Infrastructure masters in the red building

It was none other than Jia Daishan who brought these two large pots of fried locusts over, and it was Jia Daishan who had been cooperating in recent days to take care of various matters concerning the shelter of refugees in De'an County.

When the refugees saw that the fried locusts were in the cauldron, most of them were frightened and retreated one after another.

The fourth prince took out a handkerchief, wiped his hands, then randomly picked out a locust from one of the large iron pots, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and then swallowed it expressionlessly.

The refugees who saw the fourth prince swallowing locusts let out a cry of surprise, and an old woman yelled sadly: "Be careful that this insect bites your heart and chews your intestines!"

But Jia Fang stood next to the fourth prince, but swallowed uncontrollably - Hearing the creaking sound, it was obvious that the locusts were cooked very well, fried crispy and fried thoroughly, it was... so delicious!

His stomach inevitably groaned again, and this time it was so loud that even the fourth prince around him heard it, turned his head, glanced at Jia Fang, and nodded slightly.

Jia Fang was not polite, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, grabbed several from the iron pot, held them in the palm of his left hand, and put them into his mouth one by one with his right.

"It really tastes like salt and pepper." Jia Fang praised it.

He was a young man of fourteen or fifteen years old. He was growing up, with a thin body, but there was a little baby fat on his face, and his complexion was fair. He looked like a clean, cute young man.

The refugees watched him bite the fried locusts as if they were snacks. Although some people were still shocked, others gradually became interested.

"No...no..."

While Jia Fang was chewing happily, the fourth prince beside him spoke.

Jia Fang listened: Is this... a stuttering problem?

But in another world, there was an assistant in his office who was like this, stuttering when the person in front of him talked too much.He didn't care at all.

The fourth prince continued to speak with difficulty: "Use your...teeth, smash it into pieces...bone, where, where, where does it have the ability to eat your...heart, liver and stomach?"

While the fourth prince was talking, Jia Fang was chewing vigorously beside him, chewing the locusts in his mouth until they squeaked, as if they were playing a double reed.

Most of the people's attention was on Jia Fang, and they all waited to see if there was anything wrong with the young man who ate so many locusts one by one.

"Let's talk again..."

Seeing that the attention was turned to Jia Fang, the fourth prince felt that the pressure was getting less and less, and he spoke more smoothly without knowing it.He even mustered up a little courage, raised his voice, and said: "Everyone... think about it again, it is this little thing, how many fields it has destroyed, how many harvests it has caused so many people to not have enough to eat , if they continue to wreak havoc like this, they will continue to destroy the fields and crops in the south!"

"Fellows, don't you want to help a bunch of imperial courts, help a bunch of farmers in the south, help, help them, it's like helping yourself..."

Hearing that the fourth prince became more and more excited and fluent, Jia Daishan and Jia Fang looked at each other.

"Fellows, my prince stands in front of you as a prince." The fourth prince waved his hand, pointing to the Jia family and his son beside him, "This is Duke Rong, and the son of Duke Rong. This locust, we I will eat it for you to see."

As he said that, the fourth prince grabbed a few locusts again and threw them into his mouth boldly—it seemed a bit influenced by Jia Fang's good appetite.

Without hesitation, Jia Daishan grabbed the locusts from the iron pot and put them in his mouth to chew.The official uniform on his body and the python robe worn by the fourth prince are helping to enhance the persuasiveness of today's move.

Dr. Xia, a doctor in De'an County who is respected by the refugees, also came out at this time, and said loudly to the people in front of him: "I testify—it is recorded in medical books that many grass insects can be used as medicine. Since they can be used as medicine, What else can't you eat?"

Suddenly someone came to his senses: "Yes, counting the days, in just two days, the locusts will cross the Yellow River."

"If you don't eat these things, I won't eat them. Don't you want them to continue to harm the fields in the south?"

"That's right! The locusts crossed the border and not a single blade of grass grew. You have seen the tragedy. If you let this thing damage the crops, even if the imperial court wants to give us relief, it will not be able to provide us with food. What should we do?"

At that moment, the crowd started to move around. Of course, many people also looked at Jia Fang's face. Among all the people, he was the one who ate the most delicious food. He ate fried locusts like finger-licking locusts.

