Yuan Shu can only be said to have taken Xiliang at this time, not pacified Xiliang, and if he wants to completely take Xiliang into his palm, Yuan Shu still needs to spend a lot of effort. The most critical thing for Xiliang is the food problem, as long as Yuan Shu solves the food problem of the people in Xiliang, Xiliang will not have any trouble. But the problem is that Yuan Shu can't get enough food for the time being.

Originally, according to the plan, Yuan Shu planned to quickly take Chang'an and then pacify Xiliang. There are a lot of grains and grasses stored by Dong Zhuo in Chang'an, which are completely enough for the use of Xiliang.

But later, according to Jia Xu's plan, in order not to arouse the suspicion of the family, Yuan Shu allowed the family to burn a large amount of grain and grass in Chang'an City, and finally burned Chang'an to burn the grain and grass hidden in the shadows by Jia Xu. Not only that, in order to accept the people who fled from Chang'an, Yuan Shu took out a large part of the grain and grass stored in the Meridian Valley and Qishan. It is not difficult for the remaining grain and grass to support the army under Yuan Shu's command, but it can only be like this, and it can't make up for the big hole in Xiliang at all. At this time, it is the middle of winter, and it is even more difficult to transfer grain from Yizhou.

"Wenhe, where is the grain and grass in Han Sui's hands? Didn't he prepare enough grain and grass for his people and Qiang people to survive the winter? Yuan Shu frowned. He hadn't thought about taking Xiliang before and worrying about grain and grass, after all, as long as the cold winter passed, he could continuously transfer grain from Yizhou. Isn't there even three or four months of food in the huge Liangzhou?

Jia Xu had a rare ugly expression on his face: "Lord, you have never been to Xiliang, so you may not know much about this place. Different from the Central Plains and the south, and also different from Bingzhou and Youzhou, the land of Xiliang is barren, Han and Qiang are mixed, and there has never been enough food. The grain under Han Sui and Ma Teng were barely enough for the people of Liangzhou for more than a month. ”

"Then how did the people of Xiliang spend the winter in the past?" Yuan Shu frowned.

"Grass root bark, easy to eat each other." Jia Xu's tone was cold, as if he remembered that unforgettable day again.

"Not really!"

"How did the lord think the Xiliang elite soldiers and the Flying Bear Army under Dong Zhuo's command came out? At that time, the strength of the Xiliang soldiers was far inferior to the combined Youzhou soldiers and the Bingzhou soldiers. The strength of the Xiliang soldiers was piled up with completely endless killings. There are too many people, there is not enough food, and there is only one way to survive, and that is to kill people. When enough people are killed, the food will be enough. Moreover, human flesh can also be eaten. According to the information I obtained, since Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, the people in Xiliang have decreased by nearly half. ”

Jia Xu's tone was extremely calm, but everyone present felt a chill in their hearts. What a horrible scene is revealed in these calm words? It was as if the crowd had seen the hell on earth.

"Xiliang is constantly fighting, and in many cases it is not that Xiliang people are belligerent, but that they have to fight. If you don't fight, you can only starve to death, and there is still the possibility of surviving in the war, which is the root cause of the Xiliang rebellion. Jia Xu said coldly.

"In the past few decades, Dahan has become more and more indifferent to Xiliang, more and more bored, and he no longer attaches as much importance to Xiliang as before. Without the grain and grass supplied by Sili and Yizhou, how can the people of Xiliang survive? The Xiliang people who defended the frontier for the Han Dynasty were abandoned by the Han Dynasty, which is the reason why the Xiliang people ruled the Western Liang. ”

Jia Xu's words faintly revealed his deep resentment towards the Han. He is also a native of Xiliang, and everything he experienced when he was a child made him the person he is now who only wants to protect himself. Xiliang people basically never have a good impression of Dahan, whether it is Han Sui or Ma Teng, they are extremely resentful of Dahan's attitude towards Xiliang, the difference is that Han Sui wants to rebel and stand on his own. And Ma Teng, as the general of Fubo, after Ma Yuan, intended to support the Han family and solve the dilemma of Xiliang with the help of the Han family.

