Chapter 532: Fighting to fight

In extraordinary times, extraordinary things must be done.

In Yonghe Hall, Chen Kefu was in the upper head, Mao Xi, Fang Xuanling and other civil officials in the three provinces and six ministries were in the lower right head, and Li Benlei, Lu Shishen and other military generals in Beijing were all listed in the lower left head. In the small Taihe Hall, thirty or forty people gathered together.

Without the little emperor who made decorations and the surrendered ministers from Hebei, all the people present were the most confidant civil and military core members of the Liaodong Army.

Sitting at the top, Chen Kefu carefully glanced around the civil and military officials who were now in charge of the Beijing court. But when he saw that the civil officials such as Fang Gaoxuanling had not seen each other for several days, he had become much haggard. Everyone's face was dark and his eyes were deep. At a glance, he knew that he had been worried about food these days.

On the contrary, the military generals on the left were all kneeling there casually. Now that the Liaodong Army is advancing step by step, it is naturally extremely refreshing for them. As for food, grass and equipment, it is all about these civil servants in the court, and they are too lazy to worry about their leisure.

Chen Kefu said to Mao Xi, "Mao Pushe, don't you know if the Secretariat has come up with a solution to the food problem?"

Although Mao Xi is diligent in political affairs and diligent, he is still worried about the current food problem. Although he has been thinking about it all over the world and dispatching it from all parties these days, he still cannot solve this difficult problem.

"Your Highness, the Minister of State recently made a detailed statistics. In the early years of Daye, the imperial court registered household registrations with more than 9 million people, with an area of ​​more than 48 million people. Most of these populations are concentrated in the two places of Hebei and Henan in the Central Plains. Hebei and Henan alone account for half of the world's population, while the people of Lingnan, which occupy the same wide area, only account for 12% of the world's population."

Speaking of these detailed household registration matters, Mao Xi is very familiar with it.

"There are only dozens of counties in Hebei and Henan, but there are nearly five million households and nearly 25 million residents. This huge number has not been calculated. Since the seventh year of Daye, many places in Hebei and Henan have fought, and three conquered Liao, with the most military service in Hebei and Henan. In addition, Henan has built the Eastern Capital, built the canal, and the major floods in Daye in the seventh year. The population of the two places has dropped sharply. According to our statistics and estimates, the population of Hebei and Henan has decreased by nearly 30% compared with the highest population in the early years of Daye."

Chen Kefu nodded with a serious expression. He knew that what Mao Xi mentioned about Henan actually included a large area of ​​Shandong. However, in the official title of the court, Henan included Henan and Shandong. This is the most elite place in the world, with many counties and the largest population. Although the Sui Dynasty was huge at this time, in fact, 90% of the population of the Sui Dynasty was concentrated in the four major areas of Henan, Hebei, Guanzhong and Hedong.

For example, the large area of ​​Jianghuai Lingnan, which accounts for at least one-third of the country, has a population of only 12% of the country. This is so small that it is shocking. However, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in Hebei and Henan account for half of the country's population.

Half of the population of nearly 50 million in the Sui Dynasty was 25 million. The land of Hebei occupied about one-third of this large area. In summary, Hebei alone had at least about nine million people. According to statistics from the Shangshu Province, Hebei's population has dropped by 30% due to the many huge impacts it has suffered in recent years, and there is still more than 6 million people. Even if the 18 counties in Hebei are averaged, there are still more than 300,000 people in one county.

Now that the Liaodong Army has occupied ten counties in Hebei, it is a population of 350 and 600,000. Together with the previous population of more than 2 million in Liaodong, they have already had more than 6 million people on their territory.

This number is indeed shocking, especially during the war, where so many people can make any ruler love and fear.

Mao Xi frowned and continued in a heavy tone: "At this time, there are more than 6 million people in the twenty-six counties we occupy. The passage to Shandong south has been opened, and the rest of the eight counties in Hebei is just around the corner. In terms of military affairs, the imperial court will kill the remaining counties in Hebei, which can be completed before the New Year. After General Li Jing heads south, more than ten counties in Shandong and Huaibei can also be occupied before the New Year."

"Your Highness, after the beginning of the year, we will add twenty counties. It is a joyful saying that the twenty counties have at least five to seven million people. Now Hebei, Shandong and Huaibei are all decayed. If the court takes down these counties and counties, it must immediately prepare huge grain to stabilize the counties. Otherwise, if they occupy them today and become chaotic tomorrow, they will be afraid that they will become more decayed."

