Upon hearing his master's words, the servant quickly shut his mouth, and despite the autumn weather in the town, he broke out in a cold sweat.
Having just heard Han Yiyi say that these sweet potatoes were not only edible but also delicious, everyone began to swallow hard when they saw the sweet potatoes on the mule cart that had not yet been loaded in. A four- or five-year-old boy couldn't hold back any longer and pulled the woman next to him, crying softly.
"Mother, I, I'm hungry..."
Han Yiyi heard this and her eyes darkened.
Previously, when Han Yiyi went to the capital, she learned that Emperor Beichen had distributed the collected silver to the people. Not only that, he also ordered local officials to open the granaries and distribute grain. Han Yiyi thought that everyone should not go hungry and should at least be able to survive until the harvest next year.
Therefore, when they were in Kyoto, Han Yiyi did not exchange sweet potato seedlings for Emperor Beichen to promote. After all, it was already too late to plant sweet potatoes. But later she learned that the entire Beichen region was almost starving, and the major granaries were flooded. Of course, wealthy families had stored grain, but these common people...
Han Yi looked at the people around her, her eyes filled with gloom. However, she didn't have many points in her system, so even if she wanted to help them, she was powerless to do so.
At this moment, the woman who had been beside the little girl heard her child crying, her eyes reddened, and she knelt down in front of Han Yiyi and spoke.
"Your Highness, I don't know, I don't know, do you have any extra sweet potatoes? Could you, could you sell us some? This child has been hungry for too long, I'm afraid if this continues..."
Hearing the woman's words, Han Yiyi's eyes flickered. Her family only cultivated half an acre of land, and even if they gave it all up, it wouldn't be enough to go around. So she looked at the people from Zhushan Village who had come with her.
The village chief naturally heard what the woman said, and when he saw Han Yi looking over, he quickly spoke up.
"Han girl, no! Your Highness, this humble subject is willing to offer 20,000 jin (10,000 kg) to everyone!"
Upon hearing this, the others quickly chimed in in agreement.
"This humble citizen is willing too!"
"This humble citizen is willing too!"
Aunt Zhang, who was standing nearby, quickly chimed in, "I'm willing too!"
Seeing that the villagers of Zhushan Village were willing to sell their sweet potatoes, Han Yiyi breathed a sigh of relief. Although she knew they couldn't eat them all, in such a year of famine, who would complain about having too much food?
In fact, apart from Han Yi's family, even the family that cultivates the least land in Zhushan Village has three mu of land. Even if we assume that one mu of land yields eight thousand jin, that's still more than two or four thousand jin.
For a family of three, in today's climate, a family's annual food ration would only be about 1,000 catties.
It's October now, and the sweet potato harvest is less than a year away. So, if we calculate based on the number of people, as long as each person has enough 300 jin of food, they won't go hungry. Besides, there are also some wild vegetables and fruits to fill their stomachs. But just in case, I still spoke up.
“Since you are all willing to sell them, then let’s do it this way. From now until the sweet potatoes ripen next year, it’s only about half a year. You can keep 500 catties of each person for your own food ration for a year, and sell the rest to them! As for the price, let’s just say one coin per catty,” he said, then asked again, worried that the people of Zhushan Village might not agree.
"Village chief, what do you think of my suggestion?"
Previously, the people of Zhushan Village were happy because of the high yield of sweet potatoes per mu (unit of land area), with each family having at least 20,000 jin (unit of weight). However, later, looking at cellar after cellar of sweet potatoes, they became worried because there were too many. The concern was that they would spoil if stored for too long.
After all, each family had tens of thousands of kilograms of sweet potatoes. Even if they ate only sweet potatoes all year round, it would take them several years to make a living. So when they heard Han Yiyi's words, which not only provided money but also helped these people, they naturally agreed without hesitation.
"Han girl, no! I think the princess's suggestion is very good..."
"In that case, let's do it this way. Tomorrow morning, you will all come here to line up and buy sweet potatoes. However, in order for everyone to be able to buy some, we will buy them per person. Each person can only buy 30 jin. If it is a family of three, they can buy 90 jin at a time. Do you all understand what I mean?"
Han Yiyi did the math and figured that this should be enough to hold out for a while.
Upon hearing Han Yiyi's words, everyone excitedly stepped forward and knelt down before her.
"Thank you, Your Highness, thank you all..."
It's no wonder they were excited. One coin per pound is practically free. You see, even in good years, coarse rice costs five coins per pound. In this kind of year, it's only one coin per pound. Even the poorest families can afford to spend a few coins.
Furthermore, each family had received some relief money from the government, so they could buy a few pounds of sweet potatoes and avoid starving to death.
The woman from before now grabbed her child and ran up to Han Yiyi, saying something.
"Quickly, quickly, kowtow to the princess, thank you Your Highness..."
Upon seeing this, Han Yi quickly bent down and helped the person up.
"Go back first, you can come back to buy sweet potatoes tomorrow, and you can also tell your relatives and friends to come and buy them together..."
After everyone had left, Han Yiyi bowed to the village chief, Aunt Zhang, and the others, and began to speak.
"Thank you everyone..." Seeing Han Yiyi's state, Aunt Zhang was able to speak, "You little rascal...", but she only got halfway through her sentence before suddenly realizing Han Yiyi's current status, her expression changed, and she quickly changed her words.
"Your Highness, these are things that this humble subject should do..."
The village chief, who was standing to the side, also spoke up somewhat nervously.
"Yes, yes, these are things that ordinary people should do."
"Alright, we're all family, let's not stand on ceremony..." But before Aunt Zhang could finish speaking, Han Yiyi interrupted her, taking her sleeve and shaking it.
"In any case, I still want to thank everyone for being willing to share the food at this time!"
The village chief and the others breathed a slight sigh of relief when they saw that Han Yiyi was still the same as before. After all, in this hierarchical society, these people held the imperial power in awe from the bottom of their hearts.
At this moment, Aunt Zhang was so dizzy from being shaken by Han Yiyi that she couldn't help but laugh and say something.
"Alright, Your Highness, if you keep shaking us, I'll faint. But you don't need to thank us. We have too many sweet potatoes at home, and we can't eat them all. We were worried they would spoil, but now it's fine. We can sell them for money and help everyone at the same time. It's a win-win situation!"
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