Tianliangyuan

Chapter 216 I really want to kill Xie Gou

Xu Zhaozhao smiled slightly.

It is true that Nanzhao was rich in tea and medicinal herbs, but that does not mean that Nanzhao could not grow grain.

Especially rice, the rice grown there is quite good.

This time, Xu Zhaozhao arranged for Zhuzi to go to Nanzhao with a secret mission: to purchase a large amount of grain from Nanzhao.

The price is negotiable, but it must be done in secret, so that no one can discover that it is the people of the Daxing Dynasty who are buying grain.

When there is fighting on the border, the biggest drain on resources is food.

Daxing implemented the Fubing system, where these people usually stayed at home to farm, and only occasionally received training. They generally ate twice a day.

But if it's war, and you're only allowed two meals a day, then it has to be dry rice, or else you have to eat three meals a day.

Otherwise, if they don't have enough to eat, where will they get the strength to fight?

Therefore, Xu Zhaozhao was worried that the powerful families would take this opportunity to inflate grain prices, but she was even more worried that they would use this opportunity to negotiate with the emperor. This was truly a panic!

Food is essential.

So all Xu Zhaozhao can do now is try to get food from other places.

As for the old grain stored up by those aristocratic families, they naturally had to deal with it before the imperial court leaked any information.

For example, they might use the grain directly for brewing, or they might dispose of some grain at a low price.

Their handling of the grain, in turn, gave the imperial court an opportunity.

Hopefully, this time, the imperial court's actions will be both discreet and swift.

In fact, Emperor Yong'an was indeed very cautious, and he specifically arranged for Gu Dongyang to collect grain, and he tried to find a way to have both officials and merchants collect it.

In this way, those people will not become suspicious.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, the imperial court was on holiday. Gu Dongyang, however, paid no heed to anything and rode his horse at full speed to Taiji Palace. After dismounting in front of the palace, he jogged along the way, afraid that the news would be kept secret from him.

Emperor Yong'an looked at the secret letter, and his brows gradually relaxed.

"Great! Daxing is in luck this time."

Gu Dongyang arranged for two groups of people, one openly and one covertly, to buy grain, and he also specially dispatched more people to collect grain in various places.

The advantage of doing this was that they had already stockpiled the food before the news spread.

The downside is that it requires a large number of people.

Is the imperial court short of personnel?

Moreover, this time, Gu Dongyang also relied on the emperor's personal guards to carry out his mission, so it was naturally airtight while also being able to complete the task as quickly as possible.

I dare not shirk my duties.

This grain supply is directly related to whether we can embark on a northward expedition.

This is no joke!

Sure enough, on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, someone from the Ministry of Rites brought up the customs report from before the new year, and then several censors joined in. In less than a quarter of an hour, the court was in complete chaos.

In the end, it was the Minister of War who volunteered for the battle, which calmed Emperor Yong'an down a bit.

"A decree is drafted to appoint Lu Jin as the Grand Commander of the Northern Expedition and Marquis Xu Han of Anxin as his deputy, to oversee all matters related to the Northern Expedition. In addition, the Ministry of War is to draft the expedition list as soon as possible, and the expedition will depart in three days."

"According to the order!"

The list of those to lead the northern expedition should be drawn up by Lu Jin and Xu Han.

This is an opportunity, especially for military officers. They have to send their children of the right age to the front lines to earn some military merits, and who knows, they might even get a noble title.

With Xu Han present, his second son, Xu Junfeng, would inevitably accompany him on the expedition. As for Lu Jin, he also had many children, but he only planned to take one legitimate son and his son-in-law with him. As for the others, that would need to be discussed carefully.

Once the imperial decree was issued, the Marquis of Anxin's residence and the Duke of Anguo's residence would be overwhelmed with people.

Fang Dazhuang didn't even wait for Xu Han to leave Taiji Palace before he came forward to challenge him to a fight.

He was originally Xu Han's subordinate, so he would naturally take him with him on this expedition. With that, Fang Dazhuang happily went back to prepare.

Fang Dazhuang's eldest son is not young anymore, and he's thinking of bringing him along too, even if it's just to get him a captain's position when he gets back.

Xie Zheng is also on the list.

Moreover, it was Lu Jin who first brought it up.

Because Xie Zheng had once defeated the Turks on the border of Jizhou, he had experience.

Xie Zheng had already made numerous merits and held a high official position. This time, he was directly appointed as the vanguard of the expedition.

Three days later, the main army will not set off immediately. Instead, Xie Zheng will lead a vanguard of 5,000 men, with supplies following closely behind.

At the northernmost part of Daxing, there are now 50,000 troops stationed. Xie Zheng led 5,000 elite soldiers ahead to scout out the enemy situation for the main army, and also to boost the morale of the soldiers at the border.

Along the way, it is highly likely that you will encounter small groups of enemies and then engage in battle.

Therefore, as long as Xie Zheng can successfully arrive in Beicheng first, he will have accomplished something.

Xu Zhaozhao was worried, but she had no choice but to calm down and make various preparations.

First of all, with Ophiopogon japonicus by her side, a communication line should be able to be established as soon as possible.

Xie Zheng also left Jian Jiu behind, but not at the Marquis's residence, but at the Duke's residence.

With Jian Jiu and Mai Dong exchanging information, things are more secure, since they were originally trained in the same system.

Xu Zhaozhao prepared a large amount of wound medicine and life-saving pills.

"You must carry this with you at all times. As long as the bottle cap is not opened, you can take it within three months. Again, as long as your head is still intact and you're still breathing, you can save your life. But if the bottle cap is opened, you must use the medicine within one month, otherwise it will lose its effectiveness."

"Yes, I took note of it."

“These bottles aren’t big, but I’ve filled each one with nine pills. I’ve prepared ten bottles for you. I know you have a lot of guards with you, and I can’t just watch them die. My father and my second brother have the same amount. A month from now, I’ll arrange for Mai Dong to find a way to send you more supplies. So, there’s plenty of medicine, just use it.”

A month later, Xie Zheng would certainly be in the northern city, or even possibly beyond the Great Wall, and would have already fought against the Turks.

Therefore, a month later, Mai Dong led a few people to set off lightly equipped. They traveled all the way and could reach the North City in at most ten days.

In this way, Xie Zheng would know that she had prepared enough life-saving medicine.

"What about my father-in-law and second brother?"

"Don't worry, I've already given all the instructions. Although the Imperial Medical Bureau and I have done our best, the amount of hemostatic powder and anti-inflammatory powder is still limited, but it should be enough for two months. The Imperial Physician and I will continue to work hard to produce more powder."

"Okay. Thank you for your hard work."

Xie Zheng was only wearing casual clothes. Seeing Zhao Zhao running around for him and her words full of affection, he couldn't help but hug her.

Just as he embraced Xu Zhaozhao, Xu Junfeng happened to come over with something to ask Zhaozhao how to use it, and naturally saw what was happening.

At this moment, Xu Junfeng deeply understood his father's feelings and really wanted to kill Xie Gou!