Chapter 3508: Capture the King First
Pan Shixiong said, "General, you know that in recent years, there has been too much food in the country, so the army no longer provides its own food and grass when it is deployed. Instead, it raises it locally. But now-"
Xiahou Jiu asked, "How is the situation now?"
Pan Shixiong said, "The food in Doubei Town is totally insufficient!"
"What?"
If it were anything else, Xiahou Jiu probably wouldn't have been so shocked, but he was a military commander after all, and he knew firsthand how crucial food and fodder were to an army. Hearing that there wasn't enough food and fodder was even more shocking than hearing that Li Wuyu had been poisoned.
He asked hurriedly, "How much is the difference?"
Pan Shixiong said, "The general originally brought over 10,000 men with him, and over the past two days he has mobilized another 40,000 men, bringing the total to over 50,000 men stationed nearby. Add to that the 20,000 men mobilized by Chen Wenxiong—"
Xiahou Jiu immediately said, "Don't mention his 20,000 troops for now!"
Pan Shixiong said in embarrassment, "Yes. Even without mentioning his 20,000 troops, our 50,000 alone would consume 50,000 dan of grain a month, or nearly 2,000 dan a day."
Xiahou Jiu frowned and asked, "So, how much food is stored in Doubei Town?"
Pan Shixiong hesitated for a long time before saying, "Less than... 10,000 dan."
"What?!"
This time, Xiahou Jiu was really shocked.
Less than 10,000 shi? !
What kind of concept is this? They have already stayed in Doubei Town for several days. If they stay for a few more days, they will run out of food!
He suddenly stood up from his chair and asked anxiously, "How could this happen?!"
Pan Shixiong said with a sad face, "I also noticed that more and more troops have been mobilized in the past two days. I found out when I went to check the granary. The granary in Doubei Town is running out of food."
Xiahou Jiu asked, "Wasn't a large granary built here seven years ago specifically for storing grain shipped from Yongzhou?"
Pan Shixiong said, "The granary was built, but grain was cheap, and no one wanted to use such a large space to store it. They secretly disposed of some of the grain and rented the empty granary to silk merchants to store their raw silk."
"this--"
Xiahou Jiu only felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
He was the one who facilitated the trade with Yan State. He was also very clear about how cheap the price of grain was in Yue State and how expensive the price of raw silk was. He even abused his authority in various places to dispose of the grain in the granaries and use it to store raw silk bought at low prices from silk merchants, and then sold it to Yan State at a high price. He earned at least several million taels of silver every year from this transaction.
But now, what’s the use of those silver and silver notes?
Once a war breaks out, food is the most important thing!
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he immediately said, "Hurry up, send people to various places to transfer food!"
Pan Shixiong said: "I have made preparations. I will just wait for the general to know about this and then send them to various places to transfer food. But -"
"Just what?"
"But, General, I'm afraid you need to be mentally prepared."
"What's the meaning?"
Pan Shixiong said with a bitter face, "The granaries in other places are probably about the same size as here in Doubei Town, or even worse. After all, Chen Biri has been operating in Doubei Town for many years, and this is considered the most heavily cultivated area, so there are still 20% to 30% of the grain left. It's hard to say about other places."
“…”
"Actually, if the matter had been discovered earlier, it wouldn't have been a big deal."
“…”
"However, a few days ago, when His Majesty returned from the steep north slope, he ordered his men to trample the rice seedlings. The farmers here have completely fled. Even if we search the people's homes, we can't find even a grain of food."
Xiahou Jiu’s expression became increasingly ugly.
Only at this moment did he feel what it meant to shoot himself in the foot.
Although there was still food in the Doubei Town granary, and they were not starving yet, he knew too well that with so many people starving, if they were not fed enough for one day, they would become dissatisfied, and if they were not fed enough for two days, they would become resentful. On the third day—
I'm afraid a mutiny is about to break out!
Pan Shixiong continued, "And that's--"
At this time, Xiahou Jiu could no longer suppress the anger caused by frustration and growled, "What else?"
Pan Shixiong said, "The general just said that we don't need to worry about the 20,000 people that Chen Wenxiong has transferred... But in fact, we can't ignore them."
“…”
"Their food and fodder must also be raised here."
“…”
"Doubei Town is still Chen Biri's territory. Furthermore, His Majesty is still on their side. If we really need to raise food and fodder, it will definitely be easier for them. This will make the situation even more unfavorable for us."
Xiahou Jiu's breathing became heavier.
He didn't expect that in just two days, everything would be turned upside down. The trade between the two countries that he had facilitated, which was originally a situation favorable to him, suddenly became a huge rock pressing down on him.
Xiahou Jiu thought it over and said through gritted teeth, "It seems that not only do we need to gather food and fodder before Chen Wenxiong and the others, but more importantly, we need to end the battle as soon as possible."
Pan Shixiong nodded and said, "Yes!"
Xiahou Jiu waved his hand and said, "You go down first and quickly gather food and fodder. Also, call Ruan Wentong over. We need to discuss our next move."
"yes."
Pan Shixiong went down immediately.
After a while, Ruan Wentong walked in. As soon as he entered the room, he felt the low air pressure in the room, which made it almost hard to breathe. He walked cautiously to Xiahou Jiu and bowed to salute.
"General."
Xiahou Jiu just rolled his eyes and glanced at him, then said, "You know everything about the food and fodder, right?"
Ruan Wentong said: "Yes."
Xiahou Jiu frowned and asked, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Ruan Wentong sighed and said, "I didn't expect things to develop so quickly."
Indeed, everything before their eyes - whether it was Li Wu Yu's poisoning, their war with Yan State, or Chen Wenxiong's mobilization of troops, was sudden. From the very beginning, they did not expect that the situation would develop to this point.
Now, food and supplies have become a hand strangling their necks.
Xiahou Jiu said, "Tell me how to solve this problem."
Ruan Wendong seemed to have been prepared for this. Without thinking, he immediately said, "General, there is only one solution now, and that is to end the war as soon as possible."
“…”
"Only in this way can the problem of food and fodder not be exposed."
Xiahou Jiu said, "However, after these two days of fighting, we haven't gained any advantage at all. It will be difficult to end the war like this."
A cold light flashed in Ruan Wentong's eyes, and he said, "General, there is an old saying among the Yan people: to capture the thief, you must first capture the leader."
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