Upon receiving Wang Han's delivery of grain, the city gates were quickly opened. A squad of soldiers with swords maintained order at the gates, preventing refugees from entering the city, and allowed Wang Han into the city.
“The three of them are with me. Let them enter the city as well,” Wang Han said, seeing the soldiers preparing to stop the couple.
Upon hearing this, the soldiers maintaining order at the city gate immediately let the three people into the city.
"My name is Guo Xi. May I ask where the grain has arrived?" As soon as they entered the city, the general who had been on the city gate tower rushed down and asked Wang Han.
"Take me to the granary first?" Wang Han said.
"Alright." Upon hearing this, Guo Xi gritted his teeth and said, a sense of unease creeping into his heart. He knew that the famine was severe here, with widespread hunger and drought. Not only were edible grains scarce, but even inedible tree bark and grass were likely devoured, especially in areas near the borders and battlefields. The imperial court was requisitioning grain for war, and the Manchus were plundering (not only the Ming Dynasty suffered famine, but even the Manchus faced food shortages; for more on famine, see "The Warlords"). These areas were the first to be affected. Although the imperial relief grain had arrived, it was limited compared to the vast disaster areas. After all, famine and drought weren't limited to this region; many other parts of the country were experiencing different situations, and the imperial court didn't have enough grain. This relief grain was likely distributed according to the severity of the disaster, with more allocated to severely affected areas or certain special locations, and the army would certainly take some as well. Therefore, he was anxious, hoping only to receive more grain so that he could hold out longer.
After giving his deputy a wink, Guo Xi smiled and said to Wang Han, "My lord, I have prepared a simple banquet with wine and music and dance. I hope you will grace us with your presence tonight."
Wang Hanzai looked Guo Xi over carefully and asked, "What are you doing?"
Upon hearing this, Guo Xi did not mince words and said directly, "Judging from the fact that you have adopted several children, you must be a kind-hearted person. You have also seen the situation in Xiangyang, which is truly difficult. Therefore, when you return and distribute the grain, please speak up for the people of Xiangyang. There is really not much grain left in Xiangyang."
"..." Upon hearing this, Wang Han paused for a moment and said, "You can rest assured that I have sent enough grain this time. However, I will need you, General, to maintain order and prevent any trouble from happening, especially with those merchants and other officials. Don't let them try anything."
This general was a man of social graces and knew the current state of the court. Otherwise, he wouldn't have treated Wang Han with such courtesy and addressed him as "Sir" even though Wang Han hadn't presented any documents or knew his identity or rank. As long as Wang Han could bring grain, he would accept him even if Wang Han was just a lowly soldier, or even not a soldier at all.
"Please rest assured, sir." Upon hearing this, Guo Xi was overjoyed and immediately patted his chest, saying, "Anyone who dares to make a move will face my ruthless blade."
After walking for a short while, Guo Xi led Wang Han to the granary. Opening the granary, they found it practically empty, though it was spotless; there was no sand or stray grain on the floor. Inside, only a few gray sacks filled with rice were piled in a corner of the vast granary, totaling only about two or three hundred sacks. Compared to the enormous amount of grain, this was a tiny fraction.
"Are the other granaries the same?" Wang Han asked. He had already scanned them with radar; most of the other granaries were empty, and the few that still had grain were empty too, with only two or three hundred bags, or even less. The entire Xiangyang granary probably only had a little over two thousand bags of grain, but with hundreds of thousands of people and refugees in Xiangyang, even if that grain was boiled into thin porridge, it would only last for a little over ten days. Of course, if you include the grain stored by merchants and officials, the amount would be double or triple, or even more. Some ordinary people also had some grain stored at home, but definitely not much. It was only because the Xiangyang garrison commander was a good person; otherwise, in this situation, he probably would have turned a blind eye to the refugees outside, let alone provided them with even a little porridge.
"To be honest, sir, the other granaries are almost empty now, and all the grain in the granaries combined is less than 100,000 jin," Guo Xi said bitterly upon hearing this.
"100,000 jin (50,000 kg), enough to feed hundreds of thousands of people. If we're talking about feeding them to their fill, it wouldn't be enough for even one meal a day. It's really too little." Wang Han nodded, walked to the corner where the grain was piled up, and pointed to a knife, making a cut on the sack.
"Sizzle, sizzle." Sand mixed in with the yellow rice grains, and the sand grains sizzled and leaked out of the grain sacks. The granary was so clean because even the grains scattered on the ground had been swept up and collected.
Seeing Wang Han easily cut open the sack with his bare hands, Guo Xi couldn't help but feel a little astonished.
After glancing at the grain that had leaked out mixed with sand, Wang Han cut open another sack, and the situation was the same. He cut open another sack, and the same thing happened.
Guo Xi did not stop Wang Han, allowing Wang Han to see these things so that he could better understand the extent of the food shortage in Xiangyang.
"Sigh!" Wang Han sighed. He picked up a plump grain of rice from the ground, gently rubbed it with two fingers to remove the husk, and then spread the white grain of rice in his palm.
"Doubling..."
In Guoxi, amidst the astonished gazes of the refugee family of three and their three children, the white grains of rice in Wang Han's palm seemed to magically multiply, transforming from a single grain into a fountain that sprayed across his hand and onto the ground. Then, like a geyser, Wang Han turned his palm to the side, aiming it at the surrounding area of the granary. Soon, the grains had piled up to over a meter high, and were still rapidly increasing in height.
"Rice, all white rice! Xiangyang is saved!" Guo Xi, ignoring his surprise, immediately bent down, grabbed a handful, and danced with excitement.
"First, arrange for someone to pack up this rice. After that, I'll fill up the other warehouses. Also, I have something else for you to do," Wang Han said, and walked out of the warehouse.
"Yes, sir." Upon hearing this, Guo Xi immediately responded loudly, then kicked his dumbfounded deputy general and ordered, "Anfu, you take the sir to rest immediately, and do not neglect him in the slightest."
"Yes," the lieutenant replied immediately.
"Uncle, was that magic just now? Are you a deity sent down from heaven to save people?" Wang Yan asked Wang Han, his eyes sparkling.
"Hahaha..." Upon hearing this, Wang Han burst into laughter, then said to Wang Yan, "Whatever you think, is what it is. Whether it's a deity or something else, it depends on your own opinion."
“I think Uncle is a god,” Wang Yan said with unwavering conviction.
"A deity." The others looked at Wang Han with the same unwavering belief. Even if he wasn't a deity, he was a highly skilled person with magic, which was no different from a deity to them.
(The emperors of the late Ming Dynasty had a deep belief in Taoism, such as Emperor Chongzhen's "Nonsense Stele" and Emperor Jiajing.)
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