Chapter 83 Public Support: Hu Lin is no match for her.

The army of Sifang County crossed the Wind and Rain Bridge and occupied the county bordering Yuanxi County.

Before the people of Yuanxi County could even react, they had already become registered residents of Sifang County in a physical sense.

However, everyone readily accepted the leadership of the county magistrate sent by Sifang County, and dug wells, reservoirs, and canals to make the county a base for the army to attack Yuanxi County, and to provide logistical support for the army.

There's no other reason than that the goddess worshipped in Sifang County gave her too much!

How could impoverished people resist the temptations of sweet and sour pork, braised lion's head meatballs, stir-fried shrimp, spicy chicken, steamed swimming crab, cold beef salad, stewed cured pork trotters, and so on?

"Heave-ho! Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"

A hundred or so men were digging paddy fields with hoes, while the women were planting lotus seeds in the fields.

Everyone chatted while working, creating a lively and enthusiastic atmosphere.

Sha Yang, an employee of a breeding farm from Anling County, and several reservoir project managers stood on high ground. Sha Yang was very happy, saying, "If we connect those twenty-odd fields together and then block up the upstream and downstream areas, it will become a big pond."

"Plant lotus flowers, and then harvest the lotus roots to sell. Also raise some fish to supply the restaurants and inns of Sifang County."

"Build a shed next door to raise ducks. Every part of a duck is valuable: down, tongues, carcasses, intestines, heads... you can make money selling them separately!"

One of the managers looked at the mountain next to him, which was covered with grass and low trees, and thought to himself that this place was indeed suitable for raising ducks, as it had both mountains and water.

"Did you specifically choose this place?" the person in charge asked.

Sha Yang shook his head. "Of course it wasn't me. It was the Minister of Agriculture of Sifang County who discovered that this place was very suitable for planting and breeding, and then informed the boss of our Anling County breeding farm. The boss informed Elder Cheng and arranged for me to come and manage the breeding farm in Sifang County."

Upon hearing this, the other person in charge seemed thoughtful and said to Sha Yang, "There are several mountains in the next village that are covered with bamboo, the thinner kind of thorny bamboo. Would you like to go and take a look and see if you can grow anything there?"

Sha Yang nodded, "Okay, we'll go take a look in a bit. If we can raise cattle and sheep, we'll raise cattle and sheep; if we can raise chickens, we'll raise chickens."

One of the managers laughed and said, "Don't you raise pigs? I quite like eating pork."

Sha Yang laughed too, "Let's visit several nearby townships another day. It would be great if this county could be developed into a specialized aquaculture county, so that it could supply both Sifang County and Yuanxi County in the future!"

“That’s right, that’s right. Jiang Zhou and his group are developing a liquor county, and you can develop a livestock breeding county.”

Speaking of this, Sha Yang suddenly thought of something and laughed, "The two bosses of the embroidery workshop and weaving workshop in Anling County also want to occupy a county to specialize in textiles."

"Huh?" the people in charge exclaimed in surprise.

Sha Yang explained, "They need to raise silkworms, spin thread, weave cloth, make clothes, and produce wool and cotton products. Qin Dongkui and Su Yuhuan both want to open several factories. Jiang Zhou gave them the idea, and they went to see the Goddess and Old Master Cheng. The Goddess agreed."

The two female workshop owners immediately laid out a map and selected a location.

The terrain should be relatively flat, with rivers or streams, a large population (especially women), and convenient transportation.

One of the officials asked, "Did they have their eye on Sifang County or Yuanxi County?"

Sha Yang said, "Yuanxi County."

The people in charge: "..."

Sha Yang shrugged. "So General Ning is under a lot of pressure."

However, everyone can also use this time to think about how to solve the sewage problems that may arise in the future.

"If the wine county, aquaculture county, and textile county are truly built in the future, then the official roads connecting the three counties must be repaired," said one of the officials.

Sha Yang nodded, "Yes, if transportation is inconvenient, the cost of selling things will increase in the future, which would go against everyone's original intention."

Yuanxi County Government.

