan’s trusted aides whose loyalty seemed intact but whose capabilities were unknown, and there was the highly ambitious rebel Shentu Yang. Yin Shuhuai could not tell who was a loyal official and who was a traitor, but he knew who could get things done.

But here came the problem: would the people who could get things done definitely be willing to do them for him?

Shentu Yang noticed that the Emperor’s thin crimson lips had compressed into a straight line, and his originally relaxed back was slowly stiffening, just like a startled cat that was overly jumpy. He looked even more endearing.

“Your Majesty does not need to doubt me.” Shentu Yang’s intuition in moments of crisis was always the most accurate. Sensing Yin Shuhuai’s unease, he immediately declared his stance, “Your Majesty also mentioned that I command an army of thirty thousand men, and the food and logistics for these people require the support of the Guanzhong citizens. Therefore, urging the Guanzhong people to pay grain and taxes, and watching the powerful aristocratic families to make sure they pay their full share of taxes, are things I absolutely must do. Even without Your Majesty’s orders, I will have the soldiers thoroughly audit the land, and I will absolutely never let those aristocratic families swallow the grain that rightfully belongs to me.”

Once these words were spoken, regardless of whether Yin Shuhuai believed them or not, his expression did indeed soften considerably.

Shentu Yang let out a mocking laugh, and just as he was about to say something, a loud growl suddenly erupted from his stomach.

Yin Shuhuai could not help but laugh.

Shentu Yang’s face turned red. Fortunately, he had been clearing wasteland and sleeping in the open recently, so his face had darkened considerably, making it impossible to tell at first glance.

“I will go wash up first.” Shentu Yang stood up and walked toward the bedchamber.

Yin Shuhuai smiled and ordered Zhuang Wuwei to serve the meal.

By the time Shentu Yang finished washing up and emerged from the rear hall, the Minister of Imperial Entertainments had already sent up the evening meal.

The weather was growing colder and colder, making it no longer very suitable for stir-fried dishes. Yin Shuhuai had the imperial kitchen serve hot pot. This was not an invention of Yin Shuhuai’s. In fact, as early as the Warring States period, the ancients had already begun eating hot pot. Back then, they used bronze sets that included small stoves.

By the time of the Yin Dynasty, there were even two-compartment mandarin duck pots and five-compartment pots, also known as the five-flavor cauldron, which allowed for different broths to cook different ingredients.

What the Minister of Imperial Entertainments had prepared for the Emperor and the Prime Minister were two beautifully shaped, circular five-compartment cauldrons. They could hold five types of broth and cook five types of ingredients at the same time, preventing the flavors from mixing.

When Yin Shuhuai ate hot pot, his favorite was sliced mutton. Grinding sesame seeds into a paste, pairing it with fermented bean curd and prickly ash oil, and using wild pepper to fry up a bit of chili paste made for an ultimate delicacy. In comparison, Shentu Yang preferred adding scallions, ginger, garlic, and chive flower sauce to his dipping sauce, and he held a stronger preference for sliced beef.

Regrettably, the laws of the Yin Dynasty prohibited the consumption of beef, and Yin Shuhuai was a law-abiding ruler who would not rashly violate the statutes. Shentu Yang followed his host’s customs, so he did not make a scene demanding beef. He just could not resist making grand promises to the Emperor while eating the hot pot: “Your Majesty should come to Youzhou with me. Last year, I led the soldiers to campaign against the Xiongnu and captured countless cattle, sheep, and horses. Now every single household among my Yan people possesses plow oxen, every household can raise cattle and sheep, and everyone can afford to eat beef and mutton.”

If Yan State were not so far from Luoyang, making it impossible to catch the winter wheat planting season, and if Shentu Yang did not have other schemes, he could have ordered Yan State to tribute tens of thousands of cattle to Luoyang for the soldiers to use in clearing wasteland and farming.

Listening to Shentu Yang’s words, Yin Shuhuai silently calculated his intentions.

Aside from mutton, the Minister of Imperial Entertainments had also prepared fresh fish balls, shrimp paste, chicken, duck, venison, tofu, dried bean curd sticks, thin bean curd sheets, and Chinese cabbage leaves. With a total of a dozen or so ingredients, it looked very abundant.

