Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 1035 - 833 Dirulai_2

Chapter 1035: Chapter 833 Dirulai_2

Chen Xun didn’t mind the smoky smell in the grass hut and walked straight in, sitting down next to an old man with a large smoking pipe in the corner.

"Old sir!"

Chen Xun, with a beaming smile, looked at the elderly man whose face was etched with the wrinkles of hardship, "It’s so cold, and it looks like it’s about to snow. Why aren’t you at home enjoying some comfort but instead waiting for work outside in this cold weather?"

Thinking that business had come his way, the old man hurriedly put on a warm smile and enthusiastically put away his smoking pipe, "Snow is coming indeed, but the tires on my carriage have been specially engraved with Runes to prevent slipping. The snow won’t be heavy tonight; we can still take a trip. May I ask, sir, where would you like to go?"

Chen Xun couldn’t help but smile wryly, "I won’t be needing a carriage tonight; I’ve brought my own and will be staying in the city."

The old man’s face stiffened for a moment, thinking that this fellow was making fun of him, but then saw Chen Xun pull out two cigarettes from a big red cigarette box and hand them over.

The old man recognized the flying fish pattern on the cigarette box.

He immediately treated the cigarettes with great reverence, carefully tucking them away into his chest.

The old man’s face brightened with a smile again, "These are the imperial cigarettes made under the supervision of Prince Fenyang from the palace, right? It’s said that smoking one can make you feel like an immortal. I’ve only heard of them, never seen them before.

I’ve made you laugh, sir. I’ve never seen cigarettes like these before. I’ll have to show them to the boys when I get home."

The servants following Chen Xun couldn’t help but raise the corners of their lips, revealing a hint of disdain.

They all thought how exaggerated could it be? The cigarette might have originated from Earl Chengyi’s business indeed, but Prince Fenyang surely didn’t have time to supervise such a thing?

The imperial cigarettes were actually produced by the inner chang, nothing but the finest tobacco leaves and essential oils, all top-grade.

Chen Xun, however, was unconcerned as he simply handed the cigarette box over to the old man, "From what you’ve said, it sounds like you have many children at home. What good fortune! But at your age, shouldn’t you be at home, being taken care of by your children and enjoying some peace?"

Remembering his children at home, the old man couldn’t help but beam with joy, but soon he sighed slightly, "Who wouldn’t want to stay at home on a cold day, lying on a warm kang? The heated kang that Prince Fenyang came up with is exceptionally cozy.

But there’s no helping it; our family has to make a living, has to feed ourselves, and also has to repay the government’s debt. To make money, one can’t be lazy. It’s not just me, the eldest and the second child also work in businesses in the city."

"Debts?" Chen Xun, noting the old man’s rough hands, inquired thoughtfully, "It seems your family still farms. Did you accrue these debts purchasing land from the government? Is it difficult to repay the loan?"

The agricultural tax reform in north and south Zhili was basically in its final stages by that time.

The landlords and gentry of north Zhili, to avoid the heavy taxes, sold a large amount of their lands to The Court.

And The Court, after purchasing these lands, distributed them to the local people in the form of installment loans.

"Not difficult! Not difficult at all!"

The old man hurriedly shook his head, "My family was perhaps too ambitious; each of my children bought a full twenty acres of land, and I didn’t just buy land but also a four-wheeled cargo truck.

Actually, the crop yield from the land alone is enough to pay off the loan. This year, from our seventy acres of wheat field, we gathered a full six hundred and seventy bushels of wheat. With the addition of potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes, our granaries are almost overflowing. In the past, I wouldn’t even dare to dream of such days."

A happy smile appeared on his face, "All this is thanks to Prince Fenyang. Ever since the reform years, our family’s life has been getting better and better. I remember more than ten years ago, around the early Jingtai years, The Court forcibly conscripted our last bit of food to fight against Meng Wu, and my whole family almost had to eat Guanyintu. But now, we have more food than we could eat in several years."

Chen Xun seemed thoughtful, "If you’re not worried about food and loan repayment isn’t an issue, why go through all the hardship of working outside in this bitter cold?"

