Sir, I can do it!

In the autumn of the ninth year of Xuanping, farmers in Zhangxian County, Jeju were scrambling to harvest grain.

After the breach of the Fuling Weir, the people of Fuzhou fled to other states one after another, almost all scattered in Jeju, Hezhou, and Tanzhou.However, the three states are all under the control of the three nobles, and large tracts of fertile land are in the hands of the nobles, and even the government depends on the eyes of the three nobles.Although there are also open warehouses to release grain, there are too many refugees, and the official grain can't last for a few days.

At this moment, the three nobles released rumors that they were willing to borrow food from the common people, but they needed to use land deeds as collateral.After the imperial court appoints disaster relief envoys to relieve the disaster, the common people can redeem the land deeds at any time.For the people who are already hungry and dizzy, this is undoubtedly the rain after a long drought.

But there are also clear-minded people who know that this is a deep pit, and are unwilling to exchange land deeds for food.Because once the land deed is in the hands of the nobles, there is almost no possibility for the common people to redeem it.After the disaster, nine out of ten people who lost their land will become hermits.

It's just that the government is no longer helping the victims, and the court's disaster relief envoys have been delayed.These people could only leave Weinan with the old and the young, and fled north along the road.People who did not want to leave their homeland or mortgage their land deeds became beggars and lived on the streets.

Later, the imperial court sent a disaster relief envoy, and the common people thought that the hard times were coming to an end, but people from the Feng family in Jeju suddenly filled the Jeju water section, stripping the imperial court and standing on their own!The Yuan family in Hezhou and the Sun family in Tanzhou responded one after another, and the Feng family in Jeju was the main one.

Weinan is self-reliant, and the laws of Qi State no longer have the power to restrain them.The people who mortgaged the land deeds did not need the nobles to find ways to cover them up. They directly became tenant farmers and cultivated the land for the nobles.

In addition, in order to resist the imperial army, Weinan recruited a large number of soldiers, and those beggars who roamed the streets were the first to be forcibly recruited.The tenant farmers who were overwhelmed and wanted to escape did not dare to move for a moment, for fear of being caught as refugees and taken to the military camp when walking on the street.

The Fuling Weir broke its embankment, and floods flooded a large area of ​​fertile fields. The weather in the early winter was cold and humid, and the water in the field ridges had not yet dried up.When the water dries up, fertile land becomes wasteland.

Seeing that few of the people fled back to their hometowns, some wealthy families in the three prefectures sat down together to 'discuss' and put all the unowned fields under their own names.Then the tenants were given to the people who had lost their land to cultivate, and the rent was as high as [-]%.

The land in Weinan is fertile, but the life of the peasants is not easy due to frequent aristocratic and powerful occupation of the land.Now that Weinan is independent and fighting against the imperial court, the nobles need to hoard a large amount of soldiers, horses, food and salaries, and the various taxes imposed on the common people have increased by [-]%.

The people tried various methods to fill their stomachs. Every year when the crops were not harvested, the bark and weeds on the mountain were destroyed, and the effect was even worse than that of locusts passing through.

But last year, a passing merchant pulled a cart full of things called sweet potatoes, saying that the seeds came from Fanbang.He was a merchant going to and from Xiangzhou. Because of the uneven road, more than half of the goods he brought to Xiangzhou were robbed and he lost a lot.When I came back, I didn't want to empty the car, but I didn't have enough money to buy much.But looking at the new species in Xiangzhou, maybe the farmers don't know about it, and almost no one cares about it.He heard that several Zhuangzi in Xiangzhou had tried planting, so he wanted to bring some back.I don't plan to sell it too expensive, just pay off the travel expenses for this round trip.

Jeju farmers may not have much fertile land, but there is some wasteland.Every year, we only sprinkle some bean seeds on the wasteland to raise the land, and only collect some seeds in the autumn harvest.Now that there is a new species, although I don't know how much the harvest will be, at least this thing tastes much better than beans.

Originally, the farmers had no hope for the sweet potatoes on the wasteland, but unexpectedly they harvested a large piece during the autumn harvest.Although it is not as good as rice and wheat, it will not starve when the crops are in short supply.Although I can't seem to be full.So in the second year, the people kept a lot of sweet potato seeds, and after another year, more sweet potatoes were harvested.

