Futai County Government Office
Ren Zilin said angrily: "The Ministry of Revenue has sent down an official document, saying that the price of grain seeds in Zhao State has increased again this year. Ten kilograms of grain must be exchanged for every kilogram of wheat seeds. The most infuriating thing is that only our Chu State has to exchange ten kilograms, while Jin State and Yan State only need to exchange six kilograms!"
Ren Zilin was really angry. It would have been fine if the exchange price for the other two countries was the same as that for Chu, but why was the exchange price for Chu so particularly expensive
Zhao and Chu are relatives by marriage!
The intelligent, young and beautiful princess of their Chu State was married to the Zhao State as a concubine and became the concubine of the old man!
When the princess married, she was only 16 years old!
But the tyrant of Zhao State is already fifty years old!
The poor eldest princess has had three miscarriages in the past few years.
I don't know what kind of torture I suffered.
Over the years, Wei Feng and the prince broke into the Zhao palace many times to rescue her, and both of them almost lost their lives, but the eldest princess was unwilling to leave.
Why? Because they were afraid that Zhao would use this as an excuse to send troops and the people would suffer!
These were all the emperor's fault. A war should have broken out back then. However, the emperor sent the eldest princess to marry the emperor and also promised to pay tribute every year.
Damn it, he actually hoped a fight could happen!
The more you give in, the more you get bullied!
Ren Zilin did not dare to mention the princess in front of Chu Tiankuo. He said, "The Ministry of Revenue urged the county magistrates in various places to report the amount of grain seeds needed as soon as possible, lest it be too late for Zhao to go back on its word. Damn it, it's late enough now, the autumn harvest is almost here, and it's so late this year. The tyrant of Zhao did it on purpose, deliberately bullying our Chu! Now we don't know if the grain we get back can be in time for the autumn planting!"
Chu Tiankuo didn't say anything. He looked at the documents on the table. There was not much expression on his face, but he exuded a terrifying aura.
Whenever Zhao State was mentioned, he would think of his imperial sister.
Ren Zilin didn't dare to say anything more. He stared at his face quietly and whispered, "Well, how much grain did Futai County purchase this year?"
A face full of caution.
"Twenty thousand." Chu Tiankuo responded indifferently.
He thought of corn.
This corn, which has a maximum yield of 900 kilograms per mu, can only be planted next year.
Although the number of seeds from the spirit pearl is limited, there is not enough for so many people in Chu to share. But as long as we can survive this year, we will be much better in another year.
Agriculture in the State of Chu was very underdeveloped, and the grain output per mu in the State of Chu was only about 300 kilograms. A yield of nearly 400 kilograms was considered a bumper harvest, which was very rare.
Among the four countries, Zhao had the highest grain output. In addition to its fertile land, Zhao also had a powerful agricultural official. The rice yield per mu in Zhao could reach more than 600 kilograms, and the wheat yield per mu could reach 700 kilograms. Both the rice and wheat seeds were cultivated by an agricultural official in Zhao.
Therefore, the State of Zhao would sell grain seeds to the four countries every year in exchange for more grain.
The State of Zhao did not charge money for selling grain seeds, but only grain. One kilogram of grain seeds required six to ten kilograms of grain to exchange.
Because of selling grain seeds, Zhao State became the country with the largest grain reserves and the lowest taxes among the four countries.
Ren Zilin nodded: "That's what I was planning too. Then I'll write a letter back to Beijing now."
In the past, Futai County could not get this amount. After all, the most grain seeds the court could get from Zhao State was only 500,000 to 600,000 catties. Futai County could only get 10,000 catties of grain seeds in the past. Then each household was given one catty, and the rest went to the highest bidder.
But this year he is the county magistrate here, so it is still possible for him to get an extra 10,000 kilograms.
However, I can only get an extra 10,000 kilograms at most. The autumn harvest has not arrived yet, and Futai County does not have much grain in stock, so it is not enough to exchange.
However, the grain seeds had to be prepared for the State of Zhao, exchanged in advance, and sown after the autumn harvest.
It takes a lot of time for the two countries to trade back and forth. If it is not done in advance, it will delay sowing.
