webnovelfull Chapter 552 No one with the surname Liangdi exists
Chapter 552 No one with the surname Liangdi exists
On the way back, the soldier pulled the empty cart, feeling particularly relaxed, and asked the captain,
"Captain, four hundred taels of silver, how much is this stone worth?"
"Fuck, can't you do the math? Two hundred taels of silver is two hundred thousand coins. That's two thousand dan of grain. Isn't one dan two hundred coins?"
"Hey, I can't read, and I haven't learned to count, but this price is not low. In my hometown, grain is only one hundred coins per stone. This is really a huge profit. Will the Yan people suffer such a loss?"
The captain sneered and said,
"Liang Country is poor and barren, and was completely destroyed by us. It can't produce any food this year, and it will take twenty years for it to recover.
If the Yan army wants food, they have to transport it from Shengjing to here, but the journey is too far. Even if they cultivate land on the spot, won’t they have to wait until autumn to harvest it?
What did they eat during this period? The Yan court also had to provide disaster relief.
How much food will be needed to feed the victims and the army on the way if it is transported from Kun and Qi?
You spend one thousand coins to buy ten dan of grain. After deducting the food for the laborers on the road, there are probably only two dan left. These two dan were bought with one thousand coins.
One stone is equivalent to five hundred wen, but to buy from us, two hundred wen is enough.
Which one is more cost-effective?"
The soldier suddenly realized,
"So that's how it is. To fight a war, you have to be able to settle accounts."
"What nonsense are you talking about? How can you be a general if you can't do accounting? Every day, the food and drink for the people and horses, don't you have to be careful about the budget?
Do you think war is just a group of people carrying a pile of food and weapons?
The commander has to calculate how many people to send out, how much food they will need to eat on the road, how long the battle will take, how much food they will need to bring, how much food the subsequent food delivery team will need to transport every day, how much loss will be calculated, etc.
Do you think a commander only needs to know how to fight? There is a lot to learn here, so learn a little bit."
"Yes, yes, I'm uneducated. No wonder I can't be a commander-in-chief."
"Tsk, just because you can't read, you'll never be a commander-in-chief in your lifetime."
The soldier nodded excitedly and said,
"The Yan army saved money and we made money. This way, it's a win-win situation."
"That's right, I won."
The captain smiled smugly.
If everyone wins, who loses?
In the darkness of the night, the soldier's eyes gradually became deep and cold.
After returning to the pass and quietly closing the door, they arrived at the food and grass camp.
It was almost dawn, so they all hurried back to bed.
The soldier looked around, took paper, pen, ink and oil lamp, quietly hid in the toilet, and lay on the wall to write quickly.
……
Guyuan County, in a valley.
The Yan army was moving slowly forward, followed by many hungry civilians.
Yan Fuyao opened the curtain, looked outside, and asked curiously,
"Is this the place where Bai Wuan buried those 400,000 soldiers alive? The air is still filled with the stench of blood and corpses. It's hard to imagine the despair that Zhao Kuo's 400,000 Liang soldiers went through back then."
Shen Changgong smiled and said,
"That's easy. If I don't let you eat or drink for seven or eight days, you'll understand how desperate it is."
"Bah, you're still talking nonsense! This Bai Wuan really deserves the name of the butcher. He buried 400,000 people alive without hesitation. Fortunately, our Yan army never kills civilians."
"Your Majesty, what are you going to do with all the starving people following behind? Bury them all alive here?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? They are all citizens of Dayan. How could I kill them?
If they are willing to follow, let them follow first. Just give them a small amount of rice every day to prevent them from dying.
A large amount of food has just been shipped from Kundi to Xingqing Prefecture, which is enough to alleviate their immediate needs. Let them stay there for now and survive first. We can then send officials to govern the people's livelihood and develop the area."
At this point, Yan Fuyao sighed deeply and said,
"Originally, I made a great determination to govern Liangdi to provide disaster relief, but I didn't expect that we took over Liangdi too late. The people either died or had already migrated away.
The people in the south either fled to Qi or to Qin and Wei to escape famine.
The people in the north who survived also fled to Xingqing Prefecture and Kundi.
I was originally worried that transporting food over a long distance for disaster relief would consume too much.
Now it seems that people are almost gone, so what's the point of disaster relief?"
Shen Changgong also sighed,
"We originally estimated that Liangdi would take a generation twenty years to recover, but now it seems that it may take at least a hundred years.
To describe this place as "nine out of ten houses empty" is an understatement.
It's like there's no rooster crowing for a thousand miles."
Yan Fuyao sighed,
"It's all because the Liang Emperor was too cruel, and Bai Wu'an was too ruthless. Liang already had a small population and few resources, and the Liang Emperor summoned all the able-bodied men in the country, only to be buried alive by Bai Wu's security department.
Without able-bodied men and food, the remaining lonely, elderly and weak can only gnaw on grass roots, eat tree bark and Guanyin soil.
But in these mountains and deserts, even these things are a luxury."
Shen Changgong patted his hands and said,
"Don't blame yourself too much. This kind of thing will have the same ending no matter who it happens to.
The tragedy was doomed the moment Emperor Liang recruited able-bodied men from all over the country. He no longer cared about the lives of the people. The population and food supply were cut off.
If this battle continues, regardless of victory or defeat, the Liang Kingdom will be destroyed.
Even if we win, the people will revolt.”
"Ugh."
Yan Fuyao sighed deeply.
The only advantage now is that we don’t have to spend too much food on disaster relief.
Because there is no one left.
They walked to the north side of the valley, and suddenly heard a deafening cry behind them.
Shen Changgong asked the guard outside, and the guard said,
"Your Majesty, Prince, the people are crying over that grave where 400,000 men were buried alive. After hearing that there were 400,000 men buried there, they all cried and cursed Bai Wuan."
Shen Changgong nodded and said to everyone in the carriage,
"The relatives of these people, probably every family was drafted, and we only know that they died on the battlefield, but we don't know where they died.
Now I know, they want to pay tribute to their loved ones, which is also right. Let's leave the valley and rest outside. When they come, we can cook them some food."
"Ok."
After leaving the valley, the women looked towards the north. Jiang Ruoxue looked at the people wailing in pain, feeling both distressed and angry.
"My dear husband, this Bai Wuan is such a jerk. He buried so many people alive. Please don't try to persuade him to surrender and don't have anything to do with him in the future."
Shen Changgong smiled leisurely and said,
"Your husband, I have killed as many people as he has. Also, the harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs."
Jiang Ruoxue stuck out her tongue and ran away quickly with Xiao Qiao.
Shen Changgong calculated the days and said,
"It's almost time. There should be some movement from the Qin State. Bai Wuan will probably be transferred back to Xianyang soon."