In the first year of Xingping, the princes fought endlessly, and the territory of the annexed state fell into peace. Despite this, the officials under Chen Xu are still very busy.

Chen Xu stayed in the governor's mansion, and the young Sima Yi was next to him, sorting out the cases submitted from various places for him.

Suddenly, Zhang Yu ran in with a bunch of bamboo slips.

He panted and put down the bamboo slip in his hand and said to Chen Xu: "My lord, in the entire territory of Bingzhou, except for the northern part of Shangjun, Wuyuan County, and Shuofang County, the wasteland near the water source in the rest of the places has basically been reclaimed. ”

Chen Xu perked up and said, "How is the waterwheel made?" ”

Zhang Yu said: "Due to the short time and the fact that many people are reclaiming wasteland. Therefore, the speed of manufacturing and construction of the watermill is not satisfactory. ”

Chen Xu was a little disappointed in his heart, but fortunately, he also knew that these things were in a hurry.

"So how are you doing digging lakes and damming rivers?"

Zhang Yu's face turned bitter and said, "These are not things that can be completed overnight. Today, the lakes and lakes that used to be in the state have been filled with water. ”

As soon as Zhang Yu finished speaking, Sima Lang also hurriedly ran in.

Originally, Sima Lang held the position of managing and selecting talents in the state, but now there is a shortage of talents in the state, and Chen Xu had to let him assist Changyu and temporarily manage internal affairs.

Not only Sima Lang, but also the rest of the strategists in the state were also assigned tasks by Chen Xu.

When Chen Xu saw Sima Lang, he hurriedly got up and asked, "Boda, how are the things I told you to do?" ”

With a strange look on his face, Sima Lang replied: "My lord, I have already issued the 'chicken raising order' and 'duck raising order' to all counties and counties, and the local officials are also urging the local people to raise more chickens and ducks in the spring. ”

Speaking of this, Sima Lang hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help asking: "Lord, didn't you say that there will be a big drought this year, why do you still have to let people raise a large number of chickens and ducks?" ”

"You know, the amount of food consumed to raise chickens and ducks is not a small amount."

Chen Xu shook his head and said to Sima Lang: "Boda only knows one thing, but he doesn't know the other. Although it is said that raising chickens and ducks requires food, how can ordinary people be willing to feed them food when they raise chickens and ducks? ”

"Most of the chickens in people's homes are free-range and let them forage for food on their own. Chickens not only eat grain, but when they are very hungry, they will eat a lot of things. ”

Speaking of this, Chen Xu looked worried: "Every time there is a big drought, there will be a plague of locusts, locusts will cross the border, and there will be no harvest. ”

"If you raise more chickens and ducks at this time, when the locust plague breaks out, you can drive all the chickens and ducks into the fields and let them live by hunting locusts."

In this way, not only can the people feed the chickens and ducks without consuming food, but they can also use the chickens and ducks to curb the locust plague. Chickens and ducks laying eggs can also improve people's lives, and if there is a surplus, it can also be used to save lives in times of famine. ”

Chen Xu's words made several people in the room stunned. In the eyes of the ancients, locust plagues often represented the wrath of the heavens, and there was no way to deal with them.

However, his own lord wants to curb the locust plague through some chickens and ducks. In their opinion, this statement is simply ridiculous.

What they didn't know was that the method used by Chen Xu was the biological locust extermination method of later generations. The method of biological locust extermination is to use the mutual restraint between organisms to eliminate the locust plague.

Sima Lang said cautiously: "My lord, once the locust plague breaks out, it will definitely be overwhelming and sweeping in all directions. Relying only on the chickens and ducks raised by the people's homes, it may be difficult to completely eradicate the locust plague. ”

Sima Lang's words have been said very tactfully. In fact, in the final analysis, he didn't want to believe from the bottom of his heart that he could wipe out the locust plague with some chickens and ducks.

When Chen Xu heard this, he frowned and thought for a while. Although the prefecture has issued a 'duck raising order' and a 'chicken raising order', even if ordinary people dare not raise them because of the government's orders, they will definitely not raise them on a large scale.

In this way, when the locust plague breaks out, these chickens and ducks alone may not be able to contain the locust plague.

Thinking of this, Chen Xu slapped his forehead and said: "Since this is the case, Boda has issued an order to all counties and counties, not only to raise chickens and ducks at home, but also to raise chickens and ducks on a large scale in the government." ”

At this time, Chen Xu thought of the allusion of 'enclosure and duck raising' in the Spring and Autumn Period, so he directly asked Sima Lang to announce the matter.

When Sima Lang heard Chen Xu's words, he secretly complained.

Originally, Sima Lang wanted to dissuade Chen Xu from raising chickens and ducks. Now because of his words, Chen Xu has started to increase the scale and raise chickens and ducks.

Let the government raise chickens and ducks, what kind of system is this?

He was about to persuade him, but seeing Chen Xu's excited face, coupled with his understanding of Chen Xu, he could only sigh in his heart and stop talking.

"Lord, lord!"

A voice sounded, and everyone raised their eyes to find that it was Tian Feng who ran in with an excited face.

