Chapter 16 Chapter 16 The Blame
After Nanny Zheng gestured for a while, Chu Xian suddenly covered her lips and smiled brightly.
"Mammy, go back and put up a red paper notice saying that our farm is willing to provide two meals. For each meal, male victims will receive two large shepherd's purse buns. The rice porridge will be strong enough to hold chopsticks upright. We will not provide any watery porridge. The wages will be half the market price and will be paid daily. There will be no delays."
"Female disaster victims aged ten and over but under forty will not receive wages, but will be given two meals of porridge a day."
No one will do anything without profit. If we want more women to have something to eat, we can only sacrifice their interests.
Otherwise, she would not be able to attract more people to follow her example, and in the end it would be the victims who would suffer.
As for the old and the young, there were not many who could survive and reach the capital.
If the imperial court is so incompetent that it cannot provide porridge for the elderly and children, someone in the court will be the first to lose his hat and feather, and they dare not.
Nanny Zheng nodded repeatedly and hurried back to post the notice, fearing that other farms would get there first.
"Lin Shu, what happened?" Su Peisheng asked curiously.
"I asked Madam Zheng to spread the word to the managers of the nearby manors she knew, saying that young and strong disaster victims would be cheap and hassle-free, and wouldn't cost much. She urged the various manors to seize them."
"It's the beginning of the harvest season now. Anyone who doesn't take advantage of this opportunity is a fool. Those farms are all wealthy and have to hire temporary workers for the harvest. When they heard that our farm was taking advantage, they all came quietly to try to steal our business. It's really annoying."
Although Chu Xian was complaining, her eyes were full of smiles.
"Humph, they just think we're pawns in troubled waters. They see us profiting from the victims, so they're willing to release their hawks when they see a rabbit. They're all cunning people."
"If we don't get any benefits, who knows how they will laugh at us." Sui Qing said with contempt and sarcasm.
Chu Xian pursed her lips and suppressed her joyful smile: "Maybe other manors will spread the news tonight and start snatching people away overnight."
The farms that can really consume a large number of disaster victims are the private farms of the powerful and wealthy. If the powerful and wealthy also get wind of the situation and take action, there will be no worries about the disaster victims having no porridge to drink.
"But how can a day laborer who earns a living from the autumn harvest support his family?"
Su Peisheng was worried. Everything has its ups and downs. The disaster victims benefited, but how would the temporary workers who made a living from the autumn harvest cope?
Chu Xian remained silent. How could one have both in this world?
Most of those who make a living as temporary workers are wheat pickers who travel all over the country, following the pace of wheat gradually ripening from east to west, migrating like migratory birds.
"It's just that the farms in a small area near the capital don't need temporary workers. Why would wheat pickers compete with disaster victims who are living from hand to mouth?"
Chu Xian pondered for a moment, then couldn't help but sigh, "If the canal dredging could be done with disaster victims as work relief, we could achieve both goals."
Before she knew it, all the porridge, rice and steamed buns had been distributed, and only four eggs were left in Chu Xian's bamboo basket.
She distributed the eggs to Chi Zheng, his servant, and Sui Qing, and the four of them walked home under the bamboo ravines and the moon.
Chu Xian slowed down and moved closer to Chi Zheng.
"Chi Zheng, can you cook the books?"
"No." Yinzhen sneered. He hated people who cheated and made up stories the most.
"Then you need to learn how to cook the books. You'll need them in the future." Chu Xian threw the eggshells into the bamboo basket and took it back to feed the pigs.
"Why cook the books?" Yinzhen frowned, his expression serious.
"How can you make money without cooking the books? Are you going to marry and have children just by relying on your few ounces of change?"
"There are many young ladies in the village, so why would they be so picky? I can scrape out a dozen or twenty taels of silver a year, but it's better than a meager monthly salary."
"Sorry, Chi doesn't cook the books."
Yinzhen withdrew his admiration for Lin Shu, turned his face away in anger, and was too annoyed to even look at her playful smile.
