"The system of three provinces and six ministries has been completed, and the military and war departments have also been reorganized." After Ma Chao appeased Wei Yan, he returned to his position, frowned and said, "But next year's natural disaster, have you finished planning?" ”

"Lord," as soon as Ma Chao's voice fell, Meng Da stood up and said loudly: "The household statistics have come out." The Ma family's income this year is 22.7 billion, as well as the property you brought back from the dock, which is about the same as the income from Yongzhou's taxes in a year. The counties of Yongzhou have a total of 4.27 million stone of grain in stock. After occupying Chang'an, the Tai warehouse stored 2.32 million stone of grain, and the money was almost zero........"

These figures are all the remaining stocks of Meng Da after subtracting Ma Chao's army conquest, funding the Xiongnu and Dong Zhuo's old troops. And with the realm of Yongzhou, such a rich inventory can be said to be the only one in the Han Dynasty. However, Ma Chao still frowned, and said: "Zidu, the household department is bothered to run by you, and everyone knows how hard it is." However, there is no need for such detailed figures for this relief. You just need to tell everyone that the inventory of Yongzhou and Sili is enough for the people to eat? ”

"My lord, according to the figures from the Luoyang Order, plus the number of people who have been registered in Chang'an, there are more than 3.07 million people in the entire Sili area." Speaking of this, Meng Da couldn't help but smile bitterly, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "And all the grain stocks in Yongzhou and Sili are only enough for the people of Sili to eat in January........"

"Just enough for a month?" Ma Chao's brows furrowed even deeper, and after rubbing his temples vigorously, he asked bitterly: "If you exchange all the money and goods for grain, how much can you support?" ”

"If it is an autumn harvest, the grain will be about 300 yuan a stone. However, Si is subordinate to one place, and has been poisoned by Dong Zhuo, Xiongnu, Li Dao, Guo Yan and others one after another, and it is the end of winter, I am afraid that there is nothing to buy........" Meng Da felt that the words in his mouth at this time weighed a thousand catties, and every time he spit out a word, he had to exert all his strength: "And in Hanzhong, Yizhou, and Liangzhou, a certain person has already purchased a lot of grain, if he buys it from these places again, it may cause Han Sui, Zhang Lu, and Liu Zhang to covet it, and if the three of them plot against the Ma family, it will undoubtedly make matters worse........"

"It's okay," At this time, Ma Chao remembered the shadow of that snowy night in his mind, and said with a smile: "I have already contacted other merchants, and the grain should be enough." All you have to say is how much grain you can get in exchange for all the possessions of the Ma family. ”

"If it is according to the normal price of grain, three hundred yuan and one stone, the Ma family can only be able to eat the people in the Sili area in March. If there is more, it will have to survive the autumn until the new grain comes down, and then it will be enough......."

"Three months?" Ma Chao's brow on his forehead seemed to be unable to loosen it, and he muttered: "Even the fastest maturing winter wheat, potatoes and other things in the Ma family will take the end of June." In this way, it is not enough to quench the thirst of the near ........."

The annexation of the Ma family to the Sili area is a very important strategic move. But at the same time, for the Ma family, the steps are too radical: the entire seven counties of Yongzhou have a population of less than 700,000. And in the area of Sili, even after Dong Zhuo's bloody rule, there are still more than 3 million people.

If there is no natural disaster next year, the Ma family will also need to buy grain and support until the end of summer. After a year of dormancy, a smooth transition can be made. However, next year is destined for natural disasters, and the Ma family will be stretched thin. The words of the two made everyone's hearts heavier and heavier, and there was silence in the Deyang Hall for a long time, Jia Xu sighed slightly, and reluctantly lifted his spirits and said: "Everyone, this matter is not without other solutions........

Jia Xu stood up, arched his hand to Ma Chao, and then turned around and faced His Highness: "Colleagues, in fact, we have been ignoring one thing before-we have been worried about relief, but have you ever wondered if we must use rice and grain for relief?!" ”

The officials were stunned, and His Royal Highness whispered one after another, and they didn't understand what Jia Xu meant.

