When Shao Xun's squadron returned to Jinyang, Yu Liang had already returned to Bianliang to organize the transfer of the first batch of grain and grass collected.
The summer harvest in Henan ended in late May. After Yangshai was put into the warehouse, officials immediately collected the grain from Wubao and manor, and then transported it to Dige located at various transportation nodes as soon as possible.
After the delivery was completed, all procedures were simplified and shipment began in mid-June to meet in Bianliang.
In late June, the grain and grass were transferred to Hanoi.
Yu Liang had tens of thousands of workers scattered throughout Bianliang, Xingyang, Hanoi, and Shangdang, transporting supplies day and night.
The first people who need relief are the Hu tribes in Shangdang, Taiyuan and Kelan counties.
During the campaign, they ate a large number of cattle and sheep, and requisitioned many horses and draft animals.
Forget about horses, but cattle and sheep are important means of production. If there are fewer cattle and sheep, the milk production will be less. Life will be difficult in the second half of the year and next year. Without relief, famine will inevitably occur, and another rebellion may not be impossible.
In addition, the troops returning to Jinyang will rest for ten days before going to clean up the rebellious tribes in Taiyuan and Kelan counties.
Many tribesmen were afraid of not having their hands free before, so they fled westward and crossed the Yellow River. Many people ran away. However, some people were lucky and thought they would not be dealt with, so they stayed where they were and continued as if nothing had happened.
grazing.
They are the ones who move.
Not only the Silver Spear Army and the Yellow Head Army will be dispatched, but various tribes will also be ordered to dispatch to carve up the traitors' wealth.
Of course, all this needs to wait until the first batch of food arrives.
Such a high-intensity campaign also caused complaints throughout Henan.
On the 25th, Yu Liang and Bian Dun sat opposite each other in the house.
"Is this written by your Majesty?" Bian Dun, the military counselor's wine minister, said with a wry smile.
The King of Liang wrote him a letter, mentioning the tragic situation when drought and locusts came one after another many years ago.
The father and son ran into the rivers and lakes, and the brothers wandered into the mountains, looking for food everywhere.
The flowers and fruits are all gone. The grass roots and leaves are all swept away. Even so, it is just a "fake life for a moment" and "a death in the mountains and rivers".
Last year, Hebei was hit by floods and famines returned. The number of refugees became larger and larger, crying out for food.
There were those who were unwilling to leave their hometowns, or who could not find food within hundreds of miles, thinking to themselves that they would simply wait to die at home, including many wealthy people.
They have been hungry for a long time, and they "look like birds with swan faces, prostrate themselves on the bed curtains" - this means they are so hungry that they are out of shape.
The King of Liang also saw with his own eyes that the servants of a noble family were all gone, and the whole family put on beautiful clothes, closed the doors and windows, embraced books, gold and jade, pillowed together, and finally starved to death together.
As a result, "human traces are rare, and bones gather together like a hill."
The main purpose of saying this was to arouse the sympathy of the nobles in Henan and ask them to provide more food. While relieving Bingzhou, they also made preparations to relieve Hebei.
In the past ten years, God has not forgiven the people of Henan and Hebei, especially the disasters in Hebei.
but--
Bian Dun took a long sigh and said: "In recent years, there has been a flood in Bingzhou, which affected three counties. There was a flood and a storm in Hebei, and more than ten counties were affected. There was also a locust attack in Qingxu Division and Hebei, and it was affected.
There are no less than twenty counties. Every time, Yu and Yanzhou come to the rescue. No matter how much money and food we have, we can’t fill this bottomless pit.”
Yu Liang was a little anxious, but couldn't find the right words to retort for a while.
When other places are hit by disasters, Henan and Yanzhou provide food relief. Isn't this a "disaster"?
It's just once in a while, but it's obviously not once or twice, and Henan's wealth has also been emptied.
The King of Liang also knew about this, so instead of giving a strong order, he wrote a letter first.
