ATPnovel Chapter 1 Family Tree
Chapter 1 Family Tree
The third day of the third month in the ninth year of Zhenguan.
As dawn broke, Wang Zhihuan squatted on the edge of the field, holding a handful of soil in his hand.
The soil is black, feels damp in your hand, and has a fishy smell when you get close.
Old Zhang was squatting down next to him, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, his eyes fixed on him.
"Master, you've been squatting here for almost half an hour. What's so interesting about this dirt?"
Before Wang Zhi could even look up, he rubbed the soil in his palm and then brought it to his nose to smell it.
"Old Zhang, the soil on your land is sour."
"Huh?" Old Zhang spat out the grass stem. "Then what do we do?"
"Spread lime." Wang Zhihuan stood up, patted the mud off his hands, and said, "Spread thirty to fifty catties per mu, turn it over, let it dry for ten to fifteen days before sowing. Don't plant millet on this land this year; plant the kind of rice I gave you instead."
"That kind of short, stunted rice?"
"That's called Champa rice," Wang Zhihuan chuckled. "Don't let its short stature fool you, its yield is twice that of your millet."
Old Zhang's eyes lit up: "Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?" Wang Zhihuan turned and walked back. "Go find Manager Li to get the seeds later, and just say I approved them."
"Hey! Thank you, Master!"
The Merit System chimed: "Host has promoted agricultural techniques, merit points +30."
Wang Zhi didn't stop walking.
It's been almost half a year since I transmigrated here, and I've gotten used to the system's voice. It's not that I can't turn it off, but that I don't want to.
Merit points are simply points accumulated by doing good deeds, similar to how he collected banners in the hospital in his previous life—the difference being that banners cannot be exchanged for things, but merit points can.
He's saved almost six thousand. Not much, but enough.
Walking back to the yard from the paddy field, as I passed the tenant farmers' area, a group of children were running around wildly there.
The one leading the group was Old Zhang's grandson, named Gou Dan, who was seven years old and incredibly mischievous.
Upon seeing Wang Zhihuan approach, the group of children stopped abruptly and shouted at the top of their lungs, "Greetings, Master!"
Wang Zhi waved his hand: "You guys play your game."
Dog Egg ran over, looking up at him: "Master, my grandfather said you're going to Chang'an City today?"
"I'm not going."
"Then my grandpa said—"
"You believe everything your grandfather says?" Wang Zhihuan rubbed his head. "Go back and tell your grandfather to dig the drainage ditch on that plot of land half a foot deeper, the rainy season is coming soon."
Dog Egg said "Oh" and ran away.
Looking at his retreating figure, Wang Zhihuan suddenly felt that the past six months hadn't been too bad.
He didn't want to think about his past life. The car accident came too suddenly; a large truck overturned on the highway, and he didn't even have time to react.
With a blink of an eye, he became the sole survivor of a declining minor aristocratic family outside Chang'an.
Two hundred acres of land, a courtyard, plus a merit system.
My parents are gone, my clansmen are gone, and I don't even have a single relative to talk to. That's why I don't turn off the system sound.
Fortunately, the original owner had good relationships with the people around him—the tenant farmers all said that the young master of the Wang family was a good person.
After he transmigrated, he proactively reduced the rent by 20% and taught the tenants the simple farming techniques he had redeemed from the system, thus solidifying his "good guy" status.
That's where the term "petty philanthropist" comes from. In the society of feudal dynasties, human reason outweighed legal reason, and a good reputation was still very important, as it could save your life in a critical moment.
Wang Zhi pushed open the courtyard gate, washed his hands, and took two steamed buns from the kitchen.
The steamed buns were made with unleavened dough, hard as a rock, and it took a long time to chew each bite.
It's not that I'm too poor to afford anything good; it's just that sometimes when I'm eating alone, especially as a single man, I don't want to go through all that trouble and just grab a bite or two.
Eating is only truly enjoyable when everyone is eating together.
He chewed on a steamed bun as he walked into the main room, sat down at the table, and spread out a piece of paper.
The paper was filled with random, fragmented thoughts.
"In the ninth year of the Zhenguan era, 635 AD, Empress Zhangsun fell ill and had only one year left to live."
Crown Prince Chengqian plotted a rebellion. Princess Changle married Changsun Chong and died. Princess Chengyang died young. Princess Jinyang died at the age of twelve. Princess Xincheng died young.
These are all important historical moments of this era, and he was afraid he would forget them, since a bad pen is worse than a good memory.
It's not that I'm trying to get promoted or make a fortune through these events; it's just that if I encounter them, I'll have an advantage. After all, wouldn't it be foolish not to use an advantage?
He swallowed the steamed bun, took a sip of water, and stared at the words for a long time.
Li Shimin, the ruler of the Zhenguan era, is a wise and benevolent monarch throughout history.
