Chapter 240: 1 Victims

Late at night, the center of the road was bustling with activity. The Konoha ninjas set up two searchlights and used the precious reserve batteries, which dispelled some of the darkness and barely illuminated the porridge cooking area.

More and more victims came like sharks smelling blood. They did not make any noise but just stood quietly on the road waiting.

"Sir, there are too many victims. We have used up all the rice we brought with us. But I just estimated that it is only enough to feed half of the victims." Hyuga Munezane was sweating profusely in the winter heat. He was exhausted.

Konishi Kakuei sighed and looked at the seeds. After a moment of inner struggle, he gritted his teeth and stamped his feet and said, "Take out a thousand kilograms of seeds and cook them. It will be difficult for the disaster victims to survive until morning in the winter without a hot meal."

"Sir," Hinata Muneshi lowered his head, revealing his wet head, "I'm afraid one thousand kilograms is not enough. There are more than 20,000 victims!"

"Where do so many disaster victims come from?" Konishi Kakuei took a breath and suddenly felt a toothache.

"The news of our free porridge has spread far and wide. At this rate, there will be 50,000 people waiting to drink porridge before dawn!"

Konishi Kakuei was silent, clenched his fists, and suddenly cursed: "Those bastards from the Wind Country, do they really not care about the lives of the people? In this freezing cold weather, driving them away from their homes is a crime of life? Don't let me meet them next time, or I'll crush their balls one by one!"

Hinata Muneshi smiled bitterly and said helplessly: "Sir, please save your energy. The most important thing right now is to make arrangements for the victims. It is not a good idea to let them stand here and wait for porridge!"

"What can I do? Even if I have all kinds of abilities, I can't create any food!" Konishi Kakuei spread his hands, looking like a tough guy.

"You continue to distribute porridge here. Sakata will deliver a batch of food at noon tomorrow. The quantity is not much, but a bowl of porridge per person can sustain for a while. I will rush to Konoha Village now to report to the Hokage."

As he said that, Konishi Kakuei turned around and was about to leave. Hyuga Munezane quickly grabbed him and said, "My lord, I won't stop you from leaving, but you have to make it clear whether the seeds and supplies will be distributed or not. If so, you have to make arrangements for the extent to which they will be distributed."

Konishi Kakuei opened his mouth to speak, but a gust of northwest wind blew icy rain into his throat, causing him to shiver uncontrollably. "We can't give all the seeds and supplies to the disaster victims, otherwise we'll delay the spring ploughing in New Rain Country and I'll be in big trouble! You control the quantity, and each disaster victim should only have a bowl of porridge a day so they don't starve to death."

“What if the food runs out?”

"Idiot! There are so many bandit dens around, what are you going to eat with the weapons in your hands? If there is no food, just go and rob! Anyway, the bandits don't need help, they deserve to starve to death!"

"After the bandits have robbed, they will rob the nobles. After the nobles have robbed, they will rob the daimyo. In short, if you rob the daimyo of the Land of Fire, I will also be there to support you!"

Konishi Kakuei shook his Konoha raincoat, his mouth was as sticky as a machine gun: "Anyway, I don't want to do this job anymore, it's too heartbreaking! Hokage, you better kick me right off so I can go home and hug my grandchildren!"

"Let's go. What a horrible place. It's cold and rainy. It's not a place for humans to stay."

.......

At noon the next day, Yeshan was discussing the second batch of aid plans with the two deputy Hokage in the office. Nara Shikaku knocked on the door with a sullen face and stood in front of the desk without saying a word.

Ye Shan flicked the ash off his cigarette, sat up straight and asked, "Shikaku, what happened? Who are you showing your gloomy face to in the middle of the day?"

Nara Shikaku sighed before speaking, and under the sharp gazes of the three people, he said: "Captain Konishi Kakuei is back."

"Who?" Ye Shan raised his eyebrows, suspecting that he was hallucinating because he smoked too much. "Didn't he go to the New Rain Country a few days ago? Why is he back now?"

"You should ask him. He is waiting downstairs to be summoned."

Ye Shan took a deep breath, suppressed his inner restlessness, put out his cigarette and said, "Let him in. I want to see what he wants to say."

After a cup of tea, the newly replaced teacup in the Hokage's office suddenly died again. Nara Shikaku's eyes twitched. This was the blue and white porcelain tea set he had just replaced. There were not many of them in the whole ninja world. It seemed necessary to replace the porcelain pot for the Hokage. This thing was resistant to falling...

"Bastard thing!"

