In October of the fourth year of the Han Dynasty (AD 193)
This is the season when the wind blows the wheat and the people harvest, but the drought that has affected most of the Central Plains has cast a shadow on this harvest.
After Yuan Shao returned to the Central Plains from Xiangyang, he immediately inspected the situation in the countryside of Yanzhou, but what he saw was very bad. The land was dry and the wheat was withered. Only the land near the river could see a hint of autumn harvest.
In Hebei, which is across the river from them, even Yuan Shao on the south bank can see countless waterwheels forming an endless queue. These waterwheels continuously transport water to the fields in Hebei. Correspondingly,
On the south bank of the Yellow River, there are only a few bustling waterwheels transporting river water to the fields. Compared with the north bank, it is a world of difference.
Yuan Shao said angrily: "The drought in Yanzhou has been going on for almost half a year, and you just watch and do nothing. Don't you even know how to organize people to build a few simple canals?"
Yuan Shao pointed at the north bank of the Yellow River and said angrily: "The other side has already made a pattern. Don't you know how to copy it if you follow it?"
After being scolded by Yuan Shao, Tian Feng and others smiled bitterly and said: "We can't copy this. Lei Gong spent 1.3 billion to fight the drought. Only then can we have waterwheels on the north bank that can't be seen from the side. We want to build a canal in Yanzhou.
Forget it if we don’t have money, the noble families in various places won’t allow us to connect the canal to other people’s fields, and the canal can’t be repaired at all!”
Then Tian Feng told Yuan Shao what happened in Yanzhou during his time in Jingzhou!
Yuan Shao's regime was a coalition of powerful clansmen and nobles, and it was an out-and-out small government. Their control over the grassroots was not even as good as during the Ling Emperor's period, and they had no way of dealing with such a natural disaster.
The noble families in the Central Plains are even trying to take advantage of natural disasters to annex land with few people, and the price of food has been driven up to the sky by them.
Although Tian Feng and others also tried to find ways to save themselves, the wealthy nobles were selfish. They always saved their own land first, and even competed with each other for water sources. Tian Feng and others also wanted to build canals to deal with droughts, but they did not want natural disasters to happen.
This ends.
It's okay to build a canal, but it must be built on my land first!
The noble families from all over the country did not have the idea of joining forces to fight the disaster. Instead, they acted on their own and begged their neighbors. They all wanted to save their own land first, cut off water sources, and even started conflicts with each other. There were hundreds of conflicts just because of grabbing water. Tian Feng and others could not
Do not command the troops to stop these unrest.
Under such circumstances, all disaster relief operations in the Central Plains were carried out independently. In addition, Yuan Shao lacked financial resources and Tian Feng and others lacked prestige. It was difficult for them to organize people to fight drought on a large scale. Tian Feng and others could only watch the drought continue in Yanzhou.
spread!
People are also constantly fleeing to Hebei. Tian Feng and others also know the significance of population to the current Central Plains. However, once they come to Yanzhou, there is no obstacle except for the natural dangers of the Yellow River. At this time, due to the drought, the water flow of the Yellow River has decreased, and there is no way.
Impede the evacuation of disaster victims.
Secondly, Tian Feng and others have no food. If they really prevent the victims from escaping Yanzhou, they will not provide relief. Tian Feng and others are also worried that the Yellow Turban Army will break out again in Yanzhou, and the victims will also consume a lot of food when they flee to Hebei. Two
The harm is the lesser, Tian Feng and others can only watch hundreds of thousands of people flee to Hebei!
The only good news for Tian Feng and the others is that Yuan Shao brought back millions of stones of food so that they could help the victims!
Yuan Shao was speechless for a long time after listening. This is a familiar taste and familiar formula! The problems that Emperor Ling encountered back then were now his turn to solve.
But even Emperor Ling couldn't solve the problem, and it was even more impossible for Yuan Shao to do it.
But don’t they know that Lei Gong’s army has already invaded the country in a big way, and they are trying to win over the people at this time. This is not forcing the people to go to Lei Gong’s territory. Don’t they know the fate of Jizhou’s clan!
