National color raw owl

The lack of food in the Northwest is a well-known fact, but for the lord of a county, it is not difficult to prepare a hearty breakfast. They disturbed the people and made a big fuss, but Zhou Renkang still prepared a sumptuous breakfast early and sent people to the courtyards. On Chu Huan's side, he personally led two people to deliver it.

He is a small county magistrate, Chu Huan, the governor of Xiguan Road. If he was in normal times, he would not be able to flatter him. Now that the governor is temporarily resting in Qingtang County, this is a golden opportunity. Zhou Renkang will naturally not let go.

Chu Huan was still washing up. Zhou Renkang had already ordered someone to put breakfast on the table in the living room. The staple food was rice porridge and white steamed buns, but there were a lot of side dishes. They were very delicate. Chu Huan came over to take a look and frowned slightly. , said: "It's early in the morning, isn't it a bit greasy? I told you not to bother too much."

"Your Excellency has worked hard along the way, and I feel ashamed for not being able to do my best." Zhou Renkang bowed his body and said with a smile: "These are some special dishes in the Northwest. Look at this, Your Excellency. This is crispy yellow mutton. Yellow mutton is a specialty of our Northwest." , this is a yellow lamb, the meat is very fresh and tender, the chef who made this dish is also famous in the city, my lord, try it... that dish is wild boar cooked in cream, it is delicious, with a sensual taste, my lord You have to taste it, this kind of small place is not comparable to the capital city, my lord is more considerate!"

Chu Huan knew that this breakfast had cost Zhou Renkang a lot of thought. If the breakfast was like this, the lunch would be even worse. He frowned and said, "Master Zhou, do you know that there are hundreds of thousands of refugees in the Northwest?"

"This...!" Zhou Renkang was a little embarrassed.

"Crispy yellow mutton, creamy wild pork...!" Chu Huan sighed: "Master Zhou, this is not a small place. If you put it in the capital, you may not be able to eat these two big dishes. In fact, I like to eat them, and I often order them." Restaurant, but at this time and at that time, now the Northwest is full of hunger and starvation. We officials don’t say that we are dedicated, but we must think of the people in everything. This breakfast cost a lot of money? Look at the dishes on this table. , let alone me, even with five or six people, it may not be enough to eat, why is it so extravagant and wasteful?"

"Your Excellency has worked hard all the way, I'm an official... I just do my best and try my best." Zhou Renkang couldn't figure out what Chu Huan was thinking for a while, and didn't know whether Chu Huan really blamed him or was just pretending. He lowered his head and secretly speculated.

"You don't need to think about whether the governor is putting on a show." Chu Huan seemed to see through Zhou Renkang's mind at once, "I am not in the mood to play bureaucratic with you. Keep this bowl of porridge, um, leave it to the governor. The next steamed bun, and other things, will be removed for the time being... By the way, have you delivered it to Madam as well?"

"Send it away." Zhou Renkang said hastily, "I don't dare to be negligent."

"Send everyone to take them down." Chu Huan sighed, "Tell Madam, it's the intention of the governor. Don't touch the dishes that have been removed. Tonight, you go and invite all the doctors from Sun Boliu, the governor. To entertain them with a banquet, there is no need to prepare additional dishes, and these removed dishes are enough for a banquet in the evening."

Zhou Renkang glanced at Chu Huan and knew that Chu Huan was not joking, so he didn't dare to disobey, so he asked people to withdraw in a hurry, and was about to leave, but Chu Huan beckoned him to sit down at the table, drank the porridge, and asked, "Zhou Renkang My lord, what is the situation on the Xiguan Road now? Even the imperial court is not very clear, so tell me, so that the governor will not know anything after he takes office."

Zhou Renkang sat on the chair with half of his buttocks, and asked cautiously, "My lord...what does your lord mean?"

"People." Chu Huan didn't look up, "When I passed by Qingzhou, I saw that there were still many people from Xiguan who were stranded on Beishan Road and did not return to their hometowns... Do you know how many refugees have returned to their hometowns?"

