Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 169: Food Consumption Plan
Yuan Yin is even more spineless than Lu Xun imagined... and has even less sense of the overall situation!
The city of Hefei was given away just like that?
Even though the strategic decision was wrong at the beginning and the Baigong Cannon hit them in the face, the situation was very unfavorable, but in Lu Xun's opinion, there was still a way out.
Apart from other things, it would take more than a day or two to bring down the city wall that was blessed by the founding of the country using the Baigong Cannon. And the Baigong Cannon required the collection and polishing of stones every day, which created opportunities for sneak attacks.
Moreover, like last night, by paying some casualties and retaking some Acropolis camps, we can also limit the reckless use of Baigong Cannon.
It is now a time of severe drought. In order to be closer to the water source, Bai Tu set up camp some distance away from Hefei. If he wants to move forward, he can only "build a well step by step" and dig all the way forward.
This also meant that Bai Tu's daily siege time would be very limited. If it were Lu Xun, he would even dare to gamble on seizing the water source - without the few water sources now, how long could Bai Tu keep his troops stationed?
Of course, Bai Tu was definitely in the upper hand on the scene, and Lu Xun was confident that he would win in the end. However, he did not expect that Yuan Yin's will to fight was so weak!
At noon on the second day after the Battle of Weiwu Gate, Bai Tu was welcomed into Hefei, and at the same time... he also understood Yuan Yin's sinister intentions.
Before leaving, Yuan Yin told the Hefei County Magistrate who stayed behind that he was taking advantage of the fact that the army outside the city was attracted and taking a detour to defend Xingye City, which was an acropolis about . The Hefei County Magistrate was so moved that he almost shed tears.
Who would have thought... actually Yuan Yin took away all the food and fodder he could carry, and filled the rest with straw, and... the gold juice prepared for defending the city was not wasted at all, it was all sprinkled into the remaining granary!
Bai Tu speculated that he was worried that if he burned it directly, it would attract his attention in advance. And since they had to evacuate, the saved gold juice would not be used anymore, let alone take it away, so... he used this cruel method.
The magistrate of Hefei County felt that something was wrong today. Bai Tu's army did not look like there were troops stationed in Xingye City, so he went to check the food and grass, and found out... except for the granary that was in use and was not damaged but was only filled with straw, the other granaries were almost impossible to enter!
Knowing that Yuan Yin must have escaped, the Hefei County Magistrate was not willing to work for the Yuan family. He immediately contacted Bai Tu outside the city to come in...
Although it was not considered a meritorious act for surrendering the city, Bai Tu did not make things difficult for the county magistrate who came from a prominent local family. He simply dismissed him on the spot, and the other party had no complaints about it.
Bai Tu also learned about the situation in Hefei, or the central and southern parts of Jiujiang at this time, and learned that what Yuan Yin took away last night were the only more than 10,000 elite soldiers from Nanyang in the city - all of whom were gradually expanded from the wealth accumulated when Yuan Shu served as the prefect of Nanyang.
Together with the soldiers from Runan and the most elite troops of Dazhong today, there are only 30,000 in total.
What Yuan Yin left behind were more than 30,000 weak, helpless, pitiful, demoralized... but capable Huainan soldiers!
Many of them were forcibly conscripted and overdrawn, and now they are being abandoned, and they are told that there is no more food rations...
In this situation, although they will not exclude Jiangdong, but... the people are already in chaos and a mutiny may occur if they are not careful.
Bai Tu's way of calming people's hearts was simple. He immediately arranged for middle-level officers from Jiangdong to take over the army and also delivered food and fodder to each camp. Seeing the cartloads of relief food, although their combat effectiveness and morale could not be restored much, at least they would not become mutinous soldiers.
At the same time, Bai Tu also sent out light cavalry to chase northwards - Yuan Yin actually brought a lot of food with him, and considering his speed, it is still very likely that he will be caught up!
Killing the enemy was secondary. The main thing was that in Hefei, there were not only more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians, but also a large number of refugees...
If work is not provided for relief, but the purpose is simply to keep people alive, the refugees can be accommodated with only one-third or even one-fifth of the food ration they receive while working.
In the past, cities like Hefei, which were strong cities and grain storage areas, took in many refugees, even in Huainan, which was hit by a severe drought.
"This guy is probably planning to forcibly extract the manpower of refugees and combine them into new soldiers to guard the wall if there are too many casualties later!" Bai Tu speculated about Yuan Yin with the greatest malice.
After all, this guy's method was too despicable - the military rations he destroyed were not only needed by the army, but also essential for providing relief to Hefei and even the central and southern parts of Jiujiang County.
"Fortunately, the lord didn't expect to use the grain in the treasury to provide relief to Huainan." Lu Xun comforted.
That’s right, the relief food that Bai Tu prepared was enough to help Hefei, otherwise he wouldn’t have chosen to attack at this time...
Just looking at those granaries, Bai Tu's heart was bleeding, and he ordered at the same time: "The damaged grain should be immediately transported out of the city and burned and buried. The warehouses should be carefully cleaned and stopped from being used to prevent epidemics. The relief grain we brought should still be stored in the city wall.
