Chapter 420 - Female Official? (2/2)
The young man paused to take a breath and then continued, “That being said, ever since the emperor ascended to his throne, he has elevated the status of women over and over again. Now, there are plenty of women who don’t wear veils when they go out on the streets. Furthermore, there are more and more women working in business now. The young woman from the Jiang Family is talented at crafting and sewing clothing. Even the empress and imperial consorts have bought custom made clothing from her. What’s so odd about the Yu Family’s daughter being elevated to a small official position?”
The man surnamed Zhang guffawed, “If they could sell me enough high-yielding seeds to plant a few mu, I wouldn’t protest her becoming a sixth level official or an even higher one! Brother, I bet the Yu Family probably has a lot of seeds back home. Your connections, can they…”
The younger man gave him a look and replied, “That Yu Family’s ancestral home is in the Tanggu area and nowhere near the capital. Even if my youngest brother-in-law’s relatives had good connections, they can’t possibly reach all the way to Tanggu Town! However, I heard that the Yu Family only sent up around eight hundred mu of grain to the court out of their almost one thousand mu plantation. As for the remaining one hundred or so mu of grain, other than keeping enough back to plant for next year, they sold the rest at a higher price. In fact, the price they set was five times the current market price for wheat. Can you afford it?”
“What? Five times the regular market price? Then isn’t that saying that a catty of seeds is around fifty copper coins? So planting one mu with these seeds would cost one tael? That’s a bit too expensive, right?” Farmer Zhang was stupefied at the price and immediately backtracked. His family had five mu back home, so the cost of seeds alone would be five taels to plant it all. Even if he sacrificed everything he had, he wouldn’t be able to come up with that much money.
The younger man shook his head and smiled, “Brother Zhang, I was telling you the price that they set for the grain that they sold to people in Tanggu Town. The Yu Family sold this grain to the rich and wealthy families in town, so those people don’t lack for that bit of money. You only see the high price but have you ever thought that if you could get six hundred catties of wheat per mu, you could still earn around three taels per mu even if you sold it at the regular market price? Do you think those rich merchants and families are stupid and would go into a business to lose money?”
“But...there’s no one in our village who could come up with that much money to buy seeds right? Argh, it looks like such a good thing can’t fall upon us commoners!” Farmer Zhang was a bit dispirited as he sighed over this.
The younger man immediately comforted him, “Brother Zhang, you probably don’t know all of the news. The emperor loves us commoners as if we were his children. He absolutely wouldn’t try to earn a profit from us. I heard that the high-yielding seeds will be sold to the public at the regular market price for wheat, which is ten copper coins a catty. That new grain is already being sown in the Imperial Plantation. They’re probably planning on selling the rest in a few days!”
“Is the news about the new grain that yields a thousand catties per mu reliable?” Farmer Zhang was a bit hesitant about this.
“How could it not be reliable? I heard the emperor specifically sent down the order to have Royal Prince Yang go to the western hemisphere so he can find some. What was it called...ah! I remember now, it’s called corn! Corn can be ground into cornmeal and then carefully filtered. The steamed buns made from corn are a golden yellow and have a sweet fragrance. They are very delicious!” The younger man wanted to show off his superior knowledge and had a very self-satisfied look on his face.
County Official Suan interjected to deflate the young man, “You say it as if you have personally eaten some! The rarer something is, the greater the value. For a crop that has such a high-yield, it definitely won’t be expensive in the future. That being said, most of the commoners don’t know anything about the corn that you’re talking about, so who would dare to buy it? It’s possible that after you plant it, you might not be able to sell it. That’d be a gigantic waste of your time, fertilizer, and money!”
“Stop being such a wet blanket! If you don’t talk, no one will mistake you for being mute! My youngest brother-in-law’s relative said that his immediate superior was fortunate enough to get to eat corn once at a friend’s house. Steamed buns made out of fine corn flour were fragrant and delicious. They even have a slight sweet flavor and the more you chew the better they taste! Older Brother Zhang, just think, one mu can produce a thousand catties. Even if one catty can only be sold at the price of coarse grain, you can still make around three to four taels per field ah! In any case, my family has three mu of farmland and we plan on using one to try to plant some corn. Even if we can’t sell any, for the next year, at least we’ll have grain to eat! I heard that the leaves and stalks from the corn plant can also be used to feed pigs and other farm animals. Next year, my family plans on grabbing two extra pigs and we won’t have to worry about finding food for them to eat!! Just thinking about it makes me happy…” The younger man rambled as his eyes shone with light. It was as if he could already see himself in better times.
Farmer Zhang hesitated for a second and then slapped the table and grimaced, “Since you have already said it out loud, then I too will also get around two mu worth of seeds to plant back home. In any case, it’s still grain. If I can’t sell it, my family can still eat it ah! Two mu of corn at the very least can produce around two thousand catties at harvest time. At least for the upcoming year, my whole family won’t have to starve with that much grain on hand!”
The younger man nodded his head approvingly. County Official Suan was still preoccupied with the thought of the Yu Family becoming officials. He stated in a manner that belied his disapproval of the matter, “A silly little lass was given a sixth rank official position. Then what about her father? Would he be given a higher ranked position, like a third level?”
These people were just a bunch of muddy peasants who couldn’t read a single word. If they could become a third ranked official just by being good at raising crops, would the other officials at court be okay with that?
However, the younger man burst out into giggles and said, “It’s actually quite interesting. The Yu Family’s daughter is now a sixth ranked official under the Ministry of Revenue, but her father is only a lowly seventh ranked official. I heard that he’s stationed at Tanggu Town and is especially in charge of managing Royal Prince Yang’s feudal grounds’ farmlands…”