"Lord Wu, I'm afraid you'll have to suffer for a while. Don't worry, Father Emperor remembers everything you've done and will certainly not treat you unfairly." Xingxing came over to comfort Wu Chong in a serious manner.
Looking at the adorable little princess, Wu Chong was both amused and exasperated, but he didn't actually laugh out loud. He just nodded in agreement with a smile in his eyes.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I am deeply grateful." Wu Chong bowed respectfully.
“Lord Wu, there’s no need for such formalities. Please lower your head a little, and I’ll tell you some good news.” Xingxing beckoned with her hand.
Wu Chong's eyes flashed, and he bent down slightly to listen. He heard the little princess say softly, "I have already sent a lot of sweet potatoes and sweet potato vines here, as well as corn seeds and pumpkin seeds. They will arrive soon, and then you can let the people clear the land and plant crops."
Sweet potatoes, corn, and pumpkins are very rare grains. Nowadays, they are only widely cultivated in the south, while they are very scarce in the north and other places. In theory, the northwest should have been allocated some seeds, but they were all privately withheld by local officials and planted on their own private estates. The common people did not receive a single seed.
This brings us to the prefect of Qingyang Prefecture. I originally thought he was a good person, but later I found out that although he did not participate in the rebellion, he was a corrupt official who took the sweet potato, corn and pumpkin seeds issued by the court and planted them on his own estate.
The prefect had no intention of cultivating large quantities of grain seeds and distributing them to the people; he planned to monopolize the grain and sell it at a high price. Unfortunately, he was killed by Jin Chang before the first batch of sweet potatoes was harvested.
This prefect dared to embezzle but not to commit treason, and thus lost his life.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