"Fellow folks, I am here to announce that from tomorrow onwards, all victims of the disaster here will be able to catch locusts, and De'an County will open the purchase at a price of one hundred and one penny!" There is no sign of stuttering.

"Here today, these two big pots of locusts are open for everyone to taste - fellow villagers who dare to try, we will give a steamed bun to each of us here!"

"it is good!"

The refugees were excited for a while, and immediately formed two long queues in front of the two large pots of fried locusts.

Even for the sake of steamed buns, they are willing to try the taste of locusts!

The fourth prince here suddenly turned around, facing Jia Daishan, let out a long sigh of relief, and stammered: "It's...it's done!"

Jia Daishan nodded with relief at the fourth prince: "Your Highness's performance today is really remarkable."

The fourth prince also turned his head to look at Jia Fang, and asked, "Jia...Jia Fang?"

Jia Fang nodded: "I am!" The fourth prince said with some difficulty: "Thank you..."

Jia Fang responded with a smile, clasped his fists and said, "What happened today is all the work of His Highness, what we have done is really insignificant. But..."

He thought of a stubble, and reminded Jia Daishan: "The locusts don't have to be deep-fried. When the sesame oil donated by temples and Taoist temples is used up, you can boil the locusts, dry them, and then grind them into fine powder." , add it to the rice porridge that the refugees usually eat, the rice porridge with that is definitely more nourishing than ordinary rice porridge, and it will give people strength after eating it!"

What Jia Fang said was a bit playful, and he specifically mentioned "sesame oil donated in temples and Taoist temples", which made Jia Daishan and the fourth prince laugh in unison.

Jia Daishan deliberately annoyed his son: "Such a good idea, why didn't you say it earlier, you have to let the Fourth Highness and your father come here today to perform eating locusts?"

Jia Fang hesitated for a moment, and said, "Is it really better to fry it?" Grinding it into powder and mixing it in rice porridge, although the protein was preserved, it didn't have that crunchy texture anymore.

He pretended to be embarrassed and lowered his head, but it was obvious that the fourth prince standing beside Jia Daishan was observing him carefully.

And he was actually a little curious about the fourth prince.After all, before leaving Beijing, he had a conversation with his elder brother Jia She, and the two brothers had a good talk about the situation of the royal family.

Jia Amnesty gave Jia Fang an inventory of the specific situations of the princes under the current emperor's knees one by one.

The eldest prince has a very low birth mother status, so even though he is the eldest son, he has no hope of succession.But he has always been brave and good at fighting, and he has accompanied the imperial driver many times, and the emperor has praised him many times as a good general.

The prince, whose biological mother was the first concubine, was born to control his mother, was named a prince when he was one year old, and was raised by the emperor himself.When the emperor was not in Beijing, the prince supervised the country.

Jia Fang: ...This sounds familiar!

The third prince's birth mother has a high status and a prominent mother's family, and the third prince himself has always regarded himself as an elegant scholar, and has relatively few opportunities to get involved in government affairs, but people in the court hold high expectations.

The fourth prince, whose biological mother's status is very low, is the adopted son of his successor, and after his successor passed away, he was alone again.Ever since he finished his studies and started working on errands, he has been by the prince's side all the time. Everyone regards this fourth prince as the prince's little follower, and should spare no effort to support the prince.

The more Jia Fang listened to it, the more interesting he became, and he said to Jia Amnesty, "Brother, continue! Where are the others?"

But Jia Amnesty said, "No more!"

Jia Fang was taken aback: What?there is none left?

Why is it that the fourth master is gone just after counting, and the eighth master, ninth master, ten and fourteen are also gone? ——He thought it was a familiar story, and it would be easier to stand in line.

But that's good too, at least there won't be a battle for succession, a battle for the throne like a messy reference coordinate system.

Jia She patted the back of his head and said, "By the way, there is one more?"

Jia Fang quickly listened carefully: Is this the fifth child in the end?

Unexpectedly, Jia She said: "He is the son of Prince Yizhong, who is exactly the same age as you."

