20demayo Chapter 17 A Child's Question, The Emperor's Thunderous Strike
Chapter 17 A Child's Question, The Emperor's Thunderous Strike
Yang Jian was a general who led troops in his early years, so he was naturally aware of these things.
Yang Yan took a deep breath: "Let's discuss grain production and transportation again."
"Our Great Sui Dynasty's grain-producing area, Guanzhong, although it is the capital region, is small in area and densely populated. Its production can only supply the officials and imperial guards in the capital, and it often needs to be supplied by Hebei and Shandong."
"Hebei and Shandong are the main producing areas of millet and wheat, and most of the grain stored in Liyangcang and Huiluocang comes from here."
"As for rice produced in Jiangnan, it needs to be transported to Luoyang via the Grand Canal, and then north to Liaodong. The distance is so far that it cannot be measured in miles."
Yang Yan paused, and the Sui Dynasty map he had looked at countless times before his transmigration came to mind.
Those mountains and rivers have now become deadly obstacles.
"If grain is to be transported from Liyang Granary to Liaoshui, the land route must pass through Youzhou and Yingzhou, a long and arduous journey. It is now late autumn, Liaodong is bitterly cold, and the roads are muddy and difficult to travel."
Yang Yan raised his head, his gaze passing over the gold bricks and looking directly into Yang Jian's unfathomable eyes.
He spoke slowly and deliberately, revealing the cruel statistic that had plagued all ancient dynasties.
An ancient proverb says, "One should not transport grain over a thousand miles."
"Land transportation relied on people pushing carts and pulling carts, with people feeding the horses."
"Given the current road conditions, for every shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain transported to the front lines, as much as ten shi are lost en route!"
"The monthly ration requirement of nearly 500,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) for an army of 300,000 means that 5 million shi need to be transferred from the Liyang granary!"
This is a shocking account.
Five million shi of grain would be enough to deplete the Sui Dynasty's reserves for two years.
Upon hearing this, Yang Jian paused slightly with his fingers, which had been tapping the imperial desk, before gently tapping it twice more.
Tap, tap.
The sound was crisp, yet it carried a nonchalant sense of pressure.
"If you can understand the key aspects of grain consumption and transportation, then you haven't wasted your time reading those military books."
"However, you only considered the cost of transporting the grain, but forgot that Liaodong already had stored grain."
Yang Jian leaned forward slightly, a half-smile playing on his lips, his tone carrying a hint of provocation, and even more so, the arrogance of an emperor.
"A large army can be conscripted locally, relieving the hardship of transportation. I ask you, what should be done about this?"
That's a very understated statement.
But Yang Yan, hiding in the shadows, felt a chill.
This is a trap.
A deadly trap about "benevolence" and "skill".
If one agrees with the statement "requisitioning grain locally is extremely clever," then one is a cruel official who is ignorant of the people's suffering; if one opposes it outright, then one is a pedantic scholar who is ignorant of the flexibility of military strategy.
Yang Jian was trying to push him to the brink, to see if this young tiger had fangs and if it would bite people indiscriminately.
Yang Yan did not answer immediately.
Yang Yan bowed and said, "Grandfather, may I ask a question?"
"Is this 'local requisitioning' targeting the powerful clans and fortified villages of Liaodong, or the ordinary farmers of Liaodong?"
Without waiting for Yang Jian's reply, he asked and answered his own question.
His speech was steady yet carried an undeniable sharpness.
"If it's the former, would those powerful families with fortified strongholds and private armies willingly hand over their stored grain?"
"The powerful clans of Liaodong have complex and intertwined relationships with the various tribes of Goguryeo and Mohe, and some even secretly collude with them. If they refuse to let us in when our army is pressing in, are we supposed to attack their cities and seize their grain? Wouldn't that be depleting our own forces before even fighting Goguryeo?"
"If it's the latter..."
Yang Yan's voice trailed off.
"People in Liaodong mostly rely on millet and wheat to get through the winter, with only one harvest a year."
"It's almost August, and the bitter cold is approaching. The little grain stored up in farmers' homes is their family's lifeline for getting through the winter!"
As the founding emperor, Yang Jian naturally considered these factors.
He also issued an edict to "not disturb the people".
