Chastity Layman

The morning drum thumps.

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 cattle and horses, and some pushed carts.

Most ordinary people can only walk out of the city with two legs behind the dense crowd.

Standing at the head of Chang'an City, Qin Lang watched this scene of a great escape with a heavy heart.

In the ninth year of Wude, when the emperor had just ascended the throne, hundreds of thousands of Jieli rode south to drink horses by the Wei River, but Chang'an City had never had such a situation where the whole city fled.

In the first year of Zhenguan, locusts appeared again after the severe drought, 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.

The army of 180,000 went to the Northern Expedition, and hundreds of thousands of civilians transferred 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 front lines of the frontier. The abundant harvest in summer made the imperial 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 so are the granaries of the people's homes.

The court has no food, and the people also have no food.

This is actually a natural disaster combined with 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 was 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 Chang'an's grain reserves. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Chang'an to build the Daming Palace, and the food that had been transported in from outside the pass was quickly consumed.

"Teacher, will they be able to solve their food and clothing by going out?" Cheng Qian came to Qin Lang and asked in a low voice.

Qin Lang gave a wry smile.

In my hometown, food and clothing cannot be solved, so where can the people who have left their hometowns go to solve their food and clothing?

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.

Hanzhong Shu, 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, and they have been transporting grain to the Central Plains, and their own food storage is not much.

Now that so many people rushed over, there was actually only one.

That is, 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.

The 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 puzzledly.

Yeah, why is that so?

After thinking about it, 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 has no good results.

"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."

When the imperial court had money and provisions, it couldn't help but have the assumption that it was already rich and powerful, and it couldn't help but want to do something, whether it was a war or a large-scale construction, it might bring huge systemic risks.

Datang still defeated the Turks, wiped out Shuofang Liangshidu, recruited Dai Beiyuan's family, etc., but these victories did not bring immediate benefits to Datang, but became burdens instead.

The soldiers spent money and food, and the lands 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 the destruction of Wang Shichong, 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, more than 10,000 people remained 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 had experience in disaster relief.

At critical times, as long as you show courage, you will not be afraid.

As the emperor drove away, Qin Lang began to issue a series of orders in the name of Prince Zhan Shi, Jing Zhaoyin, and Participating in politics in the capacity of staying behind as an assistant minister.

Immediately collect and count all edibles, grains and various miscellaneous grains, and everything else that can be eaten, such as cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, camels, even cats, dogs, and hawks.

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, let alone skin.

All these things were collected and registered in the warehouse.

Then make a unified arrangement for rationing.

Grain rationing, coarse grain mix.

Maintain a minimum level of demand.

Even the war horses and mounts were included in the list, and they were killed when it was time to slaughter. At this time, there was 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 more economical, it can barely keep a family of four or five 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 and 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.”

The price of killing horses and eating meat is huge.

Not to mention that a war horse is worth tens of thousands of dollars, but the 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 training on anti-shock and anti-scaring, as well as training on jumping higher and farther.

Li Jing is a veteran and knows very well about war horses.

Qin Lang didn't know, but there was nothing he could do now.

"Duke, 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 the war horse, 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 took the lead.

The Qin family's various breeding farms in the pass, such as pig factories, sheep factories, chicken, duck and goose factories, as well as cattle factories, fish ponds, etc., all began to clear the slaughterhouses.

After the slaughter, it will be returned to the imperial court to dispatch and supply to the common people. As for the money, it will be settled later.

The cost of doing so would be enormous.

But Qin Lang had no choice, he was Jing Zhaoyin, the left-behind minister, if he didn't bring out the things in his house, how could 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.

They were allowed to take their rations on the road.

In this way, after they leave, the food in the family can be taken out to supply 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 minimizes food waste.

In times of difficulty, everyone should save money on food and clothing. It is a sin to have a full meal at this time.

Qin Lang has already announced that he will hand over all his family's grain, and will also use the rationed grain coupons to receive grain 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 stay-at-home prime ministers, couldn't help but take a deep breath, Qin Lang was too cruel.

He works hard every day, so other people are better off? He handed over all the food stored in the family, and even handed over the mules used by the family to pull the carts for travel. Does the other family have the nerve to keep them?

Qin Lang only kept his family's war horse mount, 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. .”