Chapter 274: Plans of All Parties
Boatloads of fish temporarily eased people's anxiety, but the drought continued.
The rivers and canals in Lingnan no longer have water for farmers to irrigate their vegetation. The sweet potato vines in the fields are mostly dry and yellow, and the cassava in the farmlands near the woodlands have wilted in the sun.
In some areas, people have trouble getting drinking water and have to go far away to fetch water.
The drought has also severely affected the livestock industry.
Originally, ordinary people in Lingnan would raise two pigs or a sheep at home. Even the poorest families would go to the government to borrow money to buy a pair of rabbits to raise.
However, due to the drought, a large amount of weeds were sun-dried to death, and the people often had to spend twice as much time as usual to go to the densely vegetated forests to cut grass and bring it home for fodder.
However, the drought has also affected the densely vegetated forests. Many grasses in the mountains have been sun-dried to death, and even the slightest spark can cause a forest fire.
Many people had to reluctantly sell their livestock.
Jiang Tangtang relied on his golden finger of space to let his subordinates buy all the livestock sold by the common people, and expanded the Qiongzhou farm three times.
Now it is dry everywhere, the grass outside is dry, yellow and looks malnourished, but the grass in the space is so tender that it can drip water. She doesn't dare to take the grass in the space directly to feed the livestock.
All we can do is prepare the hay in the space, have someone transport a batch of it over regularly, and have the farm workers mix it with the hay and feed it to the animals.
But Jiang Tangtang couldn't take care of too many things. Most of the livestock had to be slaughtered early due to the drought.
Although the drought was severe and all industries in Lingnan were greatly affected, the people of Lingnan did not starve.
Jiang Tangtang exchanged the grain collected in the previous two years for national bonds and distributed them to the people.
Ordinary people who did not buy government bonds could also receive food, but the amount they received was less than that of those who bought government bonds. Moreover, they were not white-collar workers, but borrowed money from the government. They had to repay it after the drought was over, but they did not have to pay interest. They had to repay as much as they received.
Although it was not given for free, the people were very grateful for it and said that Jiang Tangtang was a living Bodhisattva.
This was the first time they received relief food from the government after the disaster.
In the past, during the Great Zhou Dynasty, the government didn’t care about the lives of the people at all; they just kept increasing taxes.
After the grain was distributed, the granaries were almost completely empty. There were still so many troops to feed, and the drought was far from over.
This gave Jiang Tangtang a headache.
Large areas of sweet potatoes and corn were planted in the space again.
Like Lingnan of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the surrounding small countries such as Xirong and Rouran also suffered from droughts to varying degrees.
The people in these places were not as lucky as those in Lingnan. There was no government to distribute relief food, and no officials to organize and lead the people to develop side businesses to alleviate the losses caused by the drought.
After August, a large number of people left their hometowns to escape famine.
At this time, people discovered a strange phenomenon. Although the drought was so severe, Lingnan and Cangwu were still as peaceful as usual, and no one fled.
What does this mean?
This means there is food in Lingnan!
Many people were eyeing Lingnan. Among them was Emperor Xiao Ye of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who had just recovered from a serious illness and immediately disposed of his two sons, and Emperor Xirong, who was temporarily unable to take care of Lu Shiyan because he was at war with the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Under the setting sun, Qi Hongshen took the water bag from his waist, drank a few gulps of water, and suddenly asked the follower behind him: "Shaoan, what do you think of Lingnan?"
Guo Shaoan frowned and thought for a while before saying, "I heard that the people of Da Zhou call Lu Shiyan the God of War, and that Lu Shiyan's wife is a disciple of an immortal. They say that the couple were sent by heaven to save them."
Qi Hongshen sneered, "This is just a trick played by those scholars in the Great Zhou, so that they can rebel and take the throne in the future with justification."
Guo Shaoan said: "But after Lu Shiyan occupied Lingnan, he did not send troops, but has been accepting refugees."
Qi Hongshen said, "His refusal to send troops just proves his cunning. He just wants to wait for us and the Great Zhou to be both defeated, and then sit back and reap the benefits."
"Young Master, since you already know his intentions..." Guo Shaoan wanted to ask why he was still allowed to grow stronger, why not get rid of him earlier, but thinking about the war in the past two years, Xirong could not spare more troops.
Qi Hongshen was relieved to see that his subordinates had figured it out on their own. "Not being able to allocate more troops is one thing, but wouldn't it be better to wait until the cattle are fattened before slaughtering them?"
"What does the young master mean?"
Qi Hongshen smoothed his beard and said, "Now is the time to slaughter the cattle."
If we don’t slaughter them soon, the cattle will become a nuisance.
Guo Shaoan said, "Then when will we send out the troops? I will arrange it right away."
Qi Hongshen said, "Don't rush to send troops. First, send people disguised as refugees to Lingnan to inquire about the situation. I will arrange the deployment of troops later."
He wanted to take Lingnan, but he would not give up the cities captured by the Great Zhou. It would be best to find a way to make the Great Zhou and Lu Shiyan fight first.
But he was right. Lu Shiyan was indeed a wolf cub. Not only did he dare to rebel against the dog emperor of the Great Zhou, but he was also very patient.
He had held Lingnan for so long, yet he could refrain from sending troops. Such a ruthless and patient person is terrifying.
If this person doesn't come out, he will probably become a strong enemy of Xirong in the future.
"Sir, didn't we send an ugly woman to keep an eye on Lu Shiyan? Why don't we send a message to her first?"
Qi Hongshen sighed immediately. He had just thought that his subordinate had made progress, but he hadn't expected him to do something stupid again. "Do you think that woman can still be trusted? Look at what's been circulating lately?"
After Qi Hongshen's reminder, Guo Shaoan finally realized why he had been feeling strange when reading the letters from Lingnan recently.
The letter seemed to say a lot, but upon closer inspection, there was no useful information at all. Instead, it was using rhetoric to spy on them.
Guo Shaoan was ashamed of his slowness. "It was my fault for not noticing it sooner. Please punish me, young master."
Qi Hongshen said, "Go and do your work first. Whether you can receive a reward or a punishment depends on your performance this time."
At the same time, Xiao Ye also summoned several ministers.
These ministers all had one characteristic, which was that they secretly sent their families to Lingnan.
They thought they were being secretive, but they didn't realize that Xiao Ye had seen through them.
At this time, Xiao Ye looked kindly at the descendants of the ministers. What was there that everyone didn't understand? The emperor knew everything they did behind their backs.
But the emperor knew the truth, but he didn't punish them. Instead, he gathered them together like this. Could it be that...
Minister Cui pondered this for a moment, and soon came up with an idea. He knelt on the ground and said sincerely, "Your Majesty, I sent my son to Lingnan because I wanted to find out more about the military strength there so that I could serve Your Majesty."
"Oh?" Xiao Ye looked completely clueless. "Then I wonder how it's going?"
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