Chapter 49 Chapter 49 Chaos.
In the afternoon,
There was white porridge on the Feng family's dining table. Feng Fuzhen found it tasteless. After all, it was because of Xu's health, so she didn't complain. However, she felt more and more uncomfortable in her heart because of what Ji Xu said about the grain price.
Feng Xingba pouted and said, "I don't want porridge. We agreed to have jujube dumplings for dinner! I want jujube dumplings!"
This jujube paste is actually dry rice with dried jujubes in it. The family did have some dates that had been dried in the autumn, but there was not enough rice left. The price had risen to sixty coins per dou, and the family had a lot of expenses at the end of the year. If they finished eating the rice, they would have to spend money to buy more expensive rice. So he asked Bao Yu to cook some porridge for lunch.
"I want to eat jujube dumplings! Jujube dumplings!"
Feng Xingba loved sweet things and usually enjoyed eating jujube paste. But when he saw that there was none on the table, he started to make a fuss.
This made Xu's face look even more humiliated, as if she had been slapped in the face. Feng Dabian said with a frown:
"If you keep making trouble, you won't even be allowed to eat the porridge! Look at those refugees begging for food, how can they afford to eat this!"
Feng Xingba, who had just finished drinking, didn't dare to make a fuss. He buried his head in eating the porridge and mixed some vegetables with it.
"My ancestor! Eat less! If you don't manage a household, you won't know how expensive firewood and rice are. The price of rice has already risen to sixty cents!"
In the Ji family's main house, when Ji Yuan was measuring rice for dinner, Jin rushed in and said.
While pouring the rice back into the measuring cylinder, he closed the rice jar tightly.
"How can we eat this?" Ji Yuan said dissatisfiedly.
"Add more water and cook it thinner."
Jin regretted it so much that her intestines turned green. Her family had twenty acres of land, and there was still a lot of surplus grain after paying taxes. She heard that the grain merchant only stayed for two days and sold all the surplus grain in one go.
I heard that Wang Mazi's family had listened to Ji Xu and decided to wait and see. I even laughed at their stupidity. They were just grain merchants from other places. How could they get such a good price if they left? You'll regret it later!
But now that the price of rice has risen to this level, Jin can no longer be arrogant at all. She seems to be wilted by frost all day long, and even asks Ji Yuan to cook for her.
"If we eat all the rice, we'll have to spend money to buy the rice that costs 60 coins per dou, but I don't have the money." Jin grabbed another handful of rice and said.
There was only some food left at home. If we ate dry rice as usual, we wouldn't have enough to last until next autumn.
"I can't even afford to eat now. What's life like? It's getting worse and worse."
Cui family, Cui Si looked at the rice porridge and pickled vegetables in front of her and complained.
Liao was very upset by the rising rice prices. Her family sold out the earliest, and even the grain merchant Nabo didn't catch up, so they suffered the most losses. Now she was angry and said:
"You damned girl, you're still complaining even though you have something to eat. I'll make you eat coarse food for two days. Are you still complaining?"
In the second branch of the Ji family, Ji Feng was pounding rice in the kitchen. She stepped on one end of the mortar, and the wooden pestle made a clanging sound in the stone mortar.
After the rice is husked, it is poured onto a bamboo winnowing machine, which is shaken by the hands to sift out the chaff.
Some chaff fell outside the sack underneath her head. She gathered them together with her hands and put them back into the sack, eliminating any waste.
The family has already saved up half a bag of bran, which may be useful for raising chickens and ducks in the future. Moreover, the price of grain has risen to 60 coins per dou, so these bran have become valuable in her eyes.
After sifting once, only white rice is left on the winnowing plate. Of course, it will be mixed with rice grains with husks. If you want to pound the rice cleanly without any impurities, you have to pound it for a longer time, and a lot of rice crumbs will be pounded out, which will be sieved out along with the chaff. This is really a pity.
It’s better to pick it out carefully later.
I saw my two younger sisters, Feng and Zhu, kneeling on the reed mat beside them, spreading the rice grains in the bamboo winnowing basket, picking out some rice grains and pebbles, and putting the rice back into the grain bag to be pounded next time.
The rice was steamed in the pot, and the aroma of the rice made Ji Feng feel good as soon as the lid was opened.
"It's so nice to be able to eat rice on a day like this. It's a good thing my sister stored up all this rice, otherwise what would we do with the price going up like this outside?"
Ji Feng said with peace of mind.
"It smells good!" Ji Zhu tiptoed, squeezed her little round face into the white mist, and sniffed deeply.