Hearing that the people of Anling County, after occupying Sifang County, were still not satisfied and had now extended their reach to Yuanxi County, even capturing the border town, the prefect was both anxious and angry: He shouldn't have listened to Hu Lin in the first place and joined forces with Sifang County to attack Anling County!

Look at Hu Lin now, he's sleeping soundly in Jinzhou!

And what about them? The fools in the neighboring Sifang County have already been beheaded, and Yuanxi County has become their new target!

The prefect hurriedly summoned civil and military officials to a meeting to rebuild the army and meet the large army from all directions.

The prefect's face was extremely grim. "You know the situation in Anling and Sifang prefectures. They actually appointed commoners and women as officials! If we lose, we will definitely be killed! You don't want to die, do you?"

"Of course," the civil and military officials replied with unwavering gazes.

The prefect said, "Then we must drive those bandits out of Yuanxi County!"

Someone suggested, "Why don't we ask the governor for help?"

The prefect snorted, "Why wouldn't I ask? Of course I will! I'll write to Hu Lin right away! I'm sure he can't tolerate Anling Prefecture's growing power either!"

Now that Anling County has seized Sifang County, it is now setting its sights on Yuanxi County.

Their goal is clear: to take Jinzhou!

How could Hu Lin possibly sit still!

But then again...

The prefect thought of He Qinglan, the legendary "goddess" of Anling Prefecture, and thought to himself, "It's really strange that a woman could obtain two prefectures by relying on commoners and women."

If she truly gained control of the entire Jinzhou, would the imperial court appoint her as the new governor?

While Yuanxi County was assembling its army, Ning Huai'an had already captured half of the county by the time the main force set off, and was leading the army to besiege the county seat.

Influenced by the people of neighboring counties and Sifang County, and having received bribes of noodles from the soldiers of Sifang County, the people of the county had no psychological burden about surrendering to Sifang County; on the contrary, they were filled with longing.

They took the initiative to guide Ning Huai'an, helped dig a mountain road, and acted as intermediaries connecting the people in the county town with the garrison troops.

The magistrate, still unwilling to give up, shouted that he would fight to the death and hold out until the prefect sent troops to suppress the bandits. By then, Ning Huai'an's army, with the help of the people, had already won a quick victory and captured the county town.

The county magistrate and his officials were all imprisoned, awaiting the arrival of the new magistrate to deal with them.

People are already enjoying hamburgers and fried chicken, and drinking cola!

It turns out that believing in the goddess really does guarantee you food and meat!

The local people felt incredibly happy, and their resolve to follow the goddess forever was strengthened.

All the men who met the military recruitment requirements joined the army, while those who could not join were ordered to dig roads, dig canals, and build bridges.

Women volunteered to join the medical and laundry teams to help care for wounded soldiers and wash their clothes and blankets.

Fang Qin was deeply moved and said to Ning Huai'an, "Is this what the goddess meant by 'the vast ocean of the people' in the history book she gave Zhu Jizhou?"

The people are the best intelligence organization and the strongest logistical force!

It's just that no one was able to fully mobilize and utilize it before.

It's no wonder that our history books praise the victory in the war as being due to the general's wisdom and bravery.

However, later historical records attributed the victory of a great war to the people!

Ning Huai'an looked up at the soldiers and civilians who were celebrating around the bonfire.

They chatted, demonstrated a set of punches in front of others, or sang a folk song at the top of their lungs...

It was very lively.

The laughter carried far and wide through the darkness.

really.

The power of the people is boundless.

However, only someone like a goddess who can provide an endless supply of food can gain the greatest support from the people.

after all……

Ning Huai'an said, "After all, we are still separated from future generations by thousands of years. It is impossible for the people of our time to live the good life described in the books in just a few years, a dozen years, or a few decades."

Fang Qin laughed, "Of course, even with the goddess's blessing, we still need the efforts of generation after generation to have tanks and warships!"

At present, being able to produce safe cannons and fire-breathing mortars is enough for them to win with fewer troops and oppose the imperial court and various states!