According to Jia Amnesty, the son of Prince Yizhong was born after the emperor was abolished and restored, and the prince was placed under house arrest.However, His Majesty the Emperor thought that the crime of Prince Yizhong was not as good as that of his children, so he stayed in the palace to educate and grow up, and ranked according to the age of the brothers, he was the fifth.Many people call him the "Five Princes", but they are actually cousins ​​of the princes, not real siblings.

Having said that, Jia Amnesty also summed up the odds of the princes in a "rebellious" way:

The First Prince - basically no play

Prince - very playful

The third prince - a little play

Four princes - basically no play

Fifth Prince - Impossible

Jia Fang still remembered that he asked Jia She why the odds of the fourth prince were "basically no chance". Jia She raised his right hand, opened his mouth, and made a gesture similar to raising chopsticks to eat.Jia Fang didn't understand what he meant at the time, but thinking about it now, Jia Amnesty should be referring to the fourth prince's stuttering problem.

After today's encounter, Jia Fang can be regarded as having personally experienced the "characteristics" of the fourth prince - he admits that his elder brother Jia She's judgment is somewhat reasonable, and stuttering is a very obvious problem of the fourth prince, although it can be tolerated under certain circumstances. Relief, but still easy to see.

But judging from the way the fourth prince speaks and does things, Jia Fang feels that this person is very suitable for him, and he is a "pragmatic" who is dedicated to doing things.

At night, the county magistrate of De'an fixed up a set of banquets in the back of the county government office, entertaining the fourth prince and Rong Guogong father and son.Naturally, there is a fried locust on the table, with salt and pepper flavor, crispy taste and tangy aroma.

But eating is not the main purpose of this gathering.As soon as the banquet started, the Fourth Prince asked Jia Fang to share what he had seen and heard in De'an County, and asked Jia Fang if there was anything worthy of improvement in the "refugees' camp" here.

Jia Fang looked at his father, and seeing Jia Daishan's eyes full of encouragement, he boldly repeated what he had observed.While retelling, he will comment on what is well done and where the details need to be improved...

Jia Fang's old profession is architectural design, and architecture serves people after all, so it is necessary to consider the actual needs of users.The same is true for this refugee camp, which serves the refugees, with the primary purpose of solving their practical difficulties.

And what Jia Fang said was not surprising, daily food and clothing, hygiene, epidemic prevention, public security management... If these contents were singled out, Jia Daishan, the fourth prince, and even the county magistrate of De'an were very familiar with them.

But Jia Fang used a modern way of thinking to string together these points. He is also a person who pays great attention to details, and he can often bring up things that others have not noticed.After a few words, whether it was Jia Daishan or the fourth prince, they all listened and completely forgot to move their chopsticks.

"it is good!"

After Jia Fang finished speaking, the fourth prince clapped his hands and praised: "Today... today is the happiest day I have come to De'an County."

Although the fourth prince was stuttering, he was clearly in high spirits and beaming with joy, probably because Jia Fang's words made him see the light at the end of the tunnel and the hope of alleviating the disaster.

But Jia Daishan did not express this emotion, probably because it was inconvenient for him to praise his son directly.Duke Rong frowned and said, "But the most important item, Fang'er hasn't mentioned yet. The food in the refugee camp... is still a problem after all."

This brings us back to the old problem - no matter how well-built the refugee camp in De'an is, it even blocked [-] refugees in the northwest of Gyeonggi, but if one day there is no food, the hungry refugees will immediately become a huge threat .

Jia Fang hurriedly asked Jia Daishan cautiously: "Father, if the refugee camp is to last until this summer, how much food will it need?"

In the end, the fourth prince replied, "If it's just the refugee camp here, three to four hundred thousand shi of food would be enough. However, I heard that the refugees from the Hebei Road going south from the East Road have now gathered in the east of the capital, and the number is no less than here in De'an County. The rations needed may be even more...Of course we must not forget that there are hundreds of thousands of people in the capital, and they also need food."

The fourth prince's thoughts flowed smoothly, and he spoke almost without stopping.It's hard to imagine him blushing, stuttering, and unable to express himself in front of many people.

When Jia Fang heard it, he felt his heart sinking.

The fourth prince confirmed his guess: Taoyuan Village has [-] shi of rice, but it still doesn't fill a tenth of the hole.

