Chapter 311: Advanced Civilization Can Always Attract People
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Rations for 5,000 soldiers would fill up several carts.
The rations could last them for emergencies, but once it was longer than two days, with so many of them, they might not be able to last.
You Huaijie thought for a while and said to Lu Ye, who could not suppress his anger, ‘The food cart will arrive in about half a month, but our food is barely enough for everyone to last. We can only give you a small portion first. I’ll think of a way to get the rest later.”
When they set off, the Imperial Court was still preparing the rations. They would probably arrive in half a month at most.
Lu Ye finally looked at You Huaijie. He cupped his hands emotionally and bowed. “Thank you, Lord!’
It was already very rare for the soldiers to have a full meal first.
When the soldiers were informed that they could have a full meal that night, they immediately went to transport the food.
After Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao heard You Huaijie’s report, their faces darkened.
These were all soldiers who had worked hard to expand the Ling Kingdom ‘s territory. Someone actually dared to give them moldy rice.
If they ate the moldy rice, they might die from it.
There was no news of this when they set off, so it must have been kept a secret by someone.
You Huaijie had been promoted by the Eldest Prince, so they were naturally confident that You Huaijie would not dare to report this matter to Emperor Linghui.
As for the soldiers, they could only stomach this bitterness.
After all, they were far away from the authority and could not intervene. As long as Emperor Linghui did not summon Marshal Gu, they could continue to impound the rations fearlessly.
Even if Marshal Gu returned to the court, he could not transport all the moldy rice back. Without concrete evidence, it was not impossible for the other party to accuse Marshal Gu of being greedy for rations.
However, the most important thing now was to solve the problem of the soldiers’ hunger.
If they were really forced into a corner and the soldiers all went to look for food, how could they defend the southern frontier that had just been conquered?
Moreover, even if Bai Wutong and the others went to the southern frontier to explore and farm, it would take at least a few months for them to have food to eat.
For their own sake, they had to figure out where to find food.
Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao a.n.a.lyzed, “Baye is rich in resources. The locals must have their own staple food. Or, let’s go find Sheng Huaixuan and ask if we can send some food over, seeds, and so on.”
Youjia village’s advanced seeds were only enough for their own use, but the other commoners in the team and the exiled prisoners clearly did not bring enough seeds.
Marshal Gu’s remaining 80,000 elite soldiers also could not continue wait for the Imperial Court to give them food.
If the Imperial Court did not give it to them, these people would starve to death.
Without seeds, it would be another huge challenge to survive the winter this year.
Everyone set up camp. Sheng Huaixuan carried Stinky over and could tell that Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao were looking for him for something important.
Sheng Huaixuan handed Stinky to Lin Yue and asked him and Qingfeng to bring Stinky around to play.
Bai Wutong went straight to the point and asked, “Brother Sheng, there’s not enough food now. How long will it take to send someone to deliver food?”
Sheng Huaixuan had already guessed what Bai Wutong was going to ask. He replied, “If it’s for our team only, the food stored in the caravan shop can last us for about two days.”
If Bai Wutong and the others could eat for two days, it would be enough for the
5,000 soldiers to eat for more than a week.
Bai Wutong asked, “Is there any faster way to gather food?’
Sheng Huaixuan said, ‘The fastest way to gather food is to buy stir-fried rice from the Syrians.”
Bai Wutong was puzzled. “What’s stir-fried rice?”
Sheng Huaixuan explained, “Stir-fried rice is a local staple food after the rice is stir-fried. However, the main staple food of the Syrians is still milk and meat. Therefore, even if there’s stir-fried rice, there won’t be much food stored.” “However, we can buy some first to deal with the emergency. Then, we can wait for the food from the Central Plains to arrive, or we can go to the southern frontier to find other food.”
“Baye is close to the forest on the right. Even if the locals don’t plant, they can still survive the winter. As long as we communicate with the locals patiently , we can definitely exchange for some food to sustain for a while. At that time, we can also enter the mountains to find local food like the locals.”
Marshal Gu’s people could not find enough local food. It was very likely that the locals disliked them and refused to tell them where to find food, nor were they willing to sell their food to them.
However, the most important thing was that Marshal Gu might not be able to take out anything to exchange with the locals.
However, Sheng Huaixuan’s caravan had interacted with the locals before the war began and had made many transactions in exchange for precious herbs like deer antlers, tiger skin pearls, and so on.
As long as they could win over the hearts of the locals and exchange for what they wanted very much, it would definitely not be difficult for the tens of thousands of immigrants to survive.
Moreover, among the tens of thousands of immigrants, there were many capable citizens. An advanced civilization could always attract people.
Bai Wutong was full of praise for Sheng Huaixuan’s idea. “Then let’s buy some stir-fried rice first. If it’s really not enough, we’ll buy some cows and sheep.”
Sheng Huaixuan nodded. “Sure. After this period of time, the food and military pay from the Imperial Court should have arrived.”
He did not know about the moldy rice. Just in case, Bai Wutong muttered to him softly, ‘The rations that the Imperial Court transported to the soldiers of the southern frontier previously are moldy rice. I’m worried that this time, they will transport the moldy rice over again. We should find some food and buy some rice first. Lord You will send someone to investigate if the Imperial Court is transporting the moldy rice over this time. If they are exposed along the way, it will take a long time for the food to be transported here.”
After washing the moldy rice, it looked no different from fresh rice. Marshal Gu and the others had also eaten it before. They only realized that it was moldy after the soldiers had diarrhea.
Sheng Huaixuan suddenly thought of something and came to a realization. “It was no wonder. Half a year ago, the grain seller found me and said that they had to sell rice grains urgently. This must be the military rations that had been confiscated. ‘
Chu Tianbao’s gaze turned cold. “Can you buy it now?’
Bai Wutong said, ‘Why should we buy? If it’s military rations, it’ll be easy. As long as the news of the moldy rice is exposed, they would obediently hand over all the rations and even pay us for it. ‘
Sheng Huaixuan’s eyes lit up. “Madam, you’re really brilliant. If they want to escape and not be punished, they will definitely lie about where the military rations came from. Then, when they hear that the soldiers are short of food, they will take the initiative to offer it to save their own lives.” Bai Wutong smiled and said, “That’s right. ‘
Sheng Huaixuan immediately said, “I’ll give the order now. ‘
Bai Wutong nodded. “Okay.”
Sheng Huaixuan took two steps and suddenly stopped. He turned around and looked at Chu Tianbao and Bai Wutong, then at You Huaijie. A trace of confusion flashed across his eyes.
Why did he feel that You Huaijie, the governor, was listening to Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao?
Suddenly, he remembered Bai Wutong’s superb disguise technique and came to a realization.
You Huaijie had changed so much. He had probably been replaced without anyone noticing.
Sheng Huaixuan smiled again. If that was the case, the southern frontier would definitely become the most desirable city to live in in the future..