In addition... start to publicize the immigration to Jiangdong in the city, and start the immigration plan after the first batch of supporting troops arrives."
Bai Tu also knew that this was not the time to feel sad. The wasted food should be destroyed immediately. Otherwise, with the current level of medical care, neither humans nor Ji Zao soldiers could resist bacterial infection in the stomach, not to mention that it might also induce epidemics.
As for the immigration plan, Bai Tu had prepared it long ago. Although more food would be needed in the short term to relocate the refugees, after all, people who were on the move would definitely eat more than those who were staying still. However... this disaster relief was a long-term project, so it would be better to send them to Jiangdong, which would save food - otherwise, there would be losses if they were transported here one after another.
To some extent, Yuan Yin did cause considerable trouble to Bai Tu.
At this time, Bai Tu could no longer be polite. The migration of refugees was semi-forced. If they wanted relief food, they had to migrate. Otherwise, Bai Tu would not be able to withstand the transportation of food from Jiangdong time and time again.
After arriving in Jiangdong, each household would be granted land... or in other words, they would be hired to reclaim wasteland and eat relief food - the population of Jiangdong was basically concentrated in the north and southeast, and Yuzhang County and Zhangling County were both sparsely populated.
Of course, after the drought is over, they can choose to stay and get some reclaimed wasteland and one year of tax exemption, or they can choose to return to Huainan, but then they must return the wasteland they have reclaimed in Jiangdong, and they must also pay land rent and migration expenses... themselves.
Bai Tu estimated that except for the prominent families with industries in Huainan, ordinary people would not be willing to go through so much trouble. Even if it is difficult to leave their hometown, they have to consider the actual situation!
Moreover, in a few months, even the prominent families hiding in Wu Castle will not be able to bear it and will need to migrate. By then, Bai Tu will have plenty of time to liquidate his non-performing assets.
Many fields and mines are occupied by local prominent families, but they do not have title deeds. It is just "customary practice". This situation exists everywhere, but because the government encourages the reclamation of wasteland and the payment of more taxes, everyone turns a blind eye to it.
But now Huainan is empty, Bai Tu will definitely measure the land clearly, and then wait for them to move back... As for the properties with title deeds and noted in the archives of the county, Bai Tu will not bully them, but the other gray property rights... Sorry, they have already been occupied.
This is also why Huainan was the most successful place for military farming during the Three Kingdoms period in history - this drought gave the northern regime that later took over Huainan the best opportunity to clean up.
And no one can say anything yet. After all, since they evacuated during the disaster year, the gray industries without any evidence...whether they were developed privately, colluded with the government, or illegally occupied, were naturally regarded as abandoned.
Do you want to go back afterwards?
Did you see the fist-sized casserole?
As for ordinary families with no property, when they arrived in Jiangdong and were granted land again, the wasteland was finally reclaimed. If they stayed, they would get points. If they didn't stay... they would have to find a way to raise money for the journey. Everyone knew what to choose.
Soon the news of the migration spread in Hefei city. With Bai Tu's reputation and the actual relief food already distributed, there was not much complaint.
After all, Bai Tu didn't force them to leave, but... except for the elderly and children who were really not suitable for long-distance migration, everyone else had to obey orders before relief food could be distributed!
The victims did not have so many demands. Compared to being crowded in shacks and eating porridge with barely any rice in it, Bai Tu had opened up the supply of relief food and pointed out a way to survive. What else was there to complain about?
The conditions in the shack that Yuan Yin had arranged for him were so poor... Bai Tu always felt that God was on his side by not letting him suffer a plague!
The pursuit results he received at night made Bai Tu a little depressed.
Because the situation in the city was complicated, with a large number of unstable surrendered soldiers and refugees, Bai Tu did not dare to send too many troops to pursue, only 3,000 light cavalry. Lu Xun and Lu Bu were also in the city. Bai Tu needed the deterrent power of his adoptive father and Lu Xun's brains...
The cavalrymen who pursued were also two "old generals" - Cheng Lian and Cao Xing, both of whom were veterans of the Bingzhou Army together with Song Xian. When Wei Xu and Hou Cheng were tried to rebel, they were not sought at all. This to a certain extent shows that they were indeed more trustworthy than Wei Xu and Hou Cheng.
However, Yuan Yin played a trick and pretended to be caught up, then abandoned his baggage and fled.
When Cheng Lian and Cao Xing were happily seizing the baggage and preparing to return to the city, they attacked again...
If it was Lu Xun who led the troops, he would definitely find out that there was a trick when he chased the enemy to their position. If it was Lu Bu, he would most likely be able to see that the enemy's defeat was a trick. Moreover, in such a small-scale battle, Lu Bu's forceful charge would be unstoppable...
Even if it is a white map, we should be on guard!
However, for Cheng Lian and Cao Xing, this was already a "very sophisticated" tactic, and the two were killed by surprise.
Fortunately, the cavalry under Bai Tu were not a trapped army that would become furious at the sight of food and fodder, and Yuan Yin did not have the courage to go all in after all, so he only left half of his men to cover their retreat.
It was just that because the food and grass carts blocked the army, the cavalry's advantage could not be shown, so they suffered a small defeat, and the enemy burned all the baggage left behind...
