By the time evening rolled around, the toy samples had finally arrived at Li Dao Xuan's doorstep.
He tore into the packaging like a kid on Christmas, and the first things that caught his eye were the 1:200 scale catapults. These were much smaller than the clunky ones he had purchased previously, but the craftsmanship was leagues ahead in terms of detail and precision. They were sleek, easy to transport within the box, and looked far more functional.
Beside them lay several miniature ballistae that were honestly just too fun to put down. By hooking a tiny rubber band onto the mechanism, they could fire one-centimeter plastic bolts with surprising force. They were undeniably cute, yet Li Dao Xuan knew that once he handed these over to the villagers, the effect on defensive warfare against bandit raids would be nothing short of spectacular.
However, his primary focus soon shifted to the 1:200 scale replicas of ancient plastic cottages and miniature castles.
The people of Gao Village Family were industrious and brave, capable of crafting most basic necessities themselves. But when it came to complex architecture, actual castles and sturdy housing, they hit a massive wall of difficulty. Building anything beyond a basic mud hut was a monumental task for people that small.
For instance, the hundred or so reform-through-labor convicts were still living in a makeshift enclosure Li Dao Xuan had built out of Lego bricks. It did not even have a roof. Back when the drought was in full swing, a lack of a ceiling was a minor inconvenience at best.
But lately, with Li Dao Xuan playing "Dragon King" and spraying mist into the box daily, that Lego pen had become an embarrassing mud pit.
Finding "sweet rain after a long drought" is a poetic miracle, but it loses its charm pretty fast when you are sleeping in a room with no ceiling. Li Dao Xuan had been forced to balance a flat board over the Lego walls just to keep the prisoners dry, which looked tacky and makeshift.
Now, with these plastic houses from the toy company, he had the perfect solution for settling the convicts in style, or at least, in something that did not involve primary-colored plastic blocks.
Li Dao Xuan lifted the lid of the Great Box and leaned in, his voice echoing with divine authority.
"Yiye, go and inform the convicts. Tell them their recent performance in the labor reform program has not been half bad. As a reward, I have decided to commute a portion of their sentences and grant them a little gift."
Gao Yiye did not miss a beat, scurrying off to deliver the news.
Up on the hillside, the reform-through-labor convicts were busy chopping wood in the drizzle. Upon hearing the announcement, they immediately dropped their axes and knelt in the mud, shouting their gratitude to the heavens.
Li Dao Xuan reached into the box, swept up the old Lego bricks with a single motion, and tossed them aside. Then, he picked up one of the 1:200 scale ancient cottages and lowered it slowly toward the ground.
The convicts looked up, eyes wide with terror and awe, as a fully formed house descended from the clouds.
With a heavy duang, it hit the dirt, wobbling for a few seconds before settling firmly into the earth.
Then came another house. Duang.
And another.
A dozen houses rained down one after another, lining up neatly on a patch of wasteland outside the Gao Village Family stronghold that was unsuitable for farming. In a matter of minutes, a brand-new sub-village had manifested out of thin air.
The convicts exchanged bewildered glances.
"This... this is for us?"
Even the Gao Village Family residents watching the drama from a distance were stunned.
"What just happened? Is the Old Man building a city now?"
Li Dao Xuan actually wanted to place more, but the toy company had only sent about fifteen samples. He decided to stick with these for now and just order a bulk shipment from his own "Yellow Cart" shopping app later.
"Do not get any ideas about having a private villa to yourselves," Li Dao Xuan muttered to the tiny people below. "Twelve men to a house. You will be living in bunks until your labor reform is complete and you are restored to commoner status."
The convicts, however, did not seem bothered by the crowded living conditions at all.
"We feel great!" one of them shouted toward the sky. "Honestly, we are happy to stay in labor reform for the rest of our lives! There is no need to restore our status! Please, let us work forever!"
Li Dao Xuan: "..."
Seriously. A bunch of guys with zero ambition.
He felt the urge to roast them for their lack of drive, but he stopped himself to think. It made sense. These men had just transitioned from a life of starving in the wilderness to having three full meals a day and a roof over their heads. Of course they thought they had reached the pinnacle of existence.
But he knew how to handle this.
