Chapter 948: Scolding and High-Yield Grains [2]

The top aristocratic families in the world are much more powerful than the Jin family. The Qin family can escape the attack of the Jin family's assassins, but they may not be able to escape the attack of the assassins of hundreds of families.

Qin Xiaomi said: Stay calm. If the powerful families really send assassins to assassinate her because of what she said, it would be a formal declaration of war against Emperor Wuxing.

Gao Zhenzhi was the center of the attack. He truly couldn't bear the consequences of Qin's daughter's insults. His eyes flushed with anger, and he retorted, "Qin's daughter, if you're so uninformed, don't make false accusations... Ever since the Hundred Years of Spy case was discovered, we've all written home, offering suggestions and advice, hoping that our family will help the court fight the enemy!"

"The Xiangwu Hall was able to be established thanks to the donations from our families!"

Qin Xiaomi: "Oh, look at your own dark heart and ask yourself, what use is such a small donation in fighting against the East Desert Army?!"

"Besides this small donation, what useful things have your families done to fight the enemy?"

"The Changping Granary. You are students, those who will take the imperial examinations and enter officialdom in the future. You have all learned the methods of the Changping Granary, but what is the price of rice now? Three years have passed since the famine, and the prices of grain, cotton, and charcoal are still high..."

"Soybeans, the staple food for the villagers, were once nine cents per pound. Although the price has dropped a bit now, it's still as high as seven cents per pound."

"How much do farmers earn a day? Soybeans cost seven cents a pound, and even a child needs to eat three ounces a day to survive. With an average family of ten people, how many pounds of soybeans does it take to feed them?"

"But can people eat soybeans every day? They have to eat some rice or flour, but stale rice is currently 20 wen a jin... 20 wen a jin, almost catching up with the price of meat. How can the villagers survive?"

"You guys are learning about the Changping Warehouse, but why didn't you stabilize the price of food that's needed for survival? Did you bring the price of food that's needed for survival down to normal levels?!"

The students were horrified: "You, you, you actually know how the Changping Warehouse stabilizes grain prices?"

Qin Xiaomi: "I'm not stupid. So don't always criticize country farmers for being illiterate and unlearned. If farmers' children started learning at the age of three like you did, and studied day and night for more than ten years, their knowledge would definitely be just as good as yours. They could even surpass you young masters and students who only know poetry and songs but no common sense!"

"You bastards, you see a farmer and you say, 'Immortal, rough, villager, commoner, I'm not worthy of living under the same roof with you. If you were born in a farmer's family, you would have starved to death long ago, let alone learn to read and write!"

Qin Xiaomi has the original owner's memories, and the original owner loved to make money, so Qin Xiaomi knew that the cheapest price of grain in Wei was... three cents per pound of soybeans.

For a poor family, a pound of soybeans, two handfuls of wheat flour, and a basket of vegetables, cooked together in a big pot, is enough to feed a family of more than a dozen people.

But the original owner also remembered the price of grain from his grandparents. Those were the prices of grain when Emperor Ning Kang was young.

As Emperor Ningkang became increasingly incompetent and Prime Minister Jin's family became increasingly unscrupulous, grain prices had already skyrocketed beyond recognition.

But cheap food prices did exist, so Qin Xiaomi was so angry.

Jiang Dalang/Sheng Ting were also very angry. This was equivalent to the failure of price stabilization. If it had happened in the Great Sheng Dynasty, the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Revenue would have been raided and their families exterminated long ago!

The students were stunned by the scolding... They knew what the meaning of "mud cow entering the sea" meant, but what was a mud horse?

"We don't look down on children from farming families!" the students present shouted hurriedly.

They may look down on the children of farmers, but they must never admit it.

Qin Xiaomi said the same thing: "Really? I don't believe it. Why don't you swear a terrible oath?"

Huhuhuhu, the students were almost angry to death, but they also looked at Jiang Dalang with sympathy... Captain Jiang was also unfortunate, having to spend his life with such a woman!

Ying Zilin said, "Boss Qin, the high grain prices are not because we haven't tried to stabilize them, nor is it because the stabilization efforts have been ineffective. It's because we need to allocate grain to the Northwest and Central Plains states, which has caused grain prices in the Northeast state to remain high for three years."