"Out of [-]%, [-]% have come back." Zhou Renkang said cautiously: "This is because many manors are short of people during spring plowing and hired long-term workers, so a large number of people came back."

"Oh?" Chu Huan finally heard something that lifted his spirits, "Has Xiguan organized spring plowing?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Seeing the governor's eyebrows raised slightly, Zhou Renkang's stiff body seemed to relax a little bit, and he moved his buttocks, "My lord does not know that most of the seven surnames in Xiguan who were exiled during the war have died. Back in my hometown, the gentry of Beishan Road were planning to lease the land of our Xiguan Road. Almost half of the fertile land that can be cultivated in Xiguan Road is in the hands of the seven surnames of Xiguan. The field... This matter was almost completed, but just a few months ago, people with the seven surnames of Xiguan suddenly brought a large amount of grain seeds from the pass. After returning home, the land can still be cultivated, and the seven surnames of Xiguan will provide grain seeds to ensure that they will not starve to death...!"

Chu Huan said with a smile: "So everyone ran home?"

"The lower officials know that people who were related to the seven surnames in Xiguan have already returned to their hometowns, and all the grain seeds have been planted." Zhou Renkang said: "This year, most of the grain in our Xiguan Road is used to make grain seeds." , to wait for the next year’s harvest, if we survive this year, next year will be much better... But if we really want to survive until next year’s harvest, I’m afraid many people will starve to death...!"

Chu Huan knew this very well.

Although everyone from the government to the gentry is trying to find a way to get food, the food they get can't be used to relieve disasters and save lives. Everyone knows that if the court wants to deal with the crisis in the southeast, it can only temporarily leave the northwest aside. It can only be an extravagant hope that a large amount of disaster relief food will be sent. Even if the officers and soldiers wiped out the Tianmen Dao Rebellion, the southeast of the empire suffered severe damage, and civil uprisings occurred in many places in the pass, which also caused many fields to be barren. Restoring vitality inside, that can only be a dream, Northwest cannot rely on the imperial court, they can only save themselves.

Xiguan Sandao is not a place rich in grain. The self-produced grain has never been able to support the needs of Kansai. Every year, grain needs to be transported from within the pass. However, according to the current situation, even if there is surplus grain in Guanzhong, it will only go to the southeast. For the empire, the southeast is close at hand, and the Tianmen Rebellion is too great a threat to the capital of the empire. All the resources of the empire must be based on the war in the southeast. The mountains in the northwest are high and the roads are far away. The empire was bordered, and the Xiliang army had retreated. Compared with the situation in the southeast, the weight of the northwest in the eyes of the court would naturally be much lighter.

Although Beishan and Tianshan were not directly damaged by the Xiliang army, many refugees turned from refugees to bandits because of the influx of refugees. The indirect damage of the invasion is just that the loss is not as great as that of the West Pass.

Beishan and Tianshan two roads, tightening their belts, can make do with it, but the situation in Xiguan is obviously different. Three of the four states in Xiguan have been directly damaged, houses have been destroyed, fields have been destroyed, and food and livestock have been almost destroyed. It was looted, and the gray area was really clean. Xiguan knew from top to bottom that if they wanted future generations to survive, they had to survive the current year. Most of the food they got from outside had to be used as food. Grain seeds, if the grain seeds cannot be saved for farming, there will be no hope for the coming year, and if the obtained grain is used to fill the stomach now, then everyone will have to wait for death.

If the food is to be planted, the common people can only survive this year. Before the next year's harvest, Xiguan will always be in a state of food shortage.

"What about the Northwest Army?" Chu Huan frowned and said, "How is the situation of the Northwest Army now? Previously, the Northwest Army has always been on the front line of Ningshan...!"

"Oh, it is said that General Yu made arrangements before his death." Zhou Renkang explained: "Before the Xiliang people came in, Yanmen Pass had [-] defenders. The old general mobilized tens of thousands of guards from the pass, and gathered the old troops of the Northwest Army. After the death of General Yu, tens of thousands of soldiers of the Northwest Army had already been transferred to Yanmen Pass. The men and horses have not withdrawn to the pass yet, and they are still stationed in Ningshan. However, I heard the news a few days ago that the Northwest Army lost too much, and they need to replenish troops. People are capricious, and I don't know if they will come over again, so the Guards Army is likely to be transferred to Yanmen Pass to supplement the Northwest Army's strength... Your Excellency Governor, this is what I heard them talking about, I don't know Is it true or false...!"

