It has been three days since Ma Chao returned to Hanzhong City, and according to the situation reported by Yan Pu and others, the famine in Guanzhong has begun.

After a series of major battles in the Guanzhong area, many strong men were pulled to fill the army, and the remaining old and weak women and children were simply unable to support themselves.

Ma Chao asked the attendant to call Yan Pu and asked:

"Brother Zimao, I called you over this time to discuss with you how my Hanzhong should deal with this Guanzhong disaster."

Yan Pu thought for a moment and said, "It depends on whether the lord is for profit or fame. ”

"How can I say this, what should I do for profit, and what if I want to be famous?"

"For profit, we can raise the price of food, make a fortune, and make a fortune; In the name of it, we can open a warehouse to release grain and help the victims! ”

Hearing this, Ma Chao was a little hesitant, Ma Chao naturally wanted fame and fortune, not only did he not want the people to starve to death, he wanted to relieve the victims and gain fame, but he also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to gain some benefits.

Suddenly, Ma Chao remembered the situation when a large number of people from Guanzhong moved to Hanzhong during the great famine in history, so he had an idea and asked:

"How much grain do I have in Hanzhong?"

"After all these years of operation in Hanzhong City, I dare not say anything else, the grain is piled up, and it can feed 100,000 troops for ten years!"

"There are less than 100,000 households in Hanzhong City, and we have gathered less than 100,000 troops, and if we run it well, 50,000 is possible; In this way, pass on my order, Hanzhong City sells official grain at a low price, suppresses grain prices, and at the same time takes out five stone of grain every day, boils it into porridge, and distributes it to the victims at the gates of each city, and releases the rumor, saying that the new Taishou Ma is a super adult, sympathetic to the suffering of the victims, and specially gives porridge in Hanzhong City to help the victims get through the difficulties! ”

Five stone grain is not much, but at this time, it can be used to make a lot of fame. Ma Chao, who crossed over, naturally knew the truth that those who win the hearts of the people win the world, and if they want to develop steadily in Hanzhong City for a long time, they must win the support of the people of Hanzhong.

At the city gates, it was natural to expand the influence and attract more victims to the city.

Hanzhong City is still less than 100,000 households, and it cannot provide a large number of soldiers. If Hanzhong City is to become a long-term and stable logistics base, it must grow its population rapidly.

Of course, the previous policy of encouraging fertility and breeding was naturally useful, but the effect was too slow; The current famine is obviously a good opportunity, and if it is used well, it can attract a large number of people to the city.

As long as a certain amount of land is allocated to the victims and allowed them to live and work in Hanzhong City, the victims will settle down in Hanzhong City, and they will not leave Hanzhong City even if the famine is over!

In this way, the population of Hanzhong City will increase significantly, and the source of soldiers will become more and more extensive, and Ma Chao, who has accumulated a lot of popularity, can immediately gather tens of thousands of male soldiers as long as he ascends to the heights.

With money and food, and with a population, why can't you beat Chang'an?

Of course, Ma Chao will not forget that every time there is a catastrophe, there will inevitably be profiteers who will make a fortune in the country, hoard grain, raise prices, and make huge profits, and at the same time, it will also cause a lot of fighting.

Therefore, Ma Chao ordered the whole city to strengthen public security, prohibit price gouging, and once discovered, immediately investigate and deal with it; At the same time, during the famine, grain was only allowed to enter and not to be exported, and grain prices were strictly controlled, and profiteers were strictly forbidden to transport grain out of Hanzhong City and sell it at a high price.

After formulating a series of advanced internal affairs measures, Ma Chao settled down and spent a few more days dealing with some trivial matters, and Ma Chao began to prepare to visit Fazheng again.

Soon, the agreed time to visit Fazheng arrived, and early in the morning, Ma Chao called Han Ying and Deng Zhi and set off for Yixian.

This time, you must see Fazheng, you can't really look at it like in the romance, "three visits to the thatched house"!

