potato
"I only wish to help my brother out of his predicament. I wonder if Young Master Xu would be willing to assist me?"
Fortunately, the weather has been kind to us these past few days, with sunny skies for several days.
The grain she ordered from Hejian Prefecture should arrive soon, which will solve the food problem, but the resettlement is a big issue.
If they hadn't sold their land to landlords and gentry for food, they wouldn't have thought of seeking refuge in Shengjing. They probably wouldn't have survived if they had gone back.
Those local officials who took advantage of the natural disaster to embezzle disaster relief funds and tolerated landlords and gentry buying up land at bargain prices were truly worse than pigs and dogs.
Emperors all over the world worry about their reputation and the hearts of the people, especially their reputation among scholars.
Because the words of scholars are terrifying, and their writings are terrifying, far more so than the lives of illiterate farmers in the countryside.
If this matter doesn't reach his attention, he can say that he was misled by treacherous officials and failed to report it. But what if it does reach his attention?
Only if the imperial court is willing to take over this matter and provide them with some resettlement funds so they can buy land or wasteland will they be able to make a living.
"Since Miss Gu wants my help, I wonder what benefits I can get in return?" His gentle features softened, and he smiled like a refined gentleman.
"A message, a message that can help Young Master Xu avoid some detours."
Gu Yu felt that Xu Qiu might not be a good person, but he was definitely not a purely evil person either.
Or rather, you can't describe a person as good or bad; you should describe their stance.
He is the mouthpiece of the Eastern Depot and the blade of imperial power, and he will be so in the future.
"What news?" Xu Qiu was genuinely intrigued this time.
"This news isn't worth much now; it'll only be valuable when the time comes. Young Master Xu, you'll have to wait and see." This was the first time she'd offered someone a pie in the sky, but he didn't seem to care.
"Alright, tell me, how can I help you?"
“Send Wei Cong’s article to the palace. We can’t let my brother be the only one to worry about how to deal with these refugees. We need to urge the officials in the capital to do the same.”
"Of course, it's no trouble at all."
Originally, the Eastern Depot was responsible for collecting intelligence from the people, public opinion trends, and the privacy of officials. It was an extremely simple matter to insert an article into it, but it was very likely to provoke the emperor's wrath.
When the emperor is enraged, millions will die and rivers of blood will flow.
I wonder if five deaths this time will be enough to stop the spread of the virus.
Gu Yu had just stepped out of the back door of Zuixinlou when she heard Shen Changqing's voice coming from the front door. Fortunately, she missed it and breathed a sigh of relief. She went back and announced that she was cured and would no longer need to hide herself when going out.
Zuixinlou hired chefs from all over the country, so the prices were naturally high, and only the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital could afford to eat there.
The back door is usually used to deliver vegetables, noodles, seasonings, and other groceries to the kitchen. It's quite large, and there are more than a dozen slop buckets in the connecting alley.
Now, each bucket is surrounded by a dozen or so refugees, who are fighting over the food like pigs and dogs, disregarding their image. It's freezing cold now, so the swill won't spoil easily, but it must smell terrible.
Gu Yu covered her mouth and nose, avoiding them as she walked in another direction. Looking down, she saw several people frozen stiff. Their appearance was so disheveled that it was impossible to tell if they were male or female, but Gu Yu knew they were dead.
They starved to death on the road before they could even get a sip of swill.
Inside the Drunken Heart Pavilion, wine cups clinked and music filled the air, but no one could have imagined that the back alley would be such a hellish scene.
In Shengjing City, where many people used to go out, there have been few and far between in recent days, except for long queues in front of rice shops.
Gu Yu returned to her small courtyard, where Tang Nan was teaching Qiu Ju to read with a calligraphy brush. Chun Yue looked up and saw her.
“Miss, you’re back.” Chunyue’s eyes lit up. “Young Master sent word that he would come back at noon to have lunch with you. I was wondering what would happen if you hadn’t come back yet.”
"Sister..." Tang Nan seemed to remember something and changed her form of address, "Miss, I can write my name now. So this is Tang, and this is Nan..."
Gu Yu saw Tang Nan's crooked handwriting and patted her head. "Hmm, not bad. I'll tell my brother about your trip to the military camp later."
"Okay, I'll do whatever you say, Miss." Tang Nan was dressed as a man. She had delicate features and was very thin. At her age, it was impossible to tell if she was male or female.
