People in ancient times didn't have much money, so they had to eat at least one pound of food a day. Besides, practicing martial arts consumes a lot of money, and you can even eat three pounds.
A simple calculation shows that 100,000 people cannot have less than 300,000 catties of food per day.
But now, except for a few counties, all the big players in the surrounding areas have been robbed.
According to the food storage figures reported in the logistics report, the army will be out of food in another month. Because of this, Li Jiang almost turned his hair gray with worry.
It's definitely not possible to exchange it with the system. That guy's one point of faith can only be exchanged for one kilogram of rice. He can only exchange more than 20,000 kilograms of rice for more than 20,000 kilograms of rice. Can he use this little rice to cook porridge for others?
Li Jiang had to convene a logistics work meeting to brainstorm ways to survive these months of famine.
At the meeting, the answers from the participants were varied. Some said they could plant wheat in the spring, some said they could go into the mountains to pick fruits, and some said they could go fishing in the river.
However, these methods were either slow to produce results or were of little use. After much discussion, they eventually settled on the military.
Although the new army has not been trained, it is still possible to mobilize the Guards to attack the prefectures and counties. If several counties are not looted enough, then attack the prefectures and confront the Yuan soldiers head-on.
Li Jiang didn't have any better solution, so he asked Fan Yao for his opinion after coming down.
Fan Yao had no worries, patting his chest and saying that there was no problem. The first 50,000 people of the new army had achieved initial results, and they could cooperate with the Guards to clear out a few counties first.
Moreover, several counties do not need large armies, but they can be rotated and each county can send 5,000 troops.
Seeing that he was speaking firmly, Li Jiang also wanted the recruits to practice their bravery and see blood, so he nodded in agreement.
In the early morning, there was no marching ceremony. Fan Yao led 500 guardsmen and 5,000 new soldiers out of the camp in a low-key manner.
Li Jiang was sent out of the camp. He saw the new recruits in ragged clothes and breaking wood into soldiers. He couldn't help but feel excited. It was this group of mud-legged people who would eventually take over the world.
At noon, the messenger came riding on his precious war horse to report that the Ming army had broken through Jiaocheng and was clearing the remnants and counting the harvest.
When Li Jiang got the news, he was pretending to be meditative and writing with a pen. He threw the pen away in great joy and hurried to the camp gate.
He wanted to personally welcome the warriors who returned to camp victoriously.
This wait lasted for a long time. It was not until sunset that Li Jiang reminded the logistics staff surrounding him, "Here we come!"
Everyone was refreshed and geared up to collect grain and put it into storage.
Li Jiang had good eyesight, and he saw Fan Yao riding a horse from a long distance away.
Fan Yao walked another mile before he found Li Jiang and quickly rode on to urge him on.
When he arrived at the gate of the camp, Fan Yao dismounted from his horse, clasped his fists at Li Jiang and said, "Consultant Li, luckily you have lived up to your command."
"Oh, how much food did you get?" Li Jiang asked eagerly with his eyebrows trembling.
"Wheat, beans, and rice add up to maybe ten thousand shi." Fan Yao happily extended a finger and said.
Hmm, ten thousand shi? Li Jiang had to convert it in his head.
One stone in the Ming Dynasty was about 92 kilograms, and ten thousand stones was 920,000 kilograms, which is 1,840,000 kilograms.
Assuming that 100,000 people consume 300,000 kilograms, it can last for 6.1 days, up to 10 days.
After getting the figures, Li Jiang couldn't help but feel disappointed. Is Jiaocheng County so poor? He only persisted for 10 days.
At this happy moment, he didn't show anything unusual, he just ordered the logistics staff to wait to receive them, and arranged meals for the returning army.
He took away Fan Yao who was still grinning from ear to ear.
After entering the Chinese army's tent, Li Jiang told Fan Yao the results of his calculations.
Fan Yao's face immediately fell.
The two of them were speechless. Finally, Li Jiang broke the silence and said: "Lao Fan, your actions must continue."
Fan Yao nodded fiercely.
Li Jiang asked about the situation of the war again, and now Fan Yao started to beam with excitement.
He said that before his army arrived at the county seat, the county magistrate took his family and ran away. Some of the big families in the city who got the news also ran away, while those who didn't get the news were imprisoned in the city.
And where did this food come from? It was found from the homes of wealthy households. The county treasury was already empty, and there wasn't even a mouse in it.
It is like explaining that Mingjiao picked up a city for nothing.
After hearing this, Li Jiang immediately said: "Lao Fan, it seems you can't rest. The news of breaking Jiaocheng will definitely spread. The more time passes, the more people will run away, and the less we will gain. I mean, you can
Work harder. Tomorrow, another group of people will attack Wenshui, and I will lead others to attack Lanzhou."
Fan Yao nodded at first and then shook his head, saying: "No, I'm fighting abroad, you have to stay in the town and camp, don't let the Yuan soldiers from Shizhou steal your nest."
Li Jiang thought for a while and said: "That's okay. Since the counties are empty, it's better to send out all four commanders and attack one county each. You can bring more people closer to Shizhou to prevent Yuan soldiers from coming out. If it's not enough, you have to slow them down.
, let people from other counties retreat."
Fan Yao laughed after hearing this and said: "I don't understand why you are worried about Shizhou's Yuan soldiers. Just a thousand of them can be wiped out directly. Why are you leaving them behind?"
Li Jiang shook his head and said: "You don't understand! We keep them so as not to attract the attention of Jinyang's army. At least if they are here, Jinyang will not send the army over for the time being. I give them time and I am also giving ourselves time. Wait ten
When thousands of elite soldiers are trained, the first thing to do is to attack them."
Fan Yao became solemn, clasped his fists and said: "Advisor Li, give me another three months, and I will keep it for you to train one hundred thousand elite soldiers."
"Okay, I believe you." Li Jiang patted Fan Yao's arm and said with concern: "Old Fan, go get something to eat and rest. I'll have to look at you tomorrow."
Fan Yao agreed and walked out.
Li Jiang called the messenger and told him to find the four commanders of heaven, earth, wind and thunder and the four hall masters.
Ten minutes later, the eight people arrived. Li Jiang assigned them a task, each to attack a county to rob... and borrow food.
He especially emphasized to the four major hall masters that they must supervise their respective armies and strictly observe discipline. They must not hide trophies, sharpen silver, or kill without permission.
The eight people nodded excitedly and stepped back to prepare.
The next day, before dawn, 20,000 people set out with torches.
Each of the detachments patrolling the four counties has 2,500 troops. They don't need many people, they mainly move things.
Fan Yao will lead 10,000 people to quietly approach the city to guard against Yuan soldiers.
Just as the sun was about to set, the four teams came back, each bringing back several thousand dan of food, and a little gold and silver.
After Li Jiang asked, several people revealed the reason.
After their interrogation, it turned out that not only the big households in Jiaocheng had fled, but also many big households in other counties. Some even earlier, had fled when the Ming army set up camp.
As for the places they ran to, some went to Shizhou to pray for the protection of the Yuan army, and some even risked their lives by running farther. I heard that some ran to Jinyang and Shaanxi.
After hearing this, Li Jiang sighed in front of everyone, "Our propaganda work is still not done well. They don't know that we are human...an army and we are here to protect them! How can we indiscriminately take human lives? Comrades
, there is a long way to go..."
The eight people who reported happily were dumbfounded.
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