Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 190 Drought is Coming
In March, when the city wall of Shanyang New City was three feet thick and five feet high, there was no need to continue to build it. At this time, the ice and snow on the grassland began to melt slowly.

This new city, which was built by more than 2 people in three months, is much larger than Mayi, the governor of Shuozhou. There are no city gates on the west and east sides, only two water gates, which just allow the Sanggan River to pass through the city. , and because the city wall is too tall and thick, even if someone blocks the river upstream to store water, it is not afraid. When the flood reaches here, it will be blocked by the city wall, and then quickly flow downstream from the river.

There are six gate openings on the south and north sides, respectively connecting the two banks of the Sanggan River. However, the county government office built with blue bricks in this city is quite impressive, and the rest of the place is empty, because the entire Shanyang County, There are just over 1000 households, and these residents do not have the financial resources to afford a house, so they all live in the dilapidated old city not far away.

Of course, Sun Xiangfu would not allow this situation to continue, and he would issue the demolition order immediately. However, just as he was admiring his masterpiece on the newly built city wall, a letter sent the sad news of Chang'an.

In the first year of Zhenguan, there was no snow in Chang'an winter, and there was no rain until the beginning of spring in the second year. Guanzhong suffered a severe drought that had not occurred in a century. The farmers sowed the seeds in the fields, but they couldn't even sprout. The price of food began to skyrocket, and officials were helpless.

"It's over, everything in Guanzhong is over."

Seeing Ma Zhou's letter, Sun Xiangfu has already thought of the cruel scene that Datang will face next. Li Tang relied too much on Guanzhong, and moved nearly half of the country's people here, resulting in the number of farmers who will lose their harvest this year. One million households is enough to shake the foundation of the Tang Dynasty.

"Flying pigeons sent a letter to Chang'an, telling all the water ships in the shipyard to go south quickly to transport grain to Lingnan."

In fact, Sun Xiangfu’s own 5 mu of landed grain had already been transported to Shuozhou at the end of last year. Otherwise, the people in Shuozhou would not have rice porridge to eat, but the situation in Guanzhong is different from Shuozhou. There are only more than 1 households in Shuozhou. The common people are less than 5 people, and it is Sun Xiangfu. He only needs to bring 10,000+ stones of grain, which is enough for the people here to last until this year's autumn harvest. Therefore, small landlords and powerful families cannot impact the market here, because Less demand.

As for Guanzhong, once there is a sign of disaster, all the aristocratic families will start hoarding food immediately, not to mention buying a lot in the market, at least they will not sell it again.

In a normal year, the grain harvested in the previous year is enough to feed the autumn harvest in the next year. Guanzhong experienced a small drought last year and reduced production, but the price war in Lingnan allowed the court to obtain a lot of low-priced grain, which made up for the shortage in Guanzhong. This year, it is said that the reserve There is enough food for the autumn harvest, but because the aristocratic families who have a large amount of food hoard it, there will be a food shortage in the market soon. It is not so much a natural disaster as a human disaster.

Sun Xiangfu kept Zhao Long in Lingnan, and he would organize the households in Lingnan to plant Champa rice step by step. At this time, he sent a boat to the south, almost exactly when the first season of grain was harvested. Of course, his more than 5 mu of land The output is not enough for the people in Guanzhong to eat for a few days. Where is the bulk of Feng Ang?

Of course, Sun Xiangfu's response was more than that. He asked Zhao Qiang and several craftsmen to ride fast horses day and night to Luoyang to wait for the fleet, and they went south with the fleet. At that time, they would smelt all the gold in Lingnan Exchange copper coins to Chang'an to deal with the locust plague that may occur next.

In the imperial study room of the Taiji Palace, Li Shimin did not know how many times he pressed his temples. The whole Guanzhong area had no harvest. Seeing that the food in their homes was getting less and less and there was no output in the fields, the people panicked. The price of grain is one day, and it is only March, and Doumi has already been sold for 150 yuan, which is almost the price of a stone of grain last year.

"Your Majesty, Ma Zhou from the Dushui Supervisor is here." The servant Wang De whispered beside Li Shimin.

"See you."

Wang Deyong took the order to go, and after a while, Ma Zhou with a tired face was brought by him to the imperial study.

"I heard that you have been digging rivers and repairing dams last year. Have you ever stored enough water for irrigation?"

"My humble minister is incompetent. The water I store can only be used for drinking at most. Irrigation is absolutely impossible." Ma Zhouyi bowed down with shame on his face.

"You have done your best, but I didn't pay enough attention to it. No wonder you, excuse me!" Li Shimin said with a sad expression.

"Your Majesty is sympathetic to this humble minister, and I feel ashamed. These few days, I have been thinking hard about how to deal with it. I feel that even if the Guanzhong area does not produce grain this year, it may not be able to survive the current crisis."

"King Bin already has a countermeasure? Tell me quickly." Li Shimin was overjoyed when he heard the words, and said anxiously.

"Your Majesty, at the beginning of last year, Sun Zhengming, Marquis of Shanyang County, had foreseen this year's drought. Therefore, he went south to Jiaozhi to introduce new rice varieties. Now, the new rice varieties have been planted in Lingnan for two seasons. Its output must be huge. Your Majesty should order boats to be dispatched to the south of the Five Ridges to transport grain, so as to ensure the grain supply in Guanzhong.

