The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

(The missing chapter from yesterday is now in Chapter 587! Refresh and read!)

"What's more, we have sweet potatoes and Annan rice, and God has blessed us with good weather and harvests. The yield is much higher than before. Based on the yield of medium-sized farmland in Ze County, you should be able to squeeze out at least another 300 million kilograms of grain.

I also calculated the other seven counties under my jurisdiction, and they should be able to gather about another 2.3 million catties. My 3 million catties plus your 3 million catties will be 6 million catties, which is enough for the soldiers to eat for eleven or twelve days.

Add to that Yangzhou and the fifteen cities along the line from Huai'an to Huaiyangguan, and the problem won't be too big."

"What? Three million catties? Are you stealing food???"

When Magistrate Huang heard this, he couldn't help but blurt out.

Seeing how clearly Zhang Ping'an calculated it, the corners of his eyes couldn't help but twitch.

He began to stroke his beard again, not saying a word, lost in thought.

Zhang Ping'an did not urge him. After knowing that some food had already been sent from Huai'an, he was not so panicked.

At this time, Magistrate Huang was indeed conflicted.

Although they were all officials in the same dynasty, everything belonged to the court.

However, they were used to acting independently, and the local officials in each county always kept a close eye on the money and grain.

Just like a hamster hoarding food, you will feel at ease only when things are in your own hands.

The main reason is that there are many cities along the Huai River. Prefect Huang thinks they can actually squeeze out a lot of grain, so Huai'an does not need to produce so much.

If he really gave too little and something happened, causing the soldiers to mutiny, he would not be able to bear the responsibility.

It’s really difficult!

Seeing that a quarter of an hour had passed, Zhang Pingan said in a deep voice: "Master Huang, you don't have to worry too much. You have your difficulties, and I understand. But it's just that someone has to come forward to escort the grain. I'm afraid that someone will speak nonsense in front of Master Zhou and slander you! You also know that many of the soldiers in the garrison are Master Zhou's confidants, all rough people, and they have always been outspoken!"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Huang paused, glanced at a few people and said nothing.

Youqi gave Old Baldy a serious look.

The bald old man just lowered his head and drank tea without saying a word.

After a moment, Prefect Huang sighed heavily and said, "Forget it, forget it. The first rafter to stick out gets rotted first. People are afraid of fame, just like pigs are afraid of being fat. Who made Huai'an the first one? For the sake of the overall situation, we can only give out these three million catties of grain!"

After he finished speaking, he changed the subject and said to the old bald man, "But when we get to Lord Zhou, Lord You, you have to say a few good words for me. These more than four million kilograms of grain were hard-earned. They were all squeezed out of the teeth of the Huai'an soldiers and people!"

At the end, he actually took out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of his eyes.

It really hurts!

The old bald man immediately smiled brightly, patted his chest and said loudly: "Master Huang, don't worry, I will definitely speak well of you in front of Master Zhou. Good officials like you who serve the country and the people are truly rare!"

After the grain issue was finalized, the next step was to load and transport the grain.

Prefect Huang said, "Huai'an has only about 40 grain ships. There are 18 large Cantonese ships, each capable of carrying 9 catties of grain, and 25 smaller Fujian ships, each capable of carrying 5 catties of grain. Yesterday, the situation was urgent, and I dispatched all the large ships. Now, only the small ones remain. At least five more ships must be kept for emergencies. There are only 20 Fujian ships available for immediate use, which is just enough to load all the grain you brought."

Zhang Ping'an had anticipated this situation when he heard Prefect Huang say that 1.5 million kilograms had been sent to the front line.

He knew very well how many ships there were in Huai'an.

Zhang Pingan said carefully, "Well, if we ship this batch of grain immediately, then the Guang and Fu ships will not be back for seven or eight days at the earliest. The next batch of grain will not arrive at the front line for another ten days. There will definitely not be enough food, and the army cannot go without food for a day. I have an idea. Do you want to hear it, Prefect Huang?"

"I'm all ears!" Magistrate Huang made a gesture of invitation.

Zhang Pingan then continued, "Huai'an has a large population and ample manpower. Why don't we follow the methods of our predecessors in marching and fighting and make rations? We can grind roasted rice, wheat, beans, and other grains into powder and press them into blocks. This will be convenient for carrying and storing, and will also solve the problem of insufficient ships. It won't take much effort. I estimate we can carry at least half as much more."

