Thief Emperor

Chapter 776: Rice Prices and War

Although they say they beat drums and enter the tent, the Shuofang Army actually does not have a big tent to speak of at this moment. After all, everyone has already entered the capital and is stationed there. General Wei and the Shuofang Army are not as disciplined as the Jiangdong Army. Some of the Shuofang Army's generals now live in large mansions.

However, the formality was such that in less than an hour, the senior generals of the Shuofang Army had gathered together. As General Wei, dressed in a purple robe, took his seat, everyone bowed and saluted to the main seat.

General Wei narrowed his eyes and enjoyed this atmosphere quite comfortably for a while, but he also knew that this was not the time to enjoy himself, so he quickly pressed his hands and slowly said, "Sit down and talk."

"Yes."

Everyone bowed their heads and took their seats. General Wei then looked at his son and said slowly, "Wei Yao, tell everyone about the situation."

Wei Yao bowed his head to his father and said, "Dad, I have already informed them of the general situation before you all came. I will briefly explain it to you."

Wei Yao paused and continued, "According to the intelligence, about four days ago, a large group of Jiangdong troops suddenly gathered near Luoyang. Three days ago, this group of Jiangdong troops left Luoyang and headed east. Several of our people buried in the Jiangdong troops were also taken with them and marched east. We can basically confirm that this news is true."

At this point, Wei Yao paused and said silently: "However, the Jiangdong Army had done a good job of keeping the secret. For us, the incident was quite sudden. Our informants buried in the Jiangdong Army could not report back accurate information for a while."

"Moreover, they may not know what the ultimate purpose of the Jiangdong Army's eastward advance is this time."

Wei Yao looked at his father and continued, "Among the Jiangdong troops heading east this time, the highest-ranking person among us is only a deputy lieutenant. I guess that even if he can pass on the news, he may not be able to know the truth."

The current military system of Jiangdong Army has been reformed by Li Yun. Although it is somewhat similar to the officer rank of the former Wu Zhou Dynasty, it has been massively streamlined, and formal deputy positions have been added at all levels.

Compared with the military system of the old Zhou Dynasty, such a military system is undoubtedly simpler and easier to understand.

Now, Li has become powerful, and all forces are eyeing the Jiangdong Army. Important generals of the Jiangdong Army and some of its military systems are placed on the desks of people like Wei Quanzhong.

They don't understand, but they must understand.

Wei Yao only said this much, then he looked up at his father and said silently: "Dad, we don't quite know what this force is going to do when it moves eastward, but now we can basically confirm that it will be at least 40,000 people, and at most 50,000 or 60,000 people."

"This is almost half of the troops near Luoyang."

"This is an opportunity."

General Wei narrowed his eyes and said calmly: "That Li Yun is like a mad dog on the battlefield, but in reality, he is no different from a fox. You can see that this is an opportunity, then Li Yun..."

"It's impossible not to know. This is a flaw."

Wei Yao took a deep breath and looked at the generals without saying anything.

General Wei also looked at the generals under his command. These generals all spoke up and expressed their opinions. For a while, there was a lot of noise on the field.

After arguing for a long time, General Wei finally felt annoyed. He waved his hand and snorted, "After talking for a long time, no one said anything practical."

"Rest, rest."

General Wei stood up, put his hands behind his back, left the main room, and came to the inner room.

In the inner room, a middle-aged scholar in gray clothes was sitting next to the tea table, drinking tea with his head down. General Wei strode forward and sat down opposite him unceremoniously, looking at the middle-aged man with a pale face.

"Mr. He, you should already know what happened. What do you think?"

Mr. He, the chief strategist of Shuofang.

Mr. He put down the teacup in his hand, looked up at Wei Quanzhong, was silent for a while, and said, "General, some time ago, out of curiosity, I sent someone out to check the rice prices in Luoyang and nearby areas."

"The price of rice in Luoyang is about 400 coins per dou of rice now."

Mr. He looked at Wei Quanzhong and continued, "This price is of course higher than usual, but compared to the rice prices in Luoyang the year before last and last year, it has dropped significantly. At the same time."

“The price of rice in Guanzhong.”

Mr. He drank his tea silently and sighed softly, "A dou of rice generally costs more than a thousand coins."

Upon hearing this, Wei Quanzhong frowned. He was silent for a while and said in a muffled voice: "The chaos in Guanzhong was not caused by me. When there is war in the world, the price of grain will naturally rise. What's so strange about that?"

