Zhao Tingduo stayed in Hecheng for another day before reluctantly saying goodbye to Song Liyun.
He arrived alone on horseback, and left with a large bag on his horse's back.
There was actually a carriage following behind Zhao Tingduo, but he insisted on carrying his own luggage.
In his words, all these things were prepared by A-Yun herself, and carrying them with him made him feel like A-Yun was with him.
His corny pickup lines made Song Liyun blush, but she was secretly delighted.
After spending more time together, Song Liyun realized that Zhao Tingduo was actually just a pretty face with a playboy look on his face.
Perhaps it was the vast grasslands and military training that nurtured him, and Lady Uya and Granny Qi that protected him. In matters of the heart, Zhao Tingduo was not very cunning; he expressed his likes and dislikes directly.
Song Dekui was right; Young Master Wuda is an honest man!
This phrase is suitable to praise a rough and rugged soldier, but it feels a bit awkward to use it on Zhao Tingduo.
However, Zhao Tingduo entrusted the entire construction of the Mida River Valley to Lin Qingyuan and the Wan family according to Song Liyun's wishes, which could no longer be easily dismissed as simply being straightforward.
This is absolute trust!
On the carriage back to Suijin Town, Song Dekui rested his chin on his hand, listening excitedly as Song Liyun talked about the business in Hecheng and the construction on the grassland.
The next two restaurants will be selling barbecue, so this time we'll transfer staff from Tianxianglou. They have a secret blend of spices, so it shouldn't be difficult to make it.
Hecheng was also the largest distribution center for furs in the Wu Dynasty. Now that the Qi family has retreated, the shops have not dispersed and have been placed under the jurisdiction of the Zhenbei Army.
However, if Zhao Tinglei wants to completely control Hecheng, he still needs to deal with the counterattack from the Qi family in the capital.
That was a battle on a completely different level.
The evidence Zhao Tinglei submitted was enough to give the Qi family a hard time.
If the three judicial departments find the Qi family guilty of human trafficking and release the arrest warrant, even if the Empress Dowager and the Princess Consort are not implicated, they will still have to find a way to distance themselves from the case.
At that time, the officialdom in the capital will naturally become a life-or-death struggle once again.
These things have nothing to do with the remote border town.
With Lin Qingyuan and Wan Yanming in business, the garrison headquarters behind her, and Zhao Tingduo making contacts on the grasslands, Song Liyun didn't need to get involved.
She only has one thing on her mind now. Zhao Tingduo told her that besides building the royal tent where the two of them got married in the Mida River Valley, he also wants to build a city.
It's no joke that it's built right in the valley.
The nomadic peoples of the grasslands lived by following the water and grass, with only tribal kings and no fixed cities.
Even the royal court on the Xuyang Grassland was composed of a continuous stretch of yurts belonging to several large tribes.
Building a city is no easy task.
If Zhao Tingduo were to build a city, he would need building materials such as bricks, stones, wood, and tiles.
There are no skilled craftsmen on the grasslands, so building such a project would be an unimaginable undertaking.
Song Liyun didn't think about adobe bricks and stones; her first thought was of her prefabricated house.
Before adobe houses were built, prefabricated houses were built on a large scale, which was more convenient and cheaper than yurts that required a long time to knead wool.
Prefabricated houses can be mass-produced by craftsmen in Wuchao and then transported to the Mida River Valley for assembly.
They could even build rest stops along the route from Xiashi Pass to the Mida River Valley to provide protection for caravans.
The Uda tribe, which has no shortage of horses and cavalry, has a natural advantage in transportation. With the Zhenbei Army behind them, they don't have to worry about being ambushed by others.
The plan received full support from Zhao Tingduo and Zhao Tinglei as soon as it was proposed.
Zhao Tingduo occupied the Mida River Valley because of its abundant water and grass, and Zhao Tinglei's dispatch of troops to support him also had its reasons.
The distance from Xiashi Pass of the Wu Dynasty to the Mida River Valley is hundreds of miles. Whenever the nomadic bandits from the grasslands escaped to the inner plains, the Wu Dynasty army was powerless to stop them.
A long logistical supply line can cripple a team's combat effectiveness.
Now, as long as Zhao Tingduo secures the Mida River Valley, the encampment there will provide a safe place for the exhausted troops to rest and recuperate after marching on the grasslands.
It could even be extended into a military post of the Wu Dynasty.
Of course, all of this needs to be based on mutual trust between the two brothers; otherwise, the Wu army stationed there would be the first to be wiped out.
Therefore, Zhao Tinglei also had to contribute to the construction of Mida City.
While discussing with Song Dekui how to increase the output of the cardboard box factory, how to find more craftsmen, and how to collect and store straw for winter supply to the pasture, Song Liyun was also thinking about what Wan Yanming had said.
The Wan family selected other members from their clan to go to the shops on Southeast Road to promote Song Liyun's series of products. These were all novel items that were almost impossible to sell without any challenge.
Wan Yanming, whose position was now free, came with Ruzhuge to take over the trade routes in Hecheng.
The Wan family had also risked their lives and fortunes. If they had only taken on the sale of leather goods from Song Liyun's Southeast Road, there would have been no risk.
But now it is undoubtedly a matter of snatching food from the tiger's mouth. If the Northern Army wins this battle, the prosperity of every household will be just around the corner.
If the Zhenbei Army is defeated, the Wan family, as its henchmen and subordinates, will naturally scatter like monkeys when the tree falls, and may even suffer the destruction of their family and death.
Fortune favors the bold, and the Wan family has always been involved in smuggling, so they've never been timid. This time, they followed suit with bloodshot eyes.
The Wan family desires wealth and status, and Lin Qingyuan naturally has no ulterior motives. The Qi family has long been his rival, but now it has simply moved from the shadows to the open.
The Lin family members have already been taken back to the capital by two imperial censors as witnesses, and it's a long time before they return. Lin Qingyuan is now unrestrained and ready to make a big splash.
Both Wan Jia and Lin Qingyuan were businessmen with established business channels, so they quickly found a starting point in just a few words.
Song Liyun, however, was somewhat anxious.
Her affairs are the most important. It's unacceptable that Lin Qingyuan and the others are doing so well while she can't even set up her own place properly, making herself a laughing stock.
Song Liyun was worried all the way about where to find craftsmen, as she needed manpower to make paper pulp and wood panels.
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