The snow has just begun to fall, and now everything in Mingyue City is covered with white snow. Although this scenery is beautiful, it is not a good thing for most people in the city.
Along the way, Chang Yue had seen several houses collapse under the weight of the snow. She didn't know how many casualties the heavy snow would cause and how many people would die from hunger and cold.
This is still the case in Mingyue City, let alone the worse conditions outside the city.
The heavy snow had just stopped, and although the sun came out, it didn't make people feel much warmth. Changyue's ox cart walked steadily ahead, and it didn't take long to reach the city gate.
Sensing the approach of the bullock cart, most of the pedestrians gave way in panic.
Although Changyue's car is an ox cart, the carriage is quite gorgeously decorated. You can tell at a glance that it is driven by a wealthy family. In addition, Granny Feng who drives the car is well-dressed. In Mingyue City, only the City Lord's Mansion and the Fifth Family can wear this kind of car. Only then.
Changyue opened the corner of the car curtain and saw that most of the people outside were in ragged clothes. Even though the cold wind was blowing as cold as a knife at the moment, they were still naked, and some were even wrapped in a straw mat.
Seeing Chang Yue like this, Ah Cai couldn't help but stretch his little head and peek outside. When he saw the scene outside clearly, he couldn't help but froze.
He thought that if he had not been brought back by the lady, his life would probably be even more miserable than those of the people outside.
Thinking of this, A Cai couldn't help but tighten her thick and warm clothes.
Chang Yue frowned slightly and asked Granny Feng, "What's going on with these people outside."
Grandma Feng sighed after hearing this and said: "It snowed so heavily. Many places outside the city should have been affected. These people should have become homeless in the heavy snow and then fled to the city." Bar.
They are all poor people..."
Grandma Feng couldn't help but sigh.
"In such a situation, wouldn't the City Lord's Mansion take action to provide disaster relief?" Chang Yue asked doubtfully.
"How could this old slave know?" Granny Feng laughed and said, how could she, an old woman, care about such a thing.
Changyue heard the words and didn't ask any more questions. She sighed and lowered the car curtain.
Nowadays, there are many people entering the city and few leaving the city, so Chang Yue and the others arrived outside the city in a short time.
At this time, Chang Yue heard a commotion. She opened the curtain again and saw a large number of refugees gathered on the left side of the city gate.
Chang Yue learned from the conversation between passers-by that it turned out to be Jin Shuangshuang, the second disciple of the city lord, who was giving porridge and medicine there.
Chang Yue looked from a distance and saw a girl in a yellow cloak busy working under the protection of the guards. From time to time, she wiped the sweat on her forehead with her hands, and it could be seen that giving soup was a physical job.
"This Miss Jin is kind-hearted." Changyue said as she put down the car curtain.
Granny Feng said disdainfully: "Who knows if someone is kind or not, who knows if it's just a show."
Changyue didn't comment on this. Regardless of whether she was sincere or just acting, the victims had a bowl of hot porridge.
Even if that Jin girl is really acting, looking at her like this, she must have arrived at the city gate early in the morning. On such a cold day, her energy alone is worthy of praise.
The bullock cart drove out of the city unsteadily. After an unknown amount of time, the bullock cart suddenly stopped, and Chang Yue and Ah Cai couldn't help but lean forward.
Ah Cai couldn't steady his body. If Chang Yue hadn't pulled him quickly with his eyes and hands, he might have fallen into the carriage.
"Everyone in the car, get out of here, get out quickly!" A burst of shouting sounded, as if they were in trouble.
"Hurry up and hand over all your money, otherwise don't blame me for being rude." The rude voice sounded again.
"Mother-in-law, what's wrong?" Changyue asked in confusion.
"Miss, don't pay attention, it's just a few thieves blocking the way." Grandma Feng's voice came from outside.
When Chang Yue heard this, she really ignored it and continued to read quietly in the carriage with a book in her hands.
A Cai wanted to open the curtain to see what was going on outside, but seeing that her young lady didn't care at all, she followed her example and continued to hold the book and read.
The books A Cai read were all copied from the Li family library before Chang Yue started practicing. They all talked about common sense of martial arts training. Now they have become compulsory subjects for A Cai.
A group of tall and sturdy men outside were glaring fiercely at Granny Feng, seemingly dissatisfied with Granny Feng calling them little thieves.
"You old man, you dare to talk to us like this. I think you are impatient." One of the big men said viciously. He held an iron ax in his hand and after speaking, he slashed at Granny Feng.