The three sisters scraped all the rice grains in the pot and picked them up to stir-fry with tender vegetables in the afternoon, without wasting a single grain.
Because the unfamiliar faces running outside made them feel uneasy, Feng and Zhu decided not to go outside to look for friends to play with. The three of them washed up early, locked the door and went to sleep.
The next morning, Ji Xu got up to play dice as usual, with the door tightly closed. Only the yellow light from the window could be seen from outside.
The family had spent most of their savings on buying twenty hu of grain, and now they only had about seven hundred coins left. They couldn't say for sure what the situation would be like in the future. If the situation became more chaotic than it is now, and they couldn't do business, their source of income would be cut off.
It is only the beginning of winter, and there is still a whole winter to go. The family still lacks a lot of household items and needs to spend money. Therefore, Ji Xu wants to take advantage of the peace now and make coins to sell, and see how much he can get.
Thinking that there were refugees fleeing Shengchang, fewer residents were coming out, and business was somewhat slower, so he cooked less. He made a total of thirty servings of meat and vegetables, then opened a can of preserved eggs, carried the basket, covered it tightly with linen, and left with Zhuang Huiniang.
"Sister, be careful on the road and come back early."
Feng and Zhu saw her off and looked at her eagerly. They couldn't let go of the worry that their sister was going to Woshe Valley.
Ji Xu let them in, locked the door, and walked away.
Because the cotton jacket she was wearing was made of chicken-crowing cloth, which was originally made from the fine material given by the Gan family, it looked fresh and bright now, and was particularly eye-catching. However, since this cotton piece could keep out the cold, she covered it with her old autumn clothes, which were made of rough and hard hemp material and were worn out. She pinned her hair with an ordinary bamboo hairpin, which was very simple.
Zhuang Huiniang was wearing a half-worn patchwork quilted dress that was not very eye-catching. As they walked along the Woshe Valley, some people from the shacks along the way stared at them. Seeing that she was a poor girl, they just muttered:
"Please be kind."
I didn't stop him. It was difficult to take two steps when he was hungry.
Ji Xu and Zhuang Hui Niang could only pretend not to hear and continue on their own way. They often passed by here. If they gave it to them once, they would recognize their faces and would have no peace in the future.
"Master, please give me some money to buy food! I pray to the gods every day to bless you with a long and endless life!"
I saw a group of ox carts from the Qiao family in the county passing by, still going to Niupi Mountain to burn charcoal. Oxen are expensive these days, not to mention there are so many ox carts.
When the refugees saw that they were wealthy people, they rushed out of their shacks and chased after the ox carts, especially the cart of Manager Li, who was in the lead.
A black hand was pulling at Manager Li's conspicuous sheepskin coat, begging for mercy.
"Master, please be kind."
Manager Li swung his sleeves and shouted, "Who dares to stop me again?"
They were not stopped by the police. When they came out of the county town, there were more refugees gathered at the city gate than in this village, and they had already dealt with them.
The servants on the carriage showed their weapons one after another. They were going to the mountains to cut wood and make charcoal, so they brought axes and hatchets.
The refugees were frightened and retreated, not chasing after him.
Ji Xu and Zhuang Hui Niang just hurried away from this place. When they entered Shengchangli and the township market, they found that most of the people there were locals, unlike the refugee gathering in Woshe Valley, which was full of unfamiliar faces. It was better.
Ji Xu continued to go door to door asking, doing business very quietly. After selling, he covered the goods with linen and carried the basket to his next place.
She was familiar with the roads in Shengchangli, and only walked along the main roads, where there were densely populated areas with houses, and where there were sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking. As for those who lived in too remote areas, she would not go there, as safety was the most important thing.
"Here we go again! Rice is now as expensive as sixty coins! How can I get food from you every time I ask for it? Go somewhere else!"
I saw some refugees stopping in front of the house, holding bowls and looking inside, and I heard dissatisfied responses from inside.
The price of rice rose, and the households in Shengchangli sold at a loss. However, Shengchangli had a lot of surplus grain and sold a lot to big grain merchants, so they naturally lost the most money. However, the families here had a good foundation and could still hold on.
However, the emotions towards the refugees have changed from sympathy to rejection and fear.
The refugees were able to beg for less and less food, and their eyes were filled with longing and urgency.
"This is terrible! Shengchangli has become their territory now! The village head and the village headman don't care about it!"