Chen Xu was overjoyed when he saw Tian Feng, and hurriedly asked, "How is the matter of exchanging grain with Jingzhou?" ”

Tian Feng replied: "Jingzhou's desire for war horses is far beyond our imagination, and there is a lot of grain in Jingzhou. Therefore, they are willing to trade with us at a price of two hundred and fifty stone per horse. ”

Two hundred and fifty stone of rice is nearly nine thousand catties in later generations, which is by no means a small amount.

It can be said that Jingzhou exchanged 250 stone of grain for a war horse, which is an extremely favorable condition.

Although now the princes are rising together, the war is endless, and the price of war horses has increased many times. However, as a necessary grain and grass for war, its price increase is even far greater than that of war horses.

Even in peacetime, a war horse may not be able to exchange for two hundred and fifty stones of rice, which shows how sincere Liu Biao of Jingzhou is.

Therefore, after Chen Xu heard Tian Feng's words, he was overjoyed, and he said: "There are war horses that are not used in Bingzhou, and all of them are exchanged for Jingzhou, and how much grain can be exchanged!" ”

Chen Xu's words made Tian Feng a little hesitant, and he said, "Lord, it seems inappropriate to act like this, right?" ”

After all, war horses are military supplies, even if the Xianbei people have been looted twice in Bingzhou, and after several years of raising war horses in the territory, as well as the war horses exchanged from the Xiongnu tribe, there are only 30,000 idle now.

If all of them are exchanged to Jingzhou, then it will be difficult for Bingzhou to have idle war horses for a long time.

Chen Xu waved his hand and said: "The war horse is gone, you can raise it again, if there is a famine in Bingzhou, and the people starve to death, it will be a great loss for us." This matter is so decided, and you are responsible for all matters related to the transaction with Liu Jingzhou. ”

"I'm just afraid that Jingzhou won't be able to get so much grain."

Everyone in the house, seeing that Chen Xu cared so much for the people under his rule, all admired it in their hearts.

Tian Feng saw that Chen Xu was worried and Jingzhou couldn't get so much grain and grass, so he immediately smiled and said: "Don't worry, my lord, Jingzhou's wealth is far beyond our imagination." Moreover, for so many years, Jingzhou has rarely experienced the scourge of war, and although it is difficult to come up with 7.5 million stone of grain, it is not impossible. ”

When Chen Xu heard Tian Feng's words, he turned his worries into joy.

Chen Xu wants to replace all the war horses, and he also has his own considerations. After all, grain and grass are the most important in troubled times, and with grain and grass, you can recruit troops and collect displaced people.

On the contrary, if there is a major drought this year, the daily consumption of grain and grass by 30,000 war horses will also be a great burden for the state.

During the war, each horse would consume 3.3 stone of grain and grass per month. 30,000 war horses consume more than 1 million stones, grain and grass a year. This number is simply a bit appalling.

Of course, the consumption of idle war horses is much less than the above number. Especially in the grasslands, this consumption can be greatly reduced.

Even so, the consumption of 30,000 idle war horses is very terrifying.

Although 7.5 million stone of grain is a lot, it can only be consumed by 700,000 people in a year.

If the army is marching and fighting, the consumption of grain and grass will be doubled. Then these grains and grasses may only be able to fight for two years with an army of 100,000.

There are millions of people in Bingzhou, and if there is a drought or famine this year, these grains and grasses, together with the grain stored in Bingzhou itself, may not be enough to consume for a year.

Of course, if the people's food rations were cut and they were to live on gruel every day, it would not be enough to sustain them for two years.

Actually, this algorithm is a bit conservative.

Because, even if there is a great drought in the whole country, the fields in the state will not be harvested. Coupled with the production of the fields and the savings of the people's families, if a large-scale war does not break out in the state, there will be no problem in surviving for three years.

Chen Xu calculated for a while, and then his heart was a little calmer. His heart, which had always been composed, also relaxed.

At this moment, Li Ru hurriedly ran in and said loudly: "Lord, Cao Mengde broke through Xuzhou, Tian Kai was killed, Liu Bei broke through, Kong Rong was captured, and Tao Qian's family was all killed. ”

"How is this possible?"

Chen Xu stood up suddenly, his face in disbelief.

Historically, due to the fact that Chen Gong led Lu Bu into Yanzhou, Cao Cao did not break through Xuzhou at all.

This era, although it has changed a lot because of Chen Xu. But Chen Gong still returned to Yanzhou and instigated Zhang Miao to rebel. Although Lü Bu was under Chen Xu's tent, Yuan Shu sent troops to attack Yanzhou.

Isn't Cao Cao afraid of losing his foundation and insisting on attacking Xuzhou?

Moreover, even if Cao Cao insisted on attacking Xuzhou, with the three reinforcements of Tian Kai, Liu Bei, and Kong Rong, plus the tall city of Tanxian County, Xuzhou would not be able to be broken by Cao Cao so quickly.

Li Ru was really speechless, he continued: "Not only that, after Cao Mengde captured Xuzhou, he directly led his troops to attack Qingzhou, and conquered more than ten cities in a few days!" ”