Chapter 498： mildew

   Vice Admiral Zhong's face paled and he said in a low voice, "General, the soldiers have been hungry for a long time, and there may be chasing soldiers behind..."

"So what?" Qi Haoran interrupted him, "If you enter the village, what's the difference between you and the bandits? You might as well surrender on the mountain as soon as possible. Where is the nearest supply point?" Qi Haoran stared at him and asked again.

Generally, the garrison has supply points in the local area. Only the upper-level confidants know about these places. Qi Haoran took over the army not long ago, and he went to war as soon as he came up. The previous supplies were provided by the imperial court. , or whether the food in it is edible or not, so Qi Haoran didn't ask.

But now the yamen in Jinghu area are like a fake, there are bandits everywhere, they can only find these small supply points if they want supplies, no matter how small mosquitoes are, they are meat. At this time, they only need a meal to have the strength to escape and join the army .

Deputy General Zhong lowered his head and said, "There is a small supply point fifty-eight miles to the east, but the last general is not sure that the thing is still there. After all, bandits are rampant now..."

"Let's rest for another quarter of an hour, head east, and be sure to arrive before dark." Qi Haoran ordered directly.

The soldiers were full of vitality. Although they were hungry and tired, they still walked to the supply point with confidence.

In the past, the army's supply points were supplemented and managed by the court and local officials. Nine of the ten supply points were empty. Later, they were divided into military fields and military households. Naturally, the supply points were also the responsibility of each garrison. Qi Haoran thought that no matter how bad the situation was. It will not be worse than in the hands of local officials. The truth is that although there is grain in the warehouse of the supply point, all the grain is moldy and blackened old rice.

Qi Haoran rubbed the rice in his hand and looked back at Vice General Zhong and the others with mixed emotions.

Vice Admiral Zhong and General Manager Qian lowered their heads, not daring to look at Qi Haoran.

Qi Haoran took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and said, "Tell people to bury the pot and make rice."

Deputy General Zhong exhaled and hurriedly called people in to move the grain out. He didn't mind the moldy and blackened rice in the warehouse at all. They were starving to death now, why would they care about this?

Feibai's face was also very ugly. "Master, they are too much. The entire warehouse is full of moldy grain. If you eat too much of this kind of food, your stomach will be bad. How can the soldiers fight?"

"Now is not the time to worry about this," Qi Haoran said meaningfully: "As long as you can survive, there is a chance to settle accounts."

"But Fourth Master, you've been hungry for several days. How can your stomach be able to eat these things at this time?"

Qi Haoran rolled his eyes and said, "Master has even drank horse urine before, what is a few taels of moldy rice? There are many people in the army who are very hungry.

Although Qi Haoran dare not say that he can fully share weal and woe with the soldiers, he will never do anything special at this time to chill the soldiers' hearts.

The food at the supply point was saved from their rations, but now it has suddenly turned into mildew rice. Even if he is newly transferred, the food reserves have nothing to do with him, and Qi Haoran can't completely shirk his responsibility, because he is theirs The general is their current chief, so he is naturally responsible for everything now. As for who he will find to be responsible in the end, it is their upper-level problem.

The rice that was carried out gave off an unpleasant musty odor. The soldiers washed the rice several times before fetching water from a nearby river to cook.

The Huotou Camp brought a couple of people to pick some wild vegetables nearby, and let some people with strength go into the mountain to see if they could hit some prey by luck.

Qi Haoran was still rubbing those moldy black rice grains repeatedly in his hands, and his face sank into the water.

Vice Admiral Zhong thought about it for a while, and then leaned forward and said, "Fourth Master, this supply point is in poor condition. There is another supply point twenty-five miles north of here, and the situation there should be better."

Qi Haoran slightly opened his fingers a few slits, the rice in his hand only moved a little and then it didn't move. If it was good, the rice would have flowed out along the slits of his fingers.

He threw away the rice in his hand, clapped his hands and asked curiously: "Lieutenant General Zhong, where did you get this kind of food? If we weren't about to starve to death, this kind of food would cost 100 taels of silver to ask the brothers to eat. , brothers don't bring a pair of chopsticks."

"The rice grains have turned black and musty. It is said that such things should have been thrown away long ago. The military reform is only three or four years old. How did you turn the grain into this?" Qi Haoran looked at him.

Lieutenant General Zhong's heart trembled and he opened his mouth. He wanted to make up some reasons to get in the way, but when he met Qi Haoran's eyes that seemed to understand everything, he couldn't say the reason for his mouth.

Those who are familiar with Qi Haoran know that his eyes are just an expression of anger and annoyance, so his eyes subconsciously widen slightly, appearing extremely clear, as if nothing in this world can hide from him.

But he was only angry because Deputy General Zhong and their actions, and annoyed that he didn't know the reason for the mildew of rice.

Vice Admiral Zhong thought, Qi Haoran is already their general anyway, and the situation of this supply point cannot be concealed from him in the future. In this case, it is better to take the opportunity to give him a psychological preparation, the impact of the incident may be smaller.

Vice Admiral Zhong said in a mixed voice: "General Hui, these moldy rice are not military rations handed in by military households at all, but bought by our former generals and wealthy merchants."

Vice-General Zhong sighed: "The general is also leading the army to fight, and you should know that there are not many Lutians who join the fourth-rank generals. In the past, the army's salaries, grains, etc. were all paid by the imperial court. Several times, we can still get some free money. Several Shangguan in the army rely on this to support their families, and the reform of the military system seems to be very beneficial to us, but we only have so many people, and the land we divide is also planted. No, plus there have been many natural and man-made disasters in the past few years, the military rations handed in by the military households are barely enough to eat, and there is no way to buy the food at the supply point, but the imperial court has to send people down to inspect the warehouse. In desperation, the generals had no choice but to I asked everyone to take some money to collect enough military funds. I found a wealthy businessman and bought the moldy food in his hands. This thing was originally used for inspections. How could everyone think that this thing would save everyone's life today. ?"

Qi Haoran is very suspicious of what Vice Admiral Zhong said. He has heard about empty pay, but he has never seen it. Because all the empty pay in Xiying were handled by his brother's military law, Qi Haoran was able to stay healthy here. Growing up in an environment, at least he has not been polluted by his character since childhood, and his IQ is even less likely to degenerate. However, although he doubts the other party's words, it is not good to question him at this time, and continue to worry about what he sees when he goes to the next stronghold tomorrow. Could it be that musty black rice too.

Feibai touched it quietly and whispered: "Master, he lied to you, it's because they colluded with each other to sell the soldiers' salaries and grains, and bought moldy rice as good rice to avoid inspection, just a veteran told Xiao Yes, they had eaten old rice for more than a year before I went there. Although the rice was not black and musty like now, it was dry. Everyone had planted it before, and they knew the rice when they touched it. Stay for at least four or five years..."

Qi Haoran's face was cold and stern, he nodded and said: "I see, don't pick on this matter first, the first task is to break out, everyone can't be distracted at this time, and, try to find a way to reply to your fourth grandma, I don't know her now. Worry about what it will be like."