Chapter 131
Winter in Xizhou comes earlier than in the south, so spring comes later.
The southern border is already covered with wild flowers, but here the poplars and willows are just beginning to sprout.
The matter of opening a school has been put on the agenda. The government has selected a foundation, and carpenters and masons are busy building the house. Any man who has time will go to help spontaneously.
A group of half-grown children often gather outside to watch, their eyes full of joy and longing.
It has always been a luxury for children from poor families to go to school, but now they have the opportunity to read and learn to read. The joy in their hearts is self-evident, and Feng Shuo's popularity among the people has reached an unprecedented height.
Jiang Yanyi heard that when Feng Shuo first went to western Sichuan, the people there supported the bandits and made trouble for him.
When facing the bandits, he could still fight them head-on and rely on his strength. If the people resisted, he could not be pacified by gentle means, and if he used tough means, he would be accused of oppressing the people.
Thanks to Feng Shuo's good reputation, the people who supported the bandits started to quarrel among themselves.
After fighting with Feng Shuo once, the bandit leader fled back to the mountain and never dared to fight Feng Shuo again. He threatened Chi Qing as a hostage and defended the terrain.
The war situation is currently at a stalemate. Jiang Yanyi heard from Duke Chen that the bandits were popular in western Sichuan. If Feng Shuo recruited them, it would be equivalent to taking over western Sichuan without a single soldier, and his reputation and power would be able to rise to a higher level.
Feng Shuo probably had the same idea, but it would take some effort to persuade the bandit leader to surrender.
The more difficult part was the battle in Yuzhou. Han Tuo led 30,000 soldiers and 5,000 heavy cavalry to reinforce, but he had never faced the imperial heavy cavalry head-on before, and did not know how powerful the heavy cavalry was on the battlefield. The commander of the troops on the opposite side was an experienced veteran of the court, so Han Tuo was defeated.
Although Yuzhou was barely defended, the soldiers suffered heavy losses, and Han Tuo himself was seriously injured and could no longer fight. For a time, the morale of Yuzhou was low and in danger.
When the county lord of Xing'an Hou learned that Yuzhou was likely to fall, he took the 3,000 soldiers who had escorted them to Xizhou and killed them back in Yuzhou on the day the news reached Xizhou.
Then Feng Shuo's transfer order came from western Sichuan. An Yongyuan had to guard Xizhou, and Chu Changping led 50,000 troops to Yuzhou to replace Han Tuo.
Jiang Yanyi was okay at doing business, but he felt helpless in these major events.
When marching to war, food and fodder always go before troops move. Yuzhou's military rations are not transported from Xizhou, but from Hengzhou and Yuzhou by water.
Instant noodles are not filling, but they can fill the stomach in an emergency, and they taste good, so many soldiers prefer them. The Xizhou camp and Huotou camp are in a hurry, so they divide some of them and let Jiang Yanyi's noodle shop take over.
After Luo the ironsmith used fine iron to make a manual simple noodle press, he has made several more in this period of time. The output of the noodle shop is several times more than before.
Jiang Yanyi knew that it was useless to worry about the war on the front line, so he put all his energy into the business.
It is much easier for a noodle shop to open a franchise store than Ruyilou. When Xu the shopkeeper and the people from the Chamber of Commerce were still eyeing the Ruyilou cake in Sishui City, Jiang Yanyi had quietly opened a noodle shop in the provincial capital south of Xizhou.
Instant noodles are hot in Xizhou, but due to transportation and war restrictions, they have not yet become popular in other places. The noodle shop's business among the people was not very good at the beginning, but with the support of the demand from the army, it did not go bankrupt.
When the common people accepted this kind of magical sou bing that can be eaten dry or soaked in water, some clever merchants wanted to share a share, but found that they could not do business.
After all, noodles are easy to make, but no matter how you mix the sauces with noodles, you can't get the taste. In addition, Jiang Yanyi's noodle shop has already occupied the market there, and has a mature business model, so it is difficult for new stores to surpass old stores.
It is easy to ignore time when you are busy. In a blink of an eye, it is mid-March, and it is time for Qiu Kui to get married.
Luo Tiejiang bought a new house and didn't have much money left, but he still rented a sedan chair and asked people to beat gongs and drums to welcome the bride, giving Qiu Kui all the respect.
Families with more affluent conditions in Xizhou usually prepare six dowries for their daughters.
Jiang Yanyi treated Qiu Kui as a half-sister, so he prepared six large dowries for her, and added two small dolls of clothes and jewelry.
