MLMD -Chapter 359 Autumn Harvest

If Xiao Lu and Xiao Dan could only be considered second-tier actresses, then Sister Li, this mature beauty, was without question a bona fide first-tier female star. More than ten years ago, she had risen to fame overnight for her role in a television drama about an anti-narcotics policewoman. In the past two years, her appearance in a palace intrigue drama centered on a concubine named Zhen Huan had made her famous across the entire country. Calling her a top-tier star contained not the slightest exaggeration.

Her only regret was that although she had remained highly visible on television over the years, she had not produced any truly outstanding big-screen works. She had acted in several films, but the response had always been lukewarm, which prevented her from entering the ranks of the nation’s very top superstars. Even so, within Haitian Entertainment she was still very much the big sister figure. Since she had spoken up today, Xiao Lu could hardly say anything more. She could only pout silently, clinging even tighter to Yue Yang’s arm, pressing her firm, full breasts against her lover’s back.

After hearing Sister Li’s words, Yue Yang felt his mind turn into a jumble. What was this—was she seriously offering a beauty right to his door? Or were women in this circle really this open-minded?

Just as Yue Yang was feeling a headache coming on, Xiao Dan—who had wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, only her small head peeking out—also secretly looked at him through her fingers. No matter how bold a woman might appear on the surface, when it comes to her first man, there is always a special feeling, just as men find it hard to forget their first woman.

“What’s the matter, little man?” Sister Li said, clearly displeased when she saw Yue Yang still hadn’t reacted. She stared at him with wide eyes. “I’m giving you such a beautiful woman for free, and you’re still not satisfied?”

Looking at Sister Li with her phoenix eyes opened wide, Yue Yang suddenly noticed that not only was her skin fair, her features were also especially beautiful. Unlike Xiao Lu’s lovely oval face or Xiao Dan’s fresh, girl-next-door prettiness, Sister Li’s features were exquisitely refined. Though she was now a woman in her thirties with two children, her excellent maintenance made her look no different from a twenty-five- or twenty-six-year-old. Especially her exposed breasts and dark red nipples, still proudly upturned as if proclaiming her enduring youth—at the sight of this, Yue Yang felt a surge of morning desire rising within him.

Women have always been sensitive to men’s gazes. Even if such a gaze lingers on them for only a fraction of a second, they can still feel its heat.

As Yue Yang’s unrestrained eyes continued to roam over her body, Sister Li—who had previously acted like a tough, tomboyish woman—slowly began to blush. At first she tried to maintain her composure and glared back at him, but Yue Yang, who had seen it all, was completely immune to such minor intimidation. In the end, blushing furiously, she had no choice but to scold him, “What are you looking at? It’s not like you didn’t see it all last night!”

“But I drank too much last night and didn’t really notice,” Yue Yang replied honestly.

Unfortunately, honesty is often the most hurtful thing. Sister Li couldn’t withstand such a defense-ignoring attack and could only retreat in defeat.

Just as she finally mustered the courage to scold him again, she suddenly saw a blur before her eyes and found herself already pushed down onto the bed.

“Hey—what are you doing? It’s daytime… are you trying to kill yourself… mm…”

Although Sister Li struggled for a while, to Yue Yang this only added extra excitement. Soon, the soft body in his arms stopped its futile resistance, and after some time even began to respond. The post-waking “trial meeting” turned into an intensely sensual gathering. In the end, not only Sister Li, but even Xiao Dan—who had been hiding under the blanket—was once again dragged out by Yue Yang, the big bad wolf, stripped down into a helpless little lamb and devoured cleanly. As for Xiao Lu behind him, that went without saying. For a time, the bedroom once again filled with soft and breathless moans, some low, some high…

Two hours later, Yue Yang lay sprawled out on the bed, while the three women he had once again ravaged lay scattered in his arms. The four of them remained motionless for a long time, resting.

On Yue Yang’s left was Xiao Lu, who habitually held onto her man as if declaring her sovereignty. On his right was Sister Li, the beautiful mature woman, whom Yue Yang held tightly. He was very satisfied with her performance just now. Although she had been a bit uncooperative at first, under Yue Yang’s efforts she eventually began to respond, and the two of them became increasingly in sync. Though she was ultimately defeated, Yue Yang noticed she possessed a spirit of fighting back again and again despite repeated losses—a quality worthy of praise. As for Xiao Dan… by now she was so shy that she had curled up into the blanket like an ostrich, hiding herself completely.

After a long while, Yue Yang finally spoke. His first words were directed at Xiao Dan.
“Xiao Dan, from now on, just like Xiao Lu, you should stay with me. I may not be able to be with you all the time, but aside from that, anything another man can give you, I can give you as well. But you must remember—if you choose to be my woman, then you can no longer be involved with other men. Do you understand?”

After a moment, Xiao Dan’s muffled voice came from beneath the thin blanket. “I haven’t even agreed to be with you yet. What right do you have to start controlling me already?”

Yue Yang smiled helplessly. “Of course you can refuse. I’m not Lei Laohu, I don’t have a habit of snatching wives, nor do I intend to force you to be my woman. If you’re unwilling, I can give you some compensation—either help you secure a new role, or give you material compensation. You can choose.”

