The next day, after breakfast, Lu Yanzheng brought Jiang Qinyu to Old Man Lu's house.
Jiang Qinyu was puzzled. "What are you doing here with your parents?"
“Uncle Village Chief and Brother Meng will be here soon. It’s not convenient at our house, but it’s more convenient to talk here with Dad,” Lu Yanzheng explained.
Just as Jiang Qinyu was about to ask further questions, Village Chief Li, Meng Tianze, and Chen Shao's father entered.
"Ah Zheng, you could have just told me what was wrong. Why did you call us all over here?" Village Chief Li seemed to be complaining, but he was actually very happy inside.
Lu Yanzheng was willing to speak to them privately, which was a sign of respect and courtesy towards them!
Meng Tianze also said, "Yes, A-Zheng, just say what you need."
“My son, Shao, has been calling Zheng his brother since he was little. Zheng, if you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask us,” Chen Shao’s father added.
Lu Yanzheng smiled and invited the group to come inside and sit down. Old Man Lu and Madam Chen also sat down.
"I called you all here today, Uncle Village Chief, to tell you that the army will buy your extra sweet potato seeds at the price of grain, so you won't suffer any losses," Lu Yanzheng said bluntly.
Village Chief Li and the others exchanged glances. "Why are you still offering money? Didn't we say last night that we were just supporting you and didn't want any money?"
Lu Yanzheng clasped his hands in a fist and said, “I am very grateful for everyone’s help, but everyone has had a hard time these past few years. Besides, sweet potatoes are a new crop, so how can I let you go without taking a penny? Uncle Village Chief, please don’t be so polite with me. The imperial court will take care of this part of the money.”
He discovered a new high-yield variety, and it would be unreasonable for the imperial court not to reward him.
Lu Yanzheng has decided to report the matter of sweet potatoes. Firstly, it will force the imperial court to provide funds, and secondly, it will draw outside attention to the border town.
He couldn't stay in Dingshui Village forever. If another robbery like the one last time happened, the people of Dingshui Village might not be able to resist.
"Can the imperial court really provide the funds?" Jiang Qinyu asked, frowning.
Given the state of the Great Yue court, it would be good enough if they didn't try to squeeze money out of Lu Yanzheng; where would they possibly get any money out of him?
Lu Yanzheng glanced at her sideways and calmly said, "Yes."
In reality, the imperial court would never provide the funds, and might even send people to the border town to take away the sweet potatoes. His initiative in reporting this was simply a way to maintain control.
There was still some silver left that they had squeezed out of Zhu Youcai, enough to pay Village Chief Li and the others.
“If the imperial court is paying for it, then we can’t just give it away for nothing,” Meng Tianze said resentfully. “They didn’t care about us when there were natural disasters and man-made calamities, but now that we’ve found high-yield grain varieties, we’re going to promote them nationwide. We can take this money without feeling guilty!”
Lu Yanzheng laughed and said, "That makes sense, so Brother Meng plans to sell it to the imperial court at what price per kilogram?"
"By weight?" Meng Tianze was stunned.
The official Đại Việt system used the "shǒu" (石) system, and all accounts were recorded based on the price of each shǒu of grain.
Lu Yanzheng nodded, "Such a precious and high-yield grain variety should naturally be priced by weight."
“A pound of rice is now fifteen coins, so let’s keep the price of sweet potatoes at that!” Village Chief Li sighed. “Although we don’t like the imperial court, if we ask for too much, it might backfire.”
And what if the court thinks it's too expensive and is unwilling to promote it in Dai Viet? Wouldn't that cause people in other places to go hungry?
At that moment, even Village Chief Li didn't realize that he had begun to worry about the country and its people.
Jiang Qinyu said, "Fifteen coins is the current price of rice, which is actually not low."
The normal price of grain was 800 wen per shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice, while in Dai Viet, one shi was 120 jin (another unit of dry measure), which meant that each jin of rice cost less than 7 wen.
After three years of drought, rice prices have doubled, and that's only from conscientious merchants. In some places, it's said that some grain merchants are selling rice for 30 wen per jin.
"Yes, this price is reasonable." Lu Yanzheng nodded; this was about the same price he was looking for.
Meng Tianze said, "Since we all agree, let's go with this price!"
With that settled, Village Chief Li and the others took their leave. They needed to hurry back to calculate how much to keep in the village and then gather the rest together so that Lu Yanzheng's men could come and transport it away.
"Eldest son, do we need that money too?" Chen asked anxiously.
Lu Yanzheng chuckled, "Mother, why shouldn't we accept the money that's rightfully ours?"
"Our family can sell about three thousand catties, which is almost fifty taels of silver!" Old Man Lu clenched his fist, still a little incredulous.
Chen's mind worked quickly. "If we plant sweet potatoes every year and sell them all, wouldn't that be..."
"Mother, this is the first year, and Zheng-ge did it on purpose. There won't be such a good thing again." Jiang Qinyu had to interrupt her to prevent her from planting all the land in the family with sweet potatoes.
Chen was taken aback, then smiled sheepishly and said, "You're right. When the next harvest comes, there will be plenty of sweet potatoes in the border town, and they won't be worth much then."
And it will become less and less valuable. She was almost bewitched just now. Money really can move people's hearts!
"Father, Mother, we'll head back now," Lu Yanzheng said, bidding farewell.
The two went home together, and as soon as they arrived, Lu Yanzheng's eyes fell on the entrenching tool in the corner of the yard.
Jiang Qinyu used it yesterday, so it wasn't appropriate to put it back into the system. After all, Lu Yanzheng had seen it, and she was afraid he would ask about it, so she left it outside.
"Where did you get this?" Lu Yanzheng walked over and picked up the entrenching tool to examine it carefully.
Jiang Qinyu's heart jumped. She raised her hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear and replied casually, "I bought it in the prefectural city last time. It was also from that foreign merchant who sold seeds."
This entrenching tool is a high-quality replica from the Adventure Club on the first floor of the shopping mall. The one from the system is made with such advanced technology that she doesn't dare to use it in front of Lu Yanzheng.
"That Hu merchant again?" Lu Yanzheng was touching the screws on his entrenching tool when he heard this, and he raised an eyebrow.
Now he was certain that Jiang Qinyu definitely had a big secret.
It's impossible for a merchant from Hu to bring large quantities of seeds to sell, and the shovel in his hand, besides being useful for farming, is no less effective as a weapon than swords.
If foreign tribes possess such things, why not use them in war?
Jiang Qinyu was inwardly panicking, but she didn't show it on her face. "Yes, I'm also wondering. He has a lot of strange things there, like the soap we use at home, which we bought from him."
Since things have already come to this point, let's just put all the blame on that foreign merchant!
If Lu Yanzheng is so capable, he should go and find the person; otherwise, she will absolutely not admit to anything.
Lu Yanzheng looked up at Jiang Qinyu and stared at her for a long time before he smiled faintly, "It is quite strange, but Qinqin, you are very lucky to have met someone like this."
"Hehe, right? I also think I'm pretty lucky..." Jiang Qinyu laughed a little awkwardly.
Lu Yanzheng suddenly said, "I should go back."
"Huh? Go back where?" Jiang Qinyu didn't react for a moment.
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