Chapter 278 Fungi
After each family's sheds were erected, the imperial court finally issued a decree and strictly ordered the grain merchants to set the price of rice at fifteen cents per catty.
If you violate it, you will not be punished if you deceive the emperor.
This is a serious crime. Once punished, his head will be chopped off, his home will be confiscated, and he will be exiled.
The grain merchants had just released the first batch of grain, and before they could sell much, the imperial court issued an order. Seeing a mountain of gold turn into a mountain of earth in the blink of an eye, the merchants cursed, but did not dare to fight with the imperial court.
If you don’t dare to sell it at a high price, then don’t sell it.
The grain merchants worked together to discuss a strategy. If they didn't sell the grain on hand, it would be up to everyone to make porridge if there was no grain.
However, before the grain dealer could react, a large amount of grain appeared on the market, all selling for fifteen cents a pound.
In front of several grain stores, people waiting to buy grain lined up in a long queue. The grain inside seemed to be inexhaustible, and the grain merchants' eyes were red.
A steward ran in and shouted, "I've found it, I've found it. The grains were all transported from grain depots in surrounding cities..."
"That old boy of the emperor really knows how to work hard. This disaster relief porridge should be a matter of the court, but he ordered all the civil and military officials to do their work for him. Not only that, he also secretly sold grain to hundreds of people. Officials, this is obviously robbing the officials.”
"This time for the disaster relief in Jiangnan, the imperial court provided a large sum of money. The emperor is trying to earn back a sum of money."
A group of grain merchants gathered in a small room, furious.
Some cunning grain merchants decided to just go with the flow.
What can they do no matter how angry they are? They are businessmen, they are officials, they are emperors, they are the rulers of the world.
Since ancient times, businessmen have been unable to compete with officials, let alone the emperor. They had better think of ways to sell a batch of old rice on hand first to gain the maximum benefit for themselves.
……
Butler Cui sent a boy to wait in line for more than an hour to buy the first batch of grain, but it was not much, only ten shi.
"The boss of the shop said that a family can only buy ten stones a day at most, and they have to transport the grain themselves. They don't have time to deliver it. County Lord, those grain slaves have already been loaded into the truck. Should they put it in the mansion or send it to the shed? ?”
"Is there anyone on the outskirts of the city giving porridge?" Xia Zihan asked.
"Yes, I went to see the two princes' palaces, Prince Yujun's palace, Prince Rong's palace, Duke Lu's palace, and Fangge's palace yesterday. I already cooked porridge yesterday."
At that time, the porridge was cooked and the aroma was fragrant. Thousands of refugees stared at the pot with pairs of green lights.
As soon as the first bowl of porridge was served, the refugees rushed forward.
If it weren't for the powerful guards of the Second Prince's Palace who calmed down the situation in time, something might have happened.
"Then send them all to the shed, and send a few women who know how to make porridge and girls who can make fires there. Our house will also start serving porridge today."
As he said that, the look on Xia Zihan's face became more serious, "Send ten more guards over and tell them to get down. There are many people there, and those sent there are not allowed to cause trouble."
"Don't worry, Lord, the old servant has already ordered me to leave." Cui Erguan said, and asked Xia Zihan, "Do you want to buy food tomorrow?"
Gianzhuangtou sent a hundred stones of grain and put it all into the house's warehouse. Butler Cui couldn't make up his mind whether he should go out to buy it since there was so much grain in the house.
"Buy." Why don't you buy it? If you don't buy it anymore, it will be difficult to buy it after the Chinese New Year and spring begins. "Since the grain store has regulations, then you and the people below will have a harder time. You have to buy ten shi of grain every day. Three big pots and ten stones of food a day are almost enough.”
It means that the hundred stones of grain in the warehouse are reserved for the people of the house.
Butler Cui understood, bowed, and hurriedly went out to make arrangements.
As for the Xia family, Mrs. Xu learned that the price of food had dropped, and Coke spoiled her. "It's a good thing that I didn't buy food in those days, otherwise I would have suffered a big loss."
Then he told Mother Qin, "Send a few more girls to line up, and we'll buy more."
I am worried that one day the price of rice will rise again.
Qin's mother came to Xu's ear mysteriously and said, "As soon as I was about to queue up, a man who looked like a manager came to me and said that he had a batch of old rice, although the taste was not as good as new rice. Eat, but the price is cheaper than new rice.”
Mother Qin stretched out a hand.
"Ten cents a pound?" Mrs. Xu's eyes widened in surprise.
This is the price of rice that was never imagined before.
This time, I saved a lot of money.
She snorted and raised her pointed chin, "What doesn't taste good? Those untouchables, give them a bowl of glutinous rice porridge, and they will all be grateful..."
Then Fu'er gave many instructions to Qin's mother.
"Just buy ten taels of silver."
Ten taels of silver is enough to give porridge and feed the family for a while.
The rest of the money will naturally be her private money.
"Master, you should know how to reply, right?"
"I know that I bought those rice a few days ago and spent a lot of money. What a pity..."
The master and servant looked at each other and smiled, their smiles full of calculation.