But he was considering the bigger picture, the grand strategy of governing the country. As for how the decree would be implemented at the local level, and the lives of the common people, he saw these as necessary sacrifices for the greater good.
He cannot possibly see everything, much less stop his chariot for a few ants.
Yang Yan's words were tantamount to questioning him.
They questioned whether this wise and enlightened emperor's foolproof plan had any fatal blind spots.
Yang Yan, however, seemed oblivious to the impending eruption of the emperor's wrath.
He took a deep breath and unleashed his most lethal blow.
"I've also heard that bandits frequently plunder the borders of Goguryeo."
"If our Sui army enters Liaodong, it will forcibly requisition life-saving grain from the people, without replenishing it or providing resettlement..."
Yang Yan raised his head and stared intently at Yang Jian.
"Then how are we any different from those Goguryeo bandits who plundered the people?!"
"At that time, the people of Liaodong will say, 'The Sui army is here, and they're looting grain just like the Goguryeo soldiers!'"
"We drove out Goguryeo, but we lost the hearts and minds of the people of Liaodong!"
"So where does this talk of 'tributary relations' and 'responsibility to one's homeland' even come from?"
"How dare you, you brat!"
Yang Jian slammed his hand on the imperial desk, and the jade paperweight crashed to the ground with a loud bang.
The shards splashed around Yang Yan's feet.
He suddenly stood up, the hem of his dragon robe sweeping across the imperial desk, scattering writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones all over the floor.
Those cloudy old eyes were now filled with a furious killing intent!
"What do you know about supplying provisions during an army march?!"
"When a nation needs to wage war, resources are always gathered from multiple sources! Requisitioning provisions locally is a common practice in warfare; what's wrong with that?"
"You ignorant brat, you only know womanly kindness, but you don't understand that 'a kind heart cannot govern an army'!"
"Speaking nonsense! How dare you compare the army of my Great Sui Dynasty to bandits! Are you tired of living?!"
The emperor's wrath, like the might of thunder, pressed down on the entire Daxing Palace, causing it to buzz.
Seeing this, Dugu Jialuo quickly stepped forward and pressed down on Yang Jian's trembling arm.
With a hint of worry in her phoenix eyes, she whispered her advice.
"Your Majesty, please calm down! Yan'er is just young and doesn't understand the difficulties of marching. He didn't mean to slander the army."
"thump!"
Yang Yan knelt down again.
The sound of a knee hitting the ground is painful to hear.
His voice was hoarse, but there was no trace of panic.
"My grandson's analogies are haphazard and his words are rash, all because he is extremely anxious!"
"Your grandson is not ignorant of the principle that 'a kind heart cannot command an army,' and he would never dare to slander His Majesty's mighty army!"
"Your grandson is just afraid that before we've even defeated Goguryeo, we'll have already driven the people of Liaodong to their doom!"
He paused, his tone becoming more serious and earnest.
"My imperial grandfather was benevolent and had no intention of persecuting the people."
"But when the imperial decree reaches Liaodong, thousands of miles away, will the local officials, in order to gather enough military provisions, resort to the tyranny of 'draining the pond to catch all the fish'?"
Yang Yan raised his head: "When I was in the Eastern Palace, I read through a document from last year’s 'Memorial on the Disaster Situation in Liaodong' that was forwarded by the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs in order to prepare for the imperial examination."
"Last year, Liaodong suffered from frost damage, resulting in a 30% reduction in millet and wheat production."
"The people already have insufficient food reserves! Many families even have to mix wild vegetables and tree bark into their food to barely make ends meet."
"If the army arrives this year and supplies run out, and local officials use the excuse of 'military emergency' to forcibly requisition grain, then the people will either have to flee to the mountains and become bandits, or they will have no choice but to sell their children!"
"At that time, Liaodong will not only lack grain to requisition, but will also be engulfed in war and see widespread refugees!"
"If chaos breaks out in the rear and supply lines are cut off, our Great Sui army will be fighting a bloody battle on the front lines while the rear falls into disarray! How can we possibly continue the war?!"
Yang Yan's voice echoed in the hall, each word like a heavy hammer, striking Yang Jian's heart.
This is no longer the bookish "womanly compassion".
This is a brutal deduction based on data and reality.
Yang Jian looked at his grandson kneeling on the ground, the mess on the ground seeming to become a kind of ironic backdrop.