Chapter 568: Surrounded
Su Xuanming walked out of the back door, pretending to go to Baichuan Academy for a walk, but in fact he was secretly observing the entrance of the Hou Mansion.
There were several vegetable vendors setting up stalls at the door, craftsmen selling noodles, and a quarreling couple...
Su Xuanming pretended not to notice anything strange and went straight to Baichuan Academy.
Baichuan Academy on the outskirts of Beijing is not as lively as before, with a large number of students traveling to all over the country.
In the academy, only children from nearby villages were reciting the Three-Character Sutra.
A good comprehensive academy integrating elementary school and martial arts has been reduced to a rural enlightenment study.
"Dalang, you're here." The old man in charge of sweeping the door greeted him warmly.
Su Xuanming smiled and nodded: "I'm just here to take a look around, you can do your business."
Su Xuanming walked outside the classroom and saw the children inside shaking their heads through the spacious windows, and his complicated mood was relieved.
Su Xuanming and the teacher in the classroom looked at each other, made a gesture of continuing, and did not go in, but continued to wander around the academy.
Along the corridor outside the classroom, walking a hundred meters east, is the huge kitchen that was originally built.
However, the current utilization rate of such a large kitchen is less than one tenth, and only one aunt from Gengjia Village washes and rinses in it.
When Yunzhou was fighting against the Tatars, the government was slow to provide supplies, so the younger sister Su Yunyan cashed out all the Baiwei Hotel and other properties in Kyoto.
Under the circumstances, only Munir dared to bid for the Baiwei Hotel and the commercial street opposite, but the price was almost 30% off the normal market price.
Su Yunyan used the money to purchase grain at high prices along the way.
If we only consider the monetary gains and losses, this transaction can be said to be the most loss-making transaction in Su Yunyan's history.
Su Xuanming walked into the kitchen. A large pot on the stove was steaming hot, and there were plump wild vegetable steamed buns on the bamboo strips beside it.
"Why are they wild vegetable steamed buns?" Su Xuanming frowned.
I obviously provided food expenses for the academy.
The kitchen lady was adding firewood to the stove. She was startled when she heard the sound. She turned around and saw that it was Su Dalang. She quickly stood up, wiped her hands on her clothes and said a little cautiously.
"Da Lang, the price of food in Kyoto has increased, to one hundred and fifty yuan per bucket."
Su Xuanming gasped.
The price of food in Kyoto has always been relatively stable, about 75 yuan.
Even recently, when the Bian River flooded Kyoto, the price of food only rose to one hundred yuan.
Why did it suddenly rise to one hundred and fifty dollars?
Su Xuanming has not been out of the house for a long time and is not clear about many things: "Shiyisi didn't sell rice?!"
In the Zhou Dynasty, stabilizing rice prices was a very important function of the court.
In a situation like this when the price of grain has risen to 150 yuan, the market manager should come out to sell rice and bring the price down.
The kitchen lady curled her lips and said: "No. I heard someone said that there isn't much rice left in Shiyisi's granary."
"How is it possible?"
The kitchen lady lowered her head and whispered: "I also heard what others said, Dalang, please don't say anything. There will be little rain this year, and everyone knows that this year will definitely be a disaster year."
"When Yunzhou and the Tatars were fighting, the officials ordered grain from all over the country to be transported to Kyoto and sent to Yunzhou. However, when grain entered Kyoto, wasn't it equivalent to falling into a rat's nest? It is said that Mr. Li Ge took the lead and misappropriated a lot of grain. "I heard from Lifu on the dock that one-third of the rice in the relief food shipped to various places in Nan County was mixed with sand."
Su Xuanming's hands hidden under his sleeves clenched tightly.
Aniang loves the people in Yunzhou like her own children. This group of people has occupied a prosperous place for a long time, but they only know how to exploit them blindly.
Now they dare to embezzle even disaster relief food!
The kitchen lady saw that Su Xuanming's expression was wrong, so she whispered softly: "Master, your arms can't twist your thighs. Just pretend you don't know about this."
Su Xuanming untied the purse around his waist and put it on the stove: "The children are still growing, and they need to keep up with the food. You can use the money first. If it is not enough, come to the Hou Mansion. Starting next month, give it to the academy The cost of food will also increase.”
The kitchen lady was slightly startled, with a glint in the corner of her eyes: "Dalang, no need. It is a great blessing to be able to have a full stomach these days and not live on the street."
Most of the little kids in the academy are new recruits this year.
It was all because there was not enough food at home, so the family sent their children to the academy to seek a way to survive.
If this happened in previous years, more than half of these children would starve to death.
However, this year, because of Baichuan Academy, these children all survived.
There is no mistake in every song, one post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, take a look!
Even though they were eating wild vegetable steamed buns, the children ate them extremely sweetly and were grateful.
As long as you can survive, what else should you pay attention to about the taste and what kind of food you want to eat?
Su Xuanming felt sour in his heart. This kitchen lady came from Gengjia Village, one of the relatively wealthy villages near Kyoto.
"What's the current situation in the village?"
The kitchen lady wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeves, her voice full of exhaustion: "Since the officials expropriated our farmland, our lives have become worse day by day."
"Those who have skills go out to do odd jobs. Those who have no skills and only know how to farm can only rent their farmland. In one year, the land rent plus grain tax will be nearly 70%."
"We are quite lucky. We have lived a good life under Yun Guogong for several years, and we still have some wealth. We have lived on our laurels all these years."
"Several other villages are in dire straits. They cannot make ends meet every year and are in debt. Many families are directly sold into slavery."
After finishing speaking, the kitchen lady's eyebrows were full of worry: "The Bianhe River has surged this year, and all the farmland in our village has been flooded. The government has not yet decided how to collect the grain tax and whether it will be reduced or reduced. I can only hope that they will Be kind, otherwise many people will not be able to survive this winter. ”
Su Xuanming took the kitchen lady's words to heart: "I'll go and find out later."
Su Xuanming came to the academy for a tour, then got on the carriage and returned to Kyoto.
When passing by Dashi Fengqing Street, I could no longer find the bookshop of Baichuan Academy and the Yunzhou grocery store.
The ordinary people who used to visit Fengqing Street across the street have also disappeared.
The streets are full of fancy clothes and cars, forming a world of its own.
The changes that Aniang and Yunzhou had brought to Kyoto had completely disappeared without even realizing it.
Su Xuanming originally wanted to visit Jiang Yushi and ask about tax reductions near Kyoto, but thinking of the attention paid to him by the young official's family, he only sent someone to secretly send a message and did not dare to visit in person.
When Su Xuanming returned to the Yongchang Marquis Mansion, he found that there were more and more spies outside the door. During this period, there were many patrols with swords, wandering around the Yongchang Marquis Mansion with unusual frequency.
Two days later, when Su Xuanming wanted to go out again, he could no longer get out.
Su Xuanming's heart was high in the sky, and the atmosphere was so stormy. Is it because grandma has made a big move, or has the young emperor's patience run out?