six-fingered peasant girl

Chapter 223 Eventful Summer
There were constant disturbances in the old house, and because they were isolated by the villagers, Huang believed that the instigators were Su Liu and the others, especially since they couldn't even raise their own grandchildren, and hated them so much that they hated them to death. Went to Su Liuna to find fault.

But Su Liu and the others didn't hear it, they still closed the door to live their nourishing life without being affected in the slightest.In fact, Su Liu didn't have the time to pay attention to Huang's unreasonable troubles, why?Still because of the matter of food.

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, as well as other states and provinces have also experienced extensive drought. The rivers are dry and the crops that are about to be harvested are also large. Some of them died, and the people began to panic, rushing to harvest the immature rice and other crops that were not resistant to drought.

The rain has not come down, and the rice in the field is showing signs of withering before it is fully mature, and those old crop handles that have lived for decades even say that the rice will not be harvested now, fearing that they will not wait until the rain comes , they were all dead, so Da'ao Village also began to rush to harvest them.

Harvesting the crops before they are fully mature will definitely reduce the yield, and those tenant farmers will be even more distressed, because in this way, after paying the rent, they will not have much left, which is the grain for the next crop. All kinds are difficult.

The land in Su Liu's house was rented out at [-]% rent, and the grain tenants prepared it themselves. Seeing that the crops were about to harvest but dying, her heart ached, and she went to Chentian Village to take a look.

Wu Sheng personally accompanied her to the field. Along the way, he talked anxiously about the weather and the harvest, and swore that the rent would be paid first, lest Su Liu would not rent the land to them. up.

"Miss, don't worry, this rent, even if our family doesn't eat it, 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 halfway behind Su Liu. step.

In the fields, many villagers were busy harvesting under the scorching sun. Seeing Su Liu walking by wearing a curtain, they all stood up and looked this way.

When we arrived at Suliu's field, we could see that the ears of grain in that field were heavy, and the rice had dried out a little, but it hadn't yet died safely, and it was even greener than other fields.

"Ever since it got hotter this day, the corn field had eared ears, so I didn't worry about it. I visited it several times a day. I felt that the field was drying faster, so I brought water. Guan, so..." Wu Sheng seemed to see Su Liu's question, so he explained honestly.

Even if he doesn't explain, Su Liu also knows that the crops in her field grow better, and it must be inseparable from people's careful care.

When she came, she saw that the sons of Wu Sheng's family were all tanned like charcoal, and when she saw this place again, she knew that this family was very hardworking.

"You have worked hard." Satisfied, Su Liu said, "I don't think your land will wither for a while, and I guess you can wait for a few days, but you can collect it later."

Wu Sheng heard the words and immediately said: "Young lady is right, that's exactly what I planned. If it doesn't rain in a few days, 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 accordingly. You don't have to have such psychological pressure. The key is to prepare the seeds for the coming year first." Su Liu said reassuringly.

Wu Sheng's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he almost knelt down to kowtow to Su Liu, and said excitedly, "I'm relieved if you have a girl's words."

Su Liu nodded with a smile, and went to look at another tenant farmer, Li Guihe's field. Li Guihe was sitting on the ridge of the field, smoking dry tobacco. Seeing Wu Sheng leading Su Liu, he hurried over.

Li Guihe's land is also good, Xu Shi and Wu Sheng are together, everyone wants to compare, so it won't be too ugly, he also said that he is going to look at it for a few more days, it really won't pay off.

Su Liu also said a few words of comfort, promising 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 to Dade.

After leaving Chentian Village, Su Liu went to the town for a walk, and found that the price of rice in the rice shop had risen, so she couldn't help but be more worried, if this was the case, the people would have a hard time this year.

The power of nature is infinite. A person is the strongest and most courageous, but he is also insignificant in the face of natural disasters. This summer harvest has been greatly reduced due to the drought. The gap between the teeth is saved, and the rations are basically not available. 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 milled rice do you have, our Qiu Mansion bought it all." A fat man dressed like a manager came to the rice store and waved his hand proudly.

Su Liu frowned, pursed her lips and remained silent, watching coldly from the side.

The man saw that the rice had been weighed, sent it to the Qiu Mansion, and then walked to the next rice shop. Su Liu hurriedly got into the carriage and followed.

When they arrived at the next rice shop, Su Liu sent Shuang Ning to inquire, sure enough, the man also bought all the polished rice and other better rice, and went to several shops in a row.

Su Liu followed all the way, her brows were tightly frowned. She knew that this Qiu Manor also sold rice at home, but the reputation was not very good. not so good.

