Traveling back to the Northern Song Dynasty: Picking up a princess as my wife

Looking at the undulating cornfields on the hillside, Li Zhen felt a deep sense of satisfaction. Corn was unavailable in the Central Plains at this time, but Li Zhen had it; the corn he provided was a high-quality variety improved with modern technology. Due to time constraints, the land in Lijiazhai could only grow corn and potatoes, among other crops. Once these grains were harvested in the autumn, they would greatly alleviate the pressure on Lijiazhai's food supply.

Although Li Zhen didn't have to worry about food shortages because of his spatial ability, he still tried to save as much as possible, since everyone in the village had nothing else to do anyway.

It is said that people suffer greatly during famine years, but wealthy households with large amounts of land and resources are not affected at all. On the contrary, the grain in their hands becomes a powerful weapon for expanding their wealth during famine years.

If the local officials are competent, things will be better. But if they are as greedy as these gentry and wealthy households, the people will suffer. Large amounts of land will be seized by them, turning the people who originally owned the land into tenants working for them.

Li Zhen was aware of this, so he wanted to take this opportunity to buy up a large amount of land around Li Family Village. Rather than letting those unscrupulous gentry and wealthy households occupy it, it would be better to bring it under his jurisdiction. At least then he could ensure that the people under his command were well-fed and clothed.

Furthermore, Li Zhen now has a very good relationship with Zhang Cheng, the magistrate of Tangyin County. With his support, those landlords and wealthy people will not dare to act recklessly.

Besides land, Li Zhen also ordered his men to purchase large numbers of people from surrounding towns. The women were to be relatively young, bought to serve as wives for the single soldiers in the mountain stronghold. The men, on the other hand, were to be strong and healthy, preferably prisoners of war or slaves who had served in battle; such men, with a little training, could become soldiers.

In this chaotic world, almost every wealthy household with a modicum of wealth maintains its own armed forces, partly for self-protection and partly to prepare for expanding its power.

Li Zhen's plan was simple: to gain a foothold in this era, he needed his own territory and army. And his army needed soldiers who were absolutely loyal to him.

Through this period of expansion, Li Zhen now had three hundred soldiers, and their food was the best in the entire Li Family Village. Because they trained every day, they had meat at every meal, and their staple foods, rice and steamed buns, were plentiful. No army in the entire era could match such a level of nutrition.

To repay Li Zhen's kindness, these soldiers trained relentlessly every day, mastering various military skills and weapons. Their previous battles with the Jin army had also given them some combat experience, but Li Zhen felt it wasn't enough. He believed that more battlefield experience would cultivate the courage to kill.

After some consideration, Li Zhen decided to target the bandits in the surrounding mountains. Firstly, none of these bandits had powerful backers; secondly, their strongholds likely contained valuables. Fighting these bandits would not only train his troops but also replenish the mountain stronghold's finances.

Li Zhen divided the three hundred men into three teams: one led by Yue Peng, the second by Wang Changdao, and the third by Yue Ying. Normally, the mountain stronghold would keep two teams, sending one out each time to hunt down the bandits.

In less than two months, the bandits within Tangyin County vanished without a trace, much to the delight of Magistrate Zhang Cheng. He too desired a stable administrative center, and his goodwill towards Li Zhen increased considerably after learning that it was the Li Family Village that had sent men to suppress the bandits.

Li Zhen acquired a large amount of gold and antiques through selling grain and suppressing bandits, but unfortunately, none of them contained genuine works by Emperor Huizong of Song. Li Zhen specifically asked Zhao Yingluo about this and learned that most of Emperor Huizong's paintings and calligraphy had been looted by the Jurchens when Bianjing fell. Li Zhen even considered leading a group to Wuguo City to retrieve Emperor Huizong, but reason told him that this was not an option.

Looking at the enormous amount of gold in his hand, Li Zhen decided to return to modern society once again. Zhao Yingluo was overjoyed when she learned of this, as she had long missed that magical world.

To be on the safe side, Li Zhen entrusted the affairs of the village to Yue Peng. He told others that he was going to take Zhao Yingluo to learn from the immortals so that they could better develop the village upon their return.

Everyone expressed their support for this, believing that the more capable their leader was, the safer they would be. The growing strength of the stronghold was evident to all.

After preparing everything, Li Zhen pulled Zhao Yingluo back to his room. He took out a small knife, gritted his teeth, and cut his palm. (The wound had only healed a few days ago.)

Blood quickly stained the jade pendant red. Li Zhen gripped Zhao Yingluo's hand tightly, his mind filled with thoughts of his home in the modern world. A flash of white light appeared before their eyes, and the two were back in the modern world.

This time, Zhao Yingluo was familiar with the process. She found her and Li Zhen's modern clothes in the bedroom and changed, while Li Zhen picked up his phone and dialed Cao Hua's number.

"Hey, Cao Hua, are you at the company today?"

Cao Hua's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hey, my old classmate, I thought you'd forgotten about me now that you're rich. I couldn't get through to you for so long, and you finally have time to talk to me."

Li Zhen: "I'm not kidding you anymore. I've got something to do. I've found some more gold and jewelry. Should I deliver it to you or will you come and pick it up?"

Cao Hua asked, "How much? If there's a lot, I'll come find you."

Li Zhen glanced at the five large boxes on the ground and said, "There are quite a few. It would probably take seven or eight people to move them."

Cao Hua's excited voice came through the phone: "Damn! Li Zhen, did you really dig up your family's ancestral graves? Otherwise, how could there be so many good things? You wait, I'll bring people over right now."

Less than twenty minutes later, there was a knock on the door. When Zhao Yingluo opened the door, she saw Cao Hua dressed in a flashy outfit.

As soon as they met, Cao Hua greeted her sweetly, "Sister-in-law, you've become even more beautiful in just a few days."

Then he said to the people behind him, "You wait outside the door for a while, I'll call you in later."

Upon entering, he saw five wooden boxes. Three of them contained gold, while the remaining two contained jewelry, calligraphy, paintings, and other items.

With Li Zhen's nod of agreement, Cao Hua opened the box full of gold. Instantly, the entire room was filled with golden light, so bright that it almost blinded the group.

Cao Hua's hands were trembling as he held the boxes. One box last time was scary enough, but this time there were three. He even wondered if Li Zhen's ancestors had run a gold shop, otherwise how could they have so much gold?

Li Zhen smiled and said to Cao Hua, "Besides this gold, there are also jewelry and calligraphy and paintings. Take a look and buy one."

Cao Hua shivered as he put on gloves, took out an electronic scale, and began to weigh the gold. After weighing it for a while, he started adding the numbers and finally calculated that the gold weighed more than 50,000 grams. Now that the price of gold has risen to more than 600, the total value of the gold is more than 30 million.

Then Cao Hua opened the two boxes of treasures. He knew from the contents that they were definitely not ordinary items, but he didn't know their prices.

He said somewhat awkwardly, "I can give you a price quote for the gold, but I need to take the calligraphy, paintings, and jewelry to the company to show those two old guys first. If you're worried, you can come with me."

Li Zhen patted Cao Hua on the shoulder and said with a smile, "It's not the first time, what's there to worry about?"

Cao Hua then took out his phone and called the company's finance department. Less than ten minutes later, Li Zhen's phone beeped with a notification that the transfer had been successful. With over thirty million yuan in hand, they could now go on a shopping spree.