Before Liu Tan sent his bride to the Western Regions, he had thought about making compressed biscuits. However, time was tight at that time and many technical problems could not be solved because there was no time to experiment.

After he came back, he had time, but he immediately went to the Northern Border.

In the current situation in the Northern Territory, researching anything would be more useful than studying compressed biscuits. As a result, this matter was left alone. If Lu Xuan had not decided to go on the expedition in winter, Liu Tan would not have put his mind on it.

The so-called experience from before is basically no longer applicable, and the compressed biscuits made at that time were not very suitable. They were too simple and their only function was to fill the stomach.

Now that Liu Tan has soybean oil and other soy products, he can actually find a way to add some ingredients to the compressed biscuits to balance the nutrition.

The first thing is the staple food. He decided to mix soybean flour, yellow rice flour and a small amount of glutinous rice flour. The glutinous rice flour is used to make the food more clumping.

Because the current compression can only use manpower or stones to press the grain firmly, it is impossible to achieve the same compression as in later generations.

So Liu Tan simply gave up the idea of ​​compression. After all, compression is only for easy transportation and convenience for individual soldiers to carry.

As for Lu Xuan's side, they are basically all cavalry, and their load-bearing capacity is much stronger than that of infantry, so Liu Tan does not have to worry about so many things for the time being. What he needs to do now is to balance the nutrition in the individual rations.

These days, most people lack sugar, but even Liu Tan cannot put sugar in the rations of individual soldiers, or even prepare extra sugar cubes, because that is really a huge amount of money. Not to mention the treasury of the Northern Border Country, even if Liu Tan's private treasury is added, it will not last long.

Although Lu Xuan is rich, considering the frequency of wars in the Wusun Kingdom recently, he probably won't be able to hold on for long.

Liu Tan held his chin and thought for a long time, and suddenly thought of the best substitute - raisins.

Even Lu Xuan and his team can make this stuff themselves. It can be stored for a long time and can also replenish a lot of sugar. This is the only way in this era.

Liu Tan tried to have people mix raisins into dry food. After compression and baking, the taste was surprisingly good. In fact, with oil, salt and raisins to enhance the flavor, as long as the proportions are not too weird, it can't be too unpalatable.

In addition to those with raisins, he also made some with meat products, most of which were chicken and duck meat. However, even if poultry meat was used, the final cost was still very high, and it was impossible to promote it to the entire army.

Liu Tan had no choice but to choose soy products and the method of making vegetarian meat. However, it would definitely not be as carefully prepared as the one he made for Liu Che. He just marinated it with salt and then added it to the dry food. The taste... was not very good, but it should be enough to supplement protein.

As for vegetables, the best way is to dehydrate them.

But let’s be honest, dehydrating vegetables is so hard.

It needs to be dehydrated at low temperature. Otherwise, even if the vegetables are dehydrated, they will not have any nutritional value when eaten, and it will only be a waste of energy.

He tried many ways to do this, but none of them worked, mainly because he couldn't lower the cost. A batch of dehydrated vegetables needed to be baked at low temperature for one or two days, and controlling the fire was the most important thing. It was okay to make a little, but how long would it take to feed the soldiers?

In the end, Liu Tan had no choice but to give up on this aspect, and then wrote a letter to Lu Xuan complaining that it was too difficult to strike a balance.

When Lu Xuan received the letter and samples from Liu Tan, he could hardly believe what he saw.

Those individual soldier rations were made into small pieces, each baked to a brown color, and you could faintly see that one part was dark purple and the other part was dark red.

The dark purple one should be the raisin that Tan mentioned, right?

Lu Xuan picked it up and took a bite while thinking about it. The sweetness and saltiness were balanced just right. Even for Lu Xuan, who was very picky, he couldn't say it was not delicious. The other one was even simpler. It was salty and fragrant with the aroma of meat. Let alone marching, it would be good if the Wusun soldiers could eat such rations on a daily basis!

He wrote a letter to Liu Tan with a wry smile. After receiving it, Liu Tan was surprised to find that Lu Xuan actually said that even he could not guarantee that there would be meat for every meal during the expedition. As for other nutritional components, not to mention, everyone would be satisfied as long as they could fill their stomachs. It can be said that no one had ever thought of such marching rations before.

He even carefully inquired about the value of these dry foods.

After all, in his opinion, the dry food contained oil, raisins, and meat, so it must have cost a lot. Even if Lu Xuan could afford it, he would subconsciously want to save more.

He had different ideas from Liu Tan. At first, he didn't care about the soldiers' nutrition at all, but after spending more time with Liu Tan, he felt that the theory seemed to make sense. After all, the population of Wusun was smaller than that of the Northern Border Country. If he didn't pay attention, how could he fight against the Huns in the future?

Even so, Lu Xuan still felt sorry for the money. That was why he looked particularly wasteful when spending money on Liu Tan.

After reading the letter, Liu Tan didn't know what to feel for a moment. During the war, even nutrition could not be guaranteed. No wonder he always felt that although Lu Xuan had muscles, he was still too thin. Logically, this shouldn't be the case.

Is this the reason?

He told Lu Xuan with a bit of a smile that it didn't cost much. He really wasn't lying to him. He just wanted to lower the price. Otherwise, he could have added a lot more things.

After agreeing on the price with Lu Xuan, Liu Tan found Huo Guang.

