Chapter 568: Besieged
Su Xuanming walked out from the back door, under the pretext of going for a stroll in Baichuan Academy, but in fact he was secretly observing the entrance of the Marquis' Mansion.
There were several more vegetable vendors at the door, a craftsman selling noodles, and a quarreling couple...
Su Xuanming pretended not to notice anything unusual and went straight to Baichuan Academy.
Baichuan Academy in the suburbs of Beijing is not as lively as before, and a large number of students are rushing to various parts of the country.
Inside the academy, only children from nearby villages were reciting the Three Character Classic.
A comprehensive academy that taught both elementary education and martial arts has now fallen into the state of a rural enlightenment study.
"Da Lang, you're here." The old man in charge of sweeping the door greeted warmly.
Su Xuanming smiled and nodded: "I'm just here to take a look around, you go ahead and do your thing."
Su Xuanming walked outside the classroom and saw the children inside shaking their heads through the spacious windows. His complicated mood suddenly relaxed.
Su Xuanming exchanged a glance with the teacher in the classroom, made a mouthful of gesture to continue, but did not go in. Instead, he continued to walk around the academy.
Walk east along the corridor outside the classroom for about a hundred meters and you will find the huge kitchen that was originally built.
But such a large kitchen is currently being utilized less than one-tenth of its original size, with only an old lady from Gengjia Village doing the washing and rinsing in it.
When Yunzhou was fighting against the Tartars, the government was slow to provide supplies, so my younger sister Su Yunyan sold all her properties in Kyoto, including the Baiwei Restaurant.
Under the circumstances at that time, only Munir dared to make an offer and took over the Baiwei Restaurant and the commercial street opposite, but the price was almost 70% off the normal market price.
Su Yunyan used the money to buy food at high prices along the way.
If one only considers the gains and losses in terms of money, this deal can be said to be the most unprofitable deal Su Yunyan has ever made.
Su Xuanming walked into the kitchen. A large pot on the stove was emitting steam, and on the bamboo strips beside it were round wild vegetable steamed buns.
"Why are they wild vegetable buns?" Su Xuanming frowned.
I clearly provided food expenses to the academy.
The kitchen lady was adding firewood to the stove. She was startled when she heard the sound. She turned around and saw that it was Su Dalang. She quickly stood up, wiped her hands on her clothes, and spoke a little stiffly.
"Da Lang, the price of grain in Kyoto has gone up. It has risen to 150 coins per dou."
Su Xuanming took a breath.
The price of grain in Kyoto has remained relatively stable, at around 75 sen.
Even recently, when the Bian River flooded the capital, the price of grain only rose to one hundred coins.
How come it suddenly increased to one hundred and fifty coins?
Su Xuanming hadn't been out of the house for a long time, so he didn't know a lot of things: "The City Exchange Department didn't sell rice?!"
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, stabilizing rice prices was a very important function of the court.
In a situation like this where the grain price has risen to 150 coins, the Market Exchange Bureau should come out to sell rice and lower the price.
The kitchen lady curled her lips and said, "No. I heard that there is not much rice left in the granary of the Municipal Trade Bureau."
"How is that possible?"
The kitchen lady lowered her head and whispered, "I heard it from others, Dalang, don't spread the word. There has been little rain this year, and everyone knows it. This year is definitely a disaster year."
"Yunzhou was at war with the Tartars, and the government ordered that grain from all regions be transported to the capital and sent to Yunzhou. However, once grain enters the capital, isn't it like falling into a rat's nest? It is said that Lord Li took the lead and embezzled a lot of grain!"
"I heard from the porters at the dock that one-third of the rice in the relief grain shipped to various places in Nanjun was mixed with sand."
Su Xuanming clenched his fists tightly under his sleeves.
A Niang loves the people in Yunzhou like her own children. This group of people have occupied the prosperous place for a long time, but they only know how to exploit them.
Now they even dare to embezzle disaster relief grain!
The kitchen lady noticed that Su Xuanming looked unhappy, so she gently advised him, "Da Lang, your arm cannot twist your thigh. Just pretend you don't know about this."
Su Xuanming untied the purse at his waist and placed it on the stove: "The children are still growing, and their food needs to keep up. You can use this money first, and if it is not enough, come to the Marquis' Mansion. Starting from next month, the food money for the academy will also increase."
The kitchen lady was slightly stunned, with a twinkle in her eyes: "Dalang, no need. Nowadays, it is a great blessing to be able to have enough food to eat and not live on the streets."
Most of the little kids in the academy are new recruits this year.
It was all because there was not enough food at home, so the family sent the children to the academy to seek a way to survive.
If this situation had happened in previous years, more than half of these children would have starved to death.
However, this year, thanks to Baichuan Academy, all these children survived.
Even though they were eating wild vegetable buns, the children found them extremely sweet and were grateful.
As long as you can survive, why bother about the taste or what kind of food you eat?
Su Xuanming felt a bitter feeling in his heart. This kitchen lady was from Gengjia Village, which was one of the relatively wealthy villages near Kyoto.
“What is the current situation in the village?”
The kitchen lady wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeves, her voice full of fatigue: "Since the government expropriated our farmland, our lives have been getting worse day by day."
"Those who have skills go out to do odd jobs. Those who don't have skills and can only farm can only rent their farmland. In a year, the rent plus grain tax is nearly 70%."
"We are lucky. We have lived a good life under Duke Yun for several years. We still have some assets. We have been living off our savings these years."
"The other villages were in a terrible situation. They were unable to make ends meet and were in debt. Many families sold themselves into slavery."
After saying this, the kitchen lady's eyes were full of worry: "The Bian River flooded this year, and all the farmland in our village was flooded. The government office has not yet come to a conclusion on how to collect the grain tax and whether to reduce or exempt it. I just hope they will be kind, otherwise I don't know how many families will not be able to survive this winter."
Su Xuanming took the kitchen lady's words to heart and said, "I'll go ask around later."
Su Xuanming took a tour of the academy and then got on the carriage back to Kyoto.
When passing by the Dashi Style Street, you can no longer find the Baichuan Academy's bookstore and the Yunzhou grocery store.
The ordinary families who used to hang out across Fengqing Street are nowhere to be seen.
The streets are filled with fancy clothes and luxurious cars, creating a world of their own.
The changes that A Niang and Yunzhou brought to Kyoto disappeared completely without anyone noticing.
Su Xuanming originally wanted to visit Censor Jiang to ask about tax reduction issues near Kyoto, but thinking of the young official's attention to him, he only sent someone to secretly deliver a message and did not dare to visit him in person.
When Su Xuanming returned to the Yongchang Marquis Mansion, he found that there were more and more spies outside the door, including a number of patrol soldiers with swords, who were wandering around the Yongchang Marquis Mansion at an abnormal frequency.
Two days later, when Su Xuanming wanted to leave the house again, he could no longer leave.
Su Xuanming's heart was in his throat. The atmosphere was so tense. Was it that his mother was going to make a big move, or was it that the young emperor's patience was running out?
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