At this time, Jia Daishan asked Jia Fang: "When you came out of Beijing, did you know how much the price of grain was?"

Jia Fang did pay attention to the price of grain before leaving Beijing, and he was able to answer at this time: "Corn is 120 renminbi a dou, wheat is 140 renminbi a dou, and last year's rice is 130 renminbi a dou."

Ten Dou is one stone, and the price of rice is 130 Wen a Dou, that is, one tael or three silver coins per stone—this way, the batch of rice in Jia Fang’s hands is really worth a lot of money.But Jia Fang was not at all happy.

The Fourth Prince and Jia Daishan were also full of anger.

"What? 120 Wen to 140 Wen?" Jia Daishan said, "The official price of these grains is only about [-] Wen!"

Jia Fang couldn't help thinking of the well-driller who came to Daguanyuan to help him dig wells.The well digger predicted early on that the price of grain in Beijing would rise, saying that all his net worth would probably be filled in the hole of grain.

I just don't know if the well-driller expected that the price of grain in Beijing is nearly double the official price.

And the reasons for the soaring food prices behind this may not all be determined by the relationship between demand and supply.

"What about the official warehouse? Doesn't the official warehouse also open the warehouse to release grain to stabilize the price of grain?" the fourth prince asked angrily.

Jia Fang was caught blind: he didn't know anything about Guancang.

Jia Daishan reminded the fourth prince in a low voice: "Your Highness, please be careful."

In addition to a prince, a father and son, a county magistrate, there were other people at the banquet.

The fourth prince's face immediately disappeared, and he said calmly: "It's nothing, let's eat!"

This big turning point——Jia Fang secretly speculated that the opening of the official warehouse to release grain was managed by the prince of Jingzhong Jianguo.This is the reason why the fourth prince suddenly changed his face.

However, Jia Fang was amazed at the Qi-nourishing skills of the members of the royal family.Jia Fang felt that the other party's face was covered with a Sichuan opera mask, saying that changing the face can change the face immediately.

Jia Fang left De'an County the next day, and before leaving, he went to say goodbye to the Fourth Prince.The fourth prince said to him: "De'an... the refugee camp, Duoduo was built according to your... suggestion."

The prince probably felt that his words were not smooth, lowered his head, paused for a while, and then raised his head to look at Jia Fang again: "I hope... I hope you can return to Beijing, and you can do... be a person who can save thousands of people." .”

Jia Fang only felt a shock in his heart: save thousands of people...

If it is just a bowl of porridge on the side of the road, give up a few pennies, even if you save, you can only save one person.

However, the refugee camp he planned was implemented and built by people with strong executive ability like his father and the fourth prince, and it accommodated [-] refugees at once.

That's why the fourth prince encouraged him at this moment - after returning to the capital, he must think of ways, not only to save one person, but also to think of ways to save the lives of the people in the world.

So Jia Fang bowed his hands to the fourth prince and saluted: "Xiaomin would like to be taught by His Highness the Fourth Prince."

When Jia Daishan bid farewell to his son, he was more like a mother-in-law: "Fanger, I have arranged four guards to escort you and your escort back to Beijing."

Four guards? ——Jia thought at ease, do I need to be so nervous?When he and Zhao Cheng came to De'an County, they were safe and sound, and nothing happened.

Jia Daishan continued: "When you go back, first go north to the Yellow River, then turn east, return to the capital from the east road, enter the east gate, and take a look at the situation on the road. After returning to Beijing, you will know how to deal with it."

Jia Fang agreed, took Zhao Cheng, and the four guards arranged by his father, and set off from the north gate of De'an County, all the way north, passing by the refugee camp that he had visited yesterday.

He glanced at the refugee camp, and saw that there was indeed a "herringbone" tent built of moso bamboo above the earthen nest that he had seen yesterday. The straw mats were neatly covered on it, and it looked similar. Kind of.

In addition, on the rest of the earth nests, tent frames made of four moso bamboos are being erected one after another.It seems that it won't be long before the refugees who temporarily live here can find a way to shelter from the wind and rain.

Some young refugee children have already taken homemade net bags, and they seem to be ready to go to catch locusts.

It will be fine! —— Jia put it in his heart and said silently.

