Lord Zhang spread the reprimand document from the capital on the desk and read the last line of red ink three times over.
"Regarding the unauthorized diversion of river water at Yanmen Wasteland, first apprehend and interrogate the person in charge, and seal the grain seeds and account books."
He pushed the document to the clerk. "Make three copies. Post one at the entrance of our Tuntian Bureau, send one to the prefectural office for the records, and take one... to Yanmen Wasteland."
The clerk dipped his brush in ink and hesitated. "My lord, about this matter... what if the Imperial Envoy's headquarters asks about it?"
"Ask?" Lord Zhang stood up from his chair, walked to the window, and scraped the dust off the window lattice with his fingernail. "Do you know what was written in the memorial submitted by the Tuntian Bureau the year before last?"
The clerk did not dare to answer.
"The saline-alkali soil is incurable, repairing the canals is useless, please cancel the Tuntian funding."
Lord Zhang snorted coldly.
"Hmph! That's what we wrote the year before last, and the year before that. For the past five years, we've written the same thing every single year."
"The silver allocated by the imperial court for canal repairs, farm tools, and rations—how much does it all add up to? You know better than I do."
The clerk's brush hovered over the paper, a drop of ink falling to form a black blotch.
"If that widow really manages to bring the land back to life," Lord Zhang picked up the teacup from the desk and twirled it in his hands, "then all the old accounts from these past years will be dug up."
"When they investigate, it won't just be my problem alone. From the Tuntian Bureau to the prefectural office, from the prefectural office to Zhenbei City, how many people are tied to this same string?"
"It is not that I want to harm her. It is because she has blocked this path. If I don't make a move, the people below won't sit still either."
He kept one thought unspoken in his heart:
If she must blame someone, let her blame the Great Qian Dynasty.
The clerk lowered his head and copied the document, speaking no more.
"By the way, what has the Imperial Envoy been busy with lately?"
"To answer my lord," the head runner bowed, "I heard they are investigating the case of private horse trading at the Vice General's estate."
"Vice General He is causing quite a stir over there. Over the past few days, everyone going in and out of the Imperial Envoy's headquarters has been from the Military Discipline Department."
Lord Zhang nodded and waved his hand for him to go handle it.
As soon as the footsteps outside faded away, a fat runner and a skinny runner popped out from the corner of the corridor, squeezing into the back hall one after the other.
The fat runner rubbed his hands together, his face wrinkled with a flattering smile. "My lord, we are willing to lead the way! We are familiar with the roads of Yanmen Wasteland. We could find our way there with our eyes closed."
The skinny runner chimed in from the side. "My lord, you might not know this, but that widow isn't planting grain right now. The fields are full of grass! Alfalfa for horses!"
"Five hundred cripples are all at her beck and call. If she says dig east, they dig east. If she says divert water west, they divert water west. She's acting like a local tyrant."
Lord Zhang did not reply. He rummaged through the bottom of the cabinet, pulled out a set of iron chains and two wooden cangues, and slammed them on the table.
"Take these with you."
At Yanmen Wasteland, when the early July sun climbed up from the east, the alfalfa in the fields had already sprouted tender shoots two inches high.
Sun Qi squatted on the ridge of the field, rubbing an alfalfa seedling in his hand, looking at it over and over again.
This thing grew too fast. The seeds had been sown just seven days ago.
Now they had already spread out in a lush green carpet. From a distance, it looked as if someone had splashed a layer of green paint over the ground.
"Brother Qi! The field to the east is showing salt again!"
A man with missing fingers ran over from the other side of the ditch, his trouser legs covered in mud splatters.
Sun Qi stood up and walked east, leaning on his crutch.
After walking a dozen steps, he looked back at the seed preservation area.
Eight wooden stakes enclosed a patch of land the size of a palm. Inside, five broomcorn millet seedlings had grown much sturdier than last month, with thick leaves and deep colors.
Blind Old Zhao sat next to the wooden stakes, leaning against a bundle of dry grass, feeling a bamboo slip in his hand.
The bamboo slip was carved with lines. Lin Siniang had taught him to keep track this way, feeling one line each day to count the dates.
"Old Zhao, was there any movement last night?"
"What movement could there be in this godforsaken place! The wind was strong and blew all night, but the seedlings are fine!"
Sun Qi nodded and continued walking east.
Over at the mouth of the ditch, three women were clearing the silt with wooden shovels.
"Hey! Woman, take a rest," someone nearby called out to her.
"Rest my ass. If the ditch mouth is blocked and the water can't drain, the salt underneath will rise up again."
"Commissioner Lin said that this ditch is more precious than life."
On the field ridge, Lin Siniang was bending over, sticking bamboo slips into the ground to make markers.
She inserted one every three steps. Different symbols were drawn on the bamboo slips with charcoal.
