Chapter 669 That’s it

Chapter 669 That’s it

Chapter 669 That’s it
"Since the famine and chaos, there has been a general lack of food. The armies have risen together, with no plan for the whole year. When they are hungry, they plunder; when they are full, they abandon the rest. They are disintegrated and displaced, and countless of them have been defeated without a fight."

On the Lichun Terrace to the southwest of the Guanfeng Hall, Shao Xun put down his book, looked at the four children in front of him, and said, "Since the end of the Han Dynasty, the battles on the battlefields have been inseparable from the word food."

"Due to lack of food, I don't know how many plans were not implemented."

"Many wars have been abandoned due to lack of food."

"There are countless invincible people who have been defeated due to lack of food."

"There are many reasons why Cao Mengde was able to succeed, and farming was definitely the top priority."

"It has only been a hundred years since the end of the Han Dynasty, and the military is still fighting and killing, and grain is still the key. Agriculture is the foundation of the world. If agriculture is not stable, the foundation of the country will not be solid, the people will be scattered, and destruction will be imminent. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Ten-year-old Jin Dao (Shao Zhang) and eight-year-old Huan Lang (Shao Gui) sitting in the front row responded with a serious face.

Eight-year-old Fu Bao (Shao Fu) and six-year-old Nian Liu (Shao Xu) sat in the back row, ignorant and confused.

"My father was able to defeat the Xiongnu and take over Hebei because he had the advantage of a well-trained army and sufficient food." Shao Xun continued, "The reason why we were able to provide disaster relief this year was because Yuzhou had recovered from the great collapse seven years ago. Mulberry and hemp were everywhere, and crops were plentiful. Therefore, the counties and kingdoms had surplus food for my father to realize his ambitions."

Eight years ago, there was a historic drought. The Luo River and Huai River dried up, the Yellow River exposed its riverbed and shallows, and many crops died.

The following year, locusts spread throughout the north, leaving almost no food for cattle and horses. Cattle could not even run, and people had to cover their heads and faces when going out.

To be honest, the population losses caused by disasters in two consecutive years are far beyond the reach of even ten Zhang Fangs.

The weaker forts and manors simply could not hold on any longer, and the entire population became refugees, wandering around, begging, fighting, and even eating each other.

The more solidly-funded Wubao Manor was barely able to maintain itself, but many people starved to death. As to how tragic the situation was, the survivors were probably unwilling to tell anyone about it, not even in their lifetime.

The weather in the last five or six years has actually been pretty average, just not as extreme as it was seven or eight years ago.

The most terrifying thing about the Little Ice Age was this: extreme disasters.

"In September, we harvest beans, and in October, we harvest millet. Jin Dao, Hu Lang, you two go to the fields with me and experience the difficulties of farmers." Shao Xun said, "Fu Bao, Nian Liu, you will go with me to harvest melons later. You don't have to go in September and October."

"Yes." The four children answered in unison.

"Let's get back to today's events." Shao Xun said, "Every time there is a white plague on the grassland, they will inevitably march south in large numbers the following year, burning, killing and looting. It doesn't matter if they lose the battle, after a group of people die, life will not be so difficult, and the grassland can be maintained. In Bingzhou and Guanzhong, where the Huns were ravaged by locust plagues, the grass, trees and crops were all destroyed. The autumn harvest was gone, and the fodder for livestock to survive the winter was quite insufficient, so they had to plunder outside. It would be good if they could rob something, but if they couldn't rob anything, they could barely accept it, because many people died, and this was the main reason why they went south."

After saying this, he looked at the four children, observing the expressions on their faces one by one.

Fu Bao was a girl, so she was not involved in the power struggle. Shao Xun did not have any requirements for her, so she just listened in and learned something.

Each of the three sons, Zhang, Gui and Xu, was trained as a potential heir.

In these turbulent times, he has no right to raise children like pigs. That would be courting death because you cannot ensure that any child will actually live to adulthood - a sudden illness could kill them.

The legitimate son has priority in inheritance, but that is not a matter of course.