As long as there is hope, everyone will work together and work together, everything will be fine.

Jia Fang and his entourage rode their horses northward until they reached the bank of the Yellow River, then turned eastward, made a big bend, and returned to Beijing from the east road.

Fortunately, at the beginning, the refugees Jia Fang met along the way were not as many as the scattered locust swarms he encountered along the way.

But the closer it was to the capital, the more wrong the situation became.Groups of refugees fleeing famine began to appear on the road, and even hungry people began to appear on the side of the road.

The number of robbers has increased significantly. Some people don't look like robbers, but their eyes are glowing green, and they keep looking at other people, regardless of whether the other person is dead or alive.When they saw Jia Fang, it was like a wolf seeing meat. Although Jia Fang was surrounded by four guards with knives, the eyes of these people kept looking at Jia Fang, making Jia feel at ease.

Along the way, even Zhao Chengcheng, who has always boasted of being bold, panicked and followed Jia Fang closely, not daring to relax in the slightest.Jia Fang only heard him sighing and asking himself behind him: "Third Lord...why is there such a big difference between the east road and the west road?"

Jia thought at ease: This is not surprising.After all, the transmission of information in this era is not so fast.The two groups of refugees going south were only a hundred miles apart, but they did not communicate with each other.

Having said that, if the refugees on the East Road heard the news at this time and all ran to the West Road, the refugee camps on the West Road might also be severely affected.

He led his entourage to continue to approach the capital, and soon discovered that whether the local officials act or not has a huge impact on whether the refugees can get help.

Jia Fang passed through three counties along the way, all of which were comparable in size to De'an County.But every county town has blocked the city gates, and refugees are not allowed to enter.The refugees had no choice but to continue going south, getting closer and closer to the capital.

Could it be that... the prince who is in charge of the capital and supervises the country will ignore the potential instability of the refugees, and will not find a way to keep these affected people out of the capital?

Why not let people follow the example of the fourth prince and build another refugee camp in the east?

After traveling more than a dozen miles, Jia Fang discovered that the prince did not ignore the footsteps of the refugees gathering towards the capital.On the main road to Beijing, there are many checkpoints set up by the government and the army to check the identity of the road guide.Those who do not live in Beijing, or have a livelihood, are not allowed to enter.

This time, most of the refugees were backlogged outside this checkpoint.The hungry people gathered outside the capital. They were powerless to fight against the checkpoints and the officers and soldiers, but they spontaneously stayed where they were, neither leaving nor entering the city.

In front of him is the black city that symbolizes the heart of the country, but for the refugees, it is not known whether this city can bring them hope of eventually being rescued, or push them into an even more tragic abyss.

In "Yuqinghang", the largest food store in Beijing, the guys get up early to rush down the door panels and open the store to do business.

The sun of the new day shines in from the just-opened door, and the fine dust is lifted up and dances freely in the morning light.

Shopkeeper Shao of Yu Qingxing put his hands behind his back, squinted his eyes, and bathed in the warm morning light, but his heart was a little numb—in other words, how many years has he been in this business? ... 45 years, or 46 years?

Almost every morning, he would stand here on time to welcome the first customer of the grain store.After years of ups and downs, this habit has never changed.

"Master, master, is the water card still the same today?" A young man came to ask shopkeeper Shao about today's grain prices.

Shopkeeper Shao has a nickname called "Baigu Tasting", which means that as long as he grabs a handful of grain, takes a look, smells it, and tastes it, he can know the variety, origin, and color of the grain, so that he can accurately grasp the whole grain. The value of batches of grain.He has been in business for so many years, but he has never had anything wrong.

All the shopkeepers up and down in the store called shopkeeper Shao "Master", and all of them respected the old shopkeeper like a god.And the facts are indeed the same: not only in Beijing, but also in all major grain stores across the country, from the shopkeeper to the bottom guys, most of them are his disciples and grandchildren of Lao Shao.

Now in Beijing, the price of grain on the water signboard of the grain shop affects everyone's heart, and Yu Qingxing, as an industry leader, the water sign that he put up in the morning has a decisive influence on the grain shop in the whole capital, and even the people's hearts in the whole capital.

