Chapter 1154 Food
Why are there no saints in the world?
Because the sage always has no intention.
Sages do not use their own emotions to decide likes and dislikes, or judge right and wrong.
No matter how powerful Zhang Xingcai is, she is still far from reaching the realm of a saint, because she has always had her own likes and dislikes.
Having likes and dislikes means there will be flaws and shortcomings.
Her early experiences made Queen Zhang extremely fond of her hard-won son.
It can be said that it is held in the mouth for fear of melting, and held in the hand for fear of falling.
I don’t want the prince to get hurt at all.
Facing the Queen’s repeated attempts to marry the Feng family daughter on behalf of the Prince, Mrs. Right finally couldn’t help but expose a fact that Queen Zhang didn’t want to face.
“When it comes to the difficulty of getting a son, can my sister be compared with the Prime Minister’s wife? When Zhuge Zhan first met Feng’s daughter, he was beaten.”
“The prime minister is unparalleled in intelligence, but in the eyes of Feng’s daughter, his son is not as good as me.”
“How does sister plan to educate the prince and make the Feng daughter surrender to the prince?”
Huang Yueying can also be regarded as a strange woman of her generation.
Over the years, Zhuge Zhan has been basically led by her.
But in the eyes of Mrs. You, the fourteen-year-old Zhuge Zhan is already somewhat spoiled.
This son was not born in a deep palace, but he was indeed born in a woman's hands - the prime minister's wife had a son in middle age, far more so than the queen.
In the last few years, the Prime Minister wanted to return to the old capital. He didn't even have enough time to deal with government and military affairs, so he naturally neglected to discipline Zhuge Zhan.
The eldest brother Zhuge Qiao has been staying in Nanzhong and is not in the mansion. He also has no way to take care of his younger brother on his father's behalf.
The result is that Zhuge Zhan's mind and ability are far from matching his age and status.
Zhuge Zhan has been studying in Feng Mansion for some time, and Madam You is also familiar with him.
In many cases, Mrs. You always felt that Zhuge Zhan was too indecisive, unclear in judgment, and delayed in making decisions for a long time, which could be described as confused.
As the saying goes, "Those who are slow-minded but have no success, who are soft-hearted but indecisive, who have no decisions about likes and dislikes but no determination, will perish."
With this kind of character, if Zhuge Zhan has a character, the most he can do is lose his entire family.
But if it is placed on the prince, it may lead to the destruction of a country.
Although it is said that one can perish, it is not said that one will perish.
But the prince will be the leader of a country in the future, and he must guard against the danger of country subjugation.
If you know the danger but fail to take precautions, the country will be in chaos.
It is precisely because of this concern that the right lady took the risk to remind the queen of this.
And considering Alang’s status and background—whether he is a teacher or a court member—if the prince is really unlucky enough to be cheated on, how can he safely marry his daughter into the palace?
If it were someone else, the identity of the prince might still work.
But in the eyes of the descendants of the disciples of Shanmen, they are really qualified and do not care about the status of the prince.
The Queen’s focus was not on this, but she frowned slightly:
“Did Feng’s daughter beat Zhuge Zhan?”
When Mrs. Right saw her sister like this, she knew that she seemed not to have heard the point of what she wanted to say, and sighed:
“Sister, Feng Ying was born to a tiger girl from the Guan family, and she grew up in a family like the Feng family. Do you think she can be an ordinary noble girl?”
The queen looked at Madam Right with some suspicion:
“But how did I hear that the Feng family girls have always been gentle and have little knowledge of etiquette?”
The right lady laughed sarcastically:
“My Alang is still very cruel and ruthless with his clever words! Does it prevent him from becoming a pillar of the Han Dynasty?”
Gentleness is only for outsiders to see, that is when people are willing to be gentle - If you don’t believe me, bring Ah Chong in front of her to see?
There is nothing wrong with knowing the etiquette, but that is only if the person is willing to follow the etiquette. If you don’t believe me, bring Ah Chong in front of her and see?
“As the saying goes, armed with sharp weapons, murderous intentions arise naturally. As both of us grow older, women’s etiquette will naturally be indispensable, but I have never said that I should give up my martial arts.”
If you can make sense, try to make sense. When you can't make sense, try to make sense of physics.
Turn forward like the wind, advance and retreat freely.
After all, who doesn’t know that Feng’s knowledge is unfathomable?
Just like Feng Mansion.
The left and right ladies are both civil and military, and can talk about both reason and physics.
So the notorious Feng Gui Wang always only talks about reason when facing his own wives and concubines - clever words and tricks will eventually be useful.
If the prince really marries Feng's daughter, and he can't control her, then he will be able to reason with him if he wants to, and he can talk with physics if he wants to.
Given the queen's doting on the prince, should she interfere in the affairs between the prince and his wife?
If you really want to take care of it, how do you plan to take care of it?
What does the Feng Mansion think?
The queen finally fell silent after hearing Madam Right's words.
After a long time, he said:
“That’s why Feng Mingwen said that he should let his daughter choose the person she likes?”
