Others gnashed their teeth and cursed, "Damn you grain merchant! You're charging me three strings of cash for a pound of rice."
At first, Tang Qingxi didn't dare to sell the grain freely, fearing that it would drive down the price of grain and make it even harder for the old farmers to survive. As a rural person himself, he knew how difficult life was for farmers.
Emperor Wu then told her that although the world had been conquered, it was rotten inside and out. Except for the wealthy families, there was a shortage of food everywhere in the world.
He could also keep his own guards well fed, while the troops outside were fed only two thin meals a day to fill their stomachs.
Let Tang Qingxi sell it with confidence, and let the people treat him as a Bodhisattva who has come to earth to save all living beings.
Ten miles outside the capital, there is a refugee camp.
These refugees survived on a bowl of rice porridge with only a few grains a day. In frosty weather, they wrapped themselves in a piece of cloth, and lived day by day.
The porridge had been distributed today. The refugees lay on the ground with only a few pieces of grass under them, looking at the sky with cloudy eyes.
Zhang Wenshu lay motionless, letting his sister cry in hunger, unable to do anything. He thought to himself, what's the point of being well-educated and well-mannered? It would be better to have some strength, at least so that I can protect my family.
His family was originally a family that passed down poetry and etiquette, but first there was a natural disaster and then a man-made disaster. His grandparents were old and died of illness on the way to escape the famine. His father gave the last of his food to him and his sister. His uncles and aunts disappeared at some point and fled to the capital for their lives. He and his sister were the only ones left out of the family of dozens of people.
Suddenly, the entrance to the refugee camp became bustling. An official pushed a large bag of grain in. He opened the bag and poured half a bag of white rice into the pot with a "clatter". There was no sand or chaff, just white rice. He also poured half a bag of salt into the pot.
Soon, dozens of pots in a row were cooking porridge. Zhang Wenshu didn't dare to get too close, so he pulled his sister to squat a few meters away and stared at the porridge in the pot.
The smell of porridge in the pot slowly emanated. Zhang Wenshu didn't want to think about anything else now, only one thought: he was hungry! He tried his best to control himself and not rush forward to grab it.
From time to time, refugees who could not resist the temptation would rush to the pot, but were beaten back rudely by the officials.
The porridge was ready soon. Zhang Wenshu took his sister to get a big bowl of porridge. He didn't care that it was hot, and gulped down half of it, and handed the rest to his sister.
After the porridge was distributed, the leading official took out a loudspeaker and shouted, "Hello, hello," testing the sound. "Everyone, listen up! The capital is hiring workers now. We provide food and lodging, and we'll pay you. After dinner, send out 1,000 strong men to join me. Don't worry if you don't get selected. There are job openings every day."
"Work is paid daily. In the city, we sell grain for two cents per pound."
With food, they can feed their whole family and the refugee camp’s difficulties will be solved. After surviving this winter, the refugees can return home. If they don’t want to return home, repairing rivers and city walls are mostly jobs for them.
The refugees were startled by the loudspeaker and scattered in all directions with a loud bang. No one dared to approach the police.
Zhang Wenshu was not a strong laborer. He was only 15 years old and not short, but his arms and legs were as thin as firewood sticks. He had a younger sister with him. He bravely asked, "Sir, I can read, write and do math. Can you help me?"
The official's expression immediately changed. They were so short of literate people that they were going crazy. He smiled and said, "Oh, you can read. Why didn't you tell me earlier? If you don't go to the capital to find work, we are in need of a financial advisor." Looking at him dragging his sister with him, he added, "You can bring your sister with you."
In this way, Zhang Wenshu followed the official to work as their financial advisor.
After arriving at the place, I realized that this was a trap. There were not even enough literate people in the entire government office, and the capable ones were all busy with affairs in the capital.
Although they said they could read, some of them knew fewer words than their younger sister. In the end, a stack of notes was placed in front of their younger sister, asking her to record them. Then, their younger sister could also receive some money and food.
At the refugee camp, officials were pulling carts with food to take refugees to the capital. As soon as they arrived at the city gate, the refugees were robbed by the shop owners, who begged the officials to bring more people. At this time, all the shops in the capital were short of staff.
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