Dingwu frowned and said, "I had read the warehouse files a while ago. I was still very rich in money and food. Why was it consumed so quickly?"

Ma Hong immediately said: "What the emperor said is that when the emperor ascended the throne, there was indeed enough money and food in the warehouse." After a pause, he looked up and said: "But there are too many places that need to use money and food in recent days. There are tens of thousands of people on the front line of Yanshan, and there are tens of thousands of garrison troops on Wuping Prefecture. In addition, although the young and strong people in the Tiangong Palace have dismissed tens of thousands of people, there are still tens of thousands of people left. These people all have to eat, drink, defecate, and the daily consumption is not a decimal." After a pause, he said: "Especially those barbarians ask for a lot of food. Not only do people want to eat, but their war horses also have to eat, and the horses eat more than people."

Dingwu's face was even more solemn. Ma Hong said carefully: "When the army eats food, I have also asked the emperor for instructions. The emperor said that we should try our best to keep the soldiers full and not treat them badly. Although I know that the consumption is too high, I thought before that, when the autumn harvest is not large, I still could still collect some grain. In addition, Anyi is a grain-producing place. The first-time autumn harvest is sufficient and the food can be supplemented, but!" He said this, but he did not continue.

The court has always been counting on the grain of Anyi that could supplement the consumption of Hexi and had high hopes for Anyi, but no one expected that it was the time of harvest that not only did not have a grain of food to Hexi, but instead surrendered to Chu Huan. Without asking, Chu Huan would definitely collect grain from Yuan Chongshang next. The granary that was originally used to support Qin became Chu Huan's job in a blink of an eye.

Although the ministers present didn't speak, they were not fools after all. They knew that although Feng Yuanpo had stored a lot of money and food, Hexi now has to raise 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of war horses. The daily consumption is an amazing number, not to mention that Yanshan front is fighting fiercely, and the daily logistics supply is even astronomical.

Although Dingwu was the king of Qin, the resources that can be used now are only in Hexi. Anyi rebelled and the western mountain was occupied. Both resources have been taken away by Chu Huan. These resources were the basis for Dingwu to revive Qin.

The loss of Anyi and Xishan was not only a huge disaster for Qin State, but also a huge disaster for Qin State's revival. After these two lost, Dingwu actually knew in his heart that trying to restore Qin State's strength was already a flower in the mirror and the moon in the water.

The prerequisite for Hexi to expand its huge army is to have sufficient resources and without logistics supply, the army has no way to support it. Currently, Hexi has 50,000 regular soldiers and tens of thousands of young and strong men in training. Behind these figures is the need for huge amount of food and money to support it.

Dingwu knew very well that relying so much on Hexi alone would not be able to support so many soldiers.

The hall was silent, and no one dared to speak. Everyone could see clearly that the most dangerous thing in Hexi is not necessarily the invasion of strong enemies, but the strength of Hexi itself cannot be consumed for a long time.

"Yao Chong, I will allocate you 300,000 taels of silver first." After a long silence, Dingwu finally said: "The Hexi Corridor cannot be misunderstood. I will ask you, as the commander of the army, to lead your army to the Hexi Corridor, prepare to resist the Northwest Army."

Although Yao Chong knew that 300,000 taels of silver could not fundamentally solve the problem, under the current predicament, Dingwu could still allocate 300,000 taels of silver, which was already very generous.

"I obey the order." Yao Chong bowed.

An extreme feeling of fatigue hit Dingwu's heart, his face looked extremely tired, and he raised his hand and said, "You all go down first, I'll calm down first." The ministers took his leave, but Dingwu called Ma Hong, "Ma Aiqing, stay first."

Ma Hong was about to leave, but when he heard Dingwu ask him to stay, he was stunned for a moment, but Dingwu had signaled Zhao Quan beside him to push him down. Obviously, he was in this hall, Dingwu felt very depressed and signaled Zhao Quan to push him to the back garden.

Ma Hong looked at Lin Yuanfang. Seeing that Lin Yuanfang was also looking at him and gave a wink, Ma Hong's expression suddenly became serious, but saw Lin Yuanfang's face was cold. Ma Hong hesitated for a while, not much, following Dingwu from afar. Lin Yuanfang looked around, and also followed Ma Hong, tiptoed over.

The fallen leaves are withering, and the flowers, plants and trees in the back garden are already in a desolate and dilapidated scene.

Zhao Quan pushed the wheelchair and sent Dingwu to the back garden. Ma Hong stepped lightly and stood beside him with his hands down. However, Zhao Quan stood by the wheelchair with his sword in one hand.

After a while of silence, Dingwu finally said, "How long can he last?"

Ma Hong was stunned at first, but soon understood the meaning of Dingwu's words. After thinking for a while, he replied carefully: "At most two months!"

"Two months?"