As for the grain prices in Jiangnan Prefecture and Jianghuai Prefecture?

It is not that expensive, but because most of the wealthy and powerful families come from these two places, which are also rich and productive. If the price of grain rises too much, the aristocratic family alliance will let each family open private warehouses to stabilize the price of grain.

Therefore, the only unlucky one is the Northeast Province!

Damn you, it’s a good thing the people in Northeastern Province don’t know about it, otherwise they would have torn you to pieces.

Ying Zilin's eyes were already moist. He saluted Qin Xiaomi solemnly and said, "Boss Qin is right. Such high grain prices are indeed the result of the incompetence of scholars like us."

"I, Ying Zilin, swear here that I will use the power of the Ying family to raise food and fodder for the Northeast Province to fight against foreign enemies. I will also actively participate in stabilizing food prices so that the poor can afford to buy more cheap food and have enough to eat during the lean season. If I cannot do this in this life, I will never let my family die!"

"Ying Xueshou, how could you make such a vicious oath?!" Shi Songxin was almost crying for him. If this vicious oath were to get to the ears of the Ying family, Ying Xueshou would probably be punished by the entire Ying family.

Gao Zhenzhi's eyes were bloodshot, and he acted like a madman in anger. He pointed at Qin Xiaomi and said, "Daughter of the Qin family, you are so overbearing. You repeatedly use twisted logic to make the headmaster swear an oath. You know that this move will kill him. Besides empty talk and scolding the students, what have you done to help the grain supply and grain prices?!"

"A mere woman, having earned a few filthy sums and knowing a few tricks of the Changping Warehouse, dares to speak out, attacking the future pillars of the Wei Dynasty and ruining their future. Your rascality, shortsightedness, and cruelty, daughter of the Qin family, are rarely seen in this world!"

Dangdang Dangdang!

The gong sounded and Jiang Dalang struck it. Because they had been doing hard labor recently, the students, including Gao Zhenzhi, fell silent when they heard the gong.

Really, it's muscle memory.

Qin Xiaomi smiled, looked at Gao Zhenzhi, and said, "Tell me, how come you are so unlucky? If you had scolded me like this a few days ago, I wouldn't have been able to slap you in the face right away, but if you scold me like this today, I have solid evidence to slap you in the face!"

Old Man Xun's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked Qin Xiaomi, "Boss, have those high-yield grains arrived?!"

"High-yield grains? Master, what high-yield grains?" Old Jing grabbed Old Xun's arm and asked. He felt wronged that his master had hidden such a big secret from him.

Students like Ying Zilin and Shi Songxin were also shocked and asked hurriedly, "What high-yield grains are these? Master Qin, please tell me in detail!"

Gao Zhenzhi was stunned, then burst into laughter. "Hahaha, daughter of the Qin family, you really love to brag. How dare you talk about high-yield grains? You are just a peasant girl, and you have only lived for a dozen years. How can you be so capable of producing high-yield grains?!"

Before, he might have scolded the Qin girl wrongly, but regarding the high-yield grains, he guaranteed with his life that he had never wronged the Qin girl.

This is because in this world, if there are really high-yield grains that can affect the price of grain, they will only be collected into private warehouses by their family alliances and will never flow out to the people.

"Qin's daughter, you are just talking nonsense. Master, you have been deceived by her. I beg you to wake up and stop blindly praising Qin's daughter. Do you know that your actions are bringing shame to Master Jing?"

"Gao Zhenzhi, shut up! You should be careful when speaking without seeking the truth. Don't you understand this principle? And yet you keep breaking it?!" Old Master Jing couldn't stand it any longer and reprimanded Gao Zhenzhi in public. He also ordered his attendant, "Keep an eye on Gao Zhenzhi and don't let him say anything nonsense again!"

It was to throw Gao Zhenzhi's words that had cursed Qin Xiaomi back at Gao Zhenzhi.

"Yes." The attendants immediately replaced Ying Zilin and Shi Songxin to control Gao Zhenzhi.

Old Master Jing hurriedly asked, "Master Qin, what exactly are these high-yield grains you mentioned? Where can I find them? Are they in Baofu County?"

Qin Xiaomi didn't keep the secret and said directly, "This high-yield grain is taro from Lingnan Prefecture."