Noble Lady

"Miss, you say, if so many grain merchants sell grain this way, shouldn't we punish them all?"

"They're just a few unscrupulous businessmen taking advantage of the chaos to make a fortune. When the government investigates, it will be clear. It's not enough to punish the masses."

How could those greedy people who don't know the consequences of their own actions have such a big face?

"Haven't you seen that the big grain stores in the city have implemented purchase limits and don't dare to raise prices recklessly? The ones causing trouble are those short-sighted small grain stores who want to take advantage of the national crisis to make a fortune." Xue Chenyu's tone also became serious.

"Someone will take care of them."

When news of the drought in the south came, the grain store under Datong Trading Company hung up a sign announcing its closure and did not get involved at all.

Yumei touched her chin and said, "So, these people will be in trouble sooner or later?"

Yuzhu always felt that this little girl was planning something again.

Dongyue sent another urgent letter, telling about the situation over there.

After they took over the grain store, they operated normally at first. Until most people realized that the drought was too severe and their food reserves were gradually gone, they put up a purchase limit sign and only sold to women and little girls. They also had to register, and each household was only allowed to buy a maximum of five liters of rice per day.

If nothing else, if we continue to operate as normal as before, it will definitely be sold out by those wealthy families.

The poor couldn't even buy a grain of rice.

These grains are of great use.

Moreover, Xue Chenyu was also waiting for the court's disaster relief policy and Situ Zhen's response.

……

Ji Minrou was still dreaming of selling grain at a high price, but within three days, Jingzhao Prefecture posted a notice, and the court issued a ban on alcohol.

During the famine in the south, the sale of wine made from grain was prohibited to ensure the food supply; no one was allowed to hoard goods, otherwise they would be charged with treason!

The imperial court's ban on alcohol caused the price of grain to fall back to its original price of ten coins per dou.

Officials from Jingzhao Prefecture even went to the doors of all grain stores and prohibited them from selling rice at high prices, otherwise they would be arrested and taken to Jingzhao Prefecture.

The small grain merchants who took advantage of the chaos to raise prices were invited to stay in the Jingzhao Prefecture’s prison for a few days.

At Ji Minrou's winery, Manager Zhang gave her away without hesitation.

With other people inside and outside the winery testifying, Ji Minrou was inevitably taken to jail.

But because she was pregnant, the officers were a little polite to her, but she still had to go to jail.

No one is exempt.

The most important thing is that such a large amount of grain can only be sold at the original price, and we still have to pay the cost of renting a warehouse and labor costs.

With the intervention of the imperial court, her idea of ​​hoarding goods at a high price became impossible to realize. When people realized that there was no need to hoard food, they stopped scrambling for it. All the food that Ji Minrou had painstakingly purchased before was now wasted!

It’s a waste of blood!

Just the day before, Ji Minrou boasted to Liu that she would be able to make a fortune this time.

When the news of her imprisonment came, Liu, who was already in low spirits, could hardly bear the blow and fainted again.

"Where is the baby? Is the baby okay?" The first thing she cared about when she woke up was Ji Minrou's belly.

Mother Huang said hurriedly: "The child is fine, but the rumors outside are very unpleasant now."

He Minzhi is still imprisoned in the Jingzhao Prefecture jail for crimes such as molesting prostitutes and not repaying borrowed money; and now Ji Minrou has been arrested in Jingzhao Prefecture for hoarding goods at high prices.

In addition, the second branch of the He family separated from them, so everyone who knew about it had to say a few words.

Now people outside are saying that He Minzhi and Liu's mother and son are greedy and hypocritical, and they are saying all kinds of nasty things.

Liu covered her chest and almost fainted.

Xiaocao had no choice but to quickly ask someone to call a doctor.

As for Ji Minrou, she could not help, but she still sent someone to deliver a message to the Ji family.

She has done her best.

……

At the same time, the imperial court also issued an order to provide disaster relief.

When Prince Cheng went south, he received an imperial edict allowing him to act at his own convenience and deal with the disaster on the spot. The Ministry of Revenue also received an imperial edict to allocate rice and grain within a limited time, with Marquis Wu'an appointed as the grain transport officer to transport grain south for disaster relief.

In order to receive the mission, Chen Mingxuan followed the grain escort officer south.

Also because he was going south, the marriage had to be postponed.

When Du Jingyuan heard the news, she didn't take it seriously.

