Liu Che couldn't help but be excited.
Because he knew what Xu Yan's words meant.
In ancient wars, especially the war against the Xiongnu, what was the most important?
The answer was logistics.
Since ancient times, countless wars had failed because of logistics, lack of food, robbery of grain routes, burning of granaries, and other reasons.
Similarly, why did ancient wars consume a lot of resources? Often, a large-scale battle would consume ten or twenty years of national strength?
The answer was still logistics.
Because in ancient times, transportation was difficult, roads were difficult to travel on, and there were no motor vehicles or trucks.
Thus, once a war broke out, an army of 100,000 would require 150,000 or even 200,000 farmers to escort rations, weapons, and supplies.
The more soldiers there were, the heavier the burden.
Soldiers did not need to fight, they needed to eat.
The main expenditure was in transporting grain.
For example, during the Western Han Dynasty, a person needed to eat a stone and a half of grain a month, and an army of 100,000 needed 1.8 million grains a year.
However, these grains had to be transported from all over the country to the front line. The farmers who transported the grains had to eat, and the livestock had to eat grass and grain.
Usually, when there was no war, the army could still eat on the spot and use the local taxes to support the army. The imperial court had less pressure on transporting grain.
Once a war broke out, they would need to mobilize large numbers of troops from the rear to transport rations and supplies.
It is recorded in the Book of Han that thousands of miles of grain and salary are paid, and the rate of more than ten minutes is equivalent to a stone.
The bell was a unit of measurement in ancient times. One bell was about six stones.
In other words, during the Han Dynasty, grain was transported thousands of miles away, so only one stone of the 60-odd stones of grain could reach the front line. The rest was consumed by farmers and horses on the way.
This meant that once a war broke out in ancient times, the amount of grain consumed during a war would be sixty times more than usual.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the amount of tax collected by the imperial court was 15%, and in actual implementation of the policy, the common people only needed to pay half, which was 30%.
According to the annual harvest of 100 dans per household, then even if the 100,000 soldiers did not fight, they would still need to eat the grain paid by 600,000 households.
If there were five people in each household, that would be three million people.
In a war, a hundred thousand soldiers would need at least six million households and thirty million people to support them.
At this time, the population of the entire Western Han Dynasty was only about 40 million people, so it was difficult to support the war by relying on ordinary taxes. Once a large-scale war broke out, they would need to rely on the money and grain accumulated in previous years.
This was also the reason why Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing did not dare to start a war with the Xiongnu.
It was also the real reason why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had fought against the Xiongnu on a large scale two or three times. Each time, he had only sent out an army of 200,000 to 300,000 people, but the national treasury had been emptied, causing the people to be filled with resentment.
Because the Great Han Imperial Court really couldn't hold on any longer.
To put it bluntly.
Or was it because the food production in this era was too low and transportation was too difficult to support war?
If the Darkhan Imperial Court had the economic conditions of the later dynasties, they would have beaten the Xiongnu into a pulp long ago.
Think about Zhu Yuanzhang's thirteen northern expeditions, Zhu Di's three expeditions to Annan and five expeditions to Northern Yuan.
Every time, they would send out an army of three to five hundred thousand men.
In comparison, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had only used two to three hundred thousand soldiers in the three battles against the Xiongnu, which had exhausted the accumulation of the six generations of kings of the Western Han Dynasty.
You would know how low the productivity of this era was, and how difficult it was to transport goods for war.
Although the new military rations proposed by Xu Yan could not solve the problem of low productivity in the Western Han Dynasty, it could reduce the difficulty of grain transportation during the war.
As a result, the Great Han Imperial Court could only support three large-scale wars against the Xiongnu, but it could now support five or even six.
The future Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty would not need to exhaust the Han Dynasty's treasury and half of the Han Dynasty's household register after three battles against the Xiongnu.
Of course, the reason why half of the Han Dynasty's household register was wiped out was not because half of the population had died, but because the burden of war was too great, taxes, corvee, and other reasons caused many people to lose their land and become refugees or slaves of landlord families.
Ever since Liu Che ascended the throne, he had always wanted to start a war against the Xiongnu.
If it weren't for Empress Dowager Dou, he would have ordered the Great Han Dynasty to declare war on the Xiongnu on the day he ascended the throne.
Therefore, although Liu Che was young, he had a deep understanding of the concept of " super military grain " proposed by Xu Yan.
Just from Xu Yan's words, one could sense the importance of this " super military grain " and its irreplaceable strategic significance.
If not for that, he would not have called it a divine object.
Facing the excited Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Xu Yan also smiled." Your Majesty, please give me a piece of paper and ink. I will write down the method of making and using the super military grain to Your Majesty. Whether it is true or not, Your Majesty can let people try it out."”
"Alright, Teacher Xu can sit here and write. I will personally grind the ink for Teacher Xu!”
When Liu Che heard this, he was so excited that his face turned red. He immediately asked Xu Yan to write on the table at the side while he put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hand and personally started to grind ink for Xu Yan.
Xu Yan didn't decline and walked to the table. He wrote down the production method and usage method of the super grain and handed it to Liu Che.
The method of producing super military rations that he wrote was nothing else but the greatest magic weapon that allowed the volunteer army to achieve victory in the war to resist the United States and aid Korea.
Fried noodles!
This fried noodles was not the fried noodles of the later generations, but fried flour. It was made from wheat, rice, and soybeans.
It wasn't nutritious, but it could fill one's stomach.
Usually, a small ball of fried noodles, mixed with boiling water, could fill an adult's stomach and satisfy a day's food needs.
A soldier did not need to bring too much fried noodles. He only needed to carry ten or twenty catties of fried noodles and wrap them around his waist. Then, he would bring a wooden bowl and it would be enough to be used as military rations for ten or twenty days.
Think about it.
If Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and the others brought enough fried noodles to fight the Xiongnu again, they would be able to kill the Xiongnu.
That would not be trampling on the Xiongnu royal court, but driving the Xiongnu directly to Siberia.
Xu Yan wrote down the method of making and using fried noodles and handed it to Liu Che.
Liu Che excitedly picked it up and looked at it.
Then, he was completely dumbfounded.
"Just like that?"
"That's right. If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can let someone try.”
Xu Yan wasn't surprised by Liu Che's skeptical reaction because the method of making fried noodles was too simple. It was just grinding rice, flour, and other grains into flour and stir-frying them in a wok.
Not only was it simple to make, but there was also no technical content.
However, such a simple method of making fried noodles was only developed after the establishment of the New Dragon Country.
This showed that sometimes, many difficult things only needed a flash of inspiration to try.
When Liu Che heard Xu Yan's words, he thought that it made sense. He solemnly folded the white paper with the method of fried noodles in his hand and put it in his arms.
Whether or not the method of stir-frying noodles would work, he just needed to find someone to try it out. It was easy to tell if it was true or not.
Seeing this, Xu Yan nodded his head in relief. At the end, he did not forget to boast about his own study of physics and used a warning tone to Liu Che,"This is my way of investigating things. This method of making military rations seems simple, but in reality, it is the result of many attempts based on the way of investigating things.”
" Similarly, my study of things doesn't talk about the great principles of the world. Instead, I start from the actual situation and solve the difficulties faced by the people in reality. It's a true study of governing the world, saving people, and rejuvenating the country. I discover and solve problems from the root.”
"Your Majesty, as the Emperor of Great Han, if you want Great Han to prosper, you must remember these words.”
"Which eight words?" Liu Che asked curiously.”
Xu Yan looked at the young Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and said word by word,""Empty talk will harm the country, but hard work will prosper the country!"
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