After the morning court session ended, Old Lord Wen walked ahead for the first time, changing his usual slow pace of walking and walking very fast.
The ministers respected their status and did not run after him. They could only watch Lord Wen run away.
Zhou Shuren looked at the Wen family's relatives and raised his eyebrows. This was something that had been discussed long ago. Although the Wen family attracted hatred, they also won some good reputation. People are forgetful. The Wen family has restrained themselves and will manage their reputation well in the future. Except for those who have hatred against the Wen family, people will only remember the kindness of the Wen family in a few years.
Mr. Wang came over and asked, "How much is Shuren going to donate?"
The two families are in-laws, so they need to communicate on this matter to avoid embarrassing the two families if there are too many differences.
Zhou Shuren stretched out his hand and slapped it, "I can't compare to the Wen family, who are rich and powerful. I will donate 500 stones."
This was the most grain he could provide, as his own land was not as abundant as the Wen family's.
In the past few years, his wife has bought a lot of land, all in the grain-producing continent. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to get even 500 shi. Alas, the grain output in ancient times was too low, so low that he gets a headache when he looks at the data.
Old Master Wang stroked his beard and said, "The food donated by the Wen family is from the entire Wen family. Are you donating the entire Zhou family, or are you donating it yourself, the Minister of Revenue?"
Zhou Shuren narrowed his eyes and snorted twice. He really ignored it. "I donated it myself, and my sons donated their own food. Old man, the people are short of food and need to save their lives."
Old Master Wang was silent. He had been an official all his life, and in his heart, the people and family were the most important. He looked at Zhou Shuren deeply. Throughout Zhou Shuren's journey, most people saw Zhou Shuren's ability and luck, but ignored what Zhou Shuren had done for the people.
In recent years, Zhou Shuren has promoted many policies that benefit the people.
Mr. Wang smiled and said, "The Wang family also donated grain in the same way as you did."
Zhou Shuren tilted his head, "The old man didn't split the family."
Because he and Zhulan came from modern times, they did not interfere in the family's businesses and even helped. Each branch had its own business, and the sons had the foundation to donate grain. The Wang family did not split up, and the businesses were concentrated together.
Mr. Wang said, "I have already drawn up a list of divisions, and will donate food in proportion to the division of the property."
Zhou Shuren bowed slightly, "Old man, you are very kind."
Mr. Wang could have donated an integer like the Wen family did, and no one would have found fault with it. Donating grain in the same way as he did would have resulted in a lot more grain being donated, and the extra grain could have saved many people's lives.
When Qiu Yan returned to the Ministry of Revenue, he learned that the Wen family had taken the lead in donating grain, and then he became worried, "How much do you think I should donate?"
Zhou Shuren looked at Qiu Yan and felt sad. Not every family can run an industry. The big families control the merchants who make money, and the money produced by the fields accounts for a small proportion. Donating grain will not be a big deal. The main source of expenses for Qiu Yan's family is the rent of fields and shops.
Zhou Shuren asked, "How much grain did you sell?"
Qiu Yan said: "Half of it was sold."
There was still half of the food left at home, and he had not added much to the Qiu family's assets. He felt that his family was living a better life than most, but still quite satisfied with their life. Who would have thought that the national grain harvest was not good this year, and his wife had already started to be frugal.
Zhou Shuren patted Qiu Yan on the shoulder and said, "Do what you can."
Qiu Yan hardened his heart and asked, "I donate 100 shi?"
"I mean to do what you can. Don't donate your food rations. There is a shortage of food on the market right now. If you donate food this time, there will definitely be people who will buy it in large quantities. Then it will be difficult for you to buy food."
Qiu Yan sighed, "If I had known, I wouldn't have sold so much food."
"You are also buying a dowry for your granddaughter. You can't save money on the dowry."
Qiu Yan, "Hey, let me think about how much to donate."
The news of the grain donation spread quickly, and the Wen family acted even faster. By noon, the Ministry of Revenue had received 1,000 dan of grain, rice bran, etc.
At the Zhou family, when Zhulan received the news, she asked the housekeeper to go to the manor in person to tell the eldest brother that the grain was stored in the manor and that the grain needed to be transported from the manor to Beijing.
Li asked, "Mother, how much grain did my second brother donate?"
"I'll have someone go to the Liu family and ask how much Lord Liu will donate. Changyi can just donate about the same amount as the Liu family."
Su Xuan asked: "Where is the third brother?"
Zhulan didn't worry about Changlian, "The news of the grain donation will spread to all states. The grain for the third house has been transported to Qizhou, so the third house doesn't need to worry."
As she was talking, Xue Han returned to her parents' home. Xue Han asked, "Mom, how much is the family going to donate?"
Zhulan got the news from Jinyan, "Your father donated 500 shi, your eldest brother donated 100 shi, your second brother wants to look after the Liu family, and your fourth brother donated 100 shi."
Xue Hanyi counted the amount of money in his family, not including his third brother. It was a huge sum. "How can we donate separately?"
Zhu Lan shook her head. "If we don't donate together, we can donate more this way. Why did you come back without preparing food?"
"I was afraid that there was not enough food at home, so I came back to ask if you needed any food. You also know that the Qin Palace has a lot of fields."
Zhulan laughed. The King of Qin was indeed generous. "Have you asked the Princess of Qi how much she donated?"
Xue Han said, "The news spread from the palace, and several princely palaces passed the letter. The Qin Palace is the emperor's brother, and he is also the richest prince. It will be embarrassing if we donate less. Our Qin Palace will donate 2,000 shi."
This year she wanted to sell some grain, but since her parents' family didn't sell any grain, she saved it all. Now the Prince Qin's Mansion has grain!
"Where is the Prince Qi's Mansion?"
Xue Han said: "The other palaces all have 1,500 shi."
Zhulan counted the food and said with emotion: "The Wen family really did a good thing this time."
No matter what the calculation was, the Wen family donated a lot, so those who wanted to get away with it did not dare to donate less. This batch of grain greatly alleviated the food pressure.
At the same time, Zhulan also felt sad. The poor people could not even give out a few kilograms of food, while the wealthy families occupied the fertile land and donated more food than many people could grow in their entire lives.
The sadness of the times, the serious gap in class status, resources are in the hands of the powerful, there is still plenty of fish and meat on the tables of the powerful, but the people have to count the grains of grain to survive.
Xue Han saw her mother's sad expression and asked, "Mom, are you unhappy?"
"I am happy, but I feel sad that if your father had not passed the imperial examination, our family would also be worried about food."
If they were still in Zhoujia Village, they would be unable to do anything in the face of climate change and could only protect their own small homes.
Now that his identity has changed, Shu Ren has influenced the emperor to come up with the fish cakes and has expressed other ideas, trying his best to save the lives of the people.
Zhangzhou, Changyi set off again, with the Wang family and a doctor. Changyi would not delay his journey because of his sick child. He wanted to reach his daughter's house earlier instead of being stuck in the town by the snow.
Asking a doctor to follow him was his greatest kindness.
Zhao was concerned about the Wang family because she thought of her own escape. She gave the Wang family some old clothes from her servants and maids, and replied, "I didn't meet any kind-hearted people back then."