The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

"This year's snow was too light."

Chen Huai'an reached out and caught a few small snowflakes falling from the sky.

The light snowfall might make this winter less cold, which seems like a good thing.

But if this situation continues, will there still be a lack of rain when spring arrives?

Chen Huai'an recalled that historical records show that in the first year of the Zhenguan era, there was a continuous lack of rainfall in Guanzhong after the beginning of spring, which seriously affected spring sowing and resulted in a very low grain harvest.

By July and August, a severe drought had even occurred.

This led to severe food shortages in the Guanzhong Plain, while Shandong and other regions suffered from severe droughts, resulting in widespread displacement of people. Some even resorted to eating clay and exchanging children for food.

"We need to speed things up..."

Chen Huai'an murmured to himself.

If there is insufficient rainfall in the spring, signs of reduced grain production will begin to appear, and grain prices will continue to rise. At that time, it will become extremely difficult for him to purchase grain.

"......"

The next day, after the court session, Chen Huai'an immediately summoned Yu Shao, Chang Gui, and Ouyang Shu.

"How is the construction of the three charity granaries going?"

When will it be completed and put into use?

Chang Gui and Ouyang Shu immediately looked at Yu Shao, who had been keeping an eye on this matter.

"Reporting to the Minister," Yu Shao said, "as you instructed, the three granaries have been established in Jiannan, Jiangnan, and Huainan respectively. However, due to the great distance, it is difficult to transmit information. According to the last message that came back, the construction of the granaries is proceeding in an orderly manner and will definitely be completed and put into use before the beginning of spring in March this year."

"Good!" Chen Huai'an was quite satisfied with the answer. "You need to continue to oversee the construction of the granary, and do not allow any shoddy workmanship. It must be completed and put into use before March of this year."

"If it had been done well three months ago, you, Yu Shao, would have accomplished a great feat; if it hadn't been done well..."

Yu Shao said solemnly, "Even without the Minister's permission, if I fail to perform well, I will personally apologize to His Majesty!"

"It seems you're very confident." Chen Huai'an felt relieved.

Yu Shao smiled and said, "My lord repeatedly instructed me, and I dared not take it lightly. I kept a close eye on things and used an employment system. The people worked very diligently and there was no need to urge them, so the construction progressed very quickly."

"However... I have a question that I still don't understand. Could you please enlighten me, sir?"

Chen Huai'an: "Go ahead."

"Why must you establish the granaries in Jiannan, Jiangnan, and Huainan first, sir?" Yu Shao asked in confusion. "Although these regions have had bumper harvests every year and are not short of grain, establishing granaries here will allow us to accumulate grain the fastest."

"However, these areas are ultimately quite far from Guanzhong."

"If there is a food shortage in Guanzhong, distant water will not be enough to quench the immediate thirst."

"Why not establish the charity granary in the Guanzhong region, or in a slightly nearby area?"

"Shandong, Hebei, and Henan are all major grain-producing regions, and they are also close to Chang'an. Wouldn't it be better to build here first?"

After hearing this, Chen Huai'an did not answer immediately. Instead, he gestured for the three of them to sit down before slowly saying, "You are right. Logically speaking, Shandong, Hebei, and Henan should be the most suitable regions to establish granaries first."

"However, the problem is that most of Chang'an's food supply comes from these few regions."

"If there's a food shortage in Guanzhong, do you think these other regions will fare any better?"

"If it weren't for the problems in these regions, would Guanzhong have experienced a food shortage?"

The three were stumped by the question and looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chang Gui hesitated and said, "So, what you mean, sir, is... to stockpile grain in the grain-producing areas during a bumper harvest, and then transport it over when there's a disaster in Guanzhong?"

"That's right!" Chen Huai'an nodded. "The Jiangnan and Huainan regions are crisscrossed by waterways, making water transport smooth. Grain can travel along the Grand Canal into the Yellow River and reach Guanzhong directly."

"Although Jiannan is a bit far, the grain from Shu can be transported down the Yangtze River to supplement the shortages in Jiangnan and Huainan."

"These three places are the granaries of the nation. In years of plenty, grain prices are low, so we can take this opportunity to buy and store large quantities at the lowest cost and with the most abundant reserves."

He paused, then added, "Furthermore, it's safer to store grain in places where it's produced."

"If all the grain is stored in Guanzhong, and the disaster is severe and refugees gather, the granaries are more likely to become chaotic. If it is scattered across three regions, if one is lost, there are two other places to replenish it, so that the whole situation will not be put in a passive position."

Ouyang Shu suddenly realized, "My lord has considered things from a long-term perspective!"

"Not only in Guanzhong, but also in Shandong, if there is a disaster and refugees flock south, the charitable granaries in Huainan can provide relief locally, so that all the disaster victims do not have to rush to Chang'an. This not only saves the people, but also stabilizes the local order."

"That's exactly right." A smile appeared in Chen Huai'an's eyes. "Otherwise, why do you think His Majesty agreed to let me build granaries in these places?"

"Your Excellency is wise," the three said, completely convinced.

Chen Huai'an waved his hand, changing the subject: "Let's not talk about this for now."

"Once this month is over, you can lead people to reclaim the land. Reclaim as much land as you can. If you don't have enough manpower, hire people. If you don't have enough cattle, rent them. You must be quick."

"Also, Chang Gui, you will go and check the inventory of official granaries in Chang'an and the surrounding counties later, register them one by one, and report back to me within three days."

"In addition, the Ministry of Works issued a document to all prefectures and counties in Guanzhong, instructing them to take advantage of the current winter off-season to quickly repair canals, dredge waterways, and renovate ponds, so as to store as much water as possible."

"Huh?" Chang Gui raised his head in confusion.

"What? Didn't you hear me?"

"No, no." Chang Gui didn't know how to explain.

There's not much to say about land reclamation; it was part of Chen Huai'an's original plan.

But why do we need to repair canals, dredge waterways, and renovate ponds again?

They've already recruited too many people to mine iron ore, and on the other hand, they've recruited a large number of people to build granaries. Now they have to reclaim wasteland as well.

Why do we still need to repair irrigation ditches?

How many people will we need to hire, and how much money will we need to spend?

Chang Gui hesitated and said, "My lord, please forgive my bluntness, but we only have 40% of the profits, and the sale of ironware has only just begun, so the profits are not large."

"We can't do so many things at the same time!"

"unless......"

At the end, Chang Gui stopped and didn't finish his sentence.

Chen Huai'an understood: "Unless they impose corvée labor, right?"

Chang Gui nodded: "Yes, sir. If we proceed as you have instructed, the ironware business, which has just started to turn a profit, will not be able to support such a large project."

"If we insist on doing it, it will only bankrupt the finances, so we have no choice but to conscript laborers."

"Of course, my suggestion is that there's no need to rush. We can certainly slow down and do the land reclamation, irrigation canal repair, river dredging, and pond maintenance later..."

"No way!" Chen Huai'an rejected Chang Gui's suggestion without hesitation. "These things must be done now!"

The three exchanged a glance, and Chang Gui cautiously said, "Then... we'll have no choice but to conscript laborers..."

Labor service was essentially the state forcing people to do work without pay, and they even had to bring their own food.

In his previous life, Chen Huai'an had heard a saying: "The suffering of corvée labor in ancient times was a hundred times that of taxes!"

"No forced labor." Chen Huai'an closed his eyes. "Forced labor, forced labor!"

"Things that seem free are often the most expensive."

"Continue with the employment system; as for the rest... I'll figure it out!"

"..."

P.S.: Wishing all students taking the high school entrance exam the best of luck!