Shopkeeper Shao's eyes seemed to be chasing the fine dust in the morning light, and he turned a deaf ear to the man's question. After a while, he said, "As usual!"

The guys let out a "ah", and there is no need to change the grain price written on the wooden board with gouache yesterday, just hang it up like this.

Immediately there was a sound of scolding mothers outside, some people waiting outside the store protested loudly, turned and walked away, some weighed the money in their pockets, gritted their teeth, and came forward with the grain bags that had already bottomed out, saying : "Come, beat a bucket of rice... No, millets, just millets."

The guys who greeted the customers were obviously not so happy.An elderly man approached shopkeeper Shao and asked in a low voice: "Master... the price of food is so high, seeing that the regular customers in the store can't afford it anymore. The running water in our store has also decreased a lot... Look, does the food price need to be lowered by a few cents?"

Shopkeeper Shao raised his eyelids lazily: "You know the situation of our Yu Qingxing, if the price of food is lowered by a penny, the people of the whole city will flock to us... In the year of severe drought, just this little food, I can't stand such a toss."

The older guy thought about the mountains of corn and millet piled up in the warehouse behind him, opened his mouth, and even his voice changed: "Is it just watching, watching..."

Seeing everyone suffering in this world? —— Shopkeeper Shao helped this apprentice make up in his heart.

"Living in this world is a torment for everyone." Shopkeeper Shao said with a lonely face, no one could understand him.

"Master..." The guy pleaded again.

"This is not something you and I can decide." Shopkeeper Shao changed his attitude, and his face was filled with the shrewdness and determination that belonged to him "Hundred Valley Taste". If there is a mistake, not only you and I will lose this bowl of rice, and we will not be able to gain a foothold in this industry in the future. For the sake of the whole family, don't say such things again."

Hearing this, the older man slowly lowered his head, and after a while, he answered yes.

So shopkeeper Shao walked slowly to Yu Qinghang's store with his hands behind his back, and heard the complaints of the customers who came to buy grain.On the other hand, he put on the smile that has remained unchanged for thousands of years, bowed slightly, and said, "I heard that the official warehouse is releasing grain in the middle of the capital right now, and the price of the grain is about half of that of the grain store. If you don't like this The food in the food store is too expensive, so it is necessary to go to the official warehouse to buy food."

The customer who was cursing at first was immediately discouraged: "The food sold in the official storehouse is of course cheap food, and only [-] shi of food is put in every day. Even if there is a limit of two buckets per person, there is a long queue before dawn. .I tried to buy it twice, and finally got to the front of the queue, and the people in the official warehouse said it was sold out.”

"Yes, if you can buy grain from the official warehouse, who will come to this grain store to buy it?"

"Forget it, there is a severe drought in the north, and there must be a shortage of food everywhere right now. Everyone just bear with it. We used to eat dry food, but now we drink dilute water. We used to eat white flour, but now we eat millet. Just get through this summer."

"that's true……"

"Everyone can't help it."

Shopkeeper Shao bowed solemnly, thanked the regular customer who spoke for him, and then turned back to the warehouse behind Yu Qingxing.

At this time, more than a dozen guys dressed as ordinary people rushed back panting, sorted the grain they had carried back, and poured it into the granary.These hairy boys were still laughing all the way:

"The one in front of you is the guy from Yufenghang, I recognize it."

"I'm afraid that Guancang would never have imagined that the cheap grain they released, hehe...all of it went to the granaries of the major grain stores in Beijing."

Jia Fang stayed in De'an County for one night, and stayed in the post station for two nights. In total, he was unable to go to Taoyuan Village for four days.

As soon as he returned to Beijing, he hurried to the Grand View Garden and went to Taoyuan Village through Daoxiang Village. All the way, he was only thinking about how to transport the grain from Taoyuan Village without anyone noticing.

It seems that the passage in Daoxiang Village must be used.In Taoyuan Village, tracks have been built from the granaries to the Xianliang Temple, and in the Grand View Garden, copper tracks have been installed from Daoxiang Village to the gate of the Grand View Garden.It is not a problem to transport these two sections separately.

But how should he let the [-] shimi pass through Fei Changfang's "shrinking ground whip"-does he have to push the cart himself and run it hundreds of times?

