"Military master, I really ate it, so let the kids go." The old man's forehead has knocked the soft yellow soil into a deep depression.
"Old man, this potato is still immature, how do you eat its leaves? Wouldn't this potato be useless?" Zhu Youjian remembered the green water mark on the corner of the little girl's mouth just now, and she must have eaten it too.
"Master Huijun, I'm hungry, I'm really hungry." The old man wailed loudly, but his shriveled body had no water, and there were no tears or nose or anything, so the crying turned into dry howl.
The appearance of this old man was too strange, plus it was thunder and not rain. If it weren't for the three children around him, all of them yellow, hungry, and malnourished, Wang Mujiu would definitely think that this was an assassin who was too good at stealth. .
"What, did you eat the leaves because you were hungry?" Zhu Youjian's eyes quickly caught up with the child's face.
"Yes, Jun Ye. If it weren't for hunger, who would eat this? Jun Ye, look, how thin are these three children? Jun Ye, it seems that their father is also a soldier. Just let these kids go!"
"But... But... Is this digestible?" Zhu Youjian's nose was sore, but he still resisted his impulse.
"How can this be digested? Every time I have a bowel movement... Oh! But the children are really hungry!" The old man seemed to have discovered something, "No, no, the children didn't eat it. I ate it all by myself."
Zhu Youjian couldn't help it anymore, his eyes were hot, he quickly turned around, "Old man, get up, we will never embarrass the child."
"Thank you Junye! Thank you Junye! As long as you let your children go, I will go with you." The old man knocked his head three times respectfully, before pulling the three children to their feet.
After a while, Zhu Youjian's eyes have cooled, and he turned around, "Old man, who else is in your family?"
"There are two sons and daughters-in-law, one of them is serving as a soldier."
Eight people, if it is not close to Duanchu, who is willing to let the children eat these leaves that come out as they go in? "Mujiu?" Zhu You summoned Wang Mujiu, whispered, and Wang Mujiu galloped away with a soldier.
"Military Lord, didn't you promise to let my grandson go?" The old man's hollow eyes showed fear.
"Don't worry, the old man, we won't embarrass the children. Your son is a soldier, doesn't the court issue military pay?"
"Fat or hair, but my son can only eat half full and has to train. Where can I take care of the family?"
It's no wonder that Zu Dashou gave the order to die, so he almost robbed those big households, and he had no choice but to do so. Zhu Youzhen couldn't understand why the people of Ming Dynasty were so poor
He now understands that in the history of later generations, the rebels in Shaanxi were recruited many times, and they always re-entered the road of rebellion after the recruits.
Because they can't be an obedient citizen, because after enrolling, they are still hungry.
The banditry in Shaanxi has temporarily subsided, but there is still a long way to go before the soil where the rebels exist is completely destroyed. Hunger will make the people who are originally kind, lose their nature.
Looking at these young and old, who were so thin that only skin and bones were left, Zhu Youjian felt very heavy. He said to the soldiers: "Take out a little bit of dry food and let them eat first."
Several soldiers took out the dry food they were carrying and handed it over.
The eyes of the three children shined, and their complexion was instantly ruddy, but their little hands were only raised, and they did not dare to pass, they all looked at the old man; the old man was struggling to grab a pancake and was about to stuff it into his mouth. But it was petrified in an instant: "The old man is leaving with the army master, don't waste it, let the children eat."
Zhu Youjian's eyes are hot again: "Old man, we will not take you away, nor will we take away children. You can eat."
The old man looked at Zhu Youzhen and found that Zhu Youzhen didn't seem to be lying. He grabbed the pancakes from the soldiers with both hands, distributed them to the children, and ate them himself.
The wind raged, and the old man regained his strength when he was young.
"Old man, eat slowly, don't choke, take care of your fullness. Well, give them water."
They couldn't hear Zhu Youjian's words, until the soldiers handed the kettle to their hands, they drank at the kettle.
After eating a pancake and drinking half a pot of water, the old man's speed slowed down.
"Old man, let me ask you a question." Zhu Youzhen asked carefully, afraid that the old man would choke.
The old man nodded desperately, his eyes still fixed on the pancake in his hand.
"Are the people in your village the same as you?"
"Well, everyone is almost the same. You can drink two meals of wheat batter a day, so you are a big family in the village." The old man swallowed the pancake in his mouth and prepared to take another bite.
Zhu Youjian is completely speechless. He has been thinking: How can we get rid of poverty in northern Shaanxi
There was no economist in Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Youjian did not study economics in later generations.
But Zhu Youjian summed up a simple truth: let the people have food, let the people have money to spend.
But he knew that it was extremely difficult to achieve these goals.
The first is that the problem of eating is not easy to solve.
Daming is not rich in food. It is good to have large households hoarding food, but the large households hoarding food for tens of millions of people are not worth mentioning.
Although the area of Daming is vast, there are too many mountains and too little arable land for growing food.
Wheat in the Central Plains, rice in the Jiangnan region. But the area of these two pieces of land is too small compared to the entire Ming Dynasty.
The Guanzhong Plain in southern Shaanxi once created the glory of the Great Han Dynasty, but with the changes in the natural environment, temperature and climate, it has long lost its former style. The land is barren, water sources are depleted, and foreign invaders make it difficult to feed its own population.
