Chapter 43 This Winter
Two things happened in the capital this winter.
The first thing is -
Concubine Shen was born in the south, and one day she suddenly wanted to eat the tribute oranges produced in the southern city of Baizhou.
Each orange from Baizhou City is about half the size of a palm. The skin is not only thin but also fragrant. The flesh is sweet and delicious, and the grains are distinct.
Baizhou City is more than twice as far away from the capital as Fengxian City. If you ride at full speed, it will take many days to get there even if several horses die.
It is not difficult for the imperial concubine to eat this.
After all, Concubine Shen is the apple of the emperor's eye. Not to mention the tribute oranges, even if it is the stars and the moon in the sky, as long as the concubine wants them, he will send someone to find a way to pick them to make her happy.
The emperor immediately ordered the tribute oranges to be delivered from Baizhou City at full speed, a journey that spanned almost the entire length of the Great Zhou Dynasty. However, the team transporting the tribute oranges encountered a heavy snowfall that blocked the road and made it impossible to move forward. It was said that the entire team was stuck in the snow.
It was supposed to arrive in four days, but it was delayed until ten days. All the tribute oranges were frozen and rotten and could not be delivered to the noble man.
This incident made the emperor furious.
"What are you all for? You're just delivering something. What use do I have for you?"
Except for a few officials who showed resentment, all the officials below were watching their own business.
Yan Xuanyu, who was sitting on the dragon throne, hadn't finished speaking when he couldn't help coughing due to excessive emotions.
Li Zhongxian beside him hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please don't be angry. Take care of your health."
Yan Xuanyu's pale face flushed an abnormal red due to his violent coughing, but he still said angrily, "How can I not be angry! They can't even handle such a small matter as the imperial concubine wanting to eat the tribute oranges from Baizhou City. I want their heads!"
"Your Majesty!" an official in the crowd spoke.
"Your Majesty, it is snowing heavily right now and the roads the convoy is taking are blocked. We really can't blame them." The official said while kneeling.
"How can there be no road? Our great Zhou doesn't even have a north-south official road that can deliver tribute oranges?!" Yan Xuanyu slammed the dragon throne.
"Your Majesty..." the official who had spoken earlier said awkwardly, "Indeed, not."
"If there isn't one, can't you just build one?!"
No one in the court spoke.
Yan Xuanyu looked at the officials coldly. They seemed to be letting him, the emperor, "make trouble." The more he neglected his duties, the happier they were.
When the time comes, they will jump out.
Yan Xuanyu is a "helpful" person, and he doesn't mind helping their great cause "accelerate".
...
The news of the emperor's rage in the court quickly spread throughout the capital.
At the same time, the emperor's decree was also spread, that the construction of the north-south official road would begin after the spring.
By then, we will have to conscript a large number of laborers to build the official roads. I don’t know how many people will be exhausted to death.
After the news got out, some scholars in the capital began to compose poetry secretly, and some even held poetry gatherings. Gradually, the trend of the poetry and prose turned into a subtle satire on the emperor's behavior of treating the lives of the people as worthless and only caring about pleasure.
The theater, which has become a gathering place for literati and scholars, posted several of the most popular satirical poems at the time and held a "voting" activity. The theater will adapt the poem that ranks first into a play and then release it.
People nowadays don't have much awareness of copyright - this is also because there haven't been the disgusting piracy incidents that occurred in later generations. In short, the literati on the list were very happy and called their friends to vote for their poems. The reputation of the theater also grew as they talked about it. The literati all said that the owner of the theater was not afraid of the powerful and was a rare and insightful businessman.
For a time, the theater was packed with people every day, and the theater's leading actress was so popular that people would spend huge sums of money just to see her.
In the bustling environment of the capital, the second incident went unnoticed.
A village outside the capital called "Xiaoshi Village" was given the title of "Village of Good Farming".
It is said that when collecting taxes this year, the tax collectors were shocked to find that the people in their village could produce four stone of grain per acre of land!
It’s almost twice as productive as the fields in some villages!
Coincidentally, this tax collector had been in this position for sixteen years. Because he had no family background and no financial resources to bribe higher-ups, he had always been just a small tax collector. When he saw a village where one acre of land could produce four stones, he quickly reported it to his superiors.
The agricultural official and the Jingzhao Yin who was in charge of the capital's affairs reported this to the emperor. The emperor did not take it seriously and hastily wrote "Village of Good Farming" and gave it to Xiaoshi Village and that was it.
Finally, Grand Tutor Han came out to meet the emperor. It was not known what he said to the emperor, but the next day the emperor ordered a 10% reduction in taxes this year and ordered the implementation of Xiaoshi Village's method of fertilizing and plowing the land throughout the Zhou Dynasty.
It is said that after Han Yuan left, the emperor was very angry and summoned Wen Yongwang into the palace and went to the villa. I don’t know what new and interesting things Lord Wen found, but it finally made the emperor smile when he returned to the palace.
...
Xiaoshi Village.