I saw a fat woman wearing a fine cloth jacket and silver rings being harassed by a young man begging for food. He begged and pulled the bamboo basket in her hand. During the argument, the bamboo basket fell to the ground. The young man picked up two cooked eggs that rolled out and ran away.
The fat woman picked up the bamboo basket while cursing.
After selling for half a day, Ji Xu still had about ten dimes left. Zhuang Hui Niang had the same problem, with only five or six left. She said worriedly,
"With all these refugees fleeing the countryside, it's much quieter than before. I think they'd rather stay home. Flour is so precious, it would be a shame not to sell all the coins we make."
Ji Xu said, "Fortunately, we have some flour in stock. If we can sell it, it will be fine. We can take the rest home and eat it ourselves. It won't be wasted. We can just make less tomorrow."
"only,"
She looked at the shacks and said, "Shengchangli is losing a lot of money selling grain this time. It's not as good as before, and the refugees can't get enough food. If this continues, I'm afraid there will be chaos, and small businesses will become increasingly difficult. We can only work day by day and save some money to get through the New Year and wait until the grain price drops."
After hearing this, Zhuang Huiniang couldn't help but feel worried and sighed, "It's all because of the drought in Guandong."
As they were walking and talking, groups of refugees came out from the villages and rushed towards the pavilion gate.
"Hurry, hurry! There's a wealthy family giving out porridge at the village pavilion! If you go too late, there won't be any left!"
"Xiangting? Let's go! Let's go!"
As soon as the news spread outside the shack, the old, weak, women and children who had been huddled inside to gather their strength came out. They were all as thin as sticks. Although they urged each other to hurry, they ate little and did not move quickly. They just rushed there because of their urgent desire for food.
Later, he met Anai from the Gan family, who was leading his servants, some carrying rice, some moving pots, and some carrying firewood, all heading towards the village pavilion.
After asking around, Ji Xu learned that it was an old squire from Xiaoshunli who had gathered the wealthy families from Shengchangli, set up sheds outside the pavilion gate, and cooked porridge for the refugees every day, in order to teach these people not to wander around the villages and cause panic.
The wealthy family in Shengchangli is headed by the Gan family. Mrs. Bai of the Gan family has always been on good terms with the prestigious gentry in Xiaoshunli. It was the gentry Mao who invited her daughter to attend the elementary school that led to the follow-up.
For the Gan family, giving out porridge could bring them a good reputation. In addition, some of the gentry were guests of honor of the county magistrate, so the Gan family was happy to show some favor. Therefore, they responded to the matter and asked Anai to do it.
"Including the Gan family, there are a total of ten wealthy families who have sent people to set up pots and cook porridge outside the pavilion. From now on, they will do it once a day. I think your business will be able to continue peacefully."
Anai said that there was no time to stay any longer, so he talked to Ji Xu for a while and then left in a hurry.
Zhuang Huiniang felt hopeful after hearing this, and the sadness on her face disappeared for a moment. She said:
"That's good now. Now that they can get porridge there every day, they won't be running around like this, making everyone wary and making business difficult. From now on, we can finally live in peace."
In fact, Ji Xu was not optimistic about this. After all, providing porridge was not a long-term solution. The key still depended on the trend of food prices, whether they could be reduced, and how the refugees would be resettled.
However, their business was to help rich families provide porridge. Ansheng worked there for a few days. Although she earned less than before, time passed and Jixu was very satisfied.
The younger sisters were even more so. They were very grateful to be able to eat solid food. The amount of money didn't matter. They just hoped that their elder sister would return home safely.
More than half a month has passed.
I saw the village headman Liang Zhao coming back from the county government. Now the price of rice has risen to eighty coins per dou, which is double the original price.
He was so anxious that blisters appeared on the corners of his mouth. He walked into the village pavilion with a haggard look. He didn't go back home to live recently. Whenever people saw him, they would ask him about the rising price of rice. He simply hid here.
Soon, a village official knocked on the door and said:
"Treasurer, a lot of villagers have gathered outside, all asking about the price of grain."
Back then, the village headman Liang Zhao had promised that the grain price would not rise any further and would only stay within the market average set by the government. But now, not only has it risen, it has skyrocketed. The village headman was so embarrassed that he had no place to put his face.
"They were clamoring to come in, and the pavilion chief and pavilion father couldn't stop them."
The village chief said anxiously. As he finished speaking, a group of villagers rushed over, their faces full of indignation. Jin rushed to the front, her eyes bloodshot. As soon as she squeezed in, she shouted:
"Where's the village treasurer? We want to see the village treasurer! Eighty coins a hu, are you still going to let us celebrate the New Year?"
