Chapter 1451 Fish Cake

Zhou Shuren left the palace at noon and spent the whole morning talking with the emperor about what food substitutes could be used. The people on the grassland now rely entirely on military rations for relief. The relief rations are not much, so they only need one half-full meal a day, as long as they don't starve to death.

The soldiers’ rations cannot be provided forever, and the food supply for the people on the grassland cannot be delayed any longer.

After leaving the palace, Zhou Shuren saw that Jianyan was very happy. Before Zhou Shuren could ask, Jianyan said, "Master, the Princess of Qin has woken up."

Zhou Shuren's worried expression disappeared, and a look of joy appeared on his face. "It's good that he woke up, it's good that he woke up. What did the imperial physician say after seeing him?"

"The imperial physician said that the princess needs to rest and recuperate. It is not suitable for her to move now, and she needs to stay in bed for two months."

Zhou Shuren heaved a sigh of relief. He was happy that his daughter had woken up. His eyes fell on the falling snowflakes, and a look of worry appeared on his face again. Food? "Let's go back to the Ministry of Revenue."

He had to carefully budget the food that had just been harvested.

At Zhou's house, Zhulan fed the young lady porridge until she couldn't drink any more. Then she let the maid take it away and wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief.

Xue Han was still very weak, "Mom, you don't have to take care of me yourself, I have the girl!"

Zhulan, "Let me take care of you, I will feel at ease. This time, let me take good care of you during the confinement period."

Xue Han felt tired even talking. She was unconscious when she was in a coma. She was groggy until she woke up. It was as if she had been through the gates of hell and was in another world.

Xue Han, "Mom, I'm sorry to have worried you and Dad these days."

Zhu Lan touched the lady's hand, which had just been taken out of the quilt for a while before it became cold. She quickly put it back into the quilt, "Since we know you are worried, you should take good care of yourself in the future."

Xue Han was also afraid. She almost died. Thinking about the child's lung problems, she felt bad. "Yeah."

Zhulan saw that her daughter was not very energetic and needed more rest after waking up. She heard footsteps and Rongchuan came back from washing up. He stood up and said, "I'll go see the child."

The child was looked after by an imperial physician who lived in Zhou's house.

Rong Chuan's eyes were bloodshot, "How do you feel?"

Xue Han raised her hand and touched her husband's face, "I just slept for a while, why do I feel like you've aged several years?"

"I'm worried about you."

Xue Han had tears in her eyes, "You just don't know how to take care of yourself."

Rong Chuan didn't dare to close his eyes, and held his wife's hand, "Madam, please give me some space, I want to sleep with you."

Xue Han glared, "This is a bed for confinement."

Although there was no prohibition on men entering the confinement room, they never slept together.

Rong Chuan, however, carefully carried his wife to a position away from him, then lay down smoothly and said, "I can't sleep without you by my side."

Xue Han looked at the dumbfounded female official, who seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Xue Han lowered her head again, and her husband had fallen asleep.

Qizhou, Chang Lian looked up at the sky, "Is it snowing?"

The voice was full of uncertainty.

The prefect looked serious and raised his head to look at the falling snowflakes. "Yes, it's snowing."

Chang Lian's eyes widened. "I have been in Qizhou for several years, but this is the first time I have seen snow in Qizhou. This..."

The prefect rubbed his hands. This year's flood had a huge impact on Qizhou. Everything was in short supply. "This year's weather is colder than in previous years."

Chang Lian felt depressed. "Less than half of the winter rice has been harvested, and the fish haven't grown much. The winter vegetables that the people just planted will be frozen to death by this snow, right?"

The prefect frowned. The court exempted the disaster-stricken states from taxes, so the people had food to survive. This winter vegetable was also a life-saving vegetable. "The relief food sent by the court is gone."

Chang Lian nodded, "Yes, this batch of food will last until the winter rice is harvested. Now that the winter rice has been harvested, there is no relief food left."

The prefect said, "There is not much money left in the government office."

Chang Lian frowned, "I just hope the snow isn't too heavy."

If it snows heavily, this winter will be even more difficult to endure.

The prefect looked at Chang Lian and said, "I will cooperate with you on your proposal."

He had a bad feeling about this snow. Although the people had some food after harvesting rice, the grain output was too low and the people with few fields could not survive the winter. If he stored more food, it could save lives. As for the imperial court, it could no longer provide any extra food.

And if he writes another petition to go to Beijing, it will show his incompetence.

Chang Lian raised his eyebrows. He had already thought of a plan, but the prefect suppressed it because the court had approved the relief grain. Now the snow made the prefect uneasy. "Yes."

Five days passed in a blink of an eye. Xue Han recovered well and was able to sit for a while. Rong Chuan wanted to accompany his wife during her confinement period, but too many things were waiting for him. Eunuch Zhang asked him to leave the Zhou Mansion, pack up his simple luggage and set off for Pinggang.

The patrol ships of Pinggang returned with a lot of seafood. He went to Pinggang to be in charge of the processing of the seafood.

In just a few days, Pinggang had established several workshops for processing seafood, waiting for the arrival of King Qin.

This was the method Zhou Shuren and the emperor came up with. Rice bran and straw were mixed with some cornmeal, and some fish and seaweed were added, then baked into pancakes. The fish could also help to relieve hunger, and the fish was utilized as much as possible.

The fish bones are not wasted. They are all ground into powder to supplement calcium and resist hunger. At this time, the only thing to do is to stay alive, so the fishy smell is not a concern.

Ginger is an important ingredient nowadays, and there is not enough ginger to remove the fishy smell. As for wine, forget it. This year's grain production is low, and the court has controlled wine brewing. Some private wineries are not allowed to brew wine.

In order to catch more fish, the imperial court also ordered the navy to organize civilian fishing boats to go out to sea together.

Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren touched the teacup, he also thought of goat milk, etc., and sighed.

Emperor Retired, "Why is Shuren sighing?"

Zhou Shuren, "I feel sorry for the sheep and cattle that the herders have worked so hard to raise."

The people suffered the most from the war. The people on the grassland were the losers. They were robbed by deserters from their own tribes and soldiers from the imperial court. They could not even protect their cattle and sheep. Even if there were some who survived, they could only kill to fill their stomachs as they were hungry. A large number of sheep and cattle had already been lost.

As a result, the prices of beef and mutton in Beijing have increased and they are very scarce.

Emperor Retired, "Shu Ren is worried about the goat and cow milk from the grasslands."

Zhou Shuren nodded, "Yes, if there are herds of cattle and sheep, dairy products are nutritious and can also help to relieve hunger."

If he had goat's milk and cow's milk, he could do more, but unfortunately he doesn't have them. That's why he said there is no good way. Ideas without material support are useless. Now he can only think of a solution on the ocean.

Fortunately, there was no pollution in ancient times, and there was no fishing season near the coast like there is today, so the navy had a good harvest on its first attempt at fishing.

Emperor, "The fish bone powder you mentioned is very good."

He had already tasted the grilled fish bones made by Chef Yu, and it tasted really good, but unfortunately he was old and his teeth were in bad condition.

Zhou Shuren squinted his eyes. He could actually grow mushrooms, but he didn't know how to make mushroom spores. It was not his specialty. "Hey, I am the Minister of Finance and I am in charge of money."