But at this juncture, the Qiu family is buying rice in a big way. Could it be that they want to buy rice from the rice shop in the town so that they can take the opportunity to sell it at a higher price in the future?
Included at a low price and sold at a high price, thinking of this possibility, Su Liu's face suddenly sank.

In this way, the people will have to eat expensive rice. In this way, in the face of this natural disaster, they have to sell their children and daughters to eat?

"Go back." Su Liu followed the man all the way to the Qiu Mansion, and saw that he really was from the Qiu Mansion, so he drove back.

As soon as she got home, Su Liu drank two bowls of iced mung bean soup, then went back to her room to write a letter to Song Fei. It would be best to talk to him about this matter today. It would be fine if there was a drought. Well, the imperial court needs to prepare food and grass, and the rice and grain will definitely be more tense. If the people have no food to eat, and even force them to buy expensive rice, then something will happen.

After Song Fei received Su Liu's letter, he immediately closed the study with the prefect Song and his elder brother to discuss for a long time. As long as the prefect Song is in power for one day, this Qingzhou is their Song family's territory, and there is no room for chaos.

As a result, one order after another was issued, one of which was that no merchant should maliciously increase the price of grain, and if it was found that the price was [-]% higher than the market price, it would be ordered to close the shop and be punished by the criminal law.

As for those merchants who had stored a large amount of grain, Song Fei didn't make a sound, and only asked people to secretly call out the amount they bought, just waiting for an opportunity in the future to make them spit it out.

Su Liu knew that old foxes like Song Fei and the others had plenty of ways to ask those merchants to spit out the rice grains, so she felt relieved.

If so, Su Liu also secretly reminded the daughter-in-law and aunt who had a good relationship with the Chen family, and asked them to notify their relatives, and don't rush to sell the grain. Silver acquisition of money.

As soon as the news came out, the landowners in this family were all excited. This grain was sold to anyone. If Su Liu is willing to collect it with silver that is two cents higher than the market price, then naturally anyone is willing to sell it to her. .

However, there are also many people who are guessing why Su Liu did this, is it for a good reputation or what is he trying to do?

Even Su Xiao and Chen could not understand Su Liu's approach.

"Sister, isn't our granary already full? Why do you collect so much grain? Do you want to open a rice shop?" Su Xiao asked with wide eyes.

Mrs. Chen also looked at her, and said, "That's right, Liu'er, there are only a few people in our family, and we won't be able to finish the food in two years."

Su Liu smiled slightly and explained: "Our family's granary is full, but it's all the old grain from last winter. This grain must be exchanged for the old. If there is new grain, the old grain must be replaced. This will not become old food."

"What about the old one?"

"Sell it." Su Liu said without batting an eye, "Nowadays, the rice grains on the market have been reduced a lot, and the new rice grains have all been collected by those big families. This year's weather is like this again. There is definitely a shortage of food, and rare things are more expensive, and if there is less food, the price will naturally be expensive. Although old food is old, it can save lives when it is scarce."

"Is this okay? It's old food after all." Chen hesitated a little.

"Mother, what we harvested is last year's grain, and it's not old. If there is a real famine, let alone last year's grain, even a few years ago, it is also a precious thing."

What Su Liu said is also true, in a famine year, who cares when you get food, as long as you can eat enough, she heard from her grandfather in her previous life that when there was a famine, even the roots of the trees would be pulled out and eaten.They were lucky, all they received was last year's old grain, so even if they ate it for two years, there would be no problem.

There is one more thing that Su Liu didn't say, that is, she has been worried about the war at the border. She is afraid that if the news of the war gets out, the imperial court will levy a large amount of food or raise taxes in order to collect food and grass.Once this happens, the common people will be even worse. At this time, the food of the big merchants will definitely be collected, and there will be less food on the market. Her food and Cao Kui's are very expensive.

And soon, Su Liu's worry came true.

One day at the end of July, when dark clouds piled up in the sky, a student suddenly rushed in from the Chunmantang Restaurant in the town, holding up the newspaper in his hand, and shouting: "The Tartars have colluded with the Northern Kingdom and waged war against us." The book, I will take it from Daqi Kingdom, and the war is about to begin!"

There's going to be a war!

With a bang, there was a thunder from the sky, and the dark clouds rolled, but in an instant, the bean-sized raindrops began to fall.

God, who hadn't rained for almost two months, finally rained, and the Daqi Kingdom, which has been peaceful for 15 years, is about to go to war. This is an eventful summer!
(End of this chapter)