Chapter 479 Staying behind
Morning drum dong dong.
The emperor's car had already driven out of Taiji Palace, and went out the south gate along Zhuque Street.
Chang'an Sixth Street was crowded with common people. One by one, they dragged their families and took care of the old and the young. They carried the burdens and quilts on their backs.
Some drove oxen and horses, and some pushed carts.
Most ordinary people can only walk out of the city with two legs behind the dense crowd.
Qin Lang stood at the head of Chang'an City, watching this scene of a great escape, with a heavy heart.
Thinking about the ninth year of Wude, when the emperor had just ascended the throne, hundreds of thousands of Jieli rode southward to drink horses along the Wei River, but there had never been such a situation in Chang'an City where the whole city fled.
In the first year of Zhenguan, after a severe drought, there were locusts again, and there was a famine in Guanzhong, and the people did not flee.
But at the end of last year, after the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Turkic Khanate, which had been hanging over its head like a sharp sword, it was about to flee.
In fact, although the timing of the battle last year was good, it still consumed the last bit of food reserves in the hands of the imperial court.
A 180,000-strong army marched to the north, and hundreds of thousands of civilians transported food, grass, and weapons, and prepared for a year of war.
Although the Turks were wiped out in one shot, almost all the food in the Central Plains was transferred to the frontiers. The summer harvest made the court full of confidence. Although there were early warnings, it was said that low temperature, early frost and snow disasters might last for several years.
But underestimated.
The early frost last autumn was earlier and more severe than that of the previous autumn. The harvest of the previous autumn was only reduced by a few percent, and this year's harvest was almost complete.
This also caused a terrible famine.
The granaries are empty, and the granaries of the people's homes are also empty.
The court has no food, and the common people also have no food.
This is actually a natural disaster plus a man-made disaster, and it is a serious mistake of the court.
But in the end, all the people have to bear the burden.
The emperor is too impatient. It would be great if he could wait another two years to destroy the Turks.
The construction of the Daming Palace last year exacerbated the consumption of food reserves in Chang'an. Hundreds of thousands of civilians gathered in Chang'an to build the Daming Palace, and the food that had been transported from outside the customs was quickly consumed.
"Teacher, will they be able to solve food and clothing by going out?" Cheng Qian came to Qin Lang and asked in a low voice.
Qin Lang smiled wryly.
In my hometown, I can’t even solve my food and clothing. Where can I go to solve my food and clothing for those who have left their hometown?
This is not a famine in one state and one county, but a famine in the entire northern and central plains.
Even if you escape from the famine from Guanzhong, you will find the same disaster areas along the way. Even if you leave Lantian Wuguan and Chencang Sanguan, and go to Shannan and Jiannan, two places where the hunger is not so serious, the problem is that so many hungry people flock there , I can't bear it either.
Hanzhongshu land, Jianghan Plain, these places were not greatly affected by early frost in autumn, but the problem is that these places have a small population and limited grain production.
Now that so many people are rushing over, there is actually only one.
With the influx of disaster victims, Bashu and Jianghan prefectures will be eaten up by locust-like disaster victims one by one.
It is conceivable what will happen when those states and counties can no longer produce food.
Hungry people can only run further south, or simply rob the remaining food in the hands of the people there, or they can only starve to death.
"Why is this so?"
Chengqian asked a puzzled question.
Yeah, why is this happening?
After much deliberation, natural disasters are only part of the reason, and the important thing is the decision-making mistakes of the court. At the beginning of the founding of the country, which was already riddled with holes and had no food left, it still wanted to do too many things.
The original intention of the imperial court may be good, but it didn't work out.
"Your Highness, we have paid a heavy price to understand that at the beginning of the founding of the country, if we want to rule after the chaos, we can only try not to toss about it. The most important thing is to recuperate with the people and let the people keep their own food. Storing food with the people is far away. It is more important than gathering grain in the country warehouse."
If the imperial court has money and food in hand, it can’t help but have the assumption that it is already rich and powerful, and it can’t help but want to do things, whether it’s a war or a large-scale construction, it may bring huge systemic risks.
Datang still defeated the Turks, wiped out Shuofang Liangshidu, recruited Daibeiyuan’s family, etc., but these victories did not bring immediate benefits to Datang, but became burdens.
The use of troops cost money and food, and the sites received after they were taken down, and the people who were resettled, were all posted inside.
"What should we do?" Chengqian asked.
The emperor has already gone to Luoyang. Although the palace in Luoyang has been demolished after Wang Shichong was defeated, at least it is much closer to receive grain from the southeast.
The emperor left, all the officials left with their families, the nobles also ran south, and tens of thousands of troops also left.
In the end, there are more than 10,000 people left in Chang'an City.
"We have to save ourselves!" Qin Lang murmured as he looked at the crowd fleeing south. There was still a little food in Chang'an City, but the food was pitifully small. Even if there were only ten thousand people left, it wouldn't last long. Rely on grain shipped from outside the customs.
Fortunately, Qin Lang has experience in disaster relief.
At the critical moment, as long as you show courage, you will not be afraid.
The emperor drove away, and Qin Lang began to issue a series of orders in the name of Prince Zhan Shi, Jing Zhaoyin, and Zhengzheng as the remaining assistant ministers.
Close all restaurants and restaurants, and stop all breweries.
