The Tang Dynasty: The Concubine of the Holy Soldier

Chapter 497
Chapter 497
When the princes of the southern vassal states heard Bai Jingyi's words, they began to make small calculations in their hearts.

The tens of thousands of shi of grain is not lucky, land transportation will take a lot of manpower and material resources, and when the grain seeds are delivered to Liangzhou, it may be past the autumn harvest season.

The prince whose territory is closer to Liangzhou only feels that he has made a profit.After all, as long as the distance is close, the dispatched chariots and horses can spend less money.

But those princes who were far away were not feeling well.Not to mention that it costs a lot of money to transport things for a long distance, and there may be some bandits and refugees who will stop the delivery along the way.

In normal times, these princes would definitely not do such a thankless task.

However, these food and grass are now equivalent to their lives, and this little life is still in Bai Jingyi's hands, so how dare they say no? !
In addition, there is no guarantee that someone will harm others and not benefit oneself, and secretly snatch other people's food and grass to replenish their own food and grass stocks when they pass by their own borders...

The princes are all looking around. For them, everyone present may stab themselves in the back, and there is no ally that can be a newcomer.

"King of Beiliang, you love the people like a son, I admire you very much, but my territory is still some distance away from Liangzhou. If something goes wrong on the way to transport grain and grass, what should I do?"

"What this prince said is very true. My territory is also some distance away from Liangzhou. In this time of war and chaos, there must be many refugees and bandits along the way. If the food and grass are robbed..."

"That's right, King Beiliang, it's not that we don't want to give it away, but the safety of the food and grass cannot be guaranteed..."

These princes were afraid that Bai Jingyi would think that they were looking for an excuse to get him out, that they were petty and didn't want to give food, so they all explained a little bit more.

If Bai Jingyi felt that they were all excuses for not wanting to give food, wouldn't their lives be lost?
Naturally, Bai Jingyi would not think that these lords would choose between their own lives and food to keep the food.

And what those princes said is not a big problem. Nowadays, the war is raging and the people are struggling to survive. If these grains are transported long distances, let alone the grains will not reach Liangzhou. Say.

But this must not be the reason for those princes to write themselves out.

If these princes alone don't give food, then when the war starts, their odds of winning will be much greater than other princes.

As the saying goes, soldiers and horses go first without using food and grass, and the security of food and grass often determines the course of the war.If those princes who are farther away have more food and grass than others and unite into a larger force at that time, it will be a trouble for him.

Bai Jingyi would never allow this kind of thing to happen.

Bai Jingyi's face was expressionless, and he just glanced at the princes who had just opened their mouths.

Zhou Tongming's screams from next door were still heard endlessly, and it happened to match up with Bai Jingyi's chill as he glanced at everyone.

The princes trembled at first, and then they met each other's eyes, and they could see that each other must be thinking about something.

"Land transportation is not enough, there are always other ways."

Bai Jingyi's expression was indifferent, and the princes of the southern vassal states couldn't see how Bai Jingyi was feeling, so they could only speculate secretly.

What does the king of Beiliang mean by other methods?
Is it possible that this food can still fall from the sky?

Or does the King of Northern Liang have some other clever plan to transport grain and grass from thousands of miles to Liangzhou? !
The princes were all racking their brains, but none of them could come up with a good solution.

"There was a canal in the former Sui Dynasty..."

Seeing that these people were really elm-headed, Bai Jingyi finally couldn't help reminding them.

As soon as Bai Jingyi said this, the quick-witted prince immediately answered:

"That's right. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu State dug Hangou to conquer Qi. During the previous dynasty, the water system went straight to Luoyang, the central capital, and then to Zhuojun. If this canal is opened, it will be much more convenient to transport food!"

"That's right, why didn't I think of this! If the food can be transported by water, there will be no need to worry about bandits and refugees, and it will be much safer!"

"If this food can reach Liangzhou by water, it will be much safer, and even the transport of horses and carts can be saved!"

Lords, you talk to me, and the discussion is very lively.

"But what should I do about building the canal?" Suddenly a prince said, "Building the canal will take a lot of manpower and material resources. There is not much labor in my territory, so I'm worried..."

"My situation is not much different from that of this prince. The people in the lower territory are sparsely populated, which is not as prosperous as other princes. It is true that there is no strong man to build this canal!"

"When did this king ask you to find strong men from your own territory to build a canal?" Bai Jingyi was tepid.

Sometimes, prompts are often as little as a word.

Now no matter where and where, there are war battlefields, large and small. It is true that there is a shortage of strong men these years, but can there be a shortage of refugees?

The princes of the southern vassal states are a group of foxes no matter what, and they quickly think of those refugees who fled everywhere because of the spread of the war.

If there is no one in your territory, wouldn't it be good to send those homeless refugees? !
Anyway, those refugees are the same wherever they go, so it's better to let them borrow it and use it!
"That's right! Anyway, there are so many refugees now, if there are no strong men in my territory who can build canals, I can catch those refugees and build them!" A prince suddenly said excitedly with his fists and palms.

"What this prince said is that the idea of ​​using refugees is a feasible strategy!"

Soon, several princes followed suit.

In their view, refugees were originally just troublesome things.But if they can be captured and used to build the canal, it will be of some use.

Hooked.

Bai Jingyi was delighted, if these princes really oppressed those refugees and arrested them to build the canal, they would inevitably be called a tyrant.

In addition, just using refugees to build the canal, the manpower is definitely not enough.Those princes will definitely let the poor also participate in the construction of the canal.

Over time, the grievances of the people at the bottom will gather, until finally, it will evolve into resentment and killing intent towards those princes.If he was lucky enough, before he thought about attacking those southern vassal states, the people at the bottom would revolt first.

At that time, if he wants to go south, he only needs to use the banner of saving the people at the bottom, and he will be able to take advantage of the right time, place and people.

(End of this chapter)