Post by Zhuge Liang on Nov 10, 2009 4:51:24 GMT
The wind gently touched the crops of the city of Jiang Ling. Zhuge Liang traveled all the way from Chang Sha to oversee the farms of Jiang Ling, but there was another reason for that. "I needed some fresh air." Kongming said to himself as he watched the crops from the walls of the city. The sight of the fields stretching from the distance reminded the Prime Minister of his time as a humble villager. The time he spent living in a humble shack, working on the fields to put food on the table.
"But that's over." Kongming said to himself as he descended from the stairs of the city's walls. "There's no turning back. I'm Shu's Prime Minister and in order to bring peace to this country, we must harvest the gifts of the la-" Before he could finish that sentence, a familiar voice to him called his name. "Mister Liang! Mister Liang!" it was Zhuge Liang's prized assistant, Mei Ling. The strategist rolled his eyes as he turned to face his assistant, who just interrupted his deep and intelligent monologue. "What is it this time, Mei Ling?"
Baozi. Mei Ling was carrying a lot of them. She offered one to her Master. Zhuge Liang raised an eyebrow and grabbed the meat bun. "Come on, eat! If you keep reading books all day and playing with that silly fan of yours, then you're going to end as a walking skeleton!" Mei Ling said with a smile as she took a bite out of her Baozi "So, watcha' doing today, Mister Liang?." Kongming took a small bite of the meat bun and replied to his assistant. "I'm rather busy, I need to oversee the fields." He pointed at the farms outside the city.
After finishing the meat bun, Zhuge Liang began to walk around the fields. He noticed the hard work of the farmers, all doing their best to make Jiang Ling a prosperous place, but he also noticed that some fields provided less food than the others. One normally would blame the farmers, but the Sleeping Dragon had other ideas.
"You, farmer..." Kongming pointed at a hard-working villager plowing the field with his feather fan. The villager looked at Zhuge Liang and bowed in respect, holding a rake with his hand. "Y-Yes, milord?" the farmer replied with a shaky voice to the Prime Minister. "What are you growing in these fields?" Liang asked while slowly fanning his face.
"Right now we're growing wheat and barley, milord." the villager replied. Kongming thought for a second and then asked another question, pointing with his feather fan at a portion of the field that was full of healthy-looking wheat "What did you grow in that area before growing wheat?" . The villager was now feeling somewhat scared of being interrogated by Zhuge Liang, but what else could he do? "Before growing wheat? Uhhh... Lettuce, sir."
"Lettuce. Right." Zhuge Liang said to himself as he stared at other part of the field where the crops looked weak and unhealthy. "And over there... You were always cultivating wheat, correct?" the Sleeping Dragon asked to the farmer before him, who seemed surprised by Kongming's question. "Y-Yes, that's correct, sir."
Silence. For a moment there was a long silence between Zhuge Liang and the confused farmer. "Growing wheat on the fields is like a military campaign. It takes resources from the land to work out. If one attempts several campaigns without allow allowing the land to recover, it will deplete the available resources and the results of that campaign will be poor."
The humble villager scratched the back of his head in confusion of Kongming's words. Zhuge Liang smiled at him and said "Give the land a breath. After growing barley and wheat, cultivate lettuce for a season, then once more grow wheat and barley." By telling this to the villagers, Kongming hoped that Jiang Ling crops would be more effective from this day onward.
"After all, we all must be considerate with the gifts of the land."
"But that's over." Kongming said to himself as he descended from the stairs of the city's walls. "There's no turning back. I'm Shu's Prime Minister and in order to bring peace to this country, we must harvest the gifts of the la-" Before he could finish that sentence, a familiar voice to him called his name. "Mister Liang! Mister Liang!" it was Zhuge Liang's prized assistant, Mei Ling. The strategist rolled his eyes as he turned to face his assistant, who just interrupted his deep and intelligent monologue. "What is it this time, Mei Ling?"
Baozi. Mei Ling was carrying a lot of them. She offered one to her Master. Zhuge Liang raised an eyebrow and grabbed the meat bun. "Come on, eat! If you keep reading books all day and playing with that silly fan of yours, then you're going to end as a walking skeleton!" Mei Ling said with a smile as she took a bite out of her Baozi "So, watcha' doing today, Mister Liang?." Kongming took a small bite of the meat bun and replied to his assistant. "I'm rather busy, I need to oversee the fields." He pointed at the farms outside the city.
After finishing the meat bun, Zhuge Liang began to walk around the fields. He noticed the hard work of the farmers, all doing their best to make Jiang Ling a prosperous place, but he also noticed that some fields provided less food than the others. One normally would blame the farmers, but the Sleeping Dragon had other ideas.
"You, farmer..." Kongming pointed at a hard-working villager plowing the field with his feather fan. The villager looked at Zhuge Liang and bowed in respect, holding a rake with his hand. "Y-Yes, milord?" the farmer replied with a shaky voice to the Prime Minister. "What are you growing in these fields?" Liang asked while slowly fanning his face.
"Right now we're growing wheat and barley, milord." the villager replied. Kongming thought for a second and then asked another question, pointing with his feather fan at a portion of the field that was full of healthy-looking wheat "What did you grow in that area before growing wheat?" . The villager was now feeling somewhat scared of being interrogated by Zhuge Liang, but what else could he do? "Before growing wheat? Uhhh... Lettuce, sir."
"Lettuce. Right." Zhuge Liang said to himself as he stared at other part of the field where the crops looked weak and unhealthy. "And over there... You were always cultivating wheat, correct?" the Sleeping Dragon asked to the farmer before him, who seemed surprised by Kongming's question. "Y-Yes, that's correct, sir."
Silence. For a moment there was a long silence between Zhuge Liang and the confused farmer. "Growing wheat on the fields is like a military campaign. It takes resources from the land to work out. If one attempts several campaigns without allow allowing the land to recover, it will deplete the available resources and the results of that campaign will be poor."
The humble villager scratched the back of his head in confusion of Kongming's words. Zhuge Liang smiled at him and said "Give the land a breath. After growing barley and wheat, cultivate lettuce for a season, then once more grow wheat and barley." By telling this to the villagers, Kongming hoped that Jiang Ling crops would be more effective from this day onward.
"After all, we all must be considerate with the gifts of the land."
