"Master Jun, it's really me who eats, you just let the child go." The old man's forehead had knocked a deep depression into the soft loess.

"Old man, this potato is not ripe, how can you eat its leaves? Wouldn't that be a waste of the potato? Zhu Youzhen remembered the green water stains on the corner of the little girl's mouth just now, and she must have eaten it too.

"Master Huijun, hungry, really hungry." The old man cried and cried, but his shriveled body had no moisture, no tears and snot or anything, and the crying became a dry howl.

The appearance of this old man is too strange, plus the light thunders and does not rain, if it weren't for the three children around him, all of them are yellow, hungry and thin, and look malnourished, Wang Mujiu must have thought that this is an assassin who is too good at stealth kung fu.

"What, the leaves you eat because you're hungry?" Zhu Youzhen's eyes were almost catching up with the child's face.

"Yes, Master Jun. If it weren't for hunger, who would eat this? Master Jun, look at it, how thin have these three children become? Master Jun, for the sake of their father, who is also a soldier, you can let these children go! ”

"But...... But...... Can this be digested? Zhu Youzhen's nose was sour, but he still resisted his impulse.

"How can this be digested? Every poop is ...... Alas! But the children are so hungry! The old man seemed to have found something, "No, no, the children didn't eat, I ate it alone." ”

Zhu Youzhen couldn't hold back any longer, his eyes were hot, he quickly turned around, "Old man, get up, we will never embarrass the child." ”

"Thank you, Master Jun! Thank you, Master Jun! As long as you let the child go, I will go with you. The old man bowed respectfully three times before pulling the three children to their feet.

Half-ringing, Zhu Youzhen's eyes had cooled down, and he turned around, "Old man, who else is in your family?" ”

"There are also two sons and daughters-in-law, one of whom is in the army."

Eight people, if it is not close to the end of the cooking, who is willing to let the child eat these leaves how to get in? "Mu Jiu?" Zhu You summoned Wang Mujiu and whispered, and Wang Mujiu galloped away with a soldier.

"Master Jun, didn't you promise to let my grandson go?" The old man's hollow eyes showed fear.

"Rest assured, we will not embarrass the children. Your son is a soldier, doesn't the court pay him? ”

"Hair is hair, but my son can only eat half full, and he still has to train, where can he take care of his family?"

No wonder Zu Dashou gave the death order, and he almost didn't rob those big households, and he was also forced to do so. Zhu Youzhen couldn't understand, why were the people of the Ming Dynasty so poor?

He now understands that in the history of later generations, the rebel army in Shaanxi was recruited many times, and always re-embarked on the road of rebellion after Zhao'an.

Because they can't be obedient people, because after Zhao'an, they are still hungry.

The banditry in Shaanxi has temporarily subsided, but there is still a long way to go before the soil in which the rebels have been left behind. Hunger will make those people who are originally good lose their nature.

Looking at these young and old people who were so thin that only skin and bones remained, Zhu Youzhen's mood was extremely heavy, and he said to the soldiers: "Take out a little dry food and let them eat first." ”

Several soldiers took out the dry rations they were carrying and handed them over.

The eyes of the three children shone brightly, and their faces were flushed for a moment, but their little hands were only raised, and they did not dare to go over, and they all turned their eyes to the old man; The old man struggled to grab a piece of pancake and was about to stuff it into his mouth, but he was instantly petrified: "The old man is about to leave with the military master, don't waste it, let the children eat it." ”

Zhu Youzhen's eyes were hot again: "Old man, we won't take you away, and we won't take the child away." Eat yourselves. ”

The old man looked at Zhu Youzhen and found that Zhu Youzhen didn't seem to be lying. He snatched the pancakes from the soldiers with both hands, gave them to the children, and ate them himself.

The wind swept away, and the old man regained his strength when he was young.

"Old man, eat slowly, don't choke, be full. That, give them water. ”

They couldn't hear Zhu Youzhen's words, and it wasn't until the soldiers handed them the kettle that they drank it violently.

A piece of pancake was put into his stomach, and he drank half a pot of water, and the old man's speed slowed down.

"Old man, let me ask you a question." Zhu Youzhen asked questions carefully, for fear that the old man would choke.

The old man nodded desperately, his eyes still fixed on the pancake in his hand.

"Are all the people of your village like you?"

"Well, everyone is about the same, they can drink two meals of wheat cereal a day, and they are the big families in the village." The old man swallowed the pancake in his mouth and prepared to take another bite.

Zhu Youzhen was completely speechless, he kept thinking: How can we get rid of poverty in northern Shaanxi?

There were no economists in the Ming Dynasty, and what Zhu Youzhen studied in later generations was not economics.

But Zhu Youzhen summed up a simple truth: let the people have food to eat, and let the people have money to spend.

But he knows that achieving these goals will be extremely difficult.

First of all, the problem of eating is not easy to solve.

The grain of the Ming Dynasty is not rich, and it is good for large households to hoard grain, but the grain hoarded by large households is distributed to tens of millions of people, which is not worth mentioning.

Although the territory of the Ming Dynasty is vast, there are too many mountains, and there is too little arable land that can really grow food.

Wheat in the Central Plains, rice in the Jiangnan region. But the area of these two pieces of land is too small and small compared to the entire Ming Dynasty.

