Chapter 414: The Emperor Was Far Away
Lu Sheng also felt that He Qin might have forgotten. It was already seven in the evening, but she still did not hear the carriage entering the village.
Not wanting to stay and disturb the Tao family, Lu Sheng hurriedly stood up and bade farewell.
“Uncle, Aunt, Brother Tao, I’ll go back and wait.”
“Why don’t you stay here for the night?”
Mdm Fang suggested, “There’s a leak in that room and it’s quite cold at night. Aunt has a room here and I clean it every day.”
“Thank you, Aunt, but there’s no need!”
Lu Sheng smiled and said, “I’m afraid that my uncle would suddenly remember and come to fetch me in the middle of the night. It won’t be good if he doesn’t see me.”
Unable to persuade her, Mdm Fang could only nod helplessly.
Tao Jia stood up and said, “The sky is getting dark. I’ll send Lu Sheng back.”
Li Zheng nodded. “Okay, remember to bring the light.”
Lu Sheng waved her hand. “No need, Brother Tao. I can walk myself.”
“It’s nothing.”
Tao Jia picked up a lamp hanging on the wall and lit it before continuing, “I have something to ask you.”
When Lu Sheng heard that, she could only nod in agreement.
After the two of them left, Lu Sheng asked Tao Jia curiously, “Brother Tao, what did you want to ask?”
“I saw you buy so much land today. What do you want to use them for?”
Tao Jia was a businessman and was sensitive to buying and selling.
Seeing how much Lu Sheng bought today, he knew that this was not a simple move.
Lu Sheng raised an eyebrow. “Would you believe me if I said that I’m using them to grow vegetables?”
“Yes.”
Tao Jia smiled and nodded. “However, they are definitely not ordinary vegetables.”
He looked at Lu Sheng and said, “When I came back last time, I saw that my mother kept a few strange things. I asked, and she said that they were potatoes. Moreover, you gave them to her. The thing you want to plant should be that thing, right?”
“I guess.”
Lu Sheng nodded and said, “I obtained that thing by chance. I later realized that it was indeed good, so I wanted to plant it on a large scale.”
“It’s indeed a good thing.”
Tao Jia looked up and said, “I ran a business recently and stayed in a small village near a mountain. There was a drought there, and food production was halved. There wasn’t even enough to pay taxes.”
“Many people were so hungry that they were only left with skin and bones. Some could only survive by chewing on tree bark. Some younger ones couldn’t bear hunger and ended up sick or dead.”
Halfway through his sentence, he sighed softly. “If only they had your potatoes. Perhaps it could help them survive this calamity.”
When Lu Sheng heard this, she could not help but sigh.
In ancient times, one had to look at the sky to eat. If the heavens did not give them face, they would not even be able to eat.
However…
“Doesn’t the Imperial Court care about this?”
A calamity had descended from the sky. Was the Imperial Court going to ignore it?
“Care about what?”
Tao Jia smiled coldly. “As the saying goes, the emperor was far away. If the county magistrate there doesn’t care about them, who else can?”
When he saw it, he felt upset too.
However, he was just an ordinary businessman. How could he care about these?
Other than giving them some food, there was really no other way.
“That’s true.”
Lu Sheng revealed a faint sneer.
Such things existed in the modern world, not to mention the ancient times.
If they were far away from the Emperor, it would be alright if they encountered an official who was bent on serving the people. However, if they encountered an official who was abusing his authority, he would definitely be able to cover the sky with one hand and oppress the citizens.
“Where’s that village?”
Lu Sheng thought for a while and asked curiously.
She might be able to help with what Tao Jia could not.
“Yong Fu Town, Wen Shan Village.”
As he had a deep impression of the people there, he had a deep impression of the village name as well.