Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 133: Grain Seizure
Zhu Lang sat back in his seat and let out a long breath. He had just learned about this batch of artillery. If used well, it should be of great use.

It's a pity that there is too little gunpowder in the city. I don't know how many shells can be fired with a thousand kilograms of gunpowder.

Zhu Lang waved away his thoughts and looked at the ministers below and said
"Since we have to defend the city, food and money are of utmost importance. How many people are there in Guangzhou now, and how much food and money is there in the treasury?"

After hearing this, all the ministers looked at Chen Bangyan. Chen Bangyan thought for a moment and then answered:

"Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong Province, with a prosperous trade and a large number of people. There are 110,000 to 120,000 people in the city alone."

"There are tens of thousands of people living outside the city. Guangzhou is not short of food, but most of the grain is not in the city. The Yongfeng Warehouse in the city now has less than 2,000 dan of rice."

Wu Bing and the others heard this, and after a brief calculation in their minds, a hint of joy flashed across their faces.

If each person gets one pound of food per day, 2,000 dan can only last for two days. Even if the ration is halved, it can only last for four days.
According to everyone's estimation, it would take at least five or six days for the Zhaoqing army to reach Guangzhou, which means that the city would be out of food before the reinforcements arrived.
In fact, 2,000 dan of grain could not last for four days. Once the city was defended, the food and wages consumed by the defenders would increase exponentially.
It is impossible for the soldiers and young men defending the city to be rationed at half a catty per day. If a war really breaks out, these soldiers defending the city will probably consume more than two catties of rice every day.

You can't let others fight to the death to defend the city while you only give them half a pound of food every day. If this is the case, the morale of the people in the city would have collapsed before the Qing army arrived.

Wu Bing and the others came to the conclusion that the city was about to run out of food. A gleam of brilliance flashed in their eyes. Since the city was about to run out of food before the reinforcements arrived, how could they defend it? Since it was impossible to defend, it would be better to withdraw as soon as possible.

So it is right to evacuate Guangzhou as soon as possible.
Liu Yuansheng and Wu Bing looked at each other, and then looked up at Lu Daqi. Seeing Lu Daqi nodded slightly, Liu Yuansheng stepped out and saluted.

"We know that Your Highness is kind and has a strong will to defend the city, but we are now trapped both internally and externally. The Qing army is besieging the city, and the food and money are insufficient. It will take at least five or six days for the Zhaoqing army to reach Guangzhou, but the food and grass in the city are not enough for even four days."

"Your Highness is sincere in his desire to protect the people, but the people are short-sighted. Once they run out of food, they will surely stir up trouble. If the situation becomes chaotic both internally and externally, how will Guangzhou be defended?"

"We did not defend Guangzhou not because we were afraid of death, but because Guangzhou had no soldiers, money or food, and it was impossible to defend it."

Liu Yuansheng looked solemn and bowed, while the ministers nodded again in their hearts.

Zhu Lang looked at Lu Daqi below, but Lu Daqi sat silently on the side with no expression on his face.
Zhu Lang's eyes turned cold. These two people were officials from Fujian Province who came to Guangdong from Lu Daqi and others. He didn't believe that these two people's actions were not approved by Lu Daqi.
Zhu Lang glanced down and saw the eyes of the ministers flickering. He knew they were retreating.

Zhu Lang no longer cared about the ministers below and spoke directly in a cold voice

"If there is not enough food, then find a way to raise it. Guangzhou is such a big city, and there are so many ministers in the court, can't you even think of a way to raise food?"

When Wu Bing heard the words of His Royal Highness the Regent, the hope in his eyes was extinguished, and a feeling of resentment rose in his heart.

Just now they were short of soldiers, and now they are short of food. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Guangzhou City cannot be defended at all. He really doesn't understand why His Highness wants to defend a city when he can just walk away.

I originally thought that this prince had a heroic character, but now it seems that Regent Gui is simply stubborn and self-righteous!

Does Gui Jianguo know how much damage will be caused to the Ming Dynasty if his ministers die in the city because of his wishful thinking? Gui Jianguo is really ignorant of the situation.
After Zhu Lang finished speaking, there was a long silence. Except for Su Guansheng, Gu Yuanjing, Chen Bangyan and others who frowned and thought, the rest of the ministers stood there silently without saying a word.
Zhu Lang looked at the silent ministers in the hall, and his expression suddenly turned cold.

