Sun Lei led the army along the waterway and soon reached the Yangtze River. After crossing the river, he returned to the military camp outside Yangzhou City.
"elder brother!"
Xiao Jiasui, who stayed behind at the camp, cupped his fists and said.
"Commander, what's the news?"
Sun Lei looked at Xiao Jiasui and asked. Since crossing the river, he has not paid attention to the situation in the north for a long time.
"Brother, not long ago the Jurchens captured the capital of Liaozhong and issued an edict."
Xiao Jiasui saluted and handed over a piece of paper.
"The Liao government is out of line, and both humans and gods have abandoned it. Now that we want to unify China and foreign countries, I order you to lead a large army to carry out a crusade!"
Sun Lei looked at the brief edict in his hand.
"You're not too arrogant! You just started thinking about unifying China and foreign countries after taking a piece of Zhongjing Road?"
Sun Lei laughed and said, the Jurchens are so crazy that they have already begun to think about the unification of China and foreign countries after defeating the capital of Liao Kingdom.
"Brother, Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao Kingdom fled from Beijing to Xijing. Now the Jurchens have mobilized a large army to attack Xijing together!"
Xiao Jiasui spoke again.
"Well, the army has set off and returned to Liangshan to rest and recuperate. There will be another big battle soon!"
Sun Lei nodded, and the matter in Jiangnan was considered over, so he moved north.
In April, spring flowers are blooming in the north, and the weather is getting hotter.
Spring plowing has ended long ago, and the crops are growing vigorously in the fields. There are no various taxes and exploitation from the court, and everything is going smoothly.
Sun Lei rarely participated in farming, and he had never really farmed in his two lifetimes. Even though he had a rural household registration in his previous life, he had never farmed the land seriously. If he was asked to farm, it was hard to say what would grow on the land. .
But Sun Lei knows one thing very well, that is, professionals do professional things, plowing the land, sowing and harvesting, weeding and watering. No one knows better than farmers who have worked hard for generations. As long as you don't give random orders and mess around, everything will go smoothly.
“The crops are growing well this year!”
Sun Lei looked at the wheat in the fields by the roadside. The wheat in the north was planted early, and some of it has already headed. It looks like it will be ready for harvest in two months at most.
"Brother, there will be a bumper harvest of food this year. Now our food in Liangshan is piling up like a mountain, which is a problem."
Xiao Jiasui said.
"Well, isn't it brewing?"
Sun Lei asked doubtfully.
"Brother, the wine consumption is also limited. We have had a good harvest in Liangshan for several years, and now we control the land of twenty states. Shandong and Huaibei have been grain-producing places since ancient times. I am afraid that the grain granaries will not be able to pile up this year!"
"As for brewing wine, it doesn't actually consume that much grain. And if there is too much brew, storage and sales are also a problem."
Xiao Jiasui said that he was also troubled by this problem. There was never enough food in the world. Liangshan had never been worried about too much food in ancient times.
"Can we still have more food than we can finish?"
Yue Fei also became interested. In the past, when his family was in difficulty, they always had a good meal and a full meal, so there was no time when there was too much food.
"Why is there not enough food to eat?"
Sun Lei asked with a smile.
"This... isn't enough to eat in the first place!"
Yue Fei couldn't wrap his mind around it. Common sense is: when will there be enough food?
"There are only over 100 million people in the world, but the imperial court has an area of 720 million acres of cultivated land. Counting those without statistics, the cultivated land that has been reclaimed privately in recent years is close to 1 billion acres. The rice yield in the south is high, with one acre producing three to four hundred kilograms. The wheat yield in the north is low, but more than two hundred kilograms is guaranteed."
"You can grow crops for two or three seasons in the south, and you can grow them in two seasons in the north. We haven't even included fruits and vegetables yet. If you do the math carefully, you'll have more than enough to eat!"
Sun Lei said with a smile, in such a huge country, why could the Song Dynasty with 100 million people not have enough to eat?
Why was Xicheng Institute established? Isn't it because they have taken a fancy to the land that the common people have cultivated over the years?
In recent years, taxes on official land have been too heavy, and people can only support themselves on private land.
"this……"
Not only Yue Fei, but also everyone else looked at each other. They really hadn't calculated this carefully. If they looked at it this way, there was really no reason to be hungry.
"It's just that the exploitation is too severe. A poor farmer can farm ten acres of land a year and collect five thousand catties of grain. Four thousand five hundred catties of grain are taken away by exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. How can he not be hungry?"
"Now our tax burden in Liangshan is light, and every family has been allocated land. An ordinary family has twenty or thirty acres of land. They can produce tens of thousands of kilograms of grain a year, leaving a large amount of grain. This grain is far more than what a family can produce in a year. If the stored grain is not handled properly, it will lead to private sales!"
Xiao Jiasui added that after harvesting, ordinary farmers will keep enough food and seeds for the family, and sell the excess to avoid attracting snakes, insects, rats, and ants, and also to exchange for some money.
But if every household has a surplus of grain, the price will be severely suppressed. At this time, it will lead to private sales. For example, selling grain to the Liao Kingdom, which is short of food, is equivalent to subsidizing the enemy in disguise.
“Since the wine can’t be used up, we encourage the breeding of chickens, ducks, geese, cattle, sheep, pigs and horses!”
Sun Lei thought for a while and said, grain is not suitable for long-term storage. Even if you dig a big cellar, storing it for a few years is the limit. But the ground grows every year, so it is better to consume it on the spot and eat it. If it is not finished, then give it to the livestock, and then it will be the same as eating meat.
"Yes, brother!"
Xiao Jiasui clasped his fists and said that he actually had this idea, but he didn't dare to say that farming and food were a big deal. They were consumed this year. If the war doesn't go well next year or the year is bad, there will be big problems. This decision must be made. Sun Lei will do it.
Return to Liangshan.
Everything remains the same, Liangshan Town is always so crowded.
The army directly entered the camp outside Shuibo. The army only had one month to rest and recuperate. After one month, nearly half of the army will enter Cangzhou. In the future, the war will mainly be concentrated in the north.
"Brother, there is no news from the Mingjiao people yet."
Li Assistant looked at Sun Lei and said.
"Give them some time. After all, the officers and soldiers are still in Jiangnan. It will not be easy for them to take such old, weak, women and children with them."
Sun Lei shook his head and said, it will not be easy for Lou Minzhong and the others to escape with their women and children this time.
"Let's talk about things in the north. The Liao Kingdom has sent a letter again, and they still want to unite us to deal with the Jurchens. What conditions do you think I can offer to deceive them?"
Sun Lei looked at everyone and asked, "Although the Liao Kingdom is declining, there are still many elites in the land of Yanyun."
"Brother, since they want to unite us? Then of course they have to give me the way to Liaodong. The states along the east coast of Nanjing Road are good!"
Wu Song said.
"Wu Erlang is right, if we use the false Tao to attack Guo, we must first borrow the Tao!"
Pang Wanchun laughed. Liangshan had never wanted to cooperate with Fanzi. He just wanted to use it. After using it, he would get rid of it.
"Now the Liao Kingdom has lost the Tokyo Road, the Shangjing Road, the Zhongjing Road, and the Xijing Road are in danger. The only safe road is the Nanjing Road. If we open a few states, the Liao people may not be willing."
Lin Chong shook his head and said, the Liao Kingdom has lost most of its territory now, and it attaches great importance to the remaining territory.
"Then let's talk to them first. Five states. After bargaining, two or three states will still be given!"
Sun Lei thought for a while and said, the most important thing is of course Pingzhou, which is the only way to Liaodong. (End of chapter)
