I believe that many people have a question, why in ancient times, when fighting wars, there was always a shortage of food? The population of the world is fixed, and if there is no war, it is necessary to eat food.
However, when there is no war, there will be no shortage of food, and when there is a war, there will be a shortage of food.
At the Battle of Changping, the Zhao state was short of food
We all know that in history, there was a battle of Changping between the Qin state and the Zhao state, and according to the records of the "Historical Records", the defeat of the Zhao state this time was more or less related to the lack of grain.
Lian Po defended the city for three years, and the grain of the Zhao State was almost consumed. Zhao Guo went to borrow grain from the State of Qi, but the State of Qi did not lend it to them.
In fact, at that time, no country dared to lend it to them, for fear of offending the Qin state.
Zhao Kuo was in danger, and King Zhao did not want Lian Po to continue. If he wanted to fight a quick battle and make a quick decision, zhao Kuo could only launch an active attack.
As a result, we learned that Zhao Kuo was an incompetent general who caused Zhao Guo to lose 400,000 soldiers.
However, why did Zhao Guo lack food? If you don't fight, you have to eat grain!
The reasons for the lack of food in the war are as follows:
1. When the country is in war, it will expand its army
When there is no war, the number of troops is not large. In this case, there are not many people who eat military food, but it is different when there is a war.
At this time, it is necessary to expand the army, and the expansion of the army is selected from among the people. This caused the people who had farmed before, and they went to be soldiers.
The more people who are soldiers and the fewer people who cultivate the land, the grain production will naturally become less and less in this case. In ancient times, there was no mechanization, and the number of species of a person was limited.
2. Soldiers also farm when they are not fighting
The position of soldiers is not only to defend the country and fight wars, they also participate in agricultural labor. As long as there is no war in the country, they are going to grow food.
Not to mention raising other people, at least to achieve self-sufficiency. But once there was a war, the land they had planted was deserted.
We all know that Li Mu was a famous general of the Zhao State, and when he confronted the Xiongnu, he led his soldiers to cultivate land and raise cattle, and he would kill cattle every day to reward the army.
Therefore, as long as the Xiongnu attacked, they fought very bravely, and soon the Huns would be retreated, and the number of fights was more, and there was a result, and the Xiongnu did not dare to attack.
A short war did not affect the production of food, but a dozen wars were several years of war, and this consumption of food was fatal.
3. In the process of grain transportation and storage, it will be intercepted or destroyed by the enemy
We have all heard the saying that the soldiers and horses have not moved, and the grain and grass have gone first, which shows the importance of grain and grass. When fighting, your opponents will also worry about your food.
They'll find a way to intercept your food halfway through, or even destroy it.
As we know during the Three Kingdoms period, the reason why Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and won the Battle of Guandu was because he burned the grain that Yuan Shao had placed in Wuchao.
Because there is no food and the military is in turmoil, it will lead to the defeat of the battle. Yuan Shao just suffered this loss!
Therefore, grain intercepted or destroyed by the enemy is also a great waste.
5, a large amount of grain is consumed on the road
In wartime, grain is constantly transported to the front, and for example, if you transport 100 bags of grain, at least 30 bags are consumed on the road.
After all, the people who deliver food also want to eat. Moreover, in ancient times, transportation was not convenient at all, and the scale of the number of cars and horses was very large.
So the consumption of food is much greater than when there was no war.
summary:
When the war is in chaos, the most important thing for the country is to put it in the war. Most people have to participate in the war, so the work of agriculture has retreated to the secondary low. Not many people are participating in agricultural cultivation. Production will not be able to keep up, if the country's grain reserves are eaten.
At this time, you can only borrow grain, and if you can't borrow it, you are waiting for the defeat of the battle.