They are not close to the Liuyun River like Lijia'ao, and the wells in the village have long dried up, let alone the sweet potatoes in the fields.
Now they have packed their things and are living in their parents' home or their daughter's in-laws' home.
Here, including Li Shu and Li Lin.
The cousins had a combined total of seven children, all under the age of seven.
Logically, everyone should be sent away with the Li family before.
However, Li Shu, whose family had been separated, was reluctant to leave her eldest daughter Wu Meifang, who was at her disposal, so she kept her behind.
She was reluctant to let go of her youngest son, who was only over two years old, so he also stayed.
In addition, the two middle children were given away by her.
As for Li Lin, who has not separated, the couple can't make the decision at all when it comes to children, especially when it comes to twins.
Therefore, after her efforts, only her youngest son was sent away.
Fortunately, these cousins are courageous people, knowing that if they leave with their young children, they will definitely be in a lot of trouble.
In order to avoid causing trouble to others, the two sisters gritted their teeth and used the dowry given to them by their mothers to buy cows.
But it was already March and April, and the price of cattle was extremely high, two or three times higher than before.
In order to be able to buy a cow, the two sisters reluctantly pawned the silver hairpin given by Li Yuan.
Just like that, the money is still not enough.
The sisters knew that their mother-in-law's family had no money and could not borrow money from Li Yuan. In addition, it was impossible for her husband's family to lend them money. They finally decided to leave anyway. As long as someone was willing to buy the land allocated to them after the summer harvest, they could buy it. Sold cheap.
Fields have always been the root of farmers. The price of the two sisters' fields is only half of the original price, so there are many people buying it.
No, after the two sisters got the money from selling their fields, they bought a three-year-old cow together and built a carriage that was comparable to Li Yuan's big horse carriage.
Now that the sweet potatoes of the two sisters had died of drought, they harvested them early, gave the land to the seller, packed up their things, and returned to Lijia'ao with their families.
Li Lin's husband's family originally wanted to go with them, but seeing how hasty and unwilling they were, they stopped thinking.
There are several married girls in Li Jia'ao who are in the same situation as Li Lin and Li Shu, but the difference is that they are not as courageous as the sisters. When they returned to their parents' home with their families, they did not have any transportation.
At that time, they heard the ringing of copper bells in the village, so they took big hats to protect themselves from the sun and headed towards the Li family's ancestral hall together.
While Li Qinghua was waiting for everyone to come over, he told the elders of the Li clan about Li Yuan's request.
Let’s not talk about the reaction of other clan elders, let’s talk about Old Man Li. He immediately said to Li Qinghua: “Hua Zi, it’s hot today. After you ask everyone to harvest the sweet potatoes, remember to dry them a little before weighing them. Let’s do it. There's a drought right now, so I'm not afraid of germination. But if it rains all the time and the day is hot and humid, it's hard to say. Besides, during the spring plowing, Mr. Xu said that the court would exempt us from taxes for three years because of last year's snowstorm. But in my opinion, we still have to pay the tax this year. It’s not for anything else, just for the sake of Shao’an and the heirs of my Li family. Let’s not miss this point.”
There was a quick-thinking clan elder on the side. He quickly understood what Old Man Li meant, and nodded and said, "Yes, Hua Zi listened to your sixth uncle. Our sweet potatoes were given to us by Yuan Niang and Shao An. It’s because there aren’t many of them out there, or it’s because I bought them from outside, but it means we are the first to grow them here.”
"In this case, our output is high, which is a political achievement. We say we pay taxes, but the taxes we pay are topped with sweet potatoes. No matter how great a political achievement this is for many adults, the things belong to my Li family. Among the crops grown by humans, we are the only ones in Liuyun County that are highly productive."
"We were the first to grow things. As long as it becomes popular, people all over the world will remember us."
"Although it doesn't seem like much at the moment, we don't expect any rewards from the superiors. But when Shao'an wins the imperial examination and becomes the top scholar, those in the capital will know that Yuanniang is the top scholar. In the future, they will know Yuanniang. She is a girl from my Li clan, so it is naturally good for Shao'an. The sweet potatoes we handed over can be used as seeds, which can be said to benefit the country and the people. Let's discuss it with Mr. Xu, and then the clan will write down a detailed planting plan. And the yield per acre..."
When Li Qinghua heard this, he still didn't understand.
After all, the people in Lijia'ao had already followed the arrangements of Xie Yanzhi and his wife and stocked up a lot of food.
Nowadays, these sweet potatoes are just their extra food. If they lack some, it won't matter.
What's more, he had promised his sixth uncle before that the sweet potato seeds were borrowed from Yuan Niang by members of the Li clan.
How much will be returned after planting.
They have benefited from Yuan Niang and his wife, so they should benefit them in return.
As long as Shao'an gets better and better, the Li family, as members of Yuan Niang's mother's family, can also benefit from it.
With this thought in mind, Li Qinghua agreed: "Okay, let's do it. After clarifying it with the tribe later, let someone go to the city to talk to Mr. Xu about this matter. Our sweet potatoes have a high yield. Even if we don't have to pay taxes this year, we will still be able to pay taxes." Pay, I think Mr. Xu also knows what it means. I heard before that his family in the capital has good connections. For him, this is a great political achievement, and his family should also be happy to see this."
Old Man Li said again: "If you are not worried, then after we collect the sweet potatoes, we will take out a detailed data and how to cultivate them, and send them to Fucheng to Shao'an. Shao'an has a wide network of people and knows everyone in the capital. A very talented person. Not to mention anything else, Mr. Chen from before, he is from the General Protector’s Mansion. Even if it doesn’t work, you can send it to Yuanniang’s aunt. She is from the Marquis of Zhenguo Mansion, and she is willing to convey it to the higher ups if she wants to. This kind of thing is beneficial to the country and the people, and can please the Holy Spirit."
"Okay! Mr. Xu is our parent officer now, so we have to ask him about this matter. He has a good relationship with Shao'an, so we should just go past him. I'm afraid he will think we are ignorant and will have a grudge against Shao'an later."
"That's the reason, then it's decided!"
As Li Qinghua and the elders of the Li clan discussed this matter, Li Jia'ao and the people who were leaving with him this time were almost here.
Li Qinghua shook the bell to make everyone quiet down, and then he asked everyone to start harvesting sweet potatoes from night to night.
By the way, he also asked everyone to give Li Yuan as much as they could from the grain harvest in the fields, and said that this was what they had promised when they borrowed the seeds.
In addition, I also asked everyone to use sweet potatoes to pay taxes.
If not for anything else, just to let the people of the world remember their Li clan members from Lijia'ao, Liuyun County, Xinyang Prefecture, and also to let the people above them have an impression of their Li clan.
In this way, if the heirs are promising in the future and are admitted to the scholar examination or even Jinshi, everyone will know about the Li family because of the sweet potatoes.
This will be of great benefit to the descendants of the Li family!
