Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 396

Qi County.

In Zhangqiu City, Zhang Xutuo, the general guard, summoned Du Ruhui, the county magistrate, Luo Gui, the county magistrate, Shi Chai Xiaohe, the governor of Changbai Prefecture, and others.

"There are more and more disaster victims. Let it go on, these affected people will become hungry people, then they will become refugees, and eventually they will become people who loot and plunder everywhere. How much food does Zhangqiu have? ?”

Luo Gui used to be a county recorder, but because during this period of time, Luo Gui led Zhangqiu's county camp and township regiment to suppress bandits and pacify bandits, so Zhang Xutuo personally recommended him as Zhangqiu county captain, and his son Luo Cheng made meritorious service in the Liaodong Army So, the Marquis of Xiangyang has become the emperor's new favorite, and Luo Yi has been promoted to the Duke of Yan. The Luo family in Xiangyang is now red and purple, and Dongdu stays at the court. Of course, no one rejects the appointment of this little county lieutenant.

Ever since, now Luo Gui has also become Zhangqiu County Captain, partnering with Du Ruhui to preside over Zhangqiu County affairs.

Hearing Zhang Xutuo's question, Luo Gui truthfully said, "There is still a lot of grain in Zhangqiu County. The official warehouse is still full of grain, and the righteous warehouse is also full. It's just that if the grain in this warehouse has not been ordered by the court, Local governments are not allowed to open warehouses to release grain without permission, according to the law, releasing a grain of grain without permission is also a crime of beheading."

The Sui Dynasty paid the most attention to grain collection, especially under the regulation of Zuyong, the harvest of Tianzu was huge.At the same time, the Sui Dynasty's household registration was strictly controlled, and there were relatively few hermits fleeing from households. This led to the fact that most of the food in the hands of the people was actually received by the government in the end when the government collected rent on a dime basis.

On the other hand, the imperial court set up free warehouses in the local area, and the people paid the free warehouse grain according to the acre of field, which was equivalent to levying another land tax.

Countless grains were collected from the people, and finally the imperial court transferred these grains bit by bit. There are transshipment warehouses in every county, and there are many larger transshipment warehouses in county towns and some important water and land transportation routes. .

Along the water and land lifeline of the canal and the Yellow River, there were six giant-style granaries in the Sui Dynasty, which were Xingluo Cang, Huiluo Cang, Liyang Cang, Guangtong Cang, Heyang Cang, and Changping Cang.

Each warehouse is actually a warehouse city, storing more than a million stones of rice.

Among them, Xingluo warehouse is located in Gong County near Luoyang. It was built in the second year of Daye. .

This Xingluo warehouse can store a maximum of 400 million shi of rice. It not only supplies food for hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Luoyang, the eastern capital, but also transports food to all parts of the world through canals and the Yellow River at any time.

It can be said that the amount of grain accumulated in the Sui Dynasty over the past few decades is a huge number. According to the estimation of the imperial court, the grain in the six warehouses and warehouses in various places can still be used by the imperial court for four to fifty years.

Originally, with so much food in hand, the Sui Dynasty was not afraid of natural disasters.

But the problem is that the output of the fields is limited, and if the imperial court collects more, the people will have less food.It is still rare at ordinary times, but it is inevitable that it will be missed in a disaster year.

However, transportation in ancient times was extremely inconvenient, and most of the food was stored in a centralized manner, and it was extremely difficult to transport it.Just like this conquest of Liao, in order to supply the millions of troops in Liaodong, the imperial court had to confiscate 400 million civilians to transport food.

Every time one stone of grain is transported to Liaodong, the cost is as high as seven stones.

On the other hand, although the government has a lot of grain, the court is also extremely strict with the management of warehouse grain. Any warehouse that opens a warehouse to release grain without the approval of the upper levels is strictly prohibited. Who dares to open a warehouse to release grain privately? It is a felony, ranging from being dismissed from office to losing his head in severe cases.

