weaving

Chapter 428 Raising Food
On November 13th, the [-]th year of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Cheng led the army to Wu'an County under the jurisdiction of Cizhou, Zhangde Prefecture, which already belonged to the territory of Henan Chief Secretary.

Zhang Chengce rode on his black horse, looking around, not only his heart twitched, but the scene in front of him was like hell.

Zhan Wang was surrounded by a vast expanse of yellow and white, without a single leaf, bark, or even blades of grass, because these were eaten up by the hungry people.

Without the bark, the bare trunk trembled in the yellow ground, and a gust of wind blew up, blowing the dust on the face with the wind.

The land is barren, yellow sand is flying all over the sky, many rivers have dried up, and the riverbed is also cracked, and there are cracks that seep everywhere.

The original Beiming River in the north of Wu'an County has dried up now, and only the Nanming River in the south of the city is about to dry up. Zhang Cheng led the army to camp on both sides of the Nanming River. Much better than anhydrous.

Since they entered the territory of Wu'an, most of the villages and forts they passed through on the way were empty. There were hungry people everywhere, skeletons everywhere, and all kinds of dead people were everywhere. The rest of the people also had strange eyes. which performed.

What made Zhang Cheng unbearable was that there were groups of hungry people cutting up the flesh of those who had just died to eat, and abandoned dead babies were everywhere.

Although those starving people were already mad with hunger, when they saw the army approaching, they avoided it from a distance. Even if they were crazy, they were afraid that the officers and soldiers would behead them and use them to pretend to be military leaders.

At the beginning, Zhang Cheng wanted to use the rations stored in the army to help these hungry people, but along the way, he saw too many such scenes along the way. I am afraid that even if the army rations are scattered, how many people can be saved?
Moreover, if the military food is distributed to these hungry people, how long can they live, and what will the nearly ten thousand army eat?

Zhang Cheng also knew that in the past two years, the entire Northland of Daming had experienced a series of droughts. Although the North Road had opened up a lot of wasteland due to the construction of canals to store water, the East Road was worse, but the disaster situation was weaker than that of Henan. able to survive.

Even Baoding Mansion and Zhending Mansion are relatively better, but after entering Shunde Mansion, what I saw and heard...

Zhang Cheng also just ordered Liu Jinhai to set up one or two porridge sheds every [-] miles north from Wu'an County, and send some scattered riders to guide these hungry people to flow to Xuanzhen East Road and North Road.

If they can reach Xuan Town alive, at least they won't starve to death, and those who can make it to Xuan Town must be physically strong, and the number of Dingkou on the East and North Roads can be greatly increased.

…………

In the Wu'an County Government Office, Zhang Cheng was sitting and talking with Ji Youci, the magistrate of Wu'an County.

"This year, the drought is particularly serious. The rivers and canals are dry, the ground is cracked, and the crops are almost useless. My parents in this county feel powerless in their hearts. I am really ashamed of my parents and fellow villagers in Wu'an!" Ji Youci looked haggard and tired. , with helplessness written all over his face.

Zhang Cheng had seen a lot during the trip, and at this moment he asked, "Although the disasters in Wu'an are severe on the way, there are many valleys, why there are always some streams, so there will be no crops."

"Ugh!"

Ji Youci sighed, and then said: "Brother-in-law, you don't know something. Even if there are some grains and grains, they are deposited in the families of the rich and powerful families such as scholars, gentry, etc. Not only the people are hungry and have no food, but even the grass leaves The bark is all gone.

Even the warehouses in this county government office are empty, and all the officials and servants are hungry, and it is hard to keep going! "

Zhang Cheng asked with doubts all over his face: "So, why not send some grain to the county to survive the disaster year?"

"Brother-in-law's words are wrong. If it was earlier, it might be feasible. In order to take care of their reputation, those gentry would donate some grain to relieve the people's poverty. But now the imperial court is no longer powerful, and the gentry are especially selfish.
What's more, those grains are all stored in the high-walled manor outside the city. Even if I want to send messengers to search for it, I can't get it. " Ji Youci lamented in his words.

"Brother, didn't I send someone to transport thousands of grains and grains, how much will the county get?" Zhang Cheng asked again.

Ji Youci smiled wryly, and said: "General Liu under my brother-in-law's command has indeed sent grain and grain and thousands of stones, but how can the tens of thousands of people in the city and outside the city be able to support them? Now, we can only take one step at a time. At worst, I will accompany the people in the county to starve to death in Wu'an."

Zhang Cheng's expression was gloomy and cold, and he paused every word: "How much silver is there in the county treasury?"

"What does brother-in-law mean? Now that I have silver deposits, where can I buy grain!"

"Brother, you don't need to bother, just tell me where there is grain in Zhuangzi, and then give me the silver in the county treasury. I will buy grain and grain to alleviate the urgent shortage in the county. At least the hungry people will hang on to this tone Don't starve to death!" Zhang Cheng said firmly.

…………

On November [-]th, Lijiazhai, more than ten miles west of Wu'an County, was built along the mountain. There were two springs in the village, both of which were occupied by Li Guangqi, the head of the village.

In addition, the mountain streams are used to store it all year round in the village, so the crops are quite harvested, and the Li family is a large family in the county, with fields all over Wu'an, and the village has a lot of money and food.

At this time, the patrolling Zhai Ding on the wall of the village looked tense. They looked to the northeast endlessly, not knowing what was going on with the huge cloud of smoke and dust over there. No less than a hundred horses.

"Quick...quick...quickly report to Master Li..."

An old man in his fifties shouted loudly, appearing a little incoherent.

I saw a young man in his twenties who quickly climbed down the wall of the village, mounted a mule and horse, and galloped to a large courtyard in the northwest of Lijiazhai.

The smoke and dust in the distance gradually receded, and a one-eyed fierce man wearing Ming army armor rode to the gate of the village. Behind him were eighty or ninety strong cavalry warriors, all wearing armor and wearing bright red cloaks. .

"The one who dares to ask outside is the master of the army?" The old man stood on the wall of the village and shouted loudly.

"We are the frontier army of Xuanzhen, sent to Zhongzhou to suppress bandits!" The one-eyed fierce man replied loudly.

After the old man confirmed that he was an officer, he felt relieved, but he asked loudly with suspicion: "The general is going to Zhongzhou to suppress bandits, why did he stay in front of the villain's village? We are good people in the county. Not bandits!"

The one-eyed fierce man is the guerrilla general Zhang Guangda, the commander of the cavalry battalion under Zhang Cheng's command. He rode his horse and rushed a few steps forward, shouting loudly: "I am waiting for the army to cross the border, and there is not enough food and grass. I have ordered my commander-in-chief to come here." Raise food."

The old man looked disdainful, and replied loudly: "The general should go to Wu'an County to raise military supplies, the Caomin village is also very difficult, there is really no food for the general!"

(End of this chapter)