All the villagers, young and old, supported each other as they looked at the stone tablet with the words "Village of Good Farming" that had just been erected by the officials at the entrance of the village.
"But... this method is not ours..." Even the village chief was at a loss.
Their first reaction was that this would constitute a crime of deceiving the emperor, as “Shangengzhicun” was written by the current emperor himself!
The people in Xiaoshi Village had never seen such a scene!
The emperor bestowed it upon the officials themselves to erect the stone tablet. They were all farmers, so they naturally knew what four dan per mu of land meant, but...
The noble man’s Zhuangzi also used this method.
And they learned it from noble people!
The simple people of Xiaoshi Village were frightened and uneasy when they thought that they might have taken away the credit for the nobleman's work.
At this moment, the dark-skinned man named Dazhuang stood up and said, "Village Chief, the manager of the village said that we should just follow it. This is what the noble man wants."
The village chief's frightened heart finally felt a little relieved.
"If another official comes to ask us about this fertilizer method, we'll just write it down and hand it in."
Dazhuang repeated what the head of Zhuangzi had told him, and the panicked expressions of the villagers changed.
Shi Ersao is usually the most aggressive, with a louder voice and a bolder courage.
The men in Xiaoshi Village were all timid. Shi Ersao snorted in disdain, walked over first, and carefully touched this "village of good farming".
With Shi Ersao taking the lead, other people in the village gradually relaxed.
The villagers, from the old people to the children with pigtails, all touched the "village of good farming".
They left reluctantly only when the village chief drove them back to their homes with thick branches.
They were all simple and uninformed farmers. Most of them had never even been outside the city, let alone the significance of the "Village of Good Farming" granted by the emperor.
However, a warm feeling surged in the hearts of everyone in Xiaoshi Village. They in Xiaoshi Village will definitely be able to grow better!
The villagers all remembered that the head of Guiren Zhuangzi said that if this method was used well, the land would become more fertile every year. Not to mention four stones per acre, even five or six stones would be possible!
Next year, the entire Da Zhou will use the open fertilization method. They must do better to deserve the title of "Village of Good Farming"!
For a moment, everyone in the village seemed to have unlimited energy...
..
"After paying the taxes, we still have so much food left." Da Zhuang's parents sat cross-legged in the house and thought about it.
Dazhuang's father made up his mind and said, "Let's sell this little bit of food and buy more firewood this year. We should go out less this winter and stay warm in the house."
He turned to Da Zhuang and asked, "Da Zhuang, what did you say?"
Dazhuang gulped down the tea in his bowl and said, "I can do anything."
Da Zhuang's mother smiled, her hands in her pockets: "If only... every year could be like this year... it would be great. I could save some money and find a wife for Da Zhuang."
The family just sat in the house, feeling a little dazed for a moment.
This was the first year they had so much food - even if this "more" was only relative, at least their family could have enough food to eat.
If Da Zhuang's father goes to buy some more firewood, maybe they will be able to have a less difficult winter.
Why buy firewood?
Nowadays, almost all the mountains and forests in Da Zhou are owned by someone. Ordinary people can't even think of picking up branches. If they are seen by the guards of the aristocratic families, they will be beaten to death or crippled, and there is no way to seek justice...
According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, they would be considered stealing if they stepped in.
Situations like that of Dazhuang's family have happened in many families in Xiaoshi Village.
One acre of land and four stone of grain can provide their family with some surplus food. It is definitely not enough to fill their stomachs, but as long as the family eats sparingly, they can still have a few bites to eat. The children will no longer cry because of hunger, and the men and women will no longer be so hungry that they are swollen and unable to move.
By this time next year, not only the people of Xiaoshi Village, but perhaps the people of Dazhou will all be able to have food to eat.
...
For the people of the Great Zhou today, the issuance of this decree means that they can have a more fulfilling year this year than in previous years.
As for what kind of fertilization method to use in spring, that will be a matter after the New Year!
Now all they see is a "10% tax reduction".
Just hold on and it will be fine.
That's what they thought.
As long as they can survive until spring, they can go to farm. If they grow food, they will have food to eat.
Year after year, as long as you are alive, isn't this how you live?
…
Zuixianlou.
"If you reduce it by 10%, it's not worth our time." One person said, "How's the work you asked me to do going?"
The man had a conical hat on his head, so his face couldn't be seen clearly.
"Everything is ready." The person opposite him was Jiang Yuanhua.
"Since they want to kill the Emperor of the Great Zhou, let's help him." The man's voice was a little happy.
Jiang Yuanhua also laughed and said, "I'm afraid he doesn't have the courage."
"Brother Jiang, do you know where people's weaknesses are?" The man in the bamboo hat laughed enough, and straightened up as if he suddenly remembered something and asked Jiang Yuanhua opposite him.
Jiang Yuanhua picked up the teacup and said calmly, "You're joking. I'm alone and have no weaknesses."
"If you're willing to talk to me, I'm all ears."
The man in the bamboo hat seemed to have heard a huge joke. For a moment, the only sound in the room was his laughter.
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