The people take food as the sky, and the army is based on food.

For humans, food is crucial. If the army runs out of food, let alone fighting, even the morale of the army is difficult to maintain, and you can't eat enough, who is willing to die for you? This is what the ancients called "the soldiers and horses go first before the grain and grass are moved", so the major event of food shortage cannot be delayed for a moment.

If you want to get grain and grass, there are no more than two ways, one is to buy and the other is to rob.

As an official organization, it was impossible for Yuan Mai to rob the people like a bandit, so he could only target other princes. But as far as the eye can see, in addition to his father Yuan Shao, the surrounding princes are only Cao Cao in the Central Plains.

Your own dad must not be robbed, if you want to rob, you can't rob now, unless you have to, you can't take this step, unless this cheap dad is determined to ignore himself, then it's another matter.

And Cao Cao's grain and grass are hoarded in the big city, the outside is blocked, and there are heavy troops inside, if you want to capture Cao Jun's grain land, it is tantamount to a fool's dream, even if you pay a huge price to take it, but the military strength is lost, and it loses its meaning.

Around Bingzhou, in addition to Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, there were also the Huns entrenched in the West River, and the Black Mountain thieves who fell on the grass on the Taihang Mountain. As a nomadic people, the Huns have never had the habit of storing grass on a large scale, and the idea of collecting grain and grass from the Huns is to ask for fish from the wood.

The Montenegrin army under Zhang Yan is entrenched on the Taihang Mountain, and in addition to the hundreds of thousands of rabble, they also have to feed four or five hundred thousand old, weak, women and children, and they themselves are not enough to eat, and they can only fill their stomachs every day. Starvation of people happens every day, and robbing them of food is tantamount to begging for meat from monks.

Since there is nowhere to grab for the time being, there is only one way out left to buy.

Yuan Mai had an army of 60,000 or 70,000 under his hands, and he needed to consume 1,7800 stone of grain every day, which was 50,000 or 60,000 stone a month, and he also needed a huge amount of money to buy enough grain and grass to maintain the consumption of the army.

However, Yuan Mai had only taken over the annexation of the state for a few months, and the money in his hands was really limited, and the soldiers needed financial incentives to fight. Civilian and military generals need to pay a salary. The money in the state treasury is only able to maintain the operation of the military and government, and it is simply unable to come up with enough money to buy a large amount of grain and grass......

Yuan Mai stood at the door of the study, looking at the curling smoke rising from the firewood room in the backyard, and had an idea. Immediately, I thought of two ways to raise food. I couldn't help but dance with joy: "Wowhaha...... There's a way. It's really a good thing in pairs, I thought of two at once, great! ”

Zhen Mi stood behind Yuan Mai very ladylikely. Seeing that the lover looked carried away, he asked puzzledly: "Childe, you are so happy, what good way did you think of to say it to make Ah Mi happy?" ”

"Okay, then you come with me, and let me tell you slowly."

Yuan Mai took Zhen Mi's soft hand, returned to the table and sat down, and then told his thoughts.

The method that Yuan Mai thought of was actually very simple, that is, to make money, earn enough money, and then use the money earned to buy food.

To make money, there must be materials that can be exchanged in equal amounts, what Yuan Mai trades, the answer is only one word - coal!

The ancients had a saying called "relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the water to eat the water", which is very philosophical. Bingzhou is Shanxi two thousand years later, with huge reserves of coal mines underground, shallow burial, large reserves, and high flammability, which is the basic common sense known to later generations.

According to historical records, the Chinese people discovered coal from the end of the Warring States period, and at the end of the Qin and early Han dynasties, coal began to be widely used in the metallurgical and foundry industries, and was used to forge bronze and iron tools, with the names of "coal, graphite, black gold, black dan" and so on. It was first found in the Nukou Mountain in Shaanxi, and later in Shanxi, Henan, Sichuan and other places, there are also mining records.

However, in this era, productivity was low, the survey capacity was almost zero, and the search for mineral deposits was basically a matter of luck; Moreover, the mining capacity is also very backward, even if a coal mine is found, it cannot be mined on a large scale, so it is not widely used in the private sector; Coal is still only a consumer product of the aristocracy, and ordinary people still rely on charcoal for heating in winter.

As a traverser, Yuan Mai naturally knew that there was a huge amount of coal buried underground in Bingzhou, so he was ready to "rely on coal to eat coal".

Geography in junior high school has been introduced, mountains. Datong's coal reserves are the largest, and the burial is shallow, the quality is excellent, this period of Datong is called Pingcheng, is a small county seat, belongs to Yanmen County, is located in the northernmost part of the state, sparsely populated, the whole county has only more than 1,000 households, the population is less than 10,000 people.

Moreover, in addition to the county seat in the hands of the government, the wilderness outside the city was basically the world of the Huns, and the knights of this nomadic people came and went like the wind, and everywhere they passed, they were looted, and it was extremely difficult to mine coal in Pingcheng.

Yuan Mai also knew that in addition to Datong in Shanxi, Xinzhou and Taiyuan in the middle, Yangquan in the east, Changzhi and Jincheng in the south, all have huge underground reserves and have a certain degree of operability.

