墾 means 'groundbreaking'

Eighth-century Japanese governments exercised astounding power. The authorities established colors that each rank of bureaucrats could wear and permitted only the highest-ranking ones to dress in dark purple (紫). The imperial court cultivated (墾) certain fields using public labor, permitting regular people to hold private land permanently only in 743. A rigorous legal and political framework known as the ritsuryo system forced people to do 10 days of unpaid labor if they couldn't pay taxes. And the Dazaifu, an agency governing all of Kyushu, wielded such might that it had its own diplomatic relations with China.