In addition, there are sufficient soybean reserves in Huainan, and more can be transferred to Guanzhong to make tofu products and sell them at a low price to impact food prices. With these two preparations, the food crisis of the people can be greatly alleviated. "

Ma Yiyi mentioned Sun Xiangfu, and Li Shimin remembered that this guy who made him puzzled and often annoyed him, his actions were all for the safety of the country, and he couldn't help but suddenly realized.

"Well, Xiao Aiqing and Fang Aiqing also mentioned these two strategies before, and I have ordered to implement them. However, the Yellow River is dry, boats are difficult to move, and transportation is very difficult. I am afraid it will be difficult to solve the problem in time." Li Shimin nodded and continued to worry about it.

"These two strategies can only be supplementary, not the main one. Your Majesty, the land in Guanzhong has already lost its harvest this year. Instead of letting the people sit in distress, it is better to let them go out while they still have surplus food in their hands." Ma Zhou continued to speak.

"Go out? How to go out?" Li Shimin frowned when he heard the words. He didn't want to be like Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, leading the people to escape together, and asked Ma Zhou suspiciously.

"Your Majesty, there will be no harvest in Guanzhong this year. Even if the weather is favorable next year and there is a harvest in the fields, it will have to wait until next year's autumn harvest. The court cannot afford to support the millions of people in Guanzhong for such a long time. Therefore, it is better to take advantage of the surplus food in the hands of the people and relocate them to places with more wasteland to cultivate wasteland. This year is still early, and a season of crops can be planted. Next year, depending on the situation in Guanzhong, whether it is necessary to relocate the people Go back." Ma Zhou suggested.

"Immigrant?"

Li Shimin frowned when he heard the words. You must know that the people in Guanzhong moved here from various places after Li Tang established the country, so that the imperial court could control them nearby and grasp the core power of the country. Increase the power of local officials and make the center empty?

You must know that the power of local officials in the Tang Dynasty was very great, and the execution ability of central government orders at the state level was already very low, and it was simply blurred at the county level. Move out again?Li Shimin's first reaction was no.

"Yes, I believe that a secluded land with a large area and few people is suitable for emigration. Once the people start to move out in large numbers, food consumption will inevitably decrease. Seeing this, the aristocratic families and merchants who store grain will definitely send their own Some of the hoarded grain will be released, so that the crisis of grain consumption in Guanzhong should be alleviated, and it will not be a problem to transport the grain to the south." Seeing Li Shimin's hesitant expression, Ma Zhou continued.

"The matter of emigration is too important. Let me discuss with the ministers before making a decision. You can go down first!"

After Li Shimin let Ma Zhou go down, he immediately invited Xiao Yu, Fang Xuanling and others over, and even Li Ji and Li Daozong, who had just returned from Bingzhou and Youzhou, also invited over together. Ma Zhou's proposal just now was brought up for discussion.

"Your Majesty, the ministers in other places don't know that Sun Zhengming in Shuozhou must want more people to enrich his rule." The implication of Li Ji's words was to support Ma Zhou's suggestion, and, Point out the frontier, there is such a demand, especially where is Sun Xiangfu.

"It goes without saying that this kid has already done it himself. The people in Taiyuan, Shangdang, Jinyang and other places have been used by this kid to get over [-] households. In Shuozhou, there are already [-] people. Five thousand households, can he support it?"

Sun Xiangfu had already reported to Li Shimin the re-determined household register and field booklet, and told Li Shimin the reasons for doing so. Li Shimin was naturally happy to use the human and material resources of the Wang family to develop frontier fortresses. There is no output yet, but the Wang family's twenty fortresses on the grassland have been established. I believe it is only a matter of time before the grassland is reclaimed and the so-called spices are planted.

Sun Xiangfu said in the previous memorial that spices are not food, and no matter how much they grow, they cannot feed people. Therefore, it is normal for Li Shimin to have such worries.

"Hehe, Your Majesty can rest assured that Sun Zhengming's ability is to open up wasteland and cultivate land, even if he is given another [-] households, he can still support him." Li Ji said with a leisurely smile.

"How to say?" Li Shimin asked unexpectedly.

"This son's management of Shuozhou is different from any other place. Let's talk about the military system! According to Guo Po's letter to his ministers, he will unite the training, farming, breeding time, steps, The division was very detailed. Guo Po said he was very confident that the Shuozhou Unity Battalion would not only be able to train a strong army whose combat effectiveness was not inferior to that of the elite guards, but it would not require the imperial court to spend military expenses, and it would even be able to achieve some benefits. The surplus will be used to increase the military pay for the soldiers," Li Ji explained.

"Cultivation and breeding will be managed in the same way as the military?" Li Shimin and several ministers were taken aback when they heard this.

Fang Xuanling also came out to speak at this time, "If you open up wasteland and cultivate land elsewhere, the people who have moved out can support themselves at most, but if you live with Sun Zhengming, you may reap a lot of money. Don't forget, Your Majesty. The wheat field that yields more than four stones per mu."

"In this way, the two lovers also agree to move some of the people in Guanzhong out?" Li Shimin looked at Fang Xuanling and Li Ji and said.

"Your Majesty, the current strategy is that this strategy can not only reduce the food consumption in Guanzhong, but also increase the output of the frontier areas. It is a good strategy to prepare for the garrison of troops in the frontier areas in the future." Xiao Yu also suggested aloud.

As the prime minister, he has already begun to study the military system of Sun Xiangfu Lane. This new local military management system is very feasible in practice.

"In this way, we plan to relocate [-] households to Shuozhou. I want to see how far that boy Sun Zhengming can go." Seeing that everyone agreed, Li Shimin finally made a decision.

(End of this chapter)