"After a few years of settling down, things will naturally settle down."

Mr. He nodded and said, "On weekdays, this is indeed the case."

He fumbled in his sleeve for a while, took out a few copper coins, placed them on the table, and then said, "My lord, please look at this money."

Wei Quanzhong frowned, took the coins, and looked at them. He saw that the coins were not Zhaoding Tongbao or Xiande Tongbao, but Jinling Tongbao. General Wei looked at the coins over and over again, shook his head and said, "Isn't this the private money that Li Er made himself? What's so strange about it?"

"In recent years, each family has been minting its own coins."

Mr. He nodded and sighed, "Yes, in the past few years, this thing was indeed private money, but now, it is no longer the case. The king may not know."

"At this time, in the vicinity of Luoyang, if you use Zhou coins to buy grain, the price of rice is 200 coins per dou. If you use other private coins to buy grain, as long as they are copper, the locals will also accept them, but the price will be cheaper. However, you can use Jinling Tongbao to buy grain."

"The price of a dou of rice is around 200 coins, or even less than 200 coins."

"Local people call it Wu money."

Mr. He looked up at Wei Quanzhong and said slowly, "Does your Majesty know what this means?"

Wei Quanzhong frowned and said nothing.

Mr. He continued, "It means that the economy and people's livelihood in the Central Plains region centered on Luoyang are recovering rapidly. If this continues, within two years, the price of a dou of rice can even return to less than 100 coins."

"This is when the arable land in the Central Plains is left barren."

"In the future, when the arable land in the Central Plains is restored, the cost of transporting grain will be eliminated, and the price of rice will fall accordingly."

"Does your Majesty know what this situation is like?"

Wei Quanzhong frowned and said nothing.

Mr. He sighed: "This is very much like the early years of the founding of the country."

Having said this, Mr. He stopped talking.

Wei Quanzhong played with a jade pendant in his hand, looked at Mr. He, and asked, "Mr. He means that we must seize this opportunity and fight this battle?"

"I didn't say that. Everything depends on your own judgment."

Mr. He looked at Wei Quanzhong and continued, "But there is one thing that Your Majesty should be very clear about now. That is, the officials of the old court in Guanzhong are not very willing to work for Your Majesty, and the grain outside the pass cannot be transported into the pass."

"The recovery speed of the 800-li Qinchuan in Guanzhong is far slower than that of the Central Plains, and far slower than that of Li Yun who can mobilize the grain of Shannan East Road, Jiangnan Road, and even the entire Henan Road."

"If Your Majesty keeps watching and doing nothing, within three years, the people of the Central Plains will have completely made up their minds. By then, even if the Jiangdong Army is no match for Your Majesty, when Your Majesty invades the Central Plains, the people of the Central Plains will pick up their rakes and hoes and fight You to the death."

At this point, Mr. He continued, "This Li Erlang has some very remarkable experts in internal affairs under his command, and there is more than one."

"The military discipline of the Jiangdong Army is also...slightly better than that of our Shuofang Army."

After hearing this, Wei Quanzhong understood everything. He lowered his head and drank a sip of tea. His voice was hoarse, "According to what Mr. He said, Li Er doesn't need to do anything else. He just needs to occupy the Central Plains for two or three years, or three to five years, and then he will naturally become powerful."

"Why did he suddenly mobilize a large number of troops?"

Mr. He took a sip of tea and chuckled, "There are three possibilities. The first possibility is that Li Erlang is impatient and can't wait for three to five years. He wants to take over the territory as soon as possible, so he went all the way east to eat up the Pinglu Army."

"Once he annexed the Pinglu Army, he would immediately become the strongest army in the world, able to defeat many enemies alone."

"The second possibility is that Li Erlang is a kind-hearted man who wants to go north from the Pinglu Army to support the war in Hebei Province and help Hebei Province deal with the Khitans and drive them out of Youyan."

"As for the third possibility."

Mr. He looked at Wei Quanzhong and said slowly, "The third possibility is that he is just bluffing and setting a trap, waiting for the king to fall into it, and wants to take this opportunity to eliminate the hidden danger of our Shuofang Army as soon as possible."

General Wei remained silent.

"Sir, it has been a long time since you have given me any practical advice."

"Of course there are practical ways."

Mr. He's voice was calm.

"The Shuofang Army must move, otherwise the chances in the future will be too slim, but we don't have to move ourselves, it's a dangerous place..."

"We can ask the Hedong Army to go there."

(End of this chapter)