The severity of this year's drought was beyond everyone's expectations. The entire Qi had lost 70% of their food supply.
Furthermore, Qi wasn't a big producer of food. The food supply from the Southern Kingdom this year was less than 10% of last year's. This made a famine in Qi inevitable.
Aristocratic families usually had a habit of storing food. Their survival wouldn't be a problem. In the end, the ones who would suffer were the commoners. At most, the commoners would suffer along with the commoners.
"If it doesn't rain by next spring, Qi will be in chaos by the end of next year.
Fort Wah Ka must be prepared to defend the village. Don't let anyone get close to the granary. Arrest those patrolling and guarding the houses.
I heard that Ba Shu and other places weren't affected by the drought. I plan to go there and see if I can buy food! "
When the slaves return this year, the Hua Family's current rations would barely be enough for themselves and their affiliated families. In order for the entire Guang County to remain peaceful, the rations in the city could not be stopped. The construction of the Hua Residence could not be stopped. This way, most of the people would have a source of food.
As for the Hua Clan's subordinate clans, they had been slowly taking in some refugees to increase their strength. Even though they knew that they did not have enough food, they could not help but take in some commoners. In the past half a year, the Hua Clan had taken in more than ten Qi Transformation Stage families.
As the drought worsened and the number of victims increased, the Hua Family, their subordinate forces, and their allies would become stronger if they had enough food.
However, it was very difficult to get to Shu. There was a saying that "The road to Shu is harder than going to heaven". Even Xiantian Realm cultivators might not be able to pass through safely.
It was impossible to transport food out of Shu. However, Hua Kai didn't have to worry about that.
He informed the Four Seas Merchant Association branch that Fort Wah Ka was in. If he wanted to go to Shu, he would need the help of the Four Seas Merchant Association.
In the afternoon, Hua Kai arrived at Guang County. Everything seemed to be going well. The Hua family's food store sold 2000 catties of cheap food every day. Even though it couldn't guarantee that everyone would have food to eat, it gave the commoners a glimmer of hope and didn't cause too much anger.
When he entered Guang County, most of the shops were closed. Only the human market and livestock market were still bustling. The Hua family restaurant was still under construction. As the future landmark of Guang County, it would take at least two to three years to complete.
Many families in the inner city had already closed their doors. They knew the severity of the drought and decided not to go out...
For the big families and aristocratic families, the most dangerous thing about the drought was not starvation, but the looting by the starving victims.
When Hua Kai returned to Hua Fu, he saw that there were construction sites everywhere. The entire Hua Fu was filled with hardworking commoners. This year, the Hua Family only provided them with one meal and two kilograms of rice for every day they worked. Even the commoners of the slums were squeezing their heads to work for the Hua Family.
. Hua Kai looked around. There were close to 10,000 people working here. This was a terrifying number.
After Princess Ji Le was married, she stayed in Guang County's Hua Manor. The family members, guards, and palace maids also stayed.
The entire Hua Manor had a population of more than 5,000. This caused the Hua Manor to occupy half of Guang County's population.
The Hua family, the family members of the commoners working in the manor, as well as the various affiliated forces. About 70% of Guang County's population depended on the Hua family for their livelihood. In addition, all the villages outside the city belonged to the Hua family. The Hua family controlled more than 80% of Guang County's population. This wasn't good news.
If the Guang County's merchant group returned this year, they would bring more than 10,000 slaves. The Hua family would be responsible for the food of 40,000 people.
"It seems that we have no choice but to go to Shu Kingdom. The food at home might not even be enough for a year. Our plans can't keep up with the changes!" Hua Kai sighed.
After returning to Hua Manor, Hua Kai met with his Fifth Uncle and Butler Wal-mart. He told them about the food consumption of the family. At this rate, they would run out of food in a year. It was urgent to solve the food problem. Otherwise, they would have to give up some of their affiliated forces. The Hua family wouldn't do that unless they had no other choice.
"Fifth Uncle, Grandpa Fu!
As long as we survive this, more than 90% of Guang County's population will be under us. Even if the Han family is the ruler of Guang County, Guang County will belong to the Hua family.
Moreover, now is the time to expand the strength of our affiliated families. The problem is that our food shortage is relatively large. "Hua Kai sat with the two of them to discuss the family's development.
They strictly followed the family's development manual that Hua Kai left behind. Although the results were better than expected, it consumed too much food. Who would have thought that the drought this year would be so serious?
"Your grandfather will be back in about 10 days. This time, we brought back more than 6000 slaves. The merchant groups in Guang County also brought many slaves. If we really can't do it, we can only limit the food consumption!" Hua Zichen reminded Hua Kai.
"Most of the counties in Qi have already had refugees. Only our Guang County is still fine. If we limit the food supply, Guang County will definitely be in chaos!" Wal-mart sighed.
"Now, the only places where we can buy food are Shu Kingdom and Nanyue Kingdom. Some of the big families must have thought of going to these places to buy food. However, even if they have the storage space, it won't be as useful as the Treasured Light Glass Bottle. It's not too late for us to buy food now.