"Other managers can do it, so I thought you could do it too. I was just asking casually, don't take it seriously."
Chu Xian was happy, as Chi Zheng was a very upright person.
"Actually, the girl asked me to test your character. Chi Zheng, congratulations on passing the test." Chu Xian could only put the blame on herself.
"Oh." Yinzhen's face turned cold. Nara was not upright, so she questioned others and was as despicable as her.
"How about we sign and seal the contract tonight?"
When she was distributing porridge at Tanzhe Temple today, she had received a secret report from Baoding Prefecture that there was nothing wrong between Chi Zheng and his servant.
Instigating Chi Zheng to cook the books just now was the final test for him.
Chu Xian completely let down her guard. Chi Zheng could be used, but she still needed to observe him further before she could decide whether to let Chi Zheng become her confidant, appear in public for her, and take full charge of the affairs of the outer house.
After returning to the manor, Chu Xian couldn't wait to sign the contract with Chi Zheng and his servant, for fear that Chi Zheng would run away.
After Chu Xian happily left with the contract and the pass for Chi Zheng and his servant, Su Peisheng frowned and looked at the contract with wet ink on the table.
"Master, are we going to sell ourselves out like this? I'm so dizzy and lost."
Yinzhen supported his chin with one hand and glanced lazily at the contract.
"Go inform the farm under my name and have them hire disaster victims to harvest the autumn harvest. The conditions are similar to those at Nara's farm. Women of all ages are welcome, and two meals of porridge a day will be provided."
"Secretly order the Ministry of Justice to conduct a thorough investigation of brothels and prostitutes. Anyone who dares to take advantage of the situation to recruit victims of the disaster and force them into prostitution will be shut down immediately, and those responsible will be imprisoned and punished. They will also be fined 10,000 taels of silver and will no longer be allowed to recruit official prostitutes."
Yinzhen narrowed his eyes slightly. He had just entered the court at the beginning of the year and was now on duty in the Ministry of Justice. If a scandal of forcing women into prostitution was to occur under his nose, he would be unforgivable.
Fortunately, it was discovered in time today, otherwise Khan Ama would be furious.
"Well, I'll do it right away."
Su Peisheng was shocked and hurriedly turned around to look for the hidden guards in the bamboo forest. The 36 manors near the capital and the five imperial manors granted by the Fourth Master all needed to be given instructions overnight.
Lin Shu is a smart and capable girl. If she can help him manage the Fourth Prince's property in the future, she will be a great help.
It’s a pity...Su Peisheng couldn’t help but sigh.
It’s a pity that Lin Shu is Nara’s servant, and the Fourth Master will never trust her.
Early the next morning, Chu Xian prepared rice porridge, steamed buns and eggs as usual and went to Tanzhe Temple to distribute porridge.
As expected, the number of disaster victims who came to Tanzhe Temple to beg for food today has dropped by half.
"elder sister."
The little girl who was rescued by Chu Xian yesterday ran up to her timidly.
"Little sister, there is sweet potato porridge today."
Chu Xian was about to serve some porridge, but the little girl waved her hand.
"I've already had breakfast. Several large villages south of Tanzhe Temple are recruiting disaster victims for the autumn harvest. I came back to tell my sister that you can give the porridge to other disaster victims. Thank you for saving my life."
"Really? Then you have to choose a farm with the best conditions and eat more." Chu Xian smiled and reached out to stroke the little girl's messy head.
"Wait a minute, I'll help you comb your hair."
Chu Xian hurriedly used her fingers to comb the little girl's messy hair, took out a handkerchief from her lapel and used it as a hairband, and combed a neat braid for the little girl.
"Don't wash your face. The incense ash I applied to your face is mixed with the most effective amulet from Tanzhe Temple. If you wash it off, it will no longer protect you. You must not wash it off, remember?"
"I remember that. Thank you, sister."
After watching the little girl and her grandmother leave, Chu Xian continued to distribute porridge.
"Boss, there's a farm three miles away that has buns to eat and a thatched cottage to stay in. Let's go sign up."