Given the family background of Luo Ironsmith, Qiu Kui would be criticized for wearing silk and gold, and Jiang Yanyi was afraid that it would arouse the jealousy of the Luo family's aunts and uncles, which Qiu Kui could not handle, so all the jewelry was made of pure silver, and he only secretly gave Qiu Kui a pair of pure gold bracelets to keep at the bottom of the box.
Qiu Kui no longer had her family, and Jiang Yanyi still helped her comb her hair in the morning.
Qiu Kui was very quiet until she was done with her hair and was about to put rouge on her face, when she suddenly called out, "Hua Hua."
Jiang Yanyi answered and asked her, "What's wrong?"
Qiu Kui turned around and hugged her waist, crying, "I can't bear to leave Hua Hua."
Jiang Yanyi smiled and comforted her, "Silly girl, what's there to be reluctant about? You can come back whenever you want in the future, and it will be the same as now."
Although he said so, Jiang Yanyi couldn't help but feel a little sad.
Qiu Kui cried for a while, cleaned her face again, put on makeup, and then covered her head with a veil and was helped out by the bridesmaid.
Jiang Yanyi walked Qiu Kui to the gate and watched her being helped by the bridesmaid to the sedan chair. The sedan chair was lifted up and walked away with the sound of gongs and drums. He felt a little empty in his heart.
She stood at the door and watched the sedan chair leave the main street of the Protectorate. When it turned the corner and disappeared, she turned back to the shop.
There was a small stool at the counter. Whenever Jiang Yanyi came back from outside, Qiu Kui would sit on the stool, busy preparing the ingredients for oden or counting copper coins with a focused look on her face.
Jiang Yanyi thought that he would not see the silly girl again when he returned home in the future, and he could not help but feel sad, and his eyes turned red.
Aunt Guo comforted her: "Qiu Kui is a lucky girl, the boss should be happy for her."
Jiang Yanyi wiped her eyes and smiled: "I am happy for her."
Aunt Guo sighed: "By this time next year, you should also be in the palace."
Thinking of Feng Shuo, Jiang Yanyi couldn't help but worry: "I don't know what's going on in western Sichuan."
Since the beginning of spring, there has been continuous rain in Yuzhou, and mountain torrents have broken out, making it difficult for the imperial army to cross the river. The stalemate has lasted for so long. Once the flood recedes, it is still unknown how the situation will turn around.
Western Sichuan is located in the Central Plains, and the recent heavy rains have also affected this place.
The mountain bandits in western Sichuan occupied the mountains and became kings. Feng Shuo led his troops to station at the foot of the mountain, forming a siege on the mountain stronghold.
The big raindrops hit the top of the tent, making a "plop" sound.
It was raining heavily and the air in the tent was very humid. After reading the battle report from Yuzhou, Feng Shuo threw the letter into the brazier. The flames ignited and the letter turned into ashes in a moment.
His delicate eyebrows and eyes were cold in the firelight: "Pass the order down, attack the mountain stronghold as soon as the rain stops."
Xing Yao knew that the situation in Yuzhou was tense and Feng Shuo had no time to waste with them. He immediately clasped his fists and said: "I obey the order."
In the mountain stronghold, the bandits had been besieged for many days. The food in the stronghold had been eaten up long ago, and they could not go out hunting in the rain.
A group of ragged bandits huddled under the leaky eaves with their arms folded, standing or sitting. They had been eating bark and grass roots for several days and were not in good spirits.
One of the yellow-faced men had a half-straw stuck in his mouth. He squatted on the ground, picked up a wooden stick and wrote and drew on the ground, looking very focused.
"What a terrible weather!" A bandit looked at the raindrops flying down from the eaves and spat fiercely.
Someone's stomach rumbled, and the sound was particularly clear in the dull and humid house.
The bandits touched their hungry stomachs and kept silent tacitly.
Only the youngest one, who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, with a pale face and thin body, swallowed his saliva and said to the yellow-faced man squatting on the ground:
"Brother, it is said that the King of Liaoning is kind-hearted. In the areas under his jurisdiction, the people have food to eat, and families with children can go to school for free. It's not a good idea for us to keep wasting time like this. Why don't we surrender?"
The yellow-faced man said nothing, and the room was quiet for a while. Then another bandit said, "I heard that soldiers under the King of Liaoning have big white flour steamed buns and sou bing every meal! The sou bing is crispy and fragrant when eaten dry. Soak it in boiling water and put a ball of sauce in it. It's spicy and fragrant! It tastes better than the meat soup noodles sold in town! I can eat ten white flour steamed buns dipped in the soup in one meal!"
These words made the bandits in the room swallow their saliva, and the hunger in their stomachs became more and more obvious.
