() Due to geographical and population constraints in Xiliang, the food supply is often unable to meet the demand. .In the past, when Xiliang was still a territory of the Han Dynasty, because the people here were needed to defend the place against the Qiang people and other foreign invasions, the imperial court would send food and grass in time to solve this problem.But until now, when the Great Han Dynasty itself was no longer worthy of its name, and the land of Xiliang was out of the control of the court, the problem of their food shortage became more and more obvious.

Among the places in Xiliang, the food shortage problem in Long County is the most serious.The root cause is that in the past, this place belonged to the state government of Xiliang, and it was more like a city with less arable land, which made the people in this city need external rations.Although there are always some reserves in case of emergencies, the food in Longxian County is finally running out after so many days of consumption.

After Ma Teng explained the cause and effect, as well as the difficult problems they had to face, Ma Yue also became silent.Although he had expected that there would be a food shortage, he never thought that things would turn out to be so bad, and now it seemed that it was unsustainable.

"Father, how much food is there in this city now, and how long can it last?" Ma Yue asked after a while.

"If it weren't for stabilizing the morale of the army and the people so that this year can go well, we can still last for a month or two. But now, because the consumption during the Chinese New Year is much greater than before, so at most it is less than one month's food reserves. And , the next is the famine season, don’t say that we don’t have much food in Xiliang, if there is a lot, I’m afraid it’s impossible to support us with food from other places.” Ma Teng said with a sigh: “It’s also because of concerns. When it came to food shortage, I didn't fight with those people on the issue of those people, otherwise I could always get some."

After hearing this, Ma Yue nodded and said: "Father's consideration is very reasonable. Now we can't even say that we can afford to support ourselves and the 2 horses, let alone those common people. If we run out of food, , they will inevitably escape, and then it will weaken our momentum."

"Aren't the other cities in danger of running out of food? Most of our Xiliang prefecture's food comes from the Central Plains, but this time it's obviously impossible to get the imperial court to allocate more food, but they have so much more food under their rule. There are hundreds of thousands of people, I am afraid that it is impossible to satisfy them with their meager acres? Are they not afraid of such a situation?" Ma Chao asked with some doubts.He was still quite upset about the fact that those people were taken away that day, so he said this.

Hearing what his elder brother said, Ma Yue smiled wryly: "They are really not afraid of food problems. Because they have enough food, even if there are another 10 people, they can feed them. Cultivate wasteland, so they will be able to absorb all these people soon."

"How is this possible? Where did they get the surplus food?"

Glancing at his father, Ma Yue had no choice but to say with a bitter face: "Brother, have you forgotten that we borrowed grain from several big families a few years ago? We obtained hundreds of thousands of shi of grain from them at that time, although the two The annual consumption is quite a lot, but there is still a lot of savings. It is precisely because of the food in hand that Dong Zhuo has the confidence to fight against the world."

"So that's how it is..." Ma Chao remembered this, and his face became even more ugly: "Second brother, you managed to get these grains from those aristocratic families. I didn't expect it to be cheaper for those people. Really It is unconvincing!"

Regarding this point, Ma Teng felt resentment in his heart when he thought of it. It should have been a happy thing for his son to be able to get a lot of food from those aristocratic families for nothing.But when the food not only does not belong to him, but is also the enemy, this feeling is not very pleasant.Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh.

Ma Yue smiled wryly and said, "I was still working under Dong Zhuo's tent at that time, so how could I have thought that there would be a change today? Naturally, all the food was transported to Lintao City, and now it is naturally cheaper for those people."

"Yeah, no one can predict the timing." Ma Teng also said with some distress: "But judging from the current situation, our situation is really very bad. Maybe those people will soon have to deal with it." We're going to do it, after all, Long County where we are located is the seat of Xiliang, and if they want to unify Xiliang, it's impossible not to take our ideas."

"Father can rest assured about this. At least in this year, they dare not openly fight against us." Regarding this, Ma Yue has his own opinion: "Xiliang people always keep their promises, and they I have already violated the previous agreement, and after returning to Xiliang, I will not be restrained by my father. This will definitely have a bad influence on the army. And if they dare to use troops against us again, I am afraid that the internal chaos will first occur before the troops move. At that time, we will be able to flatten them in one fell swoop!"

"Well, Yue'er's opinion is somewhat reasonable." Ma Teng nodded and said, the uneasiness in his heart calmed down a little.But then, he said again: "But even so, our troubles are still not small, because the enemies we face are not only them, but also the Qiang people..."