"The governor is not very clear yet." Chu Huan frowned. The transfer of troops is a matter for the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War is worried that the Xiliang people will go back. It is clear that the Maha brothers in Xiliang are fighting to the death, as well as the gorgeous and cunning Gusa concubine. What can be done in three or two years, according to Chu Huan's speculation, Xiliang people will not even be able to come to the Central Plains within five years.

Zhou Renkang said with a smile: "However, the guards are also sitting and eating rations in the pass. It is better to be transferred to guard the frontiers of Yanmen. The imperial court is unable to rescue the people, but the supply of the Northwest Army is always in short supply."

Chu Huan asked: "Are the food and materials for the Northwest Army supplied by the imperial court?"

"It has always been like this." Zhou Renkang said: "The four major warehouses in the empire, the Chen Yang warehouse on the west mountain side, have always been storing military rations for the Northwest Army. There is no problem with the supply of the court. Sometimes the supply is delayed due to special reasons. They will also transfer grain from the local official warehouse in the northwest to Northwest Daying, and then replenish it from Chenyang warehouse... But now the northwest official warehouse has no grain, so it can only be transferred from Chenyang warehouse...!"

Chu Huan sighed inwardly, Zhou Renkang was a small magistrate, he only knew that the Northwest Army’s supplies were transferred from Chen Yangcang in the pass, but how could he know that Chen Yangcang was already empty now, when Chu Huan was in the Ministry of Households, he transferred I have read the inventory of the four major warehouses. Among the four major warehouses, Jiping warehouse, which supports Liaodong Chili's electricity refinery, has insufficient grain. Xiaoling warehouse in Hebei is used to support Han Santong to fight Qingtianwang. It is easy to move, precisely because the Jinling warehouse cannot be moved easily, so the household department once transferred grain from the Chen Yang warehouse. The army was waiting for the rations to be delivered from Chen Yangcang, but they didn't know that Chen Yangcang had no food to send.

Chu Huan knew that this kind of thing must not be revealed. He was the servant of the household department before, and it was okay to know that Chen Yang's warehouse was empty, but if other people knew, especially the Northwest Army, the consequences would be disastrous. The consequences would be disastrous. Chu Huan only asked the court not to be too confused and only think about the southeast. If he forgot to transport food to the northwest border and the Northwest Army was defeated, he would not be able to hold on.

Although the Northwest Army has always been short of food and food. At one time, some soldiers in the Northwest even starved to death, but the imperial court still sent military rations to the northwest intermittently. Even so, I heard that the Northwest Army was not safe. Now, it would be a strange thing not to pick up a knife and rebel. Serving as a soldier is for food, and now you don’t ask for food. If the court can’t even provide food for survival, those men in the Northwest Army will not think about working for the court.

Chu Huan couldn't say more about this issue, so he asked, "The Northwest Army has been transferred back to Yanmen Pass. Has Yanmen Pass been repaired?"

"It's not that easy." Zhou Renkang said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency, the people of Xiliang have done a lot of evil. They have demolished Yanmen Pass for several months. A good natural barrier was destroyed by them. A few days ago, I heard that even children can climb over the Yanmen Pass among the rubble, and it will take a lot of manpower and material resources to restore the Yanmen Pass, which is tens of miles long, to its previous state...!" Laughing reluctantly Said: "The imperial court has not appropriated the silver, and no one can move it."

"Then how does the Northwest Army guard?"

"This lower official has heard that before the death of General Yu, he ordered the Northwest Army to build Wubao in Yanmen Pass. A Wubao will be built every few miles, and a camp will be built next to the Wubao, and the Northwest Army will be divided into 36 battalions, but the specific situation, the lower officials don't know much...!"