SFS Chapter 298 Growing Potatoes
Chapter 298 Growing Potatoes
"Okay, stop kowtowing. I'll pay you two taels of silver. When you have money, just return it to my family."
Jiang Shoujia suddenly spoke loudly.
Although he didn't have much contact with Old Chen's family, the old couple were very honest people. They basically never interacted with people in the village, spoke very little, and had never done anything bad.
Everyone knows that most of those who serve corvée labor never come back.
There was no way a skinny little monkey who was only fourteen years old could be alive.
After saying this, he took out two taels of silver from his purse and handed it to the officer with both hands.
Only then was Chen Tianfeng released.
After collecting the grain taxes and money, the officials got on the carriage and left.
As for Old Chen, he was still standing there in a daze. He didn't expect the village chief to stand up and help his family.
After being stunned for a while, he finally came to his senses, and then he and his family knelt at Jiang Shoujia's feet.
He is older than Jiang Shoujia.
Jiang Shoujia quickly moved aside.
"Alright, old brother, stand up. Since I am the village chief and you are from Jiangjia Village, you are one of us. How can I watch your family die out? Take your child home and stop kneeling."
After saying the comforting words, Jiang Shoujia helped him up.
Old Chen came here to escape famine.
He never felt a sense of belonging to this village. He even planned not to be buried in a coffin after his death, but to have his grandson burn his body and then take his ashes back to his hometown in Enxin Province for burial.
at this moment.
He suddenly felt that his restless heart seemed to have found a home.
When the villagers who had not received help from the Jiang family saw Jiang Shoujia take out two taels of silver, they all became jealous.
Therefore, the words that came out were extremely unpleasant to hear.
"Oh, you're paying now. We knelt for a long time, but they didn't even give us a penny. It turns out they're just looking at us."
"That's right. The village chief of the next village treats everyone equally, but when it comes to us, I'm too lazy to say anything. It's really funny."
"I sold my eldest granddaughter to be a maid, and you didn't help my family. It doesn't matter if the village chief doesn't want her."
"Why don't we elect a new village chief?"
"..."
Some troublemakers suddenly had an idea.
pity.
There are eighty-eight households in the village.
Sixty-eight of them stood behind the Jiang family.
There are still twenty households left, and half of the people don't want to cause trouble anymore.
Only ten families stood against the Jiang family.
This person's proposal was not supported by many people.
It also angered those 68 families.
"Why should I help you bunch of ungrateful wolves? The chief advised us to harvest in advance and to store food, but you didn't listen. You were the ones who cursed and begged for help. So, does the chief owe you anything?"
"You are a bunch of shameless people. If it really doesn't work, you can just go away. Go and start your own village. Whoever wants to be the village chief can be the village chief. We only recognize Chief Jiang. If anyone says anything bad about Chief Jiang, I will curse him to death."
"To go against Village Chief Jiang is to go against me. Even if I die, I will drag you down with me."
"Without Chief Jiang, my family wouldn't be able to pay the grain tax, let alone the fines. He is our living parent. From now on, no matter what Chief Jiang says, I will listen to him. Even if he asks me to eat shit, I will eat it."
The two groups quarreled for a full quarter of an hour.
Until Jiang Shoujia stretched out his hand and signaled them to be quiet.
The quarrel was then paused.
"Alright, stop arguing. I'm putting this out there. I don't have to be the village chief. As long as more than half of the people agree, I'll give up the position. But if more than half agree, don't blame me for being rude to anyone who wants this position in the future! Do you hate me to death? Sure, sell your house and land.
Leave Jiangjia Village, the village doesn't need you rats. Naturally, I won't add insult to injury. I will buy the land and your house with my own money. I will pay whatever price the pawnshop sells for. Think about it carefully. If you don't leave after today, I will kill you if you cause trouble in the village again!"
Jiang Shoujia narrowed his eyes.
This was the first time he made such a harsh statement in front of everyone.
"Let's go. My daughter is married in Baishui Town. My son-in-law's parents died early and they were very good to us. At worst, I can go and live with my daughter."
"I'm leaving too. I can't plant crops now anyway. Winter is coming soon and food might become even more expensive. I'm from Yingnan Prefecture, so I might as well take this opportunity to go back to my hometown."
"If you all leave, I'll leave too. I just sold my house and land and went back to Mobei Province to build a house. I still have land there that I haven't sold yet. If it hadn't been for the drought, I wouldn't have fled here. Our place is very dry, so hail will definitely not fall on us."
We have suffered such a severe disaster, and the price of food changes every day.
These people really had some ideas.
Among the ten families that caused the trouble, six were from other families.
It wasn’t originally from Lianshan Town.
Persuaded by Jiang Shoujia's words, they were really prepared to sell their land and houses and leave.
The remaining four households were so frightened that they dared not say a word.
They all have the surname Jiang.
If I leave the village, where can I go?
Maybe they won’t survive.
Therefore, everyone kept their tails between their legs and dared not say a word.
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, a week has passed.
During this period, it rained twice.
Wild vegetables and mushrooms on the mountain began to pop up one after another.
Many people go up the mountain in groups to pick mushrooms and dig wild vegetables.
As for why we had to travel together, it was all Jiang Shoujia's orders.
After all, there had been cases of villagers being eaten by grizzly bears before, and he was worried that if someone was not careful and went deep into the mountains, something bad would happen again.
Under his management.
The people in the village are becoming more united.
"Grandpa, we are back——"
In the evening, Jiang Fubao followed the group home. As soon as she got off the ox cart, she rushed to her grandfather and reached out for a hug.
Jiang Shoujia was originally talking to Jiang Meng and Jiang Cheng.
Seeing his granddaughter coming back, he picked her up and gave instructions to the two of them.
"Since the potatoes are fully planted, take out the remaining ones and I will have the villagers plant them in the evening."
Small potatoes, you can grab a dozen with your palm.
Since I had never grown potatoes before and had no experience, the potatoes sprouted and were put into the soil.
Just realized that I used too many sprout seeds.
At least half more.
Jiang Shoujia was worrying about how to help the villagers make money, when an idea came to him.
In the evening, he called the villagers to gather under a big tree.
Spread the news.
When the potatoes were ripe, he would buy them back at the price of one penny per pound.
Jiang Fubao also followed. She sat on the lap of a village woman and calculated in her mind.
Modern potatoes can produce more than 2,000 kilograms per mu, and this is when the planting conditions are not ideal. If it is a high-quality variety and the environment is suitable, the yield can be at least 5,000 kilograms.
Unfortunately, what she brought were small potatoes.
This variety cannot produce large potatoes and its storage time is shorter than that of large potatoes.