The Prodigal Son

Shengzhou Prefecture.

Qin Yu did not go to Xiazhou, but chose to stay in Shengzhou Prefecture to clean up the mess there.

Although they intercepted Yelü Shu's supplies, the amount of food was only a drop in the ocean compared to their current situation.

Shengzhou has experienced several rounds of chaos, and every household has no surplus grain.

You can see the corpses of people who have starved or frozen to death just by going out for a walk.

The bark of the trees inside and outside the city has been stripped off, and almost nothing edible is left.

Even some corpses that still had some fat on them were taken away.

The entire Shengzhou was a living hell.

Seeing the starving Yan people kneeling in the city begging for a way to survive, Qin Yu had no choice but to have large pots set up to provide disaster relief.

However, he knew in his heart that the tens of thousands of bushels of grain they had were not enough to sustain them for long, as they had to manage both the army and the people.

Even if the grain were transported to Yanzhou by sea in the dead of winter, it would still take a long time to reach Shengzhou.

The starving people of Shengzhou certainly couldn't wait that long.

He also considered relocating these starving people to places like Linzhou and Yanzhou to further shorten the time needed to obtain food.

But with the weather so cold, he didn't have enough tents for the starving people.

If they were to move like this, they wouldn't even have a place to shelter from the wind at night. If they did, half of the starving people would probably freeze to death overnight.

While pondering what to do next, Qin Yu surveyed the large pots on site.

Besides various kinds of grains, there were also some other random things in the pot that could be eaten.

The only thing we can do is give these people something to eat to keep them alive.

Let's see when the remaining grain will be delivered!

Ugh!

You have to find a way to deal with the mess you made yourself!

He has already sent a message to Beiqi, asking them to exchange grain for the bodies of the Beiqi soldiers who died in battle. He doesn't know if Beiqi will agree to this.

"Thirteenth Young Master!"

At this moment, Qin Xiong ran over excitedly, "Du Fan from Haidong City has sent three hundred carts of warhorse meat!"

Upon hearing Qin Xiong's words, Qin Yu's eyes immediately lit up.

Three hundred truckloads of meat?

But soon, the look in Qin Yu's eyes dimmed again.

"What's wrong with you? You're not happy there's meat?"

Nan Que'er looked at Qin Yu, puzzled.

Qin Yu rubbed his head. "What I need right now is food! These three hundred cartloads of meat won't last long..."

Three hundred cars, that sounds like a lot.

Actually, it was just meat taken from about a thousand warhorses that died in battle.

"Look at you! You're never satisfied."

Nan Que'er patted him lightly, "Something is better than nothing!"

"That's true."

Qin Yu chuckled to himself and immediately ordered Qin Xiong, "Put all that meat into the granary. From now on, each soldier will be rationed two ounces more meat per day!"

"yes!"

Qin Xiong accepted the order.

Nan Que'er thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Should we add some minced meat to the pots in these soup kitchens? These people are all so thin and weak from hunger, it's pitiful..."

You don't need to add too much.

Just add a pound of minced meat to a big pot.

A little more oil and fat might allow these starving people to survive a little longer.

Qin Yu thought for a moment and immediately shook his head: "Forget it! Even if we add meat for them, they probably won't dare to eat it!"

"Of course I'd eat it!"

Nan Que'er rolled her eyes at him.

"I really don't dare to eat it."

Qin Yu said seriously, "Have you ever seen anyone add meat to disaster relief supplies? If you actually added meat, they'd probably think it was human flesh!"

Moreover, his first priority was to ensure the supply of the soldiers.

Secondly, we should provide relief to these people as much as possible.

Nan Que'er pondered for a moment, then said no more.

Okay, let's leave it at that!

Back inside, Qin Yu pondered quietly for a while, then picked up his pen and began writing a letter to Shangguan Xun.

However, after writing only a few words, he paused again.

"Why did you stop writing?"

Nan Que'er looked at Qin Yu with a puzzled expression.

"Shangguan Xun has to ensure the food supply for an army of two or three hundred thousand, and also provide relief to the starving people who have flooded into Pangzhou. He must be having a really tough time."

Qin Yu rubbed his head. "Writing a letter to Shangguan Xun is less efficient than writing to His Majesty to urge for grain supplies!"

Nan Que'er was surprised, then nodded gently: "That's true."

This is really a headache!

No one is a god, and no one can conjure up food.

Without food, there's nothing we can do no matter how hard we try!

Qin Yu didn't reply, and began to think again.

After pondering for a long time, Qin Yu made a firm decision and gritted his teeth, saying, "Men, order Du Fan to send five thousand of those wounded warhorses from Haidong City that can no longer fight to Shengzhou Prefecture. Slaughter the rest to improve the soldiers' rations!"

Besides those who died in battle, many of Yelü Shu's troops and their warhorses were also wounded and unable to return to the battlefield!

Killing those warhorses should allow us to hold out for a while longer!

Nan Que'er's eyelids twitched. "Shouldn't we reconsider? Those warhorses may no longer be able to go to the battlefield, but they can still pull plows! Isn't it too wasteful to just kill them like this?"

"Let's save people first!"

Qin Yu made up his mind, "Besides, those warhorses consume a lot of food every day while they're alive! Killing them will save a lot of food!"

With everyone gone, who will those horses be used to pull the plow?

The meat of one warhorse, if eaten sparingly, could feed a hundred people for three days.

There are at least six or seven thousand such warhorses in Haidong City!

The longer we hold out, the more likely we are to survive until the next supply arrives!

"Too!"

Nan Que'er stopped trying to persuade him, cupped Qin Yu's cheeks, and said with a smile, "My man is so clever! He kills warhorses and saves grain, which means he saves a lot of grain!"

"That's right!"

Qin Yu laughed heartily, put his arm around Nan Que'er's waist, and felt instantly relieved.

That's it!

Do your best and leave the rest to fate!

Anyway, I've tried every possible solution!

We will save as many starving people as we can!

Seeing Qin Yu's smile, Nan Que'er felt much of the gloom in her heart dissipate.

After whispering sweet nothings to each other for a while, Qin Yu picked up his pen again and said with a smile, "I need to report this to Commander Xue!"

"Are you afraid of being punished for killing warhorses?"

Nan Que'er joked.

"fool!"

Qin Yu affectionately tapped Nan Que'er's head, "On one hand, it's about complaining, and on the other hand, it's about helping Commander Xue win over the hearts of the people! We need to tell Suhe Baoyin and his surrendered soldiers that we are doing our best to provide disaster relief, even at the cost of killing warhorses..."

Having gone to such lengths, isn't Suhe Baoyin even a little bit moved?

At least, he did not break his promise to Yan Li, who committed suicide.

And I can live with my own conscience!

Nan Que'er understood, gently pecked Qin Yu's lips, and praised him with starry eyes: "My man is so smart!"

Qin Yu returned Nan Que'er's kiss, and then quickly began to write.

Well, this is a headache that I can't be the only one dealing with!

We also need to get those old guys like Xue Chengdao to come up with a solution!

Under Nan Que'er's watchful gaze, Qin Yu quickly wrote a letter, then picked up another piece of paper and quickly wrote a letter to Zhao Luan.

We also need to get those officials in the court to come up with a solution!

This isn't just my problem!

Yes, that's how it should be!