Yun Wanwan consulted with the rice merchants in Lanzhou, primarily to determine whether their large-scale grain purchases would affect the food needs of the people of the Southern Territory. Their conclusion was: absolutely not. Because the Southern Territory's climate is warm, crops can grow twice a year, with two harvests in spring and autumn. The grain Yun Wanwan was currently harvesting wasn't stored grain, but rather the new rice harvested this spring.

Only then did she understand why rice was so cheap and plentiful in the southern region. This must be the reason. Yun Wanwan finally remembered the geography she'd learned in school, but it was a different world. After Yun Wanwan started studying science, she handed the liberal arts subjects back to her teacher.

In addition to the estimated food and fodder, she also hired many farmers to help raise chickens, ducks, fish and pigs, and ordered the supply of vegetables. She selected some farmers and asked them to deliver them to the border camp regularly, and then the border camp would send them to Shaping City and Daxing City.

After all, the desert is rich in tropical fruits, while vegetables, chickens, ducks, fish, pork and the like are very expensive. Only rich families can afford them. The only time a year is during the Chinese New Year when everyone has the chance to get a piece of meat.

Yun Wanwan thought that if this place could be self-sufficient, there would be no need to transport food and fodder all the way from the capital. It would be more practical to convert it into silver notes directly. She would just have to order the food and have the farmers deliver it.

As a result of all this trouble, and the fact that Yun Wanwan deliberately postponed the food delivery for a few days, the granary at the border camp was empty after ten days, and the subsequent food and grass were not supplied for a long time.

The next morning, the frontier army's logistics commander, in charge of rice and grain, opened several granaries, only to find them empty. He threw his hands up at the soldiers who came to fill their rice and flour pantries and said, "There's nothing we can do. The new general won't bring us food, and the granaries are empty anyway. We can either go out and beg or stay in the camp and starve to death!"

The soldiers who were in charge of the drinking service felt that what he said was too harsh. These days they had been listening to various stories about Prince An and Princess An. With Xiao Song's deliberate indoctrination and establishment, the images of Rong Chengxuan and Yun Wanwan had gradually become taller in the minds of the frontier soldiers.

In addition, after taking Shaping City, they captured Daxing City in one fell swoop, and it was done so quickly and efficiently overnight, which made these people admire them very much. They could not tolerate anyone saying bad things about Rong Chengxuan and Yun Wanwan in front of them, especially saying bad things about Rong Chengxuan.

A soldier in charge of the drinking service countered, "It's not the general's fault. Even if food and fodder were to be transported, they would have to pass through the border first. These days, there's been no food coming in. If we don't have food, then neither do the troops you brought with you in the desert! So not only are we starving, but even the princes fighting in the desert are starving."

The logistics commander reminded them, "Have you forgotten that when Princess An went from the border to the desert, she brought ten carts of food and fodder with her? No matter what, they won't starve."

The soldiers in charge of food waved their hands and said, "Ten carts, that sounds like a lot, and it looks like a lot. Although the number of people over there isn't as many as ours, there are still over a hundred thousand people who need to be fed. Plus, there are the troops in the desert who also need to eat. Ten carts of food probably won't be enough."

"Ten carts? Those are just the ten carts Princess An brought!" The logistics officer added, "They've captured Shaping City and Daxing City. Do you know how much food and fodder is in those two cities? How much food and fodder did the Western Zhou army leave behind after its defeat?"

"The Western Zhou army alone, combined with the allied forces, has a force of 500,000 men. Adding the allied forces, there must be 700,000 to 800,000 men. Enough food for 700,000 to 800,000 men is in the hands of a hundred thousand men. Think about it, would they starve? With all that food, they could stay in the desert for a year and still not starve to death."

"They won't starve to death, so they wouldn't care about food. We've already told the Left Guard, and he went to Daxing City to report this to the prince. We haven't heard from him since he entered the desert. Maybe he's been detained. After all, Prince An has never considered us his soldiers. Even if we starve to death, he won't care."

If this account is calculated in this way, the soldiers also feel that something is wrong! Yes! There is grain stored in the two cities of Shaping and Daxing. The army is victorious, and there is no news that the granaries on the Western Zhou side were burned. Then the remaining grain must have been taken by Prince An’s army!

Enough food and fodder for an army of 700,000 or 800,000! With all this, there's no need for them to bring in food from outside! So in the end, they're the ones who will be left hungry.

Seeing that the soldiers were no longer speaking up for Prince An, the deputy general of logistics raised his lip and continued to stir up trouble, "What do we fight for in the military? It's nothing more than earning a little salary so that our families can have enough to eat. But now, not only our families, but even we ourselves have no food to eat."

"Everyone knows that we soldiers may look impressive, but after a battle, countless of us lose our lives on the battlefield. We work from day one until tomorrow, while prisoners on the guillotine are given a full meal before they die."

"How could we, the soldiers who defended our country, be starved to death? Don't you think about why we are treated so harshly? To put it bluntly, Prince An is a brave man, but when General Yun was here, we never ran out of food. Although he didn't win many battles when he led us, he never let us go hungry once!"

He spoke with righteous indignation, and even at the end there was a hint of sadness, which made people think of the past when they followed General Yun. When they were not fighting, they were stationed at the border. They ate delicious food and drank spicy drinks every day. The food was always the best, and even the clothes they wore were custom-made with deer hair.

This person is like this. He is afraid of comparison and agitation. When comparison and agitation come together, he can't resist it.

What's more, they have only accepted Rong Chengxuan for a short time. Rong Chengxuan has established a firm foothold in their hearts based on legends and military exploits.

But in fact, there were not many actual contacts. The only time Rong Chengxuan came to the border camp, he brought shock to these people. That time, he directly replaced the original deputy general of the border army.

In this comparison, they prefer Yunjinjiang, which keeps them from going hungry, to Rong Chengxuan.