Chapter 377 The court once again cannot make ends meet
Yuan Ji shook his head and said: "The quantity is too large, beyond our endurance! Although Xuande has been farming in the past few years, the results of Nanjun's farming are also quite effective."
"Similarly, the Jingzhou Army has not been idle in the past few years. They fought with Yuan Shu and ran to King Qin of Chang'an City, thousands of miles away. Later, he brought the entire court back to Xiangyang and fought Yuan Shu again not long ago.
Each of these battles consumes a lot of money. Without the support of Nanjun's cultivation, the imperial army would have been cut off from food and pay. Not to mention that we ordered 2,000 war horses in Xiliang some time ago, which cost 200,000 shi of food.
, as well as the cost of expanding the farmland this year, the cost of immigration, and the cost of building the palace. Now we can no longer make ends meet, let alone 5 million in food! We can't even come up with 50,000 shi of food."
Liu Chong and the others also understood this. For Liu Bei, the advantage of moving the capital to Xiangyang City was that he could grasp the righteousness of the court, but the disadvantage was that a central court cost a lot of money. The monthly salary of each of the three officials, nine ministers, civil and military officials required a lot of money.
Food, the officials in their hands also need a lot of food to feed. To feed a court is to feed thousands of noble men. The consumption of each of them is very huge. This is even more expensive than feeding an army of tens of thousands. In history, Cao Cao
He could not afford to support a court, so he had to downsize the court and move the capital to Xuchang, where he farmed.
Now Liu Bei's conditions are better than Cao Cao's, but his expenses cannot be reduced.
As soon as Yuan Ji settled accounts with Liu Bei, the Xiangyang court not only had no food and grass, but also owed a lot of money to merchants. Although the court moved from Chang'an to Xiangyang City, the financial situation has not improved.
It was impossible for Liu Bei to imitate Dong Zhuo and exploit as much as he did, so the problems faced by Emperor Ling back then were now placed in front of Liu Bei, requiring him to solve them.
Liu Bei even misses Dong Zhuo a little now. Although Dong Zhuo was cruel back then, he was a good hand at solving financial problems. The years when the big man was in Dong Zhuo's hands were actually the healthiest years financially. At that time, Liu Bei didn't have to worry about money and food at all during the war.
question.
Zhang Fei sneered: "Yuan Shao doesn't have a huge family fortune. Although the imperial court and Jingzhou government do not have food now, there is a lot of food stored among the people. He can just come over and buy it with money. Yuan Shao needs the support of our court. Back then, his Yuan family was more powerful than the imperial court."
If you have money, just spend some money and the disasters of the people of Yanzhou will be solved."
Liu Biao said: "This is to do things for the imperial court, how can there be any reason to pay for it yourself?"
Zhang Fei sneered: "Sili and Yanzhou still belong to the imperial court?"
"Why don't you go discuss it with Yuan Shao? We can support them, but if the imperial court wants to send officials to take over the entire Sili and Yanzhou, he can just sit back and take charge of Sili's army with his own cavalry general to fight against Lei Gong!"
Liu Biao was speechless, because he knew that this was impossible. Now the Han Dynasty had no direct jurisdiction. Strictly speaking, even the imperial court was established on the territory of Liu Bei, a prince. How could Yuan Shao let Chaotian
Officials entered his territory.
Liu Bei thought for a while and said: "Yanzhou is suffering from drought, and the imperial court cannot ignore it. But you two have also seen the situation of the imperial court. It is impossible for Jingzhou to support 5 million yuan in food. I can only help him contact the local people in Jingzhou."
The grain dealer asked him to go to Jingzhou to buy and did not restrict him from transporting grain out. There was nothing else we could do."
Liu Chong said helplessly: "Okay, I'll tell Brother Benchu about this news."
After Liu Chong left, Liu Bei gathered his subordinates, told them about the drought in the Central Plains, and asked them what they thought!
Zhang Fei said: "Yuan Shao is much richer than us. None of his subordinates are rich. The noble families in the Central Plains are even richer than the Han Dynasty. Yuan Shao only needs to ask each of them to provide 100,000 shi of food, and the problem of the victims will be solved.
There is no need for us to take action!"
Yuan Jidao: "I originally came to the court this time to compete with Xuande for control of the court. However, the drought was severe this time and disrupted his plan, so he had to turn to you for help. My opinion is that regardless of the Central Plains,
This time there is a drought in the Central Plains, and there will definitely be a drought in Hebei. Lei Gong has no food, so it is impossible to attack the Central Plains. For us, the Central Plains is safe, and it is impossible to fight a war."
"The most important thing for the imperial court now is not to provide disaster relief, but to find ways to expand its strength. This time we captured Yangzhou, and the imperial court's strength doubled. Now we have to find a way to capture Yizhou. As long as Yizhou is obtained, the Han Dynasty's
Half of the country will be returned to the hands of the imperial court, and relying on the favorable geographical location in the south, we still have a chance to fight against Thunder Lord."
Yuan Ji's strategy has always been to rely on the south to fight Lei Gong. In his opinion, even if the land of the Central Plains is not lost now, it will be lost in the future. It is better to use this territory, trade space for time, and find a way to integrate during this period.
Strengthen the entire South, develop the South's economic strength, and be fully prepared for the future Civil War!
Jian Yong nodded and said: "Now the Central Plains has become the territory of various princes. The imperial court's support for them is just to feed tigers. The most important thing for us is to expand our own strength. Xuande, you should take advantage of the drought in the Central Plains to support each other."
It is difficult for the princes of Lu to influence the imperial court and they will find a way to seize Yizhou!"
Zhao Yun also followed up and said: "Yun thought that the imperial court could take advantage of this drought to move the victims from the Central Plains to the south."
"The Central Plains will definitely become the battlefield for the battle between the imperial court and Lei Gong, but Lei Gong has the upper hand in this battlefield. Lei Gong has a strong military strength and geographical advantages. This battle will be very difficult to fight. Instead of supporting Yanzhou, it is better to find a way to clear the country with a strong wall in Yanzhou.
, transfer Yanzhou’s population to Jingzhou to enrich Jingzhou’s strength.
Even if Lei Gong captures Yanzhou, it will be difficult for him to expand his strength. We must use the Jianghuai area of Yuzhou as the battlefield and use the advantages of water conservancy and mountains to stop Lei Gong's cavalry!"
Zhao Yun knew the power of the cavalry. If he wanted to fight Lei Gong in the Central Plains, he would be asking for death. It seemed that he might as well take the opportunity to abandon the Central Plains and leave a piece of white land for Lei Gong.
Liu Bei smiled bitterly and said: "I'm afraid Yuan Shao won't give up Yanzhou so easily!"
Huang Zhongdao: "We can't control Yuan Shao's territory. We really need to be prepared for the battle of Yizhou. Liu Yan and his son even dared to grant the official position of Zhoumu to each other privately. The imperial court should send a large force to attack Yizhou. If this opportunity is wasted, I'm afraid that
From now on, the imperial court will never have the opportunity to attack Yizhou. The princes of the Central Plains will not watch us expand our strength!"
The drought in the Central Plains was a good opportunity for Liu Bei and his friends. They were the only area in the Han Dynasty that did not suffer disaster. After the autumn harvest, they would have enough food and grass to prepare a large army for battle.
At this time, the various princes in the Central Plains were unable to prevent them from attacking Yizhou. In Huang Zhong's view, this was a God-given opportunity passing through Yizhou. They had no energy to deal with the drought in the Central Plains.