"Both 'The Book of Zhou' and 'Dream Pool Essays' mentioned fighting with consumable grain, so it should be feasible. I didn't think of it at the time," Magistrate Huang also realized.

He immediately ordered someone to make arrangements.

"In this case, you don't have to leave in a hurry today. Even if the subordinates work non-stop all night, I estimate that it will take until tomorrow afternoon to finish at the earliest. I will let the servants take you to have dinner first, and then you can rest. I still have to work on the allocation of grain, so I have to leave you," said Magistrate Huang after calculating the time.

"Thank you, Magistrate Huang, for your consideration," Zhang Ping'an, Lao Tu and others stood up and bowed.

Magistrate Huang waved his hand.

I didn't send many people out this time.

Zhang Pingan didn't care either.

After the old bald man walked away, he whispered, "It seems that Master Huang is really distressed and he didn't even send me off!"

"There's no other way. Huai'an has saved up so much money and grain with great difficulty, and now they have to take away millions of pounds of grain all at once. Who can feel good about this?!" Zhang Ping'an understood.

Civil servants are different from military officers. They consider more and have more ideas.

Even he himself feels sad!

After returning from the front line, I will probably have to live frugally like the people.

"Mr. Huang seems to be a man of temperament. He is not very steady, but he is bold in doing things," the bald old man commented.

"Oh, it's all gambling!" Zhang Ping'an shook his head.

The group hadn't had a good rest for a day and a night, and had only eaten a few dry biscuits while traveling during the day, so they were really hungry now.

Huai'an is worthy of being the provincial capital. It is wealthy and the chefs are skilled. The meals they prepare are very rich, which is much better than Ze County.

As the old bald man ate voraciously, he said to Zhang Pingan, "I originally thought that Master Huang would arrange something very simple and complain about his poverty to us, but I didn't expect him to be so generous!"

"Since you have already presented me with the jade pendant, why should I be stingy with the jade earring?" Zhang Ping'an said after wiping his mouth after finishing his meal.

"What's that? Can you say something I can understand?" The bald old man scratched his head with chopsticks, a little confused.

"What I mean is that since you have already given a valuable gift, why should you be stingy with small things?" Zhang Pingan explained.

After saying that, he smiled and stood up: "This Magistrate Huang is quite interesting!"

Ruan San never understood these words, and ignored them, eating without even raising his head!

The next morning, after Ruan San finished his breakfast, he took some of the laborers and carriages and horses back home.

Transporting grain by canal saves time and effort, and does not require so many laborers and carriages.

Zhang Ping'an and Lao Tu were concerned about the production of glutinous rice. As expected, as Prefect Huang predicted, 1.5 million kilograms of grain were ready by 3 p.m.

It even has a slight residual warmth.

Fortunately, Huai'an Prefecture has sufficient manpower, many workshops and many craftsmen, so the efficiency is not slow.

After loading the ship, Zhang Ping'an and Lao Tu led their men to check everything one by one. After confirming that there were no problems, they prepared to set off.

Prefect Huang only realized something was wrong at this moment and asked in astonishment, "Master Zhang, are you going to the front lines too?"

"Yes, I followed Lord You to transport the grain. I would feel uneasy if I didn't deliver so much grain to Lord Zhou personally," Zhang Ping'an nodded and explained calmly.

"But you are a civil servant?" Mr. Huang continued to ask.

"So what? Who says civil servants can't go to the front line?" Zhang Ping'an smiled.

He ordered his men to untie the ropes.

Then he waved goodbye to Magistrate Huang.

The boat went downwind and soon traveled several hundred meters.

Prefect Huang stood on the shore, watching Zhang Ping'an standing on the bow of the boat go away, and couldn't help but secretly spit: "How cunning!"

The servant beside him didn't hear clearly and thought that Magistrate Huang was giving some instructions, so he asked, "Master, what's wrong?"

Magistrate Huang swung his sleeves in annoyance, turned his back and said, "Nothing, I was tricked!"

The servant was surprised: "Ah? Who in Huai'an dares to lie to the master? Are you trying to save your life?"

"Hmph!" Magistrate Huang gritted his teeth and hummed twice, feeling a little uncomfortable, and said no more.

They are all smart people!

It seems that my bet was right?!