coobybook Chapter 138: Going to Court at Midnight
Chapter 138: Going to Court at Midnight
The eldest lady did not deny Zhao Fangyu's plan. Even she knew that this battle might be extraordinary.
The outsiders are ferocious by nature, and with the wind and snow pushing them forward, they will probably fight their way out of the tribe even if they die.
Foreigners do not farm, but make a living by grazing. Once there is no grass, the cattle, sheep and horses will have no food, and the surviving animals will die, and they will run out of ammunition and food.
"Plundering is the way they have survived for generations, but it is not the only way out. It is just the way that requires the least work and allows you to sit back and reap the fruits of your labor, so foreigners are particularly keen on it."
"Longxi is adjacent to Jiayuguan. If we defend Jiayuguan, Longxi will not be in chaos."
After enduring the night, everyone's eyes were red, but no one said a discouraging word.
Even Fang Mo, who was still in school, said before returning to his room: "Mom, don't worry. As long as the family is together, everything will be fine."
Zhao Fangyu was afraid that there was not enough food and grass at the border, so she wanted to help a little, but what she had was just a small contribution, and even if she put it all in, it would not be enough to feed the army for a day.
The lady had a similar idea, but just because it wasn’t enough this year didn’t mean it wasn’t enough in previous years.
However, there might be Jinyiwei watching his house, and if he wanted to be the largest rice merchant in Daliang, he had to avoid being wiped out. There were many twists and turns in the process, so Zhao Fangyu went back and sat by the window and calculated his fortune.
The crisp sound of abacus beads echoed in the room. Zhao Fangyu was so quiet that her face was expressionless. No one knew what was in her mind.
The abacus was not being moved very fast, but people who knew Zhao Fangyu knew that she was not just fiddling with it randomly, she was definitely calculating something.
Rice shop, herbal medicine store. There is an old saying in the 21st century, "In troubled times there is gold, in prosperous times there is jade." If we apply the original saying, it can almost be changed to "In troubled times there is rice, in prosperous times there is tea."
Daliang has been weak for a long time, with its culture flourishing but its military declining. It will take time to change.
It is not something that can be done by just one or two people.
The most important thing for how this war is fought is who sits on the dragon throne. Otherwise, even if she or the eldest lady or someone else is the best grain merchant in the world, when the war is over and the reckoning comes, they will be slaughtered like a pig and their blood will be drained and their marrow will be sucked out of their bones, and all their wealth accumulated over the years will be confiscated.
Therefore, the rice could not be delivered openly, but had to be delivered secretly, without being noticed by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
But how could the large-scale rice and grain transactions during the sensitive period be concealed from the Imperial Guards?
After all, if the person sitting on the throne doesn't support it, no matter how hard the people below try, it will be in vain.
Zhao Fangyu thought of the Second Prince who looked sloppy and unreliable. His slender fingers tapped unconsciously on the table as he thought.
The second prince does not win the emperor's favor. He was born to a flawed mother, has a bad reputation, and has a bad temper.
The second and third points can be attributed to the emperor, but the fourth point... is purely a personal issue.
Even though the emperor had the effect of fanning the flames, those words and deeds might not necessarily be what he wanted to do.
The most important thing is to establish a dedicated logistics network.
However, looking at Daliang, Longxi seems to be the area that needs the least worry, because the Li family is there. In other places, there may only be corrupt officials who eat military pay and deduct military fees.
Zhao Fangyu used to think that Daliang was prosperous and its culture was developing extremely rapidly, but its historical process, like the Song Dynasty in history, had reached an extremely fatal turning point.
If Daliang is a towering star-picking building that reaches into the clouds, then Zhao Fangyu is a speck of dust teetering on the top.
She traveled through time, but she could not stop history, nor could she resist the wheel of the times.
She is just an ordinary person, who cannot even make decisions about her own marriage and can only go with the flow.
A hint of sadness could not be controlled and revealed in his expression. Chunshao came over to show concern. Zhao Fangyu exhaled a breath, holding the teacup and looked out the window.
Pointing in a direction, he asked, "Is that the direction of Longxi?"
Chun Shao smiled and said, "Miss, you think too highly of me. I don't even know where Longxi is."
Zhao Fangyu looked indifferent, as if he had made some decision, but also as if he had accepted his fate.
After receiving the information, Zhou Qinghe felt something was wrong. He always felt that the battle situation in Longxi might mean something to Zhao Fangyu.
But Zhou Qinghe could not understand no matter how hard he tried, the reason why his wife-to-be was worried about the national defense of Daliang.
"How is the battle situation in Longxi?"
Xuanbi glanced at the urgent report sent back today and handed it to Zhou Qinghe. Zhou Qinghe looked at the few numbers on the letter and felt a little relieved.
Fortunately, not many people from the Longxi Li family died, and the two who died were not from Zhao Fangyu's maternal grandfather's family. They were just cousins whose names he had never heard of.
Most of the information Xuanbi dealt with were not very important, but today, he picked out a piece of information from a pile of information and handed it to Zhou Qinghe.
"According to spies at the border, the weather turned cold too early this year, and the thaw is expected to be late. We may have to fight this war, but according to their experience, next year... won't be much better than this year."
Such news was extremely important, and Zhou Qinghe hurriedly asked who the messenger was.
"An old farmer who grew up in a small village near Zhiqu River and has lived in that area all his life said that the spy had been lying in ambush in the village for two or three years, usually delivering vegetables to the military camp."
Zhou Qinghe's brows were furrowed for a long time without relaxing.
"Are there many people in Zhiqu who know about this speculation?"
Xuanbi couldn't help but nod his head and said what Zhou Qinghe didn't want to hear the most: "The older generation depends on the weather for their livelihood, and there are many people who can see this omen."
In short, even an eight-year-old should know it by now.
"The people in Zhiqu are busy running south, but they probably won't be able to reach Matsusakayama."
"The number of soldiers guarding the city in Zhiqu is not correct. The roster says there are at least 20,000 soldiers, but the spy went inside a few times and found that many tents were empty. I'm afraid that of the 20,000 soldiers on the roster, there are only 7,000 or 8,000 left now."
Zhou Qinghe couldn't suppress the anger in his heart.
Even though he was a well-known waste prince, he would still be so angry about such news that he wanted to kill people.
There were 20,000 soldiers on the list to defend the city, but when we actually looked, there were less than 10,000! Where did all the military pay, food, clothing and weapons that the Daliang court allocated every year go?
How can this city defense army be corrupt?
It's simply treason!
When Zhou Qinghe thought that the border of Daliang was as thin as paper, he was so angry that he wanted to pick up his sword and cut off the corrupt official's head to feed the dogs!
"Our news is slower than that of the Imperial Guards. The Imperial Guards should have known about it by now. I'm afraid that His Majesty should have taken action in the next few days."
The emperor must have wanted to take advantage of the New Year to relax, but the military situation was important, so he had to drag his trusted ministers out of bed in the middle of the night to go to work.
New Year’s Eve has just passed, and it is the first day of the new year. Breakfast has not yet been eaten, so all the confidants have a taste of the hot snacks in the imperial study first.