These ministers now obviously saw that they could not persuade him, so they began to resist with silence.
Zhu Lang's eyes flashed with a cold light. The performance of these people made him more determined in his previous thoughts.
He originally thought that the situation was critical and that it might be too hasty to propose this method suddenly, but the appearance of these ministers made him firm in his thoughts instantly.
Even if you don't want to do it, there are plenty of people who will do it. Do you really think that without these ministers, he can't accomplish anything? The world lacks everything except people who want to be officials!
Zhu Lang's face was cold, and he had lost his patience. He said directly
"Lü Daqi, Su Guansheng, you are the ministers of the cabinet, please tell me first, what methods can be used to raise grain?"

"Chen Bangyan, you are the prefect of Guangzhou, what do you have to say?" When Lu Daqi and Su Guansheng heard His Royal Highness the Regent call them by their names, their expressions changed slightly.

But Lu Daqi glanced at the silent ministers below and fell silent again.

There was silence for a while, and Su Guansheng's expression changed several times. Finally, he stood up and walked out.

Seeing Su Guansheng come out, Lu Daqi's face suddenly darkened.
"If there is not enough food and wages, then confiscate the food."

Su Guansheng's eyes flashed with ruthlessness, and then he ignored the ministers who changed their expressions and said

"At this time, the food and wages in the city must be distributed uniformly, and the people must not be allowed to hide the food privately."

"Guangzhou has a large population. In addition to the government warehouses, there must be grain stores in the city. If we raid these stores, we should be able to get some grain."

"I am not familiar with the customs of Guangdong Province, but in my hometown, all the wealthy families have stored grain. Now is the time of autumn harvest, and silver must be expensive and rice cheap in the city. The wealthy families in the city are likely to take the opportunity to collect grain and hoard it. If we raid the wealthy families in the city, we should be able to get another batch of grain and salary."

It can only be said that Su Guansheng is indeed an official who climbed up from the bottom. He really knows the affairs of the bottom well. In a blink of an eye, he came up with two ways to raise grain.
"If we seize the civilians' food and wages, will it cause unrest in the city?"

Lu Daqi spoke in a deep voice, his eyes were fixed on Su Guansheng, but Su Guansheng directly avoided Lu Daqi's gaze.

How could Su Guansheng not know what Lu Daqi meant, but he was different from Lu Daqi. Although he had agreed to evacuate before, the premise was that His Highness was willing, or at least not opposed to evacuating.
Now he could certainly follow Lu Daqi and force His Highness to leave, but Lu Daqi had He Wuzuo as his helper in the court, and Wu Bing, Liu Yuansheng, Wu Zhenyu, Liu Xiangke and other officials from Fujian Province as his team. Even if His Highness was dissatisfied with him, he could only ignore him.

But Su Guansheng is a real member of the imperial party. Everything he has depends on Zhu Lang. If he displeases His Highness, given his current situation, he may be kicked out of the court at any time.

There are too many loopholes in him. Just because he did not come from the imperial examination system, others could impeach him at any time and expel him from the cabinet on the grounds that he was not in line with the old system.
How many people in the court are eyeing his position in the cabinet now? If His Highness no longer protects him, he doesn't believe that Lu Daqi will lend him a helping hand.

Therefore, unless he was ready to leave the court completely, he could only follow Zhu Lang's wishes. Lu Daqi had some choices, but he had no choice at all.

The two ministers made their own decisions, but Zhu Lang ignored the split between the two below. A hint of sternness flashed in his eyes, and he waved his hand and said
"Since it may cause unrest, then we should come and raid as soon as possible. The Qing army will need two or three days to reach the city. Since it may cause unrest, we should put an end to the unrest in the city before the Qing army arrives."

"The imperial court is collecting grain in order to defend the city. If anyone dares to resist and hide grain, they must be a traitor. Such people should be dealt with directly without mercy."

"Lord Su's idea is good. We will first raid the grain stores in the city to see how much grain they have. If it's not enough, we will raid the wealthy households. After dawn, we will have people raid the grain stores!"

"Only the people in the field know about the grain seizure now. I warn you first. If the news of grain seizure spreads in the city before dawn, causing the grain merchants in the city to hide the grain and money first, then it must be someone in the field who leaked the information."

"If you are found out by then, you will have to think about the consequences yourself."

Zhu Lang glanced coldly at the ministers below, his eyes full of warnings.

"I dare not"

The ministers below saw His Highness's cold gaze, and the little thoughts that had just arisen in their hearts suddenly subsided, and they quickly said that they dared not
(End of this chapter)