However, even though he had tucked up the hem of his robe, he couldn’t help but get a little seawater and fine sand on it.

“Your Highness, we still have some time before we return. It won’t look good with sand on your clothes. Why not ask for some water at a villager’s house to wash your feet?” Duan Jin suggested, pointing to the village ahead.

Xiao Yunqing looked down at the sand on his legs, nodded, and gladly agreed.

The nearest house was a courtyard enclosed by a wattle fence. The wooden gate stood ajar, and from within came the sound of an old woman coughing and children playing.

Duan Jin knocked lightly on the door. Soon, a middle-aged man with a square face, dressed in coarse, short-sleeved garments, poked his head out. Seeing the visitors’ respectable attire—one man’s clothes were clean and simple yet without patches, while the other’s were quite lavish—and the several men standing a few paces behind them who clearly looked like servants, a hint of wariness flashed in his eyes. “Who might you be?”

“I am Duan Jin, the county magistrate of this district, and this is Young Master Xiao.” Duan Jin clasped his hands in a bow, his tone gentle. “We were gathering seafood on the mudflats earlier, and our feet are covered in mud and sand.”

“I’d like to ask for some water to wash up. I’m terribly sorry to trouble you.”

Upon hearing this, the square-faced man’s expression instantly shifted from wariness to panic. He hurriedly opened the wooden gate: “It’s the Magistrate! Please come in, please come in! I didn’t recognize you, Your Honor—I’ve been rude!”

The courtyard wasn’t large, but it was kept reasonably clean.

The middle-aged man’s mother emerged from the house, holding a coarse earthenware basin. Judging by the family’s circumstances, Duan Jin surmised this was a precious item in their home—it was free of chips and cracks, bearing only faint signs of use.

She ladled half a basin of clear water from the jar: “Your Honor, please make do with this for washing. We’re poor and have nothing decent to offer you.”

“No need to be so polite, old lady. We’re the ones imposing on you.” Duan Jin quickly took the basin, then fished a dozen or so copper coins from his pouch and handed them over, “A small token of our appreciation—please buy the children something to eat.”

The old woman waved her hands repeatedly, refusing to accept it. As they pushed and pulled, several villagers had gathered outside—presumably drawn by the commotion to see what was happening. Realizing the county magistrate himself had arrived, they all gathered outside the fence, whispering and speculating among themselves, yet not daring to take a single step closer.

After Duan Jin and the young prince had washed their feet, they sent a servant to fill the family’s water jar, then began chatting casually with the villagers.

Xiao Yunqing stood nearby, listening silently. As the others chatted, he quietly observed his surroundings, as if mentally taking notes.

Duan Jin began by chatting about everyday matters. After a moment, the villagers gathered around, began to relax, and dared to join in the conversation; the topic naturally turned to the crops.

The middle-aged man who had opened the door sighed. “It’s strange, really. The land here by the sea looks flat and fertile, but we just can’t grow crops on it. Generation after generation, we’ve tried countless methods. No matter how much water we pour on it, the seedlings either fail to take root or wither and turn yellow just as they start to head.”

“That’s for sure!” an elderly man with snow-white hair chimed in from the side. “Back when I was a boy, we could still scrape together a meager harvest, but things have gotten worse year after year. Lately, I’ve just left my fields fallow and rely on fishing and gathering seafood to get by on a few grains of millet.”

Duan Jin furrowed his brow and asked, “What does the soil look like? Is there anything different about it compared to normal soil?”

“Different?” The old man thought for a moment. “It looks much like other fields, really, but the color is a bit whiter. Especially right after the rainy season, a layer of glistening white frost forms. If you rub it between your fingers, the soil turns to powder.”

“White frost?” Duan Jin pondered for a moment. “Could it be saline-alkali soil?” 

“Saline-alkali soil?”

The villagers exchanged puzzled glances; clearly, they had never heard of such a term.

Duan Jin nodded and said slowly, “I’ve read in ancient texts that if coastal land is constantly saturated with seawater, the salt beneath the surface rises to the top as the water evaporates, forming a layer of salt frost. With such high salt content in the soil, the roots of crops cannot absorb water or nutrients, so naturally, they won’t grow well.”

“Well… is there a way to fix that?” the middle-aged man asked eagerly, a glimmer of hope lighting up his eyes.

Duan Jin smiled. “The ancient texts do mention several methods. First, flush the soil with fresh water or dig ditches to drain the water, flushing the salt away. Then, use gypsum to neutralize the acidity in the soil. After that, you can plant some salt-tolerant crops. Once the soil is enriched, you’ll be able to grow regular crops again.”

Hearing his well-reasoned explanation, the villagers’ eyes lit up one by one, and the pallor that had just moments ago clouded their faces gradually gave way to a healthy flush. The old man was so moved that his voice trembled: “Lord Duan, is what you’re saying true? Can this saline-alkali land really be restored?”

“I cannot guarantee it, but the records in the ancient texts should be accurate,” Duan Jin replied thoughtfully. “However, I must first go and inspect the land before I can determine exactly which method to use.”

“Excellent! I’ll take you there right away!” the old man said, reaching out to take Duan Jin’s hand.

Duan Jin let him lead the way, then asked the young prince in a low voice, “Your Highness, would you like to come along as well?”

Xiao Yunqing nodded, his expression no longer as carefree as it had been during the beachcombing: “Of course.”

The large procession made its way toward the wasteland outside the village. It was just the time when people returning from work or fishing were coming home, and they happened to run into this massive group.

