mtlumby2d Chapter 512: Cutting off the Food and Killing the War Horses
Chapter 512: Cutting off the Food and Killing the War Horses
While Xie Ruiyuan was settling the snow disaster victims, the situation in Beiling City became increasingly worse.
Since the food and grass were hidden under the snow-capped mountains, the 300,000-strong army had to buy their daily food from the people.
But Beiling City is on the border, where wars often break out. The crops planted in the fields are always destroyed during the wars, so that the people living on the border have always had a hard life.
This year is relatively better than previous years because since the beginning of winter, merchants have brought large amounts of grain into the northern border, and the price of grain is very low. The best grain is only two cents per pound, which is cheaper than the grain in local grain stores.
When the local people saw the low-priced and high-quality grain, they went crazy. Every household took out all their savings and bought them all for grain.
Because they know that they may not encounter food at such a high price in the future. No matter how they think about it, they will feel more at ease if they exchange the money for food and keep it at home.
After all, with the same amount of money, you can only buy half a pound of grain in a grain store. The price difference is so high, how can people not be tempted?
The key point is that not only did the poor people take out all their money to buy food, even some rich families did not allow their family members to go to the grain store to buy food, but instead bought food from merchants.
Soon, merchants brought several million kilograms of grain here, and they were sold out. Although the merchants seemed to have made a losing deal, in fact, they had their names registered with Li Mengyue, and the benefits they would get in the future could not be measured in money.
The people in the north bought food at very low prices and were grateful from the bottom of their hearts to the merchants who brought the food.
However, the people later learned that the main reason these merchants came to the northern border was because of King Chen.
It was because of the King Chen's order that they made this trip.
At this time, the people also understood why merchants were unwilling to come to the north in previous years, but came here this year.
It was because the Prince of Chen left the Northern Territory this year. They originally thought that the Prince of Chen would no longer care about the people of the Northern Territory since he would no longer be in the Northern Territory. However, they did not expect that the Prince of Chen was still thinking about them in his heart.
They would rather lose money than allow people to bring low-priced, high-quality grain to the north and sell it to them.
That’s right, in their impression, the grain was bought by the King, but he just asked the merchants to bring it over and sell it to them.
It was this beautiful misunderstanding that made the weight of Prince Chen in the hearts of the people in the northern border rise by more than one or two levels, and he became more important than Emperor Wu Wen.
It can be said that the people in the northern border now only know the Great Zhou’s God of War, Prince Chen, Xie Ruiyuan, but do not know Emperor Wuwen.
However, Emperor Wu Wen in the palace did not care much about these things. After all, his third son was originally the crown prince and would inherit the throne in the future.
Now that his third son Xie Ruiyuan has such a high status among the people of the Northern Territory, he will only be pleased and proud that his son is capable, but he will not be afraid.
Obviously, Xie Ruiyuan also knew what his father's attitude towards him was, so he had no scruples about doing things in the northern border. The only difference was that he would face more assassinations and had to guard against the eldest prince and the second prince.
He also knew that being born into a royal family, struggles for power were inevitable, especially now that they were both adults and at the critical time of appointing a crown prince, the struggle between the two sides would become more intense.
However, Xie Ruiyuan was not afraid of these. He was only worried that Li Mengyue would be implicated.
Let’s not talk about these things for now. Xie Ruiyuan didn’t know that it was this small action of his that allowed the garrison in Beiling City to receive help from the people when they were desperate, and to have a place to live and a hot meal in the snow and ice.
But no matter how much the people wanted to help the garrison, they had limited food at home. Even if the whole family gave away all the food, it would only be a drop in the bucket.
Xie Qichen not only asked people to purchase grain from ordinary people's homes, but also bought a lot of grain from local wealthy families.
But they could not afford to support an army of 300,000. Previously, the deputy generals had gathered in the main tent to discuss matters and mentioned that there was only enough food to last for three days.
And today is the last day, which means that the food in the barracks is only enough for one day, and the entire army will be out of food tomorrow.
Even if Beimo did not send troops to attack the city, they would not be able to hold out for a few days.
Inside the garrison camp tent.
"General, the food I promised you is only enough for today."
"Eat more sparingly." Xie Qichen said helplessly.
"General... we are already frugal enough. All we have is a steamed bun and a bowl of hot soup with only a few grains of rice for one meal every day. Such food is not enough to fill the gaps between the soldiers' teeth, let alone fill their stomachs. Since we have not been able to keep up with the three meals a day recently, the soldiers have no energy to train even if they want to."
Xie Qichen also knew that this was the fact, and even if he wanted to change it, there was no way.
He has already sent the letter, but he doesn't know whether it can be successfully delivered to Prince Chen.
The key point is that he was also worried that even if Prince Chen received the letter, it would be of no help.
First of all, if Prince Chen wants to get from Qingshan Prefecture to Beiling City, it will take at least half a month, and that’s without rest.
But how is this possible? Even if the people don't rest, the horses can't stand it. If you add the time for rest, it will take at least 20 days to reach Beiling City.
Even if Prince Chen can reach Beiling City within twenty days, what can that change?
What they lack now is food and fodder. Not only do people need to eat, but horses also need grass to eat and water to drink.
However, the war horses in their camp were not affected by the avalanche and had been eating fine grass before.
After the avalanche, the food supply for the war horses also declined. They only ate hay, which was just enough to keep them fed and clothed, and they were better off than the soldiers.
But even so, the hay collected from the people before would not last long.
Even in this situation, even if Prince Chen arrived, not much would change.
Secondly, even if the Prince of Chen collected enough food and fodder for an army of 300,000, there was no way to transport it in the ice and snow. Did God really want to destroy the Great Zhou?
"General, the Northern Desert army was shouting and cursing outside the city some time ago, but they stopped shouting and cursing three days ago. But the Northern Desert army shamelessly cooked under the city, and cooked strong-smelling food. The cooking place was in the windy place. When the wind blew, the fragrance drifted into the camp, affecting the mood of the soldiers."
"Give the order to the kitchen to kill the war horses and make meat soup to satisfy the soldiers' hunger."
"General, every warhorse is our good friend. How can we kill the warhorses at this time?"
"Stop talking and just do as I say."
"General."
Someone else wanted to say something, but Xie Qichen raised his hand to stop him.
The deputy generals in the tent all knew that Xie Qichen had made up his mind and there was no point in saying anything more, so they did not discuss the matter any further.
However, everyone present was in a heavy mood. They didn't know how long they could hold out and whether the Prince of Chen could deliver food and supplies in time.