Shen Chenai's Different Life in Ancient Times

Zhengmao was watching the grains in the dark, and suddenly found that the flow of people on the county government side had become much denser, and many days ago, the county master also treated them like a banquet of course, and brought Yiluo, Yue, and Bai's three families together. The price stabilization faction headed by them was invited into the back office of the county government.

At first, the grain merchants didn't pay much attention to these people being invited by the county lord.After all, the county magistrate needs stable prices, and these guys have united to suppress prices collectively. With such accurate flattery, it is strange that the county magistrate doesn't know what they are going through the house.

However, since these people have been to the county government, the actions of the county lord have become more and more unpredictable, but a few days later, a large number of potato seedlings were shipped over on the big boat from the Bai family. A notice was posted on the bulletin board outside the county office, saying that anyone who landed in Fengcheng can come to the county office to receive a corresponding number of potato seedlings for free based on the number of people recorded in their household registration.

People who saw this notice were a little confused. They didn't know what the county magistrate wanted to do. But soon, the county magistrate posted a second notice, which explained in detail the government's distribution of these potato seedlings. meaning.

Now the drought in Fengcheng and its surrounding areas is getting more and more serious. In view of this, at the beginning of last month, the county magistrate told his superiors about the matter in a booklet.Since Wuwei is not far away from Fengcheng, the situation on both sides is roughly the same, and the situation in Liangzhou is basically the same at this time.

After the Wuwei Mansion sorted out the papers for reporting the drought situation in each resident, they packed it together and called it the capital. A few days ago, the feedback from the capital had been sent over, saying that the imperial court had reduced Liangzhou’s year. All food taxes.

There is no need to pay taxes, which is definitely good news for Liangzhou.But after the fun, the county magistrate in Fengcheng still has to worry. Seeing that this year's harvest in the field may not only be reduced, if it is not done well, most of the fields will have no harvest this year. Taxation, but the common people still cannot eat enough. Hunger is the original sin of all. What will the common people who cannot eat enough do, only God knows.

The worried magistrate thought about it, but he couldn't find a way to get along with him. In the end, he had to invite people from Fengcheng who had the same heart with him, and wanted to brainstorm to see if he could come up with an effective plan to maximize the benefits. To reduce the loss of this drought.

There are a lot of merchants invited by the county magistrate this time, just like those unscrupulous grain merchants, but more people still have a conscience.At the same time, people who live in Fengcheng can understand the truth that earning money is important, but once there is a large-scale riot or depression in Fengcheng, it will be those who do business in Fengcheng that will suffer in the end. merchant.

Therefore, when Luo, Yue, Bai, and the three families joined hands to suppress prices, although many families did not help, they all quietly fine-tuned the prices of their own products, although most of them were just cheap. It’s a little bit, but it’s more or less an attitude.

Now I was invited to the government office by the county magistrate, look at the people standing around me, think about their identities, and most of the people here already know why the county magistrate invited them over .

Sure enough, after a few cups of tea, the county magistrate seemed to be complaining about their bitterness. Everyone here is rich and wealthy, so they could naturally hear the meaning of the county magistrate's words, so after winking a few times Yue Chong stood up, cupped his fists and said to the county magistrate: "Master is for the country and the people, and cares for the people. I am so grateful. Today, I, Yi Youxin, will relieve the master's urgent needs. We are willing to raise funds to collect some property for The master is used by the people, which can be regarded as our contribution to the fathers and villagers of Fengcheng."

Yue Chong has been a salt merchant for so long, the above passage is definitely the most level one he has ever said.

And after he said these words, the rest of the businessmen expressed their support one after another. The noisy scene made Shen Chenai, who was whispering with Xu Jian, not only looked up, but then lowered his head and whispered to Xu Jian: "I can't see it. , I haven't seen you for a while, your ninth master's literary level has improved a lot."

Xu Jian took a sip of the tea in her cup when she heard the words, and softly replied to Shen Chenai: "He has already expected why the county master invited us here this time, so he asked me to call him in advance when we go out. A good draft, he memorized it all the way in the carriage when he went out."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Jian saw Yue Chong turned his head to the side and looked at him. The look of praising in his eyes was so exuberant that he couldn't even pretend he couldn't see it.

Helpless, Xu Jian had no choice but to smile lightly at Yue Chong, as a way of affirming him.Yue Chong, who was praised, continued to say to the magistrate proudly: "Sharing the worries of the people and the court is what we should do. I am willing to give 5000 taels of silver, and ask the magistrate to use this money to help the people of Fengcheng. buy food."

