Chapter 157: Rice Seedlings for Rice
Yes, Song Anbang.
The viewers in the live chat also realized that discussing Xu Guanshan and the Hu family was a proposition with no answer.
The real culprit was Song Anbang. If he hadn't opened the gates of the capital, the rebel army wouldn't have been able to enter and loot.
[I almost forgot that this guy has perfectly disappeared. The Hu family is wiped out, and Xu Guanshan, who has done many evil deeds, will surely perish; he should be dead too. That scoundrel Song Anbang even became a marquis, enjoying so many years of wealth and luxury.]
[That's right, good people don't live long, but evil people live a long life. Last time, he even kidnapped the male lead. After watching the whole story, there's no way this scumbag can be redeemed.]
Su Zhenzhen breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the chatter in her mind had finally stopped. She then gently touched Hensheng's face and said seriously, "Now is not the time to be sentimental. If the locust plague in the south is not resolved, these refugees will flee north again and form a rebel force, which will cause even more deaths."
Although Hensheng was heartbroken, he tried his best to adjust his mindset and forced a faint smile onto his face. "Zhenzhen, I won't do anything foolish before I fix this broken land."
Su Zhenzhen knew that Hensheng was promising not to act recklessly again. After all, when he learned that Old Madam Xu had died by hitting her coffin, he had become depressed and hanged himself.
With the temporary travel permit, we can now enter the city openly and legally.
As the carriage traveled through the city, Su Zhenzhen lifted the curtain to survey the surrounding scenery.
In comparison, Danfeng City was much more desolate than Chuannan City. Although there were many shops in the city, few were open for business. There were pedestrians on the road, and although they looked miserable, they did not look extremely vicious.
Su Zhenzhen told Hensheng to leave the city directly and then proceed to the next city.
Three days later, the carriage entered Fenglin County. The soldiers guarding the city didn't even look at the travel permit and directly demanded tolls.
Su Zhenzhen paid the silver and entered the city with Hensheng.
The city was finally showing signs of chaos.
All other shops were closed, but a long queue had formed in front of the rice shop.
"One tael of silver for one peck of rice. If you can't afford it, don't waste my time and keep me from doing business. Get out!"
The rice shop owner was a short, stout man with shrewd, beady eyes. Standing behind the window, he leaned out and tossed the grain bag from the old woman's hand aside.
The old woman immediately knelt down, pleading, "Sir, please have mercy! There are seven or eight mouths to feed in my family. Could you please put this money on the books?"
"Pah!" The rice shop owner spat directly in the old woman's face. "Do you think you're the only ones who need to eat? Do you see that long line behind you? It's only because I'm kind-hearted that I'm willing to sell you rice, otherwise you all would have to go north to beg for food!"
As soon as the rice shop owner finished speaking, the people in line behind him immediately shouted angrily to sell their rice.
"Yes, if you can't afford it, don't delay our purchase. Our family is waiting for rice to cook."
"Get out of here, don't block the way. If you don't have money, find a way to raise it. You can't get gold by kneeling."
Amidst the shouts and curses of the crowd, the old woman picked up the grain sacks from the ground, feeling as if a mountain was pressing down on her, and slowly left the place.
Hensheng's fists clenched as he watched, and Su Zhenzhen quickly patted the back of his hand to comfort him.
"This is it. With grain prices soaring, a lot of crops in the fields must have been damaged. Let's go check the rice paddies inside and outside the city."
Hensheng, without suspecting anything, drove his carriage directly away from there.
There wasn't much farmland in the city, and it was generally managed by the government as emergency grain reserves during wartime.
The food needed to sustain a city mainly comes from farmland near the city's outskirts.
The rice paddies inside the city were blocked by high city walls, so the number of locusts flying in was limited. Su Zhenzhen glanced around and saw that they were heavily guarded. She immediately told Hensheng to turn his horse around and leave the city.
I didn't expect to have to pay a toll again when leaving the city.
Su Zhenzhen readily gave the money, but couldn't help feeling worried.
The economic base determines the superstructure. Judging from the way these soldiers guarding the city are lining their pockets, one can deduce that the city's situation must be very bad.
The farmland outside the city has probably been almost completely ravaged by locusts.
After leaving the city, he spent some money to ask the locals about the location of the farmland, and then drove his carriage there.
Seeing the devastation in the farmland, Su Zhenzhen didn't even want to say anything. The locusts had eaten everything clean, and there were still many locust eggs left on the rice seedlings.
"Is no one going to deal with this? They're just leaving it in the ground to rot, and the fields will be ruined too." Su Zhenzhen angrily bought ducks from the system store and drove them to eat the insect eggs.
However, while the insect eggs were easy to deal with, there were so many empty rice ears that it would take her and Hensheng a long time to remove them all.
"I need to think of a way." Su Zhenzhen stroked her chin as she pondered.
After solving the locust plague here, we still need to feed the people of this city. Based on past experience, it's best not to alarm the government. Who knows what kind of person the city's highest-ranking official is?
Su Zhenzhen looked at the empty carriage and then at the endless farmland, and suddenly had a good idea.
Grandma Sun, who was queuing in front of a rice shop in the city, was suddenly patted on the shoulder from behind.
Grandma Sun turned her head and saw that it was her old friend Grandma Li, assuming that she was going to relieve herself.
"Hurry up and go, I'll hold the line for you."
Grandma Li leaned closer mysteriously and whispered, "My daughter-in-law said that a wandering immortal has come to the fields and wants to cultivate himself by cultivating the rice seedlings. He'll exchange one pound of rice seedlings for one pound of rice, and the deal will be done on the spot."
Grandma Sun was skeptical. "The locusts have eaten all the crops in our fields. What use are the empty shells? Don't tell me your daughter-in-law is playing a trick on you."
"She dares!" Granny Li raised her voice, but then lowered it again, afraid of being overheard. "There's no mistake, she's already exchanged a pound of rice for it. Maybe that wandering immortal has other uses for the empty rice husks? Anyway, we're not at a loss. I only came to tell you because I was thinking of you, my old friend. The immortal's maid said that once she's had enough, she doesn't need any more."
Grandma Sun immediately felt a sense of crisis. Going out of the city to take a look would only cost her an extra trip, and at the current grain price, that amount of money wouldn't even buy a single grain of rice. The queue was far and long, and she would be waiting until it was dark by the time she got there. If she missed out on rice because of the delay, it would be a huge loss.
Grandma Sun immediately followed Grandma Li out of the group, and before leaving, she didn't forget to inform the other good sisters.
Outside the city, in front of the farmland, the people were energetically pulling up rice seedlings.
Because the immortal said not to accept anything without roots, no one dared to be careless, for fear of wasting their time.
Some people wanted to feel at ease getting grain, so they pulled up a bunch and came to exchange it for rice.
Su Zhenzhen took out grain from the carriage and weighed out the appropriate amount of rice for her.
Hensheng stood aside, holding a whisk, dutifully playing the role of an immortal.
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