Uchiha Tenxiu treasured these granaries as if they were rare gems, valuing them ten times more than the gold and silver he had just acquired.
As the saying goes, 'With grain in hand, one's heart is at ease.'
With these strategic grain reserves, he would have sufficient confidence for his future endeavors in establishing a power base, not only allowing him to recruit soldiers and acquire horses but also enabling him to safely develop and remain unaffected by external circumstances during the initial years.
Therefore, he personally inspected and calculated each one, as if examining some rare treasure.
Under Uchiha Tenxiu's gaze, these granaries, each spanning a hundred meters, resembled impregnable fortresses. Within each granary stood 20 sturdy stone-built grain silos. These silos, like loyal guardians, possessed various protective properties, capable of preserving the grain for extended periods. Consequently, all surplus grain from the populace within a hundred-kilometer radius of Harvest City converged here like rivers flowing into the sea, resulting in an astonishingly vast reserve.
Each of these silos was like a towering giant, with an internal diameter of at least twelve meters and a height of twenty meters, standing proudly.
Taking one cubic meter of grain to be nearly eight hundred catties, these silos were like greedy behemoths. Excluding the two or three meters for the capping, each could hold at least eight hundred tons of grain.
If there were more, even a thousand tons would be a trifle for them, easily stored. Therefore, taking eight hundred tons as an example, twenty silos would be like golden mountains filled with grain, totaling at least sixteen thousand tons.
And the four granaries, like four massive grain castles, could accommodate at least sixty-four thousand tons of grain.
It was truly astonishing!
"This is truly remarkable! That Ōtomo was actually able to expend so much effort and such a high price to construct such a grand-scale granary. His resilience and long-term vision are truly beyond ordinary people. With such powerful strategic grain reserves, once war breaks out, the Ōtomo's power will surely soar and expand, to the point where even the Land of Fire Daimyo and the Konoha Hokage will have to rely on his excellent abilities." Uchiha Tenxiu pondered to himself, if he didn't possess outstanding abilities and foresight far beyond ordinary people, how could he dare to invest such a massive amount of resources and funds to build such a granary system?
Not to mention, he also used winemaking as an excuse to gather all the surrounding grain into his own granaries, virtually controlling the grain prices and vital points of numerous cities in the entire northwest direction, as if he controlled the power of life and death.
For this, even as an enemy, Uchiha Tenxiu had to admire Ōtomo's ability. Storing so much grain, excluding the grain purchased through commercial models.
As a large landowner, collecting grain from ordinary people.
To obtain so much grain.
It was by no means a simple matter.
Uchiha Tenxiu frowned slightly and began to calculate carefully. He muttered to himself, "Based on the current national conditions of the Land of Fire, the yield of one mu of land for an ordinary farmer is approximately between 60 and 80 catties. So, for ease of calculation, let's take the middle value, 70 catties."
Next, Uchiha Tenxiu considered the amount of land owned by ordinary farmers. Due to wealth disparity, farmers had as little as five mu and as much as 20 mu. He again took the middle value of 10 mu.
After all, the Land of Fire's territory was still very vast, with nearly four to five million square kilometers of land.
In this way, the average land owned by an average farmer would yield nearly 700 catties of grain per year.
However, Ōtomo would collect half of the land's output as tax, meaning farmers would ultimately only receive 350 catties of grain, although they could plant twice a year...
Uchiha Tenxiu's fingers tapped lightly on the table, contemplating the source of the sixty-four thousand tons of grain.
He continued to calculate: "Sixty-four thousand tons of grain, converted to catties, is sixty-four million kilograms. One kilogram is two catties. Dividing this number by 350 catties, the result is that grain must be collected from at least 3.6 million people."
He shook his head, finding this number truly astonishing, and clearly impossible.
After all, no matter how powerful the Ōtomo's influence, his territory was limited to the towns within a hundred kilometers of Harvest City, which at most contained about a million people.
However.
Given the continuous seven years of peace and the great harvest in the Land of Fire, it was impossible for this grain to come solely from this year; it must include grain accumulated from the past two years.
Subsequently, Uchiha Tenxiu, like an experienced detective, meticulously reviewed the granary's ledger records, his judgment growing firmer. Indeed, it contained reserve grain from the previous two years, as well as grain hoarded by merchants who had invested in the Land of Fire Daimyo, simply stored here for safekeeping.
Furthermore, although the farmers of the Land of Fire had lived in peace and prosperity during these years, they were not like those nobles who would sell off all their so-called grain. Judging from the malicious acts of various nobles and Ninja snatching grain during the Warring States Period, these farmers would most likely carefully preserve their own grain. Therefore, even if he moved all this grain away, it would only cause a ripple on a calm lake, and grain prices might fluctuate slightly.
And this would not affect the millions of people outside, plunging them into a desperate situation of no food, thereby triggering a terrible great famine.
After all, given the overall harvest situation in the Land of Fire, it would only take two days to bring in sufficient grain from other places to easily resolve the local grain shortage.
Moreover, Uchiha did not go to extremes.
The two grain stores in the outer city were untouched, with grain stored there, and coupled with the fact that individual residents would not lack grain for a short period, it could basically ensure that the city would not suffer major impacts and complete loss of control after he left.
As for the grain in his hands!
"With this grain, at a consumption of two catties per person per day, it's roughly enough to feed a hundred thousand troops for about two years. Even without any income, it's enough to cover the most basic expenses. Of course, that kind of waiting-to-die, lying-flat approach is not what I should be doing!" Uchiha Tenxiu thought to himself. Now, he finally had some capital to support his immense ambition!
Next.
Uchiha did not hesitate, collecting all the grain into the Heavenly Dimension Space, not a single grain remaining.
Not to mention, Uchiha Tenxiu had essentially taken away all the food, materials, money, and combat weapons like swords, spears, and armor from the original Tianshou Pavilion and the inner city that could be moved.
Having completed all this.
Uchiha Tenxiu looked at the inner city commoners who had been re-gathered. At this moment, under Uchiha Tenxiu's cold gaze, they all trembled, not daring to make the slightest movement.
Without any warning, Uchiha Tenxiu directly began to exert mental pressure using genjutsu. Under Uchiha Tenxiu's exquisite genjutsu, those who had hidden their secret identities were also exposed, and even the hidden agents of the Ōtomo were easily detected by this genjutsu ability.
"What a pity, if you had spoken up earlier, you wouldn't have had to die!" Uchiha Tenxiu said, then swung his Ninja blade, and another corpse fell to the ground.
Under Uchiha Tenxiu's genjutsu, the minds of those commoners were instantly shattered, becoming like walking dead, allowing him to manipulate them, and they began to reveal their secrets one by one.
And those who still tried to resist were mercilessly cut down, blood splattering every corner of the place.
Amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, the entire area in front of the Tianshou Pavilion was stained crimson, blood flowing like a torrent, covering the ground of the first level, forming a horrifying scene that completely crushed everyone's resistance.