Chapter 241 Trouble

Boss Zhou came back with a smile on his face, "No one died in the village, only a few were bitten by wolves."

Zhou Laoer continued, "However, the chickens in the village are basically gone. The pigs raised by several families with low fences were killed by wolves and the rest were taken away. A cow also died in the village. There is not much left to eat. What can be taken away has been taken away. Only the cow's head and bones are left."

Almost all the poultry in the village were destroyed.

Yang Dayong asked, "Didn't you kill the wolf?"

Zhou Laoer shook his head, "No, this time the wolves came down the mountain for the poultry, they didn't break into the house by knocking on the door or window, and the injured ones were bitten while trying to save the poultry."

Zhulan knew that wolves had strong cooperative abilities, were particularly obedient to orders, and were very thoughtful. She never expected that after seeing this in ancient times, she realized that this was all premeditated!

Yang Dayong smoked a cigarette and said, "The wolves listen to the leader very much, and this leader is very smart. This is not a good thing. After this experience, the wolves learn very quickly and will do the same thing again next time. The good news is that the poultry in Lijia Village is gone, and Lijia Village is safe."

Bad news, other villages will suffer.

The rest of the words were not spoken, but everyone understood in their hearts.

There was no snow in the next few days, the roads were open, and information could be exchanged. These people swept several villages in succession. They really wanted to store food, and Zhoujia Village was not spared. However, no matter how powerful the animals were, they were still animals. Many wolves died, and some people also died.

About seven days later, it began to snow again. The snow was heavy. Humans seem particularly insignificant in the face of nature, especially in ancient times when there was no technology to anticipate and prevent disasters.

The heavy snow stopped after two days and has not snowed since then. Zhulan liked to stock up on supplies, and she had bought a lot of salt and other things when the winter came. She went to buy some more after the last heavy snow. Now that the road was open, Zhulan asked Zhou Laoer to go back to Lijia Village to see Xuemei and brought back ten pounds of meat, several large bones, and a chicken, as three of her own hens were frozen to death.

The meat came from Zhulan's own pigs. After Zheng Yang left, Zhulan killed both pigs in her family and didn't sell any of the meat. She kept it all for her own consumption and for next year's wedding banquet.

Zhou Shuren went to the county to inquire about the news. In the afternoon, Zhou Shuren and Zhou Lao Da came back.

Zhulan asked, "What news did you hear?"

Zhou Shuren said: "We suffered less damage here, but the damage near the capital was severe, but we have found a way to help with the disaster."

What Zhou Shuren feared most was that the Northeast and foreign tribes would suffer serious disasters. The Northeast border was already unstable in winter. If it really suffered serious disasters, foreign tribes would definitely launch a war in order to survive. At that time, the situation in the Northeast would be unstable. The new dynasty had just been established and was not yet perfect. Its main energy was focused on stabilizing the domestic situation and improving governance. It did not have extra energy to completely resolve border issues. The border had never been stable since the establishment of the dynasty.

Zhulan said, "How do we solve the disaster? The dynasty has been established for twelve years, and there have been many disasters, such as droughts and floods. After a few years of good weather, there is a snowstorm again. Now the border has been unstable for years. The annual grain and grass expenses are extremely high. The treasury does not have much money, and there will not be much grain either. How do we solve the disaster?"

Zhou Shuren shook off the chill on his body, put on his slippers and went to bed, saying, "I don't know who came up with the strategy to distribute the relief food to each state, and each state contributed a certain amount of food, and then transported it to the disaster relief."

Zhulan, "It's definitely not opening the granary for disaster relief. The state distributed grain to each county, the county distributed grain to each village, and each village distributed grain to each household. To put it bluntly, it's still taking food from the mouths of the people."

Zhou Shuren said, "The county magistrate just received an official document saying that the higher-ups have not increased taxes in recent years, and the weather has been good in recent years. Farmers pay grain according to their own land, one jin of grain for one mu of land. Scholars and officials who enjoy tax exemptions not only have to pay grain for the land under their names, but also pay an additional 50 jin of grain, and officials pay 200 jin of grain. Officials also treat everyone equally and pay all their grain."

Zhulan frowned, "What about the merchants and landless people in the county?"

"I don't know about that. I only know this. The amount of grain paid by merchants is estimated to be quite large. There shouldn't be many people without land."

Zhu Lan frowned, "This is not a good start. If they get a taste of the sweetness, won't they do the same thing every time there is a disaster in the future? Then the people at the bottom will bear the brunt of the consequences."

Zhou Shuren sighed, "The emperor must have been forced into a corner this time. Although the taxes have just been collected, it is barely enough to support the expenditures over the years. Every dynasty has collected grain, and this dynasty is pretty good. Years of war have not increased the land tax, and the collection this time is not too much. The emperor will find a way in the future."

Zhou Shuren continued, "I have analyzed the emperor. He is a rare wise ruler. His policies in recent years have been good. After this time, the merchants who have been suppressed for more than ten years for the sake of taxation will probably be relaxed. I guess the emperor originally wanted to save it for the new ruler to show his favor, but unfortunately, natural disasters and constant wars forced him to move forward. Moreover, once the policy is relaxed towards merchants, it means that he will soon use troops to solve border problems."

Zhulan's brain reacted quickly, "Then the Zheng and Yang families have seized the opportunity. Now they can gain military merit in a small-scale war. When the army is really deployed, Wu Chun and his men will no longer be small soldiers under the care of the Zheng family. At least they will be safer. And if they really make contributions, they will not have to worry about others taking advantage of them."

Zhou Shuren calculated the amount of grain his family had to pay, which was 130 kilograms. "Fortunately, this year's grain has not been sold. Next year's grain price will definitely go up."

Zhulan, "Food will not be cheap in the next few years."

On the second day, Li Zheng organized a grain donation, and after donating the grain, he waited for the government to collect it. Thanks to the good weather, there were not too many complaints, but the emperor's favorability, which he had worked so hard to gain, also dropped a lot.

Not all of them have lofty ideals; most of the lower-class people only care about their own families.

Fortunately, there was no heavy snow, and the disaster-stricken areas in the capital were also resolved. Then every village posted a letter of thanks written by the emperor, thanking the people for donating food to relieve the disaster. This routine is deep enough. The letter was not written by the emperor himself, but the public opinion lost by this letter actually increased a lot. The grassroots people were excited. This was a letter of thanks written by the emperor, thanking them!

Zhu Lan listened to Zhou Shuren's repentance and said, "Our emperor is really good at playing tricks on people."

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "Which founding emperor was simple? This one is more powerful."

Time flies. Zhulan had a good winter without any troubles. It was the most comfortable time to stay in bed. Maybe Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were too comfortable. As the New Year was approaching, big troubles came.