My game can make money starting from the Three Kingdoms period.

194

During a great famine, people resorted to cannibalism.

A drought that swept across the land descended without warning.

In the Guanzhong Plain, there was a complete crop failure. At that time, a bushel of grain cost 200,000 jin and a rice cost 500,000 jin, and the people fled.

In the provinces of Sili, Yu, Yan, Bing, and Ji, large numbers of refugees flocked to the prosperous lands of Jing, Yang, Xu, and Yi, which were less affected by the drought.

Following the drought, a locust plague broke out, further exacerbating the tense situation at the end of the Han Dynasty.

Many desperate people, roused by the calls of those with aspirations, rose up in rebellion, gathering tens of thousands of followers who roamed the mountains and forests, plundering various places.

Fortunately, Huailing has a flat terrain and few mountains that sheltered the bandits, so it was not too affected by this disaster.

Even though Liu Bei, Lü Bu, and Cao Cao successively took control of Xuzhou, no battles occurred there.

This is the history that Lu Xiao found, so he decided to head south to Huailing.

More importantly, Huailing is located beside the Huai River, making it convenient to travel...

Ah Xiang and her son were completely unaware of all of this.

They only knew that this year was a bit strange, as it didn't rain at all during the Qingming Festival.

"From the fields and mountains, we burn incense and kowtow before your father's memorial tablet."

Ah Xiang always wore mourning clothes, her expression solemn and serious.

Inspired by their mother, the two children knelt down weakly, burned incense, and kowtowed.

Her mother's voice came from beside her, "Ah Xiang, why are you doing this? You might as well listen to me and keep the truth from everyone. Just say that we are refugees from other places. You won't have to wear mourning clothes, and you can remarry and find a stepfather for Congtian and Congshan."

"Your presence in mourning has caused several men who were interested in you to back away, wasting many opportunities for you to remarry."

Ah Xiang, already filled with self-blame for failing to save her fourth child, exploded upon hearing her mother's words:

"If Mother brings this up again, don't blame me for being heartless! I will never remarry! No matter how hard life gets, I will raise you from the fields and mountains!"

Ah Xiang knew all too well how difficult it was for a woman to raise two sons alone in this chaotic world, without relying on other men.

"Are we just going to sit here and do nothing, until our savings run out? Even if we don't rely on the men to rent some land and farm it ourselves, after paying the rent, will we be able to support our family?"

With no men to farm and the children too young, the main force in working the fields was just the mother and daughter, and she didn't want to work so hard.

Ah Xiang retorted, "I'll just eat a few less bites, and I won't let you get tired!"

"Mother, someone is talking about drought in my head."

The mother and daughter's argument was interrupted by their second son, Lu Congshan.

The mother-in-law frowned. "Drought?"

Ah Xiang was both surprised and delighted. She grabbed her son's shoulders and asked, "Congshan, can you hear my instructions?"

Lu Congshan pointed to his head and nodded, both surprised and frightened.

Ah Xiang wept with joy, "It must be as your father said, your Lu family has the protection of our ancestors, and every year during Qingming Festival, when we burn incense, we receive guidance from them!"

Ah Xiang's expression immediately hardened. "Drought! This year is a drought year! Our ancestors' warning of drought must be to remind us to prepare for the worst!"

Because of her distrust of Lu Xiaoniu, Lu Xiaoniu died young. At this time, Ah Xiang had already deeply believed in the ancestral instructions and resolutely carried them out.

The mother-in-law sighed softly, "Where does it look like a drought? It's clearly just nonsense!"

Ah Xiang rolled her eyes at her mother, "If it weren't for Xiao Niu insisting on the ancestors' instructions, we would have long since become a grain of sand obstructing the flow of the Si River! Mother, even now, how can you still not believe me?"

After hearing what Ah Xiang said, the mother-in-law shut up.

Although this is a mysterious event, the facts are undeniable: only they are still alive.

The mother-in-law reluctantly pulled Lu Congshan aside and inquired in detail about the incense burning incident.

How can we plan ahead?

Upon learning of the impending drought, Ah Xiang fell into deep thought.

"Stockpiling grain is essential."

"Does that mean we can just stockpile food to get through the drought?" Ah Xiang asked, somewhat unwilling.

"Wait! Isn't this also an opportunity?"

