roccoschili Chapter 148 Food Price
Chapter 148 Food Price
When talking about that person, Song Chunlin became so angry that he wanted to go back in time and cut the person into pieces. Of course, this was just a thought. Dabao had said before that the luck of human beings in that world had long been exhausted, and destruction was inevitable. It would be of no use even if he went back.
Hearing his indignation, Gu Fengyue's pupils shrank slightly, and she asked Song Chunlin in a slightly trembling voice if he would choose to go back if he could really go back.
Song Chunlin shrugged and said indifferently: "No, it's not such a beautiful world. Why would I go back? To be food for zombies?"
Gu Fengyue didn’t know what zombies were, and could only guess from the few words he said that they were not good things.
Song Chunlin was furious for a moment, then he sat down next to Gu Fengyue in frustration. He sighed, "If there is any regret, it's that I haven't been to this beautiful country much, and it's the end of the world. Zombies are everywhere, and corpses are everywhere. Even places where humans gather are not peaceful. It's the end of the world, and they are still thinking about scheming against each other. It's really annoying."
Gu Fengyue pinched his fingers amusedly: "It's better here."
Song Chunlin nodded, then shook his head: "It's neither good nor bad. Although there are no zombies, it is indeed too backward."
If it were a few years ago, if someone told Gu Fengyue that Dajing Dynasty was backward, Gu Fengyue would definitely argue with the other party. But since seeing Song Chunlin's abilities and the series of magical objects that Song Chunlin took out, Gu Fengyue has begun to doubt the prosperity of Dajing Dynasty.
Even someone as powerful as Da Jing could not create a flashlight that could produce light at any time, or a tool that could capture sunlight and convert it into electricity.
Song Chunlin was still counting on his fingers: "It's inconvenient to go to the toilet, and it's uncomfortable to sleep. Eating is okay, but the taste is too monotonous. You don't know that the dry biscuits I ate on the road to escape the famine were the most unpalatable food I have ever eaten in my life. Alas, they were even more unpalatable than compressed biscuits. Not only were they unpalatable, but they also hurt my throat. So from that time on, what I wanted to develop most was agriculture. With enough food, everyone would not have to go hungry."
Gu Fengyue praised him after hearing this: "Well, Chunlin did a great job. After this year, more than 90% of the land in Dajing will be able to be planted with your potatoes and sweet potatoes. In a few years, everyone can also plant corn. The yields of these three are so high, and the people of Dajing can almost have enough food to eat."
Song Chunlin was surprised: "Will it be possible next year? So soon?" He thought it would take a long time to promote the first two things.
Gu Fengyue smiled: "The emperor is even more anxious than you. He wished that potatoes and sweet potatoes could be planted all over the country last year. He has been keeping an eye on this matter for the past few years. He even pulled out all the termites in the Ministry of Agriculture. The former officials have submitted memorials to impeach the emperor for this matter, but they were all scolded by the emperor."
"Scold back?" Song Chunlin was shocked. Could he curse back at the emperor directly?
"He is the emperor, so why can't he scold a few court officials? Knowing that food is the foundation of our dynasty, those old guys still want to intervene in this matter, isn't it just to get some benefits? The aristocratic families have been entrenched for too long, and the previous emperor has intended to weaken their power. Do you know why Prince Ru'an was able to plant so many spies in the capital?"
Song Chunlin's eyes widened: "Did the noble families plant them for him? Damn, these bastards are even more disgusting than my ungrateful bastard."
Gu Fengyue said calmly, "It's more than disgusting. In order to protect their interests, they did not hesitate to seek refuge with the prince behind their backs, just because the prince promised to let them continue their previous lives and not to take their land."
Song Chunlin had also heard about the aristocratic families using their titles to swallow up fertile farmland. Such incidents were endless in history. The aristocratic families that even Emperor Dajing was wary of must have amassed a lot of fertile farmland, which made the emperor willing to risk being bitten back by the aristocratic families and try his best to weaken their power.
"Do you remember when your family first settled in the capital, the late emperor issued an imperial decree that only families with three acres of permanent farmland could settle in the vicinity of the capital. Because of this decree, the price of farmland around the capital skyrocketed for a period of time. It was precisely these noble families who resisted in order to get the late emperor to withdraw his decree."
