The 22nd year of Qianlong's reign, June 6th
Manzhong Day
Eargrass is a season that reflects agricultural phenological phenomena. Among them, "awn" means that the seeds of barley, wheat and other awn crops have matured and are about to be harvested; "zhong" means that summer crops such as late grain, millet, and millet are the busiest season for sowing.
There is a saying that "spring competes with the day, and summer competes with the time." This "competition with the time" refers to the busy harvest and farming during the awn season.
The busy season of "three summers" that people often refer to refers to the busy summer management of summer harvest, summer planting and spring sowing crops. Therefore, "awnzhong" is also called "busy planting", which is the busiest time for farmers to sow and go to the fields.
But at this time, due to the war, the farmland outside Xuzhou City was uncultivated, and even a lot of grain that had not had time to be harvested was ruined by the Qing army.
Although the military information written by Niu Hulu and Fu Sen has been sent to Qianlong, Qianlong, who was quite hesitant, still did not make up his mind. But at this moment, Xuzhou City was completely surrounded by the bandit suppressing army.
A huge army poured into Xuzhou City, plus the already large number of people in the city. The daily food consumption in Xuzhou City was astonishing, especially after the food transportation channels outside the city were blocked. Even if the Qing army brought in the food outside the city early in the morning, the food and grass needed for consumption was still It's city officials who are worried.
In the Yamen of Xuzhou Prefecture
At this moment, many officials are discussing city defense and food and grass issues.
Since the preparations for peace talks between the bandit suppressing army and the Manchu Qing were confidential, no one in the Jiangnan bandit suppressing army except Niu Hulu Fu Sen and Aixinjueluo Yongqi knew about it.
"General Zhennan, the daily consumption of food and grass in Xuzhou City is too much. If this continues, in less than ten days, the city will be short of food. I wonder when my imperial reinforcements will arrive?" Magistrate You Shouren said to Niu Hulu Fu Sen asked after kneeling on the ground and paying homage.
"Military information, I ordered people 800 miles to rush into the palace early in the morning. I believe the reinforcements from the imperial court will arrive soon. Please pay more attention to Master You." Niu Hulu Fu Sen looked at You Shouren and consoled him.
"Don't dare, this is the responsibility of the lower official. The lower official is also afraid that the reinforcements have not arrived yet after the city is short of food." You Shouren said.
"Prefect You, do you know how many people there are in the city now?" At this time, Aixinjueluo Yongqi asked.
"Back to Fifth Brother, according to the data from the Ministry of Household Affairs, there should be more than 500,000 people in the city." You Shouren replied respectfully to Aixinjueluo Yongqi.
"What do you think of Fifth Brother?" Niu Hulu Fu Sen couldn't help but asked curiously after hearing Aixinjueluo Yongqi's question.
"I was thinking that the number of people in this city is so huge, and the daily food consumption is not a small amount, right?" Aixinjueluo Yongqi replied.
"Well, what the fifth elder brother said is that this is natural. Based on the average daily diet of one liter of rice, the people in the city must consume more than 5,000 dan of food every day. In addition to the military rations in the city, the daily food consumption exceeds Seven thousand stones." You Shouren added to Aixinjueluo Yongqi's words.
"And because Xuzhou City has been supplying food and grass to the army before, there are currently only 60,000 shi of food left in Xuzhou City. If the imperial reinforcements still do not arrive after more than ten days, our army will be in need of food."
"Can you find a way to prioritize the supply of food and grass for the army? As for the common people, let them drink less porridge, not go out for exercise during wars, save some energy, and eat less." Niu Hulu Fu Sen said to You Shouren.
"General Zhennan, the current food supply for the people has dropped to a very low level. Although the number of people counted by the Ministry of Household Affairs is more than 500,000, God knows how many people have taken refuge outside the city in the past few days." You Shouren said to him. Niu Hulu Fu Sen bowed and said.
"The people in the city are doing better and have some food reserves. But those people who came in from outside the city to take refuge can only live on the rice grains released from the city. If the food supply drops further, we are afraid that chaos will easily occur in the city. Now we We can’t afford chaos.”
Hearing this, Niu Hulu Fu Sen couldn't help but frown.
Some time ago, the Xuzhou area suffered from floods. In order to provide disaster relief, the city of Xuzhou had to release a large amount of food to help the victims who were crying for food.
Otherwise, with the arrival of the bandit suppression army and the unrest of these victims, Xuzhou may not need to defend it any longer. If at any other time, the disaster victims dared to cause trouble, the imperial court could mobilize troops to exterminate them.
But now because of the emergence of the bandit suppression army, whether it is because of political needs or the wishes of the people, the Qing army does not dare to do this.
Xuzhou's income is inherently bad when encountering floods. Some time ago, the Qing army's military rations were allocated from Xuzhou City, but at this time, the entire Xuzhou City's food was taken out from the grain depot of the Xuzhou City Yamen.
Under such great pressure, Niu Hulu Fu Sen really did not dare to say that You Shouren did not do well. In fact, he had already done an excellent job.
But where will the next food gap come from?
Although Niu Hulu and Fu Sen had handed over the peace agreement with eight hundred miles of military information, what did Qianlong mean? Niu Hulu and Fu Sen can’t completely guarantee it.
For this reason, after submitting the peace agreement, Niu Hulu Fu Sen also requested assistance from the imperial court.
Because once Qianlong did not agree to reach peace talks with the bandit suppressing army, their battle with the bandit suppressing army would not stop, and Xuzhou City would still have to be defended.
However, whether Xuzhou City can be defended.
Niu Hulu and Fu Sen were no longer confident.
Because the bandit suppressing army really slapped them in the face too much.
In order to avoid the powerful firearms of the bandit suppressing army, the Qing army even tried to fight them on rainy days. But even in hand-to-hand combat, the result was that the Qing army was defeated and returned.
Now the Qing army's biggest reliance is a large number of cavalry, but it seems to be outshined by the firearms of the bandit suppressing army that seem to be not afraid of rain.
According to the Qing soldiers who escaped back, it was a firearm that could be fired continuously. They had never seen such a firearm. With the blocking of the horse-piercing nails and the horse-repelling horses, it was basically unable to reach the range of the firearm.
After listening to the accounts of the Qing generals who fled back. Niu Hulu and Fu Sen have never had such a strong desire for peace talks.
(There are still more than 100 words left, so you can figure it out. I should be able to finish it in 10 minutes, so please come back and watch in another 10 minutes. Thank you everyone!)
(There are still more than 100 words left, so you can figure it out. I should be able to finish it in 10 minutes, so please come back and watch in another 10 minutes. Thank you everyone!)
(There are still more than 100 words left, so you can figure it out. I should be able to finish it in 10 minutes, so please come back and watch in another 10 minutes. Thank you everyone!)
