219 Chapter 219 Consequences
The final result was that he was sentenced to death and executed immediately.
As for his subordinates, some were exiled, some were sent to the mines, and some were arranged to build roads. In short, none were allowed to go free.
Later, Bai Jingping took the blame and wanted to resign, but County Mayor Kong did not accept it. Instead, he made him responsible for public security.
Bai Jingping became ruthless after this incident and adopted a strict crackdown strategy.
For example, if you stole a chicken, you would be fined ten taels of silver, beaten fifty times, and paraded in the streets for three days.
The entire county finally quieted down.
At the same time, Zhou Ying took advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival to make and sell a batch of mooncakes, earning nearly 2,000 silver.
However, the following autumn harvest was miserable. Crops near the river could be harvested, but not those further away.
Zhou Ying had grown two seasons’ worth of white sweet potatoes, and the manor had also harvested nearly a hundred acres of white sweet potatoes. As for the potato vines, they were all collected and turned into feed for the cattle and sheep.
Fortunately, the taxes were waived after the autumn harvest, and the county organized many strong labor forces to repair all the riverbanks so that people could survive the winter.
In the winter, all kinds of bean sprouts became the main dish because there were no radishes or cabbages. However, their price was high because of the limited number of beans.
Seeing this, Zhou Ying took the opportunity to launch green garlic and yellow garlic, which made a lot of money again, but the business was still worse than last year.
The only thing worth celebrating was that Tian Jiaw.a.n.g and Qiuniang had come together.
For this reason, Zhou Ying bought a courtyard nearby and arranged for the couple, Qiuyu, and the others to live there.
After that, the new year pa.s.sed in a lukewarm manner. After the new year, there was heavy snow, which made people finally cheer.
After the snow melted, the spring plowing began. That day, Gu Chengrui and Zhou Ying had just returned home when the patriarch and village chief came to find them.
“Grandpa village chief, uncle, what’s the matter?” Gu Chengrui asked.
“Yeah, we have some serious business to discuss with you guys.” The patriarch said.
“Then please come in. Since we have nothing to do today, Ying can cook a few dishes, and we’ll have a drink.” Gu Chengrui said.
“Yes, you guys sit down first. The food will be ready in a while.” Zhou Ying greeted them and turned around to the kitchen.
She first made them a pot of tea before starting to cook. However, now was not the time to show off.
Therefore, Zhou Ying only made four home-cooked dishes.
Twice-cooked pork, pan-pasted tofu, vinegar-fried bean sprouts, and fried peanuts.
After serving it, she made Zhajiangmian for herself, took out a cuc.u.mber from her inters.p.a.ce, washed it, and ate it together with her noodles.
On the other end, after the three of them had a drink, the village chief asked, “Chengrui, does your restaurant still accept chili this year?”
“Yes, I was just about to tell you about this. We’re planning to plant the seedlings now that the snow has melted. I wonder how many plants the village is deciding to plant?” Gu Chengrui asked.
“I don’t dare plant wheat this year, so I plan to plant a lot of chilies.” The village chief said it with a heavy heart.
“But there must be a limit. After all, grain is the foundation of our food. The price of grain outside has increased a lot.” Gu Chengrui said.
“Everyone knows that, but what can we grow now? We can only grow vegetables. “We can only harvest and grow autumn grain after the rainy season.”
“I do have something here. It’s a plant we found in the mountains two years ago. Although it doesn’t fill you like grain, it can be eaten as a staple.
“The key is that the tender leaves can also be eaten, which is very suitable for the current lack of food and vegetables.”
“What is it?” The village chief’s eyes lit up.
The patriarch immediately perked up his ears.
He quickly remembered the gra.s.s-like thing they had planted in their backyard last year and asked, “Is it the one you planted in the backyard for two seasons last year?”