Baba Basra 139b - Mezonos for Daughters

The gemara mishna says that when a father dies, depending on how much assets he leaves behind, the sons may lose their inheritance to provide for the daughters mezonos. The basic rule is that when there are נכסים מרובין the sons inherit and the daughters are fed until they reach 12 and a half (bogeres), but when there are נכסים מועטין the daughters receive mezonos and the sons get nothing. The gemara quotes 2 opinions to define נכסים מרובין. Rav says that it is when there is enough to provide mezonos to both sons and daughters for 12 months, less than that is considered מועטין. But the Chachamim say that it is when there is enough to provide mezonos to both sons and daughters until they become the age of bogeres, less than that is מועטין. The gemara then asks on the chachamim, do we mean to say that if there is less than enough to provide mezonos until bogeres, the daughters just get everything (even more than their mezonos until they reach bogeres)? To which the gemara responds that they only get what they need for mezonos until bogeres, but the remainder will go to the sons.

The Ma'areh Kohen (r' betzalel hakohen, Rav of vilna) points out that the gemara didn't ask this question on Rav, only on the chachamim. This implies that according to Rav, when there are only מועטין, the daughters will actually get everything. The gemara isn't troubled by this since it is likely that even if they get everything (amount to supply mezonos to sons and daughters for just under 12 months), it is likely that they will still be getting less than the t'nai kesuba of נכסים מרובין which would likely entitle them to a lot more than 12 months of mezonos (depending on their ages). But, according to the chachamim when there is less than enough to provide mezonos to sons and daughters until they reach bogeres, it will come out that the daughters will be getting much more in when there are נכסים מועטין than the t'nai kesuba entitles them to when there are נכסים מרובין. Therefore, the gemara has to say that anything beyond what they need for mezonos will go to the sons.

The question that still remains is according to the chachamim, what is the difference whether their are נכסים מרובין or נכסים מועטין since in both scenarios the daughters will get all the mezonos they need until bogeres, and the sons will get the rest? It seems the only difference will be in the cases that the gemara discusses next, such as the price of food increases. When there are נכסים מרובין we allow the sons to inherit, so if the price of food gets more expensive afterward, the daughters lose out. But when there are נכסים מועטין, the daughters have a claim on everything to ensure that they get the amount of mezonos they need, and only the remainder is inherited by the sons. Therefore, even if food gets more expensive the sons will lose, not the daughters.