Song Chunlin was somewhat speechless: "Aren't they courting their own death? The farmland around the capital is already expensive. If the price goes up, won't most of the people be forced to leave? If the people run away, who will farm for them?"
Gu Fengyue: "It's not that they didn't know, they just couldn't swallow this anger, and they used this to force the late emperor to change his mind. Who knew that the late emperor didn't buy it, and severely punished the families who took the lead in raising the price, which made them stop. But even so, there are still only a few families who can afford three acres of land. Those who are still in your village have to scrape together money to buy three acres of land."
After all, how much land can you have if you buy three acres of land? Only a few people can afford it. At most, it will make those wealthy families feel a little painful, but it will not cause any serious damage.
The two chatted for a long time that night, so long that Song Chunlin began to feel sleepy. He leaned his head gently on Gu Fengyue's shoulder and murmured to himself with some regret: "I have never been abroad, and I haven't even had time to use my passport, and the end of the world is here..."
As the sound on his shoulder gradually became smaller, Gu Fengyue turned his head and saw the young boy's fair cheek pressed against his shoulder, his mouth slightly open, and he had already begun to snore in his sleep.
Gu Fengyue quietly carried the man back to the bed and covered him with a quilt, but he did not sleep himself. Instead, he picked up the cotton that he had just placed on the table and turned to go to his brother's room.
Gu Fengyun seemed to be a light sleeper, so he woke up when his brother knocked on the door. He opened the door in a bad mood, but before he could ask any questions, a piece of cotton was stuck to the tip of his nose.
Gu Fengyun subconsciously took the snow-white cotton. Gu Fengyue said, "Cotton can be woven into cloth and made into quilts." After that, the younger brother left quickly, leaving his elder brother standing in a mess at the door of his room.
Looking at the cotton in his hand and then at his brother who had already gone far away, Gu Fengyun pinched his brows in pain. Now he didn't need to sleep. He turned back, turned on the light, and observed the cotton in his hand.
Song Chunlin had no idea that Gu Fengyue had disturbed his brother. The next day, he woke up in Gu Fengyue's bed feeling refreshed. Gu Fengyue had already gotten up and gone out. Song Chunlin didn't care where he went. Instead, he found a clean basin in his room and washed his face. After he was completely awake, Gu Fengyue came in from outside with breakfast in her hand.
"Are you awake? Come over for dinner after you wash up."
After finishing breakfast, Song Chunlin didn't want to stay any longer, so he sneaked out from the back door of the mansion, and after leaving the city gate, he walked to a deserted place, then took out his small motorcycle and started racing. He put it away when he saw people, so he came back very fast, and he didn't get home until the Song family finished all the work they were supposed to do in the morning.
Song Dazhuang looked at the young man who sneaked back from outside, holding his chest with a look of grief on his face.
"You can't keep your son when he grows up!"
Song Qin poked the man's waist unhappily: "What nonsense are you talking about? I don't think Chunlin has ever thought about that."
Song Dazhuang said tragically, "He hasn't thought about it, but that doesn't stop thieves from targeting him."
Hearing that he was treating Gu Fengyue like a thief, Song Qin couldn't help but find it a little funny.
"The child is still young. Besides, his elder brother hasn't married yet. How can the younger one get married? And it depends on whether our Chunlin is willing, right?"
Song Chunlin had sharp ears. When he heard his mother mention him, he asked curiously, "Mom, what did you say you were willing to do?"
Song Qin hurriedly laughed: "I was wondering where is your sister. She hasn't seen you this morning and has been looking for you."
"Really?" Hearing his sister looking for him, Song Chunlin didn't care what Song Qinshi had said before, and ran to find his sister and kissed her.
Half a month passed in a flash, and the Gu family still hadn't come up with a solution, but the Turks could no longer sit still, and they captured one of their cities in just three days. When the troops sent it urgently over 800 miles, the emperor was so angry that he almost overturned the table.
"What happened to Chen Mujing? I allocated a hundred thousand troops to him. One hundred thousand! One hundred thousand people can't even defend a city? He always complains to me that he is poor and doesn't have enough military supplies. He can't even pay the soldiers. What? Didn't I allocate money to the Ministry of War?"
The people below dared not speak out. Didn't they hear that the emperor was so angry that he called himself "I"? Who dared to speak out at this time? Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?