Someone else said, "Brother, let's surrender."
There were also voices of opposition, "We are a bunch of short-sighted people. We can use the money to recruit soldiers and horses, and then raise our own banner. When brother becomes emperor, we will be high officials, marry seven or eight beautiful concubines, and live a life like those dog officials!"
When this was said, some bandits were inevitably shaken.
To become rich and powerful and marry a yard of beautiful wives and concubines was something they had never dared to dream of before.
Someone whispered, "You have to live to see that time. What we are robbing is the gold of the King of Liaoning. He is known as the Living King Yan in the army."
"Damn it, Xiong San, you have always boosted others' ambitions and destroyed your own prestige. Have you been fooled by the slick words of that damn military advisor?" The man who sang the opposite tune kicked the bench with a missing leg heavily.
The bench fell to the ground with a clang.
The mountain bandit who was scolded by him was not a person who would stand up. Seeing that the two were about to fight, the yellow-faced man who had been silent all the time threw down the wooden stick, stood up and said, "Bring the military advisor of the King of Liaoning here."
On the ground was a pile of simple maps that no one except him could understand after looking at them for a long time.
But the scratches on the ground became more and more chaotic as they went on, giving off a sense of desperation.
The bandit who kicked the bench said with a happy face: "Brother, are you planning to use that pretty boy strategist to exchange food with the King of Liaoning?"
The yellow-faced man only uttered two words: "Surrender."
As soon as these words came out, the bandits in the house looked different.
"Brother, I don't agree!" The bandit who had been singing a different tune said with a gloomy face: "Brother, you are afraid of trouble, but I am not! If you want to surrender, then we brothers will divide the gold bars. Those who are willing to surrender with you, take your share and go down the mountain to serve as pawns!"
"Brothers who are willing to fight with me, we just need to hold on until the court defeats Yuzhou step by step, and the King of Liaoning will withdraw his troops to support Yuzhou!"
The yellow-faced man knocked the man to the ground with a sweeping kick, drew his knife and put it against his neck and said: "Who do you think is guarding the foot of the mountain? You are tired of snatching meat from the mouth of a wild wolf! I am afraid that the King of Liaoning will slaughter the entire mountain village before withdrawing his troops!" As
soon as these words came out, everyone was silent.
The rain stopped for a while, and a group of soldiers had gathered at the foot of the mountain. They all wore straw raincoats, hats, and double swords on their waists, with murderous eyes.
They must be the elite in the army to have followed Feng Shuo thousands of miles south, and they fought with swords and arrows all the way to today.
But they did not wait for the final kill order - the bandit leader brought Chi Qing and more than a dozen carts of gold bars that were robbed down the mountain and surrendered.
Although Chi Qing was imprisoned in the mountain stronghold for several days, he was really good at fooling people, and he was always well fed and well served, until he ran out of food recently and was hungry for a few days.
It was not yet time for lunch in the barracks, so there was no time to prepare meals. They could only boil water to make a bowl of noodles for Chi Qing and the bandits who had surrendered from the mountain stronghold.
The group of people squatted on the ground with their bowls in their hands and slurped the noodles without any image. After eating the noodles, they gulped down all the soup, leaving the bowl walls shiny as if they had been washed.
The younger bandit squatted next to Chi Qing, holding the empty bowl and reluctant to put it down, and asked eagerly: "General Chi, do we really have noodles like this every meal in the barracks?"
Chi Qing took a sip of the soup, burped, and then said in a slow and anxious tone: "How is it possible."
The bandits who were listening on the side were disappointed, and snorted angrily and said: "I said there is no such good thing in the world!"
But Chi Qing said: "This thing can't resist hunger on the battlefield, and it's too late to use it to fill the stomach when cooking."
What he meant was that this instant noodles was just a snack to fill the gaps between teeth.
"If I had known that the treatment in the Liaonan King's army was like this, I would have joined the army instead of being a bandit!" A bandit immediately cursed: "I'm not afraid of being hungry, I want to eat this noodle every meal!"
A group of bandits nodded frantically.
When the small leaders in the army came to register them and change their military status, everyone rushed forward to sign up.
Chi Qing drank the last mouthful of noodle soup, and then walked leisurely to Feng Shuo's tent.
Feng Shuo met the bandit leader alone in the military tent.
The bandit leader didn't know the etiquette of the army, and followed the way of the outlaws. He clasped his fists towards Feng Shuo and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for sparing Xiao's life that day."
Feng Shuo raised his eyes slightly in surprise, and looked at the man in front of him who looked like an ordinary farmer again, "What's your name?"