Li Dao Guo Yan's eyes were also red when he heard this, and there was a fierce flash in his eyes. They are also from Xiliang, and they are also full of grievances against the Han Dynasty. After more than ten years of bloody fighting, the merits have not been less, and the hard work has not been less, but the soldiers under his command are not even able to supply food, not to mention equipment. Many times back then, it was Dong Zhuo who paid out of his own family property so that they would not starve to death.

At that time, Dong Zhuo was able to fulfill the heart of Xiliang, not only by his personal bravery, but also by his righteousness, and countless Qiang and Xiliang people trusted him and regarded him as a hero.

Li Ru, who was dissatisfied with the family, and Dong Zhuo, who was dissatisfied with the Han Dynasty, hit it off and came together because of this, which led to the subsequent Han rebellion. The Han family finally died in Xiliang. Jia Xu said sarcastically. This can be regarded as the revenge of the Xiliang people against the Han, how thin the Han is for the Xiliang!

"The Han family back then was rotten to the roots, and the family had swelled to the limit, so it was natural to have such a catastrophe." Yuan Shu sighed lightly.

"Nowadays, if we are all the food we have for the people under our command, it will not be more than two months at most. There are still three months left before the spring flowers bloom and the ice and snow melt, and considering the distance and roads between Yizhou and Liangzhou, we must at least ensure the food in April. Guo Jia thought about it a little in his heart and said.

"Where did the food come from for these two months?" Yuan Shu frowned.

Guo Jia felt chills on his body, and couldn't help but pick up the wine jug on his waist and take a sip lightly, only then did his face become more ruddy.

"Two approaches. Or, like Xiliang's previous treatment, ignore these people and give priority to ensuring the grain and grass of the army, which will lose a part of the Xiliang people, but we can safely support the transfer of grain and grass in Yizhou. ”

"Nope." Yuan Shu refused without thinking about it. Population is the greatest wealth for him, if it weren't for the population of the Han Dynasty, Yuan Shu would not have popularized medical care, let alone doing such a thing as selling grain and grass in the Central Plains and Hebei, making it difficult for him to dominate the world.

Guo Jia was not surprised by Yuan Shu's attitude, and he couldn't bear to carry out this "poisonous plan". This is not only related to the life and death of hundreds of thousands of Xiliang people, but also affects Yuan Shu's control of Xiliang.

"Then there's only one other way. Borrow food! ”

"Borrowed food?" Yuan Shu was puzzled: "Borrow it from whom?" ”

"Xiliang family (Xiliang Haog)." Guo Jia and Jia Xu are on the same page.

Zhumen's wine and meat stink, and there are frozen bones on the road, this is the truest portrayal of Xiliang. Even in Xiliang, which is extremely poor, there is such a group of wealthy gentry. They have a lot of wealth and grain and grass in their hands, but they sit back and watch the people of Xiliang cannibalize each other, not only have no sympathy, but also intensify their efforts to squeeze all the value of these people.

Whether it is Dong Zhuo, Ma Teng, or Han Sui, they all turn a blind eye to these people. Because these people are ruthlessly oppressing the people while supporting Xiliang, if there are no these people, Xiliang will collapse in an instant, and then the people of Xiliang will not be difficult to survive, but they will not be able to survive at all.

In this era, the gentry of the family control the order, even if it is one word: on behalf of the herdsmen, it is not an exaggeration to describe it. So these people deserve to enjoy what they think they deserve, and while managing the people, they oppress and despise the people.

At the beginning, Yuan Shu controlled Jiangdong and relied on the tiger skin of the Yuan family to force the Jiangdong family to compromise and slowly control the family, and it was impossible to ask the family to play by themselves. Dong Zhuo, Ma Teng and Han Sui are not qualified to negotiate terms with the family, let alone force the family to compromise, so the Xiliang family has never bowed their heads. But now, they are unfortunate enough to be targeted by a behemoth.