Seeing my sister like this, Mrs. Right nodded quickly and said:
“If a woman really likes someone, no matter how powerful she is, her attitude will be different after all. My sister knows this best.”
The first half of the sentence makes some sense, but...
“What do I know best?”
The queen immediately became angry again, "What do you mean?"
"Okay, okay," Mrs. Right said with a smile, "Just like the tiger girl of the Guan family, okay?"
Empress Zhang glanced at Mrs. Right, but said nothing.
I don’t know if I am weighing the pros and cons, or if I really listened to Madam Right’s reminder.
In June of the third year of Yanxi, various places began to collect summer grain and put it into storage.
Sichuan and Liangzhou, for the first time in so many years, have seen a year-on-year decrease in grain output due to the reduction of cultivated land.
However, the output has not been reduced much and the impact is not significant.
Because the southern Shu region has begun to promote double-cropping rice in the past two years, part of the reduction in production has been offset.
However, the emperor of the Han Dynasty felt sorry for his people's misfortunes and ordered to reduce the taxes collected in the first half of the year.
This move was greatly praised by the officials and the people, who praised Adou for being a wise king.
Especially in Shu, many people said that Your Majesty will never forget the folks from the land where Ji Han founded the country!
It just so happens that this year I can sell more to Wu Guo. Do you think you can not praise me?
Just because Guanzhong Bingzhou and other places have begun to restore people's livelihood after three years of rectification.
The taxes collected by the imperial court as a whole, instead of decreasing, actually increased.
Compared to Ji Han's calm situation, Wu Di was wailing.
South of the Yangtze River, most people grow millet and rice, and some grow bean sprouts, but rarely wheat. In other words, in the land south of the Yangtze River, there is very little summer grain.
Whether it is broomcorn millet, rice, or bean sprouts, they are basically planted in April and harvested in August at the earliest and in October at the latest.
(Note: During the Three Kingdoms era, double-cropping rice had not yet spread, so rice in the south of the Yangtze River could only be harvested in one season, while the Central Plains could harvest wheat in the summer and millet in the autumn. This was also the reason why the north was relatively developed in ancient times.)
Now, from Jingzhou to Jiangdong, you can see acres and acres of fertile farmland in the past. It was not because of the drought that the crops could not be sown in time, resulting in waste.
Even the crops that were forcibly sown grew short due to lack of water and could not grow fruit at all.
The precious grains were sown, but in the end this was the result.
Many farmers squatted in the fields, looking at crops that were half smaller than in previous years. In the end, they could not help holding their heads and crying.
Zhuge Jin, who was guarding Nanyang County, knew that the situation was urgent, so he quickly went to Wuchang and suggested to Lu Xun, the pastor of Jingzhou:
"The grain harvest in Jingzhou has become a fact. It will be difficult for the people to feed themselves this year. I would like to ask the general to petition Your Majesty to waive taxes in Jingzhou and find ways to provide disaster relief."
Unexpectedly, when Lu Xun heard this, he sighed:
“How could I not know what Ziyu said? Before that, I had already written to Your Majesty to explain the situation in Jingzhou this year.”
“It’s just that Your Majesty has not responded, because Your Majesty is also in trouble. As far as I know, this year, Wu will have insufficient food in both Jingzhou and Jiangdong.”
“What I’m most worried about is that taxes will still be levied based on the share of previous years.”
When Zhuge Jin heard what Lu Xun said, he was immediately frightened:
“Wouldn’t this lead to a civil uprising?”
“Even in normal times, the state’s funds are still insufficient. What can we do?”
General Shang, who was nominally in charge of half of the country of Wu, knew the financial situation of Wu far better than anyone else.
If not, why did Da Wu mint large amounts of money every year in these years?
Lu Xun looked at Zhuge Jin and continued:
“Ziyu, you are from Jingzhou, and the Zhuge family is also one of the big families in Jingzhou. This year’s Jingzhou matter still needs your efforts.”
Zhuge Jin remained silent.
He understood that the general's words were nothing more than asking him to persuade the Jingzhou family to spend more money and food to help tide over this difficulty.
Over the years, His Majesty has placed the general in command west of Wuchang.
But Jingzhou was actually controlled by Zhuge Jin.
Especially in the past few years, after Sun Quan began to alienate Lu Xun, he consciously deprived Lu Xun of some of his rights in the west.
Compared to Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin and Sun Quan have been working together for many years, and their kindness is as good as flesh and blood, and they have an oath of life and death.
Moreover, Zhuge Jin was virtuous and benevolent, making it easier for Sun Quan to trust him.
The most important thing is Zhuge Jin's identity, which can better appease the Jingzhou family.
But which aristocratic family in the world only has the principle of giving freely without asking for anything?
Jingzhou has always been relatively stable under the rule of Da Wu.
The Jingzhou family has contributed a lot.
But on the other hand, they also have something to ask for.
Just like the general, who was born in one of the four surnames in Wu County, can he ask every family in Wu County to donate money and food to the court at this time?
You are loyal to the emperor, you are patriotic, and you must be valued by His Majesty. It is actually very simple to get your parents and fellow villagers to support you.
