"Commander, Old Li has become increasingly stingy lately. The rations he provides every day are less and less, and the brothers have no energy left for training," Guo Commander from the Assault Camp said.
"Commander, I don't want to skimp on the soldiers' rations either. But each soldier is allotted a fixed amount of grain by the court. Those five thousand prisoners of war from Wei Country, the court didn't account for their provisions, so I could only take some from the brothers' portions to prevent the Wei Army prisoners from starving. Even with just one meal a day, they eat up forty to fifty stones of our grain every day, taking up one-fifth of our whole army's rations." The leader of the military cooks complained to Gong Xiaohua.
"Then reduce the prisoners' rations to one meal every two days. They are captives to begin with. Letting them live does justice to our conscience. Now they are competing for food with us?"
"Killing captives goes against benevolence. That cannot be done. Don't say things like this again," Gong Xiaohua said to Guo Commander.
"Yes."
"Alright. Old Li, if the prisoners keep getting one meal per day, and the soldiers' rations stay the same as before, how much grain will we be short of?" Gong Xiaohua asked.
"Our current rations can only last for one month. The next grain requisition will take at least another month to be transported from the nearest depot. At the fastest it will arrive in one and a half months, so we'll have a shortage for half a month in between."
"Old Li, calculate how much grain we'll lack in that half month."
"Hmm... probably around seven thousand stones." Old Li estimated.
"I'll think of a way to deal with this. First restore the soldiers' rations for now. Keep providing one meal a day to the Wei Army prisoners as well."
"Yes."
Guo Commander accomplished his goal and left the camp with Old Li. He was now bragging to Old Li smugly.
"See, I told you asking the Commander would solve this."
"You really believe in her that much?"
"Of course. I feel that anything she says she'll do, she can definitely achieve. Just wait and see."
"The Commander is only sixteen this year. You're almost thirty. Don't you feel ashamed acting like an idiot in front of the Commander?"
"You're right, I don't know how the Commander's brain works. She's not only smarter than us, but handles things better than us veterans. When she gets angry, I don't even dare to breathe loudly, this thick-skinned oaf that I am." Guo Commander scratched his head and wondered.
"Who knows? Now the whole army is energized every day, training vigorously. I feel sorry that my bit of grain is almost used up by you guys."
"Hehe, the Commander said soldiers who don't aim to become generals are not good soldiers. We joined the army. Who doesn't want to become a general? Of course we have to train hard."
"Yes, yes, yes. You are all busy trying to become generals now, worrying me to death. I'm not chatting with you anymore. I'm leaving first."
After sending the two men away, Gong Xiaohua was left alone in the camp.
Realizing the importance of grain to an army, she didn't expect the court's system for grain allocation to be so stringent.
"Come, invite Scribe Li and Accountant Zhou here."
"Yes." The guard outside responded.
Soon, Li Zichen and Mr. Zhou came in lifting the curtain.
Seeing the Commander sitting at her desk for paperwork, they greeted: "Commander."
"No need to stand on ceremony. Please sit."
"Thank you, Commander." The two sat down in front of the Commander, one on each side.
"I called you two here today to understand the grain situation of the army. As you know, we have five thousand more prisoners now. Because of the grain quota, in order to resolve the issue of grain for these prisoners, the rations of the soldiers in the assault camp were reduced.
But with the soldiers training vigorously every day, eating insufficiently, how will they have energy for intense drills?
Mr. Zhou, do we have extra silver in the army to buy some grain from the market for emergency?"
"Reporting to the Commander, we suffered heavy casualties in the last battle. Most of the silver in our accounts was given out as compensation to the families of the dead and wounded soldiers. Right now, other than the soldiers' pay, we have little left."
"It has come to this?"
"Yes, Commander."
"I'm aware of it now. You may leave."
"Yes, I'll take my leave."
After the other person left, Xiaohua turned to ask Li Zichen.
"Uncle, tell me, how does our army usually get supplied with grain?"
"Speaking of grain collection in our country, it is mainly done through three means: military taxes based on households, land taxes based on rental rates, and taking grain from the enemy to feed the war.
The first two rely on the court's collection before allocation to armies. The last we no longer have the opportunity for. "
"In other words, our grain relies mainly on taxes collected by the court. But with all the armies stationed at the borders and under prefects, our total is nearly a million. Relying solely on taxes for such massive spending is no small burden on the people and the court."
"Indeed, nearly forty percent of our annual taxes go to the military."
Xiaohua recalled that according to normal history, starting with Cao Cao, armies implemented the military farming system to resolve grain shortages. Could it be that this dynasty had not implemented such a system yet?
Gong Xiaohua simply asked out loud what she was thinking.
"Uncle, does the army not have a military farming system?"
"Military farming system? Never heard of it. What is a military farming system?"
"The army not only trains and guards the borders, but also opens up land to grow grain. This solves the problem of military provisions, and greatly reduces the court's financial burden."
"What a great method! Once implemented, it will benefit the country and people tremendously. Xiaohua, such an excellent proposal must be submitted to His Majesty." Li Zichen stood up excitedly and walked over to Gong Xiaohua's desk, saying enthusiastically.
"Uncle, I will try submitting this method to His Majesty. But first we must resolve the immediate grain shortage. My thought is to have these five thousand prisoners farm and plant crops that can yield high volumes quickly. This will resolve the shortage after a month."
"Yes, time and tide wait for no one. I'll go arrange for seeds first. But Xiaohua, the farming tools needed will be no small number. Where can we get them?"
"I'll have to pay a visit to the local prefect tomorrow for that."
