Chapter 164 Taking advantage of the situation
In 192 AD, more than a year had passed since the Anti-Dong Alliance was disbanded. After a year of disputes, the princes of the world divided their territories and finally calmed down and began to recuperate.
However, due to the frequent wars before, the food reserves of various princes were almost consumed, and the war disasters seriously affected the agricultural development in various places. In addition, many places suffered serious harvests due to natural disasters.
The various princes had originally thought that they would work hard this year to prepare for the battle after the autumn harvest by accumulating enough food and grass. But there were always some people who were restless and kept making small moves, especially Yuan Shu, the idiot.
In addition, Cao Cao, Liu Bei and others were unwilling to do the stupid thing of hoarding food while others were hoarding guns, so they started an arms race at the same time, and food was naturally in great shortage.
What troubled the princes the most was that a serious natural disaster broke out this year, especially in Qingzhou.
In the original historical trajectory, the millions of Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou had to plunder various states, and were finally taken over by Cao Cao in Yanzhou, who built the Qingzhou Army and laid the foundation for their future rise.
But now, Yuan Shao had a headache.
Since establishing his foothold in Jizhou, the originally confident Yuan Shao suffered repeated blows. Youzhou was too strong and Bingzhou could not intervene, and he only took half of Qingzhou.
However, since there were not many people in Qingzhou, it was convenient for Yuan Shao to share the spoils with the aristocratic families and he moved many people there.
The favorable environment with vast land, sparse population and plenty of fertile land made Yuan Shao and the Jizhou families feel that they had made a lot of money, which gave them a lot of comfort.
After working hard for half a year and finally waiting for a good harvest, a locust plague came, and it mainly gathered in Qingzhou!
Well, all this work was in vain!
We also have to find a way to solve the food problem for the people in Qingzhou.
Yuan Shao once felt that he was really unlucky this year. No matter what he did, he was unlucky, as if God was deliberately playing a trick on him.
Fortunately, Jizhou had a solid foundation, and the Jizhou aristocratic families had obtained most of the land in several counties of Qingzhou. Therefore, they did not mind giving Yuan Shao some food as a return gift, and this was how they were able to barely hold on.
Similarly, there is no problem with princes such as Tao Qian and Liu Biao.
But Lu Bu and Cao Cao were in trouble.
The poorer the family's financial situation, the worse their life becomes. The poorer people become, the poorer they become. This is a vicious cycle.
Yanzhou, where Cao Cao was located, was actually quite wealthy. However, after the princes' campaign against Dong Zhuo, the local people were brutally plundered over and over again by the so-called "allies", and agricultural production was also greatly damaged.
In addition, the Baibo bandits later wreaked havoc, and Liu Dai and Cao Cao suppressed the rebellion. The bandits were like combs and the soldiers were like rakes, and Yanzhou was already devastated.
The remaining population had already been divided up among the aristocratic families. Even if Xun Yu had taken full charge of internal affairs, he could not solve the problem of food shortage at all.
Few people, little food, and much land; this is the current situation in Yanzhou. Without the welfare of the one million Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, Cao Cao does not have the capital to implement military farming at this time, and is anxiously worried about the problem of military food.
As for Lü Bu, he was even poorer. Bingzhou was already poor, with a population of less than one million. It was not a problem to support the thousands of elite cavalry under his command with the money and food plundered from the Southern Xiongnu, but it was difficult to support the people under his rule.
But since they decided to establish a career here, they must pay attention to people's livelihood, which gave Lu Bu and Li Ru a headache.
Fortunately, both of them were used to living a hard life on the frontier, so they were not surprised at this. It was just a matter of letting more civilians starve to death, as long as the army could afford to eat.
It was under such circumstances that Tian Ze's diplomatic envoy arrived.
Short of food? I have it!
Along the Taihang Mountains, we can deliver goods to your door, as much as you want.
But you have to exchange people for it.
After hearing the messenger's words, Cao Cao almost laughed out of anger, but under Xun Yu's suggestion, he agreed to it and sent the messenger away.
