Great Tang Idyll

Book 1: Chapter 67

Majority of the areas were in a drought and a lot of people did not make any preparations. At the San'shui County, only a few villages were still pulling through--- these villages were all next to a mainstem river. The one and only village that was not next to a big river and managed to survive was Tu'qiao Village.

"It's a true drought. I don't know what my mood is at this time. I'm wishing that there won't be a severe drought and that there won't be locusts; that way, the people can live a better life. Yet, I also hope that the drought and insect plague will be more serious; that way, the chickens, ducks and geese we raised will come in handy, and the food we prepared can also be sent out. You would be able to keep your hundreds of plots of lands, and maybe you will receive even more.

What do you think, is this contradictory or not? Primarily, I can't bear watching people flee the crisis with their families. The Right Prime Minister1 you mentioned, in the end, he finally ended the insect plague, right? Then why are we raising so many livestock? "

Standing on the edge of the river, Wang Juan spoke to Zhang Xiao'bao, who was standing right next to her. The section of river in front of them has dried out a long time ago. Well, it cannot be said that there was no water; there were still pond loaches randomly squirming through holes and the river bed was scattered with puddles.

"Never study human nature; just do what you want. Otherwise, you will discover that at the end of the study, you can only feel that life is meaningless, and then you will commit suicide. If the suicide succeeded, then there is no more to follow. If the suicide fails, then you will be like me--- never wanting to study anymore. The meaning of life is to make choices. Those with the opportunity to choose are the happy ones."

Zhang Xiao'bao pulled the slingshot in his hand, and when he let it go, a pond loach was knocked over by the hit. After it's body twisted a few times, it stopped moving. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan's slingshots were made by another person. It took a lot of effort for the two to customize it using the principle of leverage, which then made it more powerful.

"Look, the loach is dead; the surrounding loaches can't do anything about it. I also don't know whether they will save or not save their kinds when they find that their kinds are in danger. After all, I am not a loach, but I know that this loach warned its companions, otherwise the other loaches wouldn't have exhausted their efforts to bury themselves back into the soil.

We are actually equal to loaches, yet we are also above the loaches. At least, we gave Ge Farm water. At least, when you had the chance to choose, you were able to sacrifice yourself and thereby be worthy of your title. At least, I can risk my life for an exchange--- in the moment of making that choice, I chose without thinking much. Thus, I believe that I'm fortunate.

In that case, today I am still choosing; I chose my relatives. So, let the droughts happen, let the locusts come. I'm all ready, for my home, for my relatives. "

"Why do I feel like the words you've said today don't really sound like yours? You were supposed to always keep that demeanor of quietness and calmness. Even when exchanging hostages, your face still carried a smile." Wang Juan looked at Zhang Xiaobao from the side and spoke.

"To tell the truth or lie?"

"Let's hear the lie first." Wang Juan smiled.

"I want to comfort you and prevent you from overthinking, so I expounded a bit more."

"And the truth?"

"Just like you, I'm conflicted. I'm anticipating for others to suffer so that I can find an opportunity from within. This was a decision I made when I heard my Grandpa's2 words when I first arrived here. I'm also struggling. Is the happiness and fortune of the few more important or is the happiness and fortune of hundreds of thousands of people more important? But a single person is also one amongst the many. Absolute monarchy or the truth. Bruno3 was burned to death."

When Zhang Xiao'bao said these words, his brows kept frowning. Wang Juan was thinking that this was something too profound.

"Young Master, I caught a fish; let's stew soup for you." At this time, a child playing in the water ran over and was trying hard to keep hold of the fish in his hands. The fish was still swinging about and trying to break free.

"Thank you." Zhang Xiao'bao opened his eyes and spoke as he looked at the child that was biologically older than him by six or seven years.

"Young Master, what did you say?" The child was stunned for a moment, and skewered the fish with grass stalks found near the shore and then placed it on the ground.

"It's nothing, go play." Zhang Xiao'bao smiled.

"Okay, I'm going to go play. Young Master, this fish has many bones so be careful when you eat it with Miss Juan'juan." The child ran towards the pond again and turned his head to inform that the fish had a lot of bones.

"I understand, whoever treats me well, I'll treat whoever well," Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan said in unison.

"You don't need to say it anymore. I know all of this, but I can't do it that way. They treated me well, so how can I deliberately harm them?" In the Ge Household's courtyard, Ge Ying'xi said to his housekeeper, who was trying to persuade him.

Housekeeper Ge discovered that Zhang and Wang Farms' rice plants were not the result of transplanting seedlings into the fields, but were actually the result of randomly throwing rice seeds into fields. He reasoned that they would have a crop failure so he wanted his Master, Ge Ying'xi, to report them to the administrative office.

At the beginning, Ge Ying'xi spoke to the housekeeper in a good manner, but at the end, he became really impatient, so he spoke his thoughts. That was right; they gave him water. Their relationship with Magistrate Cheng was good, so how could they not know that last time he tried and failed to scheme against them. But when he went to find them during the critical moment, before he even opened his mouth, they told him that it was just water, and that he could bring water back to use.

They said their words so effortlessly, and they gave it away so casually. Ge Ying'xi knows that what they gave was not water, but it was life. Not only was he unwilling, he also did not dare to cause them troubles at a time like this. If the farmers of the Ge Farm learned of this, what would the consequences be?

"Master, I think this is the last chance. If we miss it this time, then there will never be another chance later on. An evil power emanates from those two farms. Is not that they can't improve their farms, but it can't happen that quickly. How long has it been, look at the life on the farms--- it seems like it's changing everyday.

