Chapter 496: Moldy Rice
Editor: Atlas Studios
Deputy General Zhong’s face turned slightly pale. He said in a low voice, “General, the soldiers have been hungry for a long time. Also, there might be pursuers behind…”
“So what?” Qi Haoran interrupted him. “If you enter the village, what’s the difference between you and the bandits? We might as well have just surrendered on the mountain? Where’s the nearest supply point?” Qi Haoran glared at him and asked again.
Typically, garrisons had supply points at the localities. These places were only known to the trusted aides of the upper echelons. Qi Haoran had just taken over the army not long ago and had started fighting as soon as he arrived. The previous supply points were provided by the Imperial Court, and there was not much there. In fact, it was uncertain if there was anything inside or if the food inside could be eaten. Hence, Qi Haoran had not asked up till that point.
But now, the government office in Jinghu seemed to be empty. There were bandits everywhere. If they wanted to replenish supplies, they could only find these small supply points. No matter how small a mosquito was, it was still meat. At this moment, they only needed a meal to have the strength to escape and meet up with the Imperial Court’s army.
Deputy General Zhong lowered his head and said, “There’s a small supply point 58 miles east, but I’m not sure if it’s still there. After all, bandits are wreaking havoc now…”
“Rest for another 15 minutes before heading east. We must arrive before dark,” Qi Haoran ordered.
Now that the soldiers had a chance to live, although they were hungry and tired, they still walked towards the supply point confidently.
In the past, the supply points for the army were replenished and managed by the Imperial Court and local officials. Nine out of ten supply points were empty. Later on, when there were military fields and military households, the supply points were naturally handled by the garrisons themselves. Qi Haoran thought that no matter how bad the situation was, it would not be worse than being in the hands of the local officials. The truth was, although there were grains in the storeroom of the supply point, all the grains were moldy and black.
Qi Haoran rubbed the rice in his hands and turned around to look at Deputy General Zhong and the others.
Deputy General Zhong and the regiment commander lowered their heads, not daring to meet Qi Haoran’s gaze.
Qi Haoran took a deep breath and suppressed his anger. “Get someone to bury the pot and make rice.”
Deputy General Zhong heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly asked someone to come in and move the grains out. He didn’t mind the moldy and black rice in the storeroom at all. Why would they mind this when they were about to starve to death?
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Fei Bai’s expression was also very ugly. “Master, they’re too much. The entire storeroom is filled with moldy food. If we eat too much of this, our stomachs will hurt. How can the soldiers fight?”
“Now is not the time to fuss about this.” Qi Haoran said meaningfully, “As long as we can survive, there will be plenty of opportunities to settle scores.”
“But Fourth Master, you’ve been hungry for a few days. How can your stomach take it if you eat these things now?”
Qi Haoran rolled his eyes and said, “I’ve even drunk horse urine in the past. What’s a few liang of moldy rice? There are many people in the army who are hungrier than me. If you say that again, I’ll whip you.”
Although Qi Haoran did not dare to say that he could go through thick and thin with the soldiers, he would definitely not receive preferential treatment at this time to dishearten the soldiers.
The grains in the supply point were all saved from their rations, but now, they had suddenly become moldy rice. Even if he was newly transferred and these grains had nothing to do with him, Qi Haoran could not completely shirk the responsibility because he was their general and their current commander. Therefore, he naturally had to be responsible for everything now. As for who he would find to be responsible for this in the end, it was a problem for them higher-ups.
The rice that was carried out emitted an unpleasant moldy smell. The soldiers washed the rice several times before fetching water from the nearby river to cook.
While the Field Kitchen Unit gathered some wild vegetables nearby, they also sent some of the stronger individuals into the mountains to try their luck at hunting some game.
Qi Haoran was still repeatedly rubbing the moldy black rice grains in his hands with a dark expression.
Deputy General Zhong thought for a moment before going up to him. “Fourth Master, the situation at this supply point isn’t good, but there’s another supply point 25 miles north of here. The situation there should be better.”
Qi Haoran opened his fingers slightly. The rice in his hand only moved for a moment before it stopped moving. If it was good rice, it would have long flowed out through his fingers.
He threw away the rice in his hand, clapped his hands, and asked curiously, “Deputy General Zhong, where did you find this kind of grain? If we weren’t about to starve to death, our brothers wouldn’t eat this kind of thing even for a hundred taels of silver. They wouldn’t even move their chopsticks.”
“The grains have already turned black and moldy. Logically speaking, such things should have been thrown away long ago. The military reform only took place three to four years ago. How did our grains become something like this?” Qi Haoran looked at him.
Deputy General Zhong’s heart skipped a beat. He opened his mouth and wanted to come up with a reason to cover it up. However, when he met Qi Haoran’s eyes, which seemed to know everything, he could not bring himself to say it.
Those who were familiar with Qi Haoran knew that his gaze was just an expression of anger and frustration. Hence, his eyes subconsciously widened slightly, making them look extremely clear, as if no one could hide anything from him.
However, he was only angry because of Deputy General Zhong and the others’ actions. Also, he was vexed that he didn’t know why this rice had turned moldy.
Deputy General Zhong thought to himself that since Qi Haoran was already their general, it was impossible to hide the situation at the supply points from him in the future. Since that was the case, he might as well take the opportunity to prepare him mentally. The impact might be lesser when he found out about the situation himself.
Deputy General Zhong said with a mixture of truth and falsehood, “General, these moldy rice are not military rations handed over by the military households at all. They were bought by our original assistant commander and wealthy businessmen.”
Deputy General Zhong sighed and said, “General, since you lead troops to war, you should know that fourth-grade assistant commanders aren’t given much stipend land1. Previously, the military salary and rations were all paid by the Imperial Court. Although they were often withheld, as long as the number of people who reported it increased significantly, there would still be some spare rations. A few high-ranking officials in the army rely on this to support their families. The reform of the military system seems to be very beneficial to us. But since there are only so many of us, we can’t farm all the land that we’ve been given. In addition, there have been many natural and man-made disasters in the past few years. The military households have only handed over barely enough military rations. How can they have the ability to buy grains for the supply points? However, the Imperial Court sends people down to check the storeroom. Helpless, the assistant commander could only ask everyone to take out some money to gather enough military funds. Using that money, he found a rich businessman and bought the moldy grains from him. These moldy grains were originally used to deal with the inspection. Who would have thought that this would save everyone’s lives today?”
Qi Haoran was very suspicious of Deputy General Zhong’s words. He had heard of the practice of abusing public resources, but he had never seen it before. Because all those guilty of this practice in the West Camp had been punished by his brother under the military law, Qi Haoran was able to grow up in a healthy environment. At the very least, his character had not been polluted since a young age, and his intelligence had not deteriorated because of this. However, although he suspected Deputy General Zhong’s words, it was not appropriate for him to question him now. He continued to worry about whether he would see moldy black rice again when he went to the next supply point tomorrow.
However, Fei Bai sneaked over and whispered, “Master, he’s lying to you. It’s simply because they colluded with each other to sell the soldiers’ military salary and grains. They also bought moldy rice to deal with the inspection. Just now, a veteran told me that before you came, they had already eaten old rice for more than a year. Although the rice isn’t as black and moldy as these, it’s still dry. Everyone has farmed before. One touch and they knew that the rice had been kept for at least four to five years…”
Qi Haoran’s expression was cold as he nodded and said, “Got it. Don’t expose this matter first. The most important thing is to break out of the encirclement. We must be united at a moment like this. Also, think of a way to reply to Fourth Madam. She must be extremely worried.”
