Chapter 47: Capturing Cows and Swallows
As Qiao Yan stretched out his hand as if to draw in a net, he was also catching the signal of a flash of sparks in the night.
The sentry post on the high mountain sent out a flash of fire signal after the black mountain bandits' group passed by.
At that time, the Black Mountain bandits were already heading down the mountain and did not notice the flash of news coming from higher up towards the county town.
But this signal reached Qiao Yan's eyes. When she raised her hand, the county official who had been waiting for her signal outside the county government office immediately ran out and quickly conveyed the order issued by the county magistrate.
The disasters that had occurred before made the people in Leping County attach great importance to this grain, which could very well be used to save lives.
Therefore, not only did they express their indignation and express their intention to fight on the mountain after Qiao Yan mentioned the Black Mountain bandits' attack, but they also took the initiative to form a night-time delivery team after Qiao Yan informed them of the Black Mountain bandits' scouting operations.
Once they learn from Qiao Yan that the Black Mountain bandits are attacking, they will quickly wake up their companions and form a young and strong force of thousands of people.
When these black mountain bandits came down from the Bailong Road and arrived at the southernmost tip of Leping County, although Leping County seemed silent and defenseless in the night, in fact, these messengers wearing soft-soled shoes had made the streets of the county appear to be full of undercurrents.
It just so happened that the granary was located at the southernmost end of the county, which effectively prevented the sounds from reaching the ears of the Black Mountain bandits who climbed over the county wall.
Zhang Niujiao, who came first, looked towards the north, and thought of Chu Yan's instructions to him before leaving. He put away his covetous heart towards the county government office and Qiao Yan's mansion, which might still have a lot of wealth, and went straight to the most conspicuous granary.
This granary was not built temporarily. Instead, there was originally a warehouse here that was about 20 to 30 meters long and wide. After sorting out the discarded items and making all preparations to prevent moisture, it became the perfect place to store corn.
As soon as Zhang Niujiao approached the place, he smelled alcohol.
There happened to be two lanterns hanging in front of the warehouse, illuminating the entrance clearly.
There were originally two gatekeepers here, but now both of them are obviously drunk.
In addition to two half-drunk wine jars that were overturned at the door, letting the smell of alcohol spread out, one of the people seemed to be very drunk. Due to the summer heat and the influence of alcohol, he took off his shirt and was now lying on his back in the grass in the distance. The other person was holding an empty wine bowl and fell drunk at the bottom of the steps.
Zhang Niujiao picked up the broken pieces of the wine jar on the ground, poured the remaining wine illuminated by the moonlight into his mouth, and took a sip of it.
"Damn it, we're eating grass in the mountains, and these people are even drinking wine." He muttered indignantly, not feeling sorry that there was too little wine left. Just when he could taste a little bit of the mellow wine, the wine on the fragments had disappeared.
But although the amount was small, it was enough for him to confirm that this was indeed a much better wine than any he had tasted before.
He couldn't help but complain in his heart. Not only did these people have plenty of food stores, but even the person guarding the granary was so lax that he was busy drinking and no one noticed when he got drunk.
But this is undoubtedly a good deal for him!
That kid Chu Yan was really too wary of the Marquis of Leping County.
No matter how he gained the upper hand in the debate with the Great Sage, he could not correct the shortcomings of those children from wealthy families. He was indeed too young and was not serious about the defense of the county.
He snatched the key from the waist of the fallen guard and kicked him in the head. After making sure that the guy would not wake up in the short term, he immediately opened the door of the warehouse.
In this grain storage warehouse, after leaving a passage for walking through, sacks of grain were piled up densely there, and now appeared in front of him.
Zhang Niujiao even felt that he could smell the fragrance of rice coming out from inside the warehouse the moment the door opened.
The fragrance also dispelled the smell of alcohol in front of the door.
He quickly waved his hand, and the young and strong man who followed him came forward and carried the grain bags.