After thinking for two or three days, he came to find Xue Chenyu.

"Xue Xiaoyu, the wedding has been postponed. I feel so bored."

Xue Chenyu's eyelids twitched, and she felt that something bad was happening: "...Just tell me what you want to do."

"I don't have any intention of doing anything. Please stop talking nonsense, okay?" Du Jingyuan smiled, revealing a mouthful of porcelain-white teeth.

Xue Chenyu: If someone shows you kindness without any reason, he is either a traitor or a thief.

"I'd better not be talking nonsense. You must be begging me for no reason. Then I'll eat and go take a nap. You should go home early too."

Xue Chenyu said this as if nothing had happened and prepared to go to the front to have dinner with Mrs. Xue.

Du Jingyuan: “…” How come this person is not qualified at all?

"Alright, alright!" Du Jingyuan held her back. "I'm going to tell you the truth. I want to go south."

"what?"

"I said, I want to go to the South, too."

"Are you crazy?" Xue Chenyu asked in surprise, "You don't want to go with him, do you?"

The "he" here naturally refers to Chen Mingxuan.

Du Jingyuan nodded and then shook her head. "It's partly because of him, but not entirely."

"What exactly do you want to do? Tell me the truth." Xue Chenyu said seriously.

It was rare for her to speak so seriously. Du Jingyuan shuddered and got goosebumps.

"...No, don't be so serious. Listen to me."

"You said."

Du Jingyuan: You look so scary like this.

No, now is not the time to think about this.

"Xue Xiaoyu, I know you will think I am impulsive, but actually I have wanted to do this for a long time." Du Jingyuan said while biting her lip.

"When I was little, the first time I heard about people being left homeless by floods and droughts, or dying of starvation on the road, I wanted to go and see. I always felt like I could do something."

"But you know my mother. There's no way she would let me do something like this. So when I first told her about this idea, she kept a close eye on me."

"She also told me that those people were not my relatives, so I didn't need to worry about them. Even if someone unfortunately starved to death, the imperial court would provide disaster relief. It had nothing to do with a little girl like me. There was no need for a little girl like me to worry about this world."

Xue Chenyu said nothing.

Mrs. Du’s idea cannot be said to be completely correct, but it cannot be said that she is wrong either.

Most people in the world think this way, and feel that they can just ignore things that have nothing to do with them.

My mother once said that the greater the ability a person has, the greater the responsibility he or she also has.

When you are poor, you should take care of yourself; when you are rich, you should help the world. Although this is an ideal, A Niang has always practiced it herself and set an example.

A'niang couldn't say such words.

Du Jingyuan met Xue Chenyu's eyes and understood what the expression in her eyes meant.

"I was young back then, and I felt that while some of her words were fine, some were simply wrong. I just hadn't figured out how to refute her. After thinking about it for so many years, I finally figured it out."

"I don't think about worrying about the world. I just feel that since we grew up on this land, we are my compatriots. What they are facing is pitiful. I can't save everyone, but I want to do my best to help them."

At this point, she looked at Xue Chenyu expectantly: "Will you also want to laugh at me for overestimating my own abilities? Laugh at me for having such thoughts when I can't even take care of myself?"

"If you say so, then I am overestimating my own capabilities. I bought a lot of rice to prepare for disaster relief." Xue Chenyu said with a half smile, "And don't forget, you also contributed a lot."

Yes, she paid for it too.

Those several thousand taels of silver were all her money, including her dowry and coffin money.

"No, money is one thing, but I want to see for myself how hard they're suffering," Du Jingyuan insisted. "Doesn't your family have a caravan going there? Take me with you, and I promise I won't get into trouble."

The author said: In ancient times, the sale of alcohol was indeed banned during disasters. The main reason for the ban was to save food.

Because food is scarce during famines, brewing wine consumes a lot of food. Therefore, banning brewing wine can reduce food consumption and alleviate the food problem caused by famines.

The prohibition measures and backgrounds for alcohol use varied across different historical periods. Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty banned the sale of alcohol during a drought to ensure food security. Cao Cao also issued a ban during the Three Kingdoms period, prohibiting the private brewing and drinking of alcohol.

During the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, there was also a system of banning alcohol due to disasters. Especially in times of food shortage or frequent disasters, the court would order a ban on winemaking to save food.

These are generally emergency measures taken in a specific historical context to cope with food shortages and alleviate social problems.