Of course, he is still young and will not explain his attitude towards the successor to others.

My in-laws, please support me as much as you can. I will educate any children that are born well.

Those with high skills will be given more responsibilities, those with average skills will be given general positions, and those who are not so good can just have fun at home and don't go out to harm others.

"Grandpa, can we lure the enemy?" Jin Dao said.

"Raise your hand first, then answer." Shao Xun glared at him.

"Grandpa, can we use food to lure the thieves to surrender?" Jin Dao raised his hand.

"It's great that you think this way." Shao Xun praised: "The refugees can be lured, but it will be difficult to form an army. We must defeat them, demoralize them, and make them lose their organization."

"Grandpa, are we going to attack Hanoi this time?" Hulang raised his hand.

There was a hand-drawn map in front of him. After looking at it for a long time, he roughly understood where the enemy and our side were.

"Grandpa has sent General Wang, the front army, to lead 6,000 Silver Spear Left Camp, 5,000 Yicong Army, 5,000 Xuchang Hereditary Soldiers, and 10,000 young men from various counties to the west. The shogunate is still sending more troops." Shao Xun said, "Either don't fight, or fight to the end. When you grow up, remember not to hesitate when doing things, or don't do it, or do it to the end. For example, in military struggles, adding fuel to the fire is the most undesirable tactic, and a short pain is worse than a long pain."

"I understand." Badger nodded in response.

As if sensing that the class was about to end, Fu Bao twisted and turned on the couch, looking around, making Nian Liu unable to sit still and start looking around.

Shao Xun coughed.

Fu Bao turned around and smiled ingratiatingly. She knew that this trick was the most effective for her father and would always work.

Shao Xun still stared at her and secretly vowed not to let this wild girl go any longer.

Fu Bao's face froze, and he muttered, "Grandpa, I understand. There is famine everywhere, and the people are short of food. I won't eat the golden eagle."

Shao Xun's face darkened.

Fu Bao once actually tricked the guards into saying that her father had ordered her to eat a golden eagle - and the golden eagle almost died.

"Grandpa, the people of Shangdang can't survive anymore. We might as well attack Shangdang and take a few golden eagles." Fu Bao said, "After this year, there will be no chance."

"get out of class dismissed." Shao Xun said expressionlessly. The four children breathed a sigh of relief and bowed one by one to leave.

After a moment, Liu Ye walked over quietly, obviously something happened.

Shao Xun waved his hand, took the woman into his arms, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Liu Ye nodded and said, "Brother had a quarrel with Liu Yao and wants to start a rebellion now."

Shao Xun sneered: "I have been looking for him for several years, but I have always been hesitant. Now I have no food to eat, and I know how powerful he is."

Liu Ye's face looked gloomy.

Shao Xun sighed and said, "Fortunately, he still has some value. How is Shangdang?"

"Liu Yao took Jinyang, but his gains were limited. I heard that he killed many people and sent a large amount of meat jerky to Lu County and Huguan." Liu Ye said, "But some people couldn't hold on. Some went to Ji County to seek refuge with Shi Hu. Others went south to Gaodu to seek refuge with my brother. The tribe has killed almost all the livestock that can be killed. We can survive this year, but we may not survive next year. Now the words of the Pingyang court are no longer effective, and everyone is trying to find a way out for themselves."

"Liu Cong actually didn't provide disaster relief?" Shao Xun asked in surprise.

"The Wuling Road is too difficult to travel." Liu Ye said, "My dear, you have never been there, so you don't know how difficult the mountain road from Shangdang to Hedong is. More than half of the ten carts of food sent here would be lost on the way. Liu Cong sent a batch of food to Lu County, but not to Gaodu. Some people were so angry that they went north to plunder, so Liu Yao simply sent troops to block the pass and block them in the south. He also sent an envoy to the south to appease them, but the envoy disappeared..."

This is what it means that I would rather die than let my friend die.

The world is materialistic. If there is no food, there is no food. It is useless to talk about it.