Back then, the merchant only had one cart of seeds, and there were not many farmers who bought seeds from him, so he could only plant the rest in his own land.However, in the second year, some people inquired about the sweet potato seeds.It's just that in the whole of Weinan, his things are really insignificant.The nobles heard some rumors at first, but they thought it was something that the untouchables would eat, so they didn't take it seriously.

However, Chen Jinghuai, who has been trapped in Jeju, is keenly aware of the benefits brought by this thing.He was originally from a farming family, but he left home to practice martial arts since he was a child. Although he has never cultivated land, he probably knows the yield per mu of ordinary land.In contrast, sweet potatoes are indeed a high-yielding crop.

So when the people rushed to collect them, he asked someone to buy a cloth bag of sweet potatoes.

Weinan became independent, and the incident happened suddenly.At that time, there were still many aftermath matters to be dealt with in Fuzhou. Wang Yi and Chen Jinghuai were so busy all day long that they were trapped in Fuzhou before they had time to react.

Weinan is centered on Jeju, and Jeju is dominated by the Feng family.Fuzhou is small, and the towns are built around the Fuling Weir, and because of the Fuling Weir, it has become a state of its own.There are no nobles in Fuzhou, only a few small clans, and they were almost destroyed by the flood.

After the disaster, not one of the people in Fuzhou survived, starving to death everywhere.Wang Yi was working with the Fuzhou government to gather refugees. Unexpectedly, Feng's private army suddenly filled the waterway in Jeju, and "invited" Wang Yi and Chen Jinghuai to the government office of Jezhou as guests.It took nearly three years to do it.

Although Chen Jinghuai is the Young Superintendent of the Beifu, his background is low and he has no support behind him. The Feng family can kill him at any time.It was only because of Wang Yi's face that he spared his life and asked him to serve Wang Yi with him.The reason why the three nobles in Weinan kept Wang Yi was because Wang Yi was born in the direct line of the Wang family in Yuanzhou.

Yuanzhou borders Weinan, and the Wang family of Yuanzhou is a great nobleman comparable to the Qin family of Liyang.In terms of connections in the dynasty, the Wang family has the upper hand.But because of the noble family style of the Qin family, it is still the head of the nobles in the world.

Weinan tried to win over the Wang family of Yuanzhou, but they couldn't, at least they couldn't ask Yuanzhou to stab a knife in the back when confronting the imperial court.Of course, Wang Yi alone cannot control the entire Wang family, and the internal struggles of the Wang family are also quite fierce.Those who are strong enough to protect Wang Yi naturally wish Wang Yi could die in Jeju.After all, Wang Yi is the most likely to take over as the next patriarch of the Wang family.

It's just that the Wang family has been passed down to this day, and they have their own considerations when facing changes.Especially when Li Huai spared no effort to suppress the nobles, the Wang family was unwilling to stand behind Li Huai with a clear stand.So they acquiesced in Weinan's actions, using Wang Yi as a traction, the two sides maintained a balance, and they were not afraid of the imperial court attacking the Wang family.

And Wang Yi is full of ambitions, of course he is not willing to be reduced to a bargaining chip in the three-party game, so when Li Huai sent troops to Weinan two years ago, he actively expressed his willingness to cooperate.It's just that Weinan didn't give him this chance.The soldiers and horses of the imperial court were blocked in Yilan Mountain, and it was the rainy season, so the battle was tense for a while.At that time, Nanliang also had the faint intention of closing the border, so Li Huai had no choice but to retreat.Wang Yi can only look at the ocean and sigh.

However, in the past few years in Jeju, he has not done nothing, at least he knows that the alliance of the three nobles in Weinan is not as solid as it seems on the surface, and everything is driven by interests.Since Wang Yi is expected to succeed the patriarch, he naturally has a lot of dark forces in his hands. During the past two years, Wang Yi has been placed in the sphere of influence of the three nobles.Fortunately, although the Feng family trapped Wang Yi and Chen Jinghuai, as long as they were within the scope of the prefecture, they would not be restricted from their movements, but they were followed when they went in and out.

However, Chen Jinghuai has been the chief inspector of the Beifu for many years, and his reconnaissance and anti-reconnaissance capabilities are relatively stronger. As long as he wants to, he can calmly get rid of the people following him at any time, and then appear beside them without anyone noticing.For example, today, those who follow him have no idea that he bought sweet potatoes.