One stone in the Han Dynasty weighed about 27 kilograms. In order to carry the heavy objects, Zhang Niujiao naturally brought mostly strong laborers. But no matter how strong the laborers were, since these people were not strong enough to lift a tripod, all they could carry was stones.
Of the more than one thousand people who came with him this time, only one-fifth of the granary could be transported away in one round.
Fortunately, they had troops supporting them from behind, and in order to take away all the food, they also brought the carts they had looted from other places.
It just requires two more trips!
But having said that, Zhang Niujiao couldn't help but feel resentful in his heart. If Qiao Yan hadn't accompanied Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi and others in clearing out the Yellow Turbans in Jizhou to this extent, and hadn't destroyed the image of the Great Sage and Good Master as a miracle doctor, he shouldn't have had so few people when he gathered people to rise up.
Among the 5,000 people he persuaded, some stayed behind, some who could not walk at night were excluded, some who were women, children and the elderly were excluded, and some who were there to provide support were excluded. In the end, only these few people were left.
The lack of manpower has added so much workload to him, which is really abominable!
But when he saw that the southern gate of the county town had been opened by their people entering the city, revealing a passage for them to transport food, Zhang Niujiao felt a little relieved.
No matter how smart the child is, he will still face the situation of his granary being stolen and 30,000 shi of grain disappearing tomorrow.
If it was during the day, due to the special terrain of Leping, they would inevitably be discovered while still on the hillside, and they might be intercepted outside by the guards spontaneously formed by the county citizens on the county wall. But at night -
As the enemy's defense was lax, he accepted the food without hesitation!
When they had made two consecutive trips and loaded nearly half of the grain carts they had brought, Zhang Niu Jiao saw more and more that victory was in sight.
Although the two trips up the mountain and into the city made him and the young men who followed him feel a little tired, they would be able to completely empty the granary with two or three more trips. This astonishing harvest undoubtedly put him in a good mood.
He even considered pushing the car directly out of Leping County to make loading easier, but after listening to the sound of the wheels, he gave up the idea.
To be on the safe side, I'd better make two more trips.
He ate a pancake to regain some strength and went down the mountain again, but he did not notice that when he turned from the North-South Mountain Road under Hengling to the Bailong Road and went down the mountain, there were several pairs of eyes on the Yama Wall watching their actions clearly with the bright moonlight tonight.
Cheng Li made a silent gesture to Bao Hong, which was the signal to take action when they came over.
Bao Hong's heart was beating fast.
When Qiao Yan mentioned the hero wine earlier, he thought Qiao Yan wanted him to go and suppress the bandits, and he even acted very reluctant. No matter how he thought about it, he felt that the number of people available on his side was far less than that of the Black Mountain bandits, and he had no advantage anyway. However, now he felt that -
It doesn’t seem like we can’t fight!
Because of the 30,000 dan of grain, the combat power that could be mobilized in Leping County increased significantly. And it was also because of this grain that the Black Mountain bandits, whose number did not exceed Qiao Yan's estimate, had to serve as porters twice, which had already consumed some of their physical strength.
Not to mention, these ambushers are in an advantageous position to strike first!
At this time, Bao Hong had already forgotten his resistance and was thinking about whether he could gain some military merit and fame by suppressing the bandits while completing this difficult escort mission.
This can be considered as a response to the psychological pressure he has been under along the way!
Thinking of this, Bao Hong held down the sword at hand, and under the command of Cheng Li, he slowly withdrew from the high ground, lying in wait in a position where he could charge into the White Dragon Road at any time.
When he heard the sound of footsteps coming down the mountain path, his mood calmed down.
This is a sneak attack that cannot afford to fail.
Fortunately——
The third attempt to transport grain not only exhausted Zhang Niujiao's energy, but also made him somewhat neglect to observe both sides of the mountain road because of the joy of having made half the progress and the contempt of seeing the people being robbed were completely defenseless.
However, just as they were carrying bags of rice and walking up the mountain path, suddenly there was a loud shouting and killing sound coming from the middle of the team.
The gongs and drums are loud!
