What? I was a snake spirit in my previous life.

But it is really possible. Dragons are inherently evil, and so are snakes.

He was like this in his previous life, so it must be that his attributes were colored before he was reincarnated in his previous life.

"Brother, you didn't ask me to come here just to show off my abilities, did you? This is a bit..."

It's a bit of self-destruction, or self-abuse in short.

"Ahem, only the devil wants to show off your ability."

The prince rolled his eyes at Li Xiuzhu before starting to talk about business.

"Come with me to the palace tomorrow morning."

"My mother has a poor appetite recently and wants to have a hot meal, so I need you, the consort, to help."

Li Chengze jokingly continued, "Brother should have this face, right?"

Li Xiuzhu was also stunned when he heard this. He had been thinking of leaving at night and then sneaking into the palace to take a look.

Isn’t this a coincidence? It won’t be a problem to go tomorrow.

As for cooking, it’s not a big deal.

Just because his brother-in-law treated him so well, offering him his wife and finding women, to be honest, he felt guilty.

I've been so good to him, I can't repay you enough.

"That's not a problem, but it's said that there's always intrigue in the palace. Although there are rarely problems with the ingredients, we still have to be on guard."

"How about this? Bring some live animals tomorrow and I'll kill and cook them right away. What do you think, big brother?"

Li Chengze smiled when he heard this, thinking that his love for his brother-in-law was not in vain.

"Okay, I'll have someone prepare anything you need."

"A rooster, a lamb, and a mullet."

Li Xiuzhu did not mention bringing pigs, mainly because it was inconvenient to bring pigs, and it was not suitable to eat pigs in the palace for the time being.

After saying this, Li Xiuzhu asked the prince to send his confidant to the house to get seasonings and vegetables.

Your own things are relatively safer.

The next morning, Li Xiuzhu and the prince entered the palace in a carriage, along with a cart of vegetables and living things.

Seeing the thing, the palace guards were startled.

"Your Highness, what are you doing?"

"The ingredients for my mother's meals have already been reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

"Yes, please, Prince."

Since he is here, he must attend the court. When Li Xiuzhu saw Li Kuo, he was stunned for a moment.

At this time, Li Kuo's face was pale and weak. He was still attending court in this state? As expected, even dogs would not want to be the emperor, who was so worried and laborious.

"Hey, Xiuzhu is here to attend court today, but is there anything he wants to report?"

Li Xiuzhu was startled when he heard this, and looked at the prince, only to find that the prince was also startled.

At this moment, Wang Defa's face changed, which was just seen by the two of them.

In an instant, both of them understood what was going on. The prince said, "Yesterday, my mother said that she had a poor appetite and wanted to eat the food at Yunzhu Tower. She wanted to have something hot, so I called Xiuzhu over."

Seeing Li Kuo frowning slightly, the prince continued, "Before leaving the palace yesterday, I went to the emperor to report this matter, but the emperor was asleep at the time, so I told Eunuch Wang."

"I think it's because Father didn't get up yesterday, so Steward Wang delayed him."

Upon hearing this, Wang Defa first looked at the prince who spoke for him with gratitude, and then stepped out to apologize, saying, "Your Majesty was not awake last night, and I dare not disturb your rest."

"I thought it was just a small matter, but I didn't expect His Majesty to ask about it."

"It's all my fault. I am willing to accept the punishment."

"Forget it, you are also considering my health."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Li Kuo did not look at Wang Defa again, but smiled at Li Xiuzhu and asked, "Xiuzhu, you came at the right time. I have something to ask you."

Li Xiuzhu stepped out immediately.

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"This year's winter is particularly long. The frozen ground has not thawed in many places, and the wheat has not been planted yet."

"The reduction in grain production is basically inevitable. Is there any good way to prune bamboo?"

Li Xiuzhu was startled when he heard this. He didn't expect that Li Kuo also saw the disaster. He was silent for a moment and then said, "In recent years, winter has come earlier and gone later every year."

"Normally, wheat is only planted once a year in the north, sown in early February and harvested around the end of June."

"Although the temperature is slow to warm up and winter is coming early, it is not a big problem for the north."

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

“Even if I plant in late March, I can harvest before winter sets in. The only problem is the daylight that affects the yield.”

"I don't have any good solution for this. I can only say that if we use 20% more fertilizer than in previous years, it should have a good effect."

“As for the South, the impact is greatest.”

"At least one less crop will be planted in the waterways, and one less crop of wheat will be planted. Your Majesty only said that grain production has decreased, but I think the output in the south is probably only two-thirds or half of that in previous years."

"It can be predicted that food prices will rise in the future and people will inevitably be short of food. If not handled properly, it may threaten the foundation of the country."

This is what Li Kuo wanted to say. He had asked others before, but no one seemed to have a good solution.

Moreover, looking at the expressions of these people at that time, Li Kuo knew that they would probably have to store food when they returned.

He looked at Li Xiuzhu expectantly, believing that this little guy who always brought miracles should have some ideas.

"To be honest, it's easy to solve a temporary crisis, but it's difficult to solve a long-term crisis."

Li Kuo felt relieved when he heard this, but then he felt something moving.

"What do you mean?"

Li Xiuzhu said, "To solve the crisis temporarily, we can purchase grain from grain merchants at the current grain price. According to my estimation, only 30% of the grain in Da Zhou can allow the people to have a good meal for a year."

"But the crisis is not limited to this year. Your Majesty also said that this year's winter is getting longer and colder. Is it possible that it will continue to be cold?"

At this point, not only Li Kuo was worried, but all the civil and military officials in the court were also worried.

Before, they could say that the country and the people had nothing to do with them, but now, in a few years, even they might not have enough food to eat.

"Please tell me what method you have, Prince Consort."

Li Xiuzhu was speechless when he heard this. He glanced at the anxious people around him and said, "There are two ways."

"First, vigorously reclaim wasteland and return farmland to the people."

"Or the government can lease it and set a mutually beneficial tax burden, which can give them some motivation."

"With large-scale planting, we can ensure that there is no shortage of food supply even if the crop growth cycle becomes shorter."

Hearing what Li Xiuzhu said, all the officials looked embarrassed, because they also had a big stake in land.

What Li Xiuzhu said was like cutting a knife into their bodies, and it was very painful.

"What is the second method that the Prince Consort mentioned?"

Li Xiuzhu was not surprised that these officials were not satisfied with the first method, and said bluntly: "Another method is war."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

Not only did the officials not understand what Li Xiuzhu said, even Emperor Li Kuo did not understand, so he asked out loud.

(End of this chapter)