At least bring some benefits back to my hometown.
Whether it is to support the villagers, provide some policies, or even find some ways, etc.
When there is going and coming, that is called friendship.
If you really force others to give for free like you, even fellow villagers will think of expelling you from your hometown.
What is the biggest request of Jingzhou Family now?
Brown sugar.
The share of brown sugar exchanged for jaggery.
Share of brown sugar in exchange for jaggery produced from sugar cane.
There are also various materials transferred from Shu.
No matter how high the price of grain is, it cannot be higher than the price of various good things from Shu.
Besides, no matter how high the price of grain is, what you get back after selling it is a lot of iron money—who likes a lot of iron money that gets worse every year?
It would be better to exchange notes with Ji Han for supplies.
Materials, especially those of Shu Han, are Jingzhou’s hard currency.
So even if Zhuge Jin was a general, he would not dare to stop the folks in Jingzhou from buying and selling supplies in Shu.
If not, cutting off people's financial opportunities is like killing one's parents.
At that time, if this family pays less money and that family receives less food, what will the military officials in Jingzhou eat? what to wear?
How can we sustain ourselves by relying on those farms alone?
Besides, there is no telling whether the military leaders who own the farms will stab them in the back.
Thinking of this, Zhuge Jin couldn't help but said with some embarrassment:
“General, no matter how dedicated every family in Jingzhou is to contributing to the country, it will be difficult for them to come up with so much food.”
Lu Xun was originally from a noble family, so how could he not know the virtues of a big family?
It’s just that he himself is the representative of the Jiangdong family, how can he have any position to say anything about others?
“I also understand Ziyu’s difficulties, so I just try my best and pay them as much as I can.”
Zhuge Jin nodded and agreed.
The situation was urgent, and Zhuge Jin did not dare to stay in Wuchang longer. After knowing that there would be no news from the court for the time being, he quickly returned to Nanyang.
It has just begun summer, and most people may still have some food at home.
Can barely survive.
But Jiangnan is not as good as the Central Plains and Shu.
Not much summer grain can be harvested, and the harvest mainly depends on autumn grain. The northern part of Jingzhou, which can harvest summer grain regularly, still belongs to Wei State.
This is why the whole world is suffering from drought, but the state of Wu was the most seriously injured.
Under the current circumstances, it would be good even if the autumn grain is reduced by half.
If there is really a shortage of half of the food, it will not just be as simple as doubling the price of food, but it will increase until half the people starve to death.
Zhuge Jin returned to Jingzhou and quickly summoned the messengers from various big families:
“Gentlemen, it has become a fact that Jingzhou’s grain harvest will be poor this year. Whether Jingzhou can survive this crisis depends on you.”
Everyone looked at each other, but did not speak immediately.
Zhuge Jin's heart sank when he saw it.
What does it mean?
Could it be that my face is already so difficult to use?
Seeing the always elegant Zhuge Ziyu looking unhappy, someone finally said cautiously:
“Don’t you know, the general?”
“What do you know?”
“The school office has already informed us and asked us to pay to buy grain from Yong’an. At this time, it is impossible to say that the grain has already left Yong’an.”
When Zhuge Jin heard this, he was immediately shocked:
“When did this happen? Why didn’t I know?”
"We made an appointment with the school affairs office three months ago. The general has never interfered with matters in the west, so naturally we didn't dare to mention it to the general."
In fact, in order to monopolize the credit, the school affairs office did ask Jingzhou families not to mention it to Zhuge Jin and others easily.
Besides, when Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Ji Han Dynasty, was still alive, Zhuge Jin, in order to avoid suspicion, would either talk about official state affairs or private matters at home in his letters.
As for a family that sent a caravan to the Han Kingdom and wanted to get convenience from him, it was out of the question.
In the early years, the school affairs office went too far, and the senior general and others reported to His Majesty one after another to express faults of the school affairs office.
Only Zhuge Jin, Bu Zhi, Zhu Ran, Lu Dai and others remained silent, obviously not wanting to conflict with the school affairs office.
This matter is currently under the leadership of the school affairs office.
Even if the general really knows, what can he do?
Is it possible that he will be involved in it uncharacteristically?
So there is no difference whether you say it or not.
As expected, Zhuge Jin stopped talking when he heard that it was related to the school affairs office.
Just asked:
“Sichuan, is there really enough food to help Jingzhou?”
Everyone laughed and said:
"General, why should you worry? We have already sent people to check. If nothing else, I heard that in Jiangzhou alone, two crops of rice can be grown in one year."
“Their rice has now set ears and will be ready for harvest in more than a month.”
Hearing this, Zhuge Jin had a look of shock on his face:
“Growing two crops of rice in one year? Is the farming technique of the Han country so amazing?”
If this is the case, wouldn’t it be possible to double the rice production in the south of Shu?
“It is rumored that Zhang Boqi (also known as Zhang Ni), the governor of Jiangzhou, used to be a subordinate of Feng Duhu. When he was guarding Jiangzhou, he received fine seeds from Feng Duhu. I don’t know whether it is true or not..."
(End of this chapter)