In order to make the 200 men led by Bao Hong have the effect of 2,000 men, Qiao Yan directly asked them to bring all the tools in the county that could make sounds of metal and stone to the mountain.
But perhaps there was no need for such a grand show of support. After all, the previous success not only made Zhang Niujiao look down on Le Ping, but also made those who came with him regard Le Ping as a soft persimmon for temporary food storage.
However, the truth is always more cruel than they imagine.
Now in the darkness it was impossible to tell how many people were in the team charging out. Zhang Niu Jiao turned around suddenly, and in just a moment their team had already fallen into chaos.
You have to know that the state of the team carrying food bags is completely different from that of a normal march. The formation has been lengthened a lot during the cargo transportation, not to mention that these people were shocked by the sudden attack of the enemy and for a moment they forgot whether they should run forward with the food or drop the things in their hands and draw their weapons.
Any hesitation you have incurred means you have already lost the opportunity.
No matter how few people there are in Bao Hong's team, they are still part of the Northern Army of the Han Dynasty. Their combat effectiveness is not on the same level as these bandits.
If Bao Hong was trying to survive when the other party was extremely hungry, he might have to worry about the fighting power that people could burst out in extreme situations. But the situation now is different. Although it is still about survival, when the team of these Black Mountain bandits was dispersed first, their first choice should be to escape instead of gathering together to fight back.
The darkness of night also interfered with the black mountain bandits' judgment of the enemy.
The sound of gongs and drums on all sides and the sharpness of the standard weapons of the Northern Army soldiers made them form a vague and wrong understanding of the number and strength of the enemy. Under this understanding, the enemy's cutting-edge combat power was magnified as the strength of the entire surprise attack team.
What is cutting-edge combat power?
It was Dian Wei whom Qiao Yan gave to Cheng Li to command!
Even though Bao Hong had been in Leping County for some time and had some understanding of the strength of the warrior beside Qiao Yan, when Dian Wei followed Cheng Li's order to delay his attack and wait until Bao Hong dispersed the troops before attacking, this brave tiger general rushed forward with his halberd in hand, as if the black mountain bandits carrying grain bags in front of him were no different from paper-made ones, which really made Bao Hong speechless.
He couldn't help but think, how great it would be if such a warrior could be under his command...
But this was obviously not the time for him to be distracted.
With Dian Wei paving the way, he had the obvious advantage in this sword-fighting and could go straight for the bandit leader Zhang Niu Jiao.
If it was an ordinary thief-eliminating operation, it would be difficult to identify the leader in such an environment at night. However, this Niu Jiao had already walked back and forth twice under Bao Hong's nose. When he deliberately memorized the other party's features, how could he not recognize the other party's appearance?
There was no need to worry about any accidental injuries at this time, because the team led by Niu Jiao had not received any order from the panicked commander to discard the grain bags. This extremely iconic feature undoubtedly made the relationship between the enemy and us in the melee much clearer.
Perhaps it is not necessary to go through so much trouble. Even if they threw away the grain bags, it would not change the gap in weapons and equipment between the two sides in the battle.
This is exactly why Qiao Yan ordered Bao Hong's soldiers to ambush here instead of the defense team spontaneously formed in Leping County.
If it were them, even if there were more people, they would never be able to cause such a significant chiseling effect at this time.
Dian Wei's double halberds opened the way for the team that was trying to intercept him, which made them even more unstoppable. Although he was still some distance away from the ox horns, this weapon that seemed to be filled with blood seemed to be only a stone's throw away from him.
Zhang Niujiao was not an extremely talented commander. At most, he had some foresight in calling on people to follow him in the uprising, and he had an exceptionally harmonious relationship with his subordinates.
But in the current situation, this advantage obviously has no meaning.
In the confrontation between the two armies, one side suffered a lot of casualties, which was already an unfavorable situation indicating defeat, not to mention that the commander-in-chief was unable to issue orders quickly enough to gather the troops and launch an effective counterattack.
This is a big taboo in war.
This undoubtedly makes Bao Hong's advantage more obvious.
