In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 629 The Thief of Heaven

Needless to say, people will starve to death if they don't eat, but clothing is just as important as food.

In an agricultural country like Xia, there were no heating systems or air conditioners. The only ways people could keep warm were burning firewood (charcoal) or wearing more clothes.

The limitations of using firewood for heating are too great, making it unsuitable as a daily means of keeping warm.

So the only remaining way to keep warm is to wear more clothes.

However, what seems like a simple matter of wearing more clothes is actually quite difficult for the people of Liangzhou.

First of all, cloth was not cheap. The people of Liangzhou could not even feed themselves, so where would they get the extra money to buy cloth?

When Yang Zheng visited and learned about the people's conditions, he saw that many poor families did not even have a single new piece of clothing for each person. The vast majority of people wore patched and tattered clothes. Even more shockingly...

In some ordinary families, all the men share the same set of clothes; whichever man needs to go out wears that set of clothes.

The people of Liangzhou were starving and poorly clothed, a true reflection of their plight, without any exaggeration.

It was precisely because he understood the hardships of the people of Liangzhou that Yang Zheng's expression turned so grim when he saw snow falling in Liangzhou.

The people of Liangzhou had barely survived the war and managed to hold on until the autumn harvest was over. Just when they thought they were about to enjoy a better life, they were suddenly met with a cold, heavy snowfall...

"During the five-month-long snowfall last year, countless people froze to death. I wonder how many more will freeze to death this year."

Yang Erlang said with a bitter expression that snowy weather was not scary for him, a mid-level martial artist, because martial artists have vigorous blood and strong bodies, and the cold weather could not affect them.

However, not everyone in Liangzhou was a martial artist. Due to years of hunger, they were already very thin and weak, and the cold of the snowy weather only exacerbated their condition...

Yang Erlang closed his eyes in anguish, as if he could see countless Liangzhou people freezing to death before his very eyes.

"Damn you, God! Can't you give us, the people of Liangzhou, a way to survive?"

Yang Erlang opened his eyes and glared at the sky. He, who had once been an ignorant farmer, now had no sense of awe for the sky.

The cold disaster has lasted long enough. If it continues, I'm afraid very few people in Liangzhou will survive.

"Ugh."

Yang Zheng sighed heavily. He understood Yang Erlang's feelings; it was the pain of knowing that the people would suffer but being powerless to do anything about it.

In fact, Yang Zheng was no different.

His initial motivation for rebelling was to secure a way out for himself, his family, friends, and countless people in Liangzhou. Now, he had finally defeated the imperial army and provided the people with a stable environment, only to be met with the arrival of cold weather...

In the past few days, Yang Zheng has sent people to investigate the situation in Liangzhou. With the arrival of snow, the demand for cloth in Liangzhou is extremely high, even leading to a shortage. Many people have had to pay higher prices to buy cloth, however…

Even with the price increase, very few people can still buy enough warm cloth.

Furthermore, Yang Zheng, who ruled the entire Liangzhou, had a far-sighted vision than ordinary people.

In addition to the current shortage of cloth, Liangzhou is also facing a severe shortage of food.

Although the autumn harvest had just ended, and both the common people and Yang's army still had a large amount of grain, the scholars under Yang Zheng's command came to a conclusion after taking stock:

The grain reserves in Liangzhou are simply not enough to last until the next autumn harvest. Let alone the next autumn harvest, it will be difficult to even survive the winter.

Unfortunately, the year-long war had severely damaged Liangzhou's production, leaving large tracts of land uncultivated. As a result, the autumn harvest was very limited. It was only because Liangzhou's population had decreased significantly that the harvest was sufficient to sustain the region for at least three months.

The lack of food and warm cloth was the predicament faced by the entire Liangzhou, and it was also the fundamental reason why Yang Zheng was unwilling to send troops to Qingzhou.

These days, Yang Zheng has been trying to find a way to solve these two difficulties. To this end, he even went so far as to personally meet with many big merchants, hoping that these merchants could transport grain and cloth to Liangzhou from other places.

However, the entire Nine Provinces are now in short supply of food and cloth. Not to mention whether those merchants can transport food and cloth to Liang Province, even if they can, the price is extremely high. Although Yang Zheng has a large amount of gold and silver jewelry that he confiscated from the landlord families, he can only look on with envy at the high price of food and cloth.

"Erlang."

Yang Zheng collected the jumbled thoughts in his mind, turned to Yang Erlang and said, "Instruct officials in various regions to order the local textile bureaus to do their utmost to produce winter clothing, and then sell it to the people at market price to help them withstand the severe cold as much as possible!"

"Yes."

Yang Erlang first received the order, then frowned and said, "General, even if the textile bureaus in various places can produce some clothes, it will probably be a drop in the ocean!"

"I know!"

Yang Zheng sighed softly, "But it's better than doing nothing, isn't it?"

Even a drop in the ocean is better than watching people freeze to death.

Even if the clothes rushed out by the Imperial Textile Bureau could only save a few hundred lives, it would be worth it for Yang Zheng.

After all, he was never like the leader of the White Lotus Sect, who could ignore the people who died in front of him.

"Too."

Yang Erlang nodded and was about to leave when footsteps sounded outside the door first.

A messenger hurried in, knelt on one knee, and saluted Yang Zheng, saying, "General."

"Ah."

Yang Zheng nodded slightly, then asked, "What is it?"

The messenger took a letter from his pocket and handed it to Yang Zheng, explaining, "This letter is from Yongliang County. Magistrate Tang of Yongliang County personally gave it to the messenger and instructed him to make sure it reaches the commander-in-chief."

Yongliang County?

A hint of surprise flashed in Yang Zheng's eyes. Yongliang County was not only Yang Zheng's hometown, but also the place where he first raised his army. For him, Yongliang County had a very important meaning, which is why he arranged for Tang Qing, the great talent he had personally invited, to be stationed in Yongliang County.

Tang Qing did not disappoint him. After taking office, he governed the entire Yongliang County in an orderly manner, and the people of Yongliang County praised Tang Qing's wisdom.

"A letter from my hometown?"

A look of surprise flashed in Yang Erlang's eyes as he asked curiously, "General, Mr. Tang hasn't corresponded with you in a long time, has he?"

As one of the earliest followers of Yang Zheng in his uprising, Yang Erlang also knew Tang Qing. Tang Qing had even personally taught Yang Erlang to read, so Yang Erlang always addressed Tang Qing as Mr. Tang.