Cao Changgeng continued to comfort Cao Qiang: "Don't worry, while Tao Feng is busy gathering supplies, we will eventually defeat Cao He."

"Really?" Cao Qiang was naturally happy to hear confirmation.

Cao Changgeng nodded.

He had just contacted Zhao Peng's people and needed to coordinate things. Only if Zhao Peng was willing would he truly defeat Cao He.

If Zhao Peng was unwilling, he would rather keep Cao He around to deal with Zhao Peng outside the city.

Tao Feng estimated that it would take two or three weeks to raise the necessary supplies, which gave Cao Changgeng time to waste.

Meanwhile, things were also bustling with activity in Chenxi.

If Chenxi needs to develop Bian'ai County into a rear base, then the base needs to be stable and well-developed.

Otherwise, if the front lines are busy fighting and the situation turns around in the rear, we will be in a very passive position.

While Zhao Peng was besieging Jianming Prefecture, Lin Yanjun, along with Yunnan Ze, ambushed the troops coming from Juxian County on their only route.

After capturing Lin Tai, Shen Xi forced Lin Tai to send a message to Li Cunzhi, instructing him to send troops on time for a coordinated attack from within and without.

Although Li Cunzhi also had people gathering information in Bian'ai County, all of them were arrested during the search in Bian'ai County, which forced Shen Xi to send back a message.

Although Li Cunzhi did not see the scouts return, he believed the pigeons had returned, so he directly sent troops to attack Bian'ai County.

This allowed Lin Yanjun and Yunnan Ze's troops to ambush them.

The result was predictable.

Li Cunzhi deliberately let half of his 10,000 troops escape, while some of the remaining half died and the rest were captured.

More than three thousand people were captured in total.

With a single command, Chen Xi dispersed the more than three thousand people and organized them into different ranks, so that Lin Yanjun could properly reorganize them.

Led by Lin Yanjun, they pressed on with their momentum and chased after the remaining forces of Li Cunzhi.

Li Cunzhi had lost all will to fight and fled all the way to Juxian County. He closed the city gates and refused to come out. Of the remaining 5,000 soldiers, more than 1,000 had fled along the way.

Lin Yanjun captured two townships along the way, then stopped and ceased his attack on Li Cunzhi.

This was in accordance with the original plan, allowing Li Cunzhi to survive and deal with Xie Ning of Nanning Prefecture.

At this time, Xie Ning's troops stationed near Ju County received news that Li Cunzhi had suffered a defeat and launched a direct attack on Ju County.

Li Cunzhi had no choice but to brace himself and fight Xie Ning's army, resulting in a stalemate.

Meanwhile, Xie Ning's main force was attacking Kangjian Prefecture. Li Hui of Kangjian Prefecture sent an urgent report to the Crown Prince, requesting help.

Crown Prince Ye Lucai is currently locked in a fierce battle with the Eighth Prince in the capital and has no troops to spare to aid Kangjian Prefecture.

The Li family in Kangjianfu was facing a tense situation, having to contend with an attack from three families.

Haozhou Prefecture and Miaojiang Road had long coveted the wealthy Kangjian Prefecture. With the Crown Prince unable to provide reinforcements, it was the perfect opportunity to devour this prize.

While the other parties were locked in a chaotic struggle, Chenxi began to reap the rewards.

It wasn't just the harvest from the two townships that Lin Yanjun had brought down, but also the actual crop—potatoes.

The potatoes have matured completely after several months of growth.

Potatoes are undoubtedly a magic weapon for solving famine, and if sweet potatoes are available, they are even more of a magic weapon.

It has a high yield and is drought-resistant; it can be eaten after only three or four months of planting.

In such famine-stricken times, it could undoubtedly serve as a staple food. In daily life, it could be used to make dishes, or made into potato starch, and then into vermicelli.

The leftover scraps can be used to feed pigs and chickens; it's a treasure trove from head to toe.

Shenxi led everyone to dig potatoes.

When the handsome and refined Qi Xiuwen, dressed in simple clothes and holding a hoe, began to dig potatoes, Chenxi couldn't help but smile knowingly.

Qi Xiuwen spent over a month digging wells and traveling among the people, which made him proficient in using farm tools.

Qi Xiuwen handed the hoe to Chen Xi: "Commander, you can dig out the first one."

Having already learned that potatoes grow underground, everyone grabbed hoes and shovels, looked at Chenxi, and prepared to get to work.

They were very curious whether the thing the leader called a potato could really yield more than a thousand catties per mu.

Shenxi rubbed her hands together. She knew perfectly well that, let alone a thousand catties, she had already secretly picked a few. With such land, if carefully cultivated and with sufficient water and fertilizer, this land could yield not only a thousand catties, but even three thousand catties per mu.

Chenxi dug straight down with a hoe and unearthed a potato vine.

Wow!

People around gasped in surprise.

This single potato vine had about seven or eight potatoes hanging from it, all round and plump, each one bigger than an adult man's fist.

The seedlings sank to the bottom.

Just looking at them, the smaller potatoes weighed two or three ounces, and the larger ones probably weighed five or six ounces. How could one not be surprised?

One such seedling can yield about three jin (1.5 kg).

The leader planted more than a hundred seedlings, which would yield a full three hundred catties. However, the leader said that if it were an acre of land, three to four thousand seedlings could be planted.

At this rate, the yield per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.067 hectares) wouldn't even be enough to cover it.

They were all somewhat educated, so arithmetic was naturally no problem for them.

Shenxi immediately ordered someone to weigh the potatoes.

Everyone stared intently at the scale, and when the actual data was released, the crowd erupted in even greater excitement.

Three jin? Or did I misjudge? It's a full four jin and two liang.

Chenxi clapped her hands. The potatoes she dug up were high-yield potatoes. The one she dug up a few days ago weighed a full seven or eight pounds, which was top-tier.

If we continue cultivating them and develop good potato seeds, the yield will be even higher.

At that time, with good land and intensive cultivation, yields of five to six thousand catties per mu will be no problem, and there are even records of yields of ten thousand catties per mu in the new century.

Having witnessed the high yield of potatoes, everyone worked extremely hard.

In no time, all the potato vines were removed and the potatoes were packed and weighed.

As expected, just over a hundred seedlings produced more than two hundred kilograms of potatoes.

Even Bai Qiao was surprised.

She thought the yields of wheat and rice she studied were high enough, but she never expected that the yield of potatoes would be so astonishing.

With such fertile land, the yield per acre could reach several thousand kilograms, based on the leader's potato production.

Several thousand kilograms?

To put that into perspective, the potatoes produced from one acre of land like this are equivalent to the yield from many acres of wheat.

How many kilograms of wheat can be produced per acre?

It's already incredibly difficult; even with good water, fertilizer, and soil, it only weighs a little over 400 jin (200 kg), not exceeding 500 jin (250 kg).

"Commander," even the usually composed Qi Xiuwen exclaimed excitedly, "Potatoes are so productive, could they be used as a staple food?"