Wentang

Chapter 494 Locust Rice

Bailuyuan Bailu Academy has gradually become the headquarters of aristocratic families and old schools since its establishment, as well as an important gathering place.

"The imperial court has already begun to worry, and our Zhenguan sage in the court hall has started to make a fool of himself today." Cui Sheng said mockingly:
"The storage warehouse is the last line of defense. It cannot be used easily. He couldn't wait to get food from there just after the locust plague started. It's stupid."

"You can't say that. If he can mobilize food and grass in time to make up the shortfall, it will be a good way to relieve the disaster." Liu Yi said.

Cui Sheng is the eldest son of the Boling Cui family's second wife, who specializes in managing the Cui family's grain industry.Liu Yi is also the home of the prefect of the county of two thousand shi, and has been in the grain business for generations.

This time, the grain shop controlled by the aristocratic family caused all kinds of disturbances in Guanzhong, mainly because the two of them were responsible for connecting.

"Do you think it's possible? If he has the ability to raise so much food and grass in a short period of time, he won't have the idea of ​​a storage warehouse." Cui Sheng said contemptuously:
"There is no one who knows more about how much food and grass there is in the world than our family. In the past two years, the world has had a good harvest, but his surname Li's frequent consumption is especially heavy. In fact, the imperial court has not been able to save much food."

"As far as I know, the total grain storage in the Changping warehouse is only 20 million shi. A few days ago, in order to adjust the grain price, Dai Zhou has already transferred 50 shi into Guanzhong."

"On the surface, it looks like there are 80 million shi left. However, these grains have to be used to stabilize people's sentiments and grain prices in other places. They cannot all be transferred to Guanzhong. Otherwise, I don't know if Guanzhong can be saved. There will definitely be problems in other places. .”

"The folks do have some food in storage, but the locust plague in Guanzhong is panicking all over the world. Who would sell the food? Besides, with us, even if someone sells it, it won't be the court's turn to collect it. So Li has no food to adjust."

There are two types of ancient warehouses, one is Changping warehouse, where the grain is used to adjust grain prices, and it is used for disaster relief in disaster years.The place where Yueshan traded fish for food in the past belonged to a kind of Changping warehouse.

There is also a strategic reserve warehouse, such as Hanjiacang in Luoyang, which can store more than 500 million stones of grain and grass at most, enough to feed a million troops for a year.This kind of granary is used to guarantee the bottom line, and it must not be used until the last moment.

"The surname Li has the ability, but he is very successful. He has made big moves every year for five years since he became the throne, and the money he earns is not enough to spend. If he can be more secure, he will not be in today's predicament." Liu Yi's tone seemed to be With a little regret.

"The one surnamed Li is a martial artist who relied on his father and brother to become what he is today, and he imprisoned his father and murdered his brother without gratitude..." Cui Sheng sneered.

It's just that Liu Yi stopped him halfway through his words: "Brother Cui, speak carefully."

Cui Sheng said indifferently: "What are you afraid of, this is Bailu Academy, not Weishui Academy."

Liu Yi persuaded: "Walls have ears, it's better to be careful."

"All right, all right, let's get on with business." Cui Sheng said impatiently.

"But we can't underestimate them, especially the one with the surname Yue. He might come up with something. We must keep an eye on him." Liu Yi changed the subject.

"Don't worry, the power that Yue can use is Dizhou and Huangshang. I have sent people to monitor their every move for twelve hours. Don't worry about my work." Cui Sheng said.

"That's good. What should we do if they really use the grain in the storage warehouse?" Liu Yi continued to ask.

"Simple, look at their selling price. If it is the same as our price, let them go. If it is lower than our price, continue to restrict sales and let them sell it. There are millions of people in Guanzhong, and the food they need every day is a bottomless pit. " Cui Sheng said:

"I wonder if his surname Li dares to take out all the grain in the storage warehouse and sell it to these bastards."

"What if they drive down food prices at extremely low prices?"

"is it possible?"

"Just in case."

"Wouldn't it be better, let our people also buy grain, we can buy as much as we have, wouldn't it be better to hoard all the grain we bought."

"It's wonderful, it's wonderful. Brother Cui is really clever..."

Facing the locust plague that spread throughout Guanzhong, the emperor was in a hurry. This was the consensus of all officials.Even the words "I don't care where you get the food from, I just want the result" have been said, and even the storage warehouse has to be moved.

It's not that the storage warehouse can't be moved, isn't the grain just for eating?The problem is that the locust plague has just begun, and there are still reserves among the people. In fact, the people are not short of food.

It doesn't make any sense to take out the grain too early.

It would be fine if the locust plague could be eradicated in time, but if it lasts for three to five months, what should we do then?
Moreover, the locust plague has another characteristic. Where there is a locust plague this year, there will be a second locust plague next year.I used up the grain in the storage warehouse, what should I do next year?
But fortunately, Qing Shui Hou stood up again. Although he didn't change the emperor's mind, he temporarily gave up the idea of ​​using the reserve warehouse.

As for the formation of a special disaster response team - if you want to form one, form it, at least it is better than doing nothing.

There are three leading members of the disaster relief team, Yue Shan, Changsun Wuji, and Dai Zhou.

Changsun Wuji is responsible for the distribution of grain and grass on the front line, the management of grain shops, etc.; Dai Zhou is responsible for the coordination of grain and the management of granary;

For this reason, Li Shimin also ordered Wanqi to temporarily return to Yueshan's management.

Wanqi can be said to be an army with the brand of Yueshan, founded by him, using his training methods, and all the core officers are trained by him.

Even if Li Shimin mixed sand into it later, it did not reduce his influence in this army.

On the first day after the establishment of the disaster relief team, the three dispatched a large number of people to the storage warehouse to do a good job in the deployment of food.Yue Shan also divided Wanqi into several branches and sent them to the granary to assist in the work.

Then Yueshan invited the chef to sort out a few simple locust cooking skills.

No expensive spices are needed, just ordinary household seasonings and even wild vegetables that can be seen at hand, and then rice made with grain.

It is called locust rice for short.

Although the taste is not very good, it is much better than eating locusts raw.

Afterwards, these menus were passed on to the disaster-stricken areas in the form of administrative orders, encouraging the people to eat locust rice to save food and fight against locust plagues.

Originally, many people didn't understand what kind of strange operation this was. Your disaster relief team didn't want to eliminate the locusts, so you actually made a few recipes for everyone.

However, they soon discovered an even more strange phenomenon. These recipes were unexpectedly popular, and locust rice has really become a staple food for thousands of households.

What surprised them even more was that after the popularity of locust rice, fewer people bought food.

Hurry up and ask people to investigate, only to find out that the common people have changed the locust meal demon.Half of the locusts and half of the food, so half of the food can be saved every day.

The food that was supposed to last for one month can now last for two months, so everyone breathed a sigh of relief and didn't feel so panicked.

So in the face of the grain that has skyrocketed to seventy cents a bucket, the desire to buy is not so urgent.

Only then did everyone suddenly realize, and then they gave a thumbs up and said, "Clear water waiting for cowhide."

Just when everyone was admiring Yueshan's antelope-like method of hanging horns, he entered the palace again.

(End of this chapter)