Although Wang Zhangshi is indeed more confident in the future, there is no way to hide his low mood.

"Wang Zhang, did you encounter something?" Song Yunshu noticed Wang Zhangshi's face, so he asked.

"It's nothing, it's just that the people who go here are complaining." Wang Zhangshi's smile was a little reluctant.

"Then go ahead and talk about the situation of the people here." Song Yunshu said.

She also mustered up enough courage to dare to ask this sentence, she herself has seen with her own eyes, life here is indeed not very good.

"I've already asked, it's not uncommon for people here to harvest a maximum of five or six buckets of grain per acre of land, and even two or three buckets per acre of land." The king said in embarrassment.

This result greatly surprised Song Yunshu.

In her impression, one acre of land can harvest at least one stone of rice, but here there are only two or three buckets, and the residents naturally do not have enough to eat.

"And excluding the part that was handed over to the imperial court, only enough food rations were left for the inhabitants for one season. Most of the inhabitants had no money left over to buy food, which they had to hold on to for a year. As he spoke, his heart began to ache.

Chu Yuchen's brows furrowed tightly.

Since he came to this Daocheng, he realized how unclear this imperial country was.

When he was in the capital, he had never heard of such hardships when the people of Daocheng were there.

Those histories would only praise the emperor vigorously, and they did not report the truth to the court at all.

"Is there anything else?" Song Yunshu continued to ask.

"Every year, the people of Daocheng are diligent in planting rice, but our rice harvest is not good, so they turn their attention to other industries."

"For example, weaving and dyeing cloth, but due to the lack of dyes, these industries are not very well developed. In addition, the yield of the rice fields was already very poor, and no one was willing to work hard. ”

This is an endless cycle, because there is no ration and other industries are developed, and other industries are not successful, then they can only eat and wait for death.

Song Yunshu immediately decided to inspect the fields with the city lord the next day.

Chu Yuchen knew that the matter was serious and didn't stop her, but he had his own things to do and couldn't go with him.

"It's a scorching sun outside, so be careful yourself." Chu Yuchen admonished.

Although it is autumn these days, the sun is still a little hot because of the heat, and it is inconvenient to hold an umbrella in the field, and Song Yunshu is almost peeled off by the sun.

"It's okay, the most important thing is to help the people." Song Yunshu had no intention of greeting Chu Yuchen, so he hurriedly left.

Chu Yuchen looked at her distant back, thoughtful.

Today's sun is already lighter than a few days ago, so many people are already harvesting rice in the fields.

The people can see the heavy combination, and the people are very happy when Song Yunshu comes out.

But when they moved on to the next paddy field, because the problem had not yet been solved, their mood suddenly became low again.

The people didn't pay much attention to the harvest, because there wasn't enough to eat.

The group continued to walk forward, and suddenly an uncle grabbed Song Yunshu's hand and said, "Lord Song, I beg you to have mercy on us, let us not pay so many taxes, otherwise our family will starve to death." ”

"Uncle, don't worry, it's just that we came here to help you solve the problem, and we will resolutely not leave if we don't solve the problem." Song Yunshu held his uncle's hand tightly and promised.

The old man burst into tears and looked at Song Yunshu gratefully.

"Then I thank you for all the people of Daocheng!" The old man was about to kneel down as he spoke, but Song Yunshu hurriedly pulled him.

"Uncle, these are all things I should do." She thought she couldn't afford such a big gift.

"You are simply a living bodhisattva!" The uncle's emotions were very excited.

Seeing the uncle's movements, many people around him came over and wanted to kneel down for Song Yunshu.

They were fed up with the hardships of Daocheng, and the annual taxes they paid accounted for two-thirds of their annual harvest.

If I could keep those rations, I might be able to eat two full meals a day.

But Song Yunshu was not a court court, and he couldn't decide how much to pay, so he could only help them increase production and reduce their burden.

But she also felt that today was a good opportunity to give the residents confidence.

Then she spoke: "Ladies and gentlemen, I understand your plight, and it is precisely because of this that the court sent me, and if you believe me, I will definitely do my best to help you." ”

"But if you don't believe in me, I will do everything in my power to help you to become rich."

When the people heard her words, most of them wiped their eyes with the back of their hands.

How many years have there been no nobles here, and those people only came to Daocheng to take a look and left, and did not help them solve the problem at all.

However, they falsely reported their situation here as a stepping stone for their promotion, which harmed the people here.

"People, we have to believe that Lord Song and Lord Chu will definitely help us!" The lord of the city spoke at this time, and he knew that he had to give the people some faith at this time.

The lord of the city is indeed a good lord of the city, although his political achievements are not good, but the people still love him very much.

Now that the city lord has also spoken, they have nothing to worry about.

Immediately after a few people calmed down the excitement, they stopped and looked at a few fields.

But I still can't see anything, anyway, I have seen a lot of life.

"It's useless to go on like this now, Wang Zhangshi, you go ahead and ask the people of Daocheng first. City Lord, you and I will go together. Song Yunshu commanded.

She already had a basic understanding of the situation here, and she felt that the low yield here might be due to some natural factors.

Forty years ago, there was a major drought, and it may have changed the natural environment.

And now that the paddy fields are dry, there's no way to take out the dirt and look at it.

She stayed here because she wanted him to carefully explain to him the geographical location of the rice fields and the amount of rain every year.

"Tell me about the location of this rice field." Song Yunshu asked.

"The rice paddies in our city are all located in the southeast corner, which is relatively high. The city street is located in the northeast corner, on a low ground, surrounded by a river that flows to the south. Outside the city, rice is grown along the river. The city lord thought for a moment and said.

"That means there is not enough water on this side of the rice field?" Song Yunshu keenly grasped the crux of the problem.

"That's right, every year when it's time for the road, the people have to fetch water from the river in the south, otherwise it won't be possible to plant at all." The city lord nodded and said.

Song Yunshu thought that the problem should be in the body of the water source.

Perhaps it is the lack of water that causes the rice here not to grow, but as long as he thinks of this possibility, Song Yunshu can think of more.

However, she had to look at the source of the water source before she could be sure, and she couldn't make a conclusion based on one-sided words.