Chapter 532 Fighting to Feed War

When the husband is in an emergency, he must do something extraordinary.

In the Yonghe Palace, Chen Kefu is at the top, Mao Xi, Fang Xuanling and other six ministers from three provinces are at the bottom right, and Li Benlei, Lu Shishen and other military generals in Beijing are all listed at the bottom left. In the small Taihe Palace, thirty or forty people gathered together.

Without the little emperor who did the decorations, and without the ministers of Hebei, all the people here are the most confidant of the Liaodong Army's civil and military core.

Sitting at the top, Chen Kefu carefully glanced at the civil and military who were now in charge of the direction of the Beijing court. But seeing the ministers such as Fang Gao Xuanling, they haven't seen each other for a few days, but they are already a lot haggard. Everyone's faces were gray and their eyes were deep, and they knew at a glance that they had done their best for food these days.

On the contrary, the generals on the left are all kneeling there with a big grin, and now that the Liaodong Army is advancing day by day, it is naturally very refreshing for them. As for the matter of food and grass equipment, it is all the business of these civil officials in the court, and they are too lazy to bother with that idleness.

Chen Kefu said to Mao Xi, "Mao servant, I don't know if Shangshu Province can come up with a way to solve the food problem?" ”

Although Mao Xi is diligent in political affairs and diligent, he is also worried about the current food problem. These days, although we have been thinking left and right, and all parties are scheduling, we still can't solve this thorny problem.

"Your Highness, Shangshu Province recently made a detailed statistics, in the early years of the Great Cause, there were more than 9 million registered accounts in the imperial court, and there were more than 48 million people. Most of these populations are concentrated in Hebei and Henan in the Central Plains. Hebei and Henan alone account for half of the world's population, while the people of Lingnan and Jianghuai, who occupy the same vast area, only account for two-one-tenth of the world's population. ”

When it comes to these detailed household registration matters, Mao Xi is very familiar with them.

"In Hebei and Henan, there are only dozens of counties, but there are nearly 5 million households and nearly 25 million people, and this huge number does not count the hidden households that are not registered. Since the beginning of the seventh year of the Great Cause, there have been many battles in Hebei and Henan, and there have been three conquests of Liao, with Hebei and Henan serving the heaviest military service. In addition, Henan built the eastern capital, built canals, and the flood in the seventh year of the Great Cause. According to our statistics and estimates, the population of Hebei and Henan has decreased by nearly 30% compared with the highest population in the early years of the Great Cause. ”

Chen Kefu nodded solemnly, he knew that what Mao Xi said about Henan actually included a large area of Shandong. However, in the official name of the imperial court, Henan includes Henan and Shandong, which is the most elite place in the world, with many counties and the largest population. Although the land area of the Sui Dynasty was huge at this time, in fact, 90% of the population of the Great Sui Dynasty was concentrated in the four major areas of Henan, Hebei, Guanzhong, and Hedong.

For example, the Jianghuai Lingnan region, which occupies at least one-third of the country's territory, has only 12 percent of the country's population. That's a staggering number. However, Hebei and Henan, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, account for half of the country's population.

The Sui Dynasty had a population of nearly 50 million, half of which was 25 million. And the land of Hebei occupies about one-third of this large area. All in all, there are at least about 9 million people in Hebei Province. According to the statistics of Shangshu Province, Hebei's population has plummeted by 30% due to the many huge impacts it has received in recent years, and there are still more than 6 million people. In the eighteen counties of Hebei, even if the average is calculated, there are more than 300,000 people in one county.

Now the Liaodong Army occupies the ten counties of Hebei, which is a population of 35.6 million. Coupled with the more than 2 million people in the previous Liaodong land, they already have more than 6 million people on their territory.

This is a staggering figure, especially in times of war, when such a large population can make any ruler love and fear. …,

Mao Xi frowned, and continued in a heavy tone: "At this time, the twenty-six counties we occupy already have more than six million people. At present, the passage to Shandong has been opened, and the recovery of the remaining eight counties in Hebei is just around the corner. On top of the military, the imperial court wants to order the remaining remaining counties in Hebei, which can be completed before the year. After General Li Jing went south, more than ten counties in Shandong and Huaibei could also be occupied before the year. ”

"Your Highness, after the beginning of the year, we will increase the land of twenty counties. It is gratifying, but there are at least 5 million to 7 million people in the land of 20 counties. Now that Hebei, Shandong, and Huaibei have all been eroded, the imperial court must immediately prepare huge amounts of grain to stabilize the counties. Otherwise, if you occupy it today, it will be chaotic tomorrow, and you will only be afraid of more erosion. ”

Gao Shilian, the newly promoted secretary of the household department, came out of the ranks, and said with a worried face: "Your Highness, according to the statistics of our household department, according to the calculation of seven stones of food for adult men a year, we have reduced this number to four stones, which is calculated according to the minimum standard. When we take Hebei, Shandong, and Huaibei, our population will reach between 11 million and 13 million, and the minimum annual food consumption will be about 50 million stones. Before next year's grain harvest, we still have at least half a year to go, and within this half year, we still need nearly 30 million stone of grain. ”

"Thirty million stones." Chen Kefu murmured softly.

