Seven days passed in a blink of an eye. Ming Teng returned to Beijing from Pinggang and brought back a lot of seafood from Pinggang.
Zhulan asked, "Changed?"
Now the high-quality seafood is kept to exchange for food, and Mingteng brought back two large baskets.
Ming Teng nodded and said, "My grandson exchanged two carts of rice and five carts of rice bran for it. My grandson chose several kinds of seafood that his family likes to eat."
Zhulan breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Mingteng would take it back directly. Now they were all eyeing the food, so it was better to be careful. Their family had enough food to exchange for seafood. "The price of food in the market has gone up in the past few days."
Ming Teng sat a little far away from his grandmother. He knew the smell on his body. "Is the silver this year not as valuable as in previous years?"
Zhulan also knew that due to food shortages and rising prices, the purchasing power of silver had decreased. The court did not dare to invest its gold mines in the market, fearing that it would cause more serious inflation. Seeing that her grandson looked a little haggard, she asked distressedly, "How many days can you rest?"
Ming Teng and Xu Chen discussed that they would each stay for seven days, so they didn’t need to be in Pinggang at all. They could take turns to rest, and “the grandson can stay at home for seven days.”
"Just in time to replenish you."
"Thank you, grandma."
Ming Teng sat for a while and then returned to his own yard. His great-grandfather and his father had gone to the farm. He suddenly thought of taking his wife to live there for a few days.
When I returned to the yard, I saw my wife sitting by the window in a daze, "What are you thinking about?"
Liu Jia said in surprise: "You're back."
"Um."
When Liu Jia smelled the scent on her husband's body, her stomach churned and she couldn't help but dry-heave. This made the maids who came with her as a dowry very happy, and they quickly sent someone to call a doctor.
Ming Teng, "You feel sick in your stomach?"
“Maybe I ate something wrong.”
Liu Jia didn't think about being pregnant, her periods have always been regular.
The doctor came quickly and after carefully checking the pulse, he said, "Your spleen and stomach are weak. You need to take care of them more recently."
Liu Jia knew in her heart that she was not pregnant, but she still couldn't help but feel hopeful, and she lost spirits after the doctor left.
Ming Teng reacted, "Are you in a hurry to have a child?"
"My eldest sister-in-law got pregnant soon after she came into the family. I haven't seen any pregnancy for almost a year since I came into the family. My great-grandfather is old and has been looking forward to the Rong family having an heir. I am anxious."
Ming Teng sat down and said, "Children are destiny. They will come when they are supposed to. I'm telling you, you are not allowed to take any recipes for having children. This is the most taboo in our family."
Liu Jia didn't want to take medicine. Medicine is poisonous, and she was afraid. "I'll remember that."
Ming Teng, "Tomorrow we will go to the manor and stay for a few days. I will accompany you well."
"real?"
"real."
Liu Jia smiled happily. Since she got married, her husband has never spent enough time with her.
Zhangzhou is not far from the capital. If it weren’t for the snow, Changyi would have walked faster.
After entering Zhangzhou, Changyi looked out the window when he had nothing to do. Zhao huddled in a thick cloak and said, "There's nothing to see outside when it's all snow."
"I'll just take a look."
"It's really cold today. It's really hard to travel in winter."
Even if the carriage was modified, it still did not provide good warmth retention.
Changyi, "This winter is indeed cold."
Zhao felt sorry for her daughter. "The place managed by my son-in-law lacks everything. My daughter and grandson are suffering."
Chang Yi was silent. When his father failed to take the imperial examination, his family also lived a hard life. It has only been a short time, and they can no longer go back to those hard days.
The carriage suddenly stopped, and Chang Yi asked, "What happened?"
The guards on horseback came over and said, "There are people stopping the carriage to beg."
Chang Yi, "A lot?"
The guard felt sorry for them and said, "There was only one family begging with a child. The youngest child was about three years old and his lips were blue from the cold."
Chang Yi frowned and pulled his heavy cloak closer, "I'll go take a look."
