"How could it be? Didn't the autumn grain harvest this year be more than in previous years?"
Cheng Jingzhou sighed: "There is food in the Ministry of Household Affairs, so we can't send it all to the border. The food is divided into categories. Some are for emergencies, and some are disaster food that must be prepared before the next summer's food comes out. Who can guarantee next year's food?" Will the harvest be good? We can’t finish all the food, then it will be a real disaster.”
Xie Rongzhao was silent. Do you want to starve the soldiers at the border?
"So now we just hope that the war will end within two months. If it doesn't happen, it will be too bad once the front lines are stretched."
After Cheng Jingzhou finished speaking, he drank the porridge in his hand, wiped his mouth and thought about running to the study again.
"Husband!"
Cheng Jingzhou stopped: "Huh?"
"Then can't we try to find ways to buy grain from the private sector? We can always get some together, more or less."
"No, once you buy food from the private sector, it will inevitably cause food prices to rise, and it will be the common people who will suffer."
Xie Rongzhao was stunned. Well, it would be better if the people in the countryside sold part of their grain and kept enough food for themselves. The family would have more income, but what about the people living in towns or cities?
Most of them do not have land and have to buy food.
Once food prices rise, this group of people will be greatly affected.
Not only that, I am afraid that some country people are short-sighted and only think about changing some money to celebrate the New Year. If they sell more grain, they will not be able to sustain the summer grain supply, and that is their own fault.
"What about finding some conscientious grain merchants?"
"It's hard to say. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince means that you can buy some grain from the big families, and the Ministry of Household Affairs will provide the money."
You don’t need to give it for free, the court will give you money!
Xie Rongzhao thinks this method is good, but among all the officials and officials, which family doesn't have food in reserve?
The key depends on whether they are willing to sell, and if so, how much they are willing to pay.
Of course, some of the big families Cheng Jingzhou was talking about were not the courtiers, but the big families with good foundation, such as the Xie family of Anhe Street.
Of course, the current Xie family may not be able to survive, but there are other aristocratic families.
Apart from anything else, it seems that the Gao family's natal family is the Wang clan. The Gao family once said that it would be easy for a family like theirs to spend one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand dan in food.
Of course, there is no need for people to give away such a large amount of food for free.
They are willing to give money from the court, even if it is lower than the market price.
This would allow the court to remember their contribution. After all, they were willing to provide food, which would solve the court's urgent need.
Secondly, these big families can also dispose of some old grain, or gain a good reputation among the people.
The prince's idea is very good, and it is not difficult to implement it.
Although it is still uncertain how long the war will last, the court must make preparations early.
You can't just think about buying food when you've finished eating it, right?
The prince met separately with several talking heads from the big families, and then Cheng Jingzhou came forward. Soon, 400,000 shi of food were raised.
Once the food is ready, it is not stored in the warehouse, but sent directly to the border.
In war, food is the confidence of soldiers.
Seeing a steady stream of food being delivered to the border, the soldiers can be at ease and work for the country with peace of mind!
As for armaments, there is nothing that should cause Cheng Jingzhou a headache for the time being.
After all, the Ministry of War allocates a lot of money from the Ministry of Household Affairs to build armaments every year. If the armaments cannot keep up, then the head of the Minister of War will be moved immediately.
Xie Chuxia didn't know how to fight, but she thought that if Xie Rongen led troops to attack the enemy, he wouldn't be able to come back in a day or two, so he had to bring some dry food, right?
Xie Chuxia immediately told Cheng Jingzhou this, and then sent someone to Fengxian's Harvest Workshop to inquire about the inventory of related jerky, pancakes and other items.
Cheng Jingzhou also felt that this idea was very possible, and since it was winter, things were easier to store. He could send these things to the border. However, he still had to send people from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War to confirm to avoid further mistakes.
When the prince heard this proposal, he also thought it was a good idea.
"After all, it's senior sister who thinks more thoughtfully than us. If it's an army of 100,000, it definitely won't be worthy of this, but if a small group of soldiers and horses come out of the city for a surprise attack, this thing must be prepared. Don't be careless when sending it to the battlefield. , and bring a few imperial doctors with us to avoid any further accidents."
"Yes, Your Highness."
After all, Cheng Jingzhou was once the magistrate of Feng County. He went to Feng County in person, and the magistrate there and several owners of the workshop also quickly expressed their goodwill.
"This is Mr. Sun from the Ministry of War. These three are imperial doctors sent by the Imperial Medical Office. We need to check the quality of our products. If there are no problems, all your subsequent outputs must be given priority to the military."
"Yes, I understand, little one."
They didn't come here to rob, so naturally they didn't dare to neglect.
Although they didn’t want to rob, no one was stupid, and for such a large quantity, the workshop only charged the cost price in the end. This made Cheng Jingzhou’s impression of these people a lot better, and he said that if he had any difficulties in the future, he could ask him for help. .
This was tantamount to him giving a promise, and the merchants were naturally grateful.
The first batch of supplies was not too much, including 800 kilograms of dried meat, 2,000 bundles of pancakes, and more than 400 kilograms of fried noodles, which were quickly delivered to the battlefield.
The escort was sent by the Ministry of War, and they also brought a special letter to Xie Rongen and the border coach.
In addition to mentioning the use and storage of these supplies, the letter also told them that they would be replenished a second time in half a month, which was specially used for battlefield attacks.
Cheng Jingzhou and the others did not know at this time that it was precisely because of the delivery of this batch of emergency supplies that a big problem for Xie Rongen and others was solved.
They were originally thinking about a plan to fight the enemy, because these people on the grassland were nomadic in nature, and their soldiers and horses were not fixed in one place, which gave them a headache.
Taking the initiative to attack often cannot find the opponent's lair, which is equivalent to a useless effort, and the time they can go out cannot be too long. The supplies they can bring are limited. If they can find the enemy, then it is easy to say that they can be killed. If we seize their supplies again, as the saying goes, fighting to support war is nothing more than that.
But the problem is that they often can't find anyone after one or two days out, and they may even fall into the enemy's trap. This is a problem.
In the letter sent by Cheng Jingzhou, he also specifically mentioned to them the power distribution of several tribes outside the pass. These were details that Xie Yu had deliberately sent to this frontier in the name of trade in the early years.
Now that I can get this information back, it's not a waste of time.
And this news just gave Xie Rongen and the others an opportunity to have a more comprehensive understanding of Guanwai.