As Shentu Yang spoke, he saw a vessel of grape wine placed on the desk, then looked at the Emperor sitting gracefully before the food arrangement, and could not help but smile. He recalled his very first night staying in the imperial palace, when the Minister of Imperial Entertainments had prepared roasted meat and grape wine for the Emperor. Yet back then, the two of them were at each other’s throats, nearly ending up as bitter enemies who would slit each other’s necks. Who could have imagined that today they would be eating at the same table and sleeping in the same quarters?

Shentu Yang sat cross-legged opposite Yin Shuhuai, taking a content sip of the fine wine. “Your Majesty is truly a feast for the eyes.”

Yin Shuhuai had known long ago that Shentu Yang never had a decent word to say, so he did not bother to argue with him. He slowly dipped his mutton into the copper pot, swishing it around several times before dipping it in sesame paste and putting it into his mouth. The piping hot steam swirled around his features, enveloping his entire person in the moist fog of the hot pot, making him appear increasingly ethereal and soft.

Shentu Yang was already famished. Drawing strength from the Emperor’s beauty, he devoured ten plates of meat in one breath before finding the energy to continue speaking: “When I led the soldiers to help plant the winter wheat in Guanzhong this time, I discovered that the tools used by the Guanzhong people are entirely unprecedented.”

Items like the curved-shaft plow, waterwheel, and pressure well went without saying, but there were even seed drills and seedling horses, which were things his Yan State soldiers had never even heard of. He intended to send these tools, along with the advanced agricultural techniques of Guanzhong, back to Yan State, allowing the people of the Yan region to experience the prosperity and development of the Guanzhong region under the Emperor’s feet. “I wonder what Your Majesty thinks?”

Yin Shuhuai naturally had no objections. He spent immense sums every year supporting the research and inventions of the Imperial Workshop, and ordered the court to promote these new tools and techniques down to the villages, precisely because he hoped the common people across the realm could enjoy the benefits brought by the Imperial Workshop.

Regrettably, since the Yin Dynasty had carried on to this day, it had long since lost the ability to control the entire realm. The lords and powerful figures of various regions acted independently, refusing to obey the political decrees of the court, to the point where the new tools and techniques researched by the Imperial Workshop could not even leave the capital and the Guanzhong region.

Now that Shentu Yang had proactively proposed sending these new tools and advanced techniques back to Yan State, Yin Shuhuai would naturally not stop him. Not only would he not stop him, but he would also give Shentu Yang his full support. Regardless of whether Shentu Yang was of one mind with him, or whether Yan State was of one mind with the court, the people of the Yan region were ultimately citizens of the Yin Dynasty, the people under his rule. Then they ought to enjoy all the technological achievements of the Yin Dynasty just like the people of Guanzhong.

This was not a case of Yin Shuhuai being overly soft-hearted; it was simply that being a farmer in a feudal dynasty was far too difficult. Whether the harvest was good or bad depended entirely on the seasons. If the heavens did not cooperate, one could easily labor diligently for over half a year, only to end up with absolutely nothing.

Yin Shuhuai merely wanted to do everything within his power to help the people increase their grain yield even slightly and reduce some of the hardships of farming.

Regrettably, there were not many lords like Shentu Yang who cared about the common people and were willing to accept new things.

Just as Shentu Yang was enthusiastically preparing to transmit the advanced agricultural techniques of Guanzhong back to Yan State, terrible news of the common people rising up in rebellion arrived successively from the Jiangnan and Sichuan regions.

The root cause turned out to be that the local powerful clans felt the profits from the water-powered spinning wheel were immense, to the point where they actually forced the common people to convert all their wheat fields to plant mulberry and hemp instead. Worse still, some even rode horses to trample and destroy the winter wheat that the local people had just planted. Such coercive measures that completely disregarded the survival of the common people instantly triggered violent resistance from the local population.

By the time the news reached Luoyang, Yin Shuhuai, sitting high within the halls of government, was completely stunned!

He was truly incredibly curious as to what kind of brains those powerful clans possessed to come up with such a wicked policy as converting wheat fields to mulberry orchards.

Did they think they were filming a historical political drama here?

Yin Shuhuai looked at the memorials arriving from various regions, some of which even shamelessly requested the court to dispatch troops to suppress the rebellions. As he read on, Yin Shuhuai was driven to a furious laugh by the people writing these letters for help.

He had guarded against everything, successfully preventing the Guanzhong clans from causing trouble, yet he had still failed to prevent the regional clans from courting their own disaster.

Yin Shuhuai discovered that he had truly underestimated just how blinded by greed these powerful clans could be!