"Yes, where are the people? Come out and explain the soaring food prices."
"What does the market master do? The price of grain has skyrocketed, it's already exceeded the market level, and he doesn't care about those grain merchants!"
"Those wicked grain merchants! They pushed us to sell our grain over the past two days, causing us to lose double the money. Who can afford to buy rice at eighty coins a bushel now? The guardhouse chief shouldn't have let those grain merchants from Guandong in! They must have known that grain prices would rise above the market level!"
When Jin thought about the grain she had sold, she almost spit out blood.
There wasn't much food left at home to begin with, and with the price of grain doubled today, how could she dare to eat as much as she wanted? She had been eating porridge with more water than rice for days, which made her look pale and thin.
She originally had a long and narrow face, and her pointed chin made her face look even longer. She stretched her arms and yelled.
Ji Xu and Lu Ai also came. Although they had enough food to live on, the price of food soared. Everyone spent twice as much money on buying food, so naturally they had less money to buy other food. The more difficult it was to do business, the more they wanted to know the strangeness of the food prices. It was just that they were temporarily blocked outside because of the large crowd.
There was a lot of indignant noise all around, and I heard the village chief saying:
"Let them in."
Ting's father opened the gate wide, and those who were blocked outside were able to gather in the courtyard.
Liang Zhao came out of the house and stood in front, facing them, shouting "fellow villagers" several times. The indignant curses finally subsided, allowing Liang Zhao to interrupt:
"I've inquired at the county government. It turns out that Yangzhou's largest granary lost its water due to the dry weather, burning completely. Furthermore, grain merchants have been aggressively buying up autumn grain from various counties recently, which is why our grain prices have been rising. But don't worry, everyone. The higher-ups are already requisitioning public grain from surrounding counties to help us out. I think it won't be long before our grain prices fall."
"Give me an accurate answer, how long will it take?"
"It's almost the twelfth lunar month. Can we all have a peaceful New Year's Eve?" said Jin.
"That's right. They've been saying for a long time that grain is being transferred. People like us who don't have any land to farm can't afford to wait. We don't even have rice to cook at home!"
The person who spoke had already gone to the village headman's house to inquire about the situation, and he had given the same reason at the beginning, so he was now anxious.
Liang Zhao said: "My feelings are the same as yours, but I am just a lowly official. I can't make the decision on such a big matter. I just listened to what you said.
But fellow villagers, rest assured, I will inform you as soon as I have any news."
When everyone heard this, they decided not to overturn the village pavilion, otherwise they would be sentenced as troublemakers and sentenced to hard labor. So they just tightened their belts and dispersed with curses.
Before leaving, Jin pointed and said, "Wait, I'll come back and ask again some other day!"
Ji Xu and Lü Ai also walked away. Lü Ai sighed, "The granary must have been flooded! How much grain must have been lost? What a sin!"
Ji Xu was silent for a moment, thinking about something.
Seeing the commotion outside the pavilion gate, it was A'nai from the Gan family and a group of servants dismantling the porridge stall, and they gave the order:
"Tear this down. This iron cauldron is ours, and this stand too. Take them all back."
There were other wealthy families nearby who were also dismantling their own soup kitchens. Now that the price of grain had doubled, the wealthy families in Shengchang could no longer afford to give out soup every day. They were the last group to dismantle their own soup kitchens. Some of the soup kitchens had been dismantled a few days earlier as they could no longer afford the expenses.
"Good people, why are they all being demolished? How are we going to survive?"
Some refugees were still holding wooden bowls, waiting for today's porridge. Seeing that the porridge stalls were being dismantled, they couldn't help but feel anxious.
A servant from a wealthy family said, "Rice in Lingshui County has now risen to eighty coins per bushel. No one's money comes from the wind, and we can't empty our family's savings to do good deeds.
Go somewhere else, maybe there's more affluent land, go and beg for alms from them!"
Having said that, it is winter now, and these refugees from Guandong do not have a pass issued by the government. To pass through the checkpoints in various places, they can only cross mountains and rivers and take a long detour. Before they reach the next place, they will freeze to death or starve to death.
After staying here for a while, everyone realized that Shengchangli in Niupi Township is still relatively wealthy. It is not easy to get here. If we leave here, where else can we find a wealthy place where we can beg for food?
They all cried out in grief and begged, but the porridge stalls were finally demolished.
