bastard seizes tang

Chapter 646 Wuwei Warehouse

Gu Zang City, Liangzhou Hotel, Study Room.

"Just as the prince expected, it's not just Guzang that is short of food in the market. The surrounding counties are also out of food. I'm afraid the whole of Hexi is like this now." Liu Rengui told Li Ke when he entered the door.

Listening to Liu Rengui's words, Li Ke's expression was as usual, and he didn't see too much surprise. What Liu Rengui reported was in Li Ke's expectation. The Longyou Clan has been entrenched in Kansai for a hundred years, and they can still do this.

The more so, Li Ke became more and more sure that the people standing behind the matter must be the people from the Guanlongmen faction. After all, apart from the government, they are the only ones in Longyou who have this ability.

Li Ke said: "In this way, the Guanlongmen faction is really behind this matter. They missed the Xuanwei mansion. They didn't expect another incident to happen so soon."

Liu Ren tracked: "It must be so. This happened suddenly and strangely. In Hexi, there is no one else who can have such a skill except the clan of Longyou. It's just that they are a little bolder to dare to do this."

Liu Rengui comes from the Liu family of the Wei family in the Central Plains. Although he is a bastard from a side branch, he is quite familiar with the ways of these aristocratic families. In the Central Plains and Shandong, there are many aristocratic families that promote culture and education, but no one has such courage. .

Li Ke said: "Most of the Guanlongmen clans started their careers as soldiers, and they act rough and rough. They are used to running rampant in Longyou Road, so they are naturally more courageous. This is not a strange thing."

Among the Guanlongmen faction, apart from Yongzhou and the aristocratic families from Tongguan to the east of Yongzhou, under the influence of the imperial court and the Kanto, they gradually abandoned martial arts and turned to literature, while in the west of Yongzhou, especially to the west of scattered officials, the rule of law was not flourishing, especially the military, and the aristocratic families It is even more presumptuous to act in a powerful way.

Liu Rengui said to Li Ke with some worry: "I have something that I feel is inappropriate, and I don't know whether it should be said or not."

Li Ke heard the words and said: "Regularly, you are not an outsider, just talk about it."

Liu Ren tracked: "Isn't it a bit hasty for the prince to withhold the summer grain that Liangzhou turned over to Chang'an without permission? In recent years, the population of Chang'an has increased, and the grain and grass are not very abundant. If the summer grain withheld by the prince causes Chang'an to be short of grain The food shortage in Chang'an is getting worse."

The importance of Liangzhou is naturally incomparable with Chang'an, the capital of the country, and Hexi cannot be compared with Guanzhong, the confidant of Datang. Guanzhong is densely populated, and the annual food supply is already tight. All civil and military officials and the imperial army under his command travel between Chang'an and Luoyang every year, and they live in the eastern capital, leaving behind the nickname of "Emperor Chasing Grain".

The lack of food in Guanzhong was already the case. Now, in order to alleviate the food crisis in Liangzhou, Li Ke has to withhold [-] shi of summer grain that should have been sent to Chang'an. Naturally, Chang'an is even less affluent.

Li Ke said helplessly: "This palace is also aware of this matter, but let's solve the urgent need first, presumably the emperor will also understand."

The purpose of withholding grain this time was to deal with the Guanlongmen faction, and it was also the first priority agreed upon by Li Shimin and Li Ke. Li Ke withheld [-] shi of grain for this purpose. Li Shimin naturally understood and would not ask any more questions.

Liu Ren tracked: "These batches of Xia Liang princes must find other ways to make up for them, otherwise there will be more talk in Beijing."

Li Ke nodded when he heard the words, and said: "I will report this matter to my father first, and I will ask several counties in Huainan to fill in the gap of [-] shi, and there will be no trouble."

Li Ke has been in Huainan for several years, and his roots are also in Huainan. Half of the officials in Huainan are promoted by Li Ke. .

With Li Ke's ability, it is not difficult to find supplements for the 50 shi of grain and grass from other sources, but as far as the current situation is concerned, the [-] shi of grain and grass is just a drop in the bucket. In time, at least [-] stones of grain and grass will be needed to fill this loophole. This is the real problem.

There has been no foreign war in the Tang Dynasty in recent years, and it is not impossible to transfer the 50 shi of grain and grass from various places in the Tang Dynasty, but it takes too long to go back and forth, whether it is from Shandong, Hebei or Huainan Far water does not quench near thirst.

Liu Rengui looked at Li Ke's sad face, and asked Li Ke: "Is the prince worried about the shortage of food right now?"

Li Ke nodded and said: "Exactly, the one hundred thousand shi deducted by the palace is just a drop in the bucket, and it's hard to use it. There are still many gaps left. It's not easy to make up for it."

It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice. Even if Li Kegui is the prince and the heir of the country, he can't make something out of nothing. Li Ke can't do anything with the 50 shi of grain left behind.

Liu Ren tracked: "I think the prince's thinking is wrong. The prince's top priority should not be to raise food everywhere, but to make the Guanlongmen Clan take the initiative to release grain so that the people of Liangzhou can buy food."

Li Ke said: "It is not a long-term solution to adjust grain from other places. This palace knows this truth, but the people of Guanlongmen Clan did it on purpose. It is not easy to ask them to take the initiative to release grain."

Liu Rengui: "Under the current situation, it is not easy for them to take the initiative to release food, but if they can be made to feel that the crown prince has enough food, they will naturally release food. After all, they can't have too much food in their hands. They will press the food in their hands and let it rot."

Li Ke was puzzled and said: "How can we make them feel that there is no shortage of food in my palace's hands?"

Liu Ren said: "In Liangzhou, there is another food storage place. Could it be that the crown prince forgot?"

Since Li Ke wanted to use Liangzhou as a starting point to deal with Guan Long, he was naturally familiar with Liangzhou, and Li Ke knew what Liu Rengui was talking about.

In Liangzhou itself, there is a place that has a lot of grain, and that is Wuwei warehouse in Liangzhou.However, although there is still a lot of food in the Wuwei warehouse, it is all military food, which is for the Northwest Frontier Army.

"You're talking about Wuwei warehouse?" Li Ke asked Liu Rengui.

Liu Rengui replied: "It is Wuwei warehouse. Wuwei warehouse is extremely rich in grain, at least more than a million stones."

Liangzhou is the most important town in the Northwest, and Wuwei Cang was used to supply grain for wars in Liangzhou and surrounding counties and counties. In the early years, in order to guard against Tuyuhun and Tubo, a lot of grain and grass were stored in Wuwei Cang to prepare for wartime needs.

Li Ke looked at Liu Rengui, and then asked: "You don't know what the grain and grass in Wuwei warehouse are for, do you?"

Liangzhou is not Huainan. Huainan is located in the southeast, and there is no war. So when Li Ke encountered a food shortage when he was controlling the water in Huainan, he could call Shanyang warehouse, but Liangzhou is a frontier state. If there is a war in the northwest again, there will be a big mess, and even Li Ke, as a prince, cannot bear the responsibility for it.

Liu Rengui laughed and said, "The supplies from the Wuwei warehouse are from the Liangzhou frontier army, so I know that, but what I said was that the Guanlong clan thought that the crown prince had no shortage of grain, but he never told the prince to use the grain and grass from the Wuwei warehouse."

(End of this chapter)