"The Yellow River flooded this summer, flooding more than [-] counties on both sides of the river, and millions of people were affected. Now that there is no harvest, the people are starving people. They are waiting for the court's approval. They don't know how to wait until the year of the monkey. The hungry people are waiting to be fed. If you wait any longer, you will become a changed people. Don't worry about other things. It is important to open warehouses and release food to appease the victims. Otherwise, we will suppress Pei Changcai today, Shizihe tomorrow, and Qin Junhong again later. This thief will never be suppressed. Yes, and these thieves and bandits were originally the good people of our dynasty."

Luo Gui also nodded.

Although during this period of time, they fought east and west and failed to gather a decent scale of bandits in Qi County, but the more they suppressed the more bandits.

One group will be wiped out here today, and another group will be lifted up there tomorrow.

In order to fill their stomachs, countless hungry people have turned their backs with hoes and hatchets. They went to attack the county town and rob the village, just for a bite to eat.

Zhang Xutuo came to Zhangqiu to sit in town because more and more refugees moved closer to Zhangqiu, because there was Changbai Mountain here, and the hungry people still hoped for a shelter here.

"Let's put the food in."

Du Ruhui, who had been silent all this time, also said, "All the Zhangqiu transfer warehouses and righteous warehouses are open to release grain. But before the grain is released, a plan must be made to prevent chaos at that time. Please also send more soldiers from Tong Shou and County Captain to guard it." Warehouse, let people maintain order."

"It's natural. I let the county soldiers guard the warehouses, and Du Xianwei sent the township regiment to maintain order."

Du Ruhui said again, "It's not enough just to open warehouses and distribute food. I think we can take this opportunity to provide relief and at the same time, organize these victims to build walls, roads, bridges, and dredge river channels. This can be regarded as relief with work."

It is indeed much better to distribute food and porridge, and then let the victims do things, than to simply distribute food.

"Lieutenant Du County is worthy of being an official." Zhang Xutuo praised.

"Actually, it's not all that I came up with. When Shi Cheng was still in Zhangqiu, I often chatted with him about county affairs. Among them, we talked about the method of disaster relief. Shi Cheng reminded me of this work-for-relief. of."

In times of disaster, using labor instead of relief can not only take the opportunity to build water conservancy and repair city walls and roads, but also has a major advantage, that is, it can organize the unstable young and strong disaster victims first.And with the organization of the government, the possibility of riots and riots can be greatly reduced, which can be regarded as a bottom line.

"Okay, let's do it according to County Magistrate Du's plan. As for the consequences of opening the granary privately, I, Zhang Xutuo, will bear it all."

"If something really happens, I am willing to bear it together." Du Ruhui said that he would send a letter to his grandfather, explaining the situation here in detail, and ask him to help negotiate with the relevant yamen of the DPRK and China, hoping to get the official opening permit soon. .

The matter of opening a storehouse for disaster relief was almost discussed, and the few of them drank tea together.

"It's going to be September soon, and it's going to be cold in Liaodong. Why hasn't this expedition to Liao been successful?" Du Ruhui asked worriedly.

"Yes, it will be September soon." Zhang Xutuo sighed.

September means that Liaodong is starting to get colder, and it won't be long before it will start to snow, and it will be difficult for Liaodong to continue military operations.

And when the weather is cold, it will be even more difficult for these millions of people who transport food, grass and luggage.Even if it gets colder, the canals in Hebei will be frozen and suspended, and the transportation of grain, grass and luggage will become even more problematic.

So far, we haven't heard any real news of victory. I'm afraid this year's huge Eastern Expedition may end in anticlimactic conditions.

I don't know how much people's power was spent on a failed Eastern Expedition.

"I don't know how Shicheng is doing in Liaodong. At this moment, I don't know if he is under the city of Pyongyang." Father Luo worried about his son Luo Cheng who was far away overseas.

It is said that mothers are worried when children travel thousands of miles, but fathers are just as worried.Although he was annoyed at what Luo Cheng did with the lady of the Yan family outside, but after a long time, he still missed his son.

Calculating the time, the Yan family's lady's belly may have to be seven or eight months old, and she may be about to give birth.

"Hey!"

The three of them suddenly sighed together, and everyone looked at each other, feeling full of helplessness.

(End of this chapter)