But if it is really necessary to do this, Jia Fang really doesn't mind running hundreds of times: it's time to exercise.

Perhaps he should also consider finding a group of completely reliable helpers, even if he knows the secret of Daoxiang Village—Jia Fang thought, if it is really necessary, should he contact his father Rong Guogong or his uncle Ning Guogong , to see if the two of them can give him some support.

Just as he was thinking, Jia Fang had come to Taoyuan Village from Daoxiang Village and appeared in front of Xianliang Temple.

Only then did he remember that he hadn't appeared in Taoyuan Village for four days—he had appeared under the avatar of "temporarily living in Taoyuan Village" before, how should he explain to the villagers this time?

Unexpectedly, the first villager he saw jumped three feet high when he saw him: "Mr. Jia is back, Mr. Jia is back from an outing!"

Jia Fang: ...Picnic?

Well, just go on an outing!

In the past four days, he has gone out alone to play in the mountains and rivers once, and now he is back.

The villager hurried to find Village Chief Tao, and after a while, the old village chief ran over panting, accompanied by the villagers.Seeing this, Jia Fang thought something had happened.

Unexpectedly, when Village Chief Tao saw Jia Fang, he patted his head and said, "Master, I have something important to tell you. I wanted to tell you before you went on an outing last time, so I asked them to tell you Call me when you get back..."

Jia Fang held his breath and listened quietly - what is so important?

The old village head thought for a long time and said, "I forgot."

Jia Fang: ...

He thought about it, and felt that something that could make the old man care so much must be important, so he chose to accompany Village Chief Tao to walk along the newly built wooden track in the village for a while.

"Master Tao, there is something I want to discuss with you. Recently, I plan to ask the villagers to send some food to the Xianliang Temple first. That... the Xianliang Temple needs it, and sacrifices..."

He had to try it first to see if it would work to send food to Beijing in this way.

Unexpectedly, when he mentioned food, the old village chief slapped his head and remembered.

"Third Master, I just want to tell you about the grain." The old village head said hurriedly, "There is a problem with the grain in our village."

Jia Fang was so shocked that the sweat on his back came out.

He intends to take out these stored grains to save people!If there is a problem with the food, he will be caught blind immediately.

But the old village head said seriously: "Third Master, I must not hide this from you. The grain in our village is all old rice, which tastes different from new rice."

Jia Fangke never thought that he would be startled into sweat by a piece of news about "Chen Mi".

However, as a designer who "doesn't work hard and doesn't distinguish five grains", he really doesn't know the difference between old rice and new rice.

Therefore, the old village head also looked at Jia Fang with a look of caring for the dude, and patiently explained: "Chen rice... no matter how it is cooked, it tastes musty. The third master is in the mansion, and every time he eats it It should be the new rice of that year, right?"

Jia Fang has to admit that he has never paid attention to whether the rice in the rice bowl has a musty smell, and there is a high probability that it does not, and he has never noticed it.But the last time he inquired about grain prices in Beijing, he did notice one thing. The price of rice sold in the grain store was specially marked as "last year's rice" - it is not yet the early rice harvest season, and last year's rice is The rice harvested in July and August last year was also new rice.

It seems that in terms of rice, the grain stores in Beijing only sell new rice, and no one cares about old rice.

The old village chief led Jia Fang to the village while talking, and explained to Jia Fang: "Chen rice, it is such a problem, people eat it without getting sick, but it just doesn't taste good."

He also hastily expressed his merits: "Third Lord, it's really not that our village has neglected the grain under your name. The villagers take out the old rice every season and check for insects from time to time. The rice is definitely good rice , but it is—Chen.”

Jia Fang and the old village chief inspected a granary on a stilted building, grabbed a handful of rice and inspected it carefully, and found that, as the old village chief said, the storage conditions of the rice were indeed very good, but it was stale. Smell, you can smell a "breath of the years".

However, these Chen Guzi shouldn't affect his plan to save people that much, right?

It made him worry for a long time in vain.

In the end, Jia Fang still encouraged the old village chief: "Seeing that the early rice harvest is about to be harvested, everyone in the village will work harder. Not only will there be old rice exported, but new rice will also be exported!"