Susan's sudden question stumped Ivana.
She had been in the North for two years, the most desolate area in the empire. Naturally, she had seen famine and even participated in the church's food relief operations, but she had never experienced that feeling personally...
Susan sighed and said without waiting for Ivana to answer. "Eleven years ago, the western part of the empire suffered a huge reduction in grain production due to wars. Then, the nobles and wealthy businessmen started to buy up large quantities of grain, just like today. Although it was not as terrible as this time, it was still not something we could afford..."
At that time, she and her husband were living in the slums, earning a meager income by doing odd jobs such as carrying goods. After deducting the gang's deductions, they could not even earn a silver coin a month. With soaring food prices, they could not buy a few pieces of black bread even if they spent all their savings.
"Then the Church and the Empire didn't intervene or rescue?" Ivana frowned and asked in confusion, but soon realized the inappropriateness of her words and quickly corrected herself.
"I mean, don't the bishops always say God has mercy on the world?"
"How can those high-ranking bishops care about us..." A dark-skinned middle-aged man shook his head in self-mockery.
Eleven years ago, precious materials like kerosene had not yet been discovered, and this city was not as important as it is now. It was just an ordinary small town in the western border, and they were the most inconspicuous poor people in the city.
The empire did distribute some relief food, but it was mostly taken away by the local nobles and wealthy merchants along the way, and the remaining food never reached them.
Susan also choked up as she spoke. One of her children had starved to death not long after being born. She was so hungry that she couldn't produce enough milk or water. She could only grind grass roots and tree bark into soup and feed the child a little bit...
As a result... her child didn't even survive two days.
"Grass roots, tree bark... can these be eaten?" Ivana said in astonishment.
"As for grass roots, most of them will do. As for tree bark, it depends on what kind of tree it is..." the middle-aged man muttered.
Because Ivana's identity as a wizard won her a lot of favor from the crowd, and coupled with Susan's crying and complaints, the more than a hundred townspeople gathered in front of the granary couldn't help but share their experiences of surviving the famine.
Some denounced the nobles' cold-bloodedness and inaction, some told Ivana in despair that their younger brother was snatched away and eaten alive by a group of starving townspeople, and a teenager in his twenties even shared how he survived the most difficult days by eating a kind of yellow soil...
It was a pity that his father didn't make it! If you don't want to eat tree bark or soil, you can only risk your life to go deep into the jungle to get food, but there is a greater possibility that it will be used as food for some ferocious monster! Listening to more than a hundred townspeople discussing which tree bark is the most delicious and which grass is non-toxic and filling, Ivana was greatly shocked.
Born into aristocracy, she had never thought that grass, leaves, or even soil could be put into her mouth as food.
Although there had been famine in the North where she lived, and she had even witnessed scenes of cannibalism, Gustav had told her that these people were corrupted by the power of evil and their souls were about to fall into hell, which was why they did such evil and terrible things.
"Only the wizards would consider whether we have enough to eat..." an elderly citizen said tremblingly while holding some wheat.
For Lin En, ensuring three meals a day is a normal benefit for the workers, and it can also stop the unrest in the kingdom, but it is different for the poor.
They have never been valued like this!
In Susan's opinion, the wizards who ruled this kerosene city suddenly announced the provision of three meals a day because they knew they could not afford the rising wheat prices. She and her husband were very grateful for this kindness.
Only those who have experienced famine can understand how terrible the scene is. They survived it last time by luck, but what about this time?
So after discussing with her husband, Susan decided to sell part of the rations to the parliament.
When food prices were high, thanks to the reminder from the bakery, they took out all their savings and bought hundreds of kilograms of wheat, half of which had already been sold...
Half of it belonged to her and her husband, and the other half was for their two children. Susan had not originally intended to sell it, but she suddenly heard yesterday that the reason why the parliament had been lowering the purchase price was because the reserve funds were no longer sufficient, so she took out another part of it.
Her ability was limited and she could only do her bit... maybe the bread they ate in the workshop had their share of wheat! The other residents also spoke of their own experiences. Like Susan, they felt valued for the first time. It turned out that there were really people who cared about them, the poorest people at the bottom.
Everyone boasted about the power of magic and the kindness of the wizards. Since Ivina was also a wizard, a lot of praise was given to her.
Ivana fell silent. Those words of praise were like sharp knives piercing her heart, because no one knew better than her that the so-called food war was Monroe's idea, and the rumor that spread around the kingdom was also spread by them.
"If only those nobles weren't here, this place would be like heaven!" Susan couldn't help but say.
"Heaven?" Ivana didn't know what expression to make, and she never thought that this word would be used in the territory ruled by wizards.
Just as Ivina was hesitating, the tightly closed door of the granary was finally opened. Susan and others immediately surrounded it and spoke anxiously.
"Master Wizard, how much has the price of wheat dropped to today?" "Is the food reserve of the parliament sufficient?" "This is some wheat I saved myself. Although it is not much, please accept it."
More than a hundred townspeople gathered in front of the granary were talking at once and handing over the wheat and grain wrapped in various cloth and leather. Some even felt that the three meals provided by the parliament were too much. In fact, it was not a bad idea to eat only one meal a day, which could save a lot of food.
Amid the enthusiastic anticipation of the crowd, Pierce did not take the wheat, but instead said apologetically, "Thank you for your help, but from today on, the parliament is no longer planning to purchase wheat!"
"Why, Master Wizard? Is it that the reserve funds are not enough?" Susan asked hurriedly.
The rest of the townspeople looked worried.
