Please ask me to be the emperor

Sun Tzu said: The method of using military force is to drive a thousand chariots, a thousand leather chariots, a hundred thousand armors, and provide food for thousands of miles.

Then the internal and external expenses, the use of guests, the materials for glue and paint, and the service of chariots and armors will cost a thousand gold per day, and then a hundred thousand troops will be raised.

Since Zhang Shun occupied Henan Prefecture, he has expanded his army and prepared for war. There is no day without troops and no day without fighting.

He personally led the rebel army to defeat Chen Qiyu, the governor of five provinces, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Yunyang, Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces, Zhu Dadian, the governor of Caoyun and Fengyang governor, Fu Zonglong, the governor of Henan, and Tang Hui, the governor of Huguang. He defeated more than 100,000 officers and soldiers.

However, behind his illustrious military exploits, there were grains, grass, wages, and rewards that were spent like running water.

In recent years, there have been successive disasters in the north, with Shaanxi being the worst.

By coincidence, the main force participating in the conquest of the rebels was the Qin army from Shaanxi. The rebels won consecutive battles, but in fact they did not capture much.

Subsequently, the rebel army expanded rapidly, recruiting surrendered troops, recruiting soldiers, making weapons and armor, rebuilding the civil service system, providing disaster relief and fighting locusts, and so on, all of which required food and silver, and the costs were as you can imagine. Know.

After Zhang Shun listened to Lady Hong's reminder, he calmed down and went to Ma Yingniang, Li Xiang and others but hit a wall, and finally settled down with Huang and Da Zhu.

Early the next morning, Zhang Shun had a hasty breakfast and hurriedly summoned Zhang Shenyan, Lu Weiqi, Song Xiance and others to inquire about the rebel army's food and grass savings.

Apparently the red lady had already handed over to them before giving birth.

After Song Xiance heard this, he quickly took the initiative to report: "The last grain purchase was handled by me. Although it was said to be one million dan, in fact, the total purchase of wheat, small and large rice was 670,000 dan. In addition, Luoyang's original reserve of 78,000 dan Ten thousand stones, Li Baihu purchased thirty to fifty thousand stones, so the total is only eight hundred thousand stones."

After Song Xiance finished his report, Zhang Shenyan continued: "The three defensive battles of Luoyang consumed a total of 5,000 shi of food and grass, and rewarded more than 13,000 taels of silver. Most of the rest was the land of the former prince, which is not much. .”

"When King Shun attacked from all sides and sent food from thousands of miles away, the food and wages were spent like running water."

"Among them, the two battalions of Cao Bianjiao and Zhao Lizi did not have much food and grass in Sishui and other places, and almost all of it was transported by Luoyang. In addition, Han Lin presided over the reconstruction and repair of checkpoints and mobilized young men, which cost about 5,000 shi of food and 2 taels of silver. Eight thousand taels.”

"Li Ji's encounter with the Songshan camp was slightly better. The camp had some savings and only spent 800 shi of food and 2,300 taels of silver in the treasury."

"Li Xin of Ruzhou conquered east and west, and fought with the officers and soldiers for a long time. He actually spent three thousand dan of food and two thousand dan of silver."

"My lord led the main force to conquer the south and the north. He also received compensation and rewards. He spent a total of 42,000 dan of food and more than 10,400 taels of silver."

"The three battalions of Cao Wenzhao, Chen Changzhen, and Li You marched westward. They fought with the officers and soldiers under Yutong Pass. They also cast artillery, siege equipment and other items. They spent a total of 27,000 shi of grain, and the grain was converted into 13,56 shi of silver. , two six thousand three hundred taels of silver."

"This only costs 100,000 dan, how can I say less?" Zhang Shun asked strangely.

"Your Majesty, King Shun!" Lu Weiqi said with a wry smile after hearing this, "Renovation of Luoyang City, construction of the 'Ziwei Star Castle', purchase of raw and cooked iron materials and iron ore, casting of artillery, forging of weapons, etc., cost two and a half grains. More than ten thousand stones.”

"Replanting, disaster relief, locust extermination and other matters are a bottomless pit. The cost and loss of food before and after are 78,900 dan."

"The official salary is 4,200 dan in 2 prefectures and 17 counties. There are 15 battalions of soldiers and horses. A total of 97,600 dan of military pay, 12,000 taels of silver, and more than 50,000 dan of soybeans and black beans are distributed. , 450,000 bunches of grass.”

"In addition, due to the poor harvest last year, many people were in dire straits. Those who borrowed seeds and grain had more than 48,000 dan. Those who provided food for disaster relief also had 60,000 dan."

Zhang Shun did some mental calculation after hearing this and found that he had already spent more than 450,000 dan. Almost half of the 800,000 shi of food originally accumulated by the rebels was used up.

Although there are still 350,000 dan left, military rations at the front line must be accumulated, and warehouses in various places must also be stored.

Therefore, the actual available food is only 200,000 dan, so the issue of food should really be considered.

However, Zhang Shun was not a vegetarian, so he couldn't help but ask: "Why is there so much discounted grain? How come there is so much discounted grain in places where money should be distributed?"

For example, military pay, salary and some miscellaneous support should be paid in money, right?

"King Shun doesn't know something!" Zhang Shenyan answered, "This matter was decided by me, Mr. Lu, Mr. Song and Mrs. Hong."

"Last year, there was a bad harvest in Henan, and the people had no food left. Originally, the rebels needed a lot of disaster relief."

"It just so happened that the rebels had plenty of food and grass, so we came up with a way to 'compensate for food'."

"The specific method is to convert the support that originally needed to be issued in silver coins into silver coins at the price of one, two, three, and one stone."

"This can not only reduce the expenses of the rebels, but also stabilize food prices, so as to prevent the people from being destitute, bankrupt, and unsustainable."

"Only those who really have neither land nor money to use, can use 'work-for-relief' as much as possible. Only those who have no other choice should distribute rice grains as a last resort."

"Oh?" Zhang Shun was delighted when he heard this, "This is a good idea!"

It is rare for people in this era to actually know how to use economic means to improve people's livelihood!

"By the way, didn't I make an agreement with the grain merchants before to send another 800,000 shi around March this year? Why is there no movement?" Zhang Shun has been tempered by daily complicated affairs. Although he does not have a photographic memory, his memory is also poor. Excellent.

Zhang Shenyan, Lu Weiqi and Song Xiance glanced at each other and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "This is the result of our self-defeating efforts!"

"How do you say this?" Zhang Shun asked curiously.

"King Shun didn't know something. Last year's autumn grain harvest was not good, and hundreds of thousands of stones were purchased and consumed by our rebel army. Food in the north became increasingly scarce." Zhang Shenyan recounted.

"Especially in the border areas, food prices are getting higher and higher. It is said that there are famines in Tumut, Aoerdusi and other places, and food prices are soaring."

"The merchants such as Wang Qingzhi and the Wang family in Puzhou who originally promised to send us food are now so focused on smuggling to the border troops, Mongolia and Houjin that they have no time to take care of themselves. How can they have the leisure to sell food to us?"

"This..." Zhang Shun understood what was going on. This was the initial success of his "food war".

There is less food and more money in the whole north, but isn’t that why food prices are skyrocketing?

The area under his control was originally a grain-producing area, and it was close to Huguang, Nanzhili and other major grain-producing areas. In addition, the rebels suppressed grain prices.

It would be great if such a place did not serve as a grain export area. How could it be possible to attract grain merchants to sell grain here?

"How much silver do we have now?" Zhang Shun thought for a while and felt that he still had to rely on silver to solve the problem.