Chapter 769 - 37: The People Are the Foundation of the Nation—Wencheng’s Achievements Revisited

This is the extraordinary aspect of the land of Kyushu.

Even Gu Yi felt gratified by this, as over the years he had seen people from many places think of settling for a small corner of peace.

But such a thing could never occur in Kyushu.

Not even among the schools of thought would any suggest such a matter.

It is like an unspoken agreement.

The whole of Kyushu shares this respect.

Even among the Three Kingdoms, all are striving for that singular position as the master under heaven.

Time passes swiftly.

Amidst the great matter of the disruption of grain transport in the Great Song, both Western Xia and Liao moved consecutively.

Their tactics were equally straightforward.

Though the commotion was great, whenever they made actual advances, they deliberately slowed their efforts, clearly intending to incite internal chaos in the Great Song.

A single action affects the whole body.

The present state of the Great Song is indeed such.

Even though many places have a considerable reserve of granaries, in the current situation of disrupted grain transport and rising warfare, fluctuations in grain prices naturally arise between regions.

This is completely uncontrollable.

Gu Jun can stop noble families from hoarding grain, and traders from price-gouging grain, but he cannot stop the common people of the world.

The instinctual survival drive makes the people uncontrollably hoard grain.

And when this phenomenon gradually appears and leads to panic buying, grain prices naturally become uncontrollable, with the interruption in grain transport and the fires at the border acting as two invisible mountains, heavy and weighty on everyone’s hearts.

The most critical issue is—

This time, the natural disaster has not yet ended easily.

Though not a fatal disaster, the continual heavy rain further exacerbates the issues of grain transport, posing a major crisis for the current Great Song!

In the Kaifeng Prefecture, although Bao Zheng’s thunderous measures curbed the surface-level hoarding and speculative practices, the increasingly long line of purchase at the government granary and the half-bushel of rice that the people unconsciously buy more of silently convey the hidden anxiety in the air.

Though grain prices remain stable, people’s hearts are like the waters of the Bian River, calm on the surface, with undercurrents beneath.

This is not due to a loss of confidence in the court.

Rather, it is the most instinctual survival thought of common people under prolonged warfare and blocked grain transport.

Even though Fan Zhongyan and the officials of the Three Departments have done everything possible to allocate and transfer resources, it is still impossible to stop this trend.

In the streets and alleys, the usual bustle now carries a sense of gravity, with tavern chatter shifting from trivial matters to border war reports and the return of the canal boats.

There is worry, and the curses against the summer Liao betrayal are endless.

But more than anything, there is a resilient hope, hoping that Prime Minister Gu can turn the tide, hoping for the King’s forces to achieve victory soon.

And this pressure spreads from various locations to affect the entire court.

In the Grand Tutor’s residence.

"Gentlemen—"

Gu Jun’s voice echoed in the study of the Grand Tutor’s residence, not loud but carried an unquestionable weight that made the last whispers of discussion in the study completely vanish.

He scanned the gathered confidants and relevant magistrates, his gaze piercing.

"From today onwards, the Changping Granary shall spare no reserves and exert all efforts to stabilize the grain prices!" he repeated clearly word for word, "I understand what you want to say—Changping Granary is the nation’s reserve, it cannot use full force lightly, we need to save for possible future changes."

He paused slightly, his fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on the table, thud, thud, thud... the sound was not heavy, but as if it struck on everyone’s heart.

"But you need to understand one principle, if the people’s hearts are in chaos, and the country is unstable, who will be left to eat even if the granaries are full?"

"By then, will the full granaries be left to the wolves arising from the chaos, or to the starving refugees amidst the smoke?"

His voice suddenly rose, "Grain is the foundation of life for the people, the basis for a stable world!"

"It is not a dead thing to gather dust locked in storehouses, but it is the lifeblood maintaining the lives of our billions in the Great Song!"

"Now, with external threats encircling, if internal turmoil arises from grain prices, causing public panic and broken commercial routes, for what then do the front-line soldiers battle bravely? For what then do we here exert our utmost?"

Gu Jun’s expression was solemn, a nearly sharp determination gathered between his brows.

He must exert all efforts, with no room left to hold back.

During these days, the internal chaos within the Great Song has not only not subsided, but has grown more intense, with armed grain robbing incidents occurring in some remote and hard-to-regulate regions.

This alone shows the severity of the situation.

He naturally understands the concerns of the ministers.

This Changping Granary is the greatest foundation of Great Song, if it is completely emptied now, and the disorder cannot be stabilized in the short term, the Great Song may truly face a risk of collapse.

But he has no choice.

Tracing back to the root cause, in truth since the founding of Great Song, the grain problem has always remained unresolved, closely related to the natural geographical environment.

Later, though with the introduction of corn, coupled with Gu Jin reclaiming the Sixteen States of Yan Yun and strategies in Liaodong, temporarily alleviating the grain storage pressure, with the ever-growing population, that surplus was gradually exhausted.

And the most crucial reason lies in the massive military that Great Song has maintained over the years.

Even with the military farming policy easing some pressure, to the national treasury, it remains an especially heavy burden.

But this too is unavoidable.

Military readiness is the foundation for survival and the pursuit of strength.

As a member of the Gu Clan, Gu Jun, even knowing his talents far inferior to his ancestors, how could he not harbor the deep wish to unify the world?