Xia Qi brought Fu Su forward.
At this moment, the sun had just risen, and the fields were already filled with farmers working.
The two of them entered the village and stopped in front of a dilapidated house at the entrance.
"Go in and ask for a bowl of water."
Xia Qi said and walked in first.
This dilapidated courtyard had almost subverted Fu Su's understanding.
Outside the courtyard was a fence casually woven from dead wood.
The courtyard door could not even be called a door. It was made of the same material as the fence. At most, it could prevent the poultry raised in the house from running out.
Walking into the courtyard, he saw a few emaciated little hens looking for food on the ground.
Xia Qi walked straight to the front door and knocked on it.
The door opened and an old man with a face full of wrinkles came out.
The old man held a walking stick and walked shakily. He was at least in his seventies.
"Old man, our families have suffered a disaster and we have ended up here. Can we ask for a bowl of water to drink?”
Communicating with people was a necessary survival skill for every businessman, and it was not a problem for Xia Qi.
He smiled and said to the old man.
"Wait!"
The wariness in the old man's eyes gradually disappeared. He looked old, but he had a loud voice unique to the old Qin people.
After a while, the old man came out with a big bowl filled with clear water and handed it to Xia Qi.
Under Fu Su's somewhat frightened gaze, Xia Qi did not even look at him. He took the bowl and drank it in big gulps.
After he finished drinking, he handed the remaining half of the bowl to Fu Su.
Fu Su looked at the bowl with a broken corner. There was a layer of mud on the edge of the bowl, which made him feel a little nauseous.
However, when he thought of Xia Qi's words, Fu Su gritted his teeth and drank the wine in one gulp.
"Old man, it's busy farming season now. Do you still lack manpower in the fields? The two of us brothers can lend a hand, as long as we manage a meal.”
The old man did not expect Xia Qi to be so arrogant.
After all, Great Qin had just been established, and it had just ended hundreds of years of chaotic warfare.
As Great Qin's common enemy, the commoners within Great Qin were almost at the end of their rope.
At this time, a mouthful of food was equivalent to a life for ordinary people.
Xia Qi's request was indeed a little overboard.
"The two Mu of land at the east end of the village belongs to this little old man's family.”
The old man hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he still took out two yellow and black powders from the room and handed them to Xia Qi.
After thanking him, Xia Qi picked up two ploughs from the courtyard and called Fusu to walk towards the fields.
As soon as they left, Fu Su asked impatiently,""Big brother, what is this? Are they seeds for farming?"
Fu Su held the thing that the old man had given him just now like a curious baby.
Xia Qi was stunned for a moment before he laughed out loud.
"This thing is called millet rice. It is made by steaming millet, mixing it with kaoliang bran and other ingredients, and drying it. It was currently the busy farming season, and most of the people's families did not have a harvest, so most of them used this as food.”
Xia Qi's words had an indescribable impact on Fu Su's worldview.
In his impression, wheat bran had always been used as livestock feed.
How could a human eat something that was given to livestock?
Mi Zi and Fu Su knew.
The word 'Ji' in 'Land and Grain', was this item.
As one of the staple foods of the Qin people, Fusu was occasionally used in the palace.
However, what he ate was millet flour that had been ground with a stone mill.
The millet rice in his hand was mixed with bran and coarse millet shells, making it difficult to swallow.
"How does it taste?"
Xia Qi patted Fu Su's shoulder and encouraged him.
Fu Su picked up the rice ball in his hand and took a bite.
The dry millet flour melted in his mouth, but nothing else could melt. It was as if his mouth was stuffed with sand.
Moreover, this thing had no seasoning at all and was tasteless.
Fu Su frowned and endured the strong discomfort of the foreign object brushing across his throat. He swallowed it with difficulty.
Xia Qi shook his head and said regretfully,"It's a waste for you to eat like this!”
"The thing in your hand is a day's food for a middle-aged farmer. Dry rice should not be eaten like this. It had to be eaten with water to be full!”
Fu Su could not help but widen his eyes.
The rice ball in his hand, according to the amount of food he had just eaten, was at most three to five mouthfuls.
Moreover, the taste was really indescribable. At least, Fu Su did not want to eat a second bite.
But this was actually a day's worth of rations for ordinary farmers?
"Let's go and work in the fields. We can't just leave after eating other people's food.”
Four hours later.
In the field, Fusu propped himself up with the plow and stood up with great difficulty.
After plowing for a while, he felt his back ache. He felt pain all over his body.
Looking at Xia Qi who was still busy in the fields, Fu Su's eyes revealed admiration.
After a while, Xia Qi finally finished his work.
"Big brother, is the life of a farmer so difficult?”Fu Su could not help but ask.
Xia Qi smiled and shook his head. He asked,"Is this the difficulty?"
"You think that the food you beg for is hard to swallow, but in the homes of the common people, only the young and strong laborers in the family are qualified to enjoy this lump of dry rice. The rest of the family only lived on plain porridge a day.”
As Xia Qi spoke, he raised his hand and pointed around.
"The two of us have only plowed two mu of land in four hours, and we already feel tired. However, these farmers worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, almost every day and every year.”
"The commoners 'demands are not high. As long as they are fed and clothed, they are already satisfied. If they were busy all day and would starve to death, then they would all choose to become bandits. How could they be educated?”
Xia Qi said meaningfully.
"If you have enough food and clothing, you will know etiquette.”Fu Su blurted out.
"That's right!"
Xia Qi smiled and nodded.
Sitting in the carriage on the way back, Fu Su was deep in thought. Xia Qi did not disturb him.
The carriage entered the palace. He helped Su out of the carriage and bowed solemnly to Xia Qi.
"What Big Brother taught me today is enough to benefit Fusu for the rest of his life!”
Brother Zheng didn't restrict the princes 'movements too much, and playful princes like Huhai often ran out of the palace to play.
Naturally, Fu Su was also aware of the outside world.
However, this was the first time in his life that he had truly entered the depths of the people and understood what the sufferings of the people described in books were like.
"If you want to educate the people, you must first understand the situation of the people you want to educate. You don't even know what they need, and you only know how to follow the meaning of the classics and shout empty slogans. How can you really achieve your goal?”
Xia Qi said earnestly,"The world knows that a gentleman's six arts are all elegant. However, this was the skill of a gentleman, not the common people. The commoners did not need the Six Arts, they just wanted to live a good life!”
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]