Zhao Wen stood by the river, watching the afterglow gradually being swallowed by the darkness, and the heaven and earth fell into darkness, and his mood was very heavy, just like those mountains pressing on his shoulders and on his heart.

Even though he was separated by hundreds of steps, even if he was not completely familiar with the customs of Wu, he could still feel the excitement and excitement of the Sun clan at this moment. The riverside was like a city wall and ships covering the river, exuding a speechless power, showing Sun Ce's powerful strength, but the court in Chang'an was like that setback. It was still unknown if it could rise again after falling. Droughts and snow disasters followed one after another, and the heavy damage was repeated again and again, and the hope of revival became increasingly slim.

A sound of footsteps came from the darkness. After a while, a strong figure walked out of the darkness and quickly came to Zhao Wen. Zhao Wen looked closely and saw that it was Sun Ce, so he quickly calmed down and bowed his hand.

"Uninvited guests, please forgive me."

Sun Ce jumped onto the boat, looked around, bowed and smiled, "Mr. Zhao refused to even get off the boat. Are you in a hurry to return to Chang'an or where to go? Could it be that the eldest princess is in a hurry to enter my Sun family's gate?"

Zhao Wen smiled bitterly, and accidentally chatted with Sun Ce. He lifted up the hem of his clothes and was about to kneel down. Sun Ce's eyes were quick and fast, and he reached out to hold Zhao Wen. Zhao Wen couldn't kneel down. Sun Ce was smiling on his face, but his eyes were very unhappy. "Mr. Zhao, how can I bear this when you do this during the New Year?"

Zhao Wen sighed and shed tears before he could speak. "General, I was forced to ask for the general with a shameless face. It was snowing heavily in Guanzhong and the people were frozen and hungry. In order to relieve the disaster, the court had used up every grain of grain in the warehouse, but it was still not enough to use it. In desperation, he could only ask the general to provide help and deliver the paid grain tax to Beijing as soon as possible to alleviate the disaster."

Sun Ce's eyes flashed slightly, and he looked at Zhao Wen quietly. "Mr. Zhao, can I ask a few questions first?"

"Please speak frankly, General."

"How many people are currently in Guanzhong?"

"In August, there are 131,500 households in Guanzhong, totaling 672,175 households."

“How is the harvest this fall?”

“…It’s OK.”

“When did the first snow fall?”

“The third day of November.”

"Have you released the money and grain in Yizhou? How much is it?"

"When I left Beijing, the money and food in Yizhou had not arrived yet, but it was already on the way." Zhao Wen deliberately emphasized his tone. "The quantity is natural."

Sun Ce laughed. "The last question: Mr. Zhao, you came all the way day and night to ask for help. Is it the court or your personal intention?"

Zhao Wen remembered Cai Yan's reminder and did not dare to answer easily. "What does the general mean?"

The smile on Sun Ce's face became brighter, but his eyes became colder. "If it was the court's intention, I think the court might be lying to you. If it was your personal intention, I can only say that Mr. Zhao was concerned about him, or Mr. Zhao didn't say everything, and he had something to hide."

"General, forgive me for being stupid, I don't know what the general is referring to?"

"Okay, I'll make it clear. There are only more than 130,000 households and more than 600,000 households left in Guanzhong. There are so many free land in Guanzhong, and you can just reclaim some land to support yourself. Moreover, the military farming has been successful in the past two years. There was a drought last year and the harvest was not good. There seems to be no big disaster today. Even if the harvest is not large, it should be fine to support these 130,000 households? Even if there is some shortage, the tax supplement in Youyizhou is not enough?"

Zhao Wen frowned, closed his mouth tightly, and said nothing.

"Does Zhao worry that the taxes in Yizhou are insufficient, but only on paper, or are they worried that these taxes will be used for other purposes and cannot be used to rescue disasters? Mr. Zhao, the account is not correct. In my opinion, the disaster in Guanzhong is not a natural disaster, but **. How to calculate that a large amount of money and food have disappeared, where has it gone? Can Mr. Zhao solve my doubts?"

Zhao Wen pinched his fingers and roughly estimated it, but he also felt something was wrong, but he immediately knew where the missing money and food went. One was the garrison in Guanzhong and the royal family that was constantly rushing to the sky, the one was the Liangzhou family, and the other was the powerful Guanzhong. Guanzhong was not without food, but most of the food in Guanzhong was in the hands of the powerful Guanzhong. The court had limited direct control, but there were 30,000 to 40,000 troops to support, especially the consumption of cavalry and horses was astonishing, and a war horse was like a war horse.

It is for the food of the two soldiers. A large number of royal families gathered in Guanzhong. These people are used to enjoying it. They cannot only ask for three meals a day. They also need to drink, eat meat, and waiters. These people have to consume a lot of money and food from the court. In addition, the emperor wants to marry a noble family in Liangzhou recently, which is also a huge expense. Liangzhou is bitter and cold, and apart from horses, cattle and sheep, there will not be much food for the court, but will instead ask the court for it.

The key to the court's inability to make ends meet is this. Even if there is no snow disaster, the court will do so. He only saw the snow disaster, but did not see the reason behind the deficit of money and food. Now Sun Ce pointed out in person, which was very embarrassing. He also understood why Cai Yan reminded him not to mention the court, because the court had not mentioned this matter at all. The money and food in Yizhou were trapped, and the court did not want to expose the virtuality and reality of Guanzhong to Sun Ce.

Zhao Wen sighed. He only saw the people who were frozen and hungry along the way, but he didn't expect so much. However, Sun Ce was a bystander and revealed in one sentence: The disaster in Guanzhong is not a natural disaster, but **.

Sun Ce tilted his mouth and smiled. "Mr. Zhao, since you are here, please feel free. Let's go with me and go ashore. This year will be in Fuchun. You are from Shu. You are from Wu, one in the southwest and the other in the southeast. I hope you can adapt to the taste of our Wu."

Zhao Wen smiled bitterly, but did not refuse, and followed Sun Ce to the shore. Even so, he still did not give up. No matter whether it was a natural disaster or a **, the people who were affected were always real. "General, as soon as I walked from Guanzhong, I saw countless people going hungry, and even if there were delicacies in the mountains and seas, I couldn't swallow them..."

"Mr. Zhao, you're over-concerned."

"Why did the general say this?"

"The people are the smartest. When they see the situation is not good, they will make the smartest choice. If I guess well, someone will start to flee after the first heavy snow, either entering Hanzhong or Nanyang. What will happen if they enter Hanzhong? I am not very clear, but as long as they enter Wuguan, they will survive. You have also seen that the Wuguan Commander Xu Shu is doing his best to help the people. From Wuguan to Xixian, there are not many people who have frozen to death, right?"

Zhao Wen suddenly realized, feeling a little relaxed and unspeakable sad. In August, the heavy snow fell in early November. He just reported to Sun Ce about the book numbers. When the heavy snow came, the signs of the disaster began to appear, and the people in Guanzhong would start to flee. Now the population in Guanzhong is definitely not that large. After a few years of hard work, the people who moved from Luoyang to Chang'an have almost gone, and even the local people in Guanzhong have left. A small number of these people have gone to Yizhou, and most of them have gone to Jingzhou, becoming the people under Sun Ce's rule.

Without population, ZTE became empty talk.
Chapter completed!