The Bian family was the number one wealthy family in Jiyin County, and Bian Dun was also the military counselor of Wang Yan, the commander of the Zuo Army. The King of Liang hoped that the Bian family would set an example.
Just - setting an example?
Bian Dun smiled bitterly. He really wasn't crying about being poor. They were also in great difficulty. If it hadn't been for the harvest of summer wheat, they would really not be able to survive these days.
But Prince Liang is so sincere, doesn’t it seem suitable at all? It’s obviously not suitable either.
Counties such as Chen and Xiangcheng, which were under the deep control of King Liang, all sent out large quantities of grain. The first batch of wheat shipped came from these places. Now the big households are sending donations one by one, and no one can escape, and they have to contribute more or less.
If you really think about it, there is indeed no normal tax system now, but their burden is actually much heavier than normal tax payment, which is really amazing.
After looking up at Yu Liang's earnest expression, Bian Dun asked: "The king is in Jinyang? He hasn't returned to Pingyang yet?"
"Still in Jinyang." Yu Liang said: "I heard that I am going east to Hebei to appease the officials and people of Jizhou."
Bian Dun nodded and said, "Will your Majesty go out to fight next year?"
"Maybe not." Yu Liang said: "Bingzhou is in ruins, and now we have to find a way to restore these six counties."
"Stop fighting, let the people take a breath." Bian Dun sighed: "Pei Jingsheng wrote "Five Elements Chronicles" and recorded 60 disasters in the sixty years of the Three Kingdoms, and more than 220 disasters in the country's more than fifty years.
.Now that it’s like this, why are you still fighting?”
Yu Liang was speechless.
Compared with the sixty years since the Three Kingdoms were established, the various disasters in the country were three to four times that of the Three Kingdoms period.
Such a serious disaster has never happened in ancient times. Can the Jin Dynasty survive?
"Zhongren, you should go back to Jiyin first." At the end, Yu Liang could only advise: "Try to raise as much food as possible. The people of Henan will only be hungry if they have more food, but they will not starve to death. But this
The saved grain was transported to Bingzhou and Jizhou, but countless people could survive."
Bian Dun's blood surged when he heard this.
Why are people in Henan hungry? What does it have to do with people in Hebei starving to death?
It's just that I can't say this out loud, so I can only sneer at it.
"Zhongren, you have to be conscientious, right?" Yu Liang looked at Bian Dun's troubled face and couldn't help but said: "Yuzhou was hit by a disaster, the rivers stopped flowing, and locusts spread all over the counties, so that the hungry people ate each other and covered their bones with bones.
In the wild, the refugees besieged the fortress, just for a bite of food. Who stabilized the order in Henan at that time? The Huns invaded repeatedly, and Yanzhou was ravaged and trampled by the barbarians. Jiyin warned several times, and people were panicked. Who was it?
Who defeated the Xiongnu? Without King Liang, Jiyin would now look like Changshan, Zhongshan, and Taiyuan. Can the Bian family survive alone?"
Bian Dun was speechless.
It wasn't that he was convinced, but that he was annoyed.
When I heard this ten years ago, I burst into tears of gratitude.
When I heard this five years ago, I nodded slightly.
Now I feel tired of hearing this.
Don’t you know that people are forgetful? It’s been more than ten years, and you still use this rhetoric to talk to me. Does it bother you?
If you really want to show sincerity, it's better to stop Dutian first.
This was not his idea alone, but the common aspiration of many Henan gentry.
If we are asked to provide money, food, and people, but no benefits are given, who can bear it?
Now that some people have called for an end to the land inventory and the creation of households to equalize the people, shouldn't King Liang listen to the calls of the "fathers"?
If you fight all day long, will you die if you don’t unify the world?
With places as big as Henan and Hebei, isn't it enough for your family to dominate the world?
Of course, he would not say the above words either, but just because he didn't say them, it didn't mean that no one would say them.
****
Outside Pujin Pass, Pu Hong led thousands of soldiers and horses to slowly withdraw.
