kingnovel Chapter 586 Sweet Potatoes
Chapter 586 Sweet Potatoes
Shen Zheng is not the type of person who would take on too much, but when it comes to matters concerning the common people, she always can't help but take the responsibility on herself.
She knew clearly in her heart that one should not be on guard against thieves every day, but thieves will be on their mind every day. However, she still could not help thinking that the people of Baiyun County were actually very cautious, but they were still deceived by the name of "Shen Zheng".
She couldn't bear to see the people living in misery, and the guilt she shouldn't have felt quietly grew in her stomach at this moment.
If you look closely, Yin Wencai's personality is actually similar to hers. He placed his right hand over his mouth and nose, rubbing it unconsciously.
"If I had not distributed rice seeds to the people early on, this disaster would not have happened. It's all my fault..."
Shen Zheng took a deep breath and shook his head at him: "Master Yin, we are not at fault. The ones who are at fault are those damn black-hearted people. Now is not the time for us to take the blame. Solving the problem of food and clothing for the people is the top priority."
Liang Fu nodded and asked Yin Wencai, "Why don't you ask for help from the government office?"
If the grain merchants are completely cornered, the quickest and easiest way would be to ask the government for help, and Yu Zhengqing would not "stand by and watch them die."
Yin Wencai touched the sleeves of his official robe, bowed his head and said in shame: "I was planning to go to the government office today to ask Lord Yu if he could help me to connect with the grain merchants in the government office..."
He was too embarrassed to ask the government office to borrow food again, so this was the only method he could think of.
Shen Zheng pondered for a moment and asked him, "If there are grain merchants willing to supply grain to the county, can the people... afford it?"
It might sound a bit disrespectful when he said this, but it was what Shen Zheng was really worried about.
Yin Wencai looked calm after hearing this. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Two meals of corn and wild vegetable porridge a day may fill my stomach."
Now is the time of shortage of food, and the situation of farmers in various parts of Da Zhou will not be too bad. First, save some copper coins to buy old rice. After spring comes, there will be more wild vegetables, and some more can be planted in the fields, which will be enough to last until the autumn harvest.
Seeing Shen Zheng's worried face, Yin Wencai comforted her instead, "Don't be like this, Lord Shen. These hard times won't last long. Once the high-yield rice is planted, good days will be waiting for the people in the future!"
Not to mention other things, even the more than 1,000 kilograms of rice grown from one acre of land may not be enough for a family of several people to eat!
Whenever he thought of this, he would feel that the hard times he was experiencing were nothing more than a drizzle before the bright sunshine.
Shen Zheng nodded slightly, but she was still thinking about one thing in her mind.
In fact, there is a crop that can make up for the shortage of food during the lean period. The yield of this crop is extremely high, and high-yield varieties can even reach several times the yield of high-yield rice.
--sweet potato.
Most sweet potatoes are suitable for planting in autumn, that is, after the rice is harvested in autumn. And after the sweet potatoes are vine-grown, the vines can be picked and eaten separately. As long as the vines are not picked too much, it will not affect the growth of the tubers. It is really a food that kills two birds with one stone.
However, sweet potato planting is more troublesome than rice planting. There are more than a dozen kinds of sweet potato pests. Sweet potatoes are field crops. Once a sweet potato is infested with pests, it is not as easy to detect as rice.
But is it necessary to grow sweet potatoes?
Shen Zheng thought for a while and got the same answer - it was necessary.
Although sweet potatoes are prone to many insect pests, they are a "cheaper" crop than high-yield rice - they have extremely low requirements for growing soil. In fact, sandy loam or loam, which rice "hates", is actually their favorite soil.
In other words, sweet potatoes hate water as much as rice loves water.
One spring and one autumn, one wet and one dry, the two working together can almost solve the problem of food and clothing in all areas of the Great Zhou.
She will definitely exchange the sweet potato seeds before the next autumn harvest!
But there is one issue that we must pay attention to—low grain prices hurt farmers.
Therefore, during this period, she also had to promote the development of industry and commerce in the Great Zhou Dynasty and prevent agricultural production from increasing significantly and agriculture from becoming over-saturated, thereby causing irreversible harm to farmers.
Thinking of this, Shen Zheng couldn't help but sigh - the harmony of yin and yang in all things in the world really has its pros and cons. What she needs to do is to find a way to balance them so that the two sides can complement each other.
While Shen Zheng was thinking, Liang Fu asked Yin Wencai a few more questions, and Liang Fu answered them one by one.
"I guess those people are from Fuzhou Prefecture. I once sent detectives to track them down, but they entered the territory of Fuzhou Prefecture and disappeared."
"Fuzhou Mansion?" Liang Fu frowned and said to himself, "Since he is from his mansion, how could he unite with the county grain store supplier to put pressure on him?"
Yin Wencai didn't have many people to use, so the information he got was not comprehensive. He only said: "I have also checked the grain store suppliers, and the next one up is the Mo family, a big merchant in our mansion..."
He paused, and said hesitantly: "It will be impossible to find out more about it. But I think that the Mo family's assets are all in Liuyang Mansion. They are the richest people in our mansion. How could they..."
If it was done by the Mo family, wouldn't it be like shooting themselves in the foot if they were found out?
That's why Yin Wencai felt that someone deliberately placed clues on the Mo family in order to mislead him in his investigation.
But Shen Zheng didn't think so after hearing this - Mo Qingwan wouldn't do this, but the head of the Mo family might not be able to do it.
The rice seeds in Tongan County were originally sold at a fixed quota and had long been sold out, but the situation in the entire Da Zhou was still that there were more people than rice.
Therefore, rice seeds in Liuyang Prefecture can only be called "relatively scarce", but in the prefectures of distant places, they are "scarce". That's why some people want to take the rice seeds of the common people. Once the rice seeds are in hand, they will make a few good trades. How can this not be considered a huge profit?
"I will report this matter to Lord Yu truthfully." Shen Zheng tapped the table with her fingers and said to Yin Wencai, "If Lord Yu sends someone to investigate, you and the people in the mansion who know the situation must tell them everything you know, including your guesses."
Yin Wencai was stunned when he heard this, and subconsciously asked: "You mean, the Mo family..."
Could the Mo family really be so cruel as to attack the local people?
"I can only say that it is not certain."
Shen Zheng did not insist, but Yu Zhengqing was currently investigating the Mo family. If the incident in Baiyun County was really related to the Mo family, then that would be considered a help.
Yin Wencai felt depressed.
He knew that there were evil intentions among officials and businessmen, but he would still feel bad if it happened to him.
but......
He looked at Shen Zheng, who was dressed in plain clothes but still radiant.
Fortunately, it’s okay, Lord Shen is here.
When Lord Shen came today, he felt as if he had taken a big reassurance pill, as if all the difficulties and obstacles had disappeared.
Shen Zheng looked at Yin Wencai, who was dressed neatly and ready to go to the government office for "help", and took the initiative to say: "Don't worry about the food supply. After I return to the city, I will negotiate with the merchants to ensure the supply of grain shops in Baiyun County during this period."