"This bastard Tian Chengshou is taking advantage of the situation!" Cao Cao angrily kicked over the platform in front of him.
"It's just food. I'll go to Xuzhou and Yanzhou to grab food, but I will never make such a deal with Tian Chengshou!"
Watching Cao Cao venting his temper, counselors such as Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai stood on both sides and kept silent.
It is better to vent it out than to keep it in. Only after Cao Cao calmed down did Xi Zhicai persuade him: "My lord, a little impatience will ruin a big plan."
In fact, Tian Ze had proposed to the princes of the world early on to use money and grain to purchase population, but except for the South and Xuzhou, the rest of the princes basically ignored it.
However, this also left a deep impression on the princes and people of the world with Youzhou's wealth.
Many people under the rule of local princes spontaneously moved to Hanoi or Donglai County. Although they tried their best to stop them, some still slipped through the net, but fortunately the rate of loss was not too fast.
The price that Tian Ze offered to the princes of the Central Plains was really high. One civilian was exchanged for 100 dan of grain. Under normal circumstances, it would take an average of five years for a civilian to produce so much grain without eating or drinking. If he didn't eat or drink, it would take more than ten years.
But later, as food became scarce in the Central Plains, the price gradually became one commoner in exchange for fifty dan of grain.
Judging from the situation, it may have to be reduced further in the future.
"Although the drought and locust plague this year are not too serious, they have had a certain impact on the autumn harvest. The grain collected in various places has decreased significantly compared with previous years."
"In addition, due to the war in the past two years, Yanzhou's grain expenditure has always been insufficient. According to the current grain reserves, even if there is no war this year, we will hardly survive until next autumn harvest." Xun Yu took inventory.
"What about Tao Qian and Liu Bei? Are they still unwilling to lend us grain?" Cao Cao asked.
Xun Yu shook his head slightly.
It is basically impossible to borrow grain from Liu Bei. Liu Bei doesn't have much grain, but his situation is better than Cao Cao's, and it is just enough to eat.
Tao Qian was extremely rich, but why should he lend money to them?
Now Tao Qian's health has not collapsed yet, and the threat posed by Yuan Shu has been much smaller, so he can sit back and wait to observe Cao Cao and Liu Bei.
Especially after defeating Yuan Shao, his morale became much higher. He even suspended the population trade with Tian Ze for a period of time. He felt like he had a second spring in his career.
However, Tao Qian still gave face to his ally Cao Cao. It was definitely impossible to give him food for free. The most he could do was sell some food at a relatively low price.
But the embarrassing thing is that Cao Cao not only lacked food, but also money. He had no money to buy food at all.
Now the price of grain has risen to nearly ten thousand coins per stone. Even if Tao Qian gives a half-price discount, or even if Cao Cao sells all his assets, it will only be a drop in the bucket.
Cao Cao stroked his forehead gently and felt that his headache had worsened.
Now he has no shortage of wise counselors and brave generals under his command, but he lacks elite soldiers and money and food, which is a perfect complement to Tao Qian.
But unfortunately, this old man is really old and confused. Not to mention that he surrounds himself with some messed up people, but he also puts on airs when forming an alliance with him.
If Yuan Shao and Liu Bei had not been by his side, he really wanted to fight this guy directly, seize Xuzhou by force, and be done with it once and for all.
As a result, now I can only waste time with the opponent and wait for the opportunity, which is really uncomfortable.
"What about the aristocratic families? Can they provide some money and food?"
Xun Yu shook his head again.
Natural disasters have occurred frequently in recent years. The wealthy and powerful families have long had an ominous premonition and have been frantically hoarding food in preparation for any eventuality.
The Yanzhou family has been spending more than they earn in the past two years. They don't have much surplus grain of their own, let alone lending it out.
"There is a shortage of food everywhere. Where did Tian Chengshou get so much money and food? Did this guy rob the national treasury?" Cao Cao said angrily.
(End of this chapter)