Gu Jin didn't return to the mansion until noon. The steward had prepared the meal in the main hall early in the morning. Gu Yu usually ate in her own courtyard and rarely ate with Gu Jin.
Because the price of food in the city had increased several times over, their meals were extremely simple, consisting of only four dishes and a soup.
In winter, vegetables are more expensive than meat, and being able to eat a bite of fresh green leafy vegetables is considered a luxury.
The dishes on the table were simple, except for one dish that was stewed until it was soft and tender, made with pork. The pork was fragrant and flavorful, and it was very appetizing.
Gu Yu had never seen such a dish before and asked curiously, "What is this?"
“This is called taro. I brought it back from the north when I returned to the capital. It was bought by the Northern Barbarians from Western merchants.”
“The Northern Di retreated a hundred li, and we occupied a city, where we discovered this kind of grain hidden in the warehouse. The soldiers tasted it and thought it was quite good. It was Father who was thinking of you and asked me to… cough cough… secretly save some to bring back for you to eat. I’ve been so busy these past few days that I forgot about it. It was Yuanjing who reminded me.”
"Ayu, what do you think of the taste?"
"It tastes very good."
Gu Yu smiled and nodded. She usually had a small appetite and would be full after a few bites of rice, but she ate a whole bowl of rice because of this dish.
"There are still some in the storeroom. If you want some, just ask the cook to make them for you." He pursed his lips, somewhat absentmindedly.
Gu Jin ate in silence, or rather, he was more silent than usual today. After the meal, the maids cleared away the bowls and chopsticks.
"Ayu, when will the grain from Hejian Prefecture arrive?"
“It may take another seven days or so.” Gu Yu calculated based on the latest date. “The price of rice in the city is too high. The surrounding prefectures and counties have heard the news and should be able to transport some to sell.”
"good."
Gu Jin had no real sense of natural disasters or man-made calamities. He had been in the army for many years, fighting against the Southern Barbarians in previous years and the Northern Barbarians in recent years. No matter how serious the infighting in the court was, the army's food and supplies could not be lacking.
He never expected that during his brief stay back home, he would encounter a massive influx of refugees from the north into the capital, like insects in a barren field, a dark, endless mass.
They were all emaciated and poorly clothed, staggering forward in the cold north wind.
"Brother, don't worry. A thousand bushels of grain is enough to sustain these refugees for more than a month. Just wait a month, and the price of grain in the city will come down." Gu Yu saw his pain.
"Ayu, you've grown up." Gu Jin raised his cold, stern eyes.
He never imagined that his sister, whom he had always protected in his arms, would stand in front of him.
“Brother, how can a person never grow up?” Gu Yu smiled gently. “It is because our father and brothers risked their lives on the battlefield that I have such a wealthy life. It is my honor to be able to share your burdens.”
"I've heard that many families have already set up soup kitchens on the streets, so we're sure we'll get through this winter."
Gu Jin suddenly realized that his self-pity was pointless and that he was being more girlish than a girl himself. He was not as good as Gu Yu.
"There's one more thing. I've taken in a child and would like him to join your army for a period of training. If you're going to the battlefield, you can leave him with me as a guard."
"If you need guards, I will select a few men from the army for you."
"No need. I'm just a pampered young lady from the capital. It would be a waste of your talents to have someone from your camp working for me. Besides, this is also his idea. We already have enough servants and helpers in the manor, and we can't just keep another one for nothing."
"Just treat him like a new recruit and train him; there's no need to make any other arrangements."
“Okay.” After all, it was the first time his sister had asked him to do something, and it wasn’t troublesome. It was just a matter of training a bodyguard who could defend himself. It wasn’t difficult at all, so he nodded and agreed.
It wasn't until Gu Jin saw Tang Nan, who was only up to his chest, thin as a bamboo pole, and looked like she would fall over at the slightest touch.
Gu Jin, “…”
He didn't know if he could take back what he had said, so he thought it would be better to send someone to be Gu Yu's bodyguard. He could lift this little rascal with one hand.
"Brother, I'm entrusting Anan to you."
"Hmm... alright." Gu Jin pondered for a long time, then reached out and patted Tang Nan's shoulder. "If you join my camp, there's a rule you must know first..."
"General, please speak." Tang Nan looked earnestly at Gu Jin, whom she had only ever seen from behind before, her eyes full of admiration. Her sincere gaze made Gu Jin look away.
"Eat more food; the camp won't miss a bite to eat."