I suspect there is a mastermind of demon type that is behind them. If we don't do anything now, then our farm will be doomed when the time comes. Master, think about it more, don't you agree?" The housekeeper was still trying to persuade.

"Agree my butt. What later on'; if they wanted to ruin our Ge Farm, do they even need to wait until later on'? All they had to do is stop our water flow. Do you dare go steal water? Their water is all placed into the ponds. That small river doesn't pass through the Ge Farm, but instead it empties into the river at the small bridge."

Tell me, do you dare to bring people with you to steal water? If you dare, then I'll forgo the county magistrate and go directly to the prefecture division to report them. Tell me, do you dare to? "Ge Ying'xi stared into the eyes of Housekeeper Ge as he asked.

"Master, I dare not. They have the joined numbers of people from two farms and we only have one farm. The difference in numbers is too great." Housekeeper Ge shook his head.

"Then I will find some people for you, so that we're almost equal in numbers as them, do you dare to?" Ge Yingxi asked again.

Housekeeper Ge still shook his head. This time he shook his head even more vigorously. "I don't dare to, we can't beat the people from the two farms at all. The farmers have long worshipped their master as a god, while the will of our people is scattered. Not to mention, if their farmers just stood there while all wearing the same clothing just like they did during the Lantern Festival, our famers wouldn't even dare to take a step."

"Yeah, the two farms are strings that are twisted into the same strand of rope. On the day of the Lantern Festival, their master's household made so many torches just because they wanted to light up the night sky. The Magistrate is on their side and their farmers are also loyal. You want me to report on them, isn't that just asking to die? You think it's fine if we just go to the prefecture, but what type of person is Zhou Xi'hu? His uncle is a sixth rank official4 at the prefecture that works for the governor.

I just don't understand, why do you insist on treating others as opponents? Why do you want them to fail? You were the one who came up with that idea last time and what was the result? You know that they have a capable person in charge, so don't try to cause them troubles."

Ge Ying'xi really had no other choice so he had to use this method to dispel the jealous thoughts of the housekeeper. He had already felt that they never regarded him as an opponent before; he simply wasn't the same level as them.

Don't even mention other things; have a look at how Si'gou was at the beginning and how he is now. Their selection of people was really accurate. At the beginning, he didn't see any strengths in Si'gou, so he sold him for a couple of silvers. Now, he can't even be bought back with a thousand taels of silver. When he bought a person, he bought their physical body but they exchanged money for the person's heart. They gave out one hundred taels of silver at whim. If these types of people were his enemy...ah~!

Ge Ying'xi didn't dare to think further, and said to the housekeeper: "Let's go, walk with me."

"Master, where are you going?" the housekeeper asked with uncertainty.

"Where else can I go? I'm heading to the Wang Farm of course. Put away your little schemes. If your family has not been the housekeeper for this farm for several generations, I really suspect that you are trying to destroy the farm. Have a look at the housekeepers of Zhang and Wang families and the people in their inner courtyard. That's magnanimity".

Ge Ying'xi didn't even dare to compare with them anymore. His farmers were not as good as theirs and even the housekeeper was not as good. Even himself, the master of the farm, was not any better.

Housekeeper Ge was also scared now; he was afraid of being removed by his master. Not only will he lose his position, his father would be angered to the point of death.

"Then Master, what are we going to do there?"

"Nothing, can't we just have a chat with them? I remember that last time they asked me to work together on making a market. Let's go take a look today. If they still agree, the Ge Household will take part.

I have now realized, as long as I follow their path, then nothing will go wrong. Those six ponds were made before the drought, and those wells were dug early too. I now wonder if the person behind the two farms are the reincarnation of Zhu'ge5. " Ge Ying'xi spoke with a slight helpless tone as he stood up and walked towards the outside.

The two of them crossed the bridge and came to the place of Wang Farm. As if he knew they were coming, Housekeeper Wang appeared again.

"Village Chief Ge, Housekeeper Ge, the two of you have arrived. Is there something wrong with the water?" Housekeeper Wang asked sincerely.

"No, I want to ask if we can partake in the market?" Housekeeper Ge said.

"This...not anymore, but...there is another affair that can be jointly operated with the Ge family." Housekeeper Wang refused first, and then changed the conversation to propose a new matter.

---

Translator's Notes1. Right Prime Minister In the Imperial Court, there were two prime minsters. One prime ministers stood to the right of the Emperor and is called the Right/Main Prime Minister, while the other prime minister stood to the left and is called the Left/Vice Prime Minister. The position of the Right Prime Minister is above the Left Prime Minister. 2. Grandpa Zhang Xiao'bao is referring to his paternal grandfather.

3. BrunoZhang Xiao'bao is referring to Giordono Burno, who was a philosopher, mathematician, poet and cosmological theorist during the mid 1500s. His radical ideas in science and religion resulted in him being tried and convicted for heresy by the Roman inquisition, and was sentenced to be burned at the stake. Zhang Xiao'bao'ss mentioning of him after asking "Absolute monarchy or truth?" implies that speaking the truth will often time be dangerous and can cost one's life.

4. Sixth rank official

During the feudal times in China, the government officials were divided into 12 different ranks, with the first rank being the highest.

5. Zhu'ge

Ge Yingxi is referring to Zhu'ge Liang, who was a famous military strategist, writer, engineer, and inventor during the Three Kingdom periods. By saying that the person is a reincarnation of Zhu'ge, it is implied that the person was an extremely intelligent strategist.