Chapter 948
: Scolding and High-Yield Grains [2]
Chapter 948: Scolding and High-Yield Grains [2]
The most powerful and influential families in the world are far more formidable than the Jin family. The Qin family may have escaped the Jin family's assassins, but they are unlikely to escape the hundred assassins from other families.
Qin Xiaomi said: "Stay calm. If powerful families really send assassins to kill me because of these words, that would be a formal declaration of war against Emperor Wuxing."
Gao Zhenzhi was the target of the attack. He couldn't bear the consequences of Qin's scolding. His eyes turned red with anger, and he retorted, "Qin, if you're out of touch with the news, don't make false accusations... Ever since the case of the century-old spy was exposed, we have been writing home, offering suggestions and advice, and asking our family to help the court fight the enemy!"
"The establishment of the village martial arts hall was made possible by the donations from each of our families!"
Qin Xiaomi: "Ha, ask yourself with your own black heart, what use is such a small donation in fighting against the Eastern Desert army?!"
"And besides this donation, what other useful things have your families done to resist the enemy?"
"The Ever-Normal Granary. You are all scholars who will take the imperial examinations and enter officialdom in the future. You have all learned about the Ever-Normal Granary system, but what is the price of rice now? Three years have passed since the famine, yet the prices of various grains, cotton, and charcoal remain high..."
"Soybeans, the staple food for the villagers to survive, once cost as much as nine coins a pound. Although the price has dropped somewhat, it is still as high as seven coins a pound. However, soybeans once had a normal price of three coins a pound."
"And how many coins do farmers earn each day? Soybeans cost seven coins a pound, and a child needs to eat three ounces a day to survive. If a family has an average of ten people, how many pounds of soybeans would be enough to feed them?!"
"Can people live on soybeans every day? They need to eat some rice and noodles, but old rice is currently twenty coins a pound... twenty coins a pound! That's almost the price of meat! How are the villagers supposed to survive?"
"Why didn't your Ever-Normal Granary system, which you studied, stabilize the price of essential grains? Why didn't it bring the price of essential grains back to normal levels?!"
The students were astonished: "You...you actually know about the method of stabilizing grain prices using the Ever-Normal Granary?"
Qin Xiaomi: "I'm not stupid. So don't always criticize rural farmers for being illiterate and uneducated. If farmers' children started school at the age of three like you and studied day and night for more than ten years, their knowledge would definitely not be worse than yours, and they might even surpass you young masters and scholars who only know poetry and songs but not common sense about survival!"
"You bastard, you see a farmer and you say he's illiterate, a brute, a country bumpkin, a nobody, and doesn't deserve to live under the same roof as you. If you were born into a farming family, you wouldn't even know how to read and write; you'd have starved to death long ago!"
Qin Xiaomi has the original owner's memories, and the original owner was a girl who loved making money, so Qin Xiaomi knows that the cheapest grain price in the Great Wei is... three copper coins per pound for soybeans.
In a poor family, a pound of soybeans, two handfuls of wheat flour, and a basket of vegetables, cooked together in a large pot, are enough to sustain a family of more than ten people.
But this grain price was something the original owner heard from his grandparents in his memory; it was the grain price when Emperor Ningkang was young.
As Emperor Ningkang became increasingly incompetent, the Jin family became increasingly unscrupulous, and grain prices had long since skyrocketed beyond recognition.
But cheap grain prices did exist, which is why Qin Xiaomi was so angry.
Jiang Dalang/Sheng Ting were also furious. This was tantamount to failing to stabilize prices. If this had happened in the Great Sheng Dynasty, the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Revenue would have been executed long ago!
The students were stunned by the scolding... They knew about "mud ox entering the sea," but what kind of horse was "mud horse"?
"We do not look down on children from farming families!" the students shouted hurriedly.
They may look down on farmers' children, but they must never admit it.
Qin Xiaomi repeated her previous statement: "Really? I don't believe it. Why don't you swear an oath that you'll never have children?"
The students were furious, yet they looked at Jiang Dalang with pity... Jiang Baihu was truly unfortunate, having to spend his life with such a woman!
Ying Zilin said, "Master Qin, the high grain prices are not due to a lack of efforts to stabilize them, nor are they due to the failure of stabilization efforts. It is because we need to transfer grain to the Northwest and Central Plains, which has led to the high grain prices in the Northeast for three years."
