The Story of a Destitute Noblewoman Farming

As soon as spring plowing began, the whole village was busy. Even the work in the workshops was done by people in shifts. This year, the people in each workshop were more adept at their work. Although there might be a war in the south of the Yangtze River, a large number of scholars fled south, and the demand for paper in the south increased greatly.

No matter how much war there is, the rich can still do business.

In the Northwest Army, He Yue also met people from the Qiu family. He already knew these people's background. These Tatars should have been repelled long ago this year, but the Regent was holding them back.

The Tatars brought a large army to fight against the regent's men. At the beginning, the regent was patient, and since the ministers all supported the fight, he also arranged his men to fight the enemy.

But ever since that time, his generals had personally witnessed the Tatars chopping people with their swords like chopping melons, and they were so frightened that the morale of the entire army plummeted, and their legs trembled at the sight of the Tatars.

The Tatars became even more arrogant and took advantage of the chaos to kill the leading general. The situation then got out of control. The army under the regent did not dare to confront the Tatars head-on, and even in their own territory, they retreated again and again.

By now, even Changzhou was lost and they retreated to Luozhou. Seeing how powerful the Tatars were, the ministers' calls for war gradually subsided and they agreed to their request to exchange food for survival.

However, there are now few provinces in the south that are willing to obey their orders, and the regent arranged for a large army to go to the south of the Yangtze River to ask for food, which led to the rebellion of private salt dealers in the south of the Yangtze River.

Now that the Tatars have food, they continue to guard the area north of Luozhou, wanting to continue making demands and leave only when they are satisfied.

The regent's men were timid towards the Tatars, but they were very fierce towards other rebels in Daqi. Before the spring plowing was over, Lu Linlang heard that all the private salt dealers in Jiangnan had been arrested, and the large amount of family property left in their homes had all been confiscated.

"It's done. These are refined salts extracted from coarse salt. The quality is better than the refined salt on the market and the purity is higher. Just add a little bit and the soup will have flavor." Lu Linlang looked at the salt in front of her, which was of similar quality to that in her previous life, and she was finally satisfied.

Guan Ling witnessed the birth of refined salt with his own eyes, and an incredible expression appeared in his eyes. He didn't expect it to be like this. Whether these salts were supplied to the Northwest Army or sold to other people, he could make a lot of money.

"Cousin, with this, we no longer have to worry about the regent's constraints."

In Daqi, the price difference between refined salt and coarse salt is huge. If they can directly mine coarse salt from the northwest region and refine it into refined salt, they can directly attack the salt merchants headed by the Regent. After lowering the price, they can buy coarse salt from them at a low price to make refined salt.

New salt producing areas can also be found in the northwest. Lu Linlang remembers that there should be many original salt lakes, pond salt, earth salt, etc. in the northwest and even in Qinghai.

Lu Linlang quickly wrote a letter, asking General He to send people to look for the salt lake.

This wave of resistance in Jiangnan came and went quickly. The regent's men thought they had the Tatars under control and were about to start punishing those officials who did not obey his orders. They continued to send their own troops to demand food.

"Miss, the clan leader is looking for you and seems very anxious." Xing'er came running to report.

"Let's go and see what's going on."

"Oh, what should we do? I heard that the soldiers will arrive in Hezhou in three days. The Hezhou prefect has already started demanding grain. He has also visited all of us business owners and asked us to pay money. How can we have much money to pay? This is the second round of extortion."

Before Lu Linlang came in, she heard Uncle Dayou walking back and forth anxiously in the hall.

Seeing her coming, Uncle Dayou said quickly, "Boss, what should we do? I heard that the Regent's army has already set out, saying that if we don't pay the full amount of grain and taxes within ten days, they will send troops to attack us. The prefect was very worried when he heard about it. We have already paid once, and now they are coming again. We can't bear it anymore. We took our family and ran away at night."

"Yes, I heard that the county magistrate is also worried. Most of the food we had before was eaten by the disaster victims, and now we can't pay it back. Those soldiers can't beat the Tatars, but they beat us very hard. If they really come, we don't know if we will still be alive."

The clan leader was also very worried. Everyone knew what was happening with the grain in Chongshui County. Now that the regent was going to start settling accounts, the county magistrate was in a state of panic.

"Clan leader, Uncle Dayou, I think we need to be prepared. Those soldiers aren't just here to demand food. I think it's because the prefect and County Magistrate Zhao didn't support him, and now they want to settle scores. I'll go talk to County Magistrate Zhao first. Have the villagers establish martial law, and notify the surrounding villages to be careful."

Lu Linlang didn't expect that one crisis would come after another, and she didn't know when it would be completely settled. She also didn't know how General He was doing, and whether he might rush over to lift the siege of Hezhou.

She had someone harness a carriage and took Zhong Fan and others to the county town. The county magistrate was now having his men check the account books.

"Sir, there's less than half of the grain left. It's not even close to what the prefect wants. The taxes are higher than last year. They're trying to kill us. They want all this grain to give to the Tatars. I can't bear the thought."

Li Zhubu was really helpless. In the previous situation, everyone thought that the regent would resist to the end, so they could understand paying grain. But now they were actually negotiating peace with the Tatars and paying them so much grain and money for nothing. Isn't this treason? They couldn't bear to watch their own people starve to death and then try to please the Tatars.

However, the Regent's army was about to arrive in Hezhou, and the few constables in the yamen were unable to resist the consequences of the army's advance.

"It's really hateful. They all eat Daqi's food, but their hearts are on the side of the Tatars. It would be better if the Tatars left." The county magistrate was also very angry about this.

"Alright, prepare as many as you can. We can't defeat them, and we don't have as many soldiers as they do. We can only hope that there will be some movement in the northwest. If anyone wants to be held accountable, then hold me accountable."

County Magistrate Zhao was very worried. He had secretly written a letter to General He before, saying that part of the grain was secretly transported to the northwest by his order, but it was recorded in the accounts of the victims.

When Lu Linlang asked to see County Magistrate Zhao, she happened to hear his words. From County Magistrate Zhao, she learned that the Regent had sent 5,000 soldiers to transport grain.

"Miss Lu, all the arrangements were made by me. You should stay in Xishan Village for the time being and don't come out. If the army really comes, I will deal with it. However, this time it is very dangerous. If I need help, Miss Lu, please help take care of my wife and children. I will be very grateful."

This time, County Magistrate Zhao really wanted to die. He didn't want to go along with the Regent's men, nor did he want others to suffer. But thinking of his family, he believed that Lu Linlang was a loyal person, and he could only entrust his life to her.

"Don't worry, sir. There may be a chance of a turning point. We all know that the Regent's troops are coming to Hezhou. I believe the Northwest must also know about it. If they send troops to rescue us, we will have hope." At this time, there were only the two of them, and Lu Linlang also learned that Lord Zhao wanted to join the Northwest Army.

"Distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. If that's the case, that's good. Besides, the Tatars are no longer short of food. I'm afraid they've made up their minds to take over the Central Plains. The Northwest Army will probably be in trouble too."