Chapter 371 Food Shortage
Wei Chengyi and his men had been focusing on the counties and completely ignored the provincial capital. It was not until they received a letter from Yan Junling that they learned that many wells in the provincial capital had run out of water. Water resources had become extremely tight, and food prices had skyrocketed. The people were in panic, and the officials and wealthy families were looking for people who were good at digging wells, hoping to dig their own wells deeper. Unfortunately, they were one step too late. As early as a few months ago, all those who knew how to dig wells had been recruited by Wei Chengyi and his men.
No matter how poor the officials and wealthy families were, they could always find ways to get water. Wei Chengyi and his men were not worried, but they had to take care of the ordinary people. Therefore, he dispatched a team of people to the provincial capital that day. In the name of the military, they were specifically responsible for finding water sources for the people, digging deep wells, and alleviating the shortage of water resources as much as possible.
"Congratulations, Master's wife, you will be out of confinement tomorrow."
As usual, Shen Xiangwan checked Yun Mengyi's pulse, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong, he congratulated her with a smile. Logically, she should have been out of confinement a long time ago, but Zhao Yuping and Ji Shaohan were worried that she might develop some underlying illness, so they made her stay in confinement for two full months. Fortunately, the couple were both people from the martial arts world, and they didn't have as many requirements as ordinary people. At least they would wash their hair and take a bath every night, otherwise, she would have smelled bad after two months.
"Finally, I'm going to be free."
Yun Mengyi smiled helplessly. Although neither she nor the old man were pedantic, Yuping was afraid that they might do something wrong, so she kept a close eye on them during the day, especially their food, which had no salt and no taste, and she almost vomited after eating it.
"Master's wife, are you going to prepare a full moon banquet for our little Tuanzi tomorrow?"
Getting up from the bed, Shen Xiangwan walked to the crib and poked the little ball's fair and tender face. After two months of feeding, he had grown up completely and looked more like his master's wife.
After exchanging a glance with Ji Shaohan, Yun Mengyi shook her head: "Forget it, don't bother with that. Let's just have a good meal as a family."
Although she had been in confinement, she was still somewhat aware of what was happening outside. The drought was causing a lot of trouble, and Cheng Yi and Wan Wan were having a hard time. There was no need to cause them trouble.
"Alright, I'll tell the cooks to make something hearty for lunch tomorrow. I'm sure you're craving it, too, right, Madam?"
Looking up at her, Shen Xiangwan smiled and teased. She had seen the confinement meals that Zhao Yuping personally ordered the cook to prepare every day. They were really bland, without even much salt. It was a wonder that the master's wife could eat them. If it were her, she would probably have been unable to bear it long ago. Therefore, in order to avoid that kind of suffering, she did not plan to have children in recent years.
However, will things really go as she wishes? If God really wants to give her a child, how can she refuse?
"Isn't it? I'm almost tortured to death by your mother."
Speaking of this, Yun Mengyi was also full of grievances. She didn't want to suffer that kind of pain again in her life.
"Ha ha···"
Shen Xiangwan laughed out loud very impolitely. It must be said that the mother-in-law was really stubborn in some aspects. The master's wife was in trouble this time.
"Is Wanwan at home?"
Zhao Dashan's voice suddenly rang out from outside. Shen Xiangwan and Yun Mengyi nodded, then turned and walked out of the house: "Uncle Zhao, why are you here?"
Seeing that he had already entered the yard, Shen Xiangwan asked as he walked towards the main room.
"I have something to ask you."
Zhao Dashan entered the main hall, sweating profusely. Feeling the coolness inside, he couldn't help but look around every corner of the main hall: "Where did you get so many ice cubes?"
It rarely snows in Chenzhou in winter, so ice is a rare thing for them, especially ice in summer.
"It was sent from the capital."
Shen Xiangwan didn't want to say anything more and asked him to sit down. "What do you want from me? It's so hot, why don't you wait until the evening when it's cooler?"
July was really hot. Staying in the house was like staying in a steamer. Even if she used a lot of ice to cool down, it was still too hot to bear. When she had nothing to do, she would go back to the space to do research.
"This year is indeed hotter than in previous years, and I don't know when it will rain."
Looking at the blazing sun outside, Zhao Dashan sighed deeply. "It's like this, Wanwan. Although our village dug a lot of wells last year, we've noticed that the water in the wells is getting less and less in recent days. We don't dare to waste it anymore, but our workshop uses a lot of water every day. I'd like to use the water from the ditch in the future. Is that okay?"
The ditch was dug by them themselves and is their private property. If they want to use the water in the ditch, they must obtain their consent. It is strange that the well water in the village has become much less, but the water in the ditch has not decreased much. If those villages that are more water-scarce than them knew about this, they would probably be envious.
"Sure, what's wrong with that?"
These were all trivial matters, and Shen Xiangwan agreed without even thinking: "Uncle Zhao, no one in the village sells food outside, right?"
This year, everyone responded to the government's call and planted potatoes and corn in the first quarter. Now every household has more than enough food to eat.
"A lot of people sold some, what's wrong?"
After the bumper harvest of potatoes and corn, they immediately started planting sweet potatoes. Compared to other people, the villagers had seen the sweet potato yield with their own eyes. Since there was no shortage of food, and the price of food outside was quite high, many people sold part of their food.
"Please don't sell it. If you can, keep it. Food prices outside are going to go up."
With a deep sigh, Shen Xiangwan said helplessly.
"Is it going to rise further?"
Li Yuntai frowned. Instead of being happy, he felt a little heavy. The soaring food prices were not a good thing.
"Um."
Nodding, Shen Xiangwan said seriously, "According to the information we've received, grain merchants in Chenzhou will ship all the grain outside and sell it at a high price. Once this matter is exposed, grain prices will definitely skyrocket. I guess only when the grain planted by the people in the second quarter matures will grain prices have a chance to fall."
Recently, Wei Chengyi has also been trying to find ways to curb those grain merchants, but the grain merchants are free to buy and sell, and they are not violating any regulations. They just want to make more money. They can't do anything about them for the time being, unless they use violence to suppress them. But in that case, they will probably offend all the grain merchants and wealthy families, and may even make the people more panic. So far, they have no good solution.
"Those people are damnable! No, I have to go back and tell everyone not to sell food to them."
As he spoke, Zhao Dashan hurriedly stood up and trotted out in the blink of an eye. Looking at his back, Shen Xiangwan couldn't help but sigh again. Now, apart from the military, the only ones with food are the grain merchants and the people of Datong County. If the price of food continues to soar, the people in other counties will suffer.
[End of this chapter]
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