Outside Tongguan, Zhao Gu also withdrew into the pass with a small amount of plundered supplies and people.
East of Hedong, Hongnong regained its calm.
On the other side of the Yellow River, Liu Can looked at the majestic Zhongtiao Mountain and silently gave the order to withdraw his troops.
Such a good opportunity resulted in less than 10,000 troops dispatched on both sides.
With such a small scale, it is naturally impossible to achieve much results, so we can only withdraw our troops.
Of course, the biggest reason for the troop withdrawal was the Chang'an earthquake.
This was the second earthquake in Chang'an in six years. More than a thousand houses in the city collapsed, the ground cracked and water gushed out, and rumors spread.
It took Liu Can a month to roughly stabilize the situation.
I originally wanted to calm down, but I was really unwilling to do so, so I ran to Feng Yi and sent out troops in two directions to try to attack Jin.
As a result, Pu Hong retreated after encountering a slight setback on the North Road.
Zhao Gu on the South Road was pretty good and plundered two counties until he was forced to retreat by the Zhongwu Army.
Seeing that there was nothing to gain, he finally reluctantly issued the order to withdraw his troops and stick to their positions, and then——
Return to Chang'an quickly.
On June 28, Liu Can, who returned in a hurry, entered Jianzhang Palace.
Liu Cong is on his deathbed.
Seeing his father who couldn't eat anything, was swollen all over and had difficulty breathing, no matter what he thought in the past, at least at this moment, Liu Can shed a few tears.
"The Zhongnan Mountain collapsed, and I should collapse too." Seeing his son coming in, Liu Cong wanted to smile, but the expression on his face was uglier than crying.
Liu Can sat aside, not knowing how to comfort his father.
"Is Thief Shao dead?" Liu Cong asked softly.
"Probably not." Liu Can replied.
Liu Cong was a little disappointed and said, "Then I can't intercept him on the road."
The room fell into a long silence again.
Liu Cong's eyes moved slightly and he looked out the window at the bright sky.
The sky is blue and cloudless.
Birds are sitting on the branches, chirping and full of energy.
The flowers in the corner are blooming very brightly, full of vitality.
The palace people were walking around, and the guards held their heads high. They were all in the prime of life and still had a long way to go in the future.
But his road has come to an end.
"In this life..." Liu Cong took a breath and said, "I only have a serious fight with Shao Thief once. I didn't know him at that time, but he might know me. It's a pity, it's a pity..."
Liu Can remained silent in response.
"After I leave, you have to win over all the noble people." After breathing for a long time, Liu Congfang said: "You can make friends with the Tuoba family. If we are divided, we are weak, but if we are together, we are strong. Xianbei is not an outstanding person without intelligence.
Understand the pros and cons."
"Bei Yishan (Helan Mountain) has no owner. Since you have sent people to manage it, you should persevere."
"Shi Le is talented, but he cannot be reused. He runs Shuofang, so you have to keep an eye on him."
"The great ministers of Qinzhou should marry each other with kindness and righteousness."
"Liangzhou, don't try too much. Just give up if you are unable to do it."
After finishing this big call, Liu Cong seemed to have exhausted all his energy, his body was overwhelmed, and he slowly closed his eyes.
He was only in his forties, so he was really unwilling to leave at this time.
But it's definitely time to go.
He didn't want to see the vibrant world outside, because it would be a mockery of him, a dying man.
So he closed his eyes.
Having been tortured by the disease for so long, he had exhausted all his energy, and death was no longer so terrible.
In a daze, Liu Cong suddenly dreamed of several of his queens and Mr. Liu.
Shao thief made them pregnant one by one, as well as the Liu Han princesses who were trapped in Pingyang, and then caressed their swollen bellies, as if they were admiring his trophies.
"Poof!" Liu Cong suddenly woke up and spit out a mouthful of blood.
A few days later, Liu Cong died in Jianzhang Palace in Chang'an.
Liu Canling came to the throne, changed the Yuan Dynasty to Hanchang, and granted amnesty to the world.
Chapter completed!