Chapter 147 Shen Zheng’s Rotten Eggs
early morning.
The sky is still overcast.
Because of the heavy rain yesterday, the roads in the fields of Dahe Village were muddy and there were fewer people working outside.
However, the main road was compacted by people and animals walking back and forth, so the road conditions were slightly better, at least ox carts could pass through.
Zhao Da's ox cart was parked in front of Cheng Wanwan's house. Old Mrs. Zhao sat on the ox cart, waiting for Cheng Wanwan to carry the rice out and go to the town together.
Zhao Dashan came out carrying a large sack and put it on the ox cart, and Cheng Wanwan sat on it.
Grandma Zhao frowned: "Eldest daughter-in-law, you're not only taking a hundred jin to town, are you?"
In the past, when the harvest was good, the autumn harvest included not only rice, but also beans, quinoa, and corn. However, due to the drought this year, the beans, quinoa, and corn all dried up, and only the rice in the paddy fields barely survived, finally waiting for water to come.
Because there is a shortage of food, we must make good use of the limited food we have. We will rely on this rice for food, clothing, housing and other daily necessities in the second half of the year.
If you only sell 100 jin, are you going to keep the rest for your family to eat? I doubt even the wealthy people in town eat white rice every day. This is such a waste of food.
Cheng Wanwan explained, "We have a young master living with us. He's been used to eating white rice since he was little. How can we let him eat corn and black flour with us? Besides, with the harvest being so bad, who knows what might happen? Having food in hand is more secure than money."
Grandma Zhao immediately stopped.
She looked at the 500 kilograms of rice she had carried onto the ox cart and suddenly felt as if she had done something wrong.
Food is scarce everywhere, and food prices will definitely rise in the future. Going to town to sell rice now might result in a huge loss.
Their family has more than 20 mu of paddy fields, and they harvest more than 2,000 kilograms of rice. It sounds like a lot, but they have a large family of 12 people, and each of them has a mouth to feed every day, so she has to budget carefully.
Grandma Zhao jumped off the oxcart, picked up a sack of rice, and said, "I'll take this hundred catties of rice back first, and I'll be right there."
The old lady ran away as fast as she could.
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
At the age of fifty or sixty, he can still carry a hundred kilograms of rice and walk briskly. It's really amazing.
While waiting for Old Mrs. Zhao, Cheng Zhao and Shen Zheng came out of the courtyard.
"Second Aunt, I also want to go to town," Cheng Zhao said. "My cheating is over, and I want to find some work copying books."
“I’m going to town too,” Shen Zheng added. “I want to go home to get a change of clothes. I will never run away. Afu is still at your house. I definitely won’t abandon Afu.”
Ah Fu stood in the yard crying and feeding the chicks, ducks and geese. Why did he feel that the young master couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to run away early?
However, the young master always dotes on him. He will definitely come back to pick him up after he has persuaded the adults. He must believe in the young master!
Cheng Zhao and Shen Zheng sat on the other side of the ox cart.
Old Mrs. Zhao came back with a leisurely pace. She was about to greet the young master of the county magistrate's family when she suddenly smelled a strange smell.
"Why is it so smelly?" The old lady sniffed around, "It smells like rotten eggs. It's too stinky..."
Cheng Zhao said, "It must be the smell of chicken and duck droppings in the yard."
He has been able to smell this stench every day these days, and he has gotten used to it. But it seems to be getting worse. It may be that the chickens and ducks have grown up and are producing more and more feces, so it is normal to smell bad.
"Chicken or duck droppings don't smell like this." Old Mrs. Zhao frowned, then suddenly grabbed Shen Zheng. "Young Master Shen, it's you who smells bad. Why do you smell so bad?"
Cheng Wanwan also smelled this strange smell. When she asked about it the day before yesterday, Sidan said that Xiaohei had taken a shit in the house, so she didn't ask any more questions.
At this moment, the old lady's hand reached into Shen Zheng's clothes.
Shen Zheng was a weak young scholar, and his strength was no match for an old lady who had been working in the countryside all year round. He could not move at all.
Then the old woman pulled a white egg out of his clothes. The egg white was tinged with black and emitted a strong, foul odor.