To be fair, Li Shimin was a good emperor, but his family affairs were a complete mess.
The empress died young, her son rebelled, and her daughters died one after another, leaving very few survivors.
You wouldn't say he was a heartless person. He truly cherished the children he had with Empress Zhangsun, treating them like the apples of his eye.
Of course, these were only the children born to Empress Zhangsun; compared to the others, they were far inferior. It can only be said that fate played a cruel trick.
Wang Zhi put down his pen and leaned back in his chair.
He swallowed the steamed bun, took a sip of water, and stared at those lines of text for a long time.
For the past six months, he has been repeatedly pondering one thing.
He has a systematic approach and modern knowledge.
If he just wanted to coast through life, it would be too easy—the rent from two hundred acres of land would be enough for him to live comfortably, and he could easily become a wealthy man by simply picking out a few agricultural techniques from the system.
But what's the point? Did God send him on a journey through time and give him a system just so he could live a life free from want?
What's the difference between him and that donkey pulling the millstone?
Go around once and eat some grass, go around twice and still eat some grass.
He didn't want to be a donkey.
Since we've finally had this rare opportunity to come into this world, we must do something big.
Which young person doesn't want to change the world? But in the previous life, no matter who you were or how hard you tried, the result was that you were changed by that world and ended up becoming the person you despised.
This life is different. Wang Zhi also has advantages that ordinary people do not have, and now he is living in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
So this time, my ambition is to make this country stronger than it was in history, and to make the people on this land live happier lives than ever before.
He wanted to prevent the tragedies that were only briefly mentioned in history books from happening again, he wanted the name Zhenguan to be more than just an era name, and he wanted to leave something behind in this era, even though he shouldn't have been born in it. After all, even a wild goose leaves its cry in the sky, and a person leaves their name after death.
Before he transmigrated, his family had a family genealogy book, black with gold lettering, which was placed in the center of the ancestral hall every year during the ancestral worship ceremony.
He flipped through the pages and found it filled with names of people he had never even heard of before the Five Dynasties period—these were ordinary people who lived generation after generation, only to be forgotten one after another.
If he only farms and collects rent, then when future generations look through the family genealogy and see his name, it will just be a name.
But if he could really reduce the number of deaths in the Tang Dynasty, increase the harvest, and make the surrounding small countries bow down obediently decades earlier, then he would be more than just a name on the family tree.
He will have his own page in the family genealogy. Next to his name will be a note recording his deeds. His descendants will not forget him when they worship their ancestors.
To leave a mark on history—these four words might sound arrogant, but that's what he really thought. Since he was here, and since he had the cards in his hand, he might as well play a big one.
To achieve this, simply sitting on the edge of the field teaching tenants how to farm isn't enough. He has to move up the ranks. He has to get in touch with the people who are truly in charge of this empire.
He needed to make those people in purple robes in the court know who he was, and to make those who could decide the direction of the country willing to listen to him.
To put it bluntly, he needs to build his network in this world—not by currying favor, but by his own abilities and knowledge that others lack.
This process won't be quick. One year, two years, three years—he has to take it one step at a time. Every step must be taken steadily and firmly.
The first step is to rescue Empress Zhangsun. This is because of the deep bond between Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun.
As long as he saves Empress Zhangsun, he will basically have a get-out-of-jail-free card. After all, he still needs something to protect him, and his life is quite valuable now.
As for Li Shimin's character, there's no need to elaborate; we only need to look at the fates of his old brothers who fought alongside him all these years to know.
If this empress were to pass away next year according to history, he might not even have the right to interfere in what happened afterward.
I will never be involved in officialdom. Who says you have to be an official to achieve success?
Why do everything yourself? Knowledge alone is enough to influence the world.
Ultimately, I'm just someone who craves fame and fortune but is unwilling to work hard.
What I yearn for is nothing more than the pleasures of rural life, the leisure under a clear breeze and bright sunshine, and the carefree days of "having nothing to do today, listening to music in a brothel".
Wang Zhi also checked the system: 30,000 merit points to exchange for a complete treatment plan for his respiratory illness. He currently had less than 6,000, five times less.
The gap is large, but it's not insurmountable. Do what you can, accumulate points as needed, and then wait for an opportunity to move up.
As for when this opportunity will come, and what it will look like, he has no idea.
He only knows to be prepared at all times, so he won't miss the opportunity when it comes.
We need to find a way.
Healing the sick and saving lives increases your merit points, promoting agricultural skills increases them, and developing infrastructure also increases them.
But the quickest way is to get in touch with key figures—powerful officials, ministers, or even members of the royal family—one of whom is worth a hundred ordinary people.
The problem is, he's just a small landowner, euphemistically called a scion of a prominent family, but in reality, he's just a peasant. How can a peasant possibly have access to these powerful and influential officials?
Just then, a rustling sound came from outside the gate.