The Great Ming in the Box-Chapter 90: You Lack Sincerity
By late August in Year Seven of Tianqi (1627 CE), Chengcheng County had finally settled down.
The prolonged peasant uprising gradually subsided due to the unrelenting efforts of Cheng Xu, the ninth-rank inspector.
Bai Shui Wang Er fled north through the mountains, leaving Chengcheng County. None knew where he went.
Next, the new County Magistrate Liang Shixian took office.
His very first decree upon arrival announced: “The emperor has passed away; all under heaven shall mourn in white.”
So it turned out: on August 22nd, the famed Carpenter Emperor Zhu Youxiao had died of illness. On August 24th, Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian ascended the throne. A political shift had swept Beijing, yet Chengcheng County lay far from the capital’s influence—the news hadn’t arrived until the new magistrate brought this “somber tidings.”
Ordinary folk reacted: “Oh, the emperor changed? So be it. Can the new emperor make it rain? If not, we’ll carry on as always—just wash up and go to sleep.”
The side hall of Chengcheng County’s City God Temple now bustled with activity.
Third Lady sat solemnly in her Taoist robes. Before her, over a dozen devout believers crouched in gratitude. After lavishing thanks upon the Dao Xuan Deity, they chanted scriptures alongside her before finally departing.
These were all poor souls unable to afford medical care, illnesses cured only by Third Lady’s divine treatment—their very lives saved.
As they left, a gaunt-faced middle-aged man scurried inside. Dressed in burlap clothing, emaciated and bony, he fell to his knees before Third Lady: “Pious lady, save me!”
Third Lady asked, “Oh? What sickness has struck your family?”
The man shook his head. “None in my household is sick.”
Third Lady murmured, “Oh?”
The man whispered, “I am a permanent worker.”
Third Lady didn’t grasp the term “permanent worker,” so she kept an inscrutable silence, waiting.
The man continued, “Every month, I spend twenty days working at government workshops. The pay is scraps, not even enough for food. I work tirelessly the other ten days, hustling odd jobs just to survive.”
“Days ago, two clay sculptors arrived at the workshop. They suddenly struck it rich, paid thirty years’ worth of artisan registration fee at once. Now they never need labor for the government again.”
Hearing this, Third Lady couldn’t see the relevance. How did it concern her?
The man pressed on, “Those clay sculptors refused to name the source of their fortune. They only muttered they’d received the blessing of the Dao Xuan Deity. I asked everywhere about which deity this might be, until finally a path led me to you.”
At last, Third Lady understood.
The man pleaded piteously, “Pious lady, please guide me. How can this humble soul win the Dao Xuan Deity’s grace to free me from misery?”
Inside Third Lady’s mind, the metaphorical abacus clattered. She possessed divine medicine that healed illnesses but couldn’t pull people out of poverty—this “permanent worker” was beyond her reach.
But what she couldn’t do, the deity certainly could.
Therefore, only one path remained.
Third Lady adopted a high and mighty air, shaking her head. “You lack sincerity. Not even the Deity could help you.”
The man panicked. “I am sincere, pious lady! Deeply sincere!”
Third Lady said, “If your devotion runs true, walk beyond Chengcheng County, trek northeast for more than thirty li. Find a small village named Gaojia Village.”
The man recoiled. “But…it’s in the chaos of war outside…”
Third Lady spoke lightly. “Indeed, you lack sincerity. Since you dread the journey, no deity may aid you.”
Desperate, the man insisted, “I am sincere! Truly sincere! I…I’ll go to Gaojia Village right now! But once I arrive…what then?”
Third Lady mysteriously smiled and said, “Once you arrive at the village, everything will become clear on its own.”
The middle-aged man gritted his teeth, kowtowed to thank Third Lady, left the City God Temple, and returned home as fast as possible. He had just finished the 20 days of work required by the government for that month, so he now had ten days to rest and could arrange it freely.
He simply decided to strive during these ten days right away.
He took the only few copper coins at home, the only two dry biscuits, the only two pieces of clothing, and a cast-iron pot, packing all his belongings into one bundle.
With his head bowed low, he walked timorously to the city gates.
The old guard at the gate watched the passing crowds expressionlessly, showing no intention to question him. Blending into the people entering and leaving the city, he walked out, then constantly asked people for directions as he headed towards Gaojia Village.
The whole way, he was terribly timid, but everything outside was not as chaotic with war as he had imagined. Cheng Xu was not one to loaf around and had already subdued the bandits nearby long ago.
In the evening, as the sun set in the west, the middle-aged man finally saw several li ahead a tall fortress standing high. Hey, he had reached Gaojia Village.
……
In the evening, the sky on the horizon was ablaze with clouds.
Li Daoxuan was unpacking the delivery box.
September was about to arrive soon, and the time for sowing autumn wheat was almost upon them.
The villagers of Gaojia Village had already started rubbing their hands eagerly, preparing to make a big effort. Many villagers had dug the canals well, getting ready to channel water from the “big pond” to their fields.
Relying solely on the canals, the irrigation capacity was limited. For fields that had been dry for a long time, it was still best to get a rainfall first to moisten them up.
Li Daoxuan should probably be about to “give some rain” to the villagers soon as well.
For over a month earlier, he had never given any rain, of course because the temperature was too high and it wasn’t suitable for sowing. His providing a big pond had been enough.
But now it reached the end of August, and the temperature inside the box had clearly started to drop. As the time to sow autumn wheat got closer and closer, rain became a necessary thing he had to consider.
Household humidifiers and sprayers weren’t any good; these devices sprayed water mist particles that were too large, a minimum of 0.3 millimeters in diameter, and very dense. Once sprayed into the box, the water droplet diameter would become two hundred times bigger, equivalent to densely throwing water balls with a 6-centimeter diameter from a height of 200 meters above the ground. That wasn’t rainfall; it was calamity.
So, he searched for some information online and finally discovered a great thing that could spray extremely fine water mist.
Medical nebulizer.
This device was often used to treat asthma, pneumonia, and respiratory infections; it turned liquid medicine into super-fine water mist of 2.2 micrometers and sprayed it into the patient’s respiratory tract, achieving the treatment goal.
At 2.2 micrometers, after the diameter increased 200 times, it was only 440 micrometers, meaning 0.44 millimeters.
Medical things were indeed fine!
Rain of this size surely could not cause any disaster.
He ordered one in the morning with SF Express urgent delivery, and it arrived now.
Chapter 90: You Lack Sincerity
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