"Report to the Master, according to the current consumption, the Ministry of Revenue will have no food to allocate in two months." Ma Hong said: "Now Yao Chong led 30,000 people to the Hexi Corridor. The transportation consumption along the way will only be even greater, and it is likely that it will not be able to support it for even two months." He smiled bitterly: "I had calculated that if Anyi could transport grain and grass in time to replenish the Hexi grain warehouse, then this would not be the current situation!"

Dingwu said lightly: "I don't want to listen to the difficulties that have become a fact. I just want to know, if my soldiers resisted the Liaodong people's offensive for two months in Yanshan, will they collapse in the future because of the inability to provide logistics?"

Ma Hong lowered his head, feeling uncomfortable all over his body, but he didn't dare to speak.

"Why don't you speak?" Dingwu looked at Ma Hong coldly.

Ma Hong knew that since he was targeted by Dingwu, and as the Minister of Revenue, he was responsible for money and food, and he couldn't escape even if he wanted to escape, so he could only bite the bullet and said, "Master, I think that our money and food are tight, and the Liaodong Army may not be rich. They have many troops, and their strength is only above our army, and the consumption is much greater than that of us!"

"Oh?" Dingwu frowned and said, "What you mean is that we should count on the Liaodong people to retreat without fighting because of insufficient logistics supply, and we must withdraw our troops within two months?"

It was originally cold in late autumn, and Ma Hong felt even more bone-broken coldness hit his whole body at this time.

"Even if the Liaodong Army really withdraws, what about Chu Huan's side?" Dingwu sighed, "Chu Huan has a little rest and is rich in money and food. Can we also expect him to retreat outside the pass due to logistics shortage?"

Cold sweat broke out on Ma Hong's forehead, but fortunately Dingwu sighed lightly: "I don't want you to think of a plan to withdraw your troops. You are the Minister of Revenue and are proficient in money and food. I just hope you can come up with a way to raise more money and food."

Ma Hong hesitated for a moment and finally said carefully: "Sir, I have indeed thought of many ways, but Feng Yuanpo's taxes in Hexi are not light, and he has forced them to collect them many times. If the court continues to increase taxes, I am worried!"

"What are you worried about?"

Ma Hong could only bite the bullet and said, "I am worried that it will arouse civil unrest."

"I didn't ask you to ask the people for taxes." Dingwu said lightly: "I want you to ask the gentry in Hexi to ask for money and food."

Ma Hong looked up at Dingwu, who sneered: "After I ascended the throne, I was generous and kind to them and did not punish them. Now it is the time of national crisis, and they should share my worries."

Ma Hong instantly understood Dingwu's intention and asked, "Does the emperor want to collect money and food from the Hexi gentry?"

"I know that the gentry of Hexi has been colluding with Feng Yuanpo. After the Hexi trade market was opened, the merchant gentry of Hexi made a lot of profits from it." Dingwu said slowly: "The noble families of Hexi have accumulated rich wealth under the protection of Feng Yuanpo. I think they should do something for the country."

Ma Hong hesitated and did not answer immediately.

"You can go to them and say that the court borrowed money and grain from them." Dingwu looked at Ma Hong, "If anyone is unwilling to share hardships with me, you can list their names and hand them over to me."

Ma Hong thought about it, but he stopped talking.

Dingwu naturally saw it and asked, "What do you want to say?"

"I have nothing to say, I will do it according to the order." Ma Hong said hurriedly.

Dingwu said, "Ma Aiqing, you are an important minister around me. I trust and rely on you very much. If you have any worries, just say it."

Ma Hong hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward and lowered his voice: "I dare not speak nonsense, but I still remember that when the Tianmen Road in the southeast rebelled, there was a shortage of money and food, the court once!"

Dingwudao: "I remember that at that time, Hu Bufan was still on duty. The Ministry of Revenue proposed to the court to buy grain for IOU, which led to a huge disaster in the southeast. The gentry in the southeast betrayed the court and turned against the Tianmen Road."

Ma Hong raised his hand and wiped his forehead with cold sweat, saying, "The emperor is wise, that's exactly what it means, so I'm worried about being in Hexi!"

"Are you worried that you would replay the old curtain from the gentry in Hexi like the gentry in the southeast, and the gentry in Hexi would betray the court and cause chaos like the gentry in the southeast?" Dingwu asked at Ma Hong.

Ma Hong was nervous, lowered his head and said, "I am so worried."

"It's reasonable that you can think so." Dingwu said calmly: "But today's situation is very different from that time. I know that you are not a god, and you can't change the money and food. I let you raise money and food, but I can't reach out to the people, so it's natural for you to make it difficult for you. But without money and food, the soldiers on the front line are fighting? At this point, I can only ask those people for money and food. Without money and food, it's hard to resist. If you have no money and food, you can't resist it. Even if they are dissatisfied with rebellion, it's always easier to deal with them than to deal with Chu Huan and Liaodong people." His hands were already clenched, and his voice was cold: "If anyone doesn't want to share the sufferings with the empire, I will let him destroy it first!"

Ma Hong felt chill all over his body and couldn't help but shivered.
Chapter completed!