When Changyi walked to the front, the guards were already treating the child. The child was wearing a guard's cloak, his face was blue, and his breathing was very weak, as if he would die at any time.
A couple in their thirties were kneeling in the snow, with a few older children behind them. Each child was shaking with cold. The jackets they wore were filled with straw, which was not warm at all. The same went for their shoes. Kneeling in the snow, the children's knees ached from the cold, but they endured it without saying a word.
It's okay for boys to have a hot temper, but for girls who are freezing in such cold weather, it will be difficult for them to survive and get married.
Chang Yi thought about how hard this year would be for the poor state, and after seeing it with his own eyes, he sighed and signaled the servant to prepare a carriage for the guards to rest, so that the family could warm up first. If he didn't care, the temperature today would be enough to freeze people to death, and even if they didn't freeze to death, they would catch a cold and die.
The only future for this family is death.
Inside the palace of the capital, Zhou Shuren was exhausted. As a steward of the imperial court, he had to worry about everything. He took the statistics from the King of Qi and asked, "So little?"
The King of Qi sighed, "People don't have much food stored at home. After winter, most of the poultry is killed to save food. Some of the remaining poultry are killed for the New Year, and some are kept for eggs to supplement the family income next year. As for larger animals such as pigs and sheep, they are basically killed in winter."
Zhou Shuren, "... ... It seems I have to raise it in the south."
King Qi, "There is a great flood and I am afraid of plague. Many livestock have been killed in the south."
Zhou Shuren put down the data and said, "That also needs to be raised."
The emperor said: "Then arrange it."
Zhou Shuren only provides ideas and is not responsible for the follow-up, as there are people who understand the situation to manage it.
The prince said, "There are foreign envoys who want to exchange for fish cakes."
Zhou Shuren glanced sideways, "What do you want in exchange?"
The prince said, "Exchange it with medicinal herbs."
Zhou Shuren looked at the emperor without saying a word. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, the emperor said, "Many people have been frostbitten and infected with diseases this year. I think we can change some medicinal materials."
Zhou Shuren felt distressed when he thought of the medicinal herbs. He had saved up so much money, but now it was all gone. He said, "I think we can exchange it."
The prince continued, "There is another country that exchanges wood for fish cakes."
Zhou Shuren thought to himself that the prince said this at the emperor's instruction, which showed that the emperor wanted to change the wood.
The emperor put his hands behind his back and said, "It takes many years for a tree to grow. The construction and sale of ships over the years have consumed too much wood. I think we can replace it."
He had also purchased foreign timber in recent years, but the price of foreign timber had risen a lot due to the sale of ships. Now that he could exchange it for fish cakes, he felt it was a good deal.
At the Zhou family, Zhulan was looking through the account book. This month's expenses were a bit high, and the biggest expense was the greenhouse. The manor has always had greenhouses, but no large-scale construction had been done. This year, she and Zhou Shuren both had a bad feeling, so they asked the eldest brother to go to the manor to build more greenhouses.
Xuemei said, "Mom, my parents-in-law are also planning to build a greenhouse."
“Why do they want to build a greenhouse?”
"My parents-in-law want to grow some vegetables. With a greenhouse, they can mature earlier. They think they can sell the vegetables for a lot of money next year."
Zhulan laughed, "Your parents-in-law have been growing vegetables for the past few years, so they have some experience."
"Well, my parents-in-law look forward to the beginning of spring every year. They can earn a lot of money from the vegetables they grow in the spring."
Zhulan thought of Jiang Miao, "Is Miao Miao doing well in her hometown?"
Xuemei, "I get angry every time I think about it. The uncles didn't dare to write to us, and they kept pestering Miu Miu, asking Miu Miu to intercede for us."
"What did your mother-in-law say?"
"My parents-in-law scolded my uncles in front of me. The old lady wanted us to vent our anger, but I pretended not to understand. This time, no one can intercede for us."
Zhulan said: "It's good that you know what's going on."