Many ninjas in the Hokage Building heard Yeshan's roar and quickly lowered their heads to work, fearing that they would become the target of concentrated fire.

Konishi Kakuei was half-kneeling on the ground, cold sweat oozing from his forehead. He couldn't figure out whether the Hokage was scolding the Wind Country or himself, and looked at Namikaze Minato for help.

Namikaze Minato stood up with a smile, waved his hand to signal the Anbu ninja to leave, bent down and slowly picked up the broken pieces of the teacup, saying, "Calm down, it's not worth it to get yourself upset for the sake of that bastard."

Ye Shan raised his right hand, as if to slap it on the table, but considering the pain, he chose to put it down: "The ninjas of Sand Village are too much! The people under their rule don't care about themselves, but instead rush to us to eat. How can such a good thing happen in the world?"

"Shikaku, go inform the Root and ask them to show up in the Wind Country and wreak some havoc, or I will not be able to swallow this anger!"

"Wait!" Uchiha Fugaku stopped him, "Calm down, Ye Shan, think from another angle, and you will find that the problem is not that bad."

"The Wind Country's approach is undoubtedly killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. They can certainly get a large amount of food in the short term, but over time the people will all run away. Are they going to plant the crops themselves?"

"The New Rain Country has many problems. It doesn't lack resettlement for the disaster victims. It just needs to transport more food. But compared with the precious productivity, what does some food mean?"

"If everyone loses their land, everyone loses their land. If everyone loses their land, everyone gains their land. We might as well be merciful and do a good deed. Let's openly release the news of resettlement of disaster victims. The more disaster victims we attract, the better our future will be."

Ye Shan seemed to be thinking about something, lit a cigarette and took a puff, and said, "You mean to take advantage of the opportunity to gather people?"

"That's right," Uchiha Fugaku said with a smile, "Population is the potential for a region's development. The New Rain Country is vast and sparsely populated, with an average of only one adult labor force for every six people. If we can gather a large number of laborers, we should even thank those idiots from the Wind Country."

"But what about food? The military rations that the village currently has in stock are already stretched thin, and there is definitely not enough to feed the huge number of disaster victims. It will be embarrassing if people starve to death."

Namikaze Minato threw the broken pieces of the teacup into the trash can, turned around and said with a smile: "Food is not a problem, we can always get some by piecing together. At worst, I can take people to suppress the bandits. The bandits have accumulated a lot of food for the winter, and they are all very fat."

Uchiha Fugaku added: "Suppressing bandits is one thing, but don't forget, we have a granary full of food that can last for ten years!"

"Oh?" Ye Shan was extremely surprised and asked hurriedly, "Where is the granary? How come I didn't know there was such a big treasure?"

Uchiha Fugaku smiled and pointed at himself, saying: "I am the owner of the granary."

"You? You're so stingy even when you go out to eat. I really didn't realize you were a wealthy man." Ye Shan smiled and joked.

"Don't judge me by my appearance. I don't have much wealth, but the Uchiha clan does!"

"what do you mean?"

"As one of the ancient families with a history of thousands of years, how could the Uchiha clan put all its eggs in one basket? You have to know that half of the Fire Country belonged to the Uchiha clan decades ago. It's not a big deal to just store some food."

"In the Neko Village, there is a granary the size of half the size of Konoha Village, which is filled with grain. It is no problem to feed the entire Rain Country. What are a few disaster victims?" Uchiha Fugaku is rich and powerful, revealing his true nature as a prodigal son.

If Uchiha Madara heard these words of his unworthy descendants, he would definitely be so angry that he would pick up his cane and kill his own relatives for the sake of justice. The food our ancestors saved was saved by the gaps between their teeth, but you gave it away as soon as you opened your mouth. No matter how big your family business is, it can't withstand such a ruin!

Ye Shan clapped his hands and laughed. The problem that had troubled him for a long time was easily solved. How could he not be happy?

"Let me make it clear in advance. I don't have anything good to exchange for food. You can't say behind my back that I'm stingy."

Uchiha Fugaku waved his hand and said seriously: "A little food is nothing, but don't expect me to give it to you for free. I have a whole family of Uchiha people waiting for me to support them. It's not good to always be so stubborn."

"Well, I won't ask for more. I can just make up for the original amount after the New Rain Country's grain harvest."

Namikaze Minato picked up the teapot and poured tea for the two of them. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "Hayayama, don't think you've made a profit. Fugaku's move is called exchanging old grain for new grain. With just a few moves with his left and right hands, he's made a lot of money out of the difference."

