"Your Majesty, the grain stored in this granary can be used by an army of 50,000 for a five-month campaign. There are still two such granaries in the west and east of Wujun City, but they are both outside the city." Xu Chang said.
There was a bit of pride in his words, and he did have the capital to be proud, "In addition, in Wuxing, Kuaiji and other places, there are a total of ten granaries of similar size, which can supply a hundred thousand troops for more than a year."
Xu Chang could no longer report how many stones of grain he needed to report to Li Xinchen. Now the grain in the warehouse was constantly being collected from all over the place and transported away, so it was difficult for even the statistical officials to say how many stones it was, because
This data is changing in real time.
"Why is there so much food?" Li Xingchen asked in a deep voice.
Rice in Jiangnan is harvested three times every two years, which means it is ripened exactly three times in the past two years. Logically speaking, it should be smaller than the three crops a year in Lingnan. However, the grain transported northward through Lingnan in Lingnan is just this.
Just quantity.
Of course, the reclamation area and scale of Lingnan are not as good as those of Jiangnan for the time being, but they should not be equal either.
"Fortunately, although the past two years are not harvest years, the weather has been kind, with lots of rain, warm weather, and fast food growth." Xu Chang said with a smile, "Of course, it was not that Jiangnan didn't have this kind of food output before.
It’s just that most of the fields are in the hands of aristocratic families. After the aristocratic families cultivated them, only a small part of the grain collected was turned over to the court as taxes, and the rest was mostly collected and stored at home, or bought into the market to make money.”
Li Xingchen took a breath. He was born in the mountains and fields in this life. He also started fighting in Bashu, which was regarded as a barbaric land by the aristocratic families. Until now, he actually does not have a very good understanding of the real power and operation methods of the aristocratic families, at least not at all.
I have experienced it personally, and when the aristocratic families were in turmoil, Li Xingchen used the simplest and most violent means to directly suppress it, so he really never thought about where the aristocratic families were in turmoil.
Indeed, with food, money, and even a large number of slaves at home, he did have the capital to incite rebellion.
It's a pity that these costs are not worth mentioning in front of the Han army and muskets, because the key difference is not in money and food, but in people and science and technology.
Now that these aristocratic families have fallen, the grain and money they stored have naturally become the spoils of war for the big men, and all their slaves have canceled their slave status and become self-cultivators. If nothing else, the efficiency and energy of farming are the same as before.
It’s different.
"Although it is not a good year now, there is enough food, but what if there is a famine?" Li Xingchen asked a very serious question.
Nowadays, grain is transported into and out of warehouses and transported northward in a steady stream, which can still ensure a balance between buying and selling, but what if there is a famine?
"Since it is a famine year, it is not suitable for the imperial court to go to war." Xu Chang said directly, "Opening warehouses and stocking grain at that time can alleviate the temporary hunger."
"This is not a foolproof strategy." Li Xingchen shook his head.
He understands the principle of Chang Pingcang. When there is a good harvest, the grain is stored and when there is a famine, the grain is released. This seems to be no problem. Emperor Sui Yang in history also thought so.
The three large granaries, Luokou Cang, Huiluocang and Liyang Cang, stored a large amount of grain. In the view of Emperor Sui Yang, he could sit back and relax even if there was real turmoil.
But the fact is, when a real famine comes, if the court opens the warehouses to release grain, it will inevitably cause looting. In the end, there will be no food left at all, and the national army cannot maintain it. If the government does not open the warehouses to release grain, there will be many refugees and rebellions.
Naturally, it was time for the country to fall apart.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty had full confidence in his army, but in the end his family and country collapsed, and the grain he had stored was all divided up by Wagang and other refugees as well as princes from various places, and it did not play any role in maintaining the country.
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Therefore, Li Xingchen definitely did not dare to place his hopes on Changpingcang. Changpingcang was fine for dealing with minor famines, but once a major famine came, especially when locusts were flying all over the sky, the food in Changpingcang would not be of much use.
Even if you open a warehouse to store grain, it is just like a mud cow entering the sea. It can last for a few days or even a month, but it cannot last for a year.
Especially if there is a famine when the Han Dynasty launches troops, the society will be completely turbulent.
Li Xingchen can't even hope that God will provide a good harvest every year.
God is the most unreliable existence.
"The only way is to cultivate more fields and increase the yield of each field." Xu Chang had worked hard to cultivate the land for two years, and he was obviously aware of this problem.
Li Xingchen nodded slightly, to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
"The former is beyond my ability, and the latter, I may try hard." Xu Chang said hurriedly.
He is just a prefect, and he has no control over people outside Wu County.
"The imperial court is also doing its best to open up fields, and the latter," Li Xingchen said carefully, "has the Qing family ever seen wild rice?"
Xu Chang was startled for a moment: "I've seen it before. What do your Majesty's words mean?"
"Rice is divided into indica rice and japonica rice. Each has its own strengths. If the two kinds of rice can be allowed to pollinate each other, will they choose their strengths? In addition to rice," Li Xingchen suddenly realized that if he talked about stamens and pistils, I'm afraid Xu Chang
Hearing this, even the officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs who accompanied him, who knew something about farming, stared wide-eyed, obviously not knowing what His Majesty meant, "Come on, let's go to the fields."
It is said that it is useless and can only be taught on site.
Seeing His Majesty standing in the paddy field, holding rice in his hand and talking freely, Qin Sizu, who is the secretary supervisor, felt a sense of absurdity.
His Majesty was born in the mountains and forests, so it’s okay to know about planting, but he seems to know too deeply. This is an issue that no one has ever considered before. Looking at the expressions of Xu Chang and others, it is clear that what Li Xingchen said is not unreasonable.
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"If we let them pollinate by themselves, there will be problems with the rice that grows, so we pinch off this part and let them pollinate each other." Li Xingchen held up the rice and pointed to the stamens and pistils inside the rice.
Now Li Xingchen hopes that Jiangnan can become the granary of the world. After Jiangnan develops, he will follow the same pattern to increase the scale of farming in Jinghu, Lingnan, Bashu and other places.
With the construction of roads and canals, even if there was a famine somewhere, the Han Dynasty could calmly and quickly transport food outwards centered on these places.
When it comes to increasing grain production, at least in this era when technology is still in its infancy, nothing is more reliable than hybrid rice.
Later Yuan Longping and Yuan Da Druid relied on hybrid rice to finally provide China with food and clothing that did not need to rely on the weather. Of course, Li Xingchen also had to say that so many trolls and keyboard warriors in later generations were overfed by Mr. Yuan.