Lingxi Village.

Waves of golden rice paddies rippled in the gentle breeze, their heavy heads bowing low.

"Another great harvest this year!"

Chen Li sat on a ridge between the fields. The wind caressed his cheeks, carrying the refreshing scent of ripe grain.

He squinted into the distance. Sunlight bathed the golden fields where hired hands were busy reaping the rice.

"Master Chen, the harvest from your fields is truly excellent!" a man said, straightening his aching back. He wiped the sweat from his brow, his tanned face beaming with a simple smile.

He casually plucked a plump stalk of rice and weighed it in his palm. "Look at this quality, sir. Every grain is full and heavy. This old man estimates that one mu of this land could yield at least seven hundred jin of grain."

Chen Li nodded slightly, a smile playing on his lips. "It’s all thanks to the help of my fellow villagers. Everyone has worked hard."

Just as he spoke, the clear voices of children drifted from the end of the path.

Two young boys, one about ten and the other seven or eight, came running over like a pair of joyful fawns. They carried a small bamboo basket filled with fresh fruit. "Dad, Mom sent us with these! She said you’ve all been working hard and should have some to quench your thirst."

The two boys were Chen Li’s children. The older was named Chen Shouheng, and the younger was Chen Shouye.

Chen Li took the basket and ruffled the fluffy hair on each of his sons’ heads. "Go on back now. Help your mother with her chores so she doesn’t get too tired."

"Mom just lay down for her afternoon nap!" Shouheng muttered.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a fist-sized gray shadow dart through the rice paddy, hopping before disappearing into the stalks.

"A frog! It’s a frog!"

His eyes lit up. Forgetting his father completely, he called to his brother, quickly rolled up his trouser legs, kicked off his shoes, and with a SPLASH, jumped barefoot into the field, yelling as he chased after it and kicking up a spray of muddy water.

Chen Li watched his sons’ lively backs and shook his head helplessly.

He placed the fruit basket in a conspicuous spot on the ridge and called out to the hired hands working in the field, "Everyone, take a break! Come try some fresh fruit. They’re sweet and sour, just the thing to wake you up and chase away the fatigue!"

"Oh, thank you, Master Chen!"

"Master Chen is a righteous man!"

The hired hands all responded, gathering around with grateful smiles.

They didn’t take many, each picking just one piece of fruit, rubbing it clean on their clothes before taking a big bite.

The juicy flesh banished the afternoon heat and exhaustion.

After a short rest, they all willingly returned to the fields.

Chen Li never skimped on or delayed the wages for these hired hands.

They got paid as soon as the work was done.

And the coarse rice was unlimited.

His reputation in Lingxi Village was famously good, so this group of hired hands never slacked off while working for him.

’Thirteen years, and it’s finally reached seven hundred jin!’

As the rice from the first mu was bagged, Chen Li lifted the linen sack, feeling a wave of emotion.

Fourteen years ago, his soul had transmigrated to this place.

He had become the son of a minor landlord in Lingxi Village. His family owned four hundred mu of fertile land.

The standard of living was relatively poor—they only ate meat every few days, which couldn’t even compare to his previous life of slaving away. However, compared to his fellow transmigrators who started as refugees or house slaves, Chen Li felt he had already hit the jackpot.

It wasn’t the best, but it was far from the worst.

But his father, for some unknown reason, had acted as if possessed. He insisted on marrying a Courtesan from the Commandery City and buying her freedom.

In the end, he sold two hundred mu of the family’s fertile land and gave the Courtesan four thousand taels of silver, after which she vanished without a trace.

But his old man still didn’t see the light. He came home, fell ill with lovesickness, and spent his days crying, "Shi Niang was forced into it!" Not long after, he kicked the bucket.

His original body’s owner had been a filial son. He went to the brothel to cause a scene but was beaten so severely he had to be carried back.

Perhaps it was the rough journey, or perhaps for some other reason, but the previous owner of the body died unexpectedly.

It was at that exact moment that Chen Li transmigrated.

When Chen Li’s mother saw her son recover, she, in contrast, learned to let things go.

Mrs. Chen had given birth to two sons and a daughter. Her eldest son died young at the age of four, and her daughter had been married off early. With only this younger son left, his safety and well-being were all that mattered.

After transmigrating, Chen Li didn’t cause any more trouble.

