Chapter 474 Granary

Wheat is harvested in July and millet is harvested in September. The harvest of millet is not as good as that of wheat, but compared with previous years, it is still very gratifying.

Because of the killing of several dealers, the government has set a minimum grain price, and now the grain price in the northwest is still very stable.

Looking at the brochures sent up by the local government, a rare smile appeared on Yu Xi's face. When all kinds of grain were collected, more than half of the government's granary was full.

Seeing this, Xu Wu asked: "Princess, will you go to Jiangnan to buy grain this year?" In the past two years, he has purchased a large amount of grain from Jiangnan and Taiyuan. Because of the long distance and the unevenness of the road, the cost of purchasing grain is actually very high.

Yuxi hummed and said: "I want to buy it." The government's current food storage is actually not much, and even if there is a natural disaster, it will not be able to last for a year.

Xu Wu said: "Princess, the price of food in Jiangnan is 20% higher than last year." Jiangnan has been relatively smooth for the past two years, and there have been no major natural disasters. However, there are rebels from time to time in Hubei, Henan and other places. In addition, many people have died in these years, and large areas of the land have been abandoned. If there is no food in these places, they have to buy it from outside, resulting in higher food prices year after year.

Yu Xi frowned, and said: "The price of food is higher than last year, so you have to buy more, and you have to buy more."

Xu Wu didn't quite understand, and asked: "We have a good harvest of grain this year, and next year if the potato is fully promoted, there will be more grain. Why do we have to go to Jiangnan to buy so much grain?" The grain they purchased did not come from Henan. , but shipped back from Hubei.

People who have been hungry like to store food, and Yuxi is no exception. I always feel that there is no food in my hand, and I feel very flustered and uneasy, but I can't talk about it. Yuxi said: "Can you guarantee that next year will be as smooth as this year?"

Xu Wu shook his head, no one can guarantee this kind of thing.

Yuxi said: "That's it. If there is a natural disaster, it will cost twice or even several times more than now to buy food." In the event of rebellion, even if you buy food, you will be robbed

In the evening, Yuxi told Yun Qing about this matter: "I want to spend another one million silver this year to buy food." In addition to food, other things such as beans and brown sugar also need to be stored.

Looking at Yuxi, Yunqing asked suspiciously: "Our harvest this year is very good, there is no need to buy so much food? Besides, we still have potatoes." This year's potato harvest is very good, and Tian Yang bought it back again More than 40,000 catties of seeds can be planted on a large scale this year.

Yuxi said: "Four years ago, one tael of silver could buy three shi of grain, but now one tael of silver and two shi of grain can't be bought. Once there is a natural disaster, even if there is money, we can't buy grain. Our granary has a lot of grain, but we can only buy it. It can be maintained until April or May next year." When the mobilization started, one tael of silver could only buy a few catties of grain or even nothing.

Yuxi likes to store more food, how can Yun Qing, who is the bedside person, not know. For Yu Xi's little hobby, Yun Qing finds it very interesting.

Yun Qing said with a smile: "You like to store food so much. If you don't know, you think you have been hungry?" Yuxi is the eldest daughter of the Duke's Mansion, even if she was not liked by Han Jingyan when she was a child, it is impossible for her to go hungry. Furthermore, she still has the care of the big room.

Yuxi's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't show it on her face: "Didn't I hear you say that because of natural disasters, you gnawed turf and tree roots because of the lack of food? We have food in our hands, and if there is a natural disaster, the soldiers don't have to suffer like that anymore." It's hard."

Yun Qing wasn't objecting, just joking, but Yuxi's answer made him very satisfied: "There is so much grain, the granary can't store it."

Yu Xi shook her head and said: "He Rui, these grains are not placed in the government's granary after purchase." Yu Xi is planning to store these grains secretly.

Yun Qing was a little surprised, and asked, "You mean to hide these grains? Why hide these grains?" Now they are the masters of the Northwest,

There is absolutely no need to hide food when you buy it. Unless Yuxi has other ideas.

Yuxi said: "It's not hiding, it's because I don't want the court's spies to know where we store grain. He Rui, I always feel that the next two years will not be as smooth as it is now. Store more grain now, and there will be more food in the Northwest in the future." A piece of stability.” As long as there is food, the Northwest will always be peaceful.

Yun Qing's heart trembled, and he asked, "Did you dream about anything bad?" It's normal to think so. It was a very gratifying thing to collect so much food. As a result, Yuxi now talks about natural disasters, so Yunqing has to think about it.

Yuxi shook her head and said, "No, I just have this feeling."

Yun Qing thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Leave the matter of the granary to me." The army built it in a secret place to prevent being discovered, so that spies would not be able to find out if they wanted to.

Yuxi said: "It's better to build more." The more food she stored, the more secure she would feel when natural disasters came.

Yun Qing joked: "Is ten granaries enough?" Seeing Yu Xi shaking his head and saying that at least twenty granaries should be built, Yun Qing laughed heartily.

The matter of building the granary, Yunqing didn't just hand it over to one person, but issued a secret order to the generals of the various garrisons, asking them to build more granaries in the garrison. It was also because Yuxi knew that the location where the military rations were stored was secretive and good, that's why she told Yunqing about it.

