The envoys stayed in Rongcheng for only two days before rushing back to the capital with two petitions.
In the past two days, all the pepper seedlings in Li Yan's home have been transplanted. At the same time, the villagers have almost learned arithmetic.
Simple addition and subtraction were no longer a difficult task for the villagers, and the noodle shop officially started operating.
On this day, men carrying noodles and selling them from street to street appeared in groups of three or four in the streets and alleys, or in the nearby country roads.
As they walked, they called out, "Noodles for sale, instant boiled noodles."
“Convenient, fast noodles, selling noodles!”
When they walked to a village, an old lady who was sitting outside her door enjoying the cool breeze heard the hawking and asked, "What kind of noodles are these? Can I have a look?"
The villagers lifted the fine cloth on the bamboo basket, revealing the neatly stacked noodles inside, including dried noodles and freshly pressed noodles.
It was the first time that the old lady had seen noodles of this uniform thickness. She was very curious and asked, "How much are these noodles? Can I exchange them for wheat?"
The harvest this year is pretty good, and if the old lady could trade the wheat for something, she would be willing to do it.
The villagers hurriedly said, "Yes, yes. One and a half pounds of this undried water noodles can be exchanged for one pound of wheat, and two pounds of this dried noodles can be exchanged for one pound of wheat."
The old lady was quite satisfied after hearing this, so she asked them for a pound of noodles and then went home to scoop up some wheat.
The villagers weighed a pound and a half of wheat, and then weighed the corresponding amount of noodles and handed them to the other party. Before leaving, they reminded her: "Grandma, if you can't finish these noodles, you can put them in the sun to dry. They can be kept for a long time without going bad!"
When the neighbors saw the transaction here, they came over curiously. They were very curious about the long and even noodles. After asking, they found out that they only needed one and a half pounds of wheat to exchange for a pound of noodles to try.
They all went home and brought wheat to exchange for noodles. Just like tofu, if they were asked to buy it with money, they might be reluctant to do so. So they exchanged it with food at home. If the price difference was not too big, they would be willing to exchange some to try it out!
Some people carried the goods on their shoulders and sold them in the countryside, while some brave enough people carried them directly to the city.
Li Wenjian had sold soy sauce and fermented bean curd a few days ago, so he had no psychological burden when selling them.
He led the other two people through the streets of the city, and whenever they passed by restaurants and stalls, he would stop to ask the other party if they were interested in his noodles.
The people in the city had never seen such noodles before, and they quickly surrounded the three of them, buying two or three kilograms of noodles to take home.
Finally, they met the owner of a restaurant, who bought all the remaining baskets of noodles from them!
Before the three of them could even tour the entire Rongcheng, all the goods they carried were sold out!
Looking at the empty bamboo basket, the three people couldn't help but show a happy blush on their faces. These noodles are really popular!
Looking at the sold-out bamboo baskets, Li Wenjian said to his companions, "It's still early. Let's go to Li's shop to get some more noodles and then go for a walk in the city!"
There are still many places in the city that have not been reached, and everyone is unwilling to give up!
Both of them agreed that the best-selling group would receive a reward at the end of the month, so they didn't want to slack off!
Unlike getting a fixed salary, the more profit the noodle shop makes, the more wages they get, so the villagers are very motivated!
After a few days, with the vigorous promotion of the villagers of Lijia Village, noodles entered the lives of the people of Rongcheng after soy sauce and fermented bean curd.
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Capital
Above the hall
After reading Qin Bin's petition, the emperor threw it at the courtiers below him with a sullen expression, angrily saying, "Look, look! These treacherous officials have dared to unite to suppress grain prices, hurting farmers and undermining the very foundations of the nation. Pass on my decree: the grain merchants mentioned in this petition are to be assigned to General Qin as military households, and all their private property is confiscated."
His Majesty the Emperor was furious, and all the civil and military officials in the court were silent, fearing that they would be implicated.
After His Majesty had gotten rid of his anger, the ministers, led by several Shangshu, dared to pick up the memorial on the ground and read it. It explained in detail why Qin Bin sent troops to patrol the official roads.
The reason was also clearly written. Local grain merchants took advantage of the large amount of new grain on the market and secretly colluded to lower the purchase price of grain. In order to prevent anyone from interfering and provide the people with more choices, people were sent to patrol the official road!
After reading the memorial, a minister rolled his eyes twice and was about to step forward to continue to complain to the emperor about Qin Bin abusing his power for personal gain and using his own shop to stockpile grain, but someone next to him pulled his sleeve and shook his head, indicating that it was time to stop!
The emperor waited for a while, and seeing that no one was foolish enough to jump out and dance in front of him, he picked up another memorial with satisfaction and began to read it.
When his eyes fell on the high-yield crops and he was willing to donate half to the emperor and distribute the other half to the people of Rongcheng for promotion and trial planting, the emperor couldn't help but sit up straight.
He read the contents of the memorial again to make sure he had not read it wrong, and he could not help but laugh out loud. The hearty laughter echoed in the hall. The officials below were all confused. How could the emperor, who had just looked like a storm was about to come, become so cheerful now?
"I knew it all along. My people are not the kind of people who would abandon justice for a little profit! A little peasant girl from the Li family actually has such awareness. God bless our dynasty! Hahahaha"
The emperor signaled the eunuch who was attending him to show the memorial from the magistrate of Rongcheng County to all the ministers present.
Look at the breadth of mind and courage of this little girl, and then think about the actions of the grain merchant mentioned in the memorial earlier.
The old emperor felt that this little girl from the Li family was exactly what he wanted. There was really no harm without comparison!
The court officials who read the memorial had different expressions: some were shocked, some were suspicious, some were jealous, and some were in admiration. The old emperor, who was sitting at the top, saw all the expressions of the officials.
"My dear ministers, do you have anything to say?"
"Your Majesty, I have lived for so long and have never heard of such a crop yield. Could this be the magistrate of Rongcheng trying to escape punishment from Your Majesty?"
The emperor frowned.
Immediately, a minister from the opposing faction spoke up, "Your Majesty, I don't think the magistrate of Rongcheng is that foolish. Deceiving His Majesty is a capital crime. Didn't an envoy go there a few days ago? Why not call him in and ask him?"
The emperor nodded to the attendants beside him.
After receiving the order, the servant was quickly brought up the eunuch who was on a business trip to Rongcheng that day!
A majestic voice sounded above the little eunuch's head, asking him if he had seen the high-yield crops in Rongcheng!
The young eunuch honestly described the scene he saw that day in detail, without any hesitation or negligence.
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