Traveling through ancient times, storing supplies and not fleeing famine

"Digging a well? Do we really want to dig one? That will cost a lot of money."

"That's right! Can't we just dig one well? We have to dig two wells at once, that would cost more than 20 taels, right?"

"I don't think we need to dig. It might be a little dry this year. The well is so deep, how could there be nothing to eat?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Don't you know how to prepare for a rainy day? The village chief and the Xia family both said they want to dig, so it's definitely better to dig it."

"That's right, we should listen to the village chief and Sister Xia on this matter."

Village chief Ma once again gathered all the villagers under the big locust tree.

They also talked about the plan to add two more deep wells in the village in order to cope with the drought. Everyone gathered together to discuss it, some agreed and some disagreed.

But the majority definitely agree.

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. We have to dig this well. Even if it rains this year, it won't be dug in vain. It will be useful sooner or later.

Although digging two deep wells costs about twenty taels, there are more than 50 households in our village, and the cost is only a few hundred wen per household.

We all know how much money you earned last year. Don't come and cry poor to me when the real thing comes.

Tomorrow, I will ask my eldest son to invite a well digger to survey the area. We will know the exact amount of silver needed tomorrow. You should all prepare the silver in advance. If there are those who don't want to pay, you are not allowed to touch the well that everyone paid for when there is no water later!"

Village chief Ma made the final decision and directly decided to dig a well.

Everyone was still talking about it, but they were almost all discussing how much silver they needed to prepare.

No one said anything against it anymore.

In fact, if Xia Shengsheng hadn’t taught everyone how to grow peppers last year, the peppers would have sold for so much money.

I guess digging a well this year won’t go so smoothly.

"There is one more thing I want to tell you all in advance." As soon as Xia Shengsheng opened his mouth, everyone stopped talking and waited quietly for what Xia Shengsheng wanted to say.

"I heard from Master Tao that there is a food shortage in the south and the price of food has been rising. In the north, except for our area, many places have already shown signs of drought.

I'm afraid we won't be able to harvest much food by autumn.

Now that everyone has money in their hands, it is best to store more food at home, so as to avoid having to spend a high price to buy food when food is insufficient."

Xia Shengsheng always uses Tao Wuji as an excuse. Fortunately, Tao Wuji doesn't know, otherwise he would wonder why he always uses him as a shield?

"You're still buying food? Didn't we sell all the food from last year? If we save it, we can eat it until next year. We'll be able to harvest some food in the fall, so we don't need to buy more, right?"

"Yes! My family has little land, but the harvest last year was pretty good. Like everyone else, we didn't sell any grain. If we save on food, our whole family can at least have enough food to last until the winter. If we can harvest more grain this year, we should also have enough for next year."

"Yeah, Sister Xia, we don't need to save so much, right?"

Unlike digging wells, this time when it comes to storing grain, almost no one agrees.

In fact, we can’t blame everyone for disagreeing, but no one really sold last year’s grain.

If there is little food, there is no problem eating until the winter, and if there is plenty of food, there is enough food to eat until next year.

What will happen this year? It is still uncertain. If we store grain, it will take a long time and it will be difficult to store. It will also be difficult to sell the old grain.

Village Chief Ma was also a little hesitant. "Do we really need to buy grain? We planted seeds today, so we should be able to harvest some, right?"

Xia Shengsheng told Village Chief Ma with certainty. "Village Chief, look at the weather this year. You can also feel that there might be a drought. If there is a drought, I'm afraid we'll be lucky if we can get only one-tenth of the yield from the fields.

How long can the harvested grain plus our previous stored grain last?

Even if next year is a good year, the food we have in hand will last until at least next autumn. Wouldn't it be good to stockpile more food?

What I am saying today is just to share my thoughts. If you really disagree, then I can’t do anything about it, but I will definitely store up food.

If you feel that there is not enough food at home, you can buy some.

But try not to go to the same place to buy together, so as not to affect the market price. "

Xia Shengsheng knew that there was no guarantee that everyone would do what she wanted.

The main thing now is to tell everyone everything we can think of so that everyone can be prepared.

If someone does what she says, that would definitely be the best. If not, she can only think of a way later.

"Grandpa, I think our family should store food. What Aunt Xia said makes sense. This year is going to be a drought year.

We cannot guarantee that we will be able to harvest grain by the fall. If there is no harvest this year, the grain we have will definitely not be available until next fall.

Besides, we don’t know what the situation will be like next year, what if next year is not a good year?

While we still have some money and the price of grain is not high, it is always a good idea to store more grain.

If the grain harvest fails in the fall and the grain price goes up, it will not be worthwhile for us to store grain at that time!"

It is said that people who have read books have clearer minds.

Village chief Ma’s eldest grandson analyzed the problem very clearly.

Some people in the village heard what he said and also thought it made sense.

Village chief Ma was the first to speak out and say that food should be stockpiled, and Doctor Zhao also stepped forward to express his opinion.

Although Doctor Zhao didn't know when Tao Wuji said these words, for him, it would at least do no harm to have more silver and store more food.

So he also supports Xia Shengsheng.

Next, the Li family, the Ma Kui family, and the Zheng family also raised their hands, and the rest of the people were in a wait-and-see state.

Xia Shengsheng didn't try to persuade her any further.

Anyway, she must have enough food stored at home.

And she also has a secret weapon, Qiqi, which she can eat and buy anytime.

The warehouse and basement at home are also full of food.

So at least they have no problem eating and drinking by themselves.

After the discussion was almost over, everyone gradually dispersed.

Village chief Ma acted the fastest.

The next morning, Ma Laoer was asked to go to the town to find the master who dug a deep well for Xia Shengsheng's family.

Let Boss Ma take a few little kids to a town far away to buy food.

Niutou Town is closest to Kaoshan Village and is reserved for the villagers.

The Zheng family, the Li family, and the Ma Kui family have also discussed who will go to which town and how much food to buy.

Everyone acted in batches.

After Ma Er brought the well digger back, the master measured the specific location suitable for digging the well.

I knew that the village also wanted to dig a deep well like the one in Xia Shengsheng's house.

The two wells cost 16 taels of silver, and the construction would take about a month, as the village had to hire 20 laborers.

Village chief Ma made the decision directly with the well digger.

Ask the master to bring a team of workers to the village to dig a well the next day.

He calculated how much silver each household needed to pay and took a large copper gong from his home.

Gather those who did not go out to buy food under the big locust tree again, tell everyone the silver they need to pay and how the 20 workers should be distributed?

Since the well is being dug for everyone, the laborers will definitely not receive any wages.

Within a month, they must go in batches to help dig the well. Who does more and who does less must be calculated accurately to avoid rifts later.

Xia Shengsheng definitely doesn't have to worry about this.