...The Xia family and the Chu family set up their sheds side by side. The Xia family set up two large pots, and the Chu family set up three large pots. Several large pots were lined up in a row, and they were all cooking porridge steamingly
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However, it was already the fourth day, and the rice for making porridge was all from the Chu family, but the food from the Xia family had not been delivered yet.
In the first day or two, the Chu family's mother-in-law didn't say anything, but as the sun got better, she said bluntly to Mother Qin, "Mother Qin, although the Chu family and the Xia family are related by marriage, the head of our county is Master Xia. The eldest daughter, but the brothers are still settling the scores. Your family’s big pot has been using the Chu family’s grain to cook rice porridge. How can this be justified? "
Qin's mother gritted her teeth and glared at the old lady, but when she saw the servants of the Chu family around her looking at her with strange eyes, her old face turned red.
She hurriedly gave a few instructions to a woman in charge of the Xia family, and the woman hurried back to the Xia family and said to Mrs. Xu, "Madam, the people from the Chu family have spoken. Do you think we should send some food?" ?”
It turned out that Qin's mother bought a batch of old rice and was about to send it to the shed when she learned that the servants of the Chu family were already making porridge.
No, under Xu's explicit hint, Qin's mother sent the batch of old rice home, and then shamelessly made porridge with the Chu family's rice.
Unexpectedly, the Chu family's mother-in-law was not stupid. It had been a few days since she met her, and before the Xia family sent food, she gave Qin's mother a hard time.
Mother Qin couldn't stand the fool anymore, so she sent her mother-in-law back to ask for instructions from Mrs. Xu to transport rice.
"Today is already the fifth day. If we don't send rice over, we're afraid the county boss will find me."
If the master gets angry, he will definitely blame his wife.
At that time, not only will the wife be scolded and embarrassed, but she will also lose the master's heart. It's not worth it for these few kilograms of rice.
Mrs. Xu raised her eyebrows and said, "It's true of you. I forgot to tell you, so why did you just wait and not transport the food?"
He actually passed the responsibility to a group of servants.
The old woman's face froze, as if she had something to say. Mrs. Xu glanced sharply and said, "Hurry up and go."
The mother-in-law bit her lip and hurriedly retreated.
Mrs. Xu snorted and cursed, "What a bunch of idiots, they don't know how to transport some rice there."
The rice from both families was put together to make porridge. How much rice was used and how much rice was sent over? If the Xia family didn't tell them, who among the servants of the Chu family would take the initiative?
What a bunch of idiots.
Not long after, the Xia family's carriage transported five hundred kilograms of rice, but when the Xia family's woman in charge of washing rice opened one of the bags, her expression immediately changed.
The mother-in-law hurriedly dropped what she was doing, found Mother Qin, secretly pulled her over, held out a palmful of rice and showed it to Mother Qin, and whispered, "Mother Qin, look at this rice, what should I do? Is it good?”
The surface of the rice is yellow, and it looks like old rice at first glance, but I don’t even know it is old rice from a few years ago.
Mother Qin's face changed drastically when she saw it. She reached into the rice bag and took out a handful, but her hands were full of dark, moldy rice.
It turned out that the rice on the surface of this bag of rice was better, just a little yellow, but everything inside was moldy and could no longer be eaten.
"What should I do? If my wife finds out..." The woman was too frightened to say anything further.
A layer of cold sweat broke out on Qin's mother's back.
She gritted her teeth and said harshly, "Don't be afraid. Just wash it a few more times, clean it, and then mix it with the Chu family's new rice and cook it together. As long as it doesn't kill anyone."
Fortunately, the two women in charge of washing the rice were both servants of the Xia family. As long as they were careful, the matter could be covered up.
"Don't let the Chu family find out." She ordered.
"Yes, I will pay more attention."
I just don’t know how much moldy rice there is. If it’s all...
Qin's mother thought that there was a batch of old rice left at home, and she planned to cook it for the servants in the family.
It's just that I still have some old rice at home that I bought not long ago, so I thought of eating all that and cooking it again.
Unexpectedly...
Qin's mother gave her mother-in-law a few instructions and hurried back to Xia's house.
She secretly went to the warehouse where the grain was stored, and opened every bag and looked at the 10,000 kilograms of rice. Except for the more than 1,000 kilograms piled in the innermost part, which was not moldy, the rest was moldy rice.
What should I do? My wife only plans to use 3,000 kilograms of rice for disaster relief, so don’t they have to eat the remaining 6,000 kilograms of moldy rice themselves?
If you don’t eat it yourself, throw it all away. If your wife asks about it...
Mother Qin shuddered when she thought of her wife's cold, dull eyes.
No, she had to think of a way to get the rice out and bring in six thousand kilograms of good rice.
Thinking of the new rice purchased by the Chu family, Qin's mother became interested.
……
In the Chu house, Xia Zihan was sitting on the kang, concentrating on drawing a childish and playful look.
Zhuo, Nuanyu, and Hongmei were sitting aside to divide the threads, and Yue Jin was embroidering a small dress in her hand. Looking at the palm-sized dress, she knew that it was for the child in Zhuo's belly. clothes.
Mrs. Zeng was leaning on the imperial concubine's couch next to the fire bed, and she was covered with a red flower Baishou quilt.
A group of people chatting happily.
(End of chapter)