Chapter 4: Thousands of miles of bare land, devastated
[In the fifth year of Chuping, there has been no rain since April. As for autumn and July, one dendrobium grain is worth half a million, and everyone in Chang'an eats it! 】
Cao Cao, with his hair disheveled, sat on the bedside with his legs crossed, holding the Diary of Heaven's Way and Destiny in his hand, and fell into deep thought.
After a long time, a chill came over him, and Cao Cao came back from his meditation.
"People eat each other...people eat each other...ah" This tragic situation was something Cao Cao had encountered in his early years.
When he was just a cavalry captain, he had witnessed it with his own eyes on the way to conquer the Yellow Turbans.
The hungry people ate up all the tree bark and grass roots, and even the hungry people who couldn't survive began to eat people...
This is a tragedy and even more tragic.
It can be said that it was natural disasters plus man-made disasters that pushed the Han people to this point.
How many years has this been?
Is another catastrophe about to happen...
"God, aren't you ready to let the big man go and let the big man's people go?"
Cao Cao put the diary away and murmured to himself, "Is the man's strength really going to be exhausted?"
Thinking of this, Cao Cao felt a little sad,
"Han, General of the Conquest of the West",
It was once his biggest dream, but the dream has not yet been realized, but now the big man himself is in a precarious situation and is on the verge of collapse.
...
In the fifth year of Chuping, January,
Cao Cao, the governor of Yanzhou, suddenly ordered all counties under his rule to build water conservancy projects, build reservoirs and reservoirs, and build ponds and dams.
Even irrigation water must be approved and supervised by the government.
At the same time, many places are also required to plant trees and prohibit indiscriminate felling of trees.
This series of actions attracted the attention of people all over the world, and also made countless confused people laugh at whether Cao Cao had become insane.
Just put in the effort, and when the time comes and the people are in a hurry, maybe some people can get a share of the pie.
In February of the fifth year of Chuping, Emperor Han changed the reign name from Chuping to Xingping.
Xingping means prosperity and peace.
However, the fact is: there are many princes in the world, and the people are struggling to survive.
A series of decrees came from the governor's office,
Lu Yan felt pleased but also a little uneasy about Cao Cao's decisiveness and his unimaginable trust in himself.
Chenliu County, the governor's mansion.
After Lu Yan finished flipping through the last document, he said to himself: "Boss Cao trusts me so much. Will I feel guilty if I fish in the future?"
Just when Lu Yan was thinking about whether he could get off work, Cao Ang walked in with big strides.
"Prefect, more than 30 wind-driven waterwheels in Chenliu County have been built!
Now Han Zhonglang is leading the craftsmen and the people of the county to dig the reservoirs. I think in another month, at least three large reservoirs will be built!"
"Not only the water reservoir, but also urge Jia Zheng to mobilize the people to build water reservoirs and water wells in their own villages." Lu Yan thought for a while and added.
Cao Ang had experienced the military, and he never asked too much about Lu Yan's orders.
Cao Ang clasped his fists and said, "I'll do it now!"
But Cao Ang said he was going to do it, but he didn't move.
Lu Yan accidentally looked up, only to find that Cao Ang was still standing there as if he had something to say, so he asked: "Zixiu, if you have something to say, just say it, don't delay the business."
Cao Ang hesitated, and finally asked what was on his mind: "Prefect, will there really be a severe drought this year?"
It's hard for Lu Yan to give a clear answer to this kind of thing.
He could only reply: "The power of God is unpredictable...but now these things have to be done sooner or later, so don't worry that your efforts will be in vain."
"But we will still waste a lot of manpower and material resources. If we put these into military construction..."
Lu Yan did not directly deny Cao Ang's words, but asked a question: "Eldest Master, what do you think the war will be like?"
After hearing this, Cao Ang thought for a moment and replied: "People and baggage!"
Nodding, Lu Yan asked again: "So, where do people and baggage come from?"
"The sources of troops come from the common people, and the supplies come from taxes."
"Most taxes also rely on the people, so they all come from the people, right?"
Cao Ang then thought about it and said, "Indeed! But does this have anything to do with what we are doing now?"
"Building water conservancy projects and digging ditches...these are all good things that improve people's livelihood.
When people live better and the population increases, the number of soldiers and taxes will increase."
Cao Ang suddenly understood, and then replied: "So, in a war, we fight only the population under control?"
"To be precise, it is comprehensive strength. To put it simply, it is people, food and money!"
Cao Ang scratched his scalp and murmured: "I seem to understand something, but I don't seem to understand anything..."
Lu Yan laughed dumbly and said: "Then go and finish the work first! Oh, by the way, we have to step up the work of letting the chamber of commerce go to other states and counties to buy grain."
"Here!" Cao Ang handed over his hand and left the Governor's Mansion.
...
In March of the first year of Xingping, spring plowing was about to begin, and the rain had almost disappeared.
Chenliu County under Cao Cao was frantically buying grain everywhere.
The main business of the Zhen family in Hebei is grain trading.
The Chenliu Yingchuan United Chamber of Commerce joined the Zhen family. Since Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are now an iron alliance, the chamber of commerce has bought a lot of food from them.
In addition to the Zhen family in Hebei, there are also the Mi family in Xuzhou, the Lu family in Jiangdong, the Ma family in Jingzhou, and the Qin family in Xichuan.
All the business giants and chambers of commerce went there, and almost all the money they earned was converted into food!
No one raised any objections, but after Lu Yan gave the family a glass, they no longer had any objections.
Making money? For these glass products, it couldn't be easier!
It was from these wealthy businessmen that news gradually spread that there might be a severe drought this year.
There is no airtight wall in the world, although Lu Yan did not intend to strictly guard the news of the drought.
In April, spring plowing is in full swing.
However,
But the people of the Central Plains discovered that,
It was originally the season when it should rain, but from April to July, no water fell!
The lack of rain means that this year's food harvest will be poor or even impossible. Eventually, famine will break out uncontrollably.
At the beginning of the famine, what everyone expected was that the first one to collapse was Guanzhong!
Guanzhong is to the west of Hangu Pass and includes Hongnong, Feng Yi, Fufeng and Jingzhao of Sili Xiaowei Department.
Among them, Feng Yi, Fufeng, and Jingzhao counties are also called Sanfu, while Chang'an is the county seat of Jingzhao.
Famine first broke out in the Sanfu area, and then quickly spread to Chang'an.
In the imperial capital of the Han Dynasty, food prices were ridiculously high.
One hu of grain is worth 500,000, and one hu of beans and wheat is worth 200,000.
What should I do if I can’t afford food in the end?
People eat each other and the bones are piled up!
Not only in Guanzhong, famine also broke out quickly in Guandong and even the Jianghuai region.
The Chamber of Commerce found out some news:
Parts of Xuzhou under the command of Liu Bei were "invaded by poverty and hunger, and officials, big and small, were eating each other";
Under Yuan Shu's rule, "the people eat each other, and the Jianghuai River is empty";
Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan and others also did not escape the fate of famine. Almost every family died...