As soon as Yue Chong finished speaking, other businessmen began to respond one after another. In the end, at the dinner, the county lord raised a total of more than 20000 taels of disaster relief funds for the people. It was 3000 taels from the Luo family, 5000 taels from the Yue family, and 3000 taels from the Bai family. These three families accounted for about half of the disaster relief funds.

With the money to sell grain in his hands, the county magistrate finally felt confident, but he calculated carefully, even if he used state-owned resources to buy grain at the cheapest price, the money in his hand now The food that can be bought is only enough to sustain the entire population of Fengcheng for two months.

In Fengcheng, winter usually enters in mid-October, and spring will not be ushered in until the beginning of March next year. For more than five months, it has to rely on more than two months of rations to maintain it. This is not so difficult. ah.

Seeing that the money was raised, the county magistrate was still frowning. Not only did everyone ask each other curiously, but after getting the answer, everyone couldn't say anything, so after a while of looking at each other, there was a rare silence at the banquet. moment.

It's not that they are reluctant to part with money, but that the previous fundraising is considered a considerable sum for the powerful Luo, Yue, and Bai families, and it's true that they don't have nothing to give, but the business of that family must not be reserved. Provide some current funds for emergencies. If you really pay according to this amount, although the foundation of the three companies will not be shaken, the flow of funds will be a lot tighter.

If Luo, Yue, and Bai are still like this, let alone those merchants whose strength is far inferior to them.

After a period of silence, Luo Ding, who had been sitting by the side and seldom spoke, suddenly spoke, and asked the county magistrate: "I know that the master is worried, but you don't have to resist everything once Excuse me. The people of my Fengcheng are hardworking and wise, as long as the master guides them in the wrong way, with everyone's concerted efforts, we will naturally be able to overcome this natural disaster together."

The county master's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he hurriedly asked Luo Ding, "What good idea did Boss Luo come up with?"

Hearing this, Luo Ding got up and saluted the county magistrate, and then replied: "In recent years, there is a fine variety in Fengcheng that has been passed down from overseas, called potatoes, and the common people here are used to calling them potatoes. It is very short, only about three or four months. The mature potatoes can be used as vegetables or as a staple food. Not only the yield is large, but also can satisfy hunger. Moreover, this kind of thing is not too picky about the land, so it can be grown as supplementary food If it goes on, if managed well, it can mature before winter.”

Hearing Luo Ding's proposal, the county magistrate's originally bright eyes dimmed again, and he replied to Luo Ding with a wry smile: "Boss Luo may not know that although potatoes don't pick the land when they grow, they are Choose fertilizer and water. If the water and fertilizer can’t keep up, things like potatoes won’t grow well. In previous years, it’s fine, but now Fengcheng is in a severe drought, and there’s still rain to grow them.”

After Luo Ding heard the words of the magistrate, he replied unhurriedly: "The magistrate misunderstood Luo's meaning. I don't want the people to plant potatoes on a large scale. On the contrary, I think each household only needs to plant two or three potatoes. One mu of land is enough. Potatoes are very productive. If you take good care of them, the yield per mu will not be a problem. We select the best land and plant potatoes on it. Each household only concentrates on taking care of two or three mu. The land, carrying water and fertilizing the potatoes in the field, although it is a bit tiring, but if a few people in the family only take care of two or three acres of land, it should not be a big problem, and the potato production of these two or three acres of land, if you save food But it can be the food rations for a family of seven, eight or even a dozen people for three to four months, and as for the remaining food, adults can fill it up with the food they scraped together."

After the county magistrate heard it, he suddenly felt refreshed. He stood up from his chair, strode to Luo Ding's side, held Luo Ding's hand and said, "Boss Luo really has something to do." People of great wisdom, all of you here are also concerned about the common people. If Fengcheng can really be preserved from the drought this time, I will definitely go to the court in the future and ask for credit for everyone."

So after this gathering, the county magistrate hastily used his connections to ask the Bai family's fleet to transport tens of thousands of potato seedlings from Suzhou and Hangzhou, and then posted notices in the streets and alleys of Fengcheng, stating that according to the family's For the population, households with less than seven people will receive potato seedlings on two mu of land, and families with more than seven people will receive potato seedlings on three mu of land.