Jiang Gan let out a sigh of depression. "No, it's not true. The war has been over two months, and the memorial memorial has arrived long ago. The court just didn't respond. I really don't know what they were thinking. Later General, tell me, what's going on?"

Ma Teng smiled but said nothing, and felt extremely comfortable by the word "Second General". He and Han Sui worked together, calling him brothers, but Han Sui was knowledgeable and supported by many, so he could only respect the last seat, mainly Han Sui. After arriving in Chang'an, he jumped above Han Sui and is now promoted to the Later General, while Han Sui was still his general in Zhenxi.

When Sun Ce encountered trouble when he asked for Gong, he first came to him instead of Han Sui. This is the difference. Jiang Gan would definitely go to Han Sui, but the change in the order before and after can explain many problems. Before that, although he was the General of the Western Expedition and Han Sui was the General of Zhenxi, most people would habitually put Han Sui in front when they mentioned them.

"The court is also cherishing General Sun." Ma Teng said seriously: "General Sun was already a general who was ruthless as soon as he was young. His father and son were 2,000 stones in office, and he held heavy troops. It may not be a good thing to be promoted too fast."

Jiang Gan raised his eyebrows and smiled. "So that's it."

Ma Teng was a little embarrassed. He was not stupid, so how could he not see Jiang Gan's unhappiness? But he knew that no matter how much gift Sun Ce gave, it would be unwise to speak for Sun Ce now. Yang Biao had been dismissed, and Zhu Yan would be dismissed soon. Although these two people had connections with Sun Ce, they did not help Sun Ce much, and were still rejected. If he spoke for Sun Ce, it might be his turn next.

Jiang Gan took the initiative to change the topic. Sun Ce hoped that Ma Teng could provide a group of top-notch war horses. After several rushing to the battlefield, Ma Chao made a lot of contributions, but the losses were not small. Yi Congqi lost more than half of the war horses. If it was not supplemented in time, Yi Congqi would probably not be able to fight in the next battle.

Ma Teng agreed to him that he would provide two hundred high-quality war horses to ensure the combat effectiveness of Yi Congqi. However, he reminded Jiang Gan that Yuan Shao's envoys have been in Chang'an recently and have found them, wanting to buy war horses from Xiliang. Xiliang produces so many horses every year. Yuan Shao is rich and willing to pay high prices. Many people are willing to sell them to him. The price of war horses has more than doubled, and the top-quality war horses have reached 200,000 per horse.

Jiang Gan frowned. "Two hundred thousand?"

Ma Teng slapped his thigh and laughed, "Yes, I find it incredible, but I can't do anything about it. Don't think that I'm a senior general, but I'm not a real Liangzhou native. The current Liangzhou governor Zhong Shao has a good relationship with me, but he is about to leave office soon. I heard that he might return to the court to Ren Taifu, and the governor of Liangzhou who took over was Wei Xiufu (Wei Duan), who is not a good role. I heard that he was going to take office and sent someone to congratulate him, but he was turned away by him. Ziyi, I also want to help General Sun, but I have the will but lack the ability."

Jiang Gan smiled and bowed. "I will tell General Sun about his feelings. I will also report the difficulties of General Sun. General Sun's grudges are clear, and he can tell whether he is a friend or an opponent. By the way, I heard that the court wants to investigate the empty salary, but is there any such thing?"

Ma Teng nodded and smiled a little reluctantly. Guanzhong had a severe drought, and the poor harvest was a foregone conclusion, and the price of grain had begun to rise. Although the military rations had not yet been affected, Huangfu Song had already issued several times to investigate the empty salary and strictly control the supply of military rations. There were empty salary situations in each division, but the cost of raising soldiers was too high, especially Ma Teng, Han Sui and others. They had to support two or three thousand people. The food and salary provided by the court alone was far from enough. Eating empty salary was an important subsidy way. If the empty salary was investigated, their wealth would be greatly reduced and they might even be unable to support soldiers.

Ma Teng sometimes even thought that this might be the method used by the court to target him and Han Sui, and in disguisely weakened their strength.

Jiang Gan smiled. "Hou General, is the grain price in Chang'an also rising very quickly now?"

