Jiang Gan exhaled depressedly. "But isn't it, it's been more than two months since the end of the war, and the performance has already arrived, and the court just hasn't reacted, I really don't know what they're thinking. General, tell me, what's going on? ”

Ma Teng smiled but did not speak, and his heart was comforted by the word "post-general". He and Han Sui acted together and were commensurate with brothers, but Han Sui was knowledgeable and had many supporters, so he could only accompany the last seat, with Han Sui as the mainstay. After arriving in Chang'an, he jumped above Han Sui, and now he has been promoted to general, but Han Sui is still his Zhenxi general.

Sun Ce was in trouble asking for gong, and he came to him first instead of Han Sui, and this is the difference. Jiang Gan would definitely go to Han Sui, but the change in order could tell a lot. Before that, although he was the general of Zhengxi and Han Sui was the general of Zhenxi, most people would still habitually put Han Sui in front when they mentioned them.

"The imperial court also cherishes General Sun." Ma Teng said solemnly: "General Sun is already a rebellious general just after the weak crown, the father and son are two thousand stones, and they hold heavy troops, so it may not be a good thing to be promoted too quickly." ”

Jiang Gan raised his eyebrows, smiling rather than smiling. "I see."

Ma Teng was a little embarrassed. He is not stupid, how can he not see Jiang Gan's unhappiness. But he knew in his heart that no matter how many gifts Sun Ce gave, it would be unwise to speak for Sun Ce now. Yang Biao has been deposed, and Zhu Jun will soon be deposed, although these two people are related to Sun Ce, they actually did not help Sun Ce much, they are still ostracized, if he speaks for Sun Ce, maybe it will be his turn next.

Jiang Gan took the initiative to change the subject. Sun Ce hoped that Ma Teng could provide a batch of high-grade war horses. Several times rushed into battle, Ma Chao made a lot of contributions, but the loss was not small, Yicong rode the war horse to lose more than half, if it can not be replenished in time, the next big war is likely to be unable to go into battle.

Ma Teng promised that he would provide two hundred high-grade war horses to ensure the combat effectiveness of the righteous cavalry. However, he reminded Jiang Gan that Yuan Shao's envoys had been active in Chang'an recently, and had also found them and wanted to buy war horses from Xiliang. Xiliang produces so many horses every year, Yuan Shao is wealthy, willing to pay a high price, and there are many people who are willing to sell to him, the price of war horses has more than doubled, and the number of high-grade war horses has reached 200,000.

Jiang Gan's brows furrowed. "Two hundred thousand?"

Ma Teng patted his thigh and smiled: "Yes, I also think it's incredible, but I can't help it." Don't look at me as a general, but I'm not a real Liangzhou person after all. The current Liangzhou Thorn Shi Chong Shao and I have a good relationship, but he will soon leave office, I heard that he may return to the court as a servant, and the Liangzhou Thorn Shi who took over is Wei Xiufu (Wei Duan), which is not a good character. When I heard that he was going to take office, I sent someone to congratulate him, but he turned him away. Ziyi, I also want to help General Sun, but I don't have enough strength. ”

Jiang Gan smiled and arched his hand. "The general's intentions, I will definitely convey to General Sun. I will definitely report the general's difficulties truthfully. General Sun has a clear distinction between grievances and grievances, and he can distinguish whether he is a friend or an opponent. By the way, I heard that the imperial court is going to check the empty salary, but is there such a thing? ”

Ma Teng nodded, smiling a little forcefully. The severe drought in Guanzhong and the poor harvest are a foregone conclusion, and grain prices have already begun to rise. Although it has not yet affected the military rations for the time being, Huang Fusong has already revealed the wind several times, and it is urgent to check the empty salaries and strictly control the supply of military rations. All ministries have empty salaries, but the cost of raising soldiers is too high, especially Ma Teng, Han Sui and others, they have to support two or three thousand people, and it is far from enough to rely on the food and salary provided by the imperial court, and eating empty salaries is an important way to subsidize. If they were to check the empty salaries, their financial resources would be greatly reduced, and they might not even be able to support their troops.

Ma Teng sometimes even thought that this might be the imperial court's means against him and Han Sui, weakening their strength in disguise.