Even the factory materials in the leather workshop have to be expropriated. These things are made of the skins of cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, dogs, camels, etc. Of course, they can still be boiled and eaten.
When people are hungry, they can eat soil, not to mention skin.
All these things are collected and registered in the warehouse.
Then make unified arrangements for rationing.
Rational rationing of grain, mix of coarse and fine grains.
Maintain a minimum level of demand.
Even the war horses and mounts are included in the list, and they will be killed when they should be slaughtered. At this time, there is no food left to feed the war horses.
After all, the consumption of war horses exceeds five infantrymen, and if the consumption of one infantryman is less, it can keep a family of four or five barely alive.
A horse can get hundreds of catties of meat if it is slaughtered, and if it eats its skin and offal, it can get a lot more.
Tejin, Shangshu Youpu shot Li Jin and rushed over.
"Saburo, you ordered to kill the horse mount?"
"Grandpa, we don't have to kill them. We don't have so much food to raise horses, especially war horses. They can't survive just eating grass. Instead of letting them starve to death, it's better to kill them and eat them when they are fat and strong. Meat."
Li Jing was heartbroken.
"Do you know how difficult it is to be a good war horse? Every war horse is a high-quality horse selected from thousands of people, and it needs to be tamed for several years before it can become a qualified war horse. War horses are not easy to come by."
"My lord, I am also a person who has fought in war. I don't know how precious a war horse is. A high-quality war horse is the second life of a knight. Sometimes it is just like his brothers and relatives. But now we have no way to raise it. We can’t even afford to support our horses.”
Killing horses and eating meat, the price is huge.
A war horse is not worth tens of thousands of dollars, but its training period is very long. A wild horse or a ranch horse cannot become a war horse or a mount.
A qualified war horse not only has better basic performance, but also has to go through various trainings such as formation, marching, charging, etc., as well as anti-shock and anti-scare training, as well as various trainings such as high jump and farther training.
Li Jing is a veteran, and he knows very well about war horses.
Qin Lang didn't know, but there was nothing he could do now.
"Dai Gong, the lives of the people and the horses, which one do you choose?"
Li Jing was speechless.
"Grandpa, if the war horse is gone, we can raise and tame it again in the future, but if the people are gone, we really have nothing. If the money is gone, we can earn it again. If the horse is gone, we can raise it again. If the people are gone, it will be forever." loss."
"Unless it is absolutely necessary, please don't eat war horses, and eat other things first." Li Jing said painfully.
Qin Lang nodded.
"I will ask people to make statistics. War horses, especially horses that have been on the battlefield, will try their best to raise them first. If there is no food to eat, they will eat grass. If we can survive, we will not slaughter them, but once If you can't make it through, you can only slaughter."
"Among humans and cattle and horses, I can only choose humans."
Qin Lang issued an order that the cattle of the people and the war horses of the soldiers should be registered first, and they would be eaten only at the last moment.
Qin Lang set an example.
The Qin family’s various breeding farms in the pass, including pig factories, sheep factories, chicken, duck and goose factories, as well as cattle factories, fish ponds, etc., all began to clear the stalls for slaughter.
After the slaughter, it will be returned to the imperial court to dispatch and supply to the people. As for the money, it will be settled later.
The loss of doing so will be huge.
But Qin Lang has no choice. He is Jing Zhaoyin, the left-behind minister. If he doesn’t bring out the things in his house, how can he conscript food and livestock from the houses of other noble officials?
"Whoever dares to hoard food and resell it at this time, I will not be polite."
"However, if anyone has the ability to sell and transport grain from outside, I will reward you heavily. The more you bring in, the more I will reward. Your Majesty has granted the crown prince the power to remove officials below the sixth rank, so as long as you are willing to think There is a way to transport food. If you transport more, not only will you be rewarded, but I will also suggest that His Royal Highness give him an honorary officer or even a casual rank. Whether he is a businessman, a craftsman or a commoner, even if he is a barbarian, he can be transported at this time Come here, it's all the same."
Qin Lang also encouraged those wealthy and powerful households in Guanzhong to leave the pass as well.
Allow them to take rations on the road.
In this way, after they leave, the food at home can be provided to the people.
It doesn't matter if you don't want to leave, but all the food in your home has to be confiscated as well. This time it's different from before. In the past, you were given enough rations first. This time, Qin Lang directly confiscated all the food first, and then gave it to you People are given food stamps rationed.
This maximizes the avoidance of food waste.
At a difficult time, everyone should save money on food and clothing. It is a sin to eat a full meal at this time.
Qin Langdu has announced that he will hand over all his family's grain, and will also use the rationed food stamps to receive food in the future. From now on, the family will dry and dilute every day, and eat twice a day.
After hearing this, Changsun Wuji and Wang Gui, the two left-behind prime ministers, couldn't help but take a deep breath, Qin Lang was too cruel.
He is dry and dilute every day, so how can other people be rich? He handed over all the food stored in the family, and even handed over the mules that were used to pull the carts at home and slaughtered them. Does the other family have the nerve to keep them?
Qin Lang only kept the war horse mount at home, and handed over everything else.
This attitude made all the officials and soldiers staying in Chang'an respectful.
"In ancient times, after the rebels besieged the city and the defenders ran out of food, the general killed his concubine to share food with the soldiers. I, Qin Lang, could not do this, but it is still possible to hand over the family's food and livestock to the victims of the disaster. .”
(end of this chapter)