Master Yuan Ying was puzzled when he heard that Yun Qing said that he was going to build several military granaries, and asked Yun Qing: "My lord, what are you building so many granaries for? Is there some kind of disaster?"

Yun Qing smiled and said: "Madam said that next year's harvest may not be as good as it is now. Buy more food. If there is a natural disaster, we will not be afraid if we have food in our hands."

Yuan Ying had some doubts about Yun Qing's words, and said, "How does the princess know that next year's harvest will be bad?" Could it be that the princess can count and predict, and has the ability to predict.

Yun Qing can't say that Yuxi relies on intuition, because it's too childish: "She also listened to the old farmer below. I don't think it's reliable, but she thinks it's safe to store some food."

Yuan Ying didn't quite agree with Yun Qing's words: "It's also thanks to Madam's prudence. Otherwise, our battle last year would not have been so smooth." If Yuxi hadn't purchased so much food the year before, they would have rebelled. It won't be as smooth. They have all suffered from hunger, and Yuan Ying agrees with both hands when it comes to storing more food.

Yun Qing laughed: "Her decision really pleases you."

Yuan Ying didn't think much about it, and said: "I don't want to live the days of tightening my belt." In fact, like Yuan Ying's current position, even if there is a natural disaster, they will not be hungry. There is really no food, and those who are starving are the soldiers and ordinary people below.

In late October, candidates arrived in Pickaxe City. Because of Yuxi's words, there is an inn in Haocheng that is specially for receiving these examinees. They are free of charge, and they can stay there until their grades are issued.

Only more than 500 people were admitted in the first round; the number of people admitted in the second township exam was even smaller, only 98 people. But it's not easy to pass the second game.

Yu Xi showed Yun Qing the scientific examination questions that she proposed this time. This exam is the same as the general exam held by the imperial court. It is divided into three sessions, each lasting three days. The first session is a proposition of the Four Books and Five Classics, the second session is a policy question, and the third session is a historical discussion.

Yunqing took it and looked at it carefully. After reading it, Yun Qing said to Yu Xi: "I'll leave this matter to you." The four books and five classics were all compelled by my husband to finish studying, and I didn't read any historical treatises at all. If you ask him to mark the papers, his head will hurt.

Yuxi also knew Yunqing's weakness, so he didn't expect him to come to this matter: "If you have no objection, then it's settled." Although Yuxi has read a lot of books and has rich theoretical knowledge, she has no knowledge of scientific research. known. So this time it is mainly relying on Han Jianming and Tan Tuo. Although Han Jianming did not participate in the scientific examination, he was in touch with this area. And Tan Tuo is a person who has experienced scientific research.

Of course Yunqing had no objection.

Yuxi put the scientific examination questions on the table, and said: "It's not a problem for Zaozao to hide in the front yard every day." In order not to read and practice calligraphy, Zaozao simply lived in the front yard at night and never came back. However, both Huo Changqing and Yun Qing felt that Zao Zao was still young, and it would not be too late to study and practice calligraphy in two years, so they both protected Zao Zao and let Zao Zao live in the front yard.

Yun Qing smiled and said: "The child is still young. If you let her learn to read and write, even if she learns it, she will forget it soon. It is not too late to let her learn it after two years." Yun Qing was also a five-year-old He started reading and learning calligraphy at the age of 10.

In fact, Zao Zao is only three and a half years old, and two years later, she is only five years old. He started reading and writing at the age of five, just right. But Zaozao's attitude made Yuxi realize that reading and calligraphy must not be postponed. If you don’t persist now, you will become even more uncontrollable in two years.

Hearing this, Yu Xi said angrily: "It sounds like I abused her too much." Yu Xi doesn't have high demands on Zao Zao. It is to let Zao Zao recognize three or five characters every day, and then write each character ten times, and recite a short section of "San Zi Jing". It's a pity that in Yuxi's eyes, the simple and easy courses are a heavy task for Zaozao.

Yun Qing said helplessly: "The child doesn't like it, and it's useless to force it. The more you force her, the less she will want to learn." He has a deep understanding of the pain of being forced to study, so he feels that it is not good to use this method.

Yuxi said: "If you don't force her to learn, she won't be able to read all the words in the future." Seeing that Yunqing still wanted to speak, Yuxi shook her head and said: "Other matters can be discussed, but this matter is out of the question." With Yunqing's temperament, Zaozao might really become blind when he grows up.

After a pause, Yu Xi said: "I'm going to hire a gentleman to teach Zao Zao, and it doesn't take too long to learn, just one hour a day."

Yun Qing frowned, but he also knew that Yuxi's decision could not be changed: "Don't invite those old scholars. Those old scholars are old-fashioned. If you invite such a person to be Mr. Zao Zao, probably Zao Zao Zao will be even less willing to learn it when the time comes." He said it just because he said it, and he was tired of hearing it, let alone Zao Zao.

Yuxi is not an unreasonable person, but this time she was forced to implement tough measures. This child can't be forced, Yuxi nodded and said: "I will be careful about the candidate for Mr.." (To be continued)