Turning the Northern Lands into Jiangnan

Lu Heng, a doctoral student at an agricultural university, woke up to find himself in the Great Qian Dynasty, transformed into a penniless scholar too weak to lift a hand or shoulder a load. The good news: he was alive, handsome, and the most striking young man for miles around. The bad news: his house was bare, the roof leaked, three younger siblings were crying for food, and a pawn ticket showed a debt coming due. The original owner had devoted himself to the sages' books and ended up starving to death. Faced with this desperate start, Lu Heng silently rolled up his sleeves.

Study for the imperial exams? That would take too long! If you want to get rich, plant trees first... No, start with farming!

While the villagers still depended on the weather for their meals and prayed to the gods, Lu Heng was already experimenting with new ideas.

"Listen up, everyone. This is grafting. It can make a sour jujube tree produce big, sweet jujubes!"

"Don't fear the locust plague. Burning incense won't help. Everyone, raise chickens and ducks instead. Ever heard of biological pest control?"

"The soil's lost its fertility. We need crop rotation. Plant beans for a year, and the land stays fertile for three. My research paper... ahem, that's what the old books say!"

At first, the villagers thought: Has Scholar Lu gone crazy from reading? He's always coming up with useless nonsense.

Later, when they saw the wheat in the Lu family's fields standing half a head taller than everyone else's, the fruit trees laden with produce, and the "Lu Family Pickles" selling faster than they could be made, everyone's eyes turned red with envy.

"Mr. Lu! Please, teach us!"

"Immortal Lu! Do you think there's still hope for my plot of land?"

The county magistrate came to inspect the area. Seeing the neatly laid-out fields, the waterwheel turning slowly, and the villagers' smiling faces after the harvest, he shook Lu Heng's hand in astonishment. "You truly are a man of extraordinary ability! The imperial court needs talents like you!"

Lu Heng smiled modestly. In his heart, he thought: