粮

grain / food / provisions / agricultural tax paid in grain

rice / CL:粒[li4] / meter (classifier)

good / very / very much

ration

army provisions

grain reserves

grain collected by the government as tax

elite soldiers, ample provisions (idiom); well-prepared forces / preparations for war are in an advanced state

before the troops move, fodder and provisions go first (idiom); logistics comes before military maneuvers / an army marches on its stomach

(dialect) to pay salary

to be on the government payroll

lit. to eat from government coffers / to serve as a government employee / to live off government money

to eat without working (idiom) / to take one's pay and not care about the rest

commodity grain (grain produced as a commodity rather than for self-sufficiency)

lit. eating away next year's food in advance / fig. to dip into the next month's check / live now, pay later

to grow crops / food growing

food growing area

major agricultural province

army provisions

surplus grain

World food program (United Nations aid agency)

Wuliangye liquor / Five Grain liquor

to hand in one's ration cards / to die