"Qiang people..." Ma Yue murmured: "They were defeated a few years ago, and they have been silent for a long time. But after these few years of recuperation, their vitality should indeed recover .”

"Yes, and presumably they should also understand our current situation in Xiliang and the chaos in the Central Plains, so maybe it won't be long before the Qiang people will attack us again. By then, under internal and external troubles, our Long County It's hard to say whether he can hold on." Ma Teng's entire face was distorted by these questions, and it was obvious that Ri had made things difficult for him during this time.

"Father don't have to worry too much, we can always solve these troubles." Ma Yue comforted his father and said, "Besides, the child has already thought about it in the past two months, and the food problem still has to fall on those aristocratic families. "Actually, during the past two months, Ma Yue didn't really ignore everything. At least he had some understanding of the food problem in the city, and he had also thought about it.

"Are you really sure that you can get food again from those aristocratic families?" Ma Teng was overjoyed when he heard this.He was already very convinced of this son's ability. Since Ma Yue said that he had a way to get food from the family, he should have a lot of confidence.But out of safety, he couldn't help asking: "How do you want to get food from them? Now is no longer the time when you were under Dong Zhuo's tent. We don't have the power to threaten them."

"Father, don't worry, the child is not so arrogant that we think that we can scare those aristocratic families. If we do this, I'm afraid they will be forced to join hands with Li Que and others to deal with us."

"Then what else do you have to do?" Ma Teng asked strangely.

"Of course I bought food from them with real money." Ma Yue smiled and said, "Isn't the property we transported from Chang'an used to deal with the current situation? And with the style of these aristocratic families, as long as We buy food from them at a reasonable price, and they have absolutely no reason to refuse."

"Hey, I really forgot about this." Ma Teng slapped his thigh suddenly: "This is indeed a good idea. With the wealth of those aristocratic families, it is absolutely enough for us to buy food from them to supply ourselves .But...will those people watch us buy food from them?" The people he was talking about naturally meant other generals of the Xiliang Army.

These people should have already guessed the possible food shortage in Longxian County, but from their standpoint, they naturally hope that the Ma family will have a series of problems and completely lose their ability to compete with them.If they suddenly found out that the Ma family paid to buy food from those aristocratic families, they would definitely come up with various means to intervene, and no one could guarantee that it would really happen.

"This, it's easy for the soldiers to stop and the water to settle. The soldiers under our command are not vegetarians, and if they really want to do this kind of thing, they can't make it clear, so it's enough to deal with it."

"Then I hope so." Seeing that Ma Yue's intentions were right, Ma Teng couldn't throw cold water on him anymore.And now that the most urgent problem has been settled, he felt a little more relaxed, and he mentioned the situation in the Central Plains: "Yueer, your previous judgment is indeed correct, and now the Central Plains is indeed in chaos. "

"Oh? Father, please tell me." Ma Yue became interested when he heard it.Although he had made some judgments and made many moves in this matter, he didn't care about the changes in the Central Plains after he came back.Because he knew that after the Xiliang army left Chang'an, it was not up to them to decide what would happen there, so it was better to have a good rest and think about how to expand in Xiliang by the way.However, his father's sudden mention of this matter still made him very interested.

"The saying that two peaches killed three soldiers really came true. Those generals who sent troops under the banner of the emperor and the country before entered Chang'an, and when they saw that the emperor was still there, they immediately fought. I heard that there were several people at that time. They almost started a fight in Chang'an City." Ma Teng said gloatingly: "This made people all over the world see their true colors, and many people condemned their wolf ambitions, and Gongsun Zan and other generals who quit the coalition earlier They raised their troops again.

"The entire Central Plains is now in chaos. Although the emperor is still in Chang'an, someone will take him out of the palace soon. Thinking about it now, your previous decision was really correct. If you The Son of Heaven has also brought here, I'm afraid we in Xiliang will become the target of public criticism!"

"Every man is innocent, but he is guilty of carrying jade. Since we don't have the corresponding strength, we shouldn't control the emperor." Speaking of this sentence, Ma Yue thought of the former emperor who was still secretly hidden in his mansion, King Hongnong Liu Arguing, when he has completely controlled all the forces in Xiliang and the world is in complete chaos, he will bring out this person who is enough to be on an equal footing with Liu Xie.

After talking about the situation in the Central Plains for a while, the father and son turned the topic to how to obtain food.In this regard, Ma Yue's purpose is very clear: "As long as we get food from the first family, the next thing will be a matter of course. And with our current status, brother, it should be the most normal to ask the Lin family for food?" Ma Chao was taken aback by his words, but soon he knew what Ma Yue's intention was!

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