The Dragon Guards led ten men over to pickle the salted vegetables.
By the time all the supplies were delivered to the refugee valley, it was lunchtime.
Everyone received a bowl of mixed grain and wild vegetable porridge, and each person was also given a spoonful of pickled mustard greens.
As everyone happily ate their mixed grain and wild vegetable porridge, the second-year high school student shouted, "All team leaders, listen up! Assemble in the center of the square after the meal! A new mission is coming up!"
More than 10,000 refugees were divided into groups of ten, ten groups into a squad, and ten squads into a regiment. The captains and regimental commanders were all chosen from the Dragon Guards.
The refugees were divided into ten groups, one hundred teams, and one thousand squads, with each group being managed at a hierarchical level, and each person was responsible to the leader above them.
Before long, a hundred team leaders gathered from the tents all around.
"Line up!"
At the shout of the second-year high school student, the team leaders below quickly lined up, forming a square of ten people per line.
"Please let Master Shen speak!" Gao Er's voice boomed like thunder, a sound he'd gotten used to from his time in the military.
Shen Qingyu came out from behind Qi Yunxiao and stood at the very front.
Before she could speak, people laughed. Shen Qingyu looked at the people in the square below, then glanced at the refugees watching behind her, and asked loudly, "How have you all been these past few days?"
The displaced people answered sparsely, "...to adapt."
The captains and commanders of the Dragon Guards roared in unison, "Adapt!"
"Do you want to settle down here and survive, or do you want to continue being refugees?"
The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment: of course they wanted to survive, and it would be even better if they could stay and survive.
But looking around, there are no fields here!
Even if we were to clear land, what would we eat for the next six months before the crops were grown?
Can this thick porridge be guaranteed indefinitely?
Liu Xiangwu, a squad leader outside the ranks, couldn't help but raise his hand high.
Shen Qingyu raised her hand, indicating, "Go ahead."
“Master Shen, we definitely want to survive, otherwise we wouldn’t have become refugees in the first place. We could have just stayed at home with a rope.”
Everyone nodded in agreement; these words resonated deeply with the displaced people.
"If we can stay here and have food to eat, and not starve, of course everyone would want to stay."
Everyone nodded again.
"But right now... we have no land and no money. For the next six months, can you and Lord Qi keep providing us with food?"
Everyone nodded frantically, their eyes burning with admiration as they looked at Shen Qingyu.
Shen Qingyu smiled: "That's why I came here today."
"As long as you follow the instructions and work diligently, I will provide you with two meals of thick porridge with pickled vegetables every day for the next six months."
That way, you really won't starve!
The refugees' faces lit up with joy, and a buzz of discussion immediately arose.
Shen Qingyu raised her hand and pressed it down: "But this meal isn't free; it's an advance payment for you! You have to pay it back!"
The murmurs died down instantly, and the refugees looked terrified.
"Because it's a famine year, the price of coarse grains has already reached forty coins per pound. Each person's daily grain consumption is set at eight coins. We'll keep track of it first, and I'll assign you tasks. Once there's a harvest, we'll pay you back according to the price!"
The refugees started to riot again.
During famine years, many people sold their children, and some even sold themselves into slavery, transforming from good citizens into people of low social status.
They insisted on becoming refugees so that their descendants would have a chance.
Corporal Liu Xiangwu raised his hand again and asked, "What if we can't pay it back?"
Shen Qingyu smiled again: "I know what you're worried about. Let me explain the situation first, and we can see if this plan is feasible. If you think it's not feasible, you can leave immediately."
"If you want to leave immediately after hearing this, I won't stop you. You won't have to pay a single penny for the food you ate before."
"Please speak, Master Shen."
After the regimental commander spoke, everyone quieted down and stared at Shen Qingyu again.
Shen Qingyu picked up a bamboo basket at her feet: "This basket of mine is full of chili seeds. You're all familiar with these, aren't you?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Chili peppers, what's so unfamiliar about them?
When there's no food at home, a bowl of stir-fried chili peppers can last for several meals!
"There are no fields now, only barren mountains and wasteland. You have cleared a lot of wasteland these days. Your next task is to plant chili peppers."
“Every 50 people will take 10 catties of chili seeds back with them. One catty of chili seeds can be planted on one mu of land, so 10 catties of chili seeds means 10 mu of land.”
Do you know how many chili peppers can be grown from one acre of land?
An experienced farmer familiar with planting answered loudly: "Generally speaking, one mu (unit of land area) can yield 500 jin (unit of weight) of fresh red peppers."
In modern society, professional chili growers can produce 2,000 catties of chili per mu!
The only problem is that there are no chemical fertilizers or pesticides here, so the yield is naturally much lower.
Shen Qingyu continued, "Yes, if planted well, one mu of land can yield five hundred jin of fresh red peppers. How many red peppers can ten mu of land produce?"
One of the team leaders, who was good at math, shouted, "Five thousand catties!"
"Yes, I will buy red peppers at five copper coins per pound. As long as they are fresh and free of pests, I will buy them at five copper coins per pound! How much money can I make if I buy five thousand pounds?"
The number was too large, and no one spoke for a moment. Some people didn't have enough fingers, so they started to crack their toes and tear off grass stalks.
Someone in the team leader's group replied: "Twenty-five taels of silver!"
"hiss……"
The people below immediately gasped in shock!
Ten people in a squad, how could they collect twenty-five taels of silver?!
What if we replaced it with mixed grains...
Shen Qingyu knew they hadn't learned the multiplication table, so she directly told them the answer: "There are 625 catties of grain!"
Everyone: "!!!"
What if we plant chili peppers in both spring and autumn?
"If you plant two crops of chili peppers on ten acres of land, as long as you do it well, you can exchange them for 1,250 catties of miscellaneous grains a year."
"If the grain is distributed among everyone, each person will have more than 120 catties of grain per year! How could they starve to death?"
Over 100 kilograms a year?
Wouldn't that mean one person could eat more than three ounces of grain a day?
Drinking porridge will definitely keep you from starving!
Everyone's hearts warmed, and their eyes shone as they looked at Shen Qingyu.
Shen Qingyu picked up another basket: "After you finish working on those ten acres of land, if you still have energy, you can plant more chili peppers or soybeans. I'll buy all the soybeans you grow..."
"What's the price of soybeans?" someone immediately asked.
"The current price of soybeans at the grain store is forty coins per pound. If your soybeans look the same as those sold at the grain store, I will buy them at the grain store's price for that day!"
"Of course, you'll also have to spend money to buy soybean seeds. The price will be based on the current prices at grain shops: forty coins per pound of soybean seeds."
Another uproar immediately erupted below.
With a family of ten, if they put their all into it, cultivating twenty acres of land is no problem, and there are also busy and slack seasons!
So, all things considered... not only will you not starve, but you might even be able to have enough to eat!
At this time, farmers might not even have a few full meals at home, but if they left their homes and came here, they could finally have a full meal...
The crowd instantly became enthusiastic.
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