"We can stockpile grain first, then sell it at a high price when a drought occurs! Ultimately, we can use the money and grain to exchange for land!"

"Once the drought ends, we will surely establish ourselves in Huailing!"

Ah Xiang is quite shrewd. She plans to take advantage of the severe drought to use her accumulated wealth to buy grain at a low price, then sell it at a high price, and finally use the profit margin to buy a large amount of land that has been abandoned due to the drought at a low price.

She knew that when more refugees poured into Huailing, just as they had poured into Tanxian, the government would rent large amounts of land from various landlords to settle the refugees.

While Huailing is far away, before the influx of refugees and the drought, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for ordinary people to change their family's fate!

Ah Xiang understood everything, and she knelt down and kowtowed to thank the ancestors for their guidance and to thank her husband for his kindness.

The mother-in-law thought Ah Xiang had gone mad too.

Ignoring her objections, he used all the wealth that Lu Xiaoniu had accumulated through years of diligent farming to exchange for grains and millet.

Because of a bumper harvest in Xuzhou last year, the granaries were full of grain, and the price of grain was low, so A Xiang was able to buy it at a low price.

To avoid attracting the covetous eyes of others, these orphans and widows dispersed and hoarded food slowly and efficiently, like ants carrying grain.

At first, no one noticed that it wouldn't rain during this Qingming Festival.

It wasn't until the rain stopped for months, the earth cracked, the mountains and fields were barren, and there was no harvest, that everyone realized the seriousness of the problem.

"Lord Tao has ordered the widespread collection of grain and fodder from all counties to supply the front lines and resist Cao Cao's renewed invasion of Xuzhou! Sell now! Selling now will double your money! It will also help Lord Tao defend against the enemy and avenge Xiao Niu!"

My mother-in-law returned from the county town with the latest news.

Ah Xiang held back, "It's not time yet!"

Is this how revenge is taken? It's nothing but self-deception.

Unfortunately, we had to wait another month or so.

"Refugees are coming! Sell your grain now, and you can triple your money!"

Ah Xiang, barely suppressing her urgency, said, "It's not enough!"

"One should not be too greedy. Selling grain now can help more refugees."

Ah Xiang steeled her resolve. "Mother, in this chaotic era of war, to be sentimental is tantamount to courting death!"

"Can……"

"No buts! We were honest and law-abiding farmers, men tilling the fields and women weaving, living a peaceful and contented life. Especially Xiao Niu, filial, kind, honest, and kind-hearted—who in the village didn't praise his virtue? But what was his ultimate fate? Would he escape the butcher's knife because of his kindness?"

"This is different!"

"What's the difference? Mother, have you considered that when we sell our stockpiled grain in front of these refugees, do they have the money to buy it, or do they have land to exchange for it? They might even resort to brute force, having nothing to lose! In that case, we might even lose our lives!"

The mother-in-law was stunned; she hadn't considered this point.

When starving and destitute refugees see food, how can they care about human ethics and morality?

As the saying goes, refugees and disaster victims are not the people, and there is some truth to that.

"If we don't sell to homeless people, who will we sell to?"

"The government! The government certainly won't let the refugees revolt because of hunger; they will definitely buy up large quantities of grain to relieve them!"

"But I've heard that although Cao Cao withdrew his troops due to the betrayal of Chen Gong and Zhang Miao, Tao Qian is also seriously ill and unable to recover. Xuzhou is bound to be in turmoil. Who will care about the refugees then?"

Ah Xiang insisted, "So I'm going to gamble, gamble that the incoming governor will spend a lot of money to resettle the refugees!"

to be frank

Lu Xiao was initially worried that he could only communicate through three-year-old Lu Congshan.

I was prepared for a long gaming period where I might not achieve anything.

He conveyed the word "drought" during the Qingming Festival.

It wasn't that I wanted Ah Xiang to get rich, but simply to remind her so that this family wouldn't starve to death.

Once Lu Congshan is older and more sensible, we can try some unorthodox ways to make money.

As a result, Ah Xiang's intelligence truly surprised and delighted Lu Xiao.

Although Ah Xiang is not as virtuous as Ah Cui, she exudes the charm of a loyal and strong woman.

She was able to use her intelligence and wisdom to seize development opportunities cautiously yet boldly by predicting the drought.

Lu Xiaoniu really got a good wife!