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

Chapter 894 Not as good as a beast

"The Lu family is truly a bunch of rats!"

Jiang Li couldn't help but curse angrily, "We people of Youzhou have a hard time even getting a full meal, yet the Lu family has hoarded so much grain. They're worse than pigs and dogs!"

As a native of Youzhou, Jiang Li knew all too well what kind of life the people of Youzhou lived. It was no exaggeration to say that more than 70% of the people in Youzhou were starving. Children were pale and thin due to lack of food, adults were emaciated, and women had no breast milk to feed their newborn babies...

With the people of Youzhou lacking food and clothing, how could Jiang Li, who grew up in Youzhou, not be furious that the Lu family had such a huge amount of grain hidden away?

If the Lu family were willing to use this grain to relieve the people of Youzhou, who knows how many people could be saved from starvation.

However... the Lu family was completely indifferent to the suffering of the people of Youzhou. Instead, they intensified their exploitation of the people. Their actions were worse than those of scum!

"These mountains of grain are all blood that the Lu family has sucked from the people of Youzhou! The Lu family is truly worse than beasts!"

"A beast? What kind of beast could be as wicked as the Lu family!"

"The Lu family even does business with the barbarians and secretly helps them attack our Great Wall Army. They are truly traitors!"

"..."

The other soldiers were also filled with anger. They were also from Youzhou and had seen countless people in Youzhou starving and dying because they didn't have enough food. Therefore, they also hated the Lu family very much.

When General Tian decided to attack the Lu family, many soldiers in the Great Wall Army even volunteered, hoping to kill more of the Lu family's beasts. Unfortunately...

Jiang Li and his companions were not selected and were instead left to guard the Great Wall, thus losing the opportunity to personally kill those beasts from the Lu family.

Fortunately, the Lu family was eventually wiped out, which relieved their pent-up hatred.

After a while, Jiang Li's resentment subsided somewhat, and he said thoughtfully, "So, the reason our food has improved is because General Tian seized that one million shi of grain from the Lu family?"

"Not bad!"

The companion replied, "However, this million shi of grain does not belong entirely to our Great Wall Army. It is divided equally between the Great Wall Army and the Yang Family Army. Therefore, General Tian only brought back 500,000 shi of grain."

"I see!"

Jiang Li suddenly realized that even if they only received half of the Lu family's grain, it was still a considerable amount, which explained why their meals had improved recently!

"General Tian is truly a good general! The first thing he thought of after receiving the grain was to improve our meals!"

Jiang Li expressed this sentiment.

The others nodded in agreement. General Tian treated his soldiers exceptionally well, never withholding their pay and occasionally subsidizing any shortages in the army's rations. He would personally lead the charge during battles and live and eat with his soldiers. Such a general was enough to win their hearts and minds.

As they spoke, the group approached the kitchen. Jiang Li sniffed the air, noticing a scent that was both strange and familiar, and asked in surprise, "What's that smell?"

His companion sniffed and his eyes lit up instantly: "It smells like meat! I'm absolutely certain I can't mistake this smell!"

"Meat? There's actually meat to eat!"

How could the group remain calm after smelling the meat?

He quickened his pace and rushed into the kitchen in a great hurry.

The kitchen was already packed with people, with a large number of soldiers gathered there, lining up in an orderly fashion to receive their dinner, each with an expression of great anticipation on their face.

Jiang Li and several companions lined up at the back of the queue. Jiang Li asked the soldier in front of him, "Brother, is there meat for dinner tonight?"

The soldier turned and glanced at Jiang Li, grinning as he said, "Yes! Many of our brothers have already received their share of meat!"

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Jiang Li couldn't help but swallow hard, almost drooling. Although not eating meat wouldn't lead to starvation, who could resist the temptation of eating meat?

"Why is the food so good today? Where did all the meat come from?"

Seeing that the queue was still long and it would be a long time before it was his turn, Jiang Li decided to chat with the soldier in front of him.

"How would I know!"

The soldier being questioned scratched his head. He had only heard from other soldiers that there was meat to eat, but as for why there was meat or where it came from, that was not something he could know.

Fortunately, at that moment, a soldier who was also in line further ahead turned around and said with a hint of pride, "I know where this meat comes from."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to the soldier, and they all started asking him questions.

"How did it come about? Will there be more in the future?"

"Does this mean we'll be able to eat meat every day from now on?"

"Tell me quickly, where did this meat come from? Will there be more in the future?"

"..."

Faced with the crowd's questions, the soldier smiled smugly and said, "I ran into the quartermaster earlier, and he told me that General Tian bought these meats from Chenjia Village at a high price. He bought a total of 10,000!"

"What?! Ten thousand of them!"

The number ten thousand undoubtedly shocked all the soldiers present, because this number was far too many for the Great Wall Army!

As is well known, after the imperial court cut off supplies, the Great Wall Army's only source of supplies was the ten military towns behind the Great Wall.

It was clearly impossible to sustain an army of 300,000 with only the support of ten towns. Therefore, food was in short supply both within the Great Wall Army and in the ten military towns.

In a situation where food is scarce and there isn't enough to feed people, it's naturally impossible for anyone to be so extravagant as to use food to feed livestock.

This resulted in the near absence of livestock in both the Great Wall army and the ten military garrisons, making meat a luxury...

Therefore, when the soldiers in the kitchen learned that General Tian had purchased 10,000 chickens and ducks, they were greatly shocked!

"Ten thousand chickens and ducks, that's enough to feed us for a long time!"

"You're dreaming! Our Great Wall Army has hundreds of thousands of soldiers. If we let ten thousand chickens and ducks eat as much as we want, they'll be gone in a day!"

"One day isn't bad at all! At least I get to taste meat, right?"

"That's right! I haven't eaten a single piece of meat in a year. I'd be content just to be able to taste meat again!"

"General Tian is so good to us! He even went out of his way to buy us meat!"

"Yes! If it were any other general, we'd be lucky if they didn't cut our rations, let alone think about buying us meat!"

"Eat meat! Eat meat! Let's eat our fill today!"

"..."