As for the grain prices in Jiangnan and Jianghuai prefectures? They are not that expensive. This is because many powerful families and wealthy clans come from these two places, which are also rich and productive areas. If the grain prices rise too much, the aristocratic alliance will allow each family to open private granaries to stabilize the grain prices.
So, only the Northeastern states are unlucky!
You bastard, it's a good thing the people from the Northeast don't know, otherwise we would have torn you to shreds.
Ying Zilin's eyes were already moist. He bowed respectfully to Qin Xiaomi and said, "Master Qin is right to criticize us. Such high grain prices are indeed a sign of our incompetence as scholars."
"I, Ying Zilin, hereby swear that I will use the strength of the Ying family to raise grain and fodder for the Northeast Prefecture to resist foreign enemies. I will also do my utmost to stabilize grain prices so that the poor can afford plenty of cheap grain and have enough to eat during lean times. If I fail to do this in this life, may I be childless for all eternity!"
"Master Ying, how could you make such a vicious oath?!" Shi Songxin was almost crying for him. If such a vicious oath reached the ears of the Ying family, Master Ying would probably be punished by the entire Ying clan.
Gao Zhenzhi's eyes were bloodshot, and he was so angry that he pretended to be insane. He pointed at Qin Xiaomi and said, "Qin, you are so domineering. You have repeatedly forced Ying Xue to make him swear a poisonous oath with twisted logic. Do you know that this will kill him? Besides spouting empty words and cursing students, what have you done to help with the grain supply or the price of grain?!"
"A mere woman, having made a few stinking coins and knowing a little about the Ever-Normal Granary system, dares to spout nonsense, attacking the future pillars of the Great Wei and ruining their prospects. Your scoundrelship, shortsightedness, and ruthlessness are unparalleled in the world!"
Dangdang Dangdang!
As the gong sounded, Jiang Dalang struck it, and because they had been doing hard labor recently, the students, including Gao Zhenzhi, fell silent at the sound of the gong.
Seriously, it's muscle memory.
Qin Xiaomi laughed, looked at Gao Zhenzhi, and said, "Tell me, why are you so unlucky? If you had cursed me like this a few days ago, I wouldn't have been able to immediately slap you in the face, but since you cursed me like this today, I have solid evidence to slap you in the face!"
Old Xun's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked Qin Xiaomi, "Master, has the high-yield grain arrived?!"
"High-yield grains? Master, what high-yield grains?" Qiong Lao grabbed Xun Lao's arm and asked, feeling wronged that his master was keeping such a big secret from him.
Ying Zilin, Shi Songxin, and other students were also greatly surprised and hurriedly asked, "What high-yield coarse grains? Please tell us in detail, Master Qin!"
Gao Zhenzhi was stunned, then burst into laughter: "Hahaha, Qin woman, you really love to talk big, daring to claim that you have high-yield grains? You are just a peasant girl, you've only lived for a little over ten years, what ability do you have to produce high-yield grains?!"
He may have misjudged the Qin woman before, but regarding the high-yield mixed grains, he swears on his life that he never wronged the Qin woman.
This is because if there are any high-yield grains in the world that can affect grain prices, they will only be stored in the private granaries of their aristocratic alliance and will never flow to the common people.
"Qin, you are speaking nonsense. Master, you have been deceived by her. I beg you to wake up and stop praising Qin. Do you know that your actions are bringing shame to Master Qiong?!"
"Gao Zhenzhi, shut up! You must be careful what you say before you know the truth. Don't you understand this principle? And you keep doing it!" Old Qiong couldn't stand it anymore and reprimanded Gao Zhenzhi in public. He then instructed his attendant, "Keep an eye on Gao Zhenzhi and don't let him speak recklessly again!"
It's like throwing the words Gao Zhenzhi used to insult Qin Xiaomi at Gao Zhenzhi's head.
"Yes." The attendants immediately went to replace Ying Zilin and Shi Songxin and took control of Gao Zhenzhi.
Old Qiong hurriedly asked, "Master Qin, what exactly is this high-yield grain you mentioned? Where is it found? Is it in Baofu County?"
Qin Xiaomi didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "This high-yield grain is taro from Lingnan Prefecture."
(End of this chapter)