nashuaworldcup Chapter 269 I feel that I am more capable than Lord Chen!
Chapter 269 I feel that I am more capable than Lord Chen!
Chen Shengda was not going to give up so he came to Jiangnan Prefecture and he had to get some food from here!
He thought of another idea and went to the county government office of Jun'an County to find the county magistrate Chen Dashu. Chen Dashu realized that he was his cousin, but it was said that he was now in the capital and held a high position in the Ministry of Revenue!
He knew that Chen Shengda was not a good person. He abandoned his wife and daughter after he passed the imperial examination and gave her to the delicate Fulu County Lady and her daughter, and to the Prince of the State Wei Zhendong. This idiot really lowered the IQ of their Chen family. Why did he have the nerve to come back now?
Chen Dashu quickly bowed to greet him. Chen Shengda was a man who liked to show off. He nodded and said, "Hello, Lord Chen. I am now an official in the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court. This time I came back to Jiangnan Prefecture to collect grain in accordance with the imperial decree.
I also ask Mr. Chen to cooperate and see if every household with surplus food can contribute. Of course, the Ministry of Revenue will not take the people's food for free, they all have to pay for it!"
County Magistrate Chen Dashu frowned and shook his head at the arrogant Chen Shengda: "Sir, it's not that I don't want to help with this matter. It's really that our Jun'an County and several nearby counties all borrowed seeds from the young county lady, harvested grain and kept some for their families, and sold the rest to the young county lady at market prices. How can we have any surplus grain?
Also, the vegetables that everyone grows this season are all seeds borrowed from the young county lady, and they will all be sold to her in the future.
We sell food and vegetables to the young county lady, and they are also used by the imperial army to fight! How can we have surplus food to sell to you? Aren’t you all using it for the imperial court? "
The corner of Chen Shengda's mouth twitched: "Master Chen is right, we are all raising food for the imperial army, but now both sides of the north are in need of food, and we are already unable to supply it!
The commander-in-chief of the Northeast and the commander-in-chief of the Northwest have both reported that a decisive battle will be fought in March of next year, and that food must be adequately supplied during this period. Otherwise, the soldiers will be so hungry that they will be exhausted on the front lines. How can they fight?
I want the common people to tighten their food rations at home and save some food, so that the soldiers can have enough food and have the capital to repel the foreign enemies!"
County Magistrate Chen Dashu was a little unhappy: "Master Chen, what you said sounds good, but can you tighten the food supply at home?
Nowadays, ordinary people have food rations left for each person in their homes, no matter how tight the situation is, do we ordinary people have no need to live?
According to the details, our Jun'an County and several surrounding counties borrowed grain to plant crops after the young county lady came. We worked harder and grew more grain in exchange for some silver. We really didn't leave any extra grain, not even a pound!
The young county lady said it well. Let us earn more money, but the grain must be sold to the court in sufficient quantities. She has taken all the grain from the court away through General Wan. Which local family would dare to keep extra grain at home?
For example, in our county government right now, there is only about 1,000 kilograms of grain left. This is the ration that the legal advisor has left according to the number of people, to be used as food until the new rice comes in next year!
Who can live without food for a day? If you want to take out this thousand kilograms of food, what should we do?
Are we all going to eat dirt? We have to eat vegetables with our food rations, otherwise we won’t be able to get the new rice next year!"
Chen Shengda frowned and said, "This is outrageous! In the face of national crisis, can you still think that far ahead?"
Chen Dashu argued: "My Lord, don't think as far as we think. What do ordinary people want? They want to live and work in peace and contentment! Ordinary people work hard all day long, which is not comparable to the leisure and comfort you live in the city. But if you want the cows to work, you have to feed them well, that's the rule!
Now you want to starve the cows to death, what will you eat during the New Year? The army needs to collect food now, will they have to starve for the next meal after they finish this one? Or will they have to eat until March next year, and then they won’t have to eat anymore?”
Chen Shengda was so angry that he wanted to curse, but he knew that what the county magistrate Chen Dashu said made sense!
But he was unwilling to give up! If he wanted to make achievements, he had to scrape out food from Jiangnan Prefecture. Otherwise, how would he explain himself if he returned empty-handed?
He wants to be promoted to his father-in-law's position, but his father-in-law will retire in two or three years. How can he move up if he has no achievements? "
Chen Shengda frowned and sighed, "Master Chen, I know there is some truth in what you said, but there is nothing I can do!
Chen has taken on this task. As Chen's cousin, how can you not help?
How about this? You help me post a notice saying that I am buying grain at a high price. If you have grain to sell to the court, you can pay two cents more per pound than the market price!
Maybe some families have extra food that they can sell, and then I can add some silver from my own pocket, right?"
Chen Dashu shook his head helplessly: "Alas! What cousin? You are a high-ranking official in Beijing. I have no choice but to listen to you.
But I cannot guarantee that you will receive the food. Someone may sell the food for the sake of money!"
On the same day, the county magistrate Chen Dashu issued a notice that the imperial court was raising food and fodder for the northern battlefield, and the price of food had increased by two cents per catty compared to before!
Indeed, after half a month of fundraising, Chen Shengda managed to raise 20,000 kilograms of grain in An County, Jiangnan Prefecture.
This little bit of food is just a drop in the bucket for the imperial army!
Chen Shengda paid two cents for every pound of grain from his own pocket. Later, he gritted his teeth and added another cent, and barely collected less than 30,000 pounds of grain from the surrounding counties!
During this period, Shen Ruyi never showed up, and Chen Shengda became even more certain that his daughter was not in Jiangnan Prefecture!
Otherwise, Shen Ruyi would not have failed to show up. He proposed to go to Shenjiazhuang to buy some vegetables, but was ruthlessly rejected. County magistrate Chen Dashu also revealed that he had never met Shen Ruyi.
In the end, Chen Shengda had no choice but to return to the capital with his tail between his legs. More than 40,000 kilograms of food was too little. His entire mission was a joke.
Every time the imperial court transported grain to the north, it would require at least 500,000 kilograms of grain. Isn't 40,000 kilograms of grain just a drop in the bucket?
At the court this morning, Chen Shengda knelt in the main hall and apologized for his incompetence. He still paid out of his own pocket to add silver and raised more than 40,000 kilograms of grain!
Everyone gasped. It seemed that Jiangnan Prefecture really had no more food to provide to the troops on the northern battlefield.
Pan Song from the Ministry of Revenue said that the grain transported last time could only feed the soldiers in the northeast and northwest until January of next year, but there would still be a two-month gap in food until March of next year. How could the court's nearly 200,000 troops survive?
Just when everyone was at a loss, Wei Zhendong stepped forward and said, "Lord Chen went to Jiangnan Prefecture with great promise, but now he has only collected 30,000 to 40,000 kilograms of grain. Why don't you collect more vegetables? That way, the soldiers can have something to eat."
Chen Shengda was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He looked at Wei Zhendong and said, "Duke, I don't have the ability, so please go and raise the funds!
Chen had to pay out of his own pocket to raise these 30,000 to 40,000 kilograms of grain. How could ordinary people be willing to sell vegetables? They also need to eat!"
Wei Zhendong remembered what his father Wei Chuang said, that his daughter Shen Ruyi planted thousands of acres of fertile farmland in Jubao County of Qiongzhou Prefecture, and had a good harvest of grain and also planted a batch of potatoes and vegetables. He instantly had an idea!
"Your Majesty! I feel that I am more capable than Lord Chen! I want to go out and raise money for the court to meet the two-month food shortage!"
Chen Shengda really wanted to spit out a mouthful of blood. This unlucky old widower wanted to step on him everywhere!