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent. Soon, soft sobbing sounded from beneath the blanket. Sister Li quickly sat up, lifted the blanket, and pulled Xiao Dan into her arms, gently comforting her. Then she shot Yue Yang an angry look and scolded him, “You idiot! What do you take our Xiao Dan for—a gold digger? It’s not like rich young men haven’t pursued her before, but she turned them all down. Today you got lucky, and yet this is how you treat her. Do you even have a conscience?”

“So telling the truth makes me heartless now?” Yue Yang said helplessly, the only thing he could do being to shut his mouth.

Looking at Xiao Dan crying nonstop, Sister Li said only one sentence, “Alright, Xiao Dan, stop crying. If you keep crying, your little face will get all messed up. Then even if you want to be with Yue Yang, he won’t want you.”

Sure enough, with the experience of a seasoned woman, just that one sentence made Xiao Dan stop crying. She lifted her head, her tear-stained little face and slightly swollen eyes looking at Yue Yang as she clenched her teeth and asked, “If I follow you, will you someday get tired of me and abandon me?”

“Heh… this little girl,” Yue Yang was speechless.

Not only Yue Yang, but even Xiao Lu—who was feeling rather jealous—was amused by Xiao Dan’s innocence. Sister Li could only stare at this odd girl in silence. How clueless did someone have to be to say something like that?

Yue Yang said helplessly, “Don’t worry. I promise you, as long as you follow me and don’t leave me for another man, I’ll take responsibility for you for a lifetime. Have you heard of state-owned enterprises from the past?”

“Yes. My grandpa used to be a worker in a state-owned enterprise—he had an iron rice bowl. Are you saying that if I follow you, it’ll be like holding an iron rice bowl too?”

“Exactly—an iron rice bowl.” Facing such an unusually wired girl, Yue Yang seriously wondered whether the reason she had never had a boyfriend was precisely because of this strange personality. At this point, Sister Li and Xiao Lu were already laughing uncontrollably in Yue Yang’s arms…

What puzzled Yue Yang was that when he asked Sister Li what kind of compensation she wanted, she merely smiled faintly and said nothing.

Thus, Yue Yang stayed in Mingzhu City for a full month. During that month, he spent his days fooling around with Xiao Lu and Xiao Dan—shopping and traveling by day, indulging in threesomes by night, enjoying endless pleasure. What puzzled him was that from that day onward, Sister Li never appeared before him again, nor did she make any demands. When Yue Yang asked Xiao Lu and Xiao Dan about it, he was met with two rolling eyes. Xiao Dan even pouted and scolded him, “Sister Li has a husband and children. If she hadn’t drunk too much that day, how would she have let you take advantage of her? You’ve already gotten what you wanted—do you still want to destroy someone else’s family?”

“Do I look like that kind of person?” Yue Yang protested indignantly.

“Of course!” The two girls exchanged a glance and nodded in unison, like little chicks pecking at rice.

“Heh… don’t run—let’s see how I deal with you!” In an instant, the villa was once again thrown into chaos…

…

In the ninth month of the tenth year of Chongzhen’s reign, Shanxi gradually stabilized after a period of upheaval. It was also time for the harvest season once again. This was the busiest and most tense time of year for officials across the country, a season known as the autumn harvest. Countless farmers were pinning their hopes on a good yield.

Shanxi’s Northern Route was Yue Yang’s long-established base. After more than five years of development under his management, the cultivated land there had reached over 3.2 million mu. In addition, Yue Yang had established more than a hundred livestock farms dedicated to raising pigs, sheep, and other animals. It could be said that today’s Northern Route was no inferior to the famed land of fish and rice in Jiangnan—indeed, it had already surpassed it.

After nearly half a month of intense harvesting, the entire Northern Route produced more than 18 million dan of wheat and other grains. This result once again stunned Hai Lou, the newly appointed governor of Shanxi, who was responsible for auditing the figures.

“Hai Lou, is this really our grain harvest for this year?” In the governor’s yamen in Taiyuan, Yue Yang—who had just returned from the modern era—had no time for anything else and rushed straight here to ask about the harvest results.

“Yes, Marquis,” Hai Lou replied. Taking a deep breath, he handed over the figures he had calculated multiple times and said, “This time, the Northern Route harvested a total of 18 million dan of grain. Sixty percent goes to the farmers, forty percent to us. That means we have 7.2 million dan at our disposal. After paying one million dan to the court, we still have 6.2 million dan left.”

Having worked in agriculture for four or five years, Hai Lou was now extremely proficient with the numbers, rattling them off effortlessly.

“Hmm, six million dan…” Yue Yang pondered for a moment, then sighed softly. “It looks like a lot, but once we really start using it, I’m afraid it still won’t be enough.”

Hearing this, Hai Lou gave a bitter smile. “Marquis, since the dawn of time, grain has never been enough. Now the court has cut off our funding. We already support fifty thousand troops, and recently you recruited another fifty thousand new soldiers and disbanded more than a hundred thousand military households. Although those households have now been given land, they haven’t had a harvest yet. Six million dan sounds like a lot—enough for the Northern Route—but Shanxi is vast, and there are many people without food. Spread evenly, it’s far from sufficient.”