Han Ying was also very happy to see that Ma Chao still didn't forget to bring herself this time, women like men's care the most, as long as you know that you care about her very much, she will be very happy!

Accompanied by Ma Chao, Han Ying laughed and laughed along the way, and seemed to have forgotten the fatigue of long-distance horseback riding.

Since the three of them were familiar with the road, they arrived in Yixian County earlier this time, and the three of them went directly to Fafu.

When the three of them arrived at the Fafu, Fa Zheng had been waiting for a long time, and he came out to greet him in person, and he was not as arrogant as Zhuge Liang showed in the romance, Ma Chao saw that Fa Zheng did not reject the arrival of the three of them, and he was a little relieved.

Fa Zheng walked in front of Ma Chao and stopped, bowed to Ma Chao, and shouted: "Fa Zheng meets Lord Taishou!" ”

When Ma Chao heard this, he was taken aback, how did Fa know his identity? However, when I thought of Fa Zheng 94's intelligence, I didn't think it was strange, Fa Zheng was so talented that it was normal to be able to speculate his identity, so he hurriedly stepped forward to help Fa Zheng, said polite words, and began to look at Fa Zheng.

I saw that Fa Zheng was nearly seven feet tall, young and handsome, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, dressed in gorgeous clothes, and he really deserved to be a young talent, and his aura was extraordinary!

Fa Zheng beckoned the three of them to enter the inner hall, and the guests and hosts sat down, since Ma Chao's identity had been exposed, he naturally sat on the upper seat.

Ma Chao saw that Fa Yan was not at home, and the four of them were all people of the same age, so he was no longer restrained, and he had to show some real skills to be able to suppress Fa Zheng and persuade him to come out of the mountain to help!

Seeing that Fa Zheng was not disgusted with himself, Ma Chao began to throw bricks and lead jade, first probing Fa Zheng's reality before talking, so he said:

"Mr. Jiuwen's name, super admiration, I came to ask for advice."

"I didn't dare to ask for advice, and I heard that the general was a young hero, and he defeated Zhang Lu, Li Dao, and Huang Zhong in Hanzhong City, and governed Hanzhong City in an orderly manner, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment; The general is so civil and military, and he is deeply admired! ”

"Ultra-meager talents, not enough to worry about; Dare to ask Mr. Now that the Guanzhong disaster is happening, how should I deal with Hanzhong City, so that I can be worthy of the country and the people? ”

"The Xiliang Army is famous among the princes for its martial arts. Now that Guanzhong encounters this catastrophe, it may be unfavorable for Chang'an and Fufeng, but for the general, it is a great opportunity! ”

"How is it an opportunity?" Inadvertently, the two sides have begun to study each other.

Ma Chao needs to study the ability of Fa Zheng, whether he is really far-sighted and good at strategy as said in history; Fa Zheng also needs to consider Ma Chao's personality and ambitions before deciding whether to work or not. Both of them wanted to express themselves and examine each other, so they started a war of words.

Fa Zheng continued: "The most lacking thing in this Guanzhong disaster is food, and Hanzhong City has thousands of miles of fertile fields, and has accumulated grain and grass for many years, so naturally there is no worry about food, but the disaster in Guanzhong is a great good for the general!" As for how Hanzhong City behaves, it depends on the general's ambition! ”

"Please advise Mr. for advice, I am willing to give it details!"

"If the general is determined to be in the northwest, he can raise the price of grain, sell a large amount of grain, and he will definitely be able to make huge profits, and the general will have no worries for the rest of his life!"

"What if the general has lofty ambitions and wants to compete with the princes of the world?" Since he knew that Fazheng's character liked to go straight, Ma Chao didn't hide it, and went straight to the point.

Fa is a person with great ambitions, and the Xiliang Army has always been in a corner of peace, with constant infighting, and does not want to forge ahead, Ma Chao first has to say his ambition to change this impression of Fazheng.