A circle meant normal sprouting, a cross meant salt return, and a triangle meant replanting was needed.
She walked from the east end to the west end, planting more than forty bamboo slips.
"Commissioner Lin!" The man with missing fingers followed behind and handed over half a water gourd. "Here, have a drink of water."
Lin Siniang took it, gulped down two mouthfuls, and handed the gourd back. She pointed to the patch of land in the southeast corner. "That area is showing salt. Water it again today with ditch water to press it down."
"Remember! After watering, cover it with dry grass. Don't let the sun shine directly on it."
"Got it."
These past few days, truly no one clamored to plant grain anymore.
Ever since the alfalfa sprouted, everyone had seen it.
This saline-alkali land that had been given a death sentence could indeed grow something green. Although it wasn't grain, life was life.
A few veteran soldiers who used to curse the most viciously had started to volunteer for night watch over the last two days.
No one assigned them; they carved their own names on the wooden tags and lined up behind Sun Qi and Old Zhao.
Some people stuffed half a piece of saved dry rations to the night watchers. Some tore their torn clothes into cloth strips and tied them to the wooden stakes in the seed preservation area as windbreaks.
Here in the northern borders, no one needed to say any pretty words.
For people who only needed to survive, doing the work brought them all together.
In the afternoon, while Lin Siniang was watering the broomcorn millet seedlings in the seed preservation area, Old Zhao suddenly turned his head, his ears perking up toward the north.
"There's movement."
The water scoop in Lin Siniang's hand paused.
"Hoofbeats, and quite a few of them." Old Zhao pressed his ear to the ground and listened for a few breaths. "Coming from the north slope. There's also the sound of carriage wheels."
Sun Qi heard it too. He stood on the high ground of the field ridge and looked north. He squinted to make them out for a long time, and his expression changed.
"It's the people from the Tuntian Bureau."
On the north slope, a line of carriages was making its way down.
In the front were six runners in black uniforms, swords strapped to their waists and iron chains in their hands.
In the middle was a small sedan chair with a blue cloth cover. The curtain was lifted halfway, revealing Lord Zhang's fair face.
Behind them followed three empty carts. Nothing was loaded on the wooden boards, only a few oilcloths spread out.
The fat runner and the skinny runner walked on the left and right sides of the sedan chair. The fat one was pointing down at the fields, his mouth opening and closing as he spoke of who knows what.
The people working in the fields gradually stopped what they were doing. One by one, they stood up and looked toward the north slope.
Lin Siniang put down the water scoop, wiped her hands on her apron, and walked over to stand firmly on the field ridge.
The convoy arrived at the edge of the wasteland. Lord Zhang stepped out of the sedan chair, smoothed the hem of his robe, and holding a scroll of documents in his hand, walked toward the fields with an arrogant stride.
The six runners followed behind him, their iron chains clanking loudly.
The five hundred people had all gathered on the ridges of the fields, forming a dense, dark crowd.
Lord Zhang stopped three steps away from the field ridge, unrolled the document, and cleared his throat.
"Commissioner Lin Siniang, hear your orders—"
He paused for a moment, sweeping his gaze over the crowd of ragged, crippled soldiers before him.
"It has been found that the Yanmen Wasteland Commissioner Lin Siniang, without prior report, unauthorizedly breached the river dikes, causing the official fields to be flooded and destroying the agricultural fortifications."
"It has also been found that she defied agricultural orders, abandoned grain to plant grass, and disrupted the military farming regulations."
"Escort them back to Zhenbei City immediately for trial. All grain seeds, account books, and farming tools in Yanmen Wasteland are to be sealed on the spot."
"All farming colonists are to remain on standby where they are. No one is allowed to enter the fields without authorization. Violators will be punished for insubordination."
After reading the official document, Lord Zhang rolled up the paper scroll and lifted his chin at the bailiffs behind him.
Two bailiffs holding iron chains stepped forward.
Seeing this, Sun Qi was the first to block their way, standing squarely in front of the seed preservation area.
"Who are you trying to chain up?!"
The man with the severed finger led seven or eight others to surround the storage cart, protecting the sacks of alfalfa seeds behind them.
Lord Zhang frowned. "I am merely acting on orders, but anyone who obstructs an arrest will be punished for insubordination."
"Don't you want to think this through?"
As the bailiffs took a step forward, the crowd on the field ridges surged forward as well.
One of the men below shouted:
"We dug this land out shovel by shovel! We planted these seedlings seed by seed! You think you can just seal it up because you say so?"
"Yeah! By what right?!"
"Commissioner Lin did nothing wrong! Things are growing in the fields! The salt is gone!"
Lord Zhang took a half step back, his expression becoming unnatural.
Fine, fine, fine! How dare they disrespect me like this!