Jiang Gan smiled. "General Hou, is the price of food in Chang'an also rising very fast now?"

Ma Teng couldn't laugh anymore, faked coughing twice, waved his hand, and motioned for Ma Tie and the others to withdraw, leaving him and Jiang Gan in the hall. He sighed. "Ziyi, to tell you the truth, since Guanzhong entered April, there has not been a drop of rain, and the drought has been very serious. Last year, there was already a flood and the grain stock was limited, and if it is hit again this year, there will definitely be food problems. ”

Jiang Gan smiled and said nothing. He knew all of that. Before he entered Chang'an City, Guo Jia arranged for the detailed work in Guanzhong to report the relevant situation to him, and Ma Teng was simply beyond his power to play tricks in front of him.

Seeing that Jiang Gan didn't speak, Ma Teng was even more uneasy. "Ziyi, I heard that General Sun is in Tuntian, Jingyu Yangsanzhou, how is the harvest?"

"It's not good." Jiang Gan also said seriously: "Last year, the Central Plains encountered heavy rains, and the harvest was affected. From October last year to March this year, the war lasted for half a year, and the consumption was very large, and Yuzhou and Jingzhou barely managed to maintain a balance between revenue and expenditure. Yangzhou has just begun to renovate water conservancy, and the investment is very large, and the output has not yet been seen. Fortunately, Zhou Gongjin has just won the four counties in the south of the Yangtze River and collected some grain, so it should not be a problem to support the autumn harvest. ”

Ma Teng moved forward. "How many hukou are there in the four counties of Jiangnan? How much grain was collected? ”

Jiang Gan snorted, shook his hand, and dismissed. "Jiangnan is damp, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and the total number of the four counties is less than 600,000 households and 3 million people, which is about the same as a Nanyang county. In the past few years, the army has been in chaos, and the harvest is not very good, I don't know how much, I don't know how much, it is estimated that it can only be supplied to the Jingzhou army, and there is nothing left. Otherwise, it's not bad to ship it to Guanzhong and sell it. General Hou, I remember that the price of grain in Guanzhong rose to hundreds of thousands of stones a few years ago, will it be so high this year? If that's the case, one stone of grain can be exchanged for two horses. ”

Ma Teng laughed dryly twice, scolding in his heart. 600,000 households, 3 million households is too little? Including the displaced people, there are only 200,000 households in Guanzhong. If there is a famine and a large number of people flee for their lives, it is hard to say how much will be left. "Ziyi, that's a special case. At that point, who will sell horses for food, riding horses to loot is the way to survive, no matter how bad it is, it is okay to kill horses and eat meat. ”

Jiang Gan laughed and patted his legs. "That's a shame."

Ma Teng said stupidly: "Who said it wasn't." If General Sun can provide me with some food, I will find a way to raise some war horses in exchange. ”

Jiang Gan squinted at Ma Teng and crooked the corners of his mouth. "How?"

"A thousand stones, how?"

Jiang Gan was noncommittal. He shook his head, not knowing whether to nod or shake his head. "I don't dare to make a decision, please give me a little time, and let me ask General Sun for instructions."

"It's nature, it's nature." Ma Teng nodded repeatedly.

Seeing Jiang Gan away, Ma Teng got up and came to the side yard. Cheng Gongying stood in the courtyard and watched Ma Dai practice martial arts. Ma Dai is only thirteen years old this year, he is Ma Teng's subordinate, and he has practiced martial arts well, Cheng Gongying likes him very much and nods him a few words. Ma Dai is stepping up his practice, one move and one style, with a board and an eye.

Ma Teng walked over briskly and handed a new knife to Ma Dai. "This is the boutique that you gave to you from your brother, Nanyang Tieguan."

Ma Dai took the knife, grateful, and withdrew. Cheng Gongying glanced at Ma Teng and chuckled: "The conversation didn't go well?" ”

Ma Teng nodded. "A thousand stones, Jiang Gan disagrees."

"What did he say? How much does he want? ”

"Didn't say anything, didn't even bargain."

Cheng Gongying's eyes flickered. "A thousand stones don't want to be a horse, Sun Ce is going to eat us."

"We can't be eaten by him, you go back quickly and tell Wenyue that this price can't be granted, not a stone."