Changzhi and Jincheng were the Shangdang during this period, and they were only about 200 miles away from Hanoi. Therefore, Yuan Mai chose this target, preparing to recruit craftsmen as soon as possible, go to Shangdang to mine coal, dig out the coal and sell it, and then use the money exchanged to buy grain and grass.

"The solution that Childe came up with turned out to be to dig up the 'Ugin Stone'?"

Zhen Mi didn't know where there was coal, this kind of minerals buried in the ground had a sense of mystery to her, and she couldn't help but open her mouth and said: "Digging coal is not an easy task, this black black gold stone is buried in the ground, who knows where there is coal, how can it be excavated?" ”

Yuan Mai patted his chest, and said with a confident look: "You don't have to worry about this, Son, I have a clever plan, pinch my fingers, and I will know where there is an Ugin Stone underground, not only can I find it, but I can also dig out enough Ugin Stone to exchange for food." In this way, in winter, we can use coal for heating, and we are no longer afraid of the cold! ”

Looking at Yuan Mai's hesitant appearance, Zhen Mi couldn't bear to pour cold water, so he had to send his blessings: "Okay, since Gongzi is so confident, Ah Mi wishes you success, excavate the overwhelming black gold stones, and then exchange them for mountain-like grain, and pile up the granaries of all counties and counties in Bingzhou!" ”

Looking at Zhen Mi's serious appearance, Yuan Mai couldn't help but kiss her pink and jade face, only to dodge Zhen Mi in shame, and whispered: "Son, there are guards outside the door, and when you are seen, won't you be ashamed to die?" ”

"Huh...... Whatever, we're fiancés, and no one else can care what we do! ”

Yuan Mai got up and closed the door of the study, and the soldier who was standing in the rain commanded: "It has been raining for most of the day, it is estimated that your clothes are soaked, now that the rain is light, you go back to the room to change into a set of clean clothes, and then come to patrol!" ”

Several of the guards thanked each other repeatedly, and the wet clothes stuck to their bodies, which was really uncomfortable. After listening to Yuan Mai's instructions, they ran towards the dormitory in a panic, lest Yuan Mai would change his mind if it was too late.

After taking away the guards, Yuan Mai walked behind Zhen Mi with a smile, stretched out his hands and hugged her waist, and said with a wicked smile: "Now there is no one, are you still ashamed, madam?" ”

As he spoke, a pair of hands became dishonest, lifted Zhen Mi's clothes, stretched into the dirty clothes, and held the two full peaks in his hands at once, plucking his ten fingers, as if playing the strings, and plucked in that wonderful place.

Zhen Mi had long regarded himself as Yuan Mai's person, and he didn't resist, and let his pair of claws drum on his chest, and after being rubbed by him for a while, his body was a little unbearable, and he couldn't help but tremble.

begged pitifully: "I haven't gotten married yet, Ah Mi doesn't dare to be called 'Mrs.', so the son still calls me 'Ah Mi'!" In the backyard, Childe comes to tease Ah Mi every day, and I let Childe do whatever he wants, and I never resist. Why are you doing this in this front yard today? The guards will come later, in case they are seen, it is not good, and please ask the son to stop! ”

Yuan Mai laughed: "The backyard has the convenience of the backyard, and the study has the stimulation of the study, and it feels different!" ”

However, although he said so, Yuan Mai still stopped. Originally, it was only difficult to control when the love was strong, and it was temporary, so I tidied up my clothes and looked like nothing happened. Zhen Mi also tidied up her clothes in a panic, lest someone see through that she had just been "poisoned......

For a moment, the atmosphere in the study was a little awkward.

Zhen Mi tidied up her clothes, trimmed her messy hair, found a topic and asked, "By the way, didn't Gongzi just say 'good things come in pairs' and thought of two ways to raise food and grass?" In addition to the method of digging up the black gold stone and selling it and using the money to buy food, what is the other method? ”

Yuan Mai carried his hands behind his back, paced back and forth in the room, and said with a mysterious look: "The secret of heaven must not be revealed, and this method, husband, I really can't tell you, I can't use this method until the last resort!" ”

Zhen Mi smiled gently and understandingly: "Ah Mi understands, I don't need to ask more." Childe, you are so powerful, maybe you can really dig up a lot of black gold stones and exchange them for a large amount of food, and the problem can be solved! ”

"If that's the case, it's really a gratifying thing!" Yuan Mai also looked forward to the scene of the coal mountain and the sea of grain, and the excitement on his face could not be hidden, "It's rare that the husband has come up with such a wonderful way, we should really celebrate!" ”

"I wonder how Childe wants to celebrate? Please Childe just command! ”

Zhen Mi asked with a smile, picked up the fan from the table, and helped Yuan buy the fan. In this hellish weather, after the door is closed, the temperature in the house rises.

Yuan Mai thought for a moment and spit out two words: "Dumplings!" ”

"Huh?" Zhen Mi looked embarrassed, ashamed and embarrassed, and said pitifully: "Didn't Childe say it?" Before getting married, won't you force Ah Mi? Although Ah Mi will be your person sooner or later, I still want to save the first night until the candles in the cave room! (To be continued......)