"Eldest daughter-in-law, you're too stingy!" Old Mrs. Zhao couldn't help but scold. "Young Master Shen is the only son of the county magistrate, a pampered and precious young master. How could you give him rotten eggs? These eggs have been sitting for at least seven or eight days. They're rotten to the core. Eating them would kill someone!"
Cheng Wanwan looked completely bewildered.
The eggs laid by our two big hens are usually eaten on the same day they are laid, how could they possibly be kept for seven or eight days!
Besides, the family hadn't eaten boiled eggs recently, so where did Shen Zheng get this egg... Okay, she remembered. It was the third day after harvesting the rice, and she gave it to the child as a reward because of the stone roller.
So many days have passed, and this egg is still there?
A nobleman like Shen Zheng would actually save the eggs and not eat them?
"Ahem!" Shen Zheng said without changing his expression, "I thought they were raw eggs, which could be kept for a few more days. I was planning to save them to take back for my father to eat..."
Old Mrs. Zhao asked curiously, "Does the county magistrate usually not even have eggs to eat?"
"Of course not!"
Shen Zheng immediately denied it.
This egg was obtained through his own efforts. It is different from other eggs and has special significance.
Of course he knew the eggs were rotten and inedible, but he wanted to take them back to show his father how capable he was.
“Poor child…” Old Mrs. Zhao grabbed Shen Zheng’s hand. “The magistrate is such a good official. He would rather go hungry himself than let us common people go hungry. The magistrate loves his people like his own children, ensuring that we have enough to eat. How can we let the magistrate eat rotten eggs… Young Master Shen, let me tell you, these are rotten eggs. You can’t eat them. In two months, when the ducks at home lay eggs, I’ll pick out some of the bigger ones and send them to the county office…”
As she spoke, she threw the rotten eggs in her hand directly into the grass and bushes by the roadside.
Shen Zheng: "..."
The eggs he had kept hidden in his pocket for seven or eight days, the eggs that had been disliked for seven or eight days but hadn't been thrown away, were simply thrown away like that.
If he jumped off the ox cart to pick up eggs now, would it damage his image as the son of the county magistrate?
Cheng Wanwan vaguely understood something.
But the child was too proud to reveal the truth.
The ox cart swayed slowly to Ping'an Town, and the group got off the cart and went about their business.
Shen Zheng walked towards the county government office in a nonchalant manner.
Cheng Zhao went to the largest calligraphy studio in Ping'an Town.
Cheng Wanwan, Old Mrs. Zhao, and Zhao Da went to the grain shop together.
Upon arriving at the grain shop, they learned that the county magistrate had issued some decrees regarding grain during the autumn harvest. Major merchants were not allowed to privately purchase grain from farmers. If farmers wanted to sell their grain, they had to deliver it to the granary in Ping'an Town. The price of rice in the entire Huzhou was a uniform ten copper coins per pound.
The price of grain in grain shops was also restricted, with a maximum limit of twelve coins, and sales were also limited, prohibiting merchants from hoarding large quantities of grain.
In previous years, rice was priced at about six wen per pound. Although the price of twelve wen was much higher than in previous years, it was a very fair price in a year of food shortage. If there were no government intervention, and grain merchants hoarded grain for a month and then released it for sale, the price of rice would probably be fifty wen.
By then, money will be worthless and food will be the hard currency.
The social consequences of this would be very serious. Even if the people had money, they couldn't afford to buy food, so they became refugees. When refugees gathered together, they were more likely to revolt...
Cheng Wanwan secretly praised the current imperial court. Limiting the price of grain can greatly reduce the number of refugees and prevent many future troubles.
Zhao Da brought 300 catties of grain to town, which he exchanged for silver. He had a sick family member who needed money for treatment, so money was the most important thing to him.
Half of the 400 kilograms of grain that Old Mrs. Zhao brought was exchanged for copper coins, and the other half was exchanged for staple foods such as corn, black buckwheat flour, beans, etc.
Cheng Wanwan did as she was told, and the 100 kilograms of rice eventually turned into 50 kilograms of corn, 20 kilograms of black flour, 20 kilograms of buckwheat flour, 20 kilograms of beans, 20 kilograms of quinoa, and 20 kilograms of old rice...
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