Seeing that everyone below was silent, the emperor became even angrier. He threw the memorial at the minister closest to him, who happened to be the left prime minister who advocated peace talks, and the Grand Marshal happened to have the same idea as him. Both of them didn't want to fight, but now it was not a question of whether they wanted to or not, but the other side had already attacked them right under their noses. If they didn't fight back at this time, wouldn't anyone be able to step on their heads and act wildly in the future?
The emperor probably thought of this as well. He selected several generals, but he knew in his heart that these people could defend the city, but if they wanted to launch a counterattack, they would probably be far from being able to do so.
The emperor was even more angry when he realized that he had no one to use. He said, "There are so many civil and military officials in the court, but you can't even find a general? Grand Marshal, you go!"
When the Grand Marshal was called, he could only bite the bullet and stand up: "Your Majesty, I am old and I am afraid I am not qualified for the job..."
"Bang!" A pen washer hit Da Sima's head directly, and the water inside splashed all over his head and face.
"You are so old, haha. I remember that old Lin was still able to fight at the age of 62. My dear, you are only 50 this year. How come 50 is older than 62? A 50-year-old man like you is not as flexible as a 62-year-old man?"
When the Grand Marshal was pointed out about his age, he could only kneel down awkwardly and said with a stiff upper lip: "Your Majesty, I am not afraid to go to the battlefield, but I think there is someone more suitable than me. This person is brave and resourceful at a young age, and has the demeanor of his father. This person is the second son of the Yongyi Marquis's Mansion, Gu Fengyue."
As soon as Gu Fengyue's name came out, the surroundings suddenly became extremely quiet. Some people who still had a conscience felt that Sima's proposal was indeed a bit too much, especially the military generals who had received favors from the old Marquis Gu. Soon, someone stood up and accused Sima of taking revenge on someone personally.
"Your Majesty, the second son of the Gu family is only sixteen this year. He is still young and has no experience in fighting in the battlefield. If we send him to the battlefield like this, how can we be worthy of the Gu Marquis and his wife in the afterlife!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, the Grand Marshal is as cowardly as a mouse. He himself dared not go, but wanted to push a child up to die. This behavior is really not worthy of the Grand Marshal's responsibility. Your Majesty, please remove the Grand Marshal from his position."
"Your Majesty, please remove the Grand Marshal from his position."
The Grand Marshal did not expect that his attempt to push Gu Fengyue to death would be backfired upon by his ministers. For a moment, he became the target of public criticism, and even the emperor glared at him with a gloomy face.
It was the first time that the emperor felt that a person could be so shameless. He sneered and said, "I have always believed that it was luck that allowed Grand Sima to get to where he is today. Today, I see that it is indeed the case. In this case, Grand Sima might as well make up for his mistakes and go to the front line." After that, the emperor named several generals and handed over the military power to them. However, Grand Sima, as the chief general, did not have any soldiers under his command and was just a title of chief general.
The sweat on Da Sima's forehead never stopped. He now wished he could slap his previous self. If it weren't for his mouth, why would he have to run to the front line to die?
When leaving court, the Grand Marshal was so weak that he could not walk, and had to be carried all the way back to his own carriage by several lackeys.
On him, several generals, led by Jiang Feng, looked at the departing Sima with disgust in their eyes.
"I don't know how such a person became the Grand Marshal."
"Don't say anything. Chen Mujing's army of 100,000 couldn't defend the city. We still don't know what happened."
"Then Chen Mujing is not from the lineage of the Great Sima, right? I remember that he used to be under the command of the old Marquis Gu."
Jiang Feng said disdainfully: "So what if they are under the command of the old marquis? If they can't defend the city, they are useless and have only embarrassed the old marquis."
The news of the border war quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys of the capital. The war was still far away from here, and the people were more talking about whether the price of food would rise this year.
Yongle Village has also been discussing this matter recently. It was just shortly after the autumn harvest. In previous years, after everyone harvested the grain and paid the taxes, they would only keep enough food for one year, and the rest would be sold to supplement the family income.
Although there are potatoes and sweet potatoes this year and the harvest is good, it will not be a good thing for the people if the price of food really goes up. Therefore, some families have begun to buy and stockpile food in preparation for a rainy day.