It's heartbreaking to watch, but now everyone is in danger because of the food prices, and most people want to help but don't have the energy to do so.
Speaking of which, in the past half month, Ji Xu's coin business has become increasingly quiet. The price of grain has increased, and now the price of meat has also increased. It costs twice as much to eat properly, and the money left for snacks is tight.
Not to mention other villages, even in the richest Shengchang Village, the quality of life of the people has deteriorated significantly, which has also affected Ji Xu's small business. Recently, he can only make 20 to 30 coins a day, which is considered the best.
Zhuang Hui Niang had even less money in the rural market, but she was still holding on. Everything was getting more expensive now, such as refined oil, indispensable salt, and even a piece of vegetable leaf was more expensive than before. Daily expenses were getting higher and higher, and she could still save some money for the family.
The next day, Ji Xu carried a basket that was much lighter than usual and sold dimes in Shengchang. Once the porridge stalls were demolished, more refugees wandered around.
They were no longer like when they first arrived and could beg for food from many families. Now they were all hardened and waved their hands, saying:
"There's no food at home, go somewhere else!"
I encountered many setbacks.
Ji Xu's dimes were worth only one out of every twenty households she asked. She was able to sell them because she had stored flour in the past, when the price was still reasonable, so she could still make ends meet for a while without having to buy from outside.
The price of meat has increased by half, so I no longer cook meat. I just pick some vegetables grown behind the house and make some vegetarian dishes to sell.
Seeing that vegetable prices had also risen, the Chen family felt bad that Ji Xu had not reduced their share, so they sold half of their vegetables. Fortunately, these vegetables were grown in the fields.
As for the price of coins, even if it goes up by one cent, there is still a small profit.
I saw Cai Gaohuan pushing a wheelbarrow head-on. On the gravel road, the iron pot and shovel clanged and made sounds. As I got closer, a gloomy look appeared on his face.
"Aunt Cai, where are you going?" Ji Xu asked.
Cai Gaohuan said in a mournful tone, "The price of flour has risen to 100 coins per dou. Many small businesses selling flour can no longer survive.
Sun Linlang has quit his job a long time ago. I heard that he works as a kitchen helper in a restaurant in the county, earning some commission.
My business is so slow, I can't even make any money, so I just closed up shop and went home to relax. Now it's almost December, and I need to clean up everywhere."
"How is your business?" Cai Gaohuan asked.
Ji Xu shook his head, seeing that there was still some left in her basket, and said, "That's all. We don't have any land at home, so I picked up a few to spend money."
Cai Gaohuan glanced around and said in a low voice, "Come to think of it, thanks to your advice, we still have half of our grain left unsold. I think we won't have to go out and buy expensive grain next autumn."
He added, "Nowadays, the village is crowded with people and in a mess. You are a little girl, so please don't go too far away. If you need anything, just come to my house. My house is in the pine forest."
The two chatted for a while on the side of the road, then walked away and went about their business.
Ji Xu continued selling for a while, and finally had some left. Seeing that it was getting late, he packed up and went home.
Zhuang Huiniang was already waiting for her at the intersection of Shengchangli. Now, no matter who came early or late, they would all meet here and go home together. But today, she saw Chen Che'er there too, and it was still earlier than the usual time to get off work.
After asking around, I learned that the kiln's business had not been as good as before recently. Outside employees like Chen Che'er were temporarily sent home, leaving only the slaves of the Gan family to work there, and they were all busy.
Chen Che'er said, "Wang Dianji took good care of me and kept me here for an extra half month. However, the Madam recently dismissed a large number of servants, so I had no choice but to return home."
"Just take it as a break. When business picks up in the future, the kilns will definitely be eager to hire a capable and hardworking young man like you." Ji Xu comforted him.
Fortunately, Chen Che'er was not the kind of person who looked sad. She smiled and said, "That's right, Sister Xu. I'll help you carry the basket."
The three of them went to Benguli together.
Perhaps it was because the porridge shed had been demolished and they had been begging for food everywhere in vain, but the refugees they met in Woshe Valley along the way always had those cold and longing gazes that stayed on them for a long distance.
Recently, Ji Xu got into the habit of wearing an old coat over his cotton jacket. It was patched up in the past, buttoned tightly, and looked tattered.
Chen Che'er had just come out of the kiln, looking dusty and dirty.
Zhuang Huiniang was also dressed simply. After all, the group was quite inconspicuous, consisting of one man and two women, and nothing serious had happened.
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The author has something to say: This chapter is quite fat for those of you who are in need of support.
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