Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

"I don't think the situation will be good next year. The grain price is a little lower now, but it will go up in the spring. If your family has some spare money, you can stock up on some grain." Xiao Lan's family has always taken care of his business and is a big customer of his. Shopkeeper Liang did not hide anything and said it clearly.

Xiao Lan was very surprised. "Next spring, we can dig wild vegetables. When we plant vegetables and grains, we will be able to get better slowly. Why do you say that it won't get better next year, Shopkeeper Liang?"

"What the Second Miss said is not bad, but the area affected this time is too wide. The relief grain from the imperial court is not enough to solve the problem of food and clothing for the refugees. The relief grain distributed by the villages and towns is even less. It is uncertain whether the imperial court will have grain to provide relief to the victims next year."

After listening to what Manager Liang said, Xiao Lan felt that his analysis made sense. She had thought too superficially at first. The family had more or less some surplus food this year, and after a year's consumption, the stored food had been almost used up. It seemed that next year would most likely be as Manager Liang had analyzed, and Taihe Town and even Dafeng County would face severe tests.

Nowadays, beans cost fifty wen per pound, millet costs sixty wen per pound, and wheat, rice, and millet all cost over a hundred wen.

There are more people in the family now, and it is good to have enough food these days. Xiaolan decided to store 5,000 kilograms of beans and 5,000 kilograms of millet. Xiaolan gave Liang the shopkeeper 100 taels of silver, "Shopkeeper Liang, tomorrow please arrange for someone to bring the grain to my house. This is the deposit, and the balance will be paid tomorrow."

Before Shopkeeper Liang could reply, Sheng Xuan started to get anxious. "Xiao Lan, why are you buying so much food? How much money will it cost? We have almost given away all our savings."

"Dad, there are many people in our family and we eat a lot. We would rather buy more and have some left over than wait until we need to eat and there is no food at home. You see that the price of food is high now, but think about a few months ago, when the price of food was even more expensive than it is now. People who didn't store food still had to buy food to eat, didn't they? The price of food is a little cheaper now, and it's a good time for us to store food now." Xiao Lan said.

"Miss Second is right. The price of flour has risen to half a tael of silver per pound in the past few months, and the price of beans and millet has quadrupled compared to now." Shopkeeper Liang agreed with Xiao Lan's generous act of hoarding grain, and admired her for listening to his words at such a young age and decisively buying grain considering her family's situation. This decisiveness is rare for a girl of this age, at least he has never met such a girl.

Shopkeeper Liang became more respectful to Xiao Lan. From her conversation with Sheng Xuan, he understood that although it seemed that Sheng Xuan and Zhang were the heads of the Sheng family, it was actually their daughter who had the final say. Shopkeeper Liang thought of the history of the Sheng family's rise to wealth, and it was probably related to Xiao Lan. It was said that her family was taken in by the Zhang family to live with them last year. In this famine year, it was difficult for her family to have enough food, and her family had to provide food and drink for the Zhang family. It was said that the Zhang family had a large population, which was enough to show the wealth and gratitude of the Sheng family. Over the years, the Zhang family has been supporting Xiao Lan's family. Now that the family is getting better, they let them take her in to enjoy the good life. The old Sheng family must be regretting it. If they hadn't wanted to harm Xiao Lan, this incredible wealth would have been theirs, and it would never have been the Zhang family's turn.

Sheng Xuan was finally persuaded by Xiao Lan. The father and daughter went to the grocery store to buy salt and to the butcher stall to buy some lard and then went back.

When they got home, Xiaolan and Shengxuan talked about buying grain, and said that the grain store would send someone to deliver grain tomorrow. Xiaolan was in charge of the family accounts, and she knew best how much money was in the account. After buying these grains, the family's savings were almost gone.

Zhang was a little hesitant, worried that there was no money saved at home. What if there was an emergency at home and she needed money? Although she was worried about the family's financial situation, she also knew that her daughter was going to do big things, and there was a reason to store grain. There were so many mouths to feed at home, and she thought in her heart that the new grain would be available next year, so there was no need to buy so much, but in the end she didn't say anything because Sheng Xuan had already quietly told her what the town's shopkeeper Liang said.