When they heard that the new county magistrate had a way to reclaim the land that had been uncultivable for decades, some were skeptical, while others dismissed it outright, snickering openly: “Haven’t we suffered enough under the previous magistrates? They said the same thing when Zhenhai Village was planting sweet potatoes…”

Hearing this, some people hesitated in their steps.

“I think this one’s different,” said one. “The magistrate even returned the dozen or so copper coins he borrowed from the Dali family.” Another chimed in, “That’s right. It can’t hurt to go take a look.”

“Let’s go take a look.” A fellow villager nudged Sun Tian, who snorted. “I’ll see just what he’s capable of.”

He followed the crowd in that direction.

The wasteland wasn’t far from the village. From a distance, hundreds of acres of land glowed a grayish-white under the moonlight, the night shrouded in silence. Such vast stretches of barren land were truly shocking to behold, and Xiao Yunqing’s heart gave a start.

Leading the way at the front was the old man. As he looked out at the frost-white landscape, his eyes welled up with tears. He’d heard that this land hadn’t always been like this.

It was likely his great-grandfather who had told the story: back then, they could still grow crops normally. Later, for reasons unknown, their rice yields gradually declined year after year. By his grandfather’s generation, the crops could no longer even be harvested.

At first, only a dozen or so acres were unusable, but it spread to dozens of acres. Eventually, over a hundred acres across the entire village became barren, and the barrenness even spread to the neighboring village’s fields.

By now, the several hundred acres of land surrounding these two or three villages no longer yielded a harvest.

As he approached, Duan Jin crouched down, pinched a bit of soil between his fingers, held it to his nose to smell it, and then licked it with the tip of his tongue. Instantly, a bitter, salty taste spread across his tongue.

He looked at the clumps of hardened soil, picked one up, and squeezed it gently. The soil crumbled into powder, trickling through his fingers.

“It’s definitely classic saline-alkali soil,” Duan Jin said as he stood up, his brow slightly furrowed. “And the salinity is quite high—it’s likely been this way for decades.” 

“W-well… can it still be fixed?” the old man asked, a hint of anxiety in his voice.

Duan Jin nodded. “It can be fixed, but it will take some effort and cost a fair amount of money. Bringing in fresh water, buying seeds, and purchasing gypsum—every single one of these requires money.”

The villagers’ faces darkened once more. Wuyuan County was already impoverished; the people could barely fill their stomachs—where would they find the money to reclaim the land?

“Magistrate Duan, you’re our local official—you must find a way!”

“That’s right, Magistrate! If we could grow crops on this land, we wouldn’t have to go hungry anymore!”

The villagers pleaded in a chorus of voices, their eyes brimming with hope.

Just then, the old man stepped out of the crowd, dropped to his knees before Duan Jin with a thud, and wept bitterly: “Magistrate Duan, I beg you to have mercy on us common folk! Our ancestors have tended this land for generations, yet now we can only watch helplessly as it lies fallow. If you can restore this land to fertility, we would be willing to serve you as oxen or horses!”

Duan Jin hurriedly helped the old man to his feet, his heart aching as if pierced by needles. “Old man, please stand up. As the county magistrate, it is my duty to seek the welfare of the people. But…”

He paused, his tone heavy. “The funds allocated by the imperial court are already meager. The county office can’t even afford to pay the constables’ monthly salaries—we simply don’t have the money to reclaim the saline-alkali land.” 

“What?” The old man froze, his hopes shattered in an instant, and his tears flowed even more freely. “Then… then what are we supposed to do? Are we really doomed to poverty for the rest of our lives?”

The villagers fell silent as well. The excitement they’d felt just moments ago as spectators receded like a tide, leaving only endless disappointment in its wake. In the darkness of the night, only a few stifled sobs could be heard.

Watching this scene, Xiao Yunqing felt a deep pang of sorrow.

He walked over to Duan Jin and whispered, “Magistrate Duan, I have a solution.” Duan Jin looked up in surprise. “You have a solution?”

Xiao Yunqing nodded, turned to the villagers, and declared in a loud voice, “Fellow villagers, I will cover the costs of reclaiming the saline-alkali land!”    

“What?” The villagers were stunned, unable to believe their ears.

Xiao Yunqing smiled and continued, “Though I am not the county magistrate, the fact that I have come here and witnessed this situation means we are destined to be connected. Seeing you all suffer pains, my heart goes out to you. I am willing to use my own funds to help you reclaim this saline-alkali land. As long as we can make crops grow on this land and help you all live better lives, no amount of money is too much!”

Duan Jin stared at him intently for a few seconds, then suddenly turned, took a step back, and faced the villagers. He knelt before Xiao Yunqing with decisive resolve:

“Duan Jin, Magistrate of Wuyuan County, offers this gratitude on behalf of all the county’s people for Your Highness’s kindness! Your Highness’s magnanimity is something Wuyuan County will never forget!”

The old man also stared at Xiao Yunqing in a daze, then suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed three times before him: “Your Highness, you are truly a living Bodhisattva! The people of Wuyuan County will never forget your great kindness and benevolence, generation after generation!”

The other villagers also knelt one after another, shouting in unison, “Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Highness!”

Xiao Yunqing was clearly at a loss in this situation. His hands clenched and unclenched, and he felt goosebumps break out all over his body. He reached out and helped the old man and Duan Jin to their feet, one in each hand.

He cast a pleading glance at Duan Jin, who smiled reassuringly and said to the crowd, “Everyone, please get up. Reclaiming this land won’t be a quick job—and it requires all of us to work together. Once we return and draw up a plan, we’ll get started in a few days!”

“Yes!”

“Sir, please let us know if there’s anything you need us to do.” 

“We’ll be waiting at home for you to begin the work!”