Xu You said: "Now that the matter has come to this, there is no point in blaming them. We cannot expect Yanzhou's autumn harvest this year, but the victims must be prevented from fleeing to Hebei. There are already nearly 20 million people in Hebei, which is almost as many as the Han Dynasty."
Half of the population, the final battle between me and Lei Gong is population. If Lei Gong continues to expand the population and strengthen our strength, even if we occupy the ten states of the Han Dynasty, we will not be Lei Gong's opponent!"
"Yanzhou is about to become a battlefield between us and Lei Gong. This drought can be regarded as a annexation and clearance for us. We will move the victims to Sili. Guanzhong has become a white land due to the chaos. These victims can be used for reclamation in Guanzhong.
The problem of disaster victims in Yanzhou has been solved, and the population of Guanzhong can be enriched with disaster victims! We can also use work-for-relief to build water conservancy facilities in Guanzhong!"
For Yuan Shao and the others, it was easy to colonize Guanzhong. Guanzhong was turned into a wasteland. Dong Zhuo's men massacred the Guanzhong clan. Yang Biao took the remaining Guanzhong clan and fled to Jingzhou, taking hundreds of thousands of Guanzhong people with him.
The surname went south to Jingzhou. Now there are not even 100,000 people in Guanzhong. Only in Chang'an can you barely see some people.
Now it is beneficial for Yuan Shao to immigrate to Guanzhong, because Yuan Shao cannot receive taxes from the nobles, but these immigrants can become his main targets for military service and can expand Yuan Shao's financial income!
Yuan Shao nodded and said: "Yuan Hao, you should start mobilizing the entire Yanzhou victims to go to Guanzhong now. No one can be allowed to escape to Hebei.
"No!" Tian Feng and others said.
Yuan Shao looked at the north bank again, and then looked sad. There was a disaster in Jizhou, and Lei Gong could spend 1.3 billion to help the victims.
The total financial revenue of his territory could not reach the figure of 1.3 billion. A row of drainage trucks on the north bank of the Yellow River allowed him to see the gap in strength between the two sides, but he could not find a way to catch up. Facing more and more
The powerful Lei Gong, the pressure in his heart is getting bigger and bigger! He finally understands why Emperor Ling is so greedy for money, and now even he himself wants to build Wanjin Hall.
On the north bank of the Yellow River, the wind is also blowing the waves of wheat, the rice fields are golden, and the entire Jizhou has begun to enter the autumn harvest. The common people use their own sickles to start buying the wheat at home.
Xu Wei attaches great importance to the autumn harvest in Jizhou, because the grain output in Jizhou can determine whether the cadres and other tribes will eat porridge or dry rice next year.
At the time of the autumn harvest, he took his people to Jizhou for inspection. Zhang Baiqi knew it and followed him!
"Zimeng, how is Jizhou's autumn harvest this time? Can it reach the amount of grain you said you would double? Can you make Daqian's food stamps disappear?" Xu Wei saw that the wheat on the banks of the Yellow River generally weighed about 3 shi. He believed that Zhang Baiqi had done a good job in drought relief. If Jizhou generally had such a grain output, Jizhou could purchase 500 million shi of grain. This grain alone would be enough to feed the entire Dagan tribe.
But Zhang Baiqi smiled bitterly and said: "It's a blessing to be able to reach last year's quantity. The governor saw that this field is close to the Yellow River and has good irrigation, so there is such a bumper harvest."
"But the drought came so suddenly. We were not prepared at all. Digging canals and building windmills all take time. If the time for wheat filling is delayed, grain production will be reduced. The further away from the water source, the greater the wheat production. Low, even though we have made so many preparations and spent more than one billion dollars this year, 70% of the wheat yield per mu in Jizhou is less than one stone! This amount of food is not enough for the tribesmen to survive for a year, and the water conservancy facilities that govern Jizhou are still If we continue to build, taxes must be reduced or exempted, otherwise a large number of people in Jizhou will go hungry!"
The people in Jizhou generally only have 30 acres of land. If their income from food is 3, 4, or even 5 shi, their annual income will be hundreds of shi. This can be regarded as a middle-class family. But now most of them only have 30 shi, so It’s difficult to even feed your family. You need to find a way to work to support your family. Obviously, millions of people in Jizhou now need a job!