A Bumper Grain Harvest

Sweet potato starch and sweet potato vermicelli are also very inexpensive.

This is very affordable for many ordinary people.

"Give me ten pounds of sweet potato starch."

"I want thirty pounds, anyway, this sweet potato starch won't spoil."

"I want sweet potatoes, they're only two cents a pound, I want ten pounds."

The waiter cautioned, "These sweet potatoes won't keep well at home; they'll rot easily! You should eat them as soon as possible."

It's not just one grain store that sells these; all of Zhou Wanwan's dozen or so grain stores sell them.

The grain and salt merchants were dumbfounded. The salt merchant who made the bet frowned and said, "Has Zhou Wanwan gone mad? Who sells grain like this?"

The others also gritted their teeth and said:

"Not only are sweet potatoes cheap, but even rice prices have been reduced by several percent."

I never expected this little girl could do this much.

The salt merchant angrily retorted, "I don't believe she can keep selling at such a low price. Where does she get so much grain?"

I heard they had a bumper harvest this year.

"Even with a bumper harvest, there can't be a large quantity of grain, right? I think they're deliberately driving down prices; it can only last for a while."

A grain merchant said, "Have you heard? We have a really big river here now. With this river, everything will be different!"

Without the river, grain prices would naturally skyrocket.

But now it's different. There's a river, so there's water to irrigate the farmland.

Grain prices naturally won't rise.

The grain merchants then became anxious:

"Oh no, oh no! I've stockpiled so much food, I was hoping to make a fortune!"

But if everyone can grow food, what's the point?

"My grain reserves in more than a dozen warehouses! It's all gone now."

"I have dozens of warehouses full of grain. If grain prices drop, will I even survive? It's all over, all over, all over."

The salt merchant looked at them and said:

"Can you please calm down? If you dump large quantities of grain now, won't the price drop even further?"

We even made a bet, and if we lose, we'll have to pay back grain. What's the point?

All the grain and salt merchants were stunned.

Yes, they even made a bet with Zhou Wanwan.

If you lose the bet, you'll have to pay back the grain!

That would be a double blow.

This sudden entry and exit left everyone dumbfounded.

The salt merchant looked at them and said:

"The only thing we can gamble on now is to find a way to keep buying food."

I refuse to believe that girl has an endless supply of food. Have someone buy up all the food available on the market right now.

All the grain and salt merchants worked together as one, with every household sending people out to continuously collect grain.

Zhou Wanwan was sitting at the White Deer Academy drinking tea when someone came to report, "They really are still collecting grain. What do we do now?"

Zhou Wanwan said calmly, "Let them buy it. Let them buy up all the grain on the market, the more the better."

Dean Zhu looked at Zhou Wanwan and said:

"If they buy up grain, won't there be less and less grain on the market?"

What will we do then?

Zhou Wanwan chuckled and said, "Don't worry, the grain won't be lacking, it will only increase. I'll go out for a bit."

After Zhou Wanwan went outside, she looked at the Old Scholar Tree and asked, "How is the situation now?"

The Old Scholar Tree said:

"All the grain from the capital has been transported here, as has the grain purchased from Jiangnan."

As for the grain they collect, we'll soon take it out again and resell it, repeating this process over and over.

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "As long as the people can have enough to eat, that's fine."

For two consecutive days, the salt merchants and grain merchants gathered together again.

"I have a feeling something's not right. Grain prices on the market are getting lower and lower. Have you noticed?"

"That's right! The key point is that a crop called sweet potato has also appeared on the market."

The sweet potatoes tasted pretty good, and they only cost two coins a pound, enough to fill you up.

"Logically speaking, after two days of frantic grain buying, shouldn't we have bought up all the grain on the market?"

Why is there still so much grain on the market? We can't possibly buy it all.

"I went to the grain store yesterday and bought tens of thousands of kilograms of grain."

"I went and bought over 100,000 jin (50,000 kg) of grain."

"I bought tens of thousands of kilograms of grain! Why hasn't the amount of grain decreased at all?"

A steward rushed in and said:

"Sir, the grain in our household doesn't match the accounts at all."

We harvested over 100,000 jin yesterday, and another 100,000 jin today.

But now there are only a little over 100,000 jin of grain in the granary; we don't know where yesterday's grain went."

When each household started to check their accounts, they discovered that the grain in their records had mysteriously disappeared.

The salt merchant wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "How is that possible? Did the grain grow legs and run away by itself?"

The manager shook his head. By the third day, things were even more strange.

They harvested over 200,000 jin of grain, but the granary was completely empty.

Everyone was horrified.

Isn't this bizarre? How can the harvest keep decreasing?

Anyway, the prices of salt and grain on the market kept getting lower and lower, and everyone was in despair.

On the tenth day, all the salt and grain merchants came to Zhou Wanwan and knelt down.

Zhou Wanwan looked at them and said, "What are you doing? Why are you kneeling before me?"

The salt merchant looked at Zhou Wanwan and said:

"Miss Zhou, I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness. I have offended you in the past."

This is the silver we brought; we really don't have that much grain.

Zhou Wanwan looked at this group of people and said:

"Then let's have half grain and half silver!"

Here's a piece of advice: if your home is in turmoil, go back and tidy it up.

But you guys are true to your word.

The salt merchant, his eyes red-rimmed, looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "You truly are a diviner. We businessmen are all trustworthy. Rest assured, we keep our word."

After these people left, Dean Zhu said, "These people are indeed quite trustworthy; it's rare to see such trustworthy businessmen."

Zhou Wanwan smiled faintly and said:

"How could I not keep my promise? Even the prefect is one of my men, what can they do about it!"

But things have finally stabilized; things will only get better in Dongshan Prefecture.

Zhou Wanwan took Master Zhu to the fields, where there were thousands of acres of fertile land, all of which she had harvested.

Master Zhu looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "You're planning to farm here? But how will you farm in winter?"

Zhou Wanwan began to speak:

"These are all tarpaulins. We'll use them to build a greenhouse."

With this protective layer, crops such as vegetables and sweet potatoes can be grown on a regular basis.

Even in the dead of winter, they can still cultivate and harvest normally.

Oilcloth alone isn't enough; we also need to dig a stove at the head of the shed, burn coal through the flue, and warm the ground.

If you put a few more charcoal braziers in the shed, you won't be afraid of temperatures dropping to tens of degrees below zero at night.

With underfloor heating, sweet potatoes and vegetables can take root and survive the freezing cold.