I have already contacted the Four Seas Merchant Association. When they have news, I plan to go to Shu Kingdom. Fifth Uncle, you can accompany me when the time comes. "
After Hua Kai finished speaking, Hua Zichen nodded. If this disaster was dealt with well, the Hua family's growth would be accelerated. The development plan that the Hua family originally needed five to ten years could be completed in three years.
What Hua Kai didn't expect was that the next day, the Four Seas Merchant Association sent a person in charge to the Hua Kai Mansion to tell him that although there was a drought in Shu Kingdom this year, it wasn't serious. The food price had only increased by 20%. If the Hua family could solve the transportation problem by themselves, it wouldn't be a problem for them to buy a million dan of food.
Hua Kai couldn't help but feel excited. Why was the Four Seas Merchant Association able to send the news so quickly? They must have used a special method to transmit information. He asked the Four Seas Merchant Association to help the Hua family buy food as much as possible. No matter what kind of food it was, they would buy it at a price below 100%.
The Four Seas Merchant Association built a granary for the Hua family. The cost of the wood, labor, management, maintenance, transportation, and other costs would all be paid by the Hua family.
Hua Kai knew that after this incident, the Hua family would definitely know that the Four Seas Merchant Association had a large storage treasure. However, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing for the Hua family.
The Hua family's strength was increasing by leaps and bounds. This drought might be able to help them attract the attention of some of the aristocratic families.
If the Hua family could get their hands on food, after three to five years of drought, the Hua family was confident that they wouldn't need to fear any aristocratic family below rank 6.
Hua Kai asked Butler Wal-mart to send 100,000 gold to the Four Seas Merchant Association. He told them that they had to buy all the food within a month at the latest. Furthermore, they had to make funnels according to Hua Kai's blueprint. When he arrived, they just had to put the food into the [Baoguang Colored Glass Bottle].
On the 2nd day of the 9th month, Hua Kai and Hua Zichen set off. This would be the furthest place they would go.
From Guang County City to Shu Country, it was a distance of over 10,000 li. Furthermore, they had to pass through the natural barrier of the Qinling Mountains.
800 li of the Qinling Mountains were surrounded by mountains. Even birds couldn't fly over these dangerous places.
In the Erudite class, the teacher said that most of the demonic beasts lived in the Qinling Mountains. Therefore, those who could cross the Qinling Mountains were all respected heroes. According to the current records, the survival rate of those who crossed the Qinling Mountains was only about 30%.
Hua Kai rode on Lu while Hua Zichen rode on the [Heavenly Dragon Colt]. Both of them rode on divine colts and traveled westward. It took them half a day to reach Ah-Cheng. The shortest route to Shu was through Taishan County.
When they reached Ah-Cheng, Hua Kai had to pay a visit to the Yao family. He told them that the head of the Yao family would be back around the 10th day of the 9th month. This year, the Yao family caravan didn't have many casualties.
When the people of the Yao family heard this, they were very happy. Some of the direct descendants of the family had already gone to pay their respects to their ancestors. For the head of the family, who was already over a hundred years old, to personally travel to the grasslands to do business, the Yao family was in a very special period. Therefore, the success of the business trip was very significant to them.
After lunch, they left Ah-Cheng. Hua Kai and Hua Zichen rode on their horses and continued westward. Divine colts were different from ordinary horses. They could easily leap more than 10 steps. They didn't need to take detours on hills that were a few meters high. Hua Kai rode on Lu and felt that it was more exciting than riding a roller coaster. In just one afternoon, they had traveled more than 300 li of mountain roads. The two divine colts didn't seem tired at all.
At night, the two of them went to sleep in their tents. There was no need to leave anyone on guard. As a spirit beast, the [Heavenly Dragon Colt] had a stronger sense of smell than humans. It could handle small problems on its own. It would only call for Hua Zichen to help if there was a big problem.
The next day, the two of them woke up and fed the two divine colts with the [Alfalfa Spirit Grass]. The two divine colts ate more than 40 catties before stopping. Of which, the [Heavenly Dragon Colt] ate more than 30 catties.
They continued on their journey. On the afternoon of the second day, they saw Tang Lei's village. However, there were only half of the people left on the cliff. The rest had been brought to Fort Wah Ka by Tang Lei.
They only rested for a short while in the afternoon to replenish the horses' food. On the fourth day, they had already left the mountains. The road in front of them finally became smooth.
The [Heavenly Dragon Colt] carried Hua Zichen and moved as if it was flying. The Lu carried Hua Kai. Its body was smaller and smaller, so its speed didn't decrease. They could travel more than 100 li per hour at most. In a day, they could travel more than 1,000 li. They were truly divine colts in the mountains!
Leaving Mount Tai Road, they traveled at lightning speed. The two of them passed through Zhao Country, Wei Country, Lu Country, Wei Country, Zheng Country, Zhou Country, and dozens of other countries. Finally, they entered the southern part of Qin Country.
The two of them used 14 days to travel more than 9,000 li. When they entered the Qinling Mountains, Hua Kai was stunned by the road in front of him.
He saw some man-made stone steps on the cliff that was a few meters high. If one wasn't careful and slid down the stone steps, they would be seriously injured. The mountain roads in Mount Tai County couldn't be compared to this.