If it was true as Manager Liang said, the crops in the field would not be harvested, and they would probably be robbed by refugees before they were ripe. If this really happened, her family would be in even more trouble if they didn't have food stored and the price of food was high.

When Zhang thought of this, cold sweat broke out on her back.

The next day, Manager Liang arranged for the shop assistants to deliver the grain. The family was busy unloading the cart and weighing the grain when they heard the sound of a carriage coming from the door. Xiao Lan was wondering who was coming when she saw Manager Bao from Chunshengtang pushing the door in with two jars of osmanthus wine and two boxes of snacks.

Xiaolan and Shengxuan hurriedly welcomed him into their home. Seeing that there were guests at home, Zhang Shanfeng asked Shengxuan's family to entertain them. He took Zhang Qingfeng and Zhang Qingnian to weigh the grain. A total of 550 taels of silver were paid, which were withdrawn by Zhang Qingfeng and Xiaolan. He also told Xiaolan that the grain store gave them 50 kilograms of rice but confiscated the silver.

Shopkeeper Bao looked at Xiao Lan's actions and nodded secretly, thinking, it seems that this little girl is the head of the Sheng family.

"Manager Bao, my family will be processing wild boars and roe deer this afternoon. It's a coincidence that you came. We can have a feast at home just in time." Sheng Xuan said.

"Hahaha, okay, I haven't eaten wild boar meat and roe deer meat for a long time. This time I'm going to have a satisfying meal." Shopkeeper Bao said with a smile, "I'm not coming to your house just to have a feast this time." He took out the silver as he spoke.

When Xiao Lan saw him take out eight hundred taels of silver, she smiled so hard that her teeth showed. "Did you sell the deer from yesterday? Why are you getting so much money?"

Shopkeeper Bao smiled and said, "Not long after you left yesterday, the fourth master of the Shen family in the capital came to buy Tusu wine. He happened to see the two deer you sent, so he bought them."

"The Shen family from the capital city? Manager Bao, it seems that the reputation of Chunshengtang has spread. Even the Shen family from the capital city comes to you to get medicine." Xiao Lan was secretly amazed.

The Shen family in Fucheng is the mother's family of the current queen, so there is no need to elaborate on their wealth. Moreover, the Shen family also controls the military power of Fucheng. Liaodong Prefecture is a border, and now it coexists peacefully with the Jin Dynasty. In the past, the Jin soldiers often harassed the border, which was very uneasy. Even though the two countries are at peace now, the court still dares not take it lightly, and appointed the sixth master of the Shen family as the general of the guard, with an official rank of the third grade, to guard the border.

This matter is not a secret. Xiao Lan also heard about the Shen family from Sheng Xuan, because these are all related to their rest. Dafeng County belongs to Liaodong Prefecture and is under the jurisdiction of the prefectural capital.

"The old lady of their family heard that the Tusu wine from Chunshengtang can cure all diseases, so she mentioned it to Fourth Master Shen. Fourth Master Shen is a filial son, so he came here specially to buy wine."

"Good wine needs no bush. Thank you very much, Manager Bao. If it weren't for you, these two deer wouldn't have sold for such a high price." Xiao Lan said as she pushed a hundred taels of silver to him. "This is the consignment fee for you. Please accept it."

Shopkeeper Bao declined again and again, "You can't say that. The medicinal value of deer is high. Even if the Sheng family doesn't want it, I will accept it myself. I came here to discuss with you this time. Next time you hunt a deer, you should send it to me. I won't treat you unfairly."

Seeing him say that, Xiao Lan stopped being polite and said, "Okay, I will definitely give you the money I find next time. I won't compete with you for the money. Let my father and uncle have a few more drinks with you this afternoon."

The hunted wild boars and roe deer were piled in the woodshed to relieve the cold after two days of freezing, and today her family was planning to skin and meat them.