"No, it's not what you think!" Pierce shook his head in amusement, and then showed a bit of pride on his face. "In fact, Dean Lin En has completely solved the problem of food shortage... From now on, no one has to worry about famine anymore!"
Lin En... the magic star? Ivana was quite surprised. She had heard this name countless times in the City of Kerosene. It seemed that all the changes in the magic world could be related to that person.
Now it is even more exaggerated. This magic star actually dares to say that he has completely solved the famine problem.
Susan and the others also had shocked expressions on their faces, and they all couldn't believe it.
"If you're interested, why don't you go and see it for yourself..." Peirce pointed in the direction of the train station and said, keeping it a secret. "The train is running today!"
Ivana left the granary in confusion, and walked towards the original church, which was the direction of the train station, with Susan and others who were also confused.
The place was already crowded with people. Tens of thousands of citizens gathered in the square in front of the station, standing on tiptoe and looking up to see what was happening inside.
Ivana was also extremely curious and wanted to go in and take a look. With the wizard medal hanging on her chest, the people along the way would spontaneously make way for her.
Soon, several huge silver-white trains appeared in front of the girl!
They were more than three meters tall and seventy meters long, like a giant snake coiled in the city...
That streamlined body makes every wizard and townsman who sees it for the first time sigh from the bottom of their hearts.
What a beautiful creation...
What shocked Ivina even more was the mountains of cargo boxes in the train station. With her good eyesight, she could clearly see that the boxes that had not been sealed yet were filled with pieces of bread and a pure white powder.
Ivina, who didn't know what starch was, mistook it for wheat flour ground from wheat.
The first ten huge carriages were already filled to the brim. The workers in the station were still working hard to transport more cargo boxes to the last few carriages.
The wizards actually still have so much food! Everything she saw was completely beyond Ivana's expectations.
The noisy discussions and exclamations around her kept reaching Ivina's ears. Some people were amazed at the wizards' new creations, while others were crying hysterically at the mountains of bread and food.
However, more people were praising the magic star's new invention, holding the [Magic Daily] in their hands, discussing how to use magic to make bread...
Ivana frowned, almost doubting whether she had heard it wrong. Using magic to create bread out of thin air? Are you kidding? Even the Pope couldn't do this. Perhaps only the Moon Goddess could do this miracle.
"Sir, can you let me take a look at this magic daily?" Ivana couldn't help but ask.
The wizard who was interrupted in the discussion turned his head away in dissatisfaction. After seeing the girl's good looks, he immediately changed his attitude and said generously, "Of course, no problem. I'll give it to you. Anyway, I've already read it and taken note of it."
Ivana thanked him politely, and after taking a look at it, she was immediately stunned by the title! [Research and Analysis of Plant Photosynthesis - On the Feasibility of [Bread Making]! ]
The signature is obviously the magic star Lin En!
As for the essay that took up an entire page and contained several thousand words, Ivana could not understand it at all. Fortunately, the wizard next to her diligently explained it to her.
The first half of the paper explains how plants carry out photosynthesis and convert various elements into nutrients that can be absorbed by the human body, while the second half studies how to use magic to restore this process.
Probably due to confidentiality, no specific magic model is given above, but the importance of three things is emphasized.
The simplest way to produce food is to rely only on water, carbon dioxide and electricity!
"Master Lin En is truly worthy of being called the Star of Magic. He can actually think of such a way to solve the problem of food shortage." The wizard said with great admiration.
Ivana had never thought that wizards could actually use magic to create food! She had also taken chemistry classes and knew exactly what carbon dioxide was. It could be said that everyone was a machine that produced carbon dioxide in batches, so there was no need to worry about the shortage of raw materials.
Not to mention water, the kingdom is not short of water, and wizards can also control lightning, which means that as long as they want, they can continuously produce a large amount of food. The piles of cargo boxes in the station are evidence! However, the one who reacted the most to this was not Ivana, but the nobles and wealthy businessmen who had purchased a large amount of food before!
They either sat on the ground in collapse or screamed hysterically.
Everyone knew that once these trains transported the carriages full of bread to the major cities of the kingdom, the wheat in their hands would instantly become worthless! Even in the best case scenario, their assets would inevitably shrink by hundreds of times! One wealthy businessman even had the idea of blowing up these trains and burning all the piles of bread.
However, the twenty airships, five fighter planes and more than fifty armored vehicles responsible for the escort, their black muzzles were enough to dispel anyone's restless thoughts!
The desperate cries of the nobles and wealthy businessmen did not attract the slightest sympathy, but instead earned them waves of mocking and contemptuous looks. Even many townspeople were cheering the name of the Magic Star and celebrating the victory.
Five hundred meters away, Lin En, who was being talked about by everyone, was standing on the roof of a house, watching the huge trains roaring towards the distance!
The seven trains carried a total of 6,000 tons of starch and bread, plus the 5,000 tons of rations released earlier, which was enough to be the last straw that broke the camel's back! "Notify Lord and ask them to start collecting debts!" Lin En ordered.
"Yes, Dean Lin En!" Alok beside him said admiringly, and then sent out an electromagnetic wave signal for debt collection.
Over the past month, the parliament had used more than a dozen caravans as white gloves to mortgage tens of millions of imperial gold coins to wealthy businessmen and nobles - the money loaned out was exactly the savings that these people had used to buy food!
In the end, the money returned to their hands, along with the other party’s assets, estates, slaves and even subjects!
Gambling is not a good idea... Lin En sighed secretly. Once you get carried away, you will end up losing everything. Hundreds of times the profit is enough to make people crazy and lose their minds. They would voluntarily increase the stakes and bet everything they have to get a victory that does not exist...
(End of this chapter)