There were constant troubles in the old house. Because she was isolated by the villagers, Huang believed that the culprits were Su Liu and the others. Especially since they couldn't even raise their own grandsons, she hated them so much that she ignored Mr. Su's attempts to stop them.
I went to Su Liu's place to find some trouble.
But Su Liu and the others didn't listen, and they still closed the door and lived their own prosperous lives without being affected in the slightest. In fact, Su Liu didn't have time to pay attention to Huang's unreasonable troubles. Why? Or because of the food issue.
.
It has not rained in Da'ao Village for more than a month, and the high temperature has continued. Not only Da'ao Village, but also the entire Gyeongju, and other states and provinces have also experienced large-scale droughts. The rivers have dried up and the crops that are about to be harvested are also large.
Parts died, and people began to panic and rush to harvest immature rice and other drought-resistant crops.
The rain has not fallen, and the rice in the fields is already showing signs of withering before it is fully mature. The old crop handlers who have lived for decades even say that they will not harvest the rice now, fearing that they will not be able to wait until the rain comes.
, they were all dead, so Da'ao Village also began to harvest them.
If the crops are harvested before they are fully mature, the harvest will definitely be reduced, and the tenant farmers will be even more miserable, because after paying the rent, they will not have much left, which is the grain for the next crop.
Planting is difficult.
The land in Su Liu's family was rented out at 40% of the rent, and the grain farmers prepared it themselves. Seeing that the crops were about to be harvested but were about to wither, she was heartbroken and went to Chentian Village to take a look.
Wu Sheng personally accompanied her to the fields. Along the way, he talked anxiously about the weather and the harvest, and also promised that the rent would be paid first, lest Su Liu would not rent the land to them.
Already.
"Girl, don't worry. Even if our family doesn't eat, we will give it to you first." Wu Sheng's back was a little bent, his dark face was covered with sweat, and he was half behind Su Liu.
step.
In the fields, many villagers were busy harvesting under the scorching sun. When they saw Su Liu walking by wearing a curtain, they all stood up and looked over.
When we arrived at Su Liu's field, we could see that the ears of grain in that field were heavy. The rice grains were already a little dry, but there were no signs of dying safely. They were even greener than those in other fields.
"Ever since it got hotter today, I haven't been worried about the crops in the fields. I've been looking at them several times a day. I felt that the fields were drying out faster, so I brought water over. If I couldn't bring them in, I carried water.
Guan, so..." Wu Sheng seemed to see Su Liu's doubts and explained honestly.
Even if he didn't explain, Su Liu also knew that the crops growing better in her land must be inseparable from careful attention.
When she came, she saw that all the sons of Wu Sheng's family were as tanned as black coal. When she saw this place, she knew that this family was very attentive.
"You have worked hard." Su Liu was very satisfied and said, "I don't think your land will die for a while. I guess we can wait for a few days, but we can harvest it later."
When Wu Sheng heard this, he immediately said: "Miss, you are right. This is exactly what I planned. If it doesn't rain in a few days, the harvest will be small and the harvest will be small. The rent will be handed over to the girl on time."
"
"It's not urgent. This is a natural disaster. If the harvest is really bad, the rent can be reduced. You don't have to feel this psychological pressure. The key is to prepare the seeds for next year first." Su Liu said soothingly.
Wu Sheng's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he almost knelt down to kowtow to Su Liu. He said excitedly: "With these words from the girl, I feel relieved."
Su Liu smiled and nodded, and then went to see another tenant farmer Li Guihe's land. Li Guihe was sitting on the ridge of the field, smoking a cigarette. When he saw Wu Sheng leading Su Liu, he hurriedly ran over.
Li Guihe's land was not too bad. Xu and Wu Sheng were together, and everyone was willing to compare, so it wouldn't be too ugly. He also said that he was prepared to look at it for a few more days, but it was really impossible to accept it.
Su Liu also comforted a few words and promised the two families that if the harvest was reduced due to natural disasters, she would consider reducing the rent. Both of them were very grateful.
After leaving Chentian Village, Su Liu walked around the town again and found that the price of rice in the rice shop had risen. He couldn't help but worry even more. If this was the case, the people would be miserable this year.
The power of nature is infinite. A person who is the strongest and most courageous is still insignificant in the face of natural disasters. This summer harvest has been greatly reduced due to drought. If those tenant farmers paid the rent in full, they would grit their teeth and plant grains from the crops.
If you save money on your teeth, your food rations will basically not be enough. Now that the price of rice has risen again, it is really a bolt from the blue for the poor people.
"Get out of the way, get out of the way, shopkeeper, how much polished rice do you have, our Qiu Mansion has bought it." A fat man dressed like a manager walked up to the rice shop and waved his hand proudly.
Su Liu frowned, pursed her lips and remained silent, watching coldly from the side.
Seeing that the rice was overweight, the man ordered it to be delivered to Qiu Mansion, and then walked to the next rice shop. Su Liu hurriedly got on the carriage and followed.