Upon hearing this, Tang Nan looked at Gu Jin with teary eyes. You see, she had come here as a refugee from famine and had never seen much food since she was a child. Every time, they would cook a small bowl of rice mixed with some bran into a pot of porridge, and let the men in the family eat first, and then she and her mother would eat.
Now that someone was actually telling her to eat more, how could she not be moved? To her, the young masters and misses of the Gu family were better than gods. Even gods wouldn't give her food when she was hungry, but they did.
"General, I will study hard to learn the skills."
Gu Yu waited and waited, and on the sixth day, the batch of grain she had bought from Hejian Prefecture finally arrived.
As she expected, the caravans from Hejian Prefecture not only transported more grain, but also a lot of vegetables that could be stored for a long time.
Regardless of whether they were nobles, servants from powerful families, or ordinary people, everyone in Shengjing crowded in front of the merchant caravans. Grain in Shengjing, priced as high as three taels and five qian, was no longer being bought.
Chunyue instructed people to pile the agreed-upon 1,000 shi of grain into the treasury in the backyard. The kitchen also bought a lot of cheap vegetables, and Qiuju checked the quantities one by one with the account book.
The grain had just been stored away that morning, and by the afternoon Gu Yu had people set up a porridge stall on the main street of Xuanwumen, and she herself also helped out.
They wouldn't close until midnight, and this would continue for thirty days until all the grain purchased from the government granary was exhausted.
In fact, after the grain from Hejian Prefecture was transported to Shengjing City, they had considered raising the price. However, there were too many merchant caravans that learned of the news, and the more grain was transported, the more they found that the people went to other places to buy it.
As a result, they had to compete to lower their prices, and even the rice shops in the city suffered. With grain from other places, no one wanted to patronize their businesses, and their prices had to be lowered as well.
The price of grain was even more optimistic than Gu Yu had expected. In just half a month, it had dropped to one tael and one shi, which was lower than the previous price.
Not only out-of-town merchants, but even local merchants had to sell at a loss.
If these grains are not sold during this winter, and there is a new harvest in the spring, they will be even harder to sell. Moreover, the people of Shengjing are all wealthy, and who would want to eat stale rice?
Ordinary people took advantage of the price drop to stock up on a lot of grain, fearing that there would be another food shortage.
Besides that, Gu Yu was also waiting for news. She wanted to know if any evidence had been found in Zhu Huxi's hometown, whether Guan Yiyun had been implicated, and how the natural and man-made disasters in the north should be classified.
But she had waited too long, from the twelfth lunar month to the end of the year, and the emperor was determined not to wage war at this time.
Tang Nan did eat well in the barracks, but he had already gained some weight in a month.
Gu Jin brought her back on the eve of New Year's Eve.
"Sister..." She seemed to realize that her way of addressing him was inappropriate, and quickly changed her address, "Miss, I'm back."
"Anan." Gu Yu put down the book she had picked up. The lustrous pearl sheen, combined with her smile, was as dazzling as the first light of day.
The deep darkness of dusk and the chill of the north wind could not outweigh the warm yellow candlelight in the hall.
The "young boy" who ran towards her nestled in her arms like a fledgling returning to its nest. Gu Yu hugged her and smiled, "It's good that you're back."
Tang Nan is still young and not as mature as those who grew up in the capital.
However, since men and women are different, Gu Jin wanted to stop the two from overstepping their boundaries, but found that the feelings between them were only those of affection between family members, without any hint of ambiguity.
He landed behind Tang Nan and saw Gu Yu's genuine smile, an undeniable joy, and a sudden pang of bitterness rose in his heart.
He grew up in the military camp and rarely spent time with Gu Yu. His way of thinking about her was to send her jewelry and headwear, but they could hardly even have the warmth of ordinary siblings.
He knew that Gu Yu didn't blame him, and she always thought about him.
"Brother, it's been a few days since we last met, and your clothes seem a bit looser." She touched Tang Nan's growing head, looking at him with concern in her eyes.
Yuan Jing returned with several cooks after buying some things. Gu Jin nodded slightly upon hearing this, "I heard that you hadn't redeemed the jewelry you pawned before, so I had someone redeem them all."
"Huh?" Gu Yu was clearly surprised.
"These pieces of jewelry are all gifts from me. Don't you like them?"
Gu Yu suddenly realized why he was so surprised when he heard that she had pawned her jewelry; it turned out that those things were gifts from Gu Jin.
"Of course not, it's just... I was a bit busy the other day and forgot about it. I didn't expect my brother to remember." Gu Yu asked Chunyue to accept the gift.
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