Yan Lin saw it clearly. His guess was right.
However, he did not know that Jiang Pengji had found a way to increase the fertility of the land two years ago, and that Dou Xi, who came from a farming family, was in charge of improving the fertility of the land. The increase in production last year was not high, but it stopped the downward trend. Looking at the situation, the output should recover a little this year.
As long as they could continue farming, not only would the people in the rear not lack food, but the pressure on the frontlines would also be greatly reduced.
Even so, the financial expenditure was still in deficit. Jiang Pengji had been using the private treasury to subsidize the expenditure, which was barely enough to maintain the balance.
In order to not collapse in the future, it was necessary to beat up the local tycoons and plunder their wealth.
Not only that …
Jiang Pengji imitated the predecessors of the previous dynasty and did something even more outrageous.
She sent the gold-raiding officers to plunder the funerary goods from the ancestral graves.
Of course, these things were done in secret.
The tomb robbers disguised themselves as ordinary tomb robbers and tried their best not to touch the funerary objects in the coffins.
Jiang Pengji had a very good reputation among the common people. She pretended to be innocent in front of the common people. One moment, she said that the robbers' holes were left behind by the barbarians from the four tribes of Nanman. Another moment, she said that the robbers' holes were committed by roaming bandits. The Nansheng aristocrats who had their ancestral graves plundered could only vomit blood.
"She really dares to do it …"
Yang Tao was speechless. Digging up someone's ancestral grave was such a shameless thing, and the key point was that he could even clear his name. This operation was too terrifying.
The people of this generation were too easy to fool. They always felt that manipulating public opinion was like playing a game.
A duke who had ordered to plunder the dead and embezzle the living could actually wash himself clean like a white lotus.
The world was getting more and more magical.
"Speaking of which …" Yan Lin said, "I think Wei Zixiao is scarier."
"Why?" Yang Tao didn't understand. "Wei Zixiao is the only gentleman I've ever seen who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Shao Yang. How is he scary?"
Yang Tao wished he could use all the words he knew to describe Yan Lin and Wei Ci.
Yan Lin sighed.
He couldn't bear to tell his best friend the truth.
Yang Tao did not know that Wei Ci had single-handedly manipulated the people's opinions of inverting right from wrong and secretly inciting the people to hate the rich and the aristocratic families. Because Jiang Pengji never disturbed the people when she fought a war, she basically built wherever she fought. Her reputation among the people had always been good. On the contrary, most of Nan Sheng's aristocratic families did not do anything, and the commoners had long been resentful of them. Part of the reason for the calamity of the Southern Barbarians was due to the aristocratic families' manipulation of power …
On one side was Jiang Pengji, who had brought them stability and protection. On the other side was the Nansheng aristocrats who had previously oppressed and exploited them.
The latter had a negative and strong image in the eyes of the people, but now they jumped out to complain that their ancestral graves had been stolen by the shameless Jiang Pengji … Who would the people believe more? He didn't need to investigate to know he would choose Jiang Pengji.
Just as the navy that Wei Ci had secretly released had said, the Duke of Lanting had been fighting for more than ten years and had experienced countless battles. For many years, she did not even disturb the common people once. She did not even touch the common people's fertile fields and family wealth. Why would she do something so immoral as digging up the ancestral graves of others?
That's impossible!
Even people with poor logic would be fooled by the seemingly reasonable excuse, not to mention the common people who were 99% illiterate.
"Anyway, you should stay away from …" Yan Lin swallowed his words and corrected himself, "Men and women should stay away from each other."
One of them killed, while the other passed the knife to the victim and was responsible for cleaning up the crime scene and framing the victim.
Hehe —
He couldn't afford to offend them.
Not only was Jiang Pengji powerful, but she also had the upper hand in public opinion.
This loss, those unlucky Nansheng aristocrats had no choice but to eat it.
Yang Tao spent half a month conquering half of the province. The situation in the other provinces was also very gratifying. News of victory came one after another.
Jiang Pengji ate a few more bowls of rice because of this.
The reason why the war was going so smoothly was because of the enemy's passive resistance.
When the people heard that An Cui had plundered the young men of the two provinces at the border of Nansheng, some people were confused.
"Is An Duoxi planning to give up?"
"Tsk, if he really gave up, why would he fight the war? Wouldn't it be more straightforward to surrender with his troops? He most likely has some conspiracy and plans to wait for the enemy to exhaust himself. " Some people were confused, while others saw clearly and had their own thoughts. "Nansheng has been in chaos for almost ten years. There is a shortage of young men, and the people are extremely poor. Rather than disperse the troops to defend the provinces, it's better to concentrate the troops to defend the most fertile, easily defensible, and difficult to attack areas. Our army is on an expedition, so supplies are difficult, but An Cui doesn't have to worry about that … "
Jiang Pengji had come thousands of miles to attack An Cui's doorstep, and he had to bring his own food when he went out.
An Cui was sitting at his doorstep defending, and when he was hungry, he went to the kitchen to take a bite of a pancake.
It went without saying who had the advantage in logistics.
Everyone suspected that An Cui wanted to fight a war of attrition with Jiang Pengji. Whoever could not hold on first would leave.
Jiang Pengji naturally knew what an ordinary person could think of.
However …
She felt that things were not that simple.
Jiang Pengji did not know much about An Cui, but she knew that he was not someone who would easily admit defeat. How could he retreat without a fight?
"… Unless he has other plans …"
Jiang Pengji rubbed her hands a few times. Her slender fingertips glowed red.
It was already midwinter. Nansheng's winter was colder than Dongqing's.
Dongqing's coldness was physical damage. No matter how cold it was, it was still on the skin. Nansheng's coldness was magical damage. It was wet and cold, seeping into the bones.
This was Jiang Pengji's first winter in Nansheng.
Even she felt a little uncomfortable, not to mention the other generals and the ordinary soldiers who had weaker physiques.
The first winter snow came very suddenly. Jiang Pengji had no choice but to stop fighting.
With this winter snow, Jiang Pengji also understood An Cui's true intentions.
"I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone more shameless than An Cui …"
An Cui plundered the young, strong, and rations clean. The old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled all lacked winter clothes and food. If they were left unattended, many people would die in this winter. Jiang Pengji could not help but suspect that An Cui wanted to use this method to speed up the depletion of Jiang Pengji's rations.
An Cui could bear the infamy and disregard the lives of the people, but Jiang Pengji, who had a good reputation among the people, could not.
Due to many reasons, Jiang Pengji had no choice but to temporarily stop fighting in the south. She had to wait for spring to come and fight again.
Of course, due to her doubts about An Cui's character, it was hard to guarantee that he would not launch a sneak attack. She still had to be cautious.
"Fortunately, I'm prepared."
A winter without a hotpot was not perfect. A hotpot without chili was soulless.
In this era, chili only grew in the wilderness. A small amount of it flowed into the Central Plains and was used as a spice. Yan Lin was also born in a gentry family. He had mixed incense before, so he naturally knew what was good and what was bad. He did not understand why Jiang Pengji had sent people to deliver more than 20 jars of dried chili.
Yan Lin speculated, "Although this thing can drive away the cold, it has a strong and pungent smell. The soldiers might not be used to it."
Yang Tao opened the secret report sent by Jiang Pengji. He had a strange expression on his face.
"Liu Lanting said … this thing is to be boiled in water before drinking …"
Not only that, but she also gave each general a set of warming cauldrons.
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