"Thirty million stones!" At this time, even those generals who were sitting lightly on the side were all exclaimed.

During the Great Cause, the imperial court built six granaries along the canal, three of which were built near Luoyang. The largest Luokou warehouse, there are 3,000 granaries alone. But such a large granary, with the strength of the world, only stored 24 million stone grains. That was something that could only be done when the imperial court was at its strongest, and it was only done with the strength of the world.

In that year, their Liaodong Army broke through the Goguryeo Kingdom and won the national war preparation grain of Goguryeo for decades, but they only got more than 10 million stone of grain.

But now, they have only laid such a small map, and less than a quarter of the Great Sui Dynasty is already short of so much food.

"What about our grain storage in Liaodong all these years? Have you eaten it all? Lu Shishen, the general of the Tiger Benwei Guard, stared wide-eyed and said in a loud voice.

Gao Shilian said helplessly, "Of course, there is still food, but it is not much." Of all our grain stocks, there are only 10 million stone grains left. If it is only based on Liaodong, there is indeed a lot of these grains. But now that he has entered the Central Plains, he can't last long with this bit of food. ”

"What I just said is still short of 30 million stones, which is actually only the minimum consumption, but in fact, our army still needs to fight at the imperial court. Nowadays, every battle is fought from a long distance, and the transportation consumption on this road is actually three times higher than the food eaten by the soldiers. And the more wars we fight, the more we lack food. According to the current consumption of soldiers and horses by the Navy Division, General Li Jing, and Jiangdu, tens of millions of stone grains will not last long. ”

"And right now, in addition to the war in Jiangdu, the imperial court is about to send troops to Hebei to level Hebei. According to the plan of the General Staff Headquarters, at least about 100,000 soldiers and horses will be mobilized this time. With such a big war, food consumption is also a huge number. Gao Shilian didn't say anything later, but everyone knew what he meant. The two battlefields of Jiangdu and Shandong alone have already put a huge burden on the imperial court, and if Hebei is added, there is already a huge gap.

Gao Shilian finally said slowly, "Your Highness, if the imperial court only bears the war in Jiangdu before the year, then the imperial court will have a grain shortage of 30 million stones before the harvest next year." If we add the Shandong battlefield, we have to add 10 million stones, and if we add the Hebei battlefield, then we have to add at least 10 million stones. 50 million stones, we must raise these grains before the year, otherwise not only the displaced people in Hebei will not be able to put grain, but even the soldiers on the front line will have no food available. ”…,

When Lu Shishen, who had a hot temper, heard this, he immediately jumped up and said dissatisfiedly, "Gao Shangshu also said this?" The soldiers worked the front line, bloodshed, but the imperial court could not guarantee the supply of grain and grass? Are you going to let your soldiers go into battle hungry? The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers! ”

Lu Shishen's words made Mao Xi and other civilian officials bow their heads, the wars are fighting on the front line, conquering everything, invincible, and the Liaodong Army is strong in the world. If the army is defeated because they are unable to provide food and grass, they will not be at peace in any way.

Chen Kefu couldn't help frowning, and now it's not just a question of whether to fight Hedong. But if there is not enough food, not to mention the hungry homeless, they may once again cause chaos everywhere. Even the soldiers fighting on the front line may fall into the predicament of having no food available.

"What countermeasures do you have in Shangshu Province?" Chen Kefu asked solemnly, this food gap is too big, and no one can solve it at once.

Mao Xi shook his head, although the officials of the various ministries of Shangshu Province discussed every day these days, in the end, they only came up with some small methods, which had no effect on the gap of 50 million at all.

Lu Shishen looked at everyone's sad faces, couldn't help slapping the table, and said loudly to Chen Kefu, "Your Highness, why don't we rob his mother." Back then, when we were in Liaodong, we didn't just start by grabbing. Breaking through a Liaodong city, we robbed tens of millions of stone grains that year, robbed all over Goguryeo, and we even accumulated tens of millions of stone grains. Now that there is a shortage of so much food, there is no other way, it is better to go back to the old job and rob his mother. Our Liaodong Army is unparalleled in the world, how can there be food in this world that we can't get back? ”

Chen Kefu smiled, Lu Shishen was bold but also fine, although his words were rough, it was also a way.

During the war years, production naturally did not compare to looting. Fighting to feed war was originally a common strategy of the ancients. However, for the current Liaodong Army, although it can solve a little problem by fighting to feed the war, there is no way to completely solve the dilemma of food shortage.

*J@a