Chapter 47: Bran Is for Livestock?
Not enough!
The old butler beside him took out an abacus, calculated for a while, and shook his head: "Young master."
"I'm the master now!"
Steward He glared at the butler and huffed: "Call me Master!"
The butler quickly said: "Yes, young master. I'll remember next time, young master."
Steward He: (╬ಠ益ಠ)
The old butler continued: "Based on 200,000 jin of pork."
"If the whole city comes to eat pork stew with vermicelli for seven days of disaster relief, each person would get less than half a tael of pork per day."
After all.
Besides pork, rice, flour, and vermicelli also cost money.
Moreover.
With free food like this, no one would feel satisfied. There would definitely be people taking food multiple times, stuffing themselves to the limit.
At that point, forget 200,000 jin—even two million jin of pork could be snatched clean.
"That's not right!"
Steward He scratched his head and asked curiously: "Daoist, didn't you say disaster relief means distributing grain to refugees who can't afford food? The 800,000 are permanent residents!"
Seeming to have discovered a logical bug, Steward He grew excited: "Daoist, there are only about a hundred thousand refugees."
"200,000 jin of pork divided among a hundred thousand people—that's nearly two jin per person!"
"Plus the staple foods, they'd be eating very well."
Wang Xiu smiled without answering.
The butler, however, looked helpless and reminded: "Young master, every time our great families provide disaster relief, the city's residents impersonate refugees to get relief porridge."
"If you really serve white rice, big steamed buns, and pork stew with vermicelli for disaster relief, the entire city will come to falsely claim it."
"If competition becomes fierce and triggers a riot, people could even be killed."
Hiss~
Are there really such people?
Steward He's face was full of shock: "Is it really that extreme? Just a few jin of pork—is it worth going that crazy over?"
Clearly.
Steward He, who had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth, didn't know much about common life. His old butler, however, was quite capable and understood the people's suffering.
"Young master jests."
The butler said helplessly: "Even Maple City's permanent residents can't eat pork every day. Ordinary people eat it once or twice a month at most."
"If a family is struggling financially, they might not even have rice except during holidays."
Hiss~
It was like opening the door to a new world. Steward He scratched his head: "But... I've already slaughtered the pigs. What should I do now?"
Although they raised over a hundred thousand pigs, the surrounding commoners didn't have strong purchasing power for pork.
Under normal circumstances.
The He family's pig farm slaughtered only three or four hundred fat pigs per day. After slaughtering, they'd raise piglets, which would grow for a year before being slaughtered, creating an internal cycle.
Now, suddenly slaughtering over two thousand fat pigs—if they didn't treat the whole city to pork, it would be hard to sell it all in the short term.
Wang Xiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He stroked his chin and murmured: "This humble Daoist has a pretty good idea."
"Butler?"
"Do you know the largest grain merchants and fodder merchants in the area?"
Steward He remained confused.
The old butler, however, nodded slightly: "We He family, along with the Zhao, Qian, and Sun families, are all involved in the rice business."
"As for fodder, since our He family raises over a hundred thousand pigs, the fodder from several surrounding cities is supplied to us first."
Wang Xiu nodded: "In that case."
"This humble Daoist suggests the Steward directly trade these two thousand pigs' worth of meat to the city's residents for grain, at an 80% discount, exchanging only for brown rice."
"This way."
"The city's residents get a price advantage and will naturally appreciate the Steward's kindness. They'll actively trade their brown rice for meat, preventing this pork from spoiling."
Hmm.
If pork was traded for brown rice, with the city's 800,000 residents, digesting this much pork shouldn't be difficult.
But.
Why only exchange for brown rice?
Steward He looked confused, but the butler pondered thoughtfully: "The Daoist is clever—exchanging pork stew with vermicelli for brown rice porridge is indeed a good approach."
"If brown rice porridge is used for disaster relief, the cost will be many times lower."
"The number of people falsely claiming food in the city will also decrease significantly—probably by more than half!"
In fact.
In previous years when refugee waves appeared in Maple City, the four great families' joint disaster relief also used brown rice porridge—and very watered down at that.
This not only saved money but also prevented many commoners from falsely claiming food and wasting resources.
Unexpectedly.
This Daoist Wang Xiu, born in the Three Pure Immortal Sect, a true transmission disciple like an immortal being detached from worldly affairs, understood the people's suffering so well.
Truly admirable!
Listening to the butler's praise and seeing Steward He's admiring expression, Wang Xiu slowly shook his head: "If false claims only decrease by half, that's not enough."
"Far from enough!"
"Eight hundred thousand people, even reduced by half, still leaves four hundred thousand. If they also go to claim free porridge, the refugees will never be able to compete."
After all.
Whether comparing physical strength or connections and relationships, the helpless refugees were far too weak.
"This..."
The butler looked helpless: "If they can't compete, there's nothing to be done. Free food—even if it's just brown rice porridge—will inevitably tempt people."
Wang Xiu shook his head, his gaze burning: "If people still falsely claim brown rice porridge, then add more ingredients."
Add ingredients?
The butler froze: "What ingredients does the Daoist want to add?"
Wang Xiu said calmly: "Bran."
Butler: (O_O)
Steward He: (O_O)
Bran!
Steward He swallowed hard: "That... that's what we feed our pigs!"
As he exclaimed, he looked at Wang Xiu with a horrified expression.
Good heavens.
He thought his old father was heartless enough, but this Daoist Wang from the Three Pure Immortal Sect was even worse!
Adding bran to disaster relief porridge?
This... this is too humiliating!
The old butler, having read books and having some education, thought for a moment before slapping his thigh: "Brilliant! Young master, this plan is brilliant!"
Steward He: "What's brilliant about it?"
The butler said with admiration: "Bran is for livestock, brown rice is for humans. If it's brown rice porridge, no matter how thin, greedy people will still falsely claim it."
"But if bran is mixed with brown rice, unless someone is truly starving to death, even those who love taking advantage won't falsely claim it."
"If this plan succeeds, the Daoist can eliminate false claims of disaster relief grain from the source!"
"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"
"However."
The butler seemed to think of something and looked troubled: "Common people are often ignorant and stubborn. If we really use bran for disaster relief and word spreads."
"It could easily provoke public anger, which would affect both the He family's and the Three Pure Immortal Sect's reputation."
"If handled poorly."
"Young master and Daoist could be reviled for generations."
...
Wang Xiu nodded slightly, smiling as he looked at Steward He: "If bearing infamy can save the lives of a hundred thousand refugees, Steward He, are you willing?"
If I alone bear the infamy, I can save a hundred thousand refugees' lives?
Hiss~
Why did it feel like a flame had ignited in his chest.
The young steward's face flushed red, tears welling in his eyes: "A real man should be like this—I, He Daren, will shoulder this infamy!"
"Excellent!"
"Since the Steward is willing to shoulder this infamy."
Wang Xiu patted Steward He's shoulder: "Then this humble Daoist won't make an appearance!"
He Daren: (O_O) ???
Unlock 30 chapters instantly (for the price of the old 20-chapter tier), plus regular updates and extra benefits every month.
If you're enjoying the story, please consider supporting me on Patreon:
patreon.com/Alex_Cruise
I'll be honest—I'm in deep financial trouble right now, and your support genuinely makes the difference in whether I can keep writing consistently.
By joining, you'll get:
30 advanced chapters immediately
Ongoing monthly chapters
Bonus content and extra releases
If this story has kept you hooked even once, now's the time to support it. Every bit helps keep it alive.
Thank you.