At this moment in the mountains, perhaps the Black Mountain bandits had someone who could keep a cool head and think when facing the imminent crisis. The only one left was Chu Yan, who was ready to support Zhang Niu Jiao at any time with his troops.
Sun Qing and Wang Dang, two people who had surrendered to him, were assigned to Zhang Niu Jiao's team because they also wanted to be responsible for transporting food. At this moment, they were in the team that was defeated by Bao Hong. He had only 800 people selected from his own 3,000 people, who were on the Hengling Mountain Road, ready to support Zhang Niu Jiao at any time.
After Bao Hong and Dian Wei's troops rushed out, Zhang Niu Jiao was distracted, but Chu Yan was not.
He immediately led his men down the mountain path to rescue them.
But before he walked far, he clearly saw from his high vantage point that not only did Bao Hong's team move freely in the deserted area, but a large number of people also came out of the city gate of Leping County that was broken open for them.
In this split second, Chu Yan found it difficult to make an accurate judgment on the number of the enemy troops, but he could see torches and lanterns lighting up, forming a signal marking this team in the night.
It was difficult for him to tell when these people were fully equipped and waiting there.
Perhaps they were already prepared to meet the enemy at any time when Zhang Niujiao's men appeared in the county town. The previous lax state that allowed people to come and go freely was simply a strategy to lure the enemy!
But it was meaningless to say this now. All he could see was the long dragon of fire that was rising up the mountain path. The swordsmen, who were still overwhelming in momentum, directly engulfed the troops that were fleeing downwards.
Just when the noise in the distance inevitably distracted his attention, the brave Dian Wei had already arrived in front of Zhang Niu Jiao.
Even though Chu Yan did not think that this was cheating in combat effectiveness, but seeing the scene in front of him - grain bags were left all over the ground, the team of more than a thousand people was cut off in the middle and chased from the rear, and even Zhang Niu Jiao himself was killed in front of the warrior, Chu Yan knew very well that what he should do at this time was not to take the risk to rescue and put more people in it, but to evacuate quickly and preserve the living strength.
This is exactly why he chose Taihang Mountains as his base of operations!
The pursuit in the mountains is by no means easy. If they want to escape and then gradually recover their strength, it is not a difficult thing to do.
Chu Yan's assessment of the situation made him issue orders immediately.
"Abandon the grain truck!"
There is no point in caring about the spoils at this time, and it will become a burden to them.
"Past--"
He originally wanted to say go south, but in the still dim night, a fleeting flash of fire suddenly appeared in the south.
Although the fire only flashed for a moment, it made Chu Yan extremely alert.
How could he know that this was just the signal that had been sent to Qiao Yan earlier to inform him of the arrival of the Black Mountain bandits, and it was being used for a second time at this time.
He only knew that first there was the ambush on the road, and then there was the team in the county town that seemed to have been ready to go. No matter how he thought about it, it was clear that there was an ambush on their way back.
Of course, there were ambushes, but not too many, and at most they could only delay some time.
But Chu Yan couldn't tell the difference at this time, so he immediately changed his words: "Go north!"
The Eight Passes of Taihang Mountain, they are now near Jingxing Road, and there are still mountains extending to the north, and there are three passes. If they go north, they can still hide in the mountains, and then return to Changshan County, and then find an opportunity to return to their previous stationed place.
Chu Yan's calculations were good. In fact, if his adaptability was placed among the remnants of the Yellow Turbans, he would definitely be considered one of the best. But...
Almost immediately, a group of young and strong men in the city who were determined to eliminate the thieves went out of the south gate to pursue the grain-stealing team. At the same time, another team, led by Zhao Yun, went out of the east gate and went straight up the Xueyaoling Road.
This is a road that is also easier to walk on because it is often walked on.
Because these young men were familiar with the local area, they did not slow down their climbing speed even in the dark. They arrived at the front of Hengling Mountain Road before Chu Yan, which was -
The location that Qiao Yan called the foot of Phoenix Mountain.
If it were not for nighttime, perhaps the narrow paths around the mountain road would allow Chu Yan and his troops to scatter, but under the current conditions, in order to avoid stepping into a deep pit, his most suitable retreat route was still only that one.
But before he could breathe a sigh of relief because the sound of fighting behind him had subsided, the situation of breaking out from the middle of the team happened again.
At this moment, there were no gongs and drums used to confuse judgment and boost momentum, but a young man with a gun came forcefully, sweeping the silver spear straight at him.
Amidst the noises caused by the momentary chaos in the team, Chu Yan heard an unusually clear voice, which said -
"Zhao Yun from Changshan is here!"
Zhao Yun?
Since they are from the same hometown, Zhao Yun knows something about Chu Yan. How could Chu Yan be completely ignorant of Zhao Yun's name?
However, there was no possibility that he could win over this person. Instead, due to his great ability, he was able to protect Zhaojiazhuang. But Chu Yan never expected that Zhao Yun would be here.
No one expected that he would become the leader of this group of Leping County people.
In fact, this team of people who rushed out was much weaker than the previous group of people under Bao Hong in terms of strength. But you have to know that those who followed Chu Yan to retreat would probably be affected by the scene they saw before. Even though the two sides were actually evenly matched in this initial confrontation and even did not cause any casualties, the Black Mountain bandits were still inferior in momentum.
What’s more, there is Zhao Yun in Leping!
Even though the young man did not have a good horse to help him - and of course it was not suitable to fight on horseback on the mountain road - this did not affect his coming with a spear in hand, as fast as a meteor.
Chu Yan subconsciously raised the knife in his hand, and a gun flower bloomed on the knife in front of him, bringing with it an extremely amazing force.
When the other party attacked, they also threw torches on the mountain road to create a panic atmosphere. At this moment, the fierce light flowing on the silver spear was clearly reflected in Chu Yan's eyes.
Faced with such a fierce attack, his subordinates, who had not yet fully integrated into one another, had no time to make any moves to encircle the enemy.
He was the only one who could face Zhao Yun head-on.
But he...even if Chu Yan didn't want to admit it, it couldn't change this fact.
He is indeed no match for Zhao Yun!
After Zhao Yun's spear knocked the knife out of his hand, he could either die or surrender. Obviously, there was no third way.
After being tied up tightly, he and his badly injured subordinates were sent to Leping County.
Because there was not enough open space in front of the county government office, they were taken directly to the granary.
No matter how sudden the battle ended, it was already dawn by this time, and Chu Yan also saw clearly the scene that he had not seen before entering the city.
Especially the wine jar at the door of the warehouse.
Since Leping County can be said to be well prepared for these black mountain bandits, it is obvious that they would not make any careless arrangements for guarding the warehouse. This is obviously a move to lower their vigilance.
Zhang Niujiao, who was also escorted here, also realized this fact. Now meeting Chu Yan's gaze, he couldn't help feeling a little guilty.
It was indeed because of this situation that part of his vigilance was dispelled, and he completely forgot Chu Yan's words that he must pay attention to his surroundings after entering the city.
"Brother, it's me..."
"Catching bull horns under the King of Hell's wall and catching swallows in front of Phoenix Mountain, Leping is indeed a treasure land."
Zhang Niu Jiao was interrupted by this sudden remark before he could finish his words. This remark really sounded like it deserved a beating, so he looked in anger and saw a girl in black clothes walking towards him. She said this while clapping her hands and laughing.
He wanted to show his anger and unwillingness to the child, but in this world, the winners are kings and the losers are bandits. He has already become a prisoner, so how can he still have the capital to be arrogant and willful.
Zhang Niujiao looked at the wise and resourceful county marquis with a stern face.
Behind the opponent were Dian Wei and Zhao Yun, the two military generals who were able to capture him and Chu Yan this time. With these two standing behind him, Qiao Yan's momentum was even more extraordinary.
"To be honest, I learned about you two a month ago. Some people even asked me to join forces with them to eliminate the thieves. Unfortunately, I didn't have the capital to deal with you two at that time, so I could only delay it until today."