Liu Yao sent troops to guard the pass between the north and south of Shangdang, which was to cut off the area and prevent the Jie and Wuhuan tribes in the south from rushing into the core area of ​​Shangdang to burn, kill and loot. Because his army went to Jinyang, there were not many troops left in the Shangdang County area. If they were attacked by the bandits from the south, it would be a terrible sight.

In addition, this is also related to the overall structure of the Xiongnu today: the franchise system of military leaders, chiefs, and powerful families.

In the past two years, Liu Yao's territory has been basically determined: the central and southern regions of Bingzhou with Shangdang, Leping and Taiyuan as the core, and the seat of government is temporarily located in Lu County.

Strictly speaking, the Jincheng Basin south of Lu County had been granted to Shi Le (Duke of Shangdang County). The local mainstream power, the Jie people, was also not on the same page with the Xiongnu, and they were neither close nor distant.

After Shi Le suffered a series of disastrous defeats and lost Hebei, the Jie people and Wuhuan in Shangdang did not move closer to Pingyang. On the contrary, a trend of independence began to emerge and they were less obedient.

This was the reason why Shao Xun suspected that Liu Runzhong wanted to have the best of both worlds between Liu Cong and him.

He didn't buy Shi Hu's account, and let this nephew who wanted to take over his uncle's family business for nothing suffer a setback. As a result, he has been staying in Ji County for the past one or two years and didn't want to bother with Shangdang Liu Runzhong and his gang of people.

Liu Runzhong was also pretending to be friendly with Shao Xun.

After defeating Shi Le and Liu Yao and taking over Hebei last year, he leaned more towards this side, and even took the initiative to express his submission and sent a hostage, which was a rare political statement in recent years.

"Liu Runzhong, Liu Yao, Shi Le..." Shao Xun thought for a moment, his hands began to wander, and he said, "Then we should cross the Taihang Mountains first, occupy the basin, and then find an opportunity to cross another mountain and defeat Liu Yao."

The Taibai star spirit was extremely powerful and destroyed the two mountains beyond recognition, leaving them shaking.

Liu Ye rubbed her slowly in his arms.

The soft and firm buttocks rubbed against each other in ecstasy, and she whispered, "Brother wanted to surrender last year. My dear, just give me an official position. I only have a few relatives."

Shao Xun took a deep breath, not daring to tease him anymore, and said sternly: "If Liu Runzhong just surrenders, his position as a general will end. If he wants to be promoted to a higher position, he must show his military achievements. Otherwise, even if I want to use my relatives, others will gossip about him."

"As long as the young master gives the order, they will obey." Liu Ye said.

"Well, for your sake..." Shao Xun stroked the woman's face and asked, "Can Shi Le do what I can do?"

Liu Ye's face turned completely red, and he even had goose bumps on his exposed arms.

This person's desire to win is too strong.

Not only do you have to control the enemy's territory and surrendered soldiers, but you also have to control their women.

But she actually doesn't reject it.

She is a woman from the grassland, and has always been strong-willed. But at the same time, she also has a desire to be conquered in her heart.

Shi Le relied on her family's troops to start the rebellion, so he was naturally inferior to her and never dared to speak harshly to her. He also gave her the power to guard the rear, but she did not feel anything special.

After following Shao Xun, I watched him sweep Hebei and take over Youzhou. He used cruel tactics in his maneuvers. Over time, I felt something strange in my heart.

Especially when Shao Xun was in a good mood and treated her roughly, it always made her think that women were born to be conquered by men, they just hadn't met such a man before.

At this moment, the life and death and wealth of his brother and nephew were all in the hands of this man. Thinking of this, Liu Ye's two straight and powerful long legs began to twist gently.

As for Shi Le, she no longer cared about him. She only cared about her real relatives.

"In this time of war and chaos, would Liu Zhao dare to go back to Shangdang?" Shao Xun asked softly.

"I'll go and persuade him."

"Okay." Shao Xun nodded with satisfaction and said, "Now that things have come to this, I can't avoid it. Since we have to fight, let's have a big fight."

(End of this chapter)