bookcurios Chapter 221 1 Wen 1 Jin
Chapter 221 1 Wen 1 Jin
Hearing his master's words, the servant quickly shut his mouth, and in the autumn weather in Jianzhen, he actually broke out in a cold sweat.
They had just heard Han Yiyi say that the sweet potatoes were not only edible but also delicious. So when they saw the sweet potatoes on the mule cart that had not yet been carried in, they began to swallow their saliva. A boy of four or five years old couldn't help it, so he pulled the woman next to him and cried softly.
"Mom, I, I'm hungry..."
When Han Yiyi heard this, her eyes darkened.
When Han Yiyi went to Kyoto earlier, he learned that Emperor Beichen had distributed all the silver collected to the people. Not only that, he also ordered officials from all over the country to open the granaries and release grain. He thought that everyone would not starve and could at least survive until the next year when the grain was ripe.
Therefore, when they were in Kyoto, Han Yiyi did not replace the sweet potato seedlings and ask the Emperor of Beichen to promote them. After all, it was too late to plant sweet potatoes at that time. But later they learned that the entire Beichen was almost out of food, and several major granaries were flooded. Of course, the rich and powerful naturally had food stored, but these common people...
Han Yiyi looked at the people around her, her eyes full of gloom. However, she didn't have many points in her current system, so even if she wanted to help them, she was powerless.
At this time, the woman who was next to the little girl heard her child crying, knelt in front of Han Yiyi with red eyes, and spoke.
"Your Highness, I don't know, I don't know, but do you have any extra sweet potatoes? Can you, can you sell some to us? This kid has been hungry for too long, and I'm afraid it won't go on like this..."
Han Yiyi's eyes flashed when she heard the woman's words. Her family only cultivated half an acre of land. Even if she gave it all away, it would not be enough to share. So she looked at the people from Zhushan Village who came with her.
The village chief naturally heard what the woman said. When he saw Mr. Han Yiyi looking at him, he hurriedly spoke.
"Han girl, no! Your Highness, I am willing to take out 20,000 kilograms and sell them to everyone!"
After hearing this, others also quickly responded.
"The common people are willing too!"
"The common people are willing too!"
Aunt Zhang on the side also quickly said, "I am willing too!"
Seeing that the people in Zhushan Village were willing to sell their sweet potatoes, Han Yiyi breathed a sigh of relief. Although he knew that they couldn't finish eating them, in such a disaster year, no one would think that they had too much food.
In fact, in Zhushan Village, except for Han Yi's family, even the family with the least land has three acres of land. Even if one acre of land produces eight thousand kilograms, that would be more than two or four thousand kilograms.
Based on the calculation of a family of three, in today's season, the annual food ration for the family is only one thousand kilograms.
It is now October, and there is less than a year left until next year's sweet potato harvest. Therefore, if calculated based on the population, as long as each person has enough food of 300 kilograms, they will not starve. In addition, there are also some wild vegetables and fruits to fill their stomachs during this period. But just in case, he still spoke.
"Since you are all willing to sell them, then let's do this. It's only about half a year from now until the sweet potatoes are ripe next year. You can keep 500 kilograms per person per year for yourselves, and sell the rest to them! As for the price, just one cent per kilogram," he said, worried that the people in Zhushan Village would not agree, so he asked again.
"Village chief, what do you think of my proposal?"
Before, the people in Zhushan Village were happy because of the high yield of sweet potatoes per mu. Each family had at least 20,000 kilograms. But later, looking at the cellars full of sweet potatoes, they became worried because there were too many. For no other reason than that they were worried that the potatoes would go bad if kept for too long.
After all, a family weighs tens of thousands of pounds. Even if a family only eats sweet potatoes all year round, it will take several years to survive. So when they heard Han Yiyi's words, not only could they exchange them for silver, but they could also help these people, so they naturally agreed.
"Han girl, no! I think the princess's suggestion is very good..."
"In that case, let's do this. Tomorrow morning, you will come here to line up to buy sweet potatoes. But in order for everyone to be able to buy them, we will buy them per person. Each person can only buy 30 kilograms. If it is a family of three, you can buy 90 kilograms at a time. Do you understand what I mean?"
Han Yiyi calculated that this would at least last for a while.
When everyone heard Han Yiyi's words, they excitedly stepped forward and knelt down in front of Han Yiyi and the others.
"Thank you, Your Highness, and thank you..."
In fact, it is no wonder that they are excited. One cent per pound is really no different from giving it away for free. You know, even in good years, even brown rice costs five cents per pound. But in a year like this, it only costs one cent per pound. In this way, even the poorest families can come up with a few cents.
Furthermore, every family received some relief money from the government, so they could buy a few pounds of sweet potatoes and not wait to starve to death in vain.
The woman just now pulled her child and ran to Han Yiyi and spoke.
"Hurry, hurry, kowtow to the princess and thank you, Her Highness..."
Seeing this, Han Yiyi hurriedly bent down and helped the man up.
"Go back first. You can come to buy sweet potatoes tomorrow. You can also notify your relatives and friends at home to come and buy them together..."
After everyone left, Han Yiyi bowed to the village chief Aunt Zhang and others and spoke.
"Thank you everyone..." Seeing Han Yiyi like this, Aunt Zhang opened her mouth and said, "You girl..." She only said half of it and suddenly realized Han Yiyi's current identity. Her face changed and she quickly changed her words.
"Your Highness, these are what common people should do..."
The village chief on the side also spoke nervously.
"Yes, yes, these are what ordinary people should do."
"Okay, we are family, so let's not be too particular about this..." But before Aunt Zhang could finish her words, she was interrupted by Han Yiyi, who stepped forward and took Aunt Zhang's sleeve and shook it.
"No matter what, I still want to thank everyone for being willing to share food at this time!"
The village chief and everyone else breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Han Yiyi was still the same as before. After all, in this hierarchical society, the people had a deep-seated awe of the imperial power.
At this time, Aunt Zhang was dizzy from being shaken by Han Yiyi, and she couldn't help but said with a smile.
"Okay, Your Highness, if you keep shaking, I will faint. But you don't have to thank us. We have too many sweet potatoes at home and we can't finish them all. We were worried that they would go bad before, but now they are fine. We can sell them for silver and help everyone. It's killing two birds with one stone!"