Qi Dongjia and his group went straight to the third floor, chose a private room with a view of the river, and sat down. They casually ordered a few dishes, waited for them to be served, and waved the waiter away. Only then did Qi Dongjia retract his gaze from the rolling water outside, and said to everyone, "Everyone, we have to hurry up with the harvest. Otherwise, when others find the opportunity, the money will …"
Boss Qi didn't finish his sentence, but everyone knew what he meant. If they couldn't harvest enough, they wouldn't get enough money.
Someone sitting next to Boss Qi asked worriedly, "Boss Qi, what if we can't sell the grain after we harvest it? The autumn harvest is in a few days. Usually, we should slow down the harvest. "
"After the autumn harvest, we will continue to harvest. Are you afraid that I don't have enough money?" Boss Qi didn't have any room for negotiation.
"That's not it. The money that Boss Qi is putting out is enough to harvest the grain of several states this year. I'm just worried that it won't be easy to sell." The person who spoke just now kindly reminded him.
Boss Qi put on a mysterious smile and said, "Of course it won't be easy to sell the grain, but I have a method to turn the grain into something else. When the time comes, I will have to rely on you."
"Well said, well said. Since Boss Qi has a plan, we will harvest enough grain. As for the higher-ups investigating …"
"If someone investigates, I will do my best. Don't worry, I have already arranged everything. After we harvest the grain, we will all be rich together. Come, drink." Boss Qi said confidently to everyone. He raised his cup and drank with everyone.
*****
Zhang Zhong was still fishing by the river. He didn't catch a single big fish, only a few small fish. He estimated that four people's fish would be enough to make fish soup for the little ones. If they wanted to eat braised fish, they would have to wait until they were big enough.
Old Man Pi changed the bait once. With a shake of his wrist, he threw the hook into the river. He looked at the children bathing upstream and said to Zhang Zhong, "Yongcheng, since we are going to fish together, shouldn't we go upstream?"
"Lord Bi, you must be joking. It's just a fish, so there's no need to go so far. The middle reaches will do. There should be some children in the middle reaches who can't resist the temptation and help the fish hide. They might even release the fish that is hooked. Lord Bi, you just need to control the children in the middle reaches. I'll do the work in the lower reaches."
Zhang Zhong said to Old Man Bi as he retracted his pole and pinched the hook in his hand. The bait had been eaten and the fish had not been caught.
Old Man Pi looked at Zhang Zhong in surprise. When did Zhang Zhong learn to speak like this? Moreover, from their words, it could be heard that the Zhang family didn't care at all this time. They seemed to be very confident. Could it be that the Tubo people were so easy to deal with? Or could it be that the ability of the master of the Zhang family had reached an unfathomable level?
Zhang Zhong seemed to have seen through Old Man Pi's thoughts and said, "This time, Xiao Bao will be in charge. It's time for him to train. It's just that the Shuiyun is flying here and there. I'm afraid that it will delay the battle over there. When the other hunters come over, send a few more. Although they can't be compared to the Shuiyun, they can still help to check the enemy's situation."
"Xiao Bao? He's in charge? Could it be …? " Old Man Pi was shocked. He was worried that something had happened to the master of the Zhang family. Did he feel that he couldn't do it and wanted to test Cuckoo and Xiao Bao in advance? Once the two kids succeed, the expert can rest assured and leave.
This wouldn't do. The master had done a lot for the Tang Empire. No matter what, he had to have a title and be conferred a title. Moreover, he hadn't met the master yet. Even if he met him once, it would be fine.
Zhang Zhong understood the meaning behind Old Man Pi's words and sighed in his heart. How could there be a master? The masters of the Zhang Family and Wang Family had all gone to the front line. If there really was a master, why would Xiao Bao be in charge from so far away? He had to fight with Cuckoo and take care of this place at the same time. Only Xiao Bao and Cuckoo could do this. If it were someone else, even an adult wouldn't be able to bear it, let alone a child.
Old Man Pi saw that Zhang Zhong didn't want to continue, so he had to change the topic. He asked, "Half of the Yongcheng family's inner court has gone to Pengzhou. Do you still need more people?"
"Yes, but the people in Lord Bi and Lord Yao's family are not enough. This time, we need to transfer people from Sanshui County. Mi Fan and Han Xuanfeng are urgently transferred over. Together with Xu Si, the three of them are enough to deal with the Tibetans."
Zhang Zhong didn't expect that in his son's letter, he would ask for those two people to be transferred over. What was the use of those two people?
Old Man Pi knew of Xu Si. Back then, he was in charge of setting the price at the market beside the Wang Family's river. In the past, the Ge Family was a very ordinary farmer in Zhuangzi. He wasn't valued by the Ge Family. However, when it came to the Zhang Family, it was different. He never did anything that was assigned to him. The Zhang Family's ability to judge people was also extraordinary.
Today, the two people that were transferred over through the military station were perhaps the other trump cards of the Zhang Family, just like Zhang Ying and Zhang Lang. Who would have thought that the two people sent by Song Jinggong would be so powerful? Not to mention searching for people, just the two of them, two dogs, and one eagle were able to find Xiao Bao and Cuckoo. They actually killed 290 Tibetans and seized 285 horses.
Looking at the situation, the other two people were also transferred over at the crucial time. Otherwise, why didn't they transfer Song Jinggong? Song Jinggong was in charge of a region, so there was no doubt about his ability. Who knew how many more people like him the Zhang Family had that hadn't been revealed. They were really well-hidden.
Old Man Yao listened at the side. What he was most concerned about was whether this mission was really controlled by Xiao Bao from a distance. If they really won, when Xiao Bao and Cuckoo returned, would they continue to be idle like they had nothing to do, or would they be given actual positions?
Xiao Bao and Cuckoo were second-level nominal positions, one for civil affairs and one for military affairs. Zhang Zhong's position should also be raised. Otherwise, it wouldn't be right for an adult to have a lower position than his nine-year-old son.
Old Man Yao thought about it and really couldn't understand at the moment. He might as well let others worry about it. He asked Zhang Zhong, "Yongcheng, when will the real fishing begin? It's better to have a detailed plan. "
"We'll start right away. I'll give you the plan later. Xiao Bao has already done it. Please help me take a look and see if there's anything missing. The child is still young, so he might not have thought it through."
Zhang Zhong's goal was achieved, so he didn't want to fish anymore. He put away his pole and left. He even said a few words of modesty for his son. He didn't believe that the three old men would be able to see any problems with his son's plan. He had already looked at it, but he didn't understand it. He would have to wait for the next plan to come back.
Two pigeons spread their wings and flew towards the capital to get Mi Fan and Han Xuanfeng. When they passed by the capital, they had to ask if anything had happened in the imperial court. There probably weren't any rewards, so those people were too stingy.
*****
The sky gