What can you buy with three taels of silver and nine hundred coins?
According to the prices at the general store, you could buy a load of coarse grains, a quilt, a can of milk powder, plus thirty eggs and a can of lard.
In this way, it only cost three taels of silver and three hundred and thirty coins.
There are six hundred coins left.
The shopkeeper, seeing that she had trouble carrying it, specially arranged for a soldier to help her take it home.
The coarse grains in the Marquis's residence were actually animal feed.
It contains various soybeans, corn, potatoes, sorghum, barley, and wheat, all mixed together.
Many Beijing residents felt that this thing shouldn't be considered a coarse grain.
It should be called bean rice.
This kind of coarse grain is now selling like hotcakes in Beijing.
Some people even felt that this stuff was more valuable than the rice sold by others.
It comes in large quantities, is inexpensive, filling, and tastes sweet.
Add a large jar of lard (costing two hundred coins) and cook it, and it becomes an absolute delicacy.
It tastes amazing!
Carrying the grain, they walked all the way home.
Everyone in the family went out to work while the weather was fine.
Around noon, no one was eating.
Only the second daughter-in-law, Xiulian, was chopping firewood in the yard.
She had just given birth a few days ago and, without even having a proper postpartum confinement period, she started chopping wood, cooking, and working in the fields.
In this dynasty, most women would help with farming the day after giving birth.
Otherwise, people will call him a lazybones.
However, Chen Shaoan, the second son of the Chen family, was reluctant to let his wife have to work after giving birth.
So he told her to rest at home and not to get out of bed.
But Xiulian was a restless person. Seeing her husband working hard all by himself, she dragged herself to the yard to chop firewood.
It was noon, and Xiulian had not started a fire to cook.
People only eat two meals a day, around nine in the morning and around four or five in the evening.
They eat thin porridge when they're free, and only have rice when they're busy.
Aside from a few wealthy families, who would eat three meals a day? That's too extravagant.
That's why the treatment at the Marquis's residence was so unbelievable, making people think it was a lie.
Li Chang'an probably didn't expect that the biggest obstacle preventing him from recruiting people would be that he offered too much.
When the second daughter-in-law saw her mother-in-law return, she quickly put down what she was doing and went to greet her.
"Mother, you're back! What delicious dishes are we having at the Marquis's mansion today?"
Now the second daughter-in-law no longer has any complaints about her parents-in-law, and her mother-in-law brings back delicious food every day.
The food provided by the Marquis's residence was plentiful; the amount of food given to one person for a day could feed two people.
If the goal is simply to survive, it's perfectly adequate to provide for a family of four, with two meals a day.
Moreover, it contains oil and fat, allowing one to eat meat.
This is better than what most families eat.
Now, Xiulian's family basically lives off her mother-in-law's cooking, which saves them a lot of food.
Therefore, Chen's status in the family also rose higher and higher.
The eldest and youngest daughters-in-law have wanted to take her to live with them several times.
The three sisters-in-law argued a lot because of these two elders.
It's just that in the past it was because I didn't want to raise them.
Now it's because everyone's vying to raise them.
Xiulian hadn't taken two steps when she saw the shop assistant carrying grain in.
When she saw the load of coarse grains, she was a little slow to process what was happening.
What is this?
Looking at her daughter-in-law's appearance, Madam Chen smiled and said, "There is no food today. Mother is on leave today. The Marquis's mansion has paid wages. This is the grain that Mother bought."
"My God, my God!"
Xiulian kept muttering "God" to herself, and incredulously put her hand into the grain.
The realistic touch told her she wasn't dreaming.
"Is this really grain? Does the Marquis's mansion really pay wages? Do they really eat three meals a day and get paid?"
Xiulian was shocked: "This...this is too good!"
Madam Chen looked at her and said, "Of course, the Marquis is a celestial being descended to earth, with the heart of a bodhisattva. How could he deceive us poor people?"
"In a couple of days, have your father-in-law make a longevity tablet for the Marquis. From now on, we will bless the Marquis to live to be a hundred years old."
"Only with the Marquis around can we common people enjoy happiness."
Xiulian nodded repeatedly. Grain prices had been driven up by those unscrupulous merchants, but only the Marquis cared about the people and kept the prices down.
Moreover, the Marquis would not look down on ordinary people; the shop assistants in his store all called ordinary people family.
The guards of the Marquis's residence also addressed each other as "elders and fellow villagers."
That sounds so approachable; this is what a truly good official who is wholeheartedly devoted to serving the people should be like.
Nowadays, many storytellers in inns shed tears when they recount the story of the Marquis.
The marquis, in an effort to lower grain prices, stayed up for days and nights without sleep.
To ensure that the people could have enough to eat, they worked tirelessly day and night, losing a lot of weight.
In order to defeat Yan Song and rescue the women and children, a fierce battle was fought in Yan's mansion for three days and three nights.
It's so touching to hear.
Xiulian watched as the shop assistant placed the items at the door, then bid farewell and left, her mind racing with thoughts.
"Mom, with so much stuff, how much wages do you have to pay?"
"I'll work for half a month, and my wages will be one tael of silver. The Marquis's mansion said that if it rains, my wages will be doubled this month, plus a subsidy of one tael. With other things included, it will be a total of three taels of silver and nine hundred coins."
"Hiss~"
Xiulian gasped and exclaimed, "My goodness! Does the Marquis's mansion still need people? Mother, do you think I'm up to the task?"
Chen laughed a few times but did not answer. Instead, she prepared to carry the grain back to her room.
Xiulian saw this and quickly took the load from her hands.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