In the history of later generations, Zhu Youjian once saw on the map that in the south, outside the borders of Ming Dynasty, there are large tracts of arable land, and even double-season rice can be grown.
However, the hunger in Shaanxi was imminent, and Zhu Youzhen could not solve it.
Winter wheat will not be harvested until spring. A lot of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn seeds are shipped, but the harvest season is also not in season.
Although the imperial court transported part of the grain, it was not just a drop in the bucket, but a drop in the wages of the millions of people in northern Shaanxi. Zhu Youjian didn't know how to face Gao Yingxiang.
There are still four or five months to harvest winter wheat. Even if potatoes can fill some of the food vacancies, there are still more than two months. After such a long period of time, how will the people suffer
Besides, letting the people have money to spend is not an easy problem to solve.
Even if the people spend this cold winter and the wild spring next year, even if there is no severe drought next year, the people will just have food and clothing. It's still a thousand miles away from the money to spend.
Although Zhu Youjian increased the income of the people by recruiting migrant workers, the products produced by the factory must be sold in the society. According to the current purchasing power of the people, it is not known which year to wait for the formation of an industrial market.
"There is no wealth without work, and there is no stability without agriculture."
The experience of later generations is indeed effective, but to achieve this goal, Zhu Youjian alone will not be able to achieve this goal in his lifetime.
"His Royal Highness, the white noodles are here." Wang Mujiu finally returned, with the white noodles on the horseback.
"Yeah." Zhu Youjian stopped thinking and walked over to the old man, "Old man, take this white noodles with you! Don't eat these indigestible leaves again."
"Military Lord?" The old man couldn't believe his eyes at all, he was staring at these white faces in a daze.
"Ao, the old man can't be shipped back. Mu Jiu, arrange two soldiers to send the old man back. Be careful, take off the armor and don't scare the people in the village."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Thank you Junye, thank you Junye." The old man took his grandchildren and kowtowed to Zhu Youjian again. It really can't think of a way to be grateful except by kowtow.
"Old man, let's go back!" Zhu Youjian touched the head of the little girl who used to have vegetable juice from the corner of her mouth. "After the Chinese New Year, everything will be fine.
After sending the old man away, Zhu Youjian is no longer in the mood to inspect the people's feelings, and there is no need to inspect the people's feelings anymore. He led the soldiers around and headed for Xi'an.
In the early afternoon of that day, Zhu Youzhen and his entourage finally arrived in Xi'an.
Zhu Youjian found that if these one hundred soldiers walked on the streets of Xi'an, it would be too much an eye-catcher. He thought for a moment, "Li Jun, you left me five soldiers, and then took my film and went to live in Zuowei in Xi'an. When something happens, I will send someone to look for you."
"Yes, Your Highness." Li Jun left Zhu Youjian with most of the soldiers.
Zhu Youjian led Wang Mujiu, Liu Lin, Liu Kun and five soldiers into the city from the north gate. Directly facing the city gate is one of the widest roads in Xi'an-Beimen Street.
At this time, Xi'an was far less prosperous than in the Han and Tang Dynasties, but it was not comparable to ordinary northern cities. The banditry that occurred in Shaanxi a few months ago has little effect on Xi'an, and it is still peaceful here.
"Mu Jiu, you go to find out where in Xi'an is a city where people trade, the more detailed the better."
"Yes, Your Highness." Wang Mujiu led a soldier to the crowded place. Zhu Youjian had nothing to do for the time being, so he found a tea shop.
"Liu Kun, let's go in first to drink tea." The rest of the people swayed around here, responding to Wang Mujiu.
Xiao Er put on sweat towels on his shoulders and carried a kettle, adding hot water to the guests' teapots one by one. Seeing Zhu Youjian and Liu Kun coming in, he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "Guest officer, please take a seat. We have a good Tieguanyin in our store, and it will be ready soon."
"Okay, let's make a pot of tea first." Zhu Youzheng found a relatively quiet place near the window and took a seat. Because he wanted to hide his identity temporarily, Liu Kun also sat under Zhu Youjian.
"His Royal Highness, what are we going to do at the market?" Liu Kun still doesn't know why Zhu Youjian left him.
"Buy a house. I plan to open a shop in the busy city of Xi'an."
"Shop? What is your Highness going to sell?"
"Soap. The soap produced by Qianhu will be sold mainly in Xi'an. There are many rich people in Xi'an." Zhu Youjian's eyes were a little sly.
"His Royal Highness, but who is selling soap here?" Liu Kun had a hunch that the sale of soap might have something to do with him.
"You! You think I asked you to come to Xi'an for fun--Of course, you will have time if you want to see the big and small wild goose pagodas in the future."
"Huh? Me? Can it work?"
"Why not? I will give you a letter to the king, in case something happens? The local government of Shaanxi will give you its full support. Before I leave, I will teach you how to open the soap market." Zhu I don’t believe it by inspection. This exclusive business only has soap from the seller’s market, and it will not do well.
"His Royal Highness... But..."
"Stop it. Let me teach you a trick. Anyone who buys soap will be paid with grain instead of silver."