The next day, as soon as Lu Bu came to the front hall, someone came to report.
"Reporting to Marquis Wen, Mr. Gongtai and Mr. Meng Zhuo are here."
Lu Bu was about to ask them something. When he heard the message, he immediately said loudly, "Please come in and talk."
Soon, Chen Gong and Zhang Miao walked in from the door, "I have met Marquis Wen."
Lu Bu nodded, "You two got up so early, what do you want?"
Zhang Miao smiled bitterly and cupped his hands, "Marquis Wen, there are more and more refugees around Puyang, but our food is getting less and less. If this continues, we may not be able to sustain our food supply."
Hearing these words, Lu Bu frowned, turned to look at Chen Gong, and asked tentatively, "Gongtai, is there any way to solve the food problem?"
Chen Gong shook his head. After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly said, "Marquis Wen, the refugees know that we will give them food here, so there are more and more, but our food is getting less and less."
At this point, Chen Gong sighed and continued, "Marquis Wen, continuing like this is not an option. I think it would be better if we stopped recruiting refugees to reduce the pressure on food?"
Zhang Miao nodded, "Gongtai is right. We can no longer maintain the original refugees. If more refugees come here, I am afraid that not only the refugees, but also our soldiers will have no food to eat."
After hearing what the two said, Lu Bu frowned, and after thinking for a long time, he slowly said, "How is the matter of purchasing food from outside going?"
Chen Gong smiled bitterly and shook his head, "There is a shortage of food everywhere now. Although the price is sufficient, it is not easy to buy."
Lu Bu suddenly said, "Yanzhou doesn't have much food. Doesn't Xuzhou also have food?"
Chen Gong shook his head, "Marquis Wen, although there is food in Xuzhou, most of it is in the hands of powerful people. Moreover, Liu Bei is eager to recruit troops and has already collected a lot of food. Now that Cao Mengde has also gone to Xuzhou, I am afraid that the food in Xuzhou Consume more joyfully.”
Zhang Miao snorted coldly, "Since Cao Mengde went to Xiaopei with more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, the price of food in this area has doubled. If this continues, it will probably become even more expensive."
Lu Bu also knew that what the two said was true, and thought for a while, "Where is Huainan?"
Chen Gong sighed, "Huainan is rich in products and has a good climate. It stands to reason that there should be some food. However, Yuan Gongdao also imposed excessive taxes and recruited troops everywhere in order to expand his strength. If my prediction is good, I am afraid that the people of Huainan will not be able to survive." are not as good as the people of Xuzhou."
Zhang Miao suddenly sneered, "Yuan Gongli now has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses. Even if he raises these soldiers, I am afraid that the people will not be able to support them, let alone recruiting more soldiers and horses. It is simply a wishful thinking. "
Hearing this, Lu Bu was moved in his heart and asked tentatively, "Meng Zhuo, if we recruit troops in Yanzhou, how many troops can we raise?"
Although Zhang Miao is not his strong point in leading troops in war, his literary talent and reading are definitely his strengths. You pondered for a moment and then said slowly.
“During the Qin Dynasty, more wars were launched, so more soldiers were recruited.
According to records, one soldier was supported by 25 to 50 civilians.
In the late Qin Dynasty, the number of soldiers would increase, and the people would have more difficulties, so an uprising broke out. "
At this point, Zhang Miao's tone paused and then continued.
"During Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the country's population was approximately 36 million, and the number of soldiers recruited was approximately 700,000.
Calculated this way, every 50 civilians support one soldier.
These soldiers and horses from Emperor Wu and above swept across all directions, but they also made the people in the late Han Dynasty miserable. "
Lu Bu was shocked when he heard what Zhang Miao said, "Meng Zhuo, is it difficult for 50 people to raise one soldier?"
Zhang Miao nodded, "According to the records, this is indeed the case."
Lu Bu suddenly remembered what happened in the game and was even more surprised.
300 farmers can get 2,000 people, and there is still a lot of surplus, enough for all parties to snatch it.
He didn't have many thoughts during the game, but after hearing Zhang Miao's words, he was deeply shocked.
After a long time, Lu Bu suddenly thought. If the things in the game can be moved to reality, then no matter how many refugees there are in the future, there will be no shortage of food.
Chen Gong looked at Lu Bu's thoughtful look, raised his brows, and asked tentatively, "Marquis Wen, do you want to recruit troops?"
Lu Bu hesitated for a moment and nodded, "Cao Cao has not been destroyed now, and Yuan Shao in the north has not mobilized troops against us, but when we expand our strength, we will be able to resist them when they attack, otherwise it will be too late."
Chen Gong nodded, "Whether it's recruiting troops, we have too many refugees here, we can choose from them, there will be no shortage of troops."
After hearing what the two said, Zhang Miao smiled bitterly and said, "You only think about the benefits of recruiting soldiers, but have you ever thought that if you recruit more soldiers, the consumption of food will be greater. By then, once there is a shortage of food, Even if we recruit more soldiers, I’m afraid it will collapse.”
If he is a refugee, even if he is given a bowl of gruel every day, although he will not be full, it will keep him from starving to death.
This is the situation here in Puyang now. A big pot of porridge is cooked every day and then given to the refugees to drink, and only once a day.
Although the refugees are still hungry, they also know that the government has tried their best. Although they are hungry every day and feel weak, they are extremely grateful to Lu Bu.
They traveled to many places and met all kinds of people, but no one gave them even this bowl of gruel. Only Lu Bu would take them in and give them hope.
Moreover, most of these refugees were young and strong, and because they were old, weak, sick and disabled, they had already starved to death halfway.
As long as the young and strong among these refugees have enough to eat, they will soon develop into strong young men and become elites in the army.
It can be said that Lu Bu is not short of troops now, what he is short of now is food.
Don’t think that turning refugees into soldiers is easy, it’s really not.
Refugees can only drink a bowl of porridge every day to survive, but soldiers cannot. Although it is impossible to feed them well, at least they cannot be left hungry, so this means that more food will be consumed. .
And these are what Zhang Miao is worried about. If there is no food, let alone recruitment of soldiers, he may not even be able to feed the original soldiers.
Chen Gong nodded with a wry smile, "Marquis Wen, now we still have to find ways to find some food to get through the current difficulties."
Zhang Miao spread his hands and said, "Everywhere is short of food. Where can we find a solution?"
