Chapter 68：Grain Issue

In the face of absolute strength, Li Xie almost effortlessly took control of the entire Juhua City. At the same time, he also accepted a total of 15,000 city guards. The remaining city guards were left under the full responsibility of Jack Rothschild, and his method was simple: kill them and then burn the bodies!

Therefore, by noon, one could see a raging fire and black smoke rising thirty meters high from the north of the city!

Next, a team of guards paraded the bodies of Larry Brown and others through the streets, reading out the crimes of Larry Brown, while also continuously propagating how the new lord, Duke Xie, was benevolent to the people and so on.

As a result, the common people were emotionally stirred. On one hand, they threw garbage at the dead, and on the other hand, they praised and sang praises to Li Xie.

Li Xie, who had not yet met the common people, had already become the most saintly lord in the hearts of the common people!

These events were still ongoing.

However, for Li Xie himself, he was nearly pulling his hair out! Taking over a city was easy, but managing one brought forth many problems!

The first problem: Larry Brown had unrestrictedly opened the city gates to plunder more slaves, leading to a large influx of refugees and poor people into Juhua City. Juhua City, which could accommodate a million people, had about ten thousand aristocrats and two hundred thousand commoners, but there were three hundred thousand refugees! Most of these refugees did not engage in production but begged, wandered, scavenged leftovers, and did odd jobs. Normally, they would be sold as slaves or forced into hard labor. Although they would have a meal to eat, now they could eat Juhua City to death. If they weren't given food, they would starve to death! How to deal with them?

The second problem: Larry Brown left behind fifty thousand slaves in the slave market! These people faced the same problems as the refugees, but the refugees could leave while they couldn't! This was also a huge mouth to feed. How much of Juhua City's grain reserves would they consume?

The third problem: Juhua City didn't have much arable land! It should be said that most of the arable land had been abandoned by the aristocrats! Juhua City's main sources of income were the slave market, luxury goods market, black market, smuggling, and other trades, but agriculture had always been stagnant. Every year, they had to purchase grain from Sunflower City for subsidy! This was the most critical issue! Because it was already mid-autumn, grain reserves were not plentiful, and they could only sustain the current situation for two months. Two months later, even the city lord might not have enough to eat! And if the food given to slaves, refugees, and commoners was considered, Juhua City's current and upcoming grain harvests would only last for a month!

"Damn, it all comes down to food!"

Li Xie was sitting in the lobby of the hotel, with Zein Nader and Van der Sael on his left and right, Jack's sister Xiao An sitting beside him, and two others in front of him: one called Teir, in charge of Juhua City's agriculture, and the other called Vander Sa, in charge of construction.

"Teir, you're responsible for the food issue. What do you suggest we do now?"

Now, the remaining aristocrats in Juhua City were terrified of Li Xie. In front of Li Xie, they didn't even dare to breathe heavily! They knew very well how lucky they were to be alive. Last night alone, nearly ten thousand people died in the city! This Duke Xie wouldn't mind adding one or two more insignificant lives for something trivial!

"My lord..." Teir replied tremblingly, "According to past practice, we will dispatch two teams of caravans now: one to purchase grain and forage from Sunflower City, and the other to purchase grain and daily necessities from the west, Meihua City. It will take about two months round trip, just enough to solve the grain problem in Juhua City."

"How much grain can be purchased from Meihua City at most?" Li Xie didn't believe that the affairs of Juhua City could be kept secret. The Prime Minister must have planted some spies in the city, and what happened here would soon be known. And the Sunflower City controlled by the Cheetah Legion might not sell grain to Juhua City, and Li Xie even had to consider whether Sunflower City would harbor any ill intentions towards Juhua City!

Therefore, the only solution that could alleviate the urgent need was Meihua City! Meihua City belonged to Li Xie's territory, and Li Xie had not yet appointed a deputy city lord. Currently, the highest official in Meihua City was still the official appointed by Mercedes VII. As for whether he belonged to Mercedes VII's faction or the Prime Minister's faction, Li Xie didn't know.

"My lord, Meihua City doesn't produce much grain either. At most, we can purchase about one-tenth of the grain from Sunflower City, which will only sustain us for about fifteen days of consumption."

"One-tenth is one-tenth, we can only do that!" Li Xie nodded and then asked, "Besides purchasing grain, is there any other way to alleviate the pressure on grain?"

