Three Kingdoms: Stealing the Tiger Talisman and forcing Yuan Shao to become a monk

Chapter 400 Timely Rain in Hebei
Five or six hundred stones of food and grass, in exchange for the title of General Hussars or even Generals of Chariots during the Taiping period, is definitely a good deal.

But the question is, are these halcyon times?
The force that is valued in troubled times!Official positions are all false names.

The Black Mountain bandits have ravaged the Black Mountain for so many years, not to mention the merchants who looted, even the officials dared to rob, and in the end they even directly took control of the Black Mountain and the counties around the Black Mountain.

In order to attract Zhang Yan, Dad Cheap made Zhang Yan a general?

In troubled times, official positions are worthless.

What's more, his current position as General Zhengdong is enough for him to launch the war against Wei, and he doesn't need to be promoted at all.

Therefore, the suggestion Xun Yu gave himself at this moment can be said to hit the point, and it came very timely.

If Xun Yu didn't say this, even if he could think of it, he would have to wait several days, but by then, it might be too late to block the news.

The only problem is, as a courtier, to give such a suggestion.

To put it nicely, it is called thinking of the lord, but to put it badly, it is to alienate the relationship between the lord and his father.

How could Xun Yu take such a big risk and say such a thing?
Although I know that Xun Yu is a loyal and upright person, it does not mean that Xun Yu is really an honest person. In terms of heart, this person who was praised by Cao Cao as "my son's house".

Not much less than that poisonous man who wisely defended himself.

Seeing Yuan Tan staring at him suspiciously, Xun Yu didn't see any strangeness in his eyes. Instead, he said frankly: "I just call the general a prince, but I don't call Duke Yan my lord."

Okay.

Hearing Xun Yu's reason, Yuan Tan shrugged helplessly. What Xun Yu said, he really had no room to fight back.

After all, what they said was the truth, and it was reasonable to calculate it according to reason.

I recognize you, Yuan Tan, as the lord, so I must consider it for you. As for Yuan Shao's problem, what does it have to do with me?
What's more, as long as this matter is manipulated a little bit, the Hebei side will only know that Xuzhou has a good harvest, but they don't know how good the harvest is.

Strictly speaking, it is not a deception, after all, it is impossible for Hebei to send a letter specially for such a trivial matter.

Or ask Chen Zhen to go up and ask, how much grain did you produce in Xuzhou this year?

At most, I just mentioned in the chat, Xuzhou has a good harvest this year, and so on.

Then based on Xuzhou's grain output in previous years, I estimated that it only produced two to three million stones of grain.

Even if they knew the effect of the fertilizer, they probably wouldn't care too much about it. After all, until now, only the Xuzhou Ministry of Civil Affairs knew the number of people in Xuzhou and the number of fields reclaimed.

In the hearts of Yuan Shao and others who uphold traditional concepts, even other princes, such as Cao Cao and Sun Ce.

It is also impossible to imagine that Yuan Tan is actually in a situation where the "composting method" has not yet been determined whether it is feasible.

In troubled times, there are many refugees, but not everyone can be recruited. If they are recruited, they will not be given food or resettlement.

The refugees recruited to the states and counties will become a new factor of instability, and even provoke civil uprisings, and in the end, the damage to the states and counties will be no less than a military disaster.

However, Yuan Tan directly and generously recruited hundreds of thousands of refugees. Including Taishan bandits, Xuzhou's new population this year reached 49.

In this day and age, that number is almost unimaginable.

It can support 49 refugees who are close to being out of work to enter Xuzhou. The term "out of work" is not an exaggeration.

You must know that although refugees are an important source of productivity, they arrived in Xuzhou in the first year, to be precise, before the first autumn harvest.

They can't create any new wealth for Xuzhou at all!

Xuzhou was able to survive until the first autumn harvest without collapsing, all because of the food and fodder that Yuan Tan sold to Liu Biao and Sun Ce in exchange for [-] sets of Xuzhou armor!

But the food and fodder is quite limited. The nearly 50 refugees need to consume one stone of corn for a month, plus other resettlement needs.

A refugee arrived in Xuzhou in March, and until September, during this period, each of them had to consume at least two stones of corn every month!

Putting it together is nearly 600 million stones, grains and fodder, not to mention that during this period, Yuan Tan was still in charge of the technical reform of Jiangzuoyuan and issued an order to recruit craftsmen.

And the establishment of the Qingping Military Academy, the reorganization of the government soldiers, the formation and training of the new army, etc., these are huge expenditures.

Most of the fields cultivated by the refugees are abandoned fields. In other words, if Yuan Tan's composting method cannot achieve the effect he expected.

Even if the fertilizer increases the grain income by [-]%, in the end it will not make ends meet!

Therefore, in the eyes of the outside world, it is impossible for Yuan Tan to take such a big risk to recruit so many refugees into Xuzhou.

In the eyes of the world, the only real increase in population in Xuzhou this year is the 15 Taishan bandits.

Although this number is also very wide, the land that 15 people can reclaim is quite limited.

With less land, the effect of fertilizers will be small. This is a conclusion that can be drawn without further investigation.

Therefore, at this moment, although the astonishing effect brought about by the composting method has spread to the ears of the princes of the entire Han Dynasty with the great harvest in Xuzhou.

But in the eyes of these vassals, Xuzhou, which Yuan Tan is currently controlling, has just achieved a balance of payments.

It will take at least a year to go on an expedition.

The strategy given by Xun Yu to conceal the real output has sufficient feasibility under the knowledge of the world!
……

In Xuzhou, under the order of Yuan Tan, Xun Yu quickly drafted a letter and sent it to Hebei, attaching the effect of the composting method and the setting plan of the composting treatment place.

After getting this letter, Yuan Shao was quite satisfied with his son, although he could not say that he had obtained the most precious treasure.

It was also the autumn harvest, and Yuan Shao found helplessly that although he liberated a large number of tenant farmers from the family, these tenant farmers and the fields they also obtained from the family.

Although there is an increase in income that can be brought to him, it is far from enough to satisfy Yuan Shao.

This year, the four prefectures of You, Bing, Yong, and Ji in Hebei added together, the tax increase is only 300 million shi.

Three million shi of corn sounds like a lot, but in front of the Hebei army, it is only half a year's military expenditure.

And this still refers to the situation where the 50 troops in Hebei do not go out.

Once going out, the consumption of military expenditure is doubled, which means less. On weekdays, a soldier only needs one stone of corn per month to ensure daily energy consumption such as training and patrolling.

But if you go to the front line, a lot of physical work, including fighting on the battlefield, etc., you need at least two stones of corn, as well as dried vegetables, dried meat, etc.

Only then can it be ensured that the physical strength and morale of the soldiers will not drop due to non-war reasons.

Not to mention, unlike Xuzhou, Hebei can grow rice, but Hebei can only grow wheat, and there is only one chance of harvesting in a year.

Yuan Shao's original plan was to go to Cao Wei in the twelfth lunar month of the third year of Ding'an, the next year, to wipe out his childhood and lifelong enemy in one fell swoop.

But judging from the current grain output, even if Hebei saves for another two years, it may still be insufficient.

Yuan Tan sent the composting method at this time, which can be said to have greatly alleviated the predicament Yuan Shao was facing.

(End of this chapter)