In the main hall of the outer courtyard of Shule Governor's Mansion, Li Siye frowned and listened quietly to the two men's stories.
The facts were almost as he had guessed. The herdsmen's livestock herds in Shule Town and even surrounding cities and towns were expanding uncontrollably, making the limited pastures overwhelmed. The fire in the forage yard in the city only made the contradictions and wounds more severe.
It also makes the life of herdsmen more cruel and difficult.
"What do you do when you encounter such pastures that cannot sustain the expansion of the livestock herd like in the past?"
Pei Guoliang spread his hands and said: "What else can be done? The only way is for the Governor's Office to come forward and forcibly slaughter some livestock. In the cold winter, raw meat can be stored longer, so there is not much wastage."
"This method is too simple and crude." Li Siye pinched his chin and said, "Actually, there is a better way."
When Pei Guoliang and Zhao Chongxuan heard this, they both raised their eyebrows in surprise. How is this possible? They have been working half-farming and half-grazing in Shule Town for several lifetimes, and they have never thought of a better way to deal with it. You can think of it just by following your thoughts?
What's in your head?
"Let's discuss this matter later. Let's solve the current problem first." Li Siye put his hands behind his back and said: "Stop the slaughtering behavior and just kill those people. The Shule Governor's Office must issue a notice and explain the situation to the entire Shule area.
The call-up order requires all units and individuals, including the Tang Army, who have stockpiles of forage to mobilize 100% of their own forage to rush to Shule City. Anyone who refuses to carry out the call-up order from the Governor's Office will be responsible for the consequences."
Pei Guoliang nodded solemnly: "I will send someone to write the recruitment order."
"Wait a minute," Li Siye said to him again: "After the rescue fodder is delivered, don't rush to distribute it to the herdsmen. First, stock up and estimate the quantity, and then order each family to report the number of cattle and sheep they have, and distribute the forage according to the proportion.
.These actions must be done quickly and not sloppily.”
Pei Guoliang nodded: "Of course I know this, but the cattle and sheep have been cut off now, and I'm afraid they won't be able to wait for the pasture to be delivered."
"There is nothing to worry about!" Li Siye said categorically: "There are many people in Shule City whose forage has not been damaged at all, and they are also being recruited. Let them provide some forage first. Before the rescue forage from other places is sent.
, the lost herdsmen implemented a one-day rationing system for each household."
"What is this one-day rationing system?"
"The Dudu Mansion distributes a small amount of forage to the households that have suffered losses every day to ensure that the existing sheep flocks will not starve to death."
Li Siye solemnly bowed his hand to Pei Guoliang: "Please also ask Governor Pei to announce the results of our new deliberations to the herdsmen to stabilize people's hearts."
"Why me?" Pei Guoliang asked, pointing to his chin.
"Of course it has to be you. You are the chief officer of the Shule Governor's Mansion. Our Tang army is only responsible for garrisoning and collecting money. We don't care about administration."
…
The herdsmen stood eagerly on the side street in front of the Governor's Mansion, forming a long queue, waiting anxiously and anxiously. All the Tang soldiers stood in front of them with long spears in their hands.
The side door of the Governor's Mansion opened with a creaking sound. There was a brief commotion among the herdsmen, who pushed forward to ask what was going on. The soldiers held their rifles across their hands to block them back.
"Go back! No noise!"
Pei Guoliang, supported by several personal guards, walked up to the crowd, raised his hands and said loudly: "Quiet, everyone! I have discussed with Ambassador Li Zhen and have come up with a solution. I will not slaughter your livestock again.
We also issued notices to raise food and grass to help everyone tide over the difficulties!"
"But what should we do now! Our cattle and sheep have been cut off! What can we eat without grass?"
"The roof of my house has been removed, and all the thatch on the roof has been fed to the sheep!"
Pei Guoliang said loudly: "The Dudu's Mansion will issue a small amount of quota every day, and each family will send one person to the Cangcao Gate of the Dudu's Mansion to collect it!"
Under Pei Guoliang's persuasion, the herdsmen dispersed. Li Siye also ordered Zhao Chongxuan to concentrate on processing the carcasses of the killed livestock. There were nearly 5,000 dead sheep piled outside the sheep pen in the south of the city. Even if they were all
Dissecting, cleaning and cutting the meat is also a very heavy workload. Generally speaking, Tang Jun should have had no shortage of meat in the past two days.
The disaster-stricken herdsmen had no intention of caring about the dead sheep. They were tired of the sheep that were alive and waiting to be fed. They were so distraught that they had no time to think about the reasons for the loss. They just held on to the remaining things tightly and were full of fighting spirit.
.
On the afternoon of the second day, Li Siye rode around the city on horseback. Due to the forage panic caused by the fire, the entire Shule City was in an anxious atmosphere. In front of the Cangcao Gate of the Dudu Mansion, herdsmen pushing carts went to collect the forage.
There was a lot of pushing and quarreling, and each household received a very small portion of the quota.
The pessimistic herdsmen squatted in front of their homes and allowed the sheep to gnaw down the sheepfolds. These hungry sheep began to eat the walls of the houses. During the construction of the earthen walls in the city, grass stalks were added to increase the stability.
, now it has become a food that cannot be criticized. The hungry sheep licked the earth wall with their tongues, pulled out the grass blades mixed in it and gnawed it off. Some of them even swallowed the earth. In an instant, a wall was
It collapsed suddenly, killing a sheep that could not dodge, and the remaining sheep crowded up and began to dig out food from the adobe.
This scene is indeed a bit scary. If there is not enough pasture, and if left unchecked, these hungry sheep will eat up the entire city of Shule.
Zhao Chongxuan followed Li Siye on horseback and said: "This is nothing. If these docile animals are really hungry and thirsty, they can even change their feeding habits. I have personally seen sheep eating lambs and ewes after giving birth.
More cruel than those carnivorous beasts."
He believed that Li Siye could not solve the current predicament. The reserves of winter forage in various places in Shule were already scarce. Even if he ordered all Shule to collect and collect them, they would not be able to solve the herdsmen's plight. It was only November now. Wait until March next year.
It takes four months for new grass to grow. How much fodder is needed to fill this bottomless pit?
In his opinion, slaughtering is the best way to solve this winter's problem once and for all.
On the third day, under the high-pressure policy of the prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Dudu Mansion and the Tang army, forage mobilized from various places in Shule began to enter Shule City.
As soon as the oxcart loaded with hay entered the cave gate, the herdsmen guarding the city gate swarmed past, jumped on the oxcart, and scattered bundles of hay, as nimble as human-shaped monkeys.
The Tang soldiers escorting the forage drew their swords from their waists angrily.
"Put it all down!"
"If anyone dares to loot the forage for disaster relief in the Governor's Mansion, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
One herdsman argued forcefully: "Isn't this grass here to help us? Isn't it for us?"
"There is an order from the top!" The officer raised his knife and said in his hand: "All fodder must be delivered to the Dudu Mansion, which will distribute it uniformly. Anyone who dares to rob will be killed without mercy. Please don't make it difficult for us!"
The herdsmen had no choice but to lower their heads and put the fodder back on the bullock carts, and then stepped aside obediently, watching helplessly as the piles of forage were being transported along Zhi Street to Shule Dudu Mansion.
Although they were anxious, their hearts were finally full of hope. The governor's office had collected fodder and it would be distributed to them sooner or later. It would be enough to last them until spring comes tomorrow.