Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Seeing such a scene, the farmers did not shed tears because the moisture within them had dried up, leaving only their eyes filled with a frozen despair that mirrored the withered crops around them.
This is Zhao Family Village. As its name suggests, most of the residents in the village bear the surname Zhao. Over a century ago, their ancestors settled here to escape calamities. After migrating to this place, they understood the importance of unity. Bound by blood ties, they built a vast family community, working together to cultivate untamed land.
Time has passed, and as generations of the Zhao Clan flourished, their descendants multiplied, gradually shaping the present-day Zhao Family Village. With hundreds of villagers and over three thousand acres of farmland, it cannot be considered a prominent family by Han standards. Even in the surrounding Changshan County, it would not be regarded as a place of heroes. It can only be described as a well-off household.
This is quite logical. The poor study literature while the wealthy can afford to train their children in martial arts. Thus, ordinary farming families find it difficult to support children like Zhao Yun in both literary and martial studies.
However, the scene in Zhao Family Village was much like what had been seen on the journey here. The villagers were busy hauling buckets of water from afar to irrigate their crops. In times when drought was unheard of, due to the advantage of being near the Hutuo River, Zhao Family Village only needed to open the sluice gates to let river water flow in. The river would continuously nourish the land, requiring only a few farmers to monitor it to prevent overwatering that could damage the crops.
But today, the situation is drastically different. Years of drought have nearly drained the Hutuo River; currently, only a weak trickle remains in its lower channels. This small amount of water may not even reach the fields before being absorbed by the surrounding parched ground when the sluice gates are opened. Therefore, to protect their crops...
The villagers could only shoulder and carry water from the source, doing everything they could to save every single crop. As I stepped into the village, the scene changed abruptly. Compared to the outside world, the village felt unusually quiet, with a tense atmosphere in the air signaling an impending storm.
"Aunt San, where are my father and the others?" Zhao Yun asked the old woman busy weaving at the door.
"Oh, it's you, A Yun," the old woman replied, lifting her head to point towards a large tree nearby. "Your father and uncles are gathered over there discussing matters. The recent drought has made our lives increasingly difficult."
"Thank you, Aunt San."
With that, Zhao Yun took Yun Xiao Yi and headed towards the heart of the village.
At this moment, under the massive oak tree at the center of Zhao Family Village, the village chief lamented, "This drought is particularly severe. The villagers have been working day and night, but their efforts yield little result; many crops are still withering."
Another person spoke urgently, "While we must do our best to help, our food reserves are limited. If this continues, we may have to use our seed grain to stave off hunger."
"Chief," someone interjected, "the village has raised some funds to purchase food. Could this not alleviate our immediate crisis?"
Zhao An sighed deeply, "Even with this sum of money, it would be difficult to buy grain in large quantities."
"Why? That's a hundred thousand coins! In the past, that was enough to buy over a thousand stones of grain."
However, Zhao An shook his head again. "The situation now is not like before; the drought affects more than just one area. Although we rely on the Hutuo River and our situation is relatively better, do you know about the current state of Julu County? It is said that people there are trading their children for food."
"While several provinces in the south have not yet been affected by the drought, due to rampant speculation and hoarding, local prices have already soared to unbearable levels. Right now, a stone of grain costs around five hundred coins; a hundred thousand coins may not even be enough to buy two Bai Shi of grain."
Everyone present expressed their outrage: "Only two Bai Shi? That amount would barely sustain the village for half a month!"
It should be noted that under the measurement system of the Han Dynasty, each pound was equivalent to half of what it is today. Although there were differences in measuring stones, during the Taiping period, a stone of grain was priced at about thirty coins. Now, that price has skyrocketed to over five hundred coins—almost ten times its previous value.
After long-term savings, the funds could only buy enough food to sustain the entire village for a mere few weeks. If prices continued to rise, the actual quantity they could obtain would be even more limited. What a desperate situation this was!
Everyone in the room fell silent, their hearts heavy with sorrow.
"Then, Chief, perhaps we could organize a team to head south to purchase grain?"
However, Zhao An shook his head in disapproval of this suggestion. "Let's discuss this later." Did he think that Zhao Family Village had not considered procuring supplies on their own?
Yet, organizing a grain convoy was not as easy as it sounded. Although the south had not suffered from drought, certain areas were facing flooding. Where could they find low grain prices? How should they plan the route? How would they deal with potential looting? And what if they encountered obstruction from local authorities?
These questions all needed answers. Why could other grain merchants manage it? Naturally, it was because they had connections with the government. Grain transported from other regions sold for five hundred coins. They had to hand over seven-tenths of the profits, keeping only three-tenths for themselves.
Unwilling to share part of the profits? Then you should have never encountered those well-armed and well-trained teams.
In fact, Zhao Family Village also hoped to collaborate with the government. However, given their current strength, they didn't even qualify as a negotiating partner.
While privately purchasing grain was one option, it came with extremely high risks. Any oversight could lead to massive losses. The small scale of Zhao Family Village made it difficult for them to bear such consequences.
Comment 0 Comment Count