The village shrine was used to worship the local earth god, and it was also a place for the villagers to celebrate together. Every time the festival came, people would gather there to drink in groups. On this day, drinking was not only open and aboveboard, but also mandatory—by dusk, every household would be helping their drunk family members home.

However, ever since the new dynasty was established ten years ago and the ban on the Five Equalizations and Six Controls was issued, alcohol could only be sold by the government, and suddenly became incredibly expensive—even homemade liquor rose several times in price. Ordinary people couldn’t afford it; at most, they would secretly brew some bitter wine at home to have a taste.

Secondly, the new dynasty, imitating the Zhou system, punished those who gathered in groups to drink—any gathering of more than five people would be penalized. The people lost a day of joy and release, the village shrine became deserted, and it had fallen into disrepair for a long time.

In Henry Benson’s view, a place that could bring together everyone in the village and strengthen cohesion through ritual should never be left idle. Even without drinking, there were plenty of things that could be done.

For example, they could set up a long street banquet, call everyone together for a rare hearty meal, have Robert Benson perform swordsmanship on stage to make the boys admire him with envy. Then, let the elders tell stories, recounting to everyone the hardships the The Benson Family clan endured when migrating from the east two hundred years ago, and the legendary lives and tragic ends of their ancestors, the Tian Heng brothers—all of which could strengthen the villagers’ sense of belonging.

In his previous life, Henry Benson was actually from the south and was deeply influenced by southern clan culture. Although village rules and clan conventions were criticized as “dross” in the new era, in certain times, they could be turned from waste into treasure, becoming a means of self-preservation in troubled times.

After the Han family unified the land and the chaos ended, clans were able to live together for long periods and continue to prosper in peace. But as this was still the early stage of development, the system was far from as complete as it would be in later generations.

Henry Benson simply brought over those southern clan practices. He planned that, in the future, next to the village shrine, he would build a charity school so that all the children of appropriate age in the village could learn to read and do arithmetic—there was no need to study the Five Classics, as that would be a waste of time. For those a bit older, Henry Benson could personally teach them more practical knowledge as their teacher. He hoped that a few talents could emerge from the village.

They could also build a charity granary to provide relief to the poorest clan members and neighbors, helping to ease the gap between rich and poor within the village.

With these benefits, the villagers would be more united. In the future, under the pretext of guarding against thieves, he could gather them during the slack farming season to train in formation and battle—then people would be willing to listen.

Henry Benson had thought it through: “Right now, Guanzhong does seem peaceful. When I say the world is in chaos, even Grandfather doesn’t really believe it. If I started training the clan in military drills right away, not only would the authorities become suspicious, but the villagers themselves wouldn’t be happy. People are naturally lazy; if they can lie down, they’ll never stand. I can only use personal relationships and benefits to gradually achieve my goals.”

Looking at it this way, there was so much to do—far more interesting than going to the Imperial Academy to study dead books.

But Robert Benson pointed out the contradiction in Henry Benson’s thinking: “Lun’er, on the one hand, you want to do all these things that cost money and grain.”

“On the other hand, you want to accumulate ten thousand bushels of grain.”

“That’s like your head wanting to go north while your body goes south—isn’t that absurd?”

“Grandfather’s lesson is right.” Henry Benson scratched his head a bit embarrassedly. It was indeed contradictory; all these things required huge expenses, but there was no increase in income. If this continued, even a landlord’s family would run out of surplus grain.

“Looks like I need to come up with some ways to increase income and gather grain.”

……

The next day, Henry Benson went to the blacksmith shop next to the manor. Before he even entered, he could hear the clanging of hammering.

The blacksmith’s name was Stephen Price. He was not a member of the The Benson Family clan, but a dependent who had come from Shangjun and knew a bit of blacksmithing. Later, he gained his freedom, married a woman from the The Benson Family family, and Robert Benson let him open a small blacksmith shop at home, specializing in repairing farm tools.

“Young master.”

Seeing Henry Benson arrive, Stephen Price, wearing a leather apron, quickly put down his hammer and accompanied Henry Benson as he toured the small blacksmith shop, then asked about something.

“I heard the old master has shown mercy and allowed every household in the village to borrow the manor’s oxen for plowing—is that true?”

Although Robert Benson had scolded Henry Benson yesterday, he still announced the lending of oxen and iron tools, winning cheers from the whole village, and also told Stephen Price to hurry up and repair the iron plows to distribute to each household.

“It’s true, of course.” Henry Benson looked at Stephen Price. The short blacksmith’s face was always rosy from years of working in front of the blazing fire.

“If that’s the case, my younger brother is of a different surname—can he borrow an ox too?”

After Stephen Price settled in the Fifth Village, his brother’s family also came to join him, becoming one of the few non-clan families in the village.

Henry Benson didn’t want to play clan politics—that was too petty. Only by treating everyone equally, regardless of surname, could more and more people be gathered.

“Of course he can. But since there are so many households borrowing, who goes first and who goes later has to be decided in a fair way…”

That is, by drawing lots!

If it were decided by closeness of relationship, the manor’s threshold would be worn down by relatives coming to pull strings. It was better to let everyone rely on their own luck, which would save a lot of trouble.

But Henry Benson had come to the blacksmith shop today for another matter.

After walking around, Henry Benson saw that Stephen Price’s skills were decent, and he was versatile—not only could he forge iron, but he also did some carpentry, which was excellent.

Henry Benson stroked a newly repaired iron shovel. “Also… is there any extra iron?”

……

Chapter 6: What Decides the Head

“Plowing with oxen and using iron tools is just so satisfying.”