With half the family’s assets squandered by his father, life became difficult. The meat they used to eat every few days was reduced to only twice a month.

From then on, Chen Li began his life of honestly tilling the land.

However, getting rich just by farming was absolutely impossible.

Two hundred mu of fertile land seemed like a lot, and in truth, it was.

But to get rich just by holding onto these two hundred mu?

It was harder than climbing to the heavens!

One mu produced about three dan of grain, which was around three hundred sixty jin. The market price for one dan of grain was about one tael of silver.

Two hundred mu of land would yield six hundred taels of silver.

That sounded like a lot, but it was the best-case scenario. The actual take-home amount was far less.

The Government Office didn’t care if you had a bumper harvest or a poor one. There was a thirty percent Land Tax, which came to nine maces of silver per mu, plus other surcharges and fees to avoid corvée labor. Of the six hundred taels of silver, three hundred were taken by the Government Office.

After accounting for setting aside rice seeds, hiring hands, and other miscellaneous expenses, earning one hundred fifty taels a year was already considered a relatively prosperous year.

In the event of floods or droughts, it was even possible to reap nothing at all.

Fortunately, Jingshan County, where Lingxi Village was located, was in the fertile Jiangnan region, a land of fish and rice. The climate was mild, allowing for two harvests a year. By planting rapeseed in the winter and spring, he could earn one tael and five maces of silver per mu. After deducting costs, this added another two hundred-plus taels to his annual income.

All told, an annual income of around four hundred taels was the entirety of this "minor landlord" family’s earnings.

This amount only seemed large because silver wasn’t particularly rare in this world. If this were ancient times in his previous world, the equivalent value would likely be less than a hundred taels of silver.

After doing the math, Chen Li finally understood why in certain dynasties of his previous world, people would desperately try to register their lands under a Scholar’s name to evade taxes.

And this was while living in the prosperous Jiangnan region with a relatively low thirty percent tax rate. If this were a time of chaos, survival would be truly impossible.

’A harsh government is fiercer than a tiger!’

Chen Li lamented.

If he wanted to earn more money, the only methods he could think of were to either increase his acreage or improve the yield per mu.

As for increasing his acreage, not only had his father already squandered all the family’s savings, but even if he had the silver, who would be willing to sell their land unless they were facing a major disaster?

Only his crazy old man had been willing to do that.

That left only one path.

In his past life, Chen Li had also come from a rural area and was no stranger to farming.

In high school, he often went home to help his parents with farm work. It was only after getting into university and then slaving away in a factory that he lost touch with it.

Relying on his memories from his past life, he managed, through more than ten years of annual seed selection, cultivation, and composting, to raise the yield per mu to seven hundred jin—nearly double the regional average of three to four hundred jin.

In his third year after transmigrating, when he was seventeen, his family’s finances had recovered somewhat, and they had saved up some silver. His mother arranged a marriage for him with the daughter of an old Scholar from the next village.

Her family had apparently also been landlords in the past, but his future father-in-law had studied himself silly. He had held the rank of Scholar for twenty years but was never able to advance, failing the higher examinations his entire life. Combined with the family assets being split between three brothers, their fortune had gradually declined.

Initially, Chen Li was quite opposed to this kind of arranged marriage.

The idea of marrying and spending a lifetime with someone whose appearance and personality were a complete mystery to him was hard to accept.

But he couldn’t stand his mother’s nagging. In the end, Chen Li slipped the matchmaker five taels of silver to secretly arrange a meeting for the two of them, and they spent half a day together.

Although her face was veiled, he could faintly see that she was dignified and beautiful. Even better, having studied the classics with her father, the old Scholar, she was well-read, courteous, poised, and graceful.

After spending time with her, Chen Li happily accepted the marriage.

In the second year of their marriage, Chen Li’s eldest son was born.

Following the clan’s generational naming conventions, Chen Li named him Chen Shouheng.

To Chen Li’s surprise, on the very day his eldest son was born...

Double happiness descended!

A system had been lying dormant in his mind for four years, refusing to appear even when he’d called it his godfather. But now, after countless pleas, it finally made its debut.

The Martial Dao Clan System.

As the name suggested, it required Chen Li to establish a Martial Dao Clan.

The more prosperous the clan became, the more rewards he would receive.