All he had to do was pick the hardest-working prisoner, grant him a full pardon, give him a massive bonus, and set him up as a model reform convict. Once the others saw him living a life of even greater luxury and freedom, their tune would change instantly. They would be clawing over each other to work harder and earn their freedom.
You want to lie down and coast forever. Keep dreaming. Start grinding.
It was just like when a cat owner sees their pet lounging lazily on a sunlit balcony and suddenly feels the inexplicable urge to slap a thirty-year mortgage on the cat, forcing it to go work in a cat café to earn its own treats.
Poor little kitties. You cannot escape the overwhelming malice of the Giant in the Sky.
Li Dao Xuan stood up, hands on his hips, and let out a dramatic, villainous laugh that shook the room.
Down in the box, Gao Yiye looked up at the sky, then turned to the convicts with a deeply serious expression.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun is currently roaring with joyful laughter. It seems he is incredibly pleased with your performance."
The convicts were overjoyed.
"If being a prisoner makes Dao Xuan Tianzun this happy, then it is a noble calling! We must dedicate our entire lives to being the best prisoners in history! Anything to keep the Old Man smiling!"
The autumn wind began to howl, and the rain grew cold.
Usually, in the autumn, the arrival of the first cool rains and the drop in temperature signaled the perfect window for sowing winter wheat.
However, this year was different.
Aside from the localized divine mist over Gao Village Family, the rest of the region remained bone-dry. Not a single drop of natural rain could be found.
The newly appointed Magistrate of Cheng County, Liang Shixian, was currently nursing a massive, throbbing headache.
He sat in the county yamen, rubbing his temples as he pored over the reports handed to him by his Shaoxing Shiye, who had traveled a thousand li with him to take this post.
"The grain stores were completely emptied by Wang Er?" Liang Shixian groaned. "So you are telling me that the moment I step into office, I have to clean up Zhang Yaocai's mess? I have to collect all the taxes he failed to get, plus extra just to fill the empty silos?"
The secretary nodded grimly.
"That is the situation, Excellency."
Liang Shixian nearly flipped the desk. If he did not pride himself on being an elegant, refined scholar, he probably would have kicked it across the room.
He furrowed his brow, his expression darkening.
"The heavens have not dropped a single drop of rain, and the government expects me to squeeze more taxes out of these people? That is not administration. That is asking for rebellion. Zhang Yaocai did not die unjustly, but I have always prided myself on loving the people like my own children. I am a man of integrity. I cannot do what he did."
The secretary wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.
"But Excellency, if you fail to collect the taxes, you will be stripped of your rank and prosecuted. The result will not be much different from Zhang Yaocai's fate. You will either lose your head to the rebels or lose it to the Emperor. Either way, that head of yours is living on borrowed time."
Liang Shixian raised an eyebrow.
"So you are saying I have walked into a death trap?"
"Precisely," the secretary whispered. "Excellency, perhaps we should resign and head back to our hometown. We would lose the official hat, but at least we would keep the neck it sits on."
Liang Shixian fell silent, his mind racing.
As a man who had read ten thousand scrolls, he immediately activated his analytical mode. All the knowledge he had gathered over a lifetime, political history, administrative experience, and ancient philosophy, began to swirl in his mind like a kaleidoscope.
Then, with a mental ding, he landed on a solution.
"It seems," he said slowly, "that we must look toward the local gentry and the wealthy households."
"Eh?" the secretary blinked.
"Redistribution through persuasion," Liang Shixian declared. "The grain the peasants cannot pay must be made up by the gentry of Cheng County. We will ask them to contribute silver and grain to fill the gap. I will tell them I will owe them a personal favor. Once this crisis passes, I will ensure the government looks upon their interests with extreme generosity."
The secretary stroked his chin.
"That might be the only way out of this stalemate. But the question is, will those wealthy old misers actually part with their hoards?"
Liang Shixian let out a cold snort.
"Your own reports say that when Wang Er revolted in Baishui, it triggered bandits everywhere. The gentry have suffered just as much as anyone else. Even the Bai Family Fort was overrun and looted. They have seen the consequences of a desperate populace. If I go and talk to them now, while the fear is still fresh, I might just get them to agree."
"Guards. Prepare my horse. I am going on a tour of the local townships. I want to meet with every wealthy landlord in the district and have a very persuasive chat."