Frost for a Thousand Years

Before Song Shi'an and Wei Wusheng were appointed to their posts, preparations for military farming had already been made in various places.

Therefore, after Wei Wusheng arrived in the area, he simply moved the soldiers, refugees, and officially registered servants from Sili Prefecture, Huai Prefecture, and Yi Prefecture to Huai County in batches.

In mid-November, these people finally arrived in Sizhou one after another.

The vanguard consisted of 20,000 troops and over 100,000 civilians.

Three days later, another 20,000 arrived, along with more than 100,000 civilians.

Finally, a total of 350,000 civilians and more than 50,000 soldiers from various prefectures and counties, mainly the elderly, weak and disabled, were led by Wei Wusheng to the five major camps.

Meanwhile, nearly a thousand officers and soldiers under Song Shi'an had already gone to meet and make arrangements.

Registration and allocation are in full swing.

Everyone was so busy they were dizzy and exhausted.

After all, the original scale was only over 200,000, but now it has expanded to nearly 500,000.

However, the most important factor is the load-bearing capacity.

Both of them rely heavily on the national treasury.

Therefore, this large sum of grain subsidy was personally transported by Wei Wusheng to the Jianxing Military Colony.

"Your Highness!"

The autumn air was crisp and cool, and Song Shi'an, already dressed in a cotton-padded coat, ran up to him quite quickly.

Wei Wusheng dismounted and took the initiative to greet him.

"I've finally waited for you." Song Shi'an grasped his hand.

"Yes, Shi'an, it's been so long..."

Before Wei Wusheng could finish speaking, deeply moved, Song Shi'an stretched out his hand and asked, "Where's the grain?"

"..." Wei Wusheng paused for a moment, then glanced at himself. "Isn't this all grain?"

"How am I supposed to count all these hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain?" Song Shi'an joked. "Your Highness, the ledgers."

"Bring me the ledgers," Wei Wusheng called to his attendants.

The man presented the ledger with both hands and handed it to Song Shi'an.

He took it, opened it, and first looked at the day Wei Wusheng took over.

"I've never managed military supplies before, and I never imagined that food would be consumed so quickly. Moreover, the consumption during marches is so great that it's suffocating." Wei Wusheng was truly terrified by the emptying of cartloads of grain.

“When the military farms were established, waterways and new land were opened up. The consumption at that time was no different from that of war. We had to be prepared for a family of four to consume more than six catties of hulled grain a day.” Song Shi’an said as he looked around.

After flipping to the last page, his expression froze: "Eighty-six million seven hundred and twenty-four thousand catties..."

“One million four hundred and twenty thousand shi,” Wei Wusheng said.

“It really is exactly half.” Song Shi’an smiled.

“The Crown Prince has made so many promises and given so much; it’s already quite remarkable,” Wei Wusheng said. “This means that there was basically no skimming or misappropriation involved.”

"Yes."

Song Shi'an had to acknowledge the Crown Prince's abilities.

The precise amount reported and the exact amount dialed has never been possible since ancient times.

Although this time the Crown Prince is the new regent, and the matter of land reclamation is of great importance, involving the potential to kill entire families, those people are somewhat wary. However, attributing all the reasons to this and denying the Crown Prince's own methods would be too stubborn.

"How much grain do you have here?" Wei Wusheng asked.

"Four hundred and fifty thousand stones."

Song Shi'an spoke without hesitation.

"That's 1.87 million shi..." After a quick calculation, Wei Wusheng was shocked. "This shortfall is huge!"

Wei Wusheng knew how difficult it would be to procure food this time, but he did not expect that even Song Shi'an had failed to make adequate preparations in the early stages, and by such a large margin.

In response, Song Shi'an smiled and said, "The original shortfall was four thousand taels of gold."

"..." After hearing this, Wei Wusheng suddenly realized what was going on.

The crown prince already knew how big the gap was.

This is why he went all out to provide grain for the military farms, and he kept his word.

According to his calculations, the grain in the national treasury, plus the four thousand taels of gold that Song Shi'an used, would just be enough to make up for the shortfall.

Therefore, the Crown Prince had long coveted his four daughters.

Haha, the emperor's favor!

Is what's given to you necessarily yours?
"Now that the grain supply in various places is being colluded with by officials and gentry, the shortfall should have doubled, to almost eight thousand taels of gold, right?" Wei Wusheng asked tentatively in a low voice.

“Eight thousand taels of gold?” Song Shi’an shook his head. “That’s based on the premise that grain can be bought at high prices.”

"That's true, you simply can't buy it at this price..."

Food prices have doubled, but there is simply no supply.