Ye Shan picked up the new teacup and took a sip of water. "You can't calculate it that way. The victims of the New Rain Country are starving. Without Fugaku's generosity, the number of people starving to death would reach a terrifying level."

"I'll make the decision. After the victims of the New Rain Country are resettled, the provinces that the Uchiha clan is responsible for will be selected first, and the remaining places will be divided up later."

Uchiha Fugaku's face lit up. The precious labor force meant huge hidden wealth, so he naturally would not refuse. Besides, he had no reason to refuse. A family needed money to eat and develop, and food was the best money, which was ten thousand times better than gold and other external things.

"I won't be polite. If other people have any opinions, you can explain them to them."

"No problem, but you can't go too far, it's not good to cause public outrage." Ye Shan agreed immediately, then turned to Namikaze Minato and asked, "How much food is left in the village?"

"After meeting the winter needs of the entire village, there is still some surplus. I went to check it out two days ago. You can rest assured." Minato Namikaze replied.

"Well, Minato, you are responsible for the logistics of the whole village. You should worry more about the food. If you have food in your hands, you will not be worried. What I mean is that half of it should be urgently transferred to the Rain Country to be used by the disaster victims first, and the remaining part will be supplemented by the Uchiha clan's granary. What do you think?"

Namikaze Minato touched his chin, thought quickly and said, "Of course there is no problem, but the biggest difficulty we are facing now is how to transport the food. If we rely solely on people and horses, the loss will be huge, and the accumulated amount will be an astronomical figure."

It is true that Konoha Village is a super large ninja village, but its population is only a few hundred thousand. Its main function is military, and its transportation capacity is not outstanding. After all, once the Ninja World War breaks out, except for ninja tools, detonating tags and other military supplies, other materials are transported by the daimyo. It is not realistic for a ninja village to transport the food consumed by half of the Rain Country disaster victims in a short period of time.

Even if only staple food is provided to 100,000 disaster victims every day, the daily consumption is as high as 50,000 catties! A carriage equipped with three horses can pull 500 kilograms. Even if Konoha mobilized all the carriages to pull food, the daily delivery task would directly reach 60,000 catties. That's 60,000 catties of food. Not to mention that Konoha is busy with many things at the moment, there is simply not enough manpower to escort it. Even if there are full-time delivery people, they can't stand the fatigue day after day!

Why did the daimyo dare to curb the development of the ninja village that possessed absolute military power? Isn't it because they controlled all the means of production and production resources except for military power? Not to mention the distant past, just take the Sand Village and the Kingdom of Wind as an example. The daimyo said a word to cut military expenditures, and the Kazekage didn't dare to say a word. The ninjas of the Sand Village are awesome, but no matter how awesome you are, can you farm the land yourself?

Yeshan has ten thousand reasons to prove that the disaster victims were caused by the Fire Country Daimyo. Maybe all the nobles in the ninja world are waiting to see Konoha's joke. What new rain country, what agricultural support policy, it's all nonsense, Konoha should transport the food to the local area first!

"How many vacant ninjas are there in the village?" Ye Shan asked with a frown.

"There are about four thousand people. Most of the ninjas are out on missions. We can only mobilize four thousand people at present, and most of them are Genin." Uchiha Fugaku replied. He is the deputy Hokage in charge of military affairs and is familiar with the armed forces of the village.

"Assign a thousand men to transport the food. The number of jonin guarding the carriages must not be less than fifty. Also, tell the carpenters to build a hundred carriages within two days."

"Lord Hokage!"

At this time, Konishi Kakuei, who had been half-kneeling, interrupted Ye Shan's arrangement. He pursed his lips and raised his head and said, "The number of disaster victims in the New Rain Country is probably far greater than 100,000. If we are really determined to rescue them, we must be prepared to rescue 100 people!"

"How much? How much did you say?" Ye Shan widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.

"At least one million people!" Konishi Kakuei said seriously.

"Bullshit!" Ye Shan cursed. "The entire Rain Country has only five or six million people. Where did the one million disaster victims come from? Do you really think I'm an analytic?"

Rescuing 100,000 people and rescuing 1 million people are two completely different things. 100,000 people just opening their mouths and waiting for food every day can cause serious damage to Konoha, but 100 people are simply unimaginable. Wouldn't they suck the marrow out of the village?

The Uchiha clan has a lot of food reserves, but there is no reason to give it away for free. They have to pay it back later. It is not easy for their ancestors to save food.

"There really are a million of them! I guarantee it on my ninja honor!"

The office fell into silence. The young ninjas fantasized about bringing great changes to the ninja world, but they ran into a huge obstacle as soon as they stepped out.