Chapter 1420: Distributing Wild Vegetables

As for the sea vegetables, Baifeng first had them stored in his own warehouse; these were considered relatively important, high-end ingredients, and could only be given as rewards to Nobles and some people who had made contributions.

Although in the Jiuli, it was just seaweed that could be seen everywhere and that no one bothered to pick up, after such a long journey, having been sent across stretches of desolate mountains and wild ridges, its value had soared by an unknown amount; perhaps not a few people had even died for the sake of these wild vegetables.

It is just as the saying goes, "A concubine smiles at the dust of a galloping horse, no one knows it is the lychee arriving"; here, it had passed through the hands of over ten thousand people to deliver these few wild vegetables. Fortunately, it was high in salt content and light in weight after being dried, which allowed it to cross such a long distance to get here.

As for other seafood, Baifeng did not even dare to think about it. Unless one day he could cross a sufficient distance and, after eliminating so many dangers, reach the seaside, he could not only satisfy his craving for beachcombing but also achieve "seafood freedom" and eat until he developed gout stones; otherwise, he shouldn't even think about it now.

The people of the Jiuli actually understood kelp quite well; they simply rolled it into scrolls or folded it directly into blocks, so that it occupied less space. Baifeng took a scroll that very day, and after returning, he went to the kitchen for the first time in a long while, soaked the kelp, and had someone simmer it into chicken soup.

The main thing was that there were relatively few ways to prepare kelp. If he made a cold salad, the types of Huaxia seasonings available now were too few, and it certainly wouldn't taste good; it was better to just stew it in soup to extract a bit of umami.

Adding a small bit of ginseng and a Huaxia old hen, he used an earthenware pot to simmer it over a slow fire. In any case, Baifeng's cook had plenty of time; he had no other work every day but to make all kinds of delicious food for Baifeng's family.

Once the chicken soup was ready, Baifeng naturally prioritized Ayuduo, who had just given birth, and even took Changle to visit her. Ayuduo was actually quite pleasantly surprised by the arrival of her father-in-law.

She had already moved to her own courtyard; after all, the environment of the delivery room was too poor for her, and her own courtyard was larger and more spacious, which she was used to living in.

When the chicken soup was brought before her, Baifeng also took out a scroll of kelp: "Ayuduo, we have already received the items sent from the Jiuli. This is the kind of seaweed I wanted."

"Besides being eaten, it has some other uses, but for the current Huaxia, the amount sent from the Jiuli each year is far, far too little, nowhere near enough. Therefore, it can only be enjoyed by a few people, or used as medicinal material for everyone."

"You are too far from home and may not have many opportunities to return in this lifetime. Although I don't know if you are homesick, these were sent by your family. Taste it and see how it is; I also put in some ginseng, a type of medicinal herb, which can nourish your body and help you recover sooner."

Ayuduo, who had been in a good mood, was left feeling a bit sad by these few words from Baifeng. Although there was almost no concept of "home" in this era, and Ayuduo had long since readily accepted the fact that she might never be able to return to the Jiuli, hearing it put this way by Baifeng still made her feel distressed.

Seeing that he seemed to have done a bad deed with good intentions, Baifeng was immediately a bit embarrassed and could only tell Changle to take good care of her. He let them keep those kelp scrolls themselves; in any case, they had their own cook, so whether they ate them or just put them on display was up to them.

Afterward, Baifeng exchanged a few more pleasantries and told Ayuduo to rest well. Taking advantage of the fact that Ayuduo hadn't started crying, Baifeng hurried away. After stepping out of the room, he wiped away the sweat that had slightly seeped out and hurried off, wondering what on earth he had done.

Actually, he had also wanted to tell Ayuduo about the future trade and cooperation between Huaxia and the Jiuli, but now was clearly not a suitable opportunity. He would wait until Ayuduo finished her postpartum confinement and returned to work before discussing it.

Although those sea vegetables were all stored in his warehouse, it was impossible for Baifeng to eat them all by himself. Because, looking at the whole of Huaxia, that amount was pitifully small, but if only Baifeng's family ate them, they could probably eat them for a lifetime; after all, once a single piece was soaked, it was enough for the whole family to eat, not to mention they wouldn't eat it every day.

Therefore, Baifeng also immediately sent varying amounts of seaweed to all the Nobles of Huaxia according to their rank, and attached a note telling them how to eat it; this was a benefit belonging to the Nobles.

Next, he distributed some to officials at all levels, ensuring that everyone with an Establishment System position received a portion. Of course, the higher the position, the more they received, but those who held both a Nobility title and an official position could only receive one portion, issued according to the higher of the two.

Even the Western Development Group in Xiao Town had a portion reserved. Baifeng didn't know if Baoxi would keep it for himself, but he prepared a portion for him all the same. He also prepared a little for other "Nobles" of the Suiren clan to show that he valued them as well.

After this distribution, half was gone. Of the remaining sea vegetables, half were kept as future reserves, and the majority of the other half were sent to the Pharmacy to be used as medicine to treat Huaxia's goiter.

The very last bit was prepared to be released to the market, where one could obtain the qualification to purchase a small portion of sea vegetables by luck; this was considered an opportunity for ordinary people.

This opportunity was also available in Lema City, though relatively less so. The purchase qualification was completely random: after you bought items of a certain value at the State-run Store, the clerk would have you draw three numbers from one to twenty, and then they would hold a lottery. If all three of your numbers matched, you would receive a special ticket.

This kind of ticket was handwritten, written on the same paper used for Grain Coupons, and stamped with a seal, making it impossible to forge, yet it was much easier than creating and printing a new type of ticket.

Having this ticket meant you had the qualification to purchase, but it was not obtained for free. The price of sea vegetables was very high, and ordinary people might not be willing to buy them, but this ticket was non-transferable by name. Therefore, those who were lucky enough to draw the qualification could sell the ticket to wealthy people who lacked the qualification; as for the price, they could negotiate that themselves.

This was an opportunity Baifeng gave to the grassroots masses to obtain a windfall. Moreover, because the probability was low, this game, similar to a lottery, could last for a very, very long time, until all the sea vegetables were sold out.

It might even last until the next batch of seaweed was delivered, but because Xuanxiao of the Xuanyuan Tribe was here, this plan was not implemented for the time being, to avoid him guessing anything amiss.

However, since the sea vegetables sent from the Suiren clan had arrived, the next batch sent from the direction of the Xuanyuan Tribe would also be arriving soon, and at that time, they could be brought out openly and aboveboard.