Because their plan was to starve Song Shi'an to death.

Shorting Tuntian.

So why sell it back at the same price?

“If we triple that, the shortfall will be 12,000 gold.” Wei Wusheng said after assessing the situation. “In Beiliang, Huang Tong and others donated 1,500 gold, and I pooled together some more to bring you 2,000 gold. It’s not much, but it’s half of what you need.”

"Do not."

Song Shi'an smiled again and said, "The shortfall should be around 20,000 gold."

"?"

Wei Wusheng froze, and looking at this composed man, he asked with considerable puzzlement, "Although I don't know how you calculated that 20,000 gold, if there is a shortfall of 20,000 gold, how can you still be laughing?"

He had four thousand taels of gold, and he brought two thousand taels with him. If he scraped together more from various sources, he would only have eight thousand taels at most, and that would all be their personal property.

No matter how you look at it, it's still a long way from being a gap.

Isn't it said that people who truly want to win can't laugh?

In response, Song Shi'an slowly placed his hand on his shoulder: "I'm laughing because I happen to have 20,000 gold coins."

"what?"

.........

Winter is approaching, and it hasn't snowed yet, but it won't be long.

In the villa outside Sun Situ Sheng'an, high-ranking officials and nobles gathered to enjoy tea and roast meat. They were all dressed in fine hats and fur coats, looking radiant and chatting happily.

Everyone was retired, or at least semi-retired, and no one held real power.

Therefore, the idea of ​​forming cliques or colluding is simply unfounded.

After all, ten people combined can't mobilize five soldiers.

However, everyone involved is a family head.

"Although the snow hasn't arrived yet, it already feels quite cold, and I'm afraid it will be a long, cold winter," said Sun Situ. "I hope everyone has stocked up on food this year."

“We’ve stockpiled it all,” an official said. “My hometown is Huai County. We moved our ancestral home with Governor Song, and the number of tenant farmers has decreased by several thousand. We’re afraid we won’t have enough grain next year, so we’ve stockpiled a lot.”

"It makes perfect sense, it makes perfect sense!" one person laughed heartily.

“We’ve cooperated with the land reclamation, we’ve cooperated with the relocation, we’ve even handed over our people, so buying some grain shouldn’t be illegal, right?” someone chimed in.

“It’s not illegal, it’s not illegal.” Sun Situ laughed, then took a few sips of tea and said to everyone, “This grain is for winter and for our old age, so don’t sell it easily.”

"Of course we won't sell. We're not here to make money."

"The officials of the Great Yu Dynasty disdained merchants."

"Absolutely not for sale, not for any amount of money!"

All the great figures, remain steadfast in their resolve.

“Although the Sun family is in the south, they also need to stockpile grain,” said Minister Sun. “When winter comes, please sell some of your grain to Yangzhou.”

"I will obey Lord Situ's orders!"

.........

The prince's footsteps grew heavier and heavier.

Their expressions were even heavier than their steps. And so, they arrived at Xuanyu Hall.

"Father, Emperor."

Upon seeing the emperor, he immediately knelt down, looking at him with an expression full of unease and bewilderment.

Even the most opinionated person would find it difficult to cope with this situation.

Upon seeing his son, the emperor was completely as expected and asked kindly, "Zisheng, what's wrong?"

"Father is wise." The Crown Prince, who had been staring at Huai County and then realized that the situation was completely out of control, finally realized his foolishness. "Those four thousand gold coins are really not enough."

His original plan was to contribute half himself, Huaijun contribute a portion, and then Song Shi'an contribute a portion, which would be enough for the four thousand guards.

He himself also managed to extract his gold.

Kill two birds with one stone.

Four thousand is simply not enough.

No, it's far from enough.

"Growing up requires some lessons," the emperor said casually.

"Father, the matter of establishing military farms is of utmost importance..."

"You want to ask why I didn't remind you that day, right?" the emperor countered.

The Crown Prince swallowed hard, not daring to respond directly, and could only say in a low voice, "This time, I seem to have made a big mistake."

You calculated the numbers correctly, but you didn't account for people's hearts.

This is what the emperor said before.

Therefore, he had long guessed that those powerful families would band together to buy grain and blockade the entire Huai County!

Since you've guessed it, why not say it?
If we had said so earlier, we could have dealt with it sooner!

Father, stop trying to teach me with your actions. If the land reclamation project fails, I'll be in big trouble!

"Zisheng." The emperor, however, remained calm and asked, "What if we can't gather enough grain?"

"..." The Crown Prince paused for a moment, then said, "I have calculated that Song Shi'an's grain supply should only be enough to last these people until April next year, while the autumn harvest will be in mid-August."