Back in the mansion, Wang Yi was sitting in the water pavilion playing chess with himself.Chen Jinghuai is a rough person, he really can't understand the joy of playing chess.Wang Yi also tried to teach Chen Jinghuai to play chess when he was extremely bored, at least he could have a chess friend during the days of house arrest.However, Chen Jinghuai really didn't understand, every time Wang Yi came back disappointed, and he was so angry that he would eat half a bowl of rice.Chen Jinghuai was speechless every time, so why bother.

"...Master Wang, this is the sweet potato I told you about."

Finally Wang Yi was willing to shift his gaze from the chessboard to the cloth pocket in Chen Jinghuai's hand.I saw that there were lumps of mud in the cloth pocket, which looked really bad.

"That's it?"

Chen Jinghuai nodded: "I asked the merchant, and he said that when he bought the sweet potato seeds, firstly, the price of this new species in Xiangzhou was very cheap. Second, he found out that the seeds from Xiangzhou were Wei's seeds. I bought it, and the first batch of test-planted sweet potatoes was also the Wei family's farm. And the farm for trial planting was under the name of the Guohou Mansion of Jingli Town. I heard that the third son of the Hou Mansion bought it through the Jiang family's route here."

Wang Yi touched his chin when he heard the words, and said, "Fengxi Jiang?"

"Exactly. I heard that Jiang's direct descendants have returned and resumed the family business."

Wang Yi raised his eyebrows: "That merchant is very discerning. When it comes to the number one merchant in the world, no one can surpass the Fengxi Jiang family. It is the Jiang family at the end of Chu. See, in just over twenty years, His descendants let the Jiang family reappear in the eyes of the world."

Speaking of this, Wang Yi paused for a moment, and said again: "It's just that the current world is precarious, and Jiang's appearance at this time, I don't know whether it is luck or misfortune."

Chen Jinghuai glanced at him: "Master Wang, let's think about our own future."

Wang Yi laughed dryly, and pointed at the bag of sweet potatoes: "Can you make it? How about a taste."

Chen Jinghuai resigned to his fate to process these sweet potatoes, and after they were steamed, they brought them to taste with Wang Yi.

Wang Yi broke open the sweet potato and saw that it was yellow and orange inside. He could not help but move his index finger and hissed and took a bite.The entrance is soft, chewing carefully and has a slight sweet taste.Unable to hold back, he ate a few more, and then successfully supported himself, so he got up and walked around twice.

He shyly smiled and said, "Don't talk about it, this food is also quite delicious."

Chen Jinghuai nodded and said, "If you eat it every day, it won't taste good."

Wang Yi sucked his mouth: "Yes, this food is not bad if it is fresh, but it is not as delicious as the fragrant rice and white steamed buns. But then again, since this sweet potato is as high-yielding as you said, it can be regarded as Good thing. At least the common people can have a way to survive in times of famine, right?"

Chen Jinghuai said: "Earlier, the three nobles looked down on this thing, but this autumn the sweet potato harvest is bumper. When I went to the countryside, I saw someone from the Feng family go to inquire about it."

Wang Yi lowered his face, and said in a deep voice: "Things that bully others really don't give people a way to survive."

Chen Jinghuai said: "The emperor is bound to win in Weinan. In the past few years, Mr. Wang has been operating secretly. There has been a gap between the three nobles. I'm afraid Feng has also noticed it. Feng's private army depends on Hezhou and Tanzhou for most of the military salary. , if he masters sweet potatoes, he can get rid of the control of Hezhou and Tanzhou to a certain extent."

The Feng family in Jeju was born as a general, and the former governor of Jeju was also a close friend of the Feng family.It can be said that although Qi State occupies Weinan, in fact the imperial court has very weak control over Weinan, which is why Weinan can independently leave Qi State without any scruples.The Yuan family in Hezhou and the Sun family in Tanzhou supported the Feng family because the Feng family had an army.But in the past two years, Feng's behavior has become more and more domineering, and Wang Yi's people have inadvertently provoked them, and the three families have seemed to be at odds with each other.If the imperial court uses troops against Weinan at this time, the chances of winning are still great.

Wang Yi squinted his eyes and rubbed his fingers, and said to Chen Jinghuai, "Pay more attention to the developments in Jeju these days, and don't worry about the news that should be disclosed."

Chen Jinghuai nodded solemnly.