When Huo Guang saw Liu Tan, he smiled and said, "Your Highness is indeed wise."

Liu Tan asked in surprise, "Why?"

Huo Guang said, "Those who opened oil mills are already panicking because they can't sell their oil. They have come to my house for help."

Liu Tan was shocked: "They actually dared to ask you for help? They are quite courageous."

Huo Guang sneered, "If they don't come to me for help, my whole family will be left with nothing. How can I sit still?"

Liu Tan frowned. "Is there anyone who would spend all his fortune to open an oil mill?"

Huo Guang took a sip of water and said, "These people thought they had found a way to make money. They were afraid that if they did less, they would earn less. In addition, the soybean oil produced by Your Highness's oil mill was very popular before. They saw the prospects and naturally dared to do it."

Liu Tan leaned over the table and asked, "So what did they tell you?"

Huo Guang said, "Nothing much. He just asked me why the price was so low and how I could make money at that price."

Liu Tan slammed the table and said, "Since they ask this, they are a bunch of idiots. There is no need to be polite with them. Just tell them to follow my pricing. Whether it is a loss or a profit is none of their business."

Huo Guang said seriously, "Yes, that's what I said."

Liu Tan laughed and said, "You've also become a bad person."

Huo Guang suppressed the smile on his face and said, "Your Highness, they should have suffered enough this time. Isn't that enough?"

Liu Tan was a little surprised: "Huh? I didn't expect that there would be a day when you would beg for mercy for others?"

Huo Guang said helplessly, "I don't want to plead for them, they are too stupid, but there is nothing I can do. The Northern Territory is short of people now. Although these people are a bit stupid, they are still loyal and can do the job well. So I can only ask Your Highness to show some leniency."

Liu Tan thought for a moment and typed, "Since you've already pleaded for them, then forget it. Just go and tell them that I'll ask the court to buy their soybean oil at a price one five-zhu coin higher than the current market price."

Huo Guang was a little surprised after hearing this: "One five-zhu coin more?"

Liu Tan nodded. "Yes, one coin higher. At this price, they should be able to make some profit. Not much, maybe a few coins, but at least they didn't lose money, right?"

Huo Guang asked, "Then why did Your Highness buy their soybean oil? Their soybean oil is not as good as the one produced by Your Highness's oil mill."

Liu Tan turned to Miao Rui and said, "Go and bring a plate of what I prepared to the Prime Minister."

Huo Guang couldn't help but feel curious. Was he preparing food again? But the emperor had already left. Was he preparing for another visit? But the emperor hadn't said he would come next year.

While he was thinking about this, he saw Miao Rui bringing over a plate of pastries.

He took a look and found that the pastries came in two flavors. He picked up one and tasted it. It had a slightly sweet taste and tasted pretty good, while the other was completely salty.

Liu Tan saw him try both and asked, "How do you feel?"

Huo Guang laughed and said, "Your Highness, are you buying soybean oil just to make this kind of cake? What if you can't sell it?"

"It's already sold." Liu Tan said with a smile, "This stuff will be the combat rations for the future soldiers of the Northern Border Kingdom. What do you think?"

"Ah?" Huo Guang rarely showed a slightly dazed expression. He obviously didn't expect that such pastries would be used as military rations by Liu Tan.

Liu Tan said, "Don't be fooled by the fact that it uses oil, meat, and raisins. It's actually not that expensive. It's very filling and nutritious, so one piece is enough for a whole meal. If you really calculate it, the cost should be about the same as before. The most important thing is that it needs to be transported, so it can save on horses and manpower, which is also a way to save money."

Huo Guang was stunned when he heard this, but he had to admit that he also felt the fullness that Liu Tan said. He was not very hungry in the first place, but he just ate two pieces of snacks and felt a little full. You know, these two pieces of snacks together were the size of a palm.

He gathered his thoughts and asked, "Your Highness just said it was sold." What did you mean?

Liu Tan said, "Oh, I gave Lu Xuan a taste a while ago, and he thought it was really good too. He even planned to replace the food supplies for this expedition with this kind."

Huo Guang: ...

Lu Xuan was a hundred miles away, but he tasted the military rations before him. For a moment, Huo Guang didn't know what expression to make.

Finally, he could only say expressionlessly: "Okay, I will send someone to communicate with His Royal Highness the King of Wusun."

Liu Tan responded, "You can also send people to build a workshop to make military rations. We will need them sooner or later."

Huo Guang suddenly said, "I heard that many people built oil mills after returning home. So, is it true that..."

Liu Tan laughed. "Prime Minister Huo's ability to draw inferences from one instance truly puts me to shame. However, we should first investigate where the oil mills are located and start with the nearest ones. We can't just buy at the same price as our own people; we need to lower it a bit."

Huo Guang raised the corner of his lips slightly: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I understand."

Liu Tan said, "Okay, this isn't the most important thing. Yan Xingsheng, go to the Supreme Court and summon Supreme Court Justice Jiang."

Huo Guang's forehead jumped. "Your Highness, all those involved in the witchcraft case have been arrested. No one has escaped."

Liu Tan waved his hand and said, "It's not about that. I asked Jiang Chong to come here because I wanted to add a new rule."

However, Huo Guang became even more nervous after hearing this: "What does Your Highness want to add?"