He spared this man's life that day to force him to surrender, and he spared him secretly, not intending to let this man remember this favor, but this man noticed it himself, which shows that he is not simple.
"My name is Xiao Chu." The yellow-faced man lowered his head three points, as a respect for Feng Shuo.
When he faced Feng Shuo that day, others thought that he had just escaped by chance. Only he knew that Feng Shuo valued his talent and intended to let him go.
These days he had been thinking about how to break this situation in the mountain stronghold, and finally found that everything was just a fight between trapped beasts.
The continuous rainstorms for several days not only hindered the court's progress in attacking Yuzhou, but also gave him time to think about it.
This man was smart and insightful. Feng Shuo really wanted to use him. After a moment of silence, he said: "The king promises you the position of captain, commanding 10,000 soldiers. Those people you brought down from the mountain will be reintegrated into the army. Do you have any doubts?"
There were only a few thousand scattered soldiers in the mountain stronghold, which was far from comparable to the regular army under Feng Shuo.
Whenever they recruited troops, they would break up the original troops and reorganize them. One reason was to facilitate management, and the other was to prevent any disloyalty.
Since Xiao Chu decided to surrender, he did not think about leading his original troops again. He bowed and said, "Everything is subject to your orders, my Lord."
The army broke camp that night and rushed to Yuzhou at full speed.
Due to the urgency of the march, the firemen hardly cooked along the way, and they all used boiling water to make noodles.
When the noodles in the army were eaten, Feng Shuo was a little surprised that they could get military supplies from the local shops in any prefecture they passed through.
He had not asked about Jiang Yanyi's business for a long time, and he didn't know that she had opened a noodle shop in another prefecture.
For a moment, he was really proud of Jiang Yanyi.
Even though she had no sense of taste, she couldn't help but smile as she picked up the noodles with wooden chopsticks.
Jiang Yanyi, who was far away in Xizhou, also picked up a slippery, fragrant, and spicy hot and sour rice noodles. After taking a sip, she sighed, "There is no news from western Sichuan, and my uncle is also struggling in Yuzhou. Now I dare not go back to the Chu family or see the Grand Empress Dowager. I don't know how to comfort them."
Madam An is now two months pregnant. She has been vomiting during pregnancy. She often eats less and vomits more, and she has lost weight.
Jiang Yanyi heard that she vomited a lot, so he came to see her and made her delicious hot and sour rice noodles. Madam An had a full meal.
Madam An said, "I admire you. No matter how big the problem is, you never panic."
This time, Jiang Yanyi made the hot and sour noodles with chili oil. Jiang Yanyi only added a little chili to Madam An's bowl, and Madam An was so spicy that she gasped, but she was reluctant to put down her wooden chopsticks.
A layer of sweet potatoes fried with minced meat was spread on the bright red soup. When picking the vermicelli, there was a lot of minced meat on it. It was fragrant and juicy.
Jiang Yanyi was praised, but looked helpless: "I am also panicked, but if I don't eat or drink and just worry all day long, I will drag my body down, and I will be of no help except to cause trouble. When the enemy comes, we will stop him; when the water comes, we will cover it with earth; when the sky falls, there will be someone taller to hold it up. The most important thing is to do the current thing well."
Madam An was amused by Jiang Yanyi and said with emotion: "I wish I were half as open-minded as you."
Jiang Yanyi frowned: "You are pregnant now, Madam An, aren't you quiet?"
Madam An looked gloomy: "Although my mother-in-law has openly put someone in the general's room, when I interact with the ladies of other families, they can't help but say that I am jealous, relying on the favor of my relatives to disrespect my elders, and being disrespectful to her..."
As a result, when Madam An appeared at other banquets, the attitude of those ladies towards her became very subtle.
Jiang Yanyi asked, "Does General An know about this?"
Madam An shook her head and said, "After the prince went south, the general had a heavy burden on his shoulders. He was still in the study in the middle of the night to deal with affairs. I can't bother him with these trivial matters."
The gossips among women were unlikely to reach An Yongyuan's ears.
Jiang Yanyi said, "You can't be so depressed during your pregnancy. I bought a farm for my brother in the suburbs of the city. In a few days, I will go to see how the peppers that the tenants planted for me are doing. You can go to the farm with me to live for a while, and I will make some delicious food for you."
After she coaxed Madam An away, she would find someone to pass those words to An Yongyuan's ears. She was not afraid that An Yongyuan would not stand up for Madam An.
Before the Qingming Festival, the snails in the fields are at their juiciest. This trip is a good opportunity to see if there are many snails in the fields. If the number is satisfactory, Jiang Yanyi plans to make snails into the seasonal signature dish of Ruyilou.