Lu Zheng made it sound serious, but in fact, it was not that dangerous.
Kang Xintong was young to begin with, so it was not out of place for her to disguise as a man. Lu Zheng also ordered people to keep an eye on her at all times. As long as Kang Xintong did not seek death and go to places she should not go, she would not be in any danger in the military camp. Unless the enemy directly launched a sneak attack on our camp, then there was nothing we could do.
Moreover, Lu Zheng was a strategist, not a general. He spent most of his time in the barracks, so he could definitely protect this little girl.
Lu Zheng did not hide Kang Xintong's matter from An Cui and informed him in advance.
An Cui had vaguely heard that Lu Zheng had adopted a daughter, but he did not expect that he would bring her to the military camp.
"Take it with you, as long as it doesn't interfere with important matters."
An Cui had no objections, so the matter was settled.
The army set off. Lu Zheng followed An Cui on horseback, but Hua Yuan was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing this, Lu Zheng felt even more uneasy. He pretended to casually ask the people around him about Hua Yuan's whereabouts.
"Why don't I see Hua Yuan?" Lu Zheng whispered to a strategist he was on good terms with. His eyes were still wandering around, trying to find a familiar figure. He said, "The lord can't leave the Flower Abyss. He can't wait to take her wherever he goes. Why can't I see her today?"
The other party asked, "You don't know?"
Lu Zheng shook his head. "I really don't know."
The other party continued, "This time, the enemy is coming in full force, but Liu Xi still sent out his troops despite the spring plowing. It's obvious that he's made up his mind. If we want to defend against the enemy, we don't know how long this battle will take. I'm afraid we won't have enough rations. The Lord has sent Hua Yuan to collect military provisions and supplies … "
Lu Zheng's heart skipped a beat.
Is there not enough food?
"How much rations do we have? How long can it support the army? "
Lu Zheng had gradually become disconnected from political affairs during his time in the cold. His understanding of the military camp had fallen behind.
"Roughly speaking, we should be able to last until early winter."
"Why is it only early winter?"
According to Lu Zheng's estimation, the provisions they had in reserve could last them until the end of spring and the beginning of summer next year.
Of course, it wouldn't matter even if he couldn't hold on.
Rations were precious in any period of time, not to mention in this chaotic world where rations were the hard currency.
If there really was a food shortage, not only would they have to think of ways to increase income, but they would also have to do their best to reduce expenditure.
If there was no other choice, then he could only use special methods to get through this difficult period of time.
Even so, Lu Zheng still felt that An Cui and Hua Yuan were too wasteful.
During the days when he was frozen, the two of them were quite extravagant. They were like the foolish sons of a landlord. The more foolish people have, the faster the money comes.
The foundation that Lu Zheng had accumulated over the years was going to be destroyed by them.
He had a rough idea in his heart, but he didn't expect the truth to be worlds apart from his conjecture.
"We should have been able to last longer. After all, our army benefited a lot from the incident last year. But … all these years, Liu Xi had swept through the lands, hadn't he relied on the elites under his command? Now that the army was at the borders, the lord was extremely fearful of her. She was afraid that the army would not be strong enough, so she had been recruiting soldiers and training elites. Last year, the Lord sent people to select 150,000 strong youths from the two prefectures and send them to the military camp … "
"One hundred and fifty thousand?"
Lu Zheng's voice almost cracked.
Was he hallucinating?
Are you sure it's 150,000 and not 15,000?
"This is simply nonsense!"
Lu Zheng didn't care that An Cui was not far away. He widened his eyes and scolded them.
Not only were An Cui and Hua Yuan prodigal sons, but they were also kicked in the head by a donkey?
How could there be such a good thing in this world? One wanted the horse to run fast, but also wanted the horse to eat less and drink less?
These youths were all mouths that were crying piteously for food. They ate grains. They were neither wooden oxen nor immortals. They couldn't eat wind and drink dew. If they were trained as elites, their daily meals would be at least twice as much as that of ordinary soldiers!
There were so many mouths to feed all of a sudden. Did An Cui really think that food didn't need money?
The "incident last year" that he mentioned was referring to the incident where An Cui fortified the walls and cleared the fields to trick Jiang Pengji last year. He took all the benefits for himself and plundered the food reserves of the two prefectures. In the end, he threw a group of old, weak, sick, and disabled people to Jiang Pengji and made her worry about food.
In Lu Zheng's opinion, An Cui shouldn't have wanted those youths last year. It would have been enough to just plunder the food reserves. He should have thrown the youths, the weak, the sick, and the disabled to Jiang Pengji, making her worry about food. If she could solve it, she would be considered capable. If she couldn't, she could send someone to secretly instigate the youths to revolt and attack the granary to snatch food. It would also be a good opportunity for Lu Zheng to see Jiang Pengji being pressured into a terrible state. It was a pity that An Cui refused to listen. He had already been bewitched by Hua Yuan, the little b * tch!
"150,000 more mouths to feed out of thin air. How will there be enough food for our army?"
An Cui had previously annexed the various feudal lords of Nansheng and absorbed their military forces. The number of troops under his command was already very large.
The youths from the two prefectures that had just been absorbed had no combat experience. They were only there to wave the flag and shout battle cries, and at the same time, they were also there to give the enemy heads and experience.
However, Hua Yuan wanted to challenge Lu Zheng to a duel. Due to various disadvantages, Lu Zheng couldn't defeat him. His master, An Cui, was also greedy and couldn't bear to part with the youths. He was afraid that these youths would become Jiang Pengji's daggers against him, so he insisted on taking them home and digesting them himself.
Look, now you know the consequences of being too greedy and inconsiderate, right?
You've lifted a rock and dropped it on your own feet!
Lu Zheng felt a little stuffy in his chest, as if someone had stabbed him with a knife.
His lord, An Cui, used to be so reliable. Why did he become so arrogant after he became rich?
He could be arrogant if he wanted to, but he should at least wait until the dust settled on the enemy, right?
The enemy hadn't even knelt down, yet he was the first to lose his cool. Was he planning to give his head to Jiang Pengji?
Lu Zheng cursed in his heart, but he didn't know if he should say it.
"Lower your voice! Do you want to die? "
The man tugged at Lu Zheng's sleeve and warned him in a low voice.
He secretly raised his head and glanced in An Cui's direction. He realized that An Cui was looking in his direction. His pitch-black eyes were devoid of any emotion.
Under such a gaze, he couldn't help but shiver. He quickly lowered his head to avoid eye contact.
Lu Zheng tightened his grip on the reins and snorted coldly in a low voice.
"It's time for you to change your personality. It's not like you don't know the lord's temperament. If you insist on being stubborn, you'll be the one who suffers."
The onlooker sees the game more clearly than the person directly involved.
Why was An Cui close to Hua Yuan and distant from Lu Zheng?
It wasn't because Lu Zheng wasn't capable enough. It was clearly because Lu Zheng's temperament had made his lord, An Cui, unhappy for a long time!
He felt that …
Lu Zheng might be put in a difficult position again.
As it turned out, An Cui wasn't as petty as he thought.
Indeed, he didn't like Lu Zheng, but he wouldn't ignore the bigger picture and leave such a capable person like Lu Zheng to rot in a corner.
Now was the time to use people. Lu Zheng still had to use him when he needed to.
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