Qiao Yan said this calmly, and not surprisingly, he saw a hint of depression flash across Chu Yan and Zhang Niu Jiao's faces.
This so-called delay until today did not seem to make them feel that they were treated with any respect. It only made them feel that Qiao Yan's words seemed to mean that she had been prepared until today, and they just jumped in, which was really giving her face.
From the moment they learned there was such a windfall here, they knew it was a complete trap.
But in this year of famine, who wouldn’t be tempted by large amounts of food?
The Wang family of Jinyang may not care about this, and even took out an extra 15,000 dan of stored grain as a gift to make friends with Qiao Yan and express gratitude. But those of them who chose to leave their hometown and rely on the protection of the Taihang Mountains to become Black Mountain bandits must not care!
Even if they knew that there was a trap ahead, if they were to encounter it again, they would probably just choose a different way to obtain the food.
It’s a pity that their opponents are not ordinary people.
Now that the county lord has won the victory, it is obviously not excessive for him to be arrogant.
"This doesn't seem like how Marquis Qiao usually behaves." Xu Fu looked at Qiao Yan's attitude at the moment and whispered to Cheng Li.
Cheng Li was only directing Dian Wei, Bao Hong and others to take action at the right time. He himself had never experienced any confrontation. At most, he had just stayed up all night. At this moment, he was still neatly dressed and looked calm.
After hearing what Xu Fu said, he asked, "Are you trying to say that Marquis Qiao's attitude towards Chu Yan and Zhang Niu Jiao seems to be different from her attitude towards Zhang Jiao and Zhang Liang brothers, Liang Zhongning and others who were also imprisoned before, as well as those Yellow Turban bandits?"
"That's right." Xu Fu replied.
Cheng Li explained, "This is not surprising. She has some respect and pity for Zhang Jue and others, simply because she has almost no right to decide the fate of these people. Moreover, Zhang Jue, the chief culprit of the Yellow Turbans, will only die after the rebellion is quelled, no matter how hard he tries to save the people. But the same may not be true for these two people in front of him."
He immediately brought up a possibility that Xu Fu had never thought of before. "I think Qiao Hou wants to recruit them."
"But……"
What Xu Fu wanted to say was not that these Black Mountain bandits were just thieves, but that the number and scale of these Black Mountain bandits had reached a level that was not inferior to the Yellow Turbans in the past. Under such circumstances, it would be extremely dangerous for Leping County to accept them.
What's more, the imperial court's Northern Army also participated in this battle, and Bao Hong would definitely leave and return to Luoyang City after a while. If Qiao Yan really wanted to take in these black mountain bandits, it would undoubtedly be a very dangerous move.
Because there is no guarantee of what impact this news will have once it reaches Luoyang.
However, Xu Fu also discerned some hidden meanings from Cheng Li's words.
It is completely understandable that he wants to subdue these black mountain bandits by showing such a momentum to suppress the opponent.
If we don't first wear down the arrogance of these people, then there is naturally no way to talk about their surrender.
This is why Qiao Yan started with such a contemptuous tone that was almost like doggerel.
Although the arrival of these black mountain bandits caused a considerable portion of her food to be left behind on the mountain roads, and also led to inevitable casualties among the young and strong men in the county during their pursuit, this was after all a population of nearly 10,000. If one followed the convention of warfare in the late Han Dynasty, a slight exaggeration of 20,000 or 30,000 would be acceptable, and this would not cause her to lose her temper.
Chu Yan raised his eyes and looked towards Qiao Yan, saying, "Since you have captured us, you can kill us or chop us up as you wish. Why are you talking so much here?"
Qiao Yan seemed not to notice the anger in his eyes, and replied calmly: "I don't know if you have ever heard of the saying, 'eradicate all evil.'"
Chu Yan's eyebrows jumped.
Qiao Yan continued, "Although the Black Mountain bandits are no longer with you, the remaining ones may still stir up trouble. But rather than letting it go on, maybe they will invade Leping again one day, it is better to deal with the others as well."
