Chapter 59 Attempting to persuade villagers to plant sweet potatoes
Folk remedies?
Upon hearing this, Liang Lan's face hardened, and she objected even more strongly: "Absolutely not!"
Using folk remedies might cause some problems. If something were to happen to my younger sister, given how much my mother-in-law dotes on her, she might never recover.
"Second sister-in-law~"
Seeing that this approach was not feasible, Jiang Mi had no choice but to resort to her ultimate weapon: acting cute.
"Second sister-in-law, I promise you there won't be any problems~ Please help me."
The system is one with her and will certainly not harm her.
Liang Lan was most susceptible to Jiang Mi's coaxing, and finally, after Jiang Mi's persistent pleading, Liang Lan gave in: "Okay, okay, I'll do as you say, but if you notice anything unusual, you can't eat it anymore!"
Although she couldn't resist her younger sister's coaxing, Liang Lan still gave her a final reminder.
Influenced by her family, apart from Su Yindi's dislike of Jiang Mi, the other two sisters-in-law of the Jiang family also spoiled Jiang Mi.
Upon receiving a response from her second sister-in-law, Jiang Mi cheered and went back inside to begin researching soap-making methods.
The soap-making method only covers three-quarters of the total, but it's enough for Jiang Mi to study for a while.
The only thing to blame is the system for being too stingy.
From the initial half-volume to the later medium-volume…
It perfectly embodies the meaning of being stingy.
The system retorted with dissatisfaction: [You mustn't slander the system in your mind!]
These rewards are based on the data from completing the tasks, not deducted by the system.
Jiang Mi rolled her eyes upon hearing this and nodded repeatedly, saying perfunctorily, "Yes, yes, no one is more generous than you, System."
After finishing speaking, he continued to study the production method in his hands.
Lard... Butter...
There are many ways to make soap, including pure soap and scented soap.
Jiang Mi's eyes lit up; the more she studied it, the more excited she became—it was another business opportunity.
If the soap were made, it would surely sell like hotcakes.
The most common soap is made from soap beans, which are only the size of a thumbnail. This small piece costs several taels of silver and is the most commonly used cleaning product by wealthy families. People in the palace mostly use flower petals and some spices as adjuncts, but they can't achieve even half the effect of soap, and ordinary people can't afford it.
As for these soap beans, she had the good fortune to use them once in her previous life. Their cleaning power was not as good as soap, and they could only provide a superficial cleaning effect.
Soap making is relatively simple. As long as the supply is sufficient, there's no need to worry about not making money.
She could almost see the Jiang family's prosperity growing stronger.
Jiang Mi read it carefully until almost midnight before coming out of her room.
"Oh dear, everyone is busy with farm work, only a certain pampered young lady can stay at home all day."
As soon as he stepped outside, he was met with ridicule from his third sister-in-law, Su Yindi.
Su Yindi was sitting at the door with a palm-leaf fan, fanning herself idly.
Looking around, there were still many things in the courtyard that needed to be tidied up, and it was easy to see that Su Yindi was slacking off again.
Jiang Mi was too lazy to pay attention.
Grandpa said he would gather the whole village in the evening. Judging from the sunset, the news should arrive soon.
Jiang Mi told her sisters-in-law about the matter, and then walked slowly towards the village entrance by herself.
"Does anyone here have the authority to teach that little brat a lesson? Tell me!"
"Everyone rushed home for lunch at noon, and nobody noticed."
"What a pity, I was really looking forward to hearing about how someone got beaten up..."
Along the way, Jiang Mi heard many rumors about Zhu Feng, and most of the villagers were gloating.
I heard that Zhu Feng was beaten up halfway back, breaking his legs, arms, and back. He was half-dead and is now lying in bed recuperating. It will probably be quite a while before he can get out of bed again.
The two children were so frightened that they cried loudly, and no matter how the villagers asked them, they couldn't give a clear answer.
The villagers were naturally overjoyed; who wouldn't be happy to have a good-for-nothing causing trouble?
Jiang Mi was taken aback, and the first person that came to her mind was Huo Ran.
Thinking of Huo Ran brings to mind the incident a few days ago when Huo Ran was seriously injured and disappeared without a trace while lying in a cave.
Jiang Mi's eyes were dark, and she didn't know how he was doing.
She always felt that Zhu Feng's affairs were inextricably linked to Huo Ran.
Jiang Mi strolled leisurely to the big banyan tree at the village entrance and found a suitable spot to sit down.
Many villagers rushed to the village entrance upon receiving the news, while others squatted down with their rice bowls and stood not far away listening.
"Village chief, it's already lunchtime, why did you call everyone out like that?"
"That's right!"
Everyone was puzzled. Lately, the village chief had been asking them to gather at the village entrance every few days.
Zhu Qiancheng looked at the urging villagers, his voice choked, and the words he had prepared were hard to say.
After a long pause, he patted his chest and said earnestly, "Don't worry, everyone! Listen to me, I've been receiving a lot of bad news lately. A few days ago, when I went to the market, a wise man told me that there would be a severe drought in a month and a half. So, everyone should stock up on food if possible, and buy things with the money they have."
Severe drought!
Everyone was shocked.
One of the villagers asked, "Village chief, don't try to fool us. There are still two months until the harvest, and now this kind of talk is coming out out of nowhere. Who would believe you?"
"That's right, that's right, village chief."
…
The villagers echoed Zhu Qiancheng's words, believing them to be utter nonsense.
"Sigh!" Zhu Qiancheng sighed heavily, putting on his dramatic act: "The well water has inexplicably dried up recently, which is a sign of impending disaster. How could I lie to you? As the village chief, I naturally have your best interests at heart."
Zhu Qiancheng gave examples one by one, and his status was especially important in the hearts of the villagers.
After this kind of brainwashing, most people choose to believe it.
"So, according to your opinion, Village Chief?"
"Stockpile grain!" Zhu Qiancheng's eyes were resolute.
However, many villagers were in a dilemma: "Village chief, there are still two months until the harvest. The imperial court will collect half of the grain, and we will sell some of it. We really don't have much money on hand. How are we supposed to store grain?"
With prices soaring these days, even if you hoard, you can't accumulate much.
Zhu Qiancheng suddenly remembered what Jiang Mi had said: "In that case, let's plant sweet potatoes. According to the planting period, sweet potatoes don't need much water and will mature quickly, at the latest in two months, which is just the right time."
The sweet potato varieties produced by the system can be planted and matured in two months, which can solve the immediate problem.
"The village chief is willing to let us plant these sweet potatoes, but the price is really too high for us..."
The villagers trusted the village chief implicitly and didn't suspect anything else, but everyone was worried about the price of sweet potatoes.
“I’ve thought about these things for the villagers. We can plant sweet potatoes first, and the money can be owed to the Jiang family later. But we need to write an IOU.”
They had already devised a plan by noon.
Zhu Qiancheng secretly sighed, thinking that Jiang Mi was intelligent and farsighted, having thought of this backup plan so clearly long ago.
"Village chief, please give us some time to think it over."
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