The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

generally counted as two people. There is enough land to supply the food and a house big enough for two. Eight such families constitute a hamlet. Three hamlets make a village. The village is smallest division of municipal incorporation. Three hamlets of eight families come to twenty-four families, plus the rike equals twenty-five."
    "And you can get a house in the village as well?"
    "Yes. The hamlets are in the countryside, so when the land lies fallow, there's not much for them to do there. During the winter, the twenty-four families return to the village."
    Youko smiled. If she listened carefully, right now she could hear the lively voices from around the rike. The women had gathered to spin and work the looms. The men had gathered to weave matts and baskets. They would be talking about the goings-on in their hamlets.
    "In any case, the basis of everything is the one square ri that constitutes a well brigade. It is governed according to the seidenhou, the law of well and paddy."
    Youko took a breath. "Yes, it's written in the Divine Decrees, on the scrolls of the Law of the Land."
    Oh? said Enho, hiking up his white eyebrows.
    "But I could hardly read any of it."
    Not only was it written in medieval Chinese characters, but in hakubun, a particularly dense kind of unpunctuated Chinese text. As a consequence, she found it mostly incomprehensible, and she didn't have access to anything like a Chinese-Japanese dictionary. Frankly, it was way over her head. Even having Keiki read it for her and following along in the text, she didn't have a clue.
    "It would be preferable if somehow you could learn to read Chinese."
    When Youko sighed, Enho laughed. "That's okay. You've got a good memory. If you work hard and take things seriously, you have what it takes to get by okay."
    Unconsciously, she straightened her posture.
    "The smallest possible house on the smallest possible plot of land. You work hard, and there are no natural disasters or unexpected phenomenon, you'll never be left to starve. All citizens of the kingdom get this minimum allotment. Whether or not they can live comfortably depends in the end on their own resourcefulness."
    "And when there are natural disasters?"
    "What you must keep in mind is the former, not the latter. You must stop trying to shoulder the burdens of the entire population. You must concern yourself with water and land management, and your own self-discipline, and by doing so extending your life if even just a little."
    "I know that, but . . . . "
    "As for the things that you ought to do, they are quite limited. To prepare for droughts, create reservoirs and dig canals. To prepare for floods, build dikes and levees and improve the watersheds. To prepare for famine, stockpile grain. To guard against youma, train the military. Then there's the untangling of the red tape that is the law . . . but that's about it. And these are mostly the responsibilities of the ministers, not something you should be doing yourself. Okay? Was there anything else troubling your mind?"
    Youko laughed. "I guess you're right."
    "Save superfluous thoughts like making the kingdom rich and prosperous for later. First, concentrate on quelling the turmoil and unrest, on making sure things are not getting any worse."
    Youko took a deep breath. It felt as if a great weight was lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you," she said.

Chapter 26
    " S o it's faster coming back the other way? Why's that?"
    Suzu was standing on the deck, facing the wind. Hearing the kid's voice, she grimaced.
    "It's the season. The wind blows from the northeast. The ocean currents also flow from north to south. That's why the return trip is faster."
    "Huh."
    When she turned around, she saw Seishuu sitting next to a sailor.
    "Boats are real interesting. I'm going to become a sailor!"
    "Good for you," the sailor laughed.
    From Sou to a port in the southeast of Kei would take half a month. Already she had come halfway on her voyage. There weren't many people on the boat, so she'd pretty much gotten to know everybody. Seishuu was the youngest. He talked to everybody without the slightest hesitation, and because he always had something smart to say, even the sailors said he was a clever kid and doted on him. Watching all this just irritated Suzu.
    He doesn't understand anything. But he's just a kid, so he can't help it.
    Still, it ticked her off whenever he tried to tell her that the awful things that happened to her happened all the time, like being