Protect Our Clan Leader

Chapter 536: Chapter 31 Prosperity! Increasing number of clan members_1

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Ping’an Town.

It was April, with an incessant drizzling rain.

Ever since the Wang family took hold of Ping’an Town, they had been constantly increasing their development efforts.

Now, many lands in Ping’an Town, which were originally unsuitable for farming, had undergone land reclamation. They have been gradually transformed, either through digging or filling, into one piece after another of fertile land.

Around these fertile lands, one by one, farmhouses were built.

Under the unified planning of the Wang family, the old river courses were renovated and dredged, and new river courses were also excavated. Now, the entire water system of Ping’an Town has been completely renewed.

In all of Ping’an Town, waterways crisscrossed in abundance. A great number of large and small rivers intersected with each other, the water routes reached everywhere. At each key point of the water route, flood control gates were specially built, which could adjust the water level at critical moments.

Each farmhouse and village was connected by these rivers, and each had their own dock. This not only solved the irrigation problem but also saved on transport. After all, under the current conditions, the transport capacity of ships far exceeded that of land vehicles driven by animal power.

Under the infiltration of the continuous drizzle, ripples spread across the intersecting rivers. Looking down from the skies, Ping’an Town seemed to be soaked in water vapor, adding a bit of charm and spirituality.

Amid this dense water network, one could see clearly the grey-white wide roads crisscrossing. These roads spread out like a spider web over the entire Ping’an Town.

This is the characteristic feature of the Wang family – “Cement Road”.

Even in this rainy season, the cement road was still very clean, devoid of any traces of mud.

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If this were two or three decades ago, Ping’an Town would have never seen such a sight. The town had few roads back then, most of them were just rammed earth roads. During the rainy season, mud was everywhere. Whether traveling by carriage or on foot, it proved an extremely messy affair.

Indeed, the carts with a large load and heavy body often got their wheels stuck in the mud— a perfectly common occurrence.

Only the central town or the area near the entrance of a prominent family’s house would be cleaner. These places would have bluestone laid on the roads to harden the surface.

However, laying the bluestone was fairly expensive and the efficiency of installation was quite low. Each piece of bluestone required enormous effort from the stone mason to cut, carve and process. If one cared for aesthetics, inscriptions and patterns would be engraved on the stones.

Such an enormous cost could only be borne for laying the roads within and immediately outside of one’s residence. If one wanted to cover the entire town with a floor of bluestone, it was nothing more than a pipe dream. Such an undertaking would bleed the Wang family dry.

Building “cement” roads, on the other hand, was much simpler. The cement was produced in-house, the cost was relatively low, and it shaped up quite quickly. More importantly, it was very clean and tidy, which is perfectly suitable for the current state of Ping’an Town.

At this very moment.

On one of the wide, straight, grey-white cement roads that ran through Ping’an Town, a low-key and simple horse-drawn carriage was slowly making its way through the curtain-like rain.

Amid the “clip-clop” sound of the horse hooves, Wang Shouzhe was looking through the glass window of the carriage. His gaze fell on the drainage ditches on the both sides of the cement road, as well as on vast swaths of farmland.

This season was the time when wheat’s growth was exponential. As far as the eye could see, the surrounding farmland mirrored a green ocean, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Given the abundance of rain, excellent drainage, and timely measures to prevent disease and pests, there were no accidents. This year was also expected to be another bumper year for wheat.

Despite the Wang family of Changning having many businesses, none took priority over farmland. Moreover, what the Wang family’s farms produced were varieties of wheat and rice, the revenues from which far exceed that of ordinary food grains.

The Prominent Families of Guard City in Changning, as well as its surrounding cities, were beginning to accept the crops provided by the Wang family. This was because though the price of the Wang family’s crop varieties was slightly higher, they were of exceptional quality. Whether resisting disease, lodging, or in terms of yield, all had great advantages.

Farming using the Wang family’s crop varieties would be more stable and the yield would also be significantly higher. The overall income was thought to be about 30% to 70% higher. This increase in profit was pure gain.

This portion of pure profit was extremely important for those ranked 8 and 9 Prominent Families. This would allow them to accumulate the resources required for a transition to the Spirit Platform Realm faster, or continue to expand their business, or be more generous in the cultivation of their talented clansmen. There was an opportunity to train a second or even a third individual to reach the Spirit Platform Realm.

Even many rank 9 Prominent Families were beginning to find ways to win the Wang family’s favor and attach themselves to them. They were willing to offer up their fruitful lands, their Spirit Fields, for the Wang family to grow their crop varieties on. The Wang family would then purchase these crops and take charge of selling them.

In return, these rank 9 Prominent Families would receive higher profits each year, making their financial situation more comfortable. The chances for these families to grow and strengthen would then multiply.

Taking this route, led by the Wang family, many of Guard City’s Prominent Families in Changning were gradually making their way towards “collective prosperity”.

The Prominent Families, once they tasted the sweetness of profit, found it very difficult to go back to the way things were. They would be firmly tied to the Wang family, and conscientiously maintain their common interests.

Guard City of Changning’s large and small tens of Prominent Families, except for a minority, now found their pace of development steadily accelerating. The entire region of Guard City in Changning would thus become stronger and stronger.

Having time-traveled to this era, Wang Shouzhe had already spent more than twenty years in this world dominated by Prominent Families.

Reflecting on his journey thus far, he often found himself immersed in thought. Although there were still many shortcomings, he had indeed led his clansmen and set up a comfortable life.