"and then."

“The national treasury is almost empty. Even if I risk my life, I can only scrape together enough grain for two months,” the Crown Prince said.

"That sounds simple, there are only two months left."

“Father, this involves 500,000 people working, consuming two months’ worth of food… It’s no small feat.”

The prince's eyes were already brimming with tears.

We really messed it up.

Forcibly doubling the scale, but underestimating people's hearts, led to the complete collapse of the land reclamation project.

Previously, when the State of Qi besieged Wuwei, a siege of 100,000 men for half a year was already the limit.

And now, in Dayu, nearly 500,000 people have to endure eight or nine months of hardship...

The crown prince shamelessly dropped a small pearl, as if his throne was about to be lost because of it, but the emperor remained calm and asked, "And then, what will happen?"

"The land reclamation project is nearing completion..." the Crown Prince said, choking back tears. "At the last moment... Song Shi'an will borrow grain from the aristocratic families."

Would you lend it?

"Of course not."

"Is that buying?"

"I don't have the money to buy it."

"so?"

"so……"

The crown prince was about to speak when he froze, staring blankly at the emperor.

.........

Inside the main hall of Jianxing's military settlement.

Song Shi'an and Wei Wusheng were warming themselves by the fire, and Xin Yue was sitting beside them.

"If we really hold out until then, what if the grain we ask the Crown Prince for is still not enough?" Xin Yue asked.

"Then we'll have to ask the powerful families for it," Song Shi'an said.

"Do you want to bring troops?" Xin Yue asked very seriously.

“That’s rebellion,” Song Shi’an laughed.

“When it really comes to that, it will be the last step…” Clenching his fist, Wei Wusheng said with great regret, “We will have to sell the management rights of the military farms to powerful families and nobles.”

“Wouldn’t that go against our original intention?” Xin Yue retorted, strongly objecting.

“Four hundred and eighty thousand people are in our hands. We can go two months without food or water,” Song Shi’an said gravely. “That’s four hundred and eighty thousand lives.”

“If this leads to riots and rebellions,” Wei Wusheng pointed at Song Shi’an, then at himself, “then our heads will be the first to roll.”

Conspiracy.

This is the emperor's open scheme.

"Could the Crown Prince have thought this from the beginning?" Xin Yue wondered.

“It’s unlikely. He certainly doesn’t want to share power,” Wei Wusheng said. “Letting the aristocratic families take away the fruits of the military farms is exactly what His Majesty wants to do.”

"The settlement of agricultural lands can be considered a success. However, it is not a perfect success."

Song Shi'an raised his head and said, "Either we go along with the powerful families and cease hostilities, or I will resign and take responsibility."

"So, the only ones who will suffer losses are the two of you."

Xin Yue couldn't help but laugh, so angry she didn't know what to say.

She really wanted to say, "Back then, we had soldiers and food, so why didn't we just rebel?"
"But it's too early to say that now."

Song Shi'an held the charcoal with tongs and muttered to himself.

Just then, Song Gan rushed in: "Your Highness, Your Lordship, Your Excellency, we have received 20,000 shi of grain at three times the price!"

Everyone looked over at the same time.

“Originally, someone else wanted to sell it to us, but Sun Qian’s men bought it from us for three times the price,” Song Gan said.

"Damn it! They're offering three times the price, but they're selling to Sun Qian and not to us!" Xin Yue was furious. "We should strike hard against these ignorant rich businessmen."

"Take it for three times the price, or make a deal?" Song Shi'an asked.

"It's settled, but say it will be shipped out immediately," Song Gan said.

“That means they haven’t left yet.” Song Shi’an stood up and said decisively, “Take them back at four times the price!”

This move surprised everyone.

Because of the fourfold investment, no matter how much money is involved, it will be used up very quickly.

After all, it only has a quarter of its original purchasing power.

But he was too determined.

Without a moment's hesitation, Song Gan immediately complied: "Yes!"

.........

"They bought the grain at four times the price?" Sun Qian was dumbfounded. "Has he gone mad?"

"And he's taken away the grain of many people in Huai County... Should we follow him?"

"What are you thinking? Even if the entire Sun family were to be involved, it wouldn't be enough."

Sun Qian immediately denied it, and judged, "If he does it this way, he'll go bankrupt very soon!"

Everyone thinks so.

However, Song Shi'an not only bought up all the grain from the surrounding wealthy merchants and gentry at four times the price.

Moreover, they even set a price five times higher to buy grain from other regions!

In an instant, breaches appeared throughout Sizhou, and even in Qinzhou, with grain continuously being transported to Huai County… (End of Chapter)