bookrandom Chapter 155: Stockpiling Food
Chapter 155: Stockpiling Food
This time when Tao Wuji came, he deliberately went to Ning'an Mansion, asked for leave from Mr. Yu, and brought Yiyi back.
Xia Shengsheng was very grateful. Since the world outside was in chaos, the sooner he was brought back, the sooner he would be safe.
There is no question of whether to blame or not.
"I also want to thank Master Tao for the news. If I had left Yiyi in the capital for one more day, I would have been worried for one more day. Fortunately, Master Tao helped me to bring her back."
Tao Wuji also told the identities of the two people he brought.
The one who is good at embroidery is named Li Yaxuan, 36 years old this year. She used to be the embroidery teacher of the daughter of Liu Zhifu, the governor of Nanyang Prefecture.
Later, the daughter of Magistrate Liu suddenly fell ill and died soon after.
Magistrate Liu loved his daughter dearly, and he was also the type of person who would never let go of a grudge.
He blamed his daughter's illness on all the people around him who served her.
Even Master Li, who taught embroidery skills, suffered for no reason.
This Master Li did not sell himself to the prefect, so the prefect did not dare to do anything openly.
But after letting Master Li go home, he actually wanted to find a killer to assassinate Master Li.
It was Tao Wuji who rescued Master Li through the efforts of many parties.
Because Master Li's identity could no longer be revealed to others, Tao Wuji happened to think that the Xia family needed someone like this to teach the children embroidery, so he brought him over.
"Master Tao, you won't harm me by doing this, will you?" Xia Shengsheng whispered in Tao Wuji's ear.
"Don't worry, Nanyang Prefecture is thousands of miles away from us. I will be very careful along the way and there will definitely be no one tracking me.
Besides, Master Li didn't have any deep hatred with Magistrate Liu. If the person was missing, then he was lost. No one would bother looking for him.
And let me tell you a piece of news, that Magistrate Liu has been sued, and the higher-ups are investigating him!
It won't be long before he falls. He's already busy taking care of himself, so how can he care about Master Li?"
Xia Shengsheng felt relieved after hearing this.
The man with good literary talent was named Yang Bilian, and his identity was much simpler.
In the early years, I worked as a private tutor for girls from wealthy families.
Later, Tao Wuji hired him for a large sum of money, and this time he was sent to Xia Shengsheng together.
Both of them have never been married or had children, and have no family.
After explaining all this, Tao Wuji hurriedly left with his men.
Looking at the people in this yard, Xia Shengsheng asked Yiyi to make arrangements.
He also asked Wang Si to drive the carriage, take the silver, and bring a person left behind by Tao Wuji to the town to pick up Ye Chao and Ercheng. Anyway, the two of them didn't like studying very much, so it was a good time for them to take a long vacation.
"Drive the carriage there and buy some food from the store. Black flour will do. Take as much as you can!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Zhuangzi came to urge her again, and Xia Shengsheng quickly followed him to the big locust tree in the village.
When we arrived, most of the villagers had already arrived.
I walked to the front and saw the village chief still standing there very anxiously, so I got straight to the point.
"Village Chief, have you heard any news?"
Village Chief Ma saw that Xia Shengsheng seemed to know something, so he quickly told her what he had heard.
"The imperial court is going to war, and now they are conscripting soldiers and collecting food from us civilians! Xiaoxia! Have you heard any news?"
Many people in the village knew that Tao Wuji had been here, and this could not be concealed.
Tao Wuji must know more after traveling all over the country, and everyone knows it.
"Conscription of soldiers and grain? How do you do it?"
The village chief waited for Xia Shengsheng to arrive before telling everyone the news he heard from the yamen.
Every household had to pay grain to the imperial court based on the number of people over the age of ten. Anyone over the age of ten would be counted per person and had to pay 100 kilograms of grain each. If they could not pay, those aged between sixteen and forty would be sent to the army, and each person could pay 500 kilograms of grain.
If it is not enough, you have to pay grain.
