Chapter 38 Liu Yulai vies for the title of Great Philanthropist!
The price of grain was driven up five or six times higher than usual.
Five or six times.
Or perhaps it was after the disaster that food prices, which had already risen, were affected.
Compared to normal prices, that's a price increase of twenty times.
Is she Qian Jiarende?
Xiao Qingxuan dared not make any comments openly.
But that's what I really think.
The Qian family and Qian Yueshu are unscrupulous businessmen who prey on people without spitting out the bones.
No matter how bad Qian Yueshu was, he still liked her.
On the other side.
Regarding some things.
She didn't offer much explanation even to Xiao Qingxuan.
That concerns the Qian family's code of conduct.
Qian Yueshu's true intentions.
That is, to start distributing porridge before the floods arrive, thus creating the image of the Qian family as "consistently doing good deeds".
If the Qian family were to produce a large amount of stored grain when the disaster became severe and the imperial court opened its granaries to distribute grain, it would not seem abrupt or suspicious.
The Crown Prince is benevolent and virtuous.
They definitely don't want her to profit from the national crisis.
Therefore, Qian Yueshu believes that keeping some small things secret is better for the relationship between two people.
When doing one good deed a day.
Qian Yueshu specifically instructed her subordinates: "The porridge should be thin, and the cornbread should be small."
The steward paused for a moment, then understood: "This old servant understands."
And so, the Qian family's porridge stall opened quietly and without much fanfare.
Every day at Chen Shi (7-9 AM).
Two servants carried out a large bucket of mixed grain porridge that was almost reflective enough to see one's image, and a basket of coarsely textured mixed grain buns.
The porridge was so thin that you could only see the soup and not the rice, and the cornbread had a unique smell of aged grain.
How should I put it?
If you really encounter a poor person, that's enough to sustain them for a day.
But if one has plenty of food and drink, they simply can't swallow it.
"The porridge is ready! The porridge is ready!"
The queue was sparse, mostly made up of the poorest people in the capital and a few emaciated beggars.
They held out their broken bowls and accepted the meager food, their faces showing no gratitude, only numbness.
An old beggar took the cornbread, broke it open with force, and dry, cracked crumbs fell out in a flurry.
He sighed, but still carefully tucked it into his pocket.
"Pah! Is this food for humans?" a younger beggar couldn't help but complain. "The day before yesterday, I got half a roast chicken at the back gate of Minister Zhang's house!"
That's true.
In the capital, even beggars occasionally get to taste delicacies bestowed by the powerful and wealthy.
When various mansions do charity work.
Which one isn't a steamed bun made of white flour, or a meat bun that smells delicious?
Such stingy "charitable acts" by the Qian family are indeed too shabby to be considered respectable.
Qian Yueshu gazed at the sparse crowd in front of the porridge stall from afar, her face expressionless.
The butler whispered, "Miss, someone outside is saying our porridge is too watery and our cornbread is too hard..."
"So what?" Qian Yueshu interrupted her. "The Qian family's grain doesn't come from thin air."
Over the past month, she has quietly stockpiled a large amount of food through various channels.
These grains were stored in several hidden warehouses around the capital, enough to fetch exorbitant prices when the disaster was at its worst.
And this continued the distribution of porridge.
This perfectly covered up the origin of the grain – the Qian family had always been doing charity work, so buying more grain for emergencies was perfectly reasonable.
otherwise.
When the disaster struck and starvation littered the fields...
If the Qian family were to produce a large amount of grain out of thin air, it would inevitably attract the attention and suspicion of the imperial court.
Qian Yueshu would never allow this to happen.
What she wanted was to gain both fame and fortune amidst the disaster: to make a fortune and to win the reputation of a "good person".
On the other side.
Liu Yu heard that Qian Yueshu was doing charity work.
Unwilling to admit defeat, she regained her fighting spirit.
She wanted to do it too, and all she got in return was steamed buns and rice porridge.
In an instant.
There weren't many people to begin with, and all the people who went to collect Qian Yueshu's mixed grain porridge and steamed buns went to Liu Yu's place instead.
Qian Yueshu didn't care.
Anyway, there's still some time before the real disaster strikes.
Let's see if she can continue to challenge me then.
but.
People still come to collect the things Qian Yueshu gives away every day.
There are still truly poor people in the capital!
For example, those real beggars.
For example, there are some displaced people who have lost their homes and come to the capital to do odd jobs.
Even some impoverished scholars who failed their exams...
Although the porridge that Qian Yueshu gave away was thin, it was clean and freshly cooked every day.
Even though cornbread is made with old grains, it's still enough to fill you up.
Apart from Liu Yu.
In the capital, several noble ladies also came out to do good deeds.
They were all in love with the Crown Prince!
Everyone wants to win the favor of Qian Yueshu in this act of charity.
However, Qian Yueshu didn't care at all.
Sometimes, doing good deeds isn't something you can do in a day or two.
Besides, you're giving away such good food.
Meat buns and white flour steamed buns.
Can these things really reach the hands of the poor?
Most of the good food ended up in the hands of ordinary people who wanted to take advantage of others, or some petty thugs.
In the capital city.
Besides the fact that her Qian family and Liu family do good deeds.
And now a few more companies have inexplicably appeared?
Qian Yueshu then asked her maid Chuntao, "What's going on with the Liu family?"
The maid replied, "I heard that Miss Liu Yu, in order to outdo the other noble ladies, has stopped giving out white flour steamed buns and is only giving out meat buns."
"Meat buns?" Qian Yueshu scoffed. "Let her distribute them. Let's see how long her kindness lasts."
She knows Liu Yu too well.
The young lady's so-called "good deeds" were nothing more than a performance on a whim, done to gain fame and attention.
When disaster strikes, or when it is discovered that this "good deed" has consumed too much resources, it will naturally stop.
Although the Qian family's charity was so poor that even beggars would find it distasteful.
But every day there are still people queuing in front of the soup kitchen.
Especially some impoverished scholars who have fallen on hard times.
They even wrote an article praising Qian Yueshu and the Qian family in gratitude.
As for Liu Yu and the other noble ladies, they also do charity work.
Why don't these down-on-their-luck scholars write about it?
Because their food was so good, these down-on-their-luck scholars couldn't get any.
Although there are many nobles and wealthy people in the capital.
But half of them are ordinary people.
The food they prepared.
For example, meat buns are a top-notch food for these ordinary people, so it would be strange if they didn't scramble for them!
Even plain white steamed buns are a staple in their diet.
If half the people of the capital come to rob, how many times can the truly poor actually rob?
Although Qian Yueshu's preparations were crude.
But they're available every day, and there's no such thing as not being able to get one.
She always makes sure everyone gets a share!
today.
Qian Yueshu was in a good mood because she had recently bought another batch of grain.
Doing charity work is met with suppression.
She actually gave away very little food.
However, she purchased a considerable amount of food through charity.
Soon, the floods came, and she was sure she would make a fortune!
recently.
Even in the capital city, a place in the north that is usually dry, it has been raining continuously.
Not to mention the rainy south.
Actually, at this time, floods had already begun to occur in the south.
It just won't reach the capital for the time being.
Once the disaster strikes, refugees will flood north, and grain prices in the capital will inevitably soar.
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