Teir hurriedly replied, "Right now, we can only sell slaves and drive away refugees, then fully cultivate the land. If we only maintain the residents of our own city, we can hold on until next year. By then, the spring harvest will be ready, and the grain crisis will be resolved."

"No, we can't drive away the refugees or sell the slaves!" These were all people, the most obedient and hardworking, and they only required minimal compensation. In simple terms, they were high-quality labor. Selling them would be a waste, and Li Xie didn't support the idea emotionally. He never felt a sense of belonging in the aristocratic circle, but he felt a special affinity for the refugees. "Is there any other way?"

Teir shook his head timidly. Not selling the slaves or driving away the refugees left them with no options, and Teir didn't dare to say that Li Xie's approach would lead to the starvation of countless people in Juhua City!

"My lord, why not purchase grain from His Majesty?" Van der Sael suggested.

"It's too far!" Li Xie shook his head. He had thought of this solution long ago. Juhua City was now Li Xie's private territory, and apart from paying taxes to the dynasty, he was responsible for everything else, including resolving the grain issue. Mercedes VII would not allocate grain, and Li Xie couldn't expect him to. Of course, he could purchase grain from Mercedes VII, and Mercedes VII would definitely provide enough grain, but the problem was that the imperial capital was too far away!

Over a thousand three hundred kilometers away!

Transporting grain wasn't as easy as Li Xie's caravan, which could travel a hundred kilometers a day. At most, they could travel twenty kilometers a day, and with weather delays and difficult terrain, they might not even cover ten kilometers a day on some days. Calculating without considering the time Li Xie needed to go to the imperial capital, just the time it would take to transport grain from there would be about a hundred days!

And Juhua City could only support itself for a month!

Furthermore, the city layout of the Tudor Dynasty was in the shape of a "回" character, with the outer cities not far from each other but the cities in the north and south directions were very far apart, designed to defend against external enemies. This layout meant that the three neighboring cities, as well as Meihua City to the west and Sunflower City to the east, were all about three hundred kilometers away, while Peach Blossom City to the north was about six hundred kilometers away!

Calculating the two-month round trip to Meihua City for grain, it would take about four months to go to Peach Blossom City to purchase grain. Because purchasing grain from other cities wasn't as convenient as purchasing from Mercedes VII. Mercedes VII would directly dispatch caravans to transport grain and had more grain reserves, greatly saving time. But purchasing grain from other cities meant sending their own caravans, and purchasing grain also took time. Although the distance was shorter, the time required didn't decrease much!

"Sigh..." Li Xie sighed heavily. "I regret it now. I regret becoming this damned lord! It's only the first day, and trouble is already knocking on the door. It's just the first step in cleaning up this mess! No, I'll have Seventh Brother take back the territory. I'd rather go back to the imperial capital and enjoy my freedom as a duke!"

"Giggle..." Xiao An couldn't help but laugh at the side.

Li Xie was feeling annoyed! He glared fiercely at the girl. "What are you laughing at? So annoying!"

Xiao An wasn't afraid of Li Xie's glare. She covered her mouth and said, "It's funny to hear Brother Xie call His Majesty Seventh Brother."

"Go play somewhere else." Normally, Li Xie would definitely tease this little beauty, but now, he had only one word in his mind: trouble. He had no leisure or elegance for that!

"Do you really want me to leave?" Xiao An stood up, smiled mischievously, and muttered to herself, "Xiao An still wants to offer some advice. If you want me to go, I'll go. I'll go back to my room and check on the little chicken's condition!"

Xiao An called the Golden Feather War Chicken "little chicken." She was currently taking care of this magical beast. Although the Golden Feather War Chicken had regained some vitality, its injuries still needed time to heal. It couldn't move for a long time, and Xiao An, being an apothecary, was just right for taking care of such injuries.

An apothecary, unlike a priest, treated injuries with herbs. Their treatment was slow, and the recovery effect was average, but there were some diseases that couldn't be treated by priests but could be cured by apothecaries. Therefore, apothecaries couldn't be said to have inferior healing abilities compared to priests; it's just that apothecaries usually treated commoners' illnesses, so they were considered a non-mainstream profession and not recognized by the nobles.

"Offering advice?" Li Xie glanced at Xiao An's lovely face and said, "If you can help Brother Xie solve this grain problem, Brother Xie will fulfill one of your wishes, as long as Brother Xie can do it!"

"Really?"

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"Okay! You said it! Humph, what's so difficult about solving this problem?"