In fact, the food situation has improved significantly because Wang Jian sent a large number of troops to protect the food.
The trouble is that the troops responsible for defending the city have another difficult task... guarding the granary.
This is still due to insufficient troops.
On the other hand, it is also because the granaries are dispersed rather than centralized.
The reason why the granaries are scattered is because the grain will be transported out of the city for planting in a few days. It is more suitable for the grain to be piled near the city gate rather than transported to the military camp inside the city for concentration.
Similarly, each city gate has dozens of small and large houses for temporary storage of grain.
The gunner is responsible for guarding one of the buildings, which contains hundreds of bags of grain, and the number is constantly increasing.
Initially, the gunners didn't think anything was wrong, but they just wanted to add more manpower to patrol at night.
But Shen Bing felt pressure from the beginning.
Seeing Shen Bing's frown, Ren took the initiative to ask for help and said:
"This matter does not require any attention from the engineer, just leave it to your subordinates."
Ren and his five personal guards were the only armored soldiers in the artillery division, so they were naturally the main force in this area.
But Shen Bing shook his head and said:
"I'm afraid it's not something you can handle."
Ren was confused for a while:
"The meaning of the engineer is..."
No wonder Ren didn't understand.
At this time, Handan was already under the control of the Qin army. The grain was placed in the city and there were people guarding it. How could it be unsafe?
Shen Bing explained:
"If the bandits cannot seize food outside the city, they will most likely take risks and sneak into the city."
Ren answered:
"I'm afraid the engineer is worrying too much."
"I'll be waiting at the city gate to monitor people coming and going. Even if the bandits can sneak into the city, there won't be many of them."
"They can't even bring weapons into the city. My subordinates think there's no need to worry about this."
Shen Bing shook his head again:
"If it's just a few bandits, maybe there's no need to worry."
"But there are so many hungry people in the city, and we are guarding the mountains of grain."
"If the bandits who sneak in at this time try to confuse them, the people will attack them in groups to fight for food..."
Everyone couldn't help but change their expressions after hearing this.
They are also people who have been hungry, and of course they know that hungry people can do anything.
And now the Qin army still has so much food swinging back and forth in front of them.
At the same time, the people in the city hated the Qin people...
If there are many Qin soldiers in the city, it will be fine. They can at least serve as a deterrent.
However, most of the army went out to protect food supplies, leaving only a few thousand regular troops, plus a group of craftsmen, etc. The total force was less than 5,000.
If these people are deceived and a civil uprising occurs, Handan will change hands.
Ren thought for a while and said:
"I don't think this is the case."
"At this time, we have compiled household registrations for the people of Handan and allocated fields."
"In addition, rice seeds were also distributed..."
Before Ren could finish speaking, Hu interrupted Ren and said:
"That's all renting and not distributing."
"And the tax is as high as six to one."
The tax system of the Qin State is one-twelfth tax, that is, one-twelfth of the harvest is used to pay taxes.
The tax in the three counties was as high as six taxes, twice that of Qin...
Although this is understandable, Yingzheng hoped that the three counties would have a big harvest next year, so he raised the tax to a higher level.
But this also planted a crisis for the three counties.
Cang asked from the side:
"This... what should I do?"
Shen Bing did not answer.
He knew this matter was no small matter.
Maybe it's a matter of luck.
As long as there is no outbreak, it will be fine, but by the time there is an outbreak, it will be too late.
And it may not only be Handan, but also Julu and Taiyuan.
If you are not careful, all your previous efforts will be wiped out.
Shen Bing can not care about these things, but they may cost him his life... Shen Bing cannot care about them.
This matter can only be helped by talking to decision-makers like Yang Duan.
Fortunately, Shen Bing was equipped with a carriage now, so he called the coachman and said "drive" and galloped towards the barracks in the city.
At that time, Yang Duan and Wang Jian were discussing the progress of protecting food and suppressing bandits in the commander's tent.
There are many mountains around Handan, especially in the western direction of grain transportation.
The bandits always came out of the mountains to attack suddenly, stole the food and then fled into the mountains, causing the Qin army a lot of headaches.
Although the situation had improved at this time, it was still very common for grain teams and inns to be stolen, robbed, and even cause casualties.
Just then the personal guard came to report:
"General, general, artillery engineer and engineer Shen Bing would like to see you."
Yang Duanhe turned his attention to Wang Jian.
Wang Jian didn't dare to give orders here.
Wang Jian stared at the map and replied without raising his head: "See you!"
The bodyguard responded and took the order and left.
When Shen Bing stood in the tent, he saw Wang and Yang.
This also saves some effort and avoids having to say it again.
Wang and Yang couldn't help looking at each other after hearing Shen Bing's analysis.
They concentrated on protecting food, suppressing bandits, and farming, and unknowingly they neglected the city.
Yang Duanhe secretly wiped his sweat and said:
"It's really easy to attack a city but hard to defend it."
"If it hadn't been for the warning from the engineer, we would have made a big mistake on this trip."
Wang Jian also nodded repeatedly:
"What the engineer said makes sense, we should beware of civil unrest in the city!"
This is not because Wang and Yang lack experience in defending the city.
But there has never been a similar situation before.
In the past, the most that Qin could do was to capture a city and land, and then send heavy troops to guard it, and that was about it.
But at this time, the State of Zhao was destroyed.
When Zhao was destroyed, he suffered heavy losses and his entire army numbered less than 100,000 men.
Moreover, these more than 100,000 people had to be divided into three counties for defense.
After dividing the three counties, we still have to farm fields, and we have to protect food and suppress bandits...
It's no wonder that even Shen Bing and his men became the main force in defending the city.
This situation made Wang and Yang so anxious that they wanted to break one soldier into two and use them.
After thinking about it, Yang Duanhe suggested:
"For today's plan... transfer the troops back to the city?"
Wang Jian immediately shook his head and rejected the idea:
"If the troops are transferred back to the city, they will not be able to protect the food outside the city, and there will not be enough manpower to farm."
Yang Duanhe frowned and said:
"At least it can ensure the safety of the city!"
If even the city is lost, then the farming and food protection outside the city will still be useless.
But, how many troops do we need to bring back?
Ten thousand?
Twenty thousand?
Or bring it all back?
No one knows whether the people in the city will riot, or how large the scale will be if a riot occurs.
So sending troops back is not an option.
Shen Bing had already thought of a plan on the way. He handed over his hand and suggested:
"General, General!"
"My subordinates believe that the best response is to reduce taxes."
Wang Jian's face darkened and he said:
"The engineer's intention is to reduce the tax to one tax per twelve?"
Shen Bing shook his head and said:
"My subordinates believe that the land tax should be exempted in the name of disaster relief."
"In addition, the tax will be reduced to one tax out of twelve, and we promise to adopt the same tax system as Qin in the future."
"In addition, we need to donate some food for free and strengthen our publicity campaign."
Wang and Yang both cast doubtful glances at Shen Bing.