Fang Qin suddenly thought of something and said, "Your coming-of-age ceremony is on the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month. Let's work hard to conquer Yuanxi County and celebrate for you in the county seat."

Upon hearing this, Ning Huai'an couldn't help but smile. "That's a great idea! It would be wonderful to celebrate in Yuanxi County!"

"But will our colleagues from Anling and the surrounding areas be able to attend?" Ning Huai'an frowned.

He asked everyone to put aside their work and delay their schedules for a month or two, traveling across the entire Sifang County to attend his coming-of-age ceremony...

He felt he didn't have that much face.

Fang Qin smiled gently upon hearing this, "The goddess said to consider it a special gift for you. She will use her divine power to send all the people you wish to invite over. After the coming-of-age ceremony, she will send them all back."

Ning Huai'an's eyes widened, "The goddess actually..."

The young general was encouraged.

His eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he suddenly raised his voice: "Very well, I will certainly not let the goddess down! I will definitely conquer Yuanxi County before the Laba Festival!"

Fang Qin was startled by him.

After a moment, he nodded calmly, "Yes, keep it up."

He added, "After the coming-of-age ceremony, we'll go back to the mountain to pay respects to your parents, so they can see you as you are now."

Meanwhile, in Maozhou, Sun Yannan had already learned that He Qinglan had taken over Sifang County and was about to obtain Yuanxi County. He hurriedly called Zhu Yunze and Xiao Yong to a meeting.

Sun Yannan: "I never expected He Qinglan to be so ambitious. She's a woman, yet she's even more..."

But she had enough power and an unlimited supply of provisions.

If they cannot be used by me, they will become formidable enemies in the future.

Zhu Yunze understood his lord's meaning. He frowned slightly and said, "It seems that Hu Lin is no match for her."

Anling County is developing very well, and Sifang County is also under construction.

Her strength will only grow stronger.

Hu Lin couldn't take Anling at first, and he couldn't take it anymore later.

“We can’t count on Hu Lin. Does our lord intend to send troops?” Xiao Yong said thoughtfully. “We can also join forces with Lu Hong. We can say that we will take Jinzhou together and send a large force to Anling.”

Sun Yannan shook his head. "Lu Hong isn't stupid. If we intend to attack Jinzhou, he will definitely send people to investigate and discover He Qinglan's existence."

Lu Hong would definitely want He Qinglan.

Zhu Yunze said, "But we can't let He Qinglan's strength continue to grow. If she takes Jinzhou, we'll have to pay a much higher price to attack her Jinzhou than we are now."

If we don't take advantage of our current weakness and seize the opportunity to conquer, it will be much harder to conquer in the future.

Sun Yannan, with his hands behind his back, said, "I'm worried about that too."

He pondered for a moment and said, "Let's put this matter on the agenda. We'll talk to Hu Lin, give him Chaozhou in exchange for him not raising troops, and we'll attack Jinzhou ourselves."

Xiao Yong and Zhu Yunze exchanged a glance, and Xiao Yong said, "We can give it a try."

Unfortunately, He Qinglan wasn't stupid.

Upon learning that Sun Yannan was about to launch a military campaign against Anling, she immediately attended the morning meeting of the Anling County government and informed everyone of the news.

The people in the administration office were initially startled, but quickly calmed down and looked at He Qinglan, waiting for her instructions.

He Qinglan was also straightforward: "Tell Lu Wei the news that Sun Yannan was going to send troops to attack Jinzhou, find a way to encourage the court to send troops, and then inform Sun Yannan and Lu Hong that the court was planning to take advantage of the situation."

Gu Lanying immediately replied, "Okay."

Zhao Yong (Minister Song Li had not yet returned) also spoke with a serious expression, "We will cooperate with the Publicity Department."

Many of their businesses from Anling have expanded to Xingzhou.

“There is one more thing,” He Qinglan said, her gaze sweeping over everyone present. “An epidemic is about to break out in Qingzhou. The Medical Department, the Finance Department, and the Publicity Department will select a group of people to go to Qingzhou to help in ten days.”

Everyone was shocked and their faces changed drastically: The epidemic? ???