Ma Fan's ancestors were Han, and he didn't know which generation came to Goguryeo. Maybe it was the late Han Dynasty, maybe it was the Northern and Southern Dynasties, he didn't know.
But living in Goguryeo, to Ma Fan, was no different from the Tang and Sui dynasties.
The only thing he is worried about now is how the Tang Dynasty will treat ordinary people like them. The weather is already about to plant, but because of the war, their land has no chance to plant.
It’s still too late to start farming now, but if it’s later, there will be nothing to gain.
If they don't grow food this year, they won't be able to survive the winter, and they will have no food rations in the winter.
In winter, if there is no rations and the only way to avoid starving to death is to eat the seed grain, but if you eat the seed grain... then there is really no hope.
But no matter what, he has to come out now because the Tang people who occupied the city have summoned him.
Ma Fan rushed to the intersection and saw someone coming out of almost every house in the neighborhood.
When the people were almost here, the leading Tang soldier standing at the intersection said loudly: "Folks from Liaodong, listen up now. Now the entire Liaodong City has been occupied by the Tang Dynasty, and the laws of the Tang Dynasty are currently declared ."
"During the period when the Tang Dynasty was managing Liaodong City, the lives of the common people continued as usual. However, anyone who dares to take advantage of the chaos during this period, take advantage of the situation, harass the people with coercion and inducement, and attempt to attack the Tang army will be severely punished and beheaded!"
"In addition, any unscrupulous traders who raise prices will also be dealt with seriously!"
"Datang has opened several shops in two markets in Liaodong City, selling grain, salt, cloth and other supplies."
"In addition, there are people living outside the city and people with fields. After completing the registration within seven days, Datang will allow you to go back to farm, but each household must grow food for Datang, and Datang will provide grain! In autumn, the harvested grain will be paid to you according to a certain proportion of rent, ensuring that you can survive the winter safely today and have enough to grow grain for next year!"
"But all other food must be handed over to Datang. After next year, if the war ends, everything will return to normal."
The soldier loudly recounted the contents of the notice posted behind him.
And he took the trouble to tell everyone three times to make sure everyone understood, and then left this place and went to the next place.
This notice and decision were thought up by Li Shiji. As for why he did this, it is very simple. The entire Goguryeo grows wheat and corn as the main food.
But whether it is wheat or corn production, there is a huge gap between the high-yield wheat provided by His Highness.
In order to rule Goguryeo next year, Li Shiji came up with this method.
All Goguryeo people were forcibly hired to grow food for the Tang Dynasty, and then the Tang Dynasty provided the grain.
Under forced circumstances, these Goguryeo people did not dare to resist, and they could only plant crops honestly.
But when the harvest came, the Tang Dynasty didn't want them at all. At that time, they declared that these things were their own, and then let them save the seeds for themselves. At that time, after seeing the yield, the people of Goguryeo knew that they would be harvested next year without even thinking about it. Save any seeds.
If you told them now to plant the high-yielding seeds provided by Datang, most people would probably not believe it.
The common people do not have such high vision, and they do not understand much. They simply think, why should the Tang Dynasty help them? Why give them high-yielding seeds? He must have lied to them.
Li Shiji didn't have time to explain these one by one, so he might as well just force them to change their seeds.
After Ma Fan listened, he returned home silently.
When he returned home, people at home immediately greeted him, "How was it? What did the Tang Dynasty people say?"
Ma Fan immediately repeated what the soldier said.
Because it was a war period, Ma Fan's family gathered together to avoid danger. His parents, his brother's family of six, and his family of five were all at their home.
The house they were in belonged to Ma Fan. The house of his parents and brother's family was originally in a village outside the city. I don't know what happened to the village now. Fortunately, everything had been brought to the city.
"Fortunately, the Tang Dynasty is still kind and righteous. They just asked us to help grow food for a year." Ma Fan's father breathed a sigh of relief and said.
"Dad, what if Datang doesn't leave us rations by then?" Ma Fan's brother asked worriedly.
"What should we do? What else can we do? Since Datang provides grain, we should try our best to save our own food. I don't think Datang will not give us any. I will definitely leave some. It is really not possible in winter. , just go out fishing, hunting, and find a way to survive this winter."
"Otherwise, what can we do? Didn't you see the city wall? It was directly blown up by Datang's divine thunder, and tens of thousands of soldiers couldn't stop it. What can we do?" Ma Fan's father said.
Yeah, what can we do? The whole family sighed, they had no choice at all.
"I'll go check out the prices at the grain stores opened by Datang in a while. We'll pool our money together and buy more grain, just in case." Ma Fan's father said.
"Brother and I will go there later." Ma Fan said quickly.
"Go early to avoid running out of food." Ma Fan's father told him.
Ma Fan and his eldest brother immediately tidied up the house, emptied the two cloth bags containing grain, put the grain into the jar, and then went out with the bags and money.
When they arrived at the market, they soon discovered Datang's temporary store. This should be a shop belonging to a noble in the city, but it had obviously been requisitioned by Datang.
The door was guarded by soldiers from the Tang Dynasty, and there were two large signs next to it that read Datang Grain Store.
Ma Fan knew these words. He didn't know much, but he could understand some commonly used words if he read them enough.
Someone had already come to buy food in front of them. Ma Fan and the other two hurried over and started lining up according to the people in front of them.
When it was their turn, the two of them quickly saw the price of food inside. When they saw the price of food, they were stunned.
Because the price of food... is less than one-third of what the food merchants in the city sold before.
The price of food in Liaodong City has been rising for a long time. When Datang and Goguryeo fought in Silla last year, this place is located on the front line, so food prices started to rise. And some time ago, I learned that Datang had officially declared war on Goguryeo. , the price of food in Liaodong City has more than doubled.
And the current price... is even lower than the previous most normal food price in Liaodong City.
This... Ma Fan and his eldest brother didn't say anything, and immediately prepared to buy all the money in their hands into food.
Just when they were about to spend all their money, the Tang soldier selling grain inside reminded them: "There is still a lot of grain. Is this money all you have? Don't you look at the price of salt next to it?" Very low.”