Jia Xu smiled slightly, he glanced up at the snow outside, and seemed to be caught in his memory. Then he flicked a little dust on the placket of his clothes, and said lightly: "I'm not afraid of you laughing, when Jia was living in various places, he also experienced famine and drought. At that time, humans were no different from animals, and it was common for children to eat each other and cut flesh and stomachs, which did not mean that the victims were inhumane, but because human flesh could also be eaten! The victims can eat anything in order to survive!! ”

After some words, Jia Xu's face was a little cold, and he seemed to be still immersed in the painful memories of the beginning. Fa Zheng on the side understood what Jia Xu meant, and suddenly felt cheerful in front of him, and blurted out: "Yes....... The victims can eat everything....... Wild grass, tree bark, Guanyin soil........ As long as it is something that can survive, they will eat it! ”

Ma Chao also came to his senses at this time, cut off Fa Zheng's words, and nodded: "Yes, now our purpose is to make the victims barely survive, so that most of the stronger people can survive until the end of summer - as for what to eat, it doesn't matter!" ”

Meng Da also slapped his thigh: "Not bad-we don't have to buy grain, as long as it is something that can be eaten, we can collect and buy it, such as war horse feed, wild grass and other things, accompanied by other miscellaneous grains, you can also be satisfied." In this way, the likelihood of survival of the population is greatly increased......."

As if suddenly moving away from the mountain that covered everyone's eyes, the atmosphere in the Deyang Hall became lively, and everyone discussed loudly, some people said that they could go up the mountain to hunt in winter, and they could go down to the river to fish when the spring tide came. Others said that Ma Chao could also pay for his face, and asked for a batch of livestock from the Qiang people outside the Saiwai, and repaid them after the crisis period passed. What's more, they even thought of those rich families in Chang'an.......

Yes, in Chang'an, the gap between the rich and the poor is too obvious. Although Dong Zhuo killed a lot, there are still many great lords of the scholar clan who have survived the foundation for hundreds of years. Especially after Ma Chao let go of those hundred officials of the imperial court, few of them moved to Xudu with them. is still entrenched in Chang'an, hoping to enjoy the new policy of the Ma family........

And this force is also something that the Ma family had to guard against when natural disasters came. Ma Chao and others are the performance of these people in natural disasters. If you are willing to work with the Ma family, then Ma will naturally repay the favor, and if you still want to take the opportunity to make a fortune, hehe....... The knife of the Ma family, Tu De is the master of this kind of money but not people!

After a long time, Yang Xiucai lifted his head out of the copywriting and handed the meeting minutes to Ma Chao. Ma Chao took a look and found that the matter of raising grain seemed to be solved on the surface: first, immediately transport grain from Yongzhou to Sili; 2. Mobilize the whole army to hunt and fish, collect wild animals, and hoard them in the event of a natural disaster; 3. Led by Meng Da of the Ministry of Households, supplemented by Zhong Xuan and Dong Zhao, they negotiated the purchase of grain and grass in various places. Fourth, if the disaster victims are surging and difficult to control, a part of it will be moved to the Yongzhou boundary in advance for relief........

Ma Chao looked at the words written on it, and his heart calmed down a little. After frowning, he still spoke: "Civil affairs have a lot to do with it, and it is definitely not something that can be implemented immediately if there is an idea........ Pound, after you arrive in Luoyang, remember to take strict precautions to avoid riots. In particular, the four generals Yang Feng, Liao Hua, Zhou Cang, and Liang Xing were told to guard the Tiger Prison and Bishui! ”

"No!" Pang De received the order and was about to retreat, but he heard Ma Chao add another sentence: "Also, the Huns in the north, you should also pay more attention, hum!" That guy, don't think I don't know about the good thing he did in secret!! ”