As soon as the village chief finished speaking, the villagers immediately erupted.
"Is this going to allow people to survive? Each person weighs 100 kilograms. How much food do we have to pay?"
"That's right. Who would want to send their family members to the army? And they have to hand over food to the government?"
"It's obvious that this year is not a good year, and yet they ask us to hand in so much grain. They are simply pushing us into a dead end!"
"Village chief! Can we talk to the court and ask them to pay less? There are more than ten people in my family! There are 11 people over ten years old! If we pay more than 1100 kilograms of grain, do we still need to live?"
"Yes! Village Chief, can we discuss this?"
One person took the lead, and the others also asked the village chief to discuss it with the court.
They don’t even think about whether the imperial court is someone you can consult with.
"Stop! Who do you think I am? I am just the head of a small village. I don't even have a say in the government office. How can I discuss with them to pay less grain?
Have you given me too much power? What are you thinking?
I have already notified you. I will give you one day tomorrow to prepare. The day after tomorrow the court will send people to bring in food or people.
You all go back and study it, what can I do? My family also has to pay more than 1000 kilograms of grain!"
Everyone only had a brief moment of silence after listening to the village chief's words.
Immediately, people started talking about it again, and some even burst into tears.
Most families have more than ten people living together.
How long will these 1000 kilograms of food last for everyone?
If they hand over all this grain, how will they survive if they fail to harvest grain this year?
“Village Chief, I also heard some news from Master Tao.
The imperial court must have been at war with the northwest, so they are now anxious to start collecting grain. But if the war lasts for a long time, it does not mean that they will only collect grain this time.
In the future, they may even collect grain from us, and even force us to enlist. These are all possible.”
When Village Chief Ma heard Xia Shengsheng say this, he felt like a huge rock was pressing down on his heart and he could hardly breathe.
Maybe this time everyone can grit their teeth and hand over the food.
What should I do if it happens in the future?
And what will they do when compulsory conscription comes?
"Xiao Xia! Can you tell me what good way we can get through this problem?"
"Village Chief, you really flatter me, what good can I do?
If the imperial court asks us to pay grain, we must do so.
After paying the grain collected from the imperial court, the food on hand would definitely not be enough to last until next year.
As you have all seen, we may not be able to harvest grain this year.
Therefore, everyone who can buy food should do so.
Saving more is better than anything else.
Also, those relatives and friends who are not in our village should be notified.
Hurry up and buy more food before the price of food rises too much.
After this incident, I'm afraid the price of food will at least double or triple.
If we don’t produce enough food by autumn, it’s possible that the price of food will increase by more than ten times.”
Xia Shengsheng was telling the truth. What special solution could he use now? With money in hand, he could only stockpile food.
After hearing this, the villagers suddenly fell silent for a moment.
It was the village chief who reacted first, shouting loudly for everyone to come back to their senses.
"What are you thinking about? While other villages haven't reacted yet, why don't you go to the town and buy food.
Don't all go to Niutou Town, discuss and buy separately, otherwise when the grain price goes up, you will cry. "
At this point, everyone stopped talking, as if their minds had suddenly become clear, and they all dispersed in a swarm, heading home to get money to buy food.
"Village Chief, I'm going back to the factory now and I'm going to ask everyone to stop working. The factory doesn't plan to open soon. The world is unstable. Even if we make something, it may not be sold. Your families should hurry up and stock up on some food!"
Before she could leave, Zhuangzi stood in front of Xia Shengsheng.
"Auntie, can you lend us one of your cars?
If it doesn’t work, it’s okay, I’m just asking.”
"Zhuangzi! No..." The village chief was about to scold when Xia Shengsheng spoke.
"Wang Si, the coachman, has been driven out. You can go to my house to get the donkey cart. After you buy it, you can take it to whoever needs it. But don't tire the donkey out!"
Zhuangzi thanked him repeatedly and urged his grandfather to go back and get some silver so that he could borrow a donkey cart from Xia Shengsheng's house to buy food.