He thought the previous county magistrate had already submitted a letter regarding the grain seeds, but he didn't expect it to be so late.
At this time, Li Yong rushed in and said, "Sir, there is an official document in the capital!"
Chu Tiankuo stretched out his hand: "Give it to me."
Li Yong knew that this legal advisor was very trusted by the county magistrate, so he gave the document to Chu Tiankuo and then tactfully withdrew.
Chu Tiankuo opened the urgent letter and took a look at it, then said, "No need to send the message."
Ren Zilin paused for a moment: "What's wrong?"
Chu Tiankuo gave him the letter.
Ren Zilin took it and took a look. The general content of the official document was: The Ministry of Revenue has completed the exchange of grain seeds with the State of Zhao, and the grain seeds are on the way back. Now the Ministry of Revenue notifies local government offices to prepare grain to go to Beijing to exchange for grain seeds. Counties that fail to submit letters in time do not need to prepare grain to go to Beijing. This year, the court only exchanged 400,000 kilograms of grain seeds from the State of Zhao, and there is no extra grain seeds.
Ren Zilin was stunned for a moment, not understanding: "Didn't the official document from the Ministry of Revenue asking the counties to report just arrived? How come there is another official document coming down so soon asking the counties to prepare grain and send it to the capital to exchange for grain?"
There must be a time difference of more than ten days between these two official documents, right? They shouldn't arrive on the same day!
Chu Tiankuo didn't say anything.
Ren Zilin figured it out instantly!
He couldn't help but kick the desk: "That son of a bitch, the Minister of Revenue!"
The Minister of Revenue is from the Second Prince's faction.
The Liang family must have known that he was the county magistrate here, so they deliberately delayed the issuance of the first official document. Now the two documents arrived one after the other on the same day. This was not a deliberate teasing on his part!
He had only been in office for a few days. Although he knew that he needed to submit a petition every year to purchase grain seeds, he thought the previous county magistrate had already done so.
After all, it was almost autumn harvest when he took office.
It's ok to tease him, but how can you joke about the food rations of the people in an entire county? This could result in death!
He looked at Chu Tiankuo: "What should we do now?"
If there are no high-yield grain seeds for the people, something bad will happen!
Chu Tiankuo held the silver bead in his hand and said calmly, "What do you think?"
Ren Zilin: "How about I ask my dad to get some?"
Otherwise, by then every county will have high-yield grain varieties to provide to the people, but Futai County does not have them, and that would be a big deal.
He had only been the county magistrate for a few days, and he hadn't done anything good yet, let alone the first thing he should do for the people.
The people of the Liang family will definitely take this opportunity to report him to the emperor, and it is uncertain whether he can continue to serve as the county magistrate.
Haven’t they figured out what they want to investigate yet
Of course, the most important thing is that he has to get some high-yield grain seeds back for the people under his rule!
Chu Tiankuo shook his head: "No need."
Ren Zilin was stunned. "What do you mean by 'no need'?"
Don’t care anymore
This is a major issue that concerns whether the majority of poor people can have food to eat in the coming year!
The imperial fields are planted with high-yield crops. His father leads the soldiers to cultivate the imperial fields every year, so it should be no problem to allocate some of the crops to them.
Chu Tiankuo said coldly: "Since Prime Minister Liang has taken action, he will naturally have a backup plan. There is no need for General Ren to give the people of the Censorate a chance to talk."
"Then I'll ask my father to borrow some from other counties in the capital?"
"No!"
General Ren was able to borrow grain seeds, but this could not cover up their negligence in this matter.
Although the Ministry of Revenue sent the document late, there could be many reasons for its delay. Spring ploughing, autumn harvest and autumn planting are major events every year. As the magistrate of a county, he should have taken the initiative to submit a letter to the Ministry of Revenue in advance regarding the purchase of grain seeds, just in case.
If you are wrong, you are wrong. Borrowing grain seeds from other counties will only make others share the responsibility of your mistake.
Not advisable.
"So what do you say we should do?"
Chu Tiankuo stood up and said, "Looking for grain seeds."
Ren Zilin: “… ..”
Isn't this nonsense? Didn't he just say that he was looking for grain seeds