Ma Teng couldn't laugh anymore, so he coughed twice, waved his hand, signaling Ma Tie and others to withdraw, and only him and Jiang Gan were left in the hall. He sighed. "Ziyi, I'm going to hide it. Since the beginning of April, Guanzhong has not rained, and the drought has been very serious. Last year, it was flooded and the grain storage was limited. If you suffer another disaster this year, there will definitely be problems with the food."

Jiang laughed dryly without saying a word. He knew all these situations. Before he entered Chang'an City, Guo Jia arranged a detailed work in Guanzhong to report the relevant situation to him. Ma Teng was simply overestimating his ability to play tricks in front of him.

Seeing that Jiang Gan didn't say anything, Ma Teng became even more uneasy. "Ziyi, I heard that General Sun was farming in the three prefectures of Jingyuyang, what was the harvest?"

"Not very good." Jiang Gan also said seriously: "Last year, the Central Plains encountered heavy rain, and the harvest was affected. From October last year to March this year, it had been fought for half a year, and the consumption was very large. Yuzhou and Jingzhou barely maintained a balance of income and expenditure. Yangzhou had just begun to renovate water conservancy, and the investment was huge, but there was no output yet. Fortunately, Zhou Gongjin had just taken over the four counties in Jiangnan and collected some grain. It should not be a problem to support the autumn harvest."

Ma Teng moved forward. "How many household registrations do the four counties in Jiangnan have? How much grain has they collected?"

Jiang Gan sneered, shook his hand, and looked disdainful. "The south of the Yangtze River is humid, with a vast land and sparse population. The total number of four counties is less than 600,000 households and three million people, which is similar to a Nanyang County. In recent years, the army has been in chaos, and the harvest is not very good. I don't know much. I guess I can only supply the Jingzhou army, and there is no surplus. Otherwise, it would be good to ship it to Guanzhong to sell. Later General, I remember that the price of grain in Guanzhong rose to hundreds of thousands of stone a few years ago. Will it be so high this year? If this is the case, one stone of grain could be exchanged for two horses."

Ma Teng laughed a few times and cursed in his heart. Six hundred thousand households, three million households still think it is too small? In addition to refugees, there are only 200,000 households in Guanzhong. If a famine occurs, a large number of people will go out to escape, it is hard to say how many people can be left. "Ziyi, that is a special situation. When it comes to that point, who will sell horses and exchange food? Riding horses to rob is the way to survive. No matter how bad it is, killing horses and eating meat."

Jiang Gan laughed and patted his legs. "That's a pity."

Ma Teng said angrily: "Who said no? Why not do this? If General Sun can provide me with some food, I will find a way to raise some war horses for exchange."

Jiang Gan glanced at Ma Teng sideways and tilted the corner of his mouth. "How to change it?"

"How about a thousand stones?"

Jiang Gan refused to comment. He shook his head, not knowing whether he nodded or shook his head. "This is a big deal, I dare not make a decision. Please give me some time and allow me to ask General Sun for instructions."

"This is nature, this is nature." Ma Teng nodded repeatedly.

After seeing Jiang Gan off, Ma Teng got up and went to the side yard. Cheng Gongying stood in the yard, watching Ma Dai practice martial arts. Ma Dai is only thirteen years old this year, and is Ma Teng's follower. He has good martial arts skills. Cheng Gongying likes him very much and reminds him a few words. Ma Dai is stepping up his practice, one move after another, with a straightforward and eye-catching look.

Ma Teng walked over quickly and handed a new knife to Ma Dai. "This is the best product that your fellow servant gave to you, Nanyang Iron Official."

Ma Dai took the knife, was very grateful, and stepped out. Cheng Gongying looked at Ma Teng and chuckled: "Didn't the talk go smoothly?"

Ma Teng nodded. "A thousand stones per horse, Jiang Gan disagrees."

"What did he say? How much did he hope?"

"Nothing said, not even asking for a bargaining."

Cheng Gongying's eyes flashed. "A thousand stones are unwilling to do so. Sun Ce is sure to eat us."

"We can't be eaten and accommodated by him. Go back quickly and tell Wenyue that the price cannot be given, and it's not enough to be a stone."
Chapter completed!