“Yes,” Yue Yang sighed deeply. In the past, he had only managed the Northern Route, and whether farmers elsewhere had food was none of his concern. But now he held both civil and military authority over all of Shanxi. The burden of feeding over ten million people now rested on his shoulders, and the pressure was immense. Hai Lou, who had once only been the director of the Civil Administration Department overseeing the Northern Route, was also struggling to adapt to suddenly governing an area five or six times larger.

Still, Yue Yang had always believed that there were more solutions than problems. After some thought, he said to Hai Lou, “I estimate that news of our bumper harvest has already reached merchants from other regions. In the coming period, people will swarm here to buy grain from the farmers. What you need to do as governor is to urge officials at all levels—without authorization from the governor’s yamen, not a single grain of rice is allowed to leave Shanxi. Do you understand?”

Hai Lou’s expression turned solemn. He knew that bandits were rampant across the Ming realm and that droughts were severe in many provinces. Grain was scarce everywhere. Once profiteering grain merchants caught wind of the Northern Route’s harvest, they would swarm in like sharks smelling blood. If they sold the grain at fair prices to other regions, that would be one thing—but Hai Lou knew all too well that their greed would drive them to jack prices up severalfold, even tenfold.

“Rest assured, Marquis,” Hai Lou said firmly. “I guarantee those bastards won’t succeed.”

Yue Yang’s concerns were well founded. By mid-September, when Tang Hu—then deputy director of the Finance Department—escorted one million dan of grain and one million taels of silver to the capital with five thousand soldiers, the entire city was thrown into an uproar. Cheng Guoxiang, the Minister of Revenue at the time, was so excited that he personally rushed to the granaries to welcome the massive convoy. When he saw the endless line of grain carts, the newly appointed old man threw himself onto one of them and nearly broke down in tears.

Cheng Guoxiang had taken office at the end of the previous year. Over the past six months, seeing granaries and treasuries so empty that even rats could run through them had given him endless anxiety. Whether it was Chongzhen or officials from various regions, everyone kept reaching out to him for grain and silver. He had worried himself nearly to the point of going gray. Today, finally seeing such a huge sum of grain and silver arrive, how could he not be overjoyed?

Seeing Cheng Guoxiang so emotional, Tang Hu’s round face broke into his habitual smile. “Lord Cheng, you look so worked up. Every year around this time should be your happiest—why are you crying instead of laughing?”

It took Cheng Guoxiang a while to calm down. Embarrassed, he said, “Sigh… please excuse me, Lord Tang. I’ve simply been poor for too long. You have no idea—since I took office last year, this is the largest single payment of grain tax I’ve received. This million taels of silver and one million dan of grain have truly resolved the court’s urgent needs!”

As he spoke, carts continued to roll in. Laborers waiting nearby hoisted sack after sack of grain off the carts, while clerks hurriedly weighed and tallied everything. The entire scene was one of bustling activity.

One million dan of grain and one million taels of silver was no small amount. It took the Ministry of Revenue three full days to get everything into storage. Yue Yang’s grand gesture shook the entire capital. With this money secured, Cheng Guoxiang grinned from ear to ear for days on end. Yet there was one matter he still had to report to Chongzhen.

“Minister Cheng, are all the funds sent from Shanxi in the form of these silver coins?” In the imperial study of the Warm Fragrance Pavilion, Chongzhen carefully examined a silver coin in his hand. About the size of a baby’s palm, it was exquisitely minted. One side bore the words Great Ming, Ten Thousand Victories, while the other was stamped with One Tael. Fine serrated edges encircled the coin, making it look exceptionally refined.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Cheng Guoxiang replied respectfully. “Loyal and Brave Marquis began minting silver coins two years ago. Because they are finely made, convenient to use, and of very high purity, merchants in Shanxi mostly recognize only these coins in transactions. Now, not only Shanxi, but even Jiangnan and the capital have begun to see them circulate.”

Present in the study were not only Chongzhen and Cheng Guoxiang, but also Yang Sichang and several other ministers. Yang Sichang weighed a silver coin in his hand absentmindedly, then his expression shifted slightly as he asked, “Minister Cheng, why does this coin seem lighter than one tael to me?”

Not daring to be careless before the Grand Secretary who had personally promoted him, Cheng Guoxiang quickly answered, “In reply to Your Excellency, each of these coins weighs only eight qian and eight fen, indeed less than a full tael.”

“Less than a tael?” The Minister of Rites, Jiang Fengyuan, flew into a rage. “Minister Cheng, you just reported to His Majesty that the Loyal and Brave Marquis has paid a full one million taels in taxes. Yet each of these coins weighs only eight qian eight fen—wouldn’t that mean a shortfall of more than a hundred thousand taels? Do you realize this is deceiving the emperor!”

Jiang Fengyuan had never thought much of Cheng Guoxiang. Now that he saw such a major blunder, he wasted no time in slapping a huge charge onto him.

What he failed to notice was that the moment he said this, everyone around him looked at him as if he were an idiot…