Zhou Shuren left the palace at noon. He had been talking with the emperor all morning about what could be used to replace food. The people on the grassland now rely entirely on military relief food. The relief food is not much, and they can only have one meal a day to eat half full, as long as they don't starve to death.
We can’t keep providing food to the soldiers, and we can’t delay providing food to the people on the grassland any longer.
After leaving the palace, Zhou Shuren saw Jinyan's happy face. Before Zhou Shuren could ask, Jinyan said, "Master, Princess Qin is awake."
Zhou Shuren's worried expression disappeared, and a look of joy appeared on his face. "It's good that he woke up, it's good that he woke up. What did the imperial physician say after seeing him?"
Jin Yan said, "The imperial physician said that the princess needs to rest and it is not suitable for her to move now. She needs to stay in confinement for two months."
Zhou Shuren breathed a sigh of relief. He was happy that his daughter had woken up. His eyes fell on the falling snowflakes, and a look of worry appeared on his face again. Food, "Let's go back to the Ministry of Revenue."
He has to make careful calculations with the grain that has just been harvested.
At the Zhou family, Zhulan fed her daughter porridge until she couldn't drink any more. Then she let the maid take it away and wiped the corners of her daughter's mouth with a handkerchief.
Xue Han was still very weak, "Mom, you don't have to take care of me yourself, I have the girl!"
Zhulan, "Let me take care of you, I will feel at ease. This time, let me take good care of you during the confinement period."
Xue Han felt tired even when talking. When she was unconscious, she was not conscious. She was drowsy until she woke up. It felt like she had been through the gates of hell and was in another world.
Xue Han, "Mom, I'm sorry to have made you and Dad worried these days."
Zhulan touched her daughter's hand, which had just been taken out of the quilt for a while before it became cold. She quickly put it back into the quilt, "Since you know we are worried, you should take good care of yourself in the future."
Xue Han was also afraid. She almost got hurt. Thinking about the child's lung problems, she felt bad. "Yeah."
Zhulan saw that her daughter was not very energetic and needed more rest after waking up. She heard footsteps and Rongchuan came back from washing up. She stood up and said, "I'll go see the child."
The child was taken care of by an imperial physician who lived in Zhou's house.
Rong Chuan's eyes were bloodshot, "How do you feel?"
Xue Han raised her hand and touched her husband's face, "I just slept for a while, why do I feel like you've aged several years?"
"I worry about you."
Xue Han had tears in her eyes, "You just can't take care of yourself."
Rong Chuan didn't dare to close his eyes, and held his wife's hand, "Madam, please make room for me, I want to sleep with you."
Xue Han glared, "This is a bed for confinement."
Although there is no taboo against men entering the confinement room, they never sleep together.
Rong Chuan, however, carefully carried his wife to a position away, then lay down smoothly and said, "I can't sleep without you by my side."
Xue Han looked at the dumbfounded female official, who seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Xue Han lowered her head again and found that her husband had fallen asleep.
In Qizhou, Chang Lian looked up at the sky and said, "Is it snowing?"
There was uncertainty in his voice.
The prefect looked serious and raised his head to look at the falling snowflakes. "Yes, it's snowing."
Chang Lian's eyes widened. "I have been in Qizhou for several years, but this is the first time I have seen snow in Qizhou. This..."
The prefect rubbed his hands. This year's flood had a huge impact on Qizhou. Everything was in short supply. "This year's weather is colder than in previous years."
Chang Lian felt heavy in his heart. "Less than half of the winter rice has been harvested, and the fish haven't grown much. The winter vegetables that the people just planted will be frozen to death by this snow."
The prefect frowned. The court exempted the disaster-stricken states from taxes, so the people had food to survive. This winter vegetable was also a life-saving vegetable. "The relief food sent by the court is gone."
Chang Lian nodded, "Yes, this batch of food will last until the winter rice is harvested. Now that the winter rice has been harvested, there is no relief food left."
The prefect said, "There isn't much money left in the government office."
Chang Lian frowned and said, "I just hope the snow isn't too heavy."
If it snows heavily, this winter will be even more difficult to endure.
The prefect looked at Chang Lian and said, "I will cooperate with you on what you proposed."
He had a bad feeling about this snow. Although the people had some food from their rice harvest, the output was too low and the people with few fields could not survive the winter. If he stored more food, it could save lives. As for the imperial court, it could no longer provide any extra food.
And if he wrote another memorial to the capital, it would show his incompetence.
Chang Lian raised his eyebrows. He had already thought of a plan, but the prefect suppressed it because the court approved the relief grain. Now the snow made the prefect uneasy. "Yes."
Five days passed in a blink of an eye. Xue Han recovered well and was able to sit for a while. Rong Chuan wanted to accompany his wife during her confinement period, but too many things were waiting for him. Eunuch Zhang asked him to leave the Zhou Mansion, packed his simple luggage and set off for Pinggang.
The patrol ships of Pinggang returned with a lot of seafood. He went to Pinggang to be responsible for the processing of the seafood.
In just a few days, Pinggang had established several workshops for processing seafood, waiting for the arrival of King Qin.
This was the solution Zhou Shuren and the emperor came up with. Rice bran and straw were mixed with some cornmeal, and some fish and seaweed were added, then baked into pancakes. The fish could also help to resist hunger, and the fish should be used to the maximum extent possible.
The fish bones are not wasted. They are all ground into powder to supplement calcium and resist hunger. At this time, the only thing to do is to stay alive, and the fishy smell is not a concern.
Ginger is an important material now, and there is not enough ginger to remove the fishy smell. As for wine, forget it. This year's grain output is low, the court has controlled winemaking, and some private wineries are not allowed to make wine.
In order to catch more fish, the imperial court also ordered the navy to organize civilian fishing boats to go out to sea together.
Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren touched the teacup, he also thought of goat milk, etc., and sighed.
Emperor Retired, "Why is Shu Ren sighing?"
Zhou Shuren, "I feel sorry for the sheep and cattle that the herders have worked so hard to raise."
The people who suffered the most from the war were the common people. The people on the grassland were the defeated party. They were robbed by deserters from their own tribe and soldiers from the imperial court. They could not even protect their cattle and sheep. Even if some of them survived, they could only kill them to fill their stomachs in the face of hunger. A large number of sheep and cattle had already been lost.
As a result, the prices of beef and mutton in Beijing have increased and are still very scarce.
Emperor Retired, "Shu Ren is worried about the goat milk and cow milk from the grassland."
Zhou Shuren nodded, "Yes, if there are herds of cattle and sheep, dairy products are nutritious and can also help with hunger."
If he had goat's milk and cow's milk, he could do more, but unfortunately he doesn't have them, so he said there is no good way. Ideas without material support are just empty talk. Now he can only think of a solution on the ocean.
Fortunately, there was no pollution in ancient times, and there was no fishing moratorium in the near sea like in modern times, so the navy had a good harvest on its first attempt at fishing.
The Emperor, "The fish bone powder you mentioned is very good."
He had already tasted the roasted fish bones prepared by the imperial chef, and it tasted really good, but it was a pity that he was old and his teeth were in bad condition.
Zhou Shuren squinted his eyes. He could actually grow mushrooms, but he didn't know how to make mushroom spores. It was not his specialty. "Hey, I am the Minister of Finance and I am in charge of money."