"You say, isn't this the truth?"
This was true, but what Chu Yan could not understand was that Qiao Yan did not use them as bait, but instead sent them to build the ancestral temple, which was the ancestral temple that Qiao Xuan should have built in Leping.
There were a limited number of shackles in the county government office, so it was impossible to restrain all of their hands and feet. The staff in the county government office to watch over them were even more limited. If some of them wanted to escape into the mountains, it was not impossible.
But Chu Yan soon discovered that even if someone could really do this to escape, they didn't really do it that way.
The lord of Leping County must have had an extremely ample supply of food reserves, so he gave these prisoners, who should not have had enough to eat, enough food to fill their stomachs.
The rice sent by Wang of Jinyang was far superior to ordinary coarse grains. With such food, at this time of year, many people would be willing to eat even a bowl of rice as a last meal before death.
How could they run away?
Chu Yan also noticed that there were two more shipments of rice delivered to Leping thereafter. Although the quantity was not as much as the 30,000 shi of grain in the previous warehouse, it was enough to make the warehouse with closed doors a holy place that everyone yearned for.
There must be at least 60,000 shi of grain in here, right?
"There's no such thing as 60,000. 25,000 is good enough." Qiao Yan supported his head with the pen, revealing a distressed expression.
Eating labor meals is indeed a good way to temporarily stabilize these black mountain bandits, but the consumption is also astonishingly high.
Moreover, in addition to the food expenses for these laborers, the county residents who inevitably suffered casualties in the previous pursuit of the Black Mountain bandits can also be subsidized in the form of food.
In addition, Bao Hong and others living here will naturally not be completely free of consumption.
Previously, they could still use the small amount of food originally stored in the granary in Leping County, but now they have to use the food she brought back.
Although she relied on having people transport grain out and then transport it in, it seemed to outsiders that the grain reserves prepared by her, the county marquis, for Leping were increasing, but this method could not last long, and she still had to come up with a way to increase revenue.
As she thought about the number of people she arranged to recruit from the remaining Black Mountain bandits, and the number of people they might bring back later, she felt more and more anxious.
The previous bottom line principle cannot be changed because of the increase in manpower, just like farming is still farming, it will not be changed to winemaking or something like that. This open source...
Just as she thought of this, she heard someone knocking on the door. After receiving her signal to come in, she saw Yang Xiu pushing the door open. After standing in front of her, a complicated look appeared on his face.
Of course, it was not because he was still under the residual influence of the terrain model that Qiao Yan had made earlier, nor was it because the previous battle in Taihang Mountains had refreshed his impression of Qiao Yan, but because he had just received news that was a bit... outrageous to him.
"That...Mr. Zhicai wants to meet you."
When Qiao Yan heard Yang Xiu add the word "Mr.", he intuitively felt that something special had changed.
Sure enough, she heard Yang Xiu say right after that: "Perhaps you should not be called Mr. Zhicai, but Xizhicai."
Xi Zhicai? !
Qiao Yan almost wanted to stand up subconsciously, but she had experienced many ups and downs after all, so she was not going to behave inappropriately in front of Yang Xiu.
However, although she had seen many young future talents and heroes, she had never seen someone like Xi Zhicai, who was sent to work in other people's territory in this half-bought, half-given way. Especially since he was a person who was passed down to later generations as a strategist, but was actually engaged in the wine-making business.
Qiao Yan found it particularly funny when he thought about how he had wanted to praise him for his boldness in trying to brew pea wine.
But why doesn't he continue to be this drunkard wage earner now?
Qiao Yan's thoughts did not affect her calmness and she replied, "Let him in."
Xi Zhicai still looked the same in tattered clothes as when Qiao Yan saw him that day, and he still looked like a typical drunkard who was still drunk. However, there was a clear and calculating look in his eyes, which was enough to distinguish him from a drunkard.
As soon as he entered the room, he bowed to Qiao Yan and said, "I am Xi Zhicai from Yingchuan, and I have come to offer you advice."
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