It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

Chapter 222

Because the imperial court was unethical and exploitative, coupled with bad weather and insufficient manpower, the poor people in Rongcheng County have been suffering from famine every year in recent years.

Apart from paying taxes, it can be said that unless it is absolutely necessary or the people are stupid, the people of Rongcheng County are reluctant to sell a single grain of food. Jiang Yan had no way of knowing that the price of food in the village was so low.

Before the grain prices in the city soared again out of control, the average selling price was two taels of silver per dan (shi), but the purchase price in the village was reduced to four hundred copper coins.

Jiang Yan came to Zhangjiazhuang, which was the closest to Dongshan Village and had a good reputation. When he heard that a load of grain could be sold for an additional fifty copper coins on top of the purchase price, his forehead began to twitch uncontrollably.

One load weighs 120 jin, and even if there is a 40% loss after shelling and grinding, she can still eat it to her heart's content for four months.

Thinking about how she had been frequently ripped off in the grain store and even bought grain seeds at a higher price, Jiang Yan grabbed her hair in even greater pain.

Seeing Jiang Yan's devastation, the farmers selling grain clumsily consoled him, "Don't be angry. It's just that the harvest was a little better this year, and the war outside meant the old emperor forgot to collect more taxes from us, so we have some surplus grain to trade for things."

A few years ago, even if you wanted to trade, we didn't have any extra food to give out.

No, even if there is extra food, you can’t exchange it. Those are all distributed by the masters in advance. They just take it away after harvesting it from the land..."

The more Jiang Yan listened, the angrier she became. She even began to wish that the person behind County Magistrate Huang would bring these vicious people who had sucked her blood and sweat out of her bones to justice on the spot, or else stop them from robbing each other.

The farmer selling the grain said: "Do you still want it? If not, I'll take it back."

"Yes." Jiang Yan took out a pound of salt, two large strings of copper coins, and two sacks of reed flowers that he had prepared in advance, and exchanged them for half a load of grain.

Jiang Yan really wanted to stock up on enough for half a year at one time, but she didn't have enough money left, so she had to keep some for backup.

Moreover, if she bought too much food, it would be difficult for her to carry it, and she would not be able to walk fast, so there would be a greater risk of being delayed on the road.

She didn't dare have anyone send her to Dongshan Village. After all, she was the only one living in the village, so she had to be on guard against others.

When Jiang Yan lay exhausted on the kang bed at night, massaging and kneading with his hands, there was only one thought in his mind - he must make several more trips to the county to get the copper coins back.

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Jiang Yan spent a long time busy going up the mountain to collect mountain products and chop firewood, going to the fields to pull out bushes and weeds, and returning home to dry clothes, weaving and mending.

During this period, she went to the wealthy area of ​​the county twice to sell mountain products, and was then told by the yamen runners standing by not to come again and not to ask for high prices.

The cloth stall owner, who was able to strike up a conversation with Jiang Yan by chance, secretly told Jiang Yan that these families spent most of their family wealth to buy Ping An.

Without having to worry about going to the city to earn money, Jiang Yan spends more time in the mountains and in the fields.

It was not until early November, when a thin layer of snow accumulated in the mountains and the whistling wind was mixed with the faint howling of animals, that Jiang Yan temporarily postponed his plan to go into the mountains.

After that, except for the time when the sun was high in the sky at noon when she would go out to fetch a few buckets of water and then go to the fields to dig up some bushes and dead grass before bringing them home, she stayed in the yard all the time.

Or tidy up the clutter in the side room, put away unprocessed food, make some utensils, or exercise your body and self-defense skills.

Dongshan Village was too empty. To prevent wild animals from coming down the mountain or other people from entering the village without any warning, Jiang Yan set up ambushes at several entrances to the village, imitating the traps and snares on the mountain.

For fear of accidentally injuring his own people, and because the quality of his work was not up to par the first few times, Jiang Yan sharpened more bamboo and wooden arrows for himself and practiced with them in the yard from time to time.

After a week, both her archery accuracy and arrow precision had improved significantly, as evidenced by the fact that she finally shot the arrow into the circle of straw on the courtyard wall.