zChapter 898 - Come, Come, Come, Speak With This Imperial Daughter First (1/2)
It had to be said that Fu Ya’s methods did indeed allow Bi Xiu to enjoy himself. Also, this caused him to become addicted. The next day, Bi Xiu announced to the armies that he had taken Fu Ya as a concubine. In the future, Fu Ya would be the madam of the military camp.
Unfortunately, while the title of madam of the military camp was grand, she did not have the ability to put on airs and pretend to be anything because she spent most of her time in bed, under Bi Xiu. Bi Xiu took the humiliation that he had suffered at Feng Yu Heng’s hands and vented at Fu Ya. All of the feelings that had originally been meant for Feng Yu Heng were directed at Fu Ya. This left Fu Ya covered in blue and purple bruises or bite marks from the neck down.
Yet she could not protect herself nor fight back. She needed to welcome it with a smile for the sake of enduring until the battles ended, and General Bi Xiu could bring her back to Gu Shu’s capital. She would be brought to his residence. Even if she needed to be a lowly concubine, there would come a day when she could climb to the position of head wife.
In the distant Jue Ping City, Feng Yu Heng had never expected that the girl that she had met in Qian Zhou would take this sort of path. When Da Shun’s spies reported this to her, she could only sigh that people were difficult to predict. They were also hard to understand.
Huang Quan also never thought that Fu Ya, who had been interested in Ban Zou, would resort to this. Her heart was filled with hatred, as she mentally cussed out Fu Ya.
However, taking over Jue Ping City was a great success, but to Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng, not everything was progressing smoothly. For example, Xi Fang had come to report some news: “General, master, the Southern Army’s supplies are running out. They will last for another ten days at most. If the supplies from the capital still do not reach the South, the Southern Army will run out of food.”
Xuan Tian Ming furrowed his brow tightly and muttered to himself: “The matter of transporting supplies was handed to second brother. Thinking about it, it’s old eighth that must have taken action secretly. Second brother heading South will be met with all kinds of perils.”
Feng Yu Heng was even more pessimistic: “I fear that he’s already fallen to old eighth. Although the matters in the capital can be distanced from him, but they cannot be distanced from his faction. There are so many families of the imperial concubines in the imperial harem, and when their might focused, it is not insignificant. From the capital to the South, I fear that every area will have one of his people. Just any trap would be enough to give His Highness the second prince trouble.”
Xuan Tian Ming tilted his head and asked He Gan, who was also in the tent: “Do we still have enough to eat here?”
He Gan said: “We have enough here. The supplies that had been brought here still has some in reserve. When Master came, she brought so much. It’s enough to support us for a while. Most importantly, we chased off Gu Shu’s army. Just by taking Sha Ping City and Jue Ping City, the supplies that we obtained was a large amount. It’s enough for the army to use.”
Xuan Tian Ming nodded, “That’s good. As for the South, this prince will personally provide some money to have someone begin buying supplies in Lan Zhou and Luo Province. Let’s deal with urgent matters first. If there continues to be no movement from the capital, we can’t just sit here and wait. We need to gradually begin buying our supplies from a larger radius. We can’t just continue to buy from Luo Province. Just Luo Province on its own can’t sustain 300 thousand troops.” Thinking a bit more, he added: “This food is not being given to them for nothing. There are definitely people among them looking to stir the waters. We need to quickly drag them out.”
Feng Yu Heng’s eyes quickly spun, as she said: “We can’t just give them the supplies so easily. Although those 300 thousand troops have already turned toward the righteous path, what you said is correct. There will still be some people looking to stir the waters. It would be better if we used this chance to go fishing to see if we can bring those people out.”
Xuan Tian Ming expressed his approval of this idea.
But before they went fishing in the South, Feng Yu Heng first went around Lan Zhou and the Luo Province. She did not make use of Xuan Tian Ming’s money, as the money that she used was what she had stolen while in the capital. The way in which she spent was quite joyous.
The aura of Xuan Tian Ming’s army had already transformed Luo Province. Even the matter of Imperial Daughter Ji An going onto the battlefield with the ninth prince to take Jue Ping City had become a point of discussion for everyone in Luo Province. Whenever Imperial Daughter Ji An was mentioned, everyone gave their praise. There were even more that said that such heroic female was most suited to the deity of war, His Highness the ninth prince.
With momentum, Feng Yu Heng’s procurement of supplies was very successful, and she did not need to spend a single extra cent to obtain a large amount of grains. There were even some citizens that suggested going to the merchants to order some. When it was time for the harvests, they could receive the supplies directly.
Feng Yu Heng calculated the situation with the rice merchants in Lan Zhou, and the main topic was whether such large purchases of grains would affect the prices of grains for the common citizens. The result that she obtained was: Absolutely not. It was because the South was too hot that grains could be grown twice, and there would be harvests in both Spring and Autumn. The grains that Feng Yu Heng was buying were not actually grains that had held in reserve. Instead, they were from the most recent harvest.
Only then did she come to understand why the rice in the South was sold for so cheap and in such large quantities. It turned out that there was such a reason. She could not help but lament that outsiders really did not understand the inner workings of another region. She really had no knowledge of this sort of farming method!
Aside from planning the supplies, she arranged for a number of merchants to help raise ducks, chickens, fish and pigs. She also put in orders with merchants for vegetables. She arranged for those merchants to deliver those supplies to the Southern Army’s camp at a set time, and the supplies would then be sent from the Southern Army’s camp to Sha Ping City and Jue Ping City.
She calculated that if this side could be self-sufficient, there would be no need for the supplies to be sent from the capital. Just calculating it based on the monetary cost, it was more practical.