After hearing this, the old man couldn’t help but give a bitter laugh, "We have more food than we can eat, but the problem is, this food isn’t worth much anymore. Now the government buys grain for seven hundred wen per bushel. But they’re not willing to buy much, only up to fifty bushels per household at most.

The leftover grain, when you try to sell it to those grain merchants, they only offer a price of one hundred and fifty wen per bushel. My family would rather let the grain rot and use it to feed pigs and chickens than sell it to them. But now, for things like oil, salt, sugar, cloth, towels, leather coats, mirrors, matches, cigarettes, bicycles, carriages, and such, don’t all of these expenses require money?

Especially since my grandkids aren’t married yet, we’re thinking of fixing up our few houses with that cement brick tile thing, and we even want to deal in some armor. That all requires real silver yuan. Oh right, we also have three new grandchildren, and there are expenses for them as well."

But when the old man spoke of his grandson, his face couldn’t help but break into an unstoppable smile.

Chen Xun was involuntarily reminded of the recent cabinet meetings.

Due to the devaluation of grain and rampant inflation, the officials of The Court were constantly concerned.

Months ago, The Court had printed a large amount of silver yuan to purchase land from the nobility and the powerful. At least one billion silver yuan was introduced to the market, causing prices of various goods to inflate rapidly.

Prince Fenyang’s method of response was to have The Court lead and encourage the nobility and the powerful who sold their land to invest their capital in factories, massively increasing the production of daily necessities.

As long as the production of goods increased, the prices would naturally fall.

Moreover, by increasing the variety of available goods, the commoners would have more items to buy, which would prevent the price of any one item from being driven up.

Then, there was the establishment of banks, to attract those nobles to deposit their surplus Silver Coin and earn interest.

But even so, the prices of various items continued to rise as if they were on a rocket.

Chen Xun was deeply worried, yet he knew it was an inevitable situation.

The Court had to print more silver yuan to purchase land in both north and south Zhili.

The reason being that although the land reform in north and south Zhili had settled, other regions’ nobility and powerful figures were eagerly looking on.

They could no longer make money from the yield of their lands, and The Court was also imposing heavy taxes on them.

The only way out was to sell their land to The Court.

The Court also could not refuse to buy. This was the best opportunity for the land equalization system, and they couldn’t leave the gentry without options.

However, this led to a large influx of silver yuan into the populace, which would only further drive up prices and cause more inflation.

Chen Xun then let out a bitter laugh, thinking that this was no longer his problem to consider.

Recently, Prince Fenyang had intended to carry out governmental reforms at The Court, with the first target being the cabinet, deciding that cabinet deputy ministers should have a term of six years, with no more than two terms allowed.

Chen Xun reckoned that since he had served as a minister for seventeen years, he might as well resign during his mother’s mourning period, so as not to obstruct His Highness’s path.

Chen Xun shook his head, put away his thoughts, and turned to ask with a smile, "Listening to your words, it seems your family’s life has become even harder than before."

"Isn’t it? Much harder than in previous years!"

The old man heaved a deep sigh, but his eyes glittered with light: "But there is hope in our lives now! In the past, having a bowl of millet porridge a day was enough to get by. But now, my family eats white bread every day, and we see meat every few days. And there’s the clothing. Before, we could only wear linen and freeze like dogs in winter. But look at me now—"

He tugged at the cotton coat he was wearing, a radiant smile on his face: "So at home, I’ve also invited the statue of Dirulai. Nowadays, many people say that Prince Fenyang is a Saint of our time, that the Mysterious Yellow Emperor in heaven couldn’t bear the mortal realm’s suffering, and thus was reborn on earth purposely to rid us of all worries about warmth and food.

My wife is a Buddhist though, and she says that monks in the temples warn their devotees that Prince Fenyang is the reincarnation of ’Dirulai’, born to relieve all beings from their suffering. And you know what? Ever since we invited that statue into our home, a lot of the negative energy in it has dissipated."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xun couldn’t help but give a wry smile.

This was another issue that troubled him: the various beliefs about Prince Fenyang that were spreading like floodwaters throughout the Central Plains.

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