When they arrived at the next rice store, Su Liu sent Shuang Ning to inquire. Sure enough, the man also bought better polished rice and went to several stores in a row.
Su Liu followed all the way, her brows were furrowed. She knew that the Qiu family also sold rice, but the reputation was not very good. Not to mention the short weight, the rice they sold still had some small stones, and the business continued.
not so good.
But at this juncture, the Qiu family is buying rice on a large scale. Is this because they want to buy the rice from the rice shop in the town so that they can sell it at a higher price in the future?
Include it at a low price and sell it at a high price. Thinking of this possibility, Su Liu's face suddenly sank.
In this case, the people will have to eat expensive rice. In this case, in the face of this natural disaster, do they have to sell their sons and daughters to have food?
"Go back." Su Liu followed the man to Qiu Mansion. Seeing that he was really from Qiu Mansion, he drove back.
As soon as he got home, Su Liu drank two bowls of iced mung bean soup, then went back to his room to write a letter to Song Fei. He had to talk to him about this matter today. It would be fine if it was a drought. Once the news of a war came out,
, the court needs to prepare grain and grass, and the rice grain will definitely be more nervous. The people will have no food to eat, and they will even be forced to buy expensive rice, which will definitely cause trouble.
After Song Fei received Su Liu's letter, he immediately closed the study room with Magistrate Song and his eldest brother and discussed for a long time. As long as Magistrate Song was in office for one day, Qingzhou would be regarded as the territory of their Song family, and there would be no chaos.
As a result, instructions were issued one after another. One of them was that no merchant could maliciously raise the price to collect grain. If anyone was found selling rice 10% higher than the market price, he would be ordered to close his shop and be punished by criminal law.
As for those merchants who had stored a large amount of grain, Song Fei did not make a sound, and only asked people to secretly calculate the amount they purchased, just waiting for the opportunity in the future to make them spit it out.
Su Liu knew that old foxes like Song Fei and others had many ways to make those merchants spit out their rice grains, so he felt at ease.
Even so, Su Liu also secretly reminded her daughters-in-law and aunts who were good friends with Chen, and asked them to inform their relatives not to sell the grain in a hurry. If she really wanted to sell the grain, she could pay the market price here for two times higher. Money purchase of silver.
As soon as the news came out, everyone in the family who owned land was excited. This grain was sold to anyone. Su Liu was willing to pay two cents more than the market price for it, so naturally anyone would be willing to sell it to her. .
However, there are also many people who are speculating why Su Liu did this. Is it for a good reputation or because he wants to do something?
Even Su Xiao and Chen couldn't understand Su Liu's approach.
"Sister, aren't our granaries already full? Why do we collect so much grain? Do you want to open a rice shop?" Su Xiao asked with her big eyes open.
Mrs. Chen also looked at her and said: "Yes, Liu'er, our family only has a few people, and we can't finish all the food in two years."
Su Liu smiled slightly and explained: "Our granary is full, but it is all the old grain from last winter. This grain must be replaced with the old. If there is new grain, the old must be replaced. This way it won’t become old food.”
"What about the old one?"
"Sell it." Su Liu said without batting an eye: "There is a lot less rice on the market now. The new rice has been collected by those big families. With the weather like this again this year, this There is definitely a shortage of food, and when things are scarce, the price will naturally become more expensive. Although old food is old food, when it is scarce, it can save lives."
"Is this appropriate? It's old food after all." Mrs. Chen hesitated.
"Mom, what we harvested is last year's grain, so it's not old. If there is a famine, let alone last year's grain, even a few years ago, it will be valuable."
Su Liu told the truth. In a famine year, who cares when you get food, as long as you can fill your stomach. She heard her grandfather in her previous life say that when there was a famine, even the roots of the trees were pulled out and eaten. They are lucky. What they receive is last year's old grain. Even if they eat it for two years, there will be no problem.
There was one more thing Su Liu didn't mention, which was the border war that she had been worried about. She was afraid that as soon as word of the war came out, the court would impose a large levy of grain or raise taxes in order to collect grain and grass. Once this happened, the people would be even worse off. At this time, the grain from the big merchants will definitely be collected, and there will be less grain on the market. Her grain and Cao Kui's grain are expensive.
And soon, Su Liu's worries came true.
One day at the end of July, with dark clouds gathering in the sky, a student suddenly rushed into the Chunmantang Restaurant in the town, holding up the newspaper in his hand, and loudly said: "The Tatars colluded with the Northern Kingdom and launched a war against me." The book has been accepted by Da Qi State, and we are about to go to war!"
There's going to be a war!
With a bang, there was a thunder in the sky, and dark clouds rolled, but in an instant, heavy raindrops started falling.
God, who had not rained for almost two months, finally rained, and the Great Qi Kingdom, which had been at peace for fifteen years, was about to go to war. This was a troubled summer!
I wrote and deleted this chapter, deleted it and wrote it, but it still didn’t feel right. I wrote it for several hours and it killed me. I hate transitions and it’s so stuck!! Good night, I won’t write anymore.