A Losing Business?
"Business?"
When the village chiefs from the various villages heard this, they could not help but be stunned.
Before they came, they had thought that the Governor would discuss all sorts of things with them, but they had never expected that the Governor would want to discuss business with them.
How could poor people like them have the capital to discuss business with the Viceroy?
They were puzzled and looked at Li Ke.
Li Ke did not delay. He looked around at everyone and slowly said,"Your fields are still planted with tea trees, right?”
When the village chiefs heard this, their expressions darkened.
Only to hear the sound of long and short sighs continuously ring out.
Some of them had bitter expressions, some were furious, and some were at a loss.
"Sigh, that's right. It's all that dog Official Yang's fault. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have suffered so much!”
"That's right! If not for him, the fields would definitely be full of crops now!”
"Many families in our village have empty rice vats.”
"It's the same for our village. All the silver has been exploited by those dog officials, and there's no more food. This winter, we'll probably have to eat tree bark to survive!”
"If we were to plant food, we would only be able to plant it next year. The final harvest would be in autumn. There's still more than a year's time.”
"There's no hope!"
These village chiefs were all frowning, their faces filled with worry.
In ancient times, village chiefs were elected by the entire village. They did not have any real power and were mainly for the benefit of everyone. Therefore, these people were recognized as the most moral people in the village.
Therefore, when they thought about how many people in their village might starve to death in the future, their faces turned bitter and filled with worry. However, there was nothing they could do.
Sighing and moaning sounds kept coming out of their mouths.
Seeing this, Li Ke shook his head slightly in his heart. If it wasn't for him, perhaps... from this winter to the next autumn, countless people would really starve to death.
At that time, Yizhou would definitely become a real hell on earth.
However, these commoners were still lucky because…Li Ke had come!
Others might have no solution to this problem, but to Li Ke, this was nothing.
He looked at the village chiefs with a smile and suddenly said,"If this king can help you solve this problem, not only will I give you money, but I will also give you enough food?”
" What?!"
The village chiefs were still frowning and sighing, but suddenly, they seemed to hear a voice saying that they would be given silver and food. This made them subconsciously stunned.
Then, after thinking about it, he suddenly raised his head.
Everyone instantly looked at Li Ke, their eyes filled with hope and passion.
"Your Highness, you…you…what did you just say?”
"You…you have to give us silver."
" There's still enough food?!"
"Is…is this true?"
The voices of these village chiefs trembled. They opened their mouths, their eyes filled with nervousness and fear. They were afraid that they had heard wrongly, afraid that everything was just an illusion.
Li Ke met everyone's nervous and hopeful gazes and nodded with a smile. He said,"You didn't hear wrongly. This king said that I would give you silver and enough food. I can guarantee that not only will all of you not starve, but you will also have surplus food at home and live a rich life!”
"Is…is this true?"
"Thank you, Your Highness. Your Highness is really a living Bodhisattva who saves people from hardship and disaster!”
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
"Your Highness is really the great lord of the heavens!‘
As the village chiefs spoke, their eyes turned red. Then, they all knelt down to Li Ke. Their faces were filled with gratitude and excitement. Everyone was thanking Li Ke from the bottom of their hearts.
Seeing this, Li Ke quickly said," What are you all doing? Please get up quickly. You are all people under this king's jurisdiction. If this king doesn't treat you well, who else can I treat well? Moreover, this king has also said from the beginning that this is a business. This king gives you these things, and you still need to help this king do things!”
However, when these village chiefs heard Li Ke's words, they did not get up at all. They looked at Li Ke gratefully and said,"If Your Highness has any instructions, just say it. Our entire village will do our best to do it for Your Highness!”
"That's right. Your Highness has already saved countless lives by giving us enough food. Without Your Highness, we wouldn't be able to exchange our lives for food!”
"Your Highness cares about us and gives us food. This is already a huge favor. As for what Your Highness wants us to do, Your Highness can just say it. Even if we have to go through a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, we will definitely do it!”
When Li Ke heard this, he could not help but smile bitterly and say,"What do you mean by going up a mountain of blades and going down a sea of fire? You are all my subjects. I can't bear to let you do those things.”
"Alright, this king will be straightforward!"
Li Ke looked at the village chiefs and said,""This king hopes that you can uproot all the tea trees in your fields and plant the seeds this king gave you. Also, take good care of them, just like how you planted crops before. When the crops mature, help this king harvest them!”
"After that, this king will give each of your villages and families…50 taels of silver and 800 catties of grain as compensation! However, all of this could only be done after the autumn harvest! I wonder if you can trust me?”
As soon as Li Ke finished speaking, he thought that he would receive the support of the village chiefs in an instant.
But who knew that what he saw was silence, silence, and a strange silence.
None of the village chiefs responded to him.
This made Li Ke feel a little awkward. He was wondering if the reward he gave was too little.
That was quite a lot! An ordinary household in the Great Tang could earn twenty to thirty taels of silver a year, which was already considered very good, not to mention eight hundred catties of grain, which was enough to feed them for a year!
It couldn't be compared to those rich families, but compared to the people of Yizhou who had a problem eating, it was simply a great thing!
Why were they still hesitating?
"Your Highness!"
At this moment, a village chief suddenly blushed, his eyes red, and tears welled up in his eyes as he said,"Today, I finally know that Your Highness truly loves us commoners. For the sake of us commoners, Your Highness is really a Bodhisattva who saves people from hardship and disaster. I…I have nothing to repay you with. I only hope that in my next life, I can be your slave!”
“……”
Li Ke was dumbfounded. What the hell, why are you crying!
"Your Highness, we all know that the farming season has passed, but Your Highness is still willing to let us engage in farming. You know that there will be no harvest, but you are willing to give us such a generous reward. We all know Your Highness's good intentions!”
"From now on, Your Highness is the living Bodhisattva we worship. If anyone dares to say anything bad about Your Highness, we will definitely break their legs!”
"In the future, if His Highness asks us to go east, we will definitely not go west!”
"Your Highness, I won't forget your kindness!"
Everyone kowtowed and thanked him. Their eyes were red. They looked at Li Ke with respect and love.
Li Ke now suspected that if he asked them to die, they would not blink their eyes!
But hearing their words, Li Ke also understood.
It turned out that they thought that there would definitely be no harvest if they planted grain now. The reason why he asked them to do this was so that they could accept the rewards with a clear conscience.
Therefore, in their opinion, this was definitely a loss to the extreme!
But why did he still do it?
Wasn't it all for the sake of these commoners?
Li Ke smiled and shook his head. These commoners were really wrong. Would he do something that would cause losses? Of course not!
However, he wouldn't say these things.
Since these commoners misunderstood, then let them misunderstand!
The so-called great rule was the respect and love of the people for the ruler. With their love, it would be difficult for Yizhou not to become their own kingdom!
Moreover…Li Ke also needed their respect and love to obtain Reputation Points!
After all, his plan could finally be carried out. Before that, he still needed to use his reputation points to exchange for something…
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。