The Guanzhong Plain in the south of Shaanxi Province once created the glory of the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, but with the change of natural environment, temperature and climate, it has long lost its former style, the land is barren, the water source is exhausted, and foreign invasion makes it difficult to feed its own population.

In the history of later generations, Zhu Youzhen once saw on the map that in the south, outside the territory of the Ming Dynasty, there were large tracts of arable land, and even double-cropping rice could be cultivated.

But hunger in Shaanxi was imminent, and Zhu Youzhen had no way to solve it.

Winter wheat will not be harvested until spring, and seeds of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn will be shipped in abundance, but they will not be harvested either.

Although the imperial court transported some grain, it was not a drop in the bucket in northern Shaanxi, where millions of people lived, but a drop in the bucket, and Zhu Youzhen didn't know how to face Gao Yingxiang.

There are still four or five months left for the winter wheat harvest, and even if potatoes can fill some food gaps, there are still more than two months.

Besides, it is not an easy problem to solve so that the people have money to spend.

Even if the people survive this cold winter and next year's barren spring, even if there is no greater drought next year, the people will only have just enough food and clothing. It's still 108,000 miles away from having money to spend.

Although Zhu Youzhen recruited migrant workers to increase the income of the people, the products produced by the factory must be able to be sold in society. According to the purchasing power of the people now, it is not known what year it will take to form an industrial market.

"No work, no wealth, no farming, no stability".

The experience of later generations is indeed effective, but to achieve this goal, Zhu Youzhen alone cannot achieve it in his lifetime.

"Your Highness, the white face has been brought." Wang Mujiu finally came back, and the white noodles were placed on horseback.

"Hmm." Zhu Youzhen stopped thinking and walked over to the old man, "Old man, take this bit of white noodles back!" Never eat these indigestible leaves again. ”

"Master Jun?" The old man couldn't believe his eyes at all, he was staring at these white faces in a daze.

"Oh, the old man can't be transported back. Mu Jiu, arrange two soldiers to help the old man send him back, pay attention, take off his armor, don't scare the people in the village. ”

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Thank you, thank you." The old man pulled his grandchildren and kowtowed to Zhu Youzhen again. It really can't think of a way to be grateful except to kowtow.

"Old man, go back!" Zhu Youzhen touched the head of the little girl who used to have vegetable juice flowing from the corner of her mouth, "After the New Year, it will get better."

After sending the old man away, Zhu Youzhen was no longer in the mood to inspect the people's conditions, and he didn't need to inspect any more people's conditions. He led his soldiers to turn their horses around and run to Xi'an.

In the afternoon of this day, at about the end of the day, Zhu Youzhen and his entourage finally arrived in Xi'an.

Zhu Youzhen found that if these 100 soldiers walked on the streets of Xi'an, it would be too much of an eyesore. He thought for a moment, "Li Jun, you leave me five soldiers, and then take my piece and go to Xi'an Zuowei to live temporarily." When something happens, I'll send someone for you. ”

"Yes, Your Highness." Li Jun left Zhu Youzhen with most of the soldiers.

Zhu Youzhen took Wang Mujiu, Liu Lin, Liu Kun and five soldiers into the city from the north gate. Directly across from the city gate is one of the widest roads in Xi'an, Beimen Street.

At this time, Xi'an was far less prosperous than in the Han and Tang dynasties, but it was not comparable to ordinary northern cities. The bandit trouble that happened in Shaanxi a few months ago had little impact on Xi'an, and it is still peaceful.

"Mu Jiu, you go and inquire, where is the market in Xi'an where the people trade, the more detailed the better."

"Yes, Your Highness." Wang Mujiu took a soldier and went to the place where the crowd was concentrated. Zhu Youzhen had nothing to do for the time being, so he found a tea shop.

"Liu Kun, let's go have tea first." The rest of the people were hanging around here, answering Wang Mujiu.

Xiao Er is carrying a sweat towel on his shoulder, carrying a kettle, and is adding hot water to the guests' teapots one by one. Seeing Zhu Youzhen and Liu Kun coming in, he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "Guest officer, please take a seat, our store has a good Tieguanyin, it will be fine immediately." ”

"Okay, let's make a pot of tea first." Zhu Youzhen found a relatively quiet seat near the window. Because he wanted to hide his identity temporarily, Liu Kun also sat under Zhu Youzhen.

"Your Highness, what are we going to do in the market?" Liu Kun still doesn't know why Zhu Youzhen left him.

"Buy a house. I'm planning to set up a shop in the downtown area of Xi'an. ”

"Shop pù? What does His Highness intend to sell? ”

"Soap. The soap produced by Qian Hu will be sold mainly in Xi'an, where there are many wealthy people. Zhu Youzhen's gaze was a little cunning.

"Your Highness, who sells soap here?" Liu Kun has a hunch that this sale of soap may be related to himself.

"You! You think I asked you to come to Xi'an for fun - of course, if you want to see the Big and Small Wild Goose Pagoda in the future, you still have time. ”

"Huh? I? Will it work? ”

"Why not? I will give you a piece of the king of faith, in case anything happens? The local government of Shaanxi will fully support you. Before I leave, I'll teach you how to open a soap market. Zhu Youzhen didn't believe it, this exclusive business, only the soap in the seller's market, would not do well.

"Your Highness...... But ......"

"Don't. Let me teach you a trick first, and whoever buys soap must pay with grain, not silver. ”