"Uncle, come here. ”

Zhang Zhao saw an old man who was collecting straw in the field, so he called over.

"Uncle, what's going on? Why don't you harvest it earlier?"

I saw that the old man said helplessly: "This is all a good thing done by the previous city lord." ”

"Evil Sword Immortal, isn't he all dead?"

"Yes, but what he did before his death angered God, so the rain has been endless for more than 20 days, floods have occurred in many places, and the grain in the field has been soaked before it can be ripe, and the whole city has no harvest. ”

"No harvest!"

Bai Xing was taken aback, and subconsciously said, "Go to the granary and have a look." ”

There are a total of twelve granaries in Rongchang City, one in the cellar of the City Lord's Mansion, and the rest of the branches are in all corners of the city.

It's just that after running around, Zhang Zhao found that there were twelve granaries, all of which were empty except for the one below the City Lord's Mansion, and there was nothing.

According to the soldiers guarding the granary, the grain was sold by the evil sword fairy.

"Sold?"

Bai Xing was stunned for a moment, and said incredibly: "The grain production of several major cities around is seriously reduced, and he can only be self-sufficient, and he actually sold it?"

"Hmph"

Zhang Zhao snorted coldly and said, "This kind of scumbag, what can't he do?"

"No, it's a terrible thing to run off food, don't look at the fact that there is still some surplus food, but at most in three days, everyone in the city will be hungry. ”

Zhang Zhao was also shocked at the thought that all the food outside the city would be inedible this year, that is, after three days, everyone would have to wait until next autumn harvest to eat.

How many people can afford to wait in a year? I'm afraid that even cultivators may not be able to wait that long, let alone up and down Rongchang City, but there are three million ordinary people.

If they don't eat for three days, they will be hungry and weak, let alone wait for 300 days.

"No, no, no, hurry up and go to the nearby city to buy food, at least you have to prepare hundreds of millions of catties. ”

Bai Xing and a female disciple of the Wanhua Sect were in charge of this matter, and Zhang Zhao also mobilized the troops of the surrounding branches in various places and guarded them in the city.

When the soldiers returned, Zhang Zhao found that there were no 70,000 elite soldiers at all, only 30,000 at most. The soldiers are young and strong, but the number is really too small, especially for a prefecture-level city, this army is simply not enough, in case of an outbreak of beast tide, it will not be able to resist at all.

"Generalissimo on the edge of the town, how can you be called a generalissimo without a million-strong army?"

Zhang Zhao laughed self-deprecatingly, as the generalissimo, he had 30,000 soldiers and horses under his hands. If you say this, it will definitely make people laugh out of their big teeth.

"As things stand, the food shortage is good news for us. ”

At this time, Ruge next to him suddenly said: "Now the whole city is short of food, as long as we have enough food and grass in our hands, then many people will join the army because they want to solve the problem of food and clothing." ”

Ru Ge's words reminded Zhang Zhao that this is indeed a good way. The reason why there are few troops is because everyone is war-weary, they all like farming life, and they don't like to fight and kill, but now it's different, now that there is a shortage of food, there is no opportunity to farm at all, so more people will join the army.

"yes, okay. Zhang Zhao nodded, and said to Chen Yang: "The army will be handed over to you, continue to recruit troops, and announce that anyone who signs up to join the army can directly get three catties of rice, and the military salary will be calculated separately." ”

After returning to the City Lord's Mansion, the news came one by one, and these messages were all related to food.

Basically, they came from other cities, from the local city lords, almost all of them were asking Zhang Zhao if there was any surplus food here, there was also a famine there, and the problem was very serious, and some cities had been out of food for three days.

Seeing so many letters, Zhang Zhao really felt a big head, and when Bai Xing came back in the evening, sure enough, there was no good news at all.

"King, during the day, I ran through more than 30 surrounding cities in one day, everyone had no food, and some of them had already starved to death, as for the heaven-level city, the city gate was closed over there, and there were a large number of refugees outside the city, so no one was allowed to enter at all. ”

"Alas"

Hearing this news, Zhang Zhao let out a long sigh and said slowly: "It seems that the disaster and famine are essential, Xiaolian, you go and call Wan Sanqian and Cang Bing over." ”

"Yes!"

As soon as Xiaolian left, a soldier suddenly ran in at the door, holding a letter in his hand, and hurriedly said: "Report to the marshal, Xuancheng is urgent." ”

"Oh, get it. ”

After opening the envelope, it was written in scribbled handwriting, "Respected city lord, I am Wang Ze, the lord of Xuan City, a large number of demon beasts have gathered thirty miles from Xuan City recently, and they are afraid of attacking the city. ”

"Beast Tide ......"

Zhang Zhao frowned, and then said: "Immediately mobilize soldiers and horses, and notify all the martial arts families and sects in the whole city to call over." ”

"Well, here we go. ”

After a while, Cang Bing and Wan 3,000 came over first, and after seeing Zhang Zhao, they asked with a puzzled expression: "What are you looking for us so late?"

"How much food do you have left?"

Wan Sanqian frowned, and then said: "The four grain stores in the east, west, north and south should add up to 120,000 catties. ”

"You also know my small shop, there is not much food, about 30,000 catties. ”

Hearing this, Zhang Zhao's heart became even more anxious, 150,000 catties of grain could not solve the problem of this famine at all, even if the city lord's mansion granary was added with one million catties, it was only enough for the city's rations for one day.

"There is also a granary here in the City Lord's Mansion, three thousand brothers, brothers and sisters, and I will send someone to bring another 200,000 catties to one of you, these grains must be strictly guarded, and no one is allowed to move without my order. ”

"Is there going to be a war?"

Wan Sanqian asked suspiciously, obviously he didn't know much about the famine in the surrounding cities.

"Famine, all the grain in this autumn's harvest has sprouted, and the same is true of the surrounding thirty cities, including the heaven-level cities. ”

"This ......."

As soon as he heard this, Wan Sanqian showed a look of astonishment, and then said: "The food problem has always been a big deal, and now that all the thirty cities within a radius have run out of food, there is no flow, and it will take at least a year to harvest new grain, but the current surplus grain can only last for a month, how can this be good." ”

Zhang Zhao nodded and said, "That's why I asked one of you to prepare 200,000 catties, these grains to ensure that there is no need for them, and distribute some to those who need it most at the most critical time, so as to ensure that no one will starve to death." ”