Granny Feng stood still, and with just one palm strike, the strong man screamed and flew backwards, fell to the ground and twitched twice before dying.
The other people were all heartbroken when they saw this. They didn't expect that the old woman in front of them turned out to be a warrior, so they all fled in panic.
But Grandma Feng would not let them leave so easily. She jumped lightly on the snow and slapped a few hands casually. Everyone who was hit by her fell to the ground.
Judging from the movements of these people escaping, they should have learned some boxing and kicking skills, but they did not have true energy in their bodies, so they were not considered warriors.
One of the big men saw that his companions were dying one after another, so he gave up escaping, turned around, knelt down to Granny Feng, and kept kowtowing to beg for mercy.
"Sir, please forgive me. We are homeless because of the disaster at home, so we have no choice but to do this.
I have an elder and a younger one, and the whole family is relying on me to get by! Please be kind to the adults and spare the little ones. "
"Mother-in-law!" Chang Yue opened the curtain after hearing the cry for mercy.
The strong man suddenly felt happy when he saw a delicate little girl sitting in the car. He thought that such a beautiful girl couldn't bear someone to die miserably in front of her!
However, before the strong man could beg for mercy, Chang Yue's cold voice sounded.
"Mother-in-law, please solve it quickly. We are in a hurry. It is not good to go back too late."
When the strong man heard this, his expression instantly froze on his face.
"Hey~ Miss, this old slave is here." After saying this, Granny Feng slapped the strong man's Tianling Cap with her palm, and the strong man fell down with a "pop" with his eyes wide open.
Changyue didn't even glance at the corpses lying on the snow. She lowered the car curtain expressionlessly and continued reading.
Now that the heavy snow has just fallen for a day and a night, even if many people are affected, it will not be reduced to the point where the grass is turned into a bandit.
It may be true that these people's families suffered disasters, and it may be true that they want to get something for nothing, and that they seek money and kill themselves. Chang Yue will not sympathize with them because of this.
In fact, Chang Yue's guess was absolutely correct. These people were actually hunters in the mountains. Because they had learned some boxing and kicking skills, they had been living a good life.
Now that the mountains are closed by heavy snow, they can't go hunting in the mountains, so they get together and have nothing to do, and then they become malicious and want to make money through robbery.
It's a pity that he died before he got out of the battle, and he hit the iron plate just after he selected the first target.
After Granny Feng got rid of the thief, she quickly turned back to the bullock cart and continued driving toward the farm.
Not long after Chang Yue and the others left, a group of wild dogs walked out of the woods. They fought over each other and dragged the corpses on the ground into the woods.
Because the snow was too thick, it took Changyue and the others nearly an hour to get to the farm. If the two bison hadn't walked steadily and walked smoothly in the snow, it would have taken them even longer.
The farm where the eldest lady sent Chang Yue to was not big, with only a dozen families in total, and the people who lived here were all descendants of servants who had made mistakes in the Li family.
The descendants of servants are still servants and stay in the farm. Without special opportunities, they will never get ahead in their lives.
When Chang Yue arrived outside the farm, she saw many people busy outside from a distance. It turned out that two houses had been overwhelmed by snow, and other villagers were helping to clean up.
Because the population in the farm is small, these villagers usually help me and I help you. Otherwise, it would be too difficult for people with their status to survive in this world.
Zhuangtou quickly noticed the gorgeous ox cart outside. He thought it was a passerby delayed by the snow, so he ran over quickly.
"I don't know where you are coming from, sir, but do you need help?" Zhuangtou said respectfully.
He looked to be about forty years old, with sallow skin, short stature, and a face full of criss-cross ridges. It was obvious at a glance that he had not had an easy life.
Of course, in this world, not many ordinary people live a happy life.
This farm is called Lihua Village, and the head of the farm is also named Li. His grandfather was once a steward of the Li family, so he was given the family name.
Later, Zhuangtou's grandfather was punished to Lihua Village for making a mistake. From then on, their family settled in this village and never returned to Li Mansion.
Zhuangtou's original intention was to provide some help to this passerby and ask for some reward money, but when he saw the people walking out of the car, he realized that he had made a mistake.
Chang Yue helped Ah Cai get out of the car. When the village head saw a beautiful girl in the car, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.
At this time, Granny Feng introduced her with a straight face: "This is the seventh lady in the mansion, and she will be the master of this village from now on."