"Why are you eating sweet potato porridge? The farm over there gives you half a salted duck egg and yellow flour buns."
The pale and skinny woman dragged her man away in a hurry, not even looking at the porridge handed to her by Chu Xian.
Chu Xian was at a loss for words. She had never expected that the sweet potato porridge she cooked would be disliked. That was good.
Until noon, most of the porridge was still left in the porridge bucket and had not been served.
"Lin Shu, look at these disaster victims, they're so picky! I was so worried about them starving that I got up before dawn to make porridge."
"Just now, some disaster victims complained that our porridge wasn't thick enough and couldn't hold their chopsticks. They also complained that I didn't give them salted duck eggs. This is outrageous. It's like a little kindness and a big grain of rice are enough to make people resentful."
Sui Qing carried a heavy bucket of porridge and ran to the girl angrily to complain.
Chu Xian smiled without saying a word, sitting on the long steps, drinking a bowl of sweet potato porridge.
"It's a good thing that disaster victims can be picky. If everyone in the world could be picky and choose, rather than just eating anything when they're hungry, that would be a truly peaceful and prosperous world."
"We don't have to be good people tomorrow." Chu Xian raised her head and drank the thin sweet potato porridge.
When she was about to get another bowl of porridge to quench her thirst, Chi Zheng came over with a graceful figure, lifted his robe and sat beside her. The two smiled at each other and drank porridge together.
As dusk fell, the Ministry of Revenue urgently allocated relief food and built porridge sheds at the foot of Tanzhe Temple Mountain. However, after waiting for a long time, only a few dozen elderly, weak and sick people arrived sporadically.
In order to prevent scoundrels from pretending to be disaster victims and obtaining relief grain under false names, the rice porridge cooked in the imperial porridge shed was even clearer and thinner than the sweet potato porridge that was despised in Chu Xian's bucket.
Based on past disaster relief experience, they even sprinkled coarse wheat bran into the porridge pot, and most of the few remaining victims fled.
The remaining victims were already starving, so they didn't care about the bran choking their throats.
The officials in charge of disaster relief at the Ministry of Revenue looked at each other in bewilderment. Where were the victims? Why had they disappeared overnight?
Chu Xian called Su Sheng and Sui Qing to sort out the wages of the victims for picking persimmons. She and Chi Zheng frowned and watched outside the government porridge stall for a long time before they felt relieved.
The moon is already at its zenith, and the chirping of insects is intensifying.
Chu Xian and Chi Zheng were strolling leisurely along the tree-lined path of Tanzhe Mountain.
Suddenly a cool breeze blew by, and small goose yellow flowers rustled down.
Yinzhen stood there, picked up the fallen flowers, raised his sleeve to brush away the fallen flowers on his shoulders, turned around, and saw Lin Shu in the same way.
Chu Xian was secretly glancing at Chi Zheng, but unexpectedly he turned to look at her. Suddenly, he came closer, and Chu Xian blushed.
"What are you looking at?" She spoke first, taking the initiative.
"There are fallen flowers on your head." Yinzhen raised his hand and picked up the fallen flowers with his fingertips. Afraid that she would not believe him, he held them in front of her.
Chu Xian took the unknown wild flower and held it casually in her palm.
"The day after tomorrow morning, Madam Zheng will be returning home."
Chi Zheng is the manager of Zhuangzi, so of course he has to be informed in advance.
Since the dangerous night, Chu Xian took the opportunity to persuade Zheng Ma to return home to retire. She promised to ask for an enlightened statue of Guanyin from Tanzhe Temple and let Zheng Ma chant sutras and pray for blessings in the mansion.
The old nanny felt sorry for her and finally agreed with tears in her eyes.
From now on, this manor on the southern slope of Tanzhe Temple will be handed over to Chi Zheng and Su Sheng to manage.
"Okay." He was just an idler, Yinzhen didn't care at all, as long as Lin Shu didn't leave...
Suddenly, Yinzhen's face darkened.
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