Chapter 608: Troubles

Chapter 608: Chapter 608: Troubles

There are indeed many similarities between governing a country and managing a household. For instance, when the family plans something major, everyone’s food, clothing, and daily expenses will inevitably become a bit tighter, and once it’s done, things return to normal—if there’s profit, the whole family shares it together.

The growing strength of the Jingjiu Dynasty over the past forty years, aside from political stability, cannot be separated from four decades of relentless plundering and exploitation of the Barbarian Territory.

Don’t think that the slave trade only enriches the slave caravans and brings no benefit to the common people. In fact, it’s not so. The huge profits from the slave business were also extracted by the Jingjiu Dynasty through extremely high taxes—two to three times that of regular commercial taxes. These taxes weren’t handed directly to officials as bonuses, but used to offset agricultural taxes in certain regions and to construct public infrastructure, such as canals, wells, and dikes.

Because the base is so large, the bonus spread among the commoners appears negligible, while those behind high gates and red walls enjoy far more substantial benefits.

Now, as the war in the South ignites, Zuo Yuliang leads the Central Army forward to garrison at Wu Lake, pushing the war to a new intensity. The first string to be plucked is "logistics."

Stripped down, logistics is simply money and grain. Both are overseen by the Ministry of Revenue, stored in the National Treasury and local official granaries.

Previously, official granaries suffered from severe corruption and favoritism. The "Jingxi Action" launched by the Xuanqing Guard began a clean-up, forcing the Civil Servant Group to draw lots to purge a large number of lower-ranking officials. As it hasn’t been long since then, the reform’s residual effect still lingers and keeps the granaries in order, so as soon as the war began, the official granaries were still quick to respond, with few people dropping the ball.

The assembled grain, General Spirit Stones, and military pay are all currently sufficient. Military equipment and consumables are a bit more challenging, but due to sizeable peacetime stockpiles, drawing on reserves and working round the clock has more or less kept up. At present, the Ministry of Revenue has urgently coordinated over a hundred blacksmiths to expand arms production to cope with the massive consumption ahead.

But compared to equipment and General Spirit Stones, grain is the hardest to solve. Unlike ores, grain must be coaxed slowly from the earth over time, and everyone needs it—not just the military. So while grain makes up the largest reserve, it’s also depleted the fastest and in the greatest quantity.

Yang Yansi’s projection of the situation has been spot-on. He has long understood the Ministry of Revenue’s storage system thoroughly. Even if he isn’t clear on the exact numbers, he can judge the general picture from the current situation in the South with no room for error.

Since late August, over half a million troops have gathered among the Southern Border Army. All those mouths and the endless supply lines rapidly consumed the standing grain stores at Beach Stone and Hai Xia. At best, estimates hold that those two locations’ reserves will be exhausted by the end of November. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

And then the burden shifts to the granaries in other regions. In fact, the Ministry of Revenue is already preparing for this. Granaries everywhere are preemptively transporting grain to Beach Stone and Hai Xia for secondary storage. The entire granary system is in frequent flux in order to most efficiently meet the front lines’ needs in the days ahead.

Come late October, a new crop of grain will be harvested and stored nationwide. This is an important turning point, because from that batch onward, the Jingjiu Dynasty will officially enter a period of austerity—especially for grain, which will no longer be mostly released to public and private granaries after minimal stockpiling, but instead distributed to cities on a rationed, wartime basis.

At first, the commoners won’t notice anything, since rationing won’t immediately tighten to the extreme—it will be drawn in, bit by bit, over several months, before finally reaching the point that purchase quotas are set per person for each household. Of course, if the front goes well, the grain-controlling policies might not need to get that severe.

Those hit hardest will be the private grain merchants. Once rationing starts, their business is cut off at the root. The reserves they hold now will be forcibly purchased by the Ministry of Revenue at market value. If they can break even, they should count themselves lucky—for profits, they’d best not dream.

Yet the biggest grain merchant is "Tea," one of the Five Great Imperial Merchants.

"Tea" deals primarily in tea leaves and grain, controlling half the tea in the Jingjiu Dynasty, and three-tenths of private grain merchants are in their pocket. Now, with the tightening policy, "Tea" suffers the greatest blow. Indirectly, this "injures" that small group of people behind "Tea." They won’t just wait for death; resistance or obstruction is inevitable.

And all these issues fall squarely upon Bai Changqing, the Minister of Revenue.

Since the reignition of war in the South, the civil servants’ attempted counterstrike was smothered by the Xuanqing Guard before it took shape, stripping the entire Civil Servant Group of its voice and forcing it into decline.

The military’s arrogance has become overwhelming; there are now signs of their dominance over the civil service. It may be less perceptible elsewhere, but at the Ministry of Revenue, which deals directly with the Ministry of War, it’s acutely felt.

In the past, when the Ministry of War sent in supply orders, everyone tiptoed and feared political retaliation. Now, they just dispatch a Small Banner Officer to drop off the list, and their attitude is tough: whatever quantities they ask for, they demand. As for the difficulty in sourcing these, what’s that to the Ministry of War? Does the Ministry of Revenue eat dry meals, unable to solve a thing?

And indeed, they dare not delay excessively. The front lines are tense—should a critical defeat occur due to logistics, the Ministry of Revenue would be first to bear the blame, and Bai Changqing’s own head would roll first.

In wartime, everything must give way to military affairs at the front!

This has piled unprecedented troubles and headaches onto Bai Changqing, the Minister of Revenue—the likes of which he has never experienced since taking office.

Other sundry matters are manageable—if need be, repeat orders a few times, or have the governmental officials apply pressure, just to keep things moving. But this grain-rationing policy is truly hard to handle!

The rumors had been circulating for a while now, though rationing hasn’t started officially yet. In every great war against the Barbarians, such policies have been rolled out, but their severity has always depended on the course of the war. If things go well on the front, internal tightening is eased; if not, it squeezes until there’s barely a breath left.

Yet even before official rationing begins, all kinds of "messages" and "friendly advice" have landed in front of Bai Changqing. Even Left Minister Ye Lansheng has subtly hinted at him, but Bai Changqing has feigned ignorance and muddled through for now.

But how long can he keep muddling through? Eventually, decisions must be made—when the time comes, how will he choose?