Zhuangtou was overjoyed when he heard this and bowed his head.
"Little Li Gui has met Miss Seven."
The government had sent someone to inform them before that Lihua Village would be placed under the name of the seventh lady, and they would all obey the orders of the seventh lady.
Li Gui was so happy at that time!
As a man with little information and no serious dealings with the government for decades, Zhuangtou didn't know Chang Yue's situation in the Li family, let alone Chang Yue's inability to practice.
All he knew was that Zhuangzi would have a master in the future, and the master would never leave them alone. Maybe they would have their day in the spotlight.
Now that Miss Seven has really come, how can Li Gui be unhappy?
Changyue raised her hand to signal Li Gui to get up, and asked softly: "Do you know where Zhuangtou is here? I want to see him."
Li Gui smiled and replied respectfully: "Miss Qi, my servant Li Gui is the head of Lihua Village."
Chang Yue looked surprised, then smiled and said: "That's just right, Li Gui, right? Just accompany me to look around in the village."
"Why!"
Li Gui responded happily when he heard the words. The wrinkles on his face bloomed like chrysanthemums in an instant, and the joy in his eyes could not be concealed.
Li Gui led Chang Yue, Granny Feng and A Cai to Zhuangzi while introducing the situation in Zhuangzi to Changyue.
Lihua Village is an ordinary little village with no characteristics at all. It got its name because there are many wild pear trees growing around it.
Because the fruits of those pear trees were sour and small, even the birds disliked them, so no one ate them.
Only when the pear trees bloom every spring, the pear blossoms on the trees are so beautiful that this Pear Blossom Village can barely be considered a scene.
But it is winter now, not to mention the pear blossoms, not even a leaf can be seen on the pear trees.
There are twelve families in Lihua Village. Counting the babies waiting to be fed and the elderly, there are a total of seventy-two people.
There are about 120 acres of fields, most of which are medium-sized fields, and only about ten acres are barely considered top-grade fields.
The number of fields sounds large, but the productivity of this world is low. Even if the farmers work hard and cultivate intensively, the annual output of the fields is not much.
Moreover, most of these outputs have to be handed over to the government, so the lives of the villagers are even worse.
Chang Yue followed Li Gui all the way, and felt dumbfounded when she saw him excitedly and solemnly introducing his identity to everyone he met.
The villagers, like Li Gui, were so happy that they almost fainted after knowing that Chang Yue would be the master of Zhuangzi in the future.
Grandma Feng thinks these people are very discerning. If you follow her young lady, your luck will be behind you!
All the villagers Chang Yue saw were sallow and thin, similar in appearance to Zhuangtou, but they seemed to be in good spirits.
Chang Yue then asked Li Gui about the damage to Li Huazhuang in the heavy snow. Li Gui frowned when he said this.
The current crop grown in the fields of Lihuazhuang is a kind of grain called purple cloud wheat. This wheat is a unique crop of the Li family. It is said that if eaten for a long time, it has the effect of strengthening the body.
The pasta that Chang Yue sometimes eats is made from the flour ground from this kind of purple cloud wheat. Chang Yue doesn't have any special feeling about whether it has the effect of strengthening the body, but the taste is indeed much better than ordinary flour.
But this kind of wheat has one characteristic, that is, it is delicate.
As the saying goes, auspicious snow heralds a good harvest. If it is ordinary wheat, a heavy snowfall in winter may lead to a bumper harvest next year, but this is not the case for purple cloud wheat. Heavy snowfall will only cause a large-scale reduction in production.
Mingyue City has not experienced such heavy snow for many years. Li Gui originally thought that if he planted some purple cloud wheat this year, he would definitely be rewarded by the government in the coming year.
Now that it's snowing, let alone rewards next year, I'll be thankful that I can avoid being punished.
All Zhuangzi under the name of Li Mansion must follow the government's arrangements for planting. Only when planting special crops such as purple cloud wheat, additional applications are required.
The government will usually approve your application, but you have to ensure that the planting is good. If you still apply if the planting is not good, then you will be punished.
Although Lihua Village is now under Changyue's name, the crops in the fields still belong to the mansion.
In order to harvest Ziyun wheat next year, Li Gui didn't sleep all night last night.
After hearing this, Chang Yue comforted him and said: "This heavy snowfall is a natural disaster. The government will not blame it. I will help you ask when I get back."
After hearing this, Li Gui quickly knelt down and kowtowed to Chang Yue.
(End of chapter)