Gao Shilian, the new Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, left the list and said with a worry-free look: "Your Highness, according to statistics from our Ministry of Revenue, based on the annual food of adult men, we will reduce it to four stones on this number, which is calculated by the minimum standard. After we take Hebei, Shandong and Huaibei, our population will reach between 11 and 13 million, and the annual food consumption will also require about 50 million stones. Before next year's food harvest, we will have at least half a year. In this half year, we will need nearly 30 million stones of grain."

"Thirty million stones." Chen Kefu murmured softly.

"Thirty million stones!" At this time, even the generals who were sitting by Yun Danfeng were exclaiming in surprise.

During the Daye period, the court established six major granaries along the canal, including three near Luoyang. The largest Luokou warehouse had three thousand granaries alone. However, such a large granary gathered the power of the world and only stored 24 million stones of grain. That was something that the court could only do when it was the strongest time of the imperial court.

When they conquered the Goguryeo Kingdom, they won the national war preparations for decades, but they only received more than 10 million stones of grain.

But now, they have only built such a small map, and less than a quarter of the Great Sui Dynasty are already short of so much food.

"What about the food we have stored in Liaodong over the years? Have you eaten all of them?" Lu Shishen, the general of the Hu Ben Guard, stared with his big eyes and said in a loud voice.

Gao Shilian said helplessly, "Of course there is still food, but it is not much. All our food stocks are left with tens of millions of stones. If we only use Liaodong, there is indeed a lot of food. But now we enter the Central Plains, we can't hold on for long."

"What I just said is still short of 30 million stones, which is actually only the minimum consumption, but in fact, our army still needs to fight the court. Now every battle is long-distance combat, and the transportation consumption along the way is actually three times higher than the food eaten by the soldiers. And the more battles are fought, the more we lack food. According to the current Navy, General Li Jing, and Jiangdu's military consumption, tens of millions of stones of grain will not last long."

"At present, in addition to the war in Jiangdu, the court is about to send troops to Hebei to pacify Hebei. According to the plan of the General Staff, the troops mobilized this time are at least 100,000. With such a large war, food consumption is also a huge number." Gao Shilian didn't say it later, but everyone knows what he meant. The two battlefields in Jiangdu and Shandong alone have already put a huge burden on the court. If Hebei is added, there is already a huge gap. If the court still needs to mobilize troops to attack Hedong and attack Li Yuan at this time, then all the civil officials can hang themselves.

Gao Shilian finally said slowly, "Your Highness, if the imperial court only bears the Jiangdu war before the New Year, then the imperial court will have a grain shortage of 30 million stones before the harvest next year. If we add the Shandong battlefield, we will have to add 10 million stones. If we add the Hebei battlefield, we will have to increase at least 10 million stones. 50 million stones. We must raise these foods before the New Year, otherwise not only will we not be able to release food for refugees in Hebei, but even the soldiers on the front line will have no grain available."

When Lu Shishen, who was furious, immediately jumped up and said dissatisfiedly, "Shu Gao said this? The soldiers were fighting desperately on the front line, bleeding, but the court could not guarantee the supply of food and grass? Are you planning to let the soldiers go to the battlefield hungry? The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers!"

Lu Shishen's words made Mao Xi and other civil servants bow their heads. The warriors were fighting on the front line, and they were invincible in the battle. The Liaodong army was strong in the world. If they were defeated because they could not provide food and supplies, they would not be at ease no matter what.

Chen Kefu couldn't help but frown. At this moment, it was not just a matter of whether to fight Hedong or not. Instead, if there was not enough food, let alone those hungry refugees, they might be in trouble again. Even the soldiers fighting on the front line might be in a dilemma of no food available.

"What countermeasures do you have?" Chen Kefu asked solemnly. The food gap was too big and no one could solve it at once.

Mao Xi shook his head. Although officials from various departments of the Shangshu Province discussed every day these days, in the end, they only came up with some small solutions, which had no effect on the 50 million gap.

Lu Shishen looked at everyone's frowning, and couldn't help but slam the table heavily and shouted at Chen Kefu, "Your Highness, why don't we go and grab his mother? Back then, we were in Liaodong, we just started our family by stealing. We broke into a Liaodong city, and then robbed tens of millions of stones of grain and Goguryeo. We have accumulated tens of millions of stones of grain. Now that we lack so much food, there is no other way. Why not do our old business and grab his mother? Our Liaodong army is unparalleled in the world. How can there be food in this world that we can't catch?"

Chen Kefu smiled. Lu Shishen was bold but also meticulous. Although he was rough, he was a way.

In the war years, production naturally could not compare to plunder. Using war to support war was a common strategy used by ancient people. However, for the current Liaodong Army, using war to support war, although it could solve a little, it was impossible to completely solve the food shortage dilemma.

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Chapter completed!