Ma Fan and his brother still kept a third of the money and decided to take a look. After all, even if they left a third of the money, the food they could buy was far more than they expected.
If the salt is too expensive, they can go back and buy new grains in time.
There are not many people coming here to buy food now.
When they walked to the shop selling salt, they discovered that, as the Tang soldier said, salt was also very cheap, even just a little more expensive than the price of grain.
And this salt... looks so good too.
After the two people tasted it with permission, their eyes lit up and they simply spent all the remaining money in their hands to buy salt.
What happened to Ma Fan's family is what happened to all the people in Liaodong City.
The food sold in the grain stores opened by Datang was naturally the military rations left by the wealthy households in the city and the army.
Those prisoners were directly supplied by the Tang Dynasty's military rations. Naturally, what was left of their original military rations was simply sold directly to these people.
The amount of these military rations is quite large. After all, it feeds tens of thousands of troops, and there is also a certain amount of food reserves. Although there are more people in the city, they cannot buy them all.
Where do people get so much money?
Seven days passed by in a flash, and Ma Fan's family was ready. In other words, during these seven days, the Tang army gave them a lot of confidence.
Because during these seven days, the Tang army did not restrict them from leaving their homes, and the order in the entire Liaodong City... was actually better than ever before.
The discipline of these soldiers of the Tang Dynasty is extremely strict. They do not charge any favors, nor do they favor anyone. They treat everyone equally, and they will even take the initiative to help if they encounter difficulties.
In seven days, everything in Liaodong City seemed to have returned to normal except for the collapsed section of the city wall.
It was precisely because of the performance of these Tang troops that gave many people in the city confidence and made them decide to go back to farming.
Isn’t it just to help Datang grow for a year? As long as we can give them enough food for the winter, or even less, as long as they don't starve to death, it's okay to grow food for a year. As long as they can survive, no one is willing to take risks.
At least two-thirds of the people in Liaodong City now have fields. Most of them live in the villages around Liaodong City, and a small number live in the city, with their fields outside the city.
Everyone registered their location according to each village, and then collectively returned to their villages under the escort of Datang soldiers.
When I returned to my parents' village, nothing in the village seemed to have changed, but it seemed to have changed a lot. Every household seemed to have been raided. I don't know whether it was the Tang army, the Goguryeo army, or some fundamental There are no sneaky people entering the city.
But fortunately, there was nothing left in the house. The valuable things from each family had long been carried away, leaving behind nothing in the dilapidated house.
And some things that are difficult to carry have long been secretly buried under the soil, such as some plows that are difficult to carry.
Ma Fan buried his father's and brother's plows in an unusual place, next to the toilet.
When I came back, the plowshare was still there.
Most of the people in the village came back, but some people didn't. They didn't know where they went, or they were in other cities.
I don’t know if they can come back, but Ma Fan and the others don’t have time to think about this because they have to seize the time to farm.
Although it is planted for Datang, it is also planted for themselves, because if they are planted for Datang, they may be able to leave part of their rations in winter, but if they are not planted, there will be nothing.
…
In Liaodong City, Li Shiji was holding the intelligence that had just been sent.
"The Liao River has been explored and large ships cannot enter, but small boats of about 800 tons can travel up the river. Five hundred boats have been urgently transferred from various trading houses on the Bohai Sea. Grain and plows have been transported. We will arrive at the mouth of the Liao River soon." Xue Wanche reported the information in his hand to Li Shiji.
He was a little helpless. He originally came here to fight, but he never expected that after coming here, the first thing he did was to farm and manage the place.
"Is the animal power enough?" Li Shiji asked.
"It's definitely not enough. These people took some of their livestock with them, but most of them were either taken away by some thoughtful people due to the war, or someone from their own family took the livestock and hid it in the mountains. But that There are bears, tigers, etc. in the mountains, and no one knows whether they can come out alive." Xue Wanche shook his head helplessly.
Li Shiji sighed: "It's not easy."
These people were unwilling to bring their cattle and horses to the city. Li Shiji also thought of this, because once they entered the city, there would be no grass, and once there was a shortage of food in the city, they would be dead.
To the common people, sometimes cattle and packhorses are more important than people. It is understandable that one person in the family would risk taking the cattle and packhorses to hide in the mountains.
"In this way, all the Goguryeo war horses, pack horses and other horses that were captured by us will be selected and kept, and the rest will be distributed." Li Shiji thought for a while and said decisively.
"This... is not good." Xue Wanche hesitated.
"There's nothing wrong with it. I just said I would lend it to them. Although these places will most likely belong to us in the Tang Dynasty in the future, we must prepare for the worst. If we fail, the Goguryeo people will not want these horses either." It’s gone back. It’s not that easy to take it back if it’s in the hands of the people.”
"What's more, we actually don't lack horses. Khitan, Shiwei, and Hanhai Prefecture all have a large number of horses. It's just that it's difficult to transport them here now."
"When the situation here stabilizes, you can consider it at your own discretion. After all, isn't that what these horses are used for? Either plowing fields or fighting. And we don't need these war horses now, and we don't need them for logistics, then they If you keep them, you have to feed them. It’s better to let them work.”
"Okay, I understand." Xue Wanche nodded immediately. He was also rushing to the shelves. He didn't know this before, but now he just does what Li Shiji tells him.
"How is the battle situation in other cities?"
"Gaimou City has been captured, Xuantu City has surrendered, and the remaining cities are smaller and there shouldn't be much of a problem." Xue Wanche told the latest news.
Li Shiji nodded. There were only a few telegraph machines in their hands, so the troops attacking other cities could only communicate through messengers. On the contrary, they could use telegraphs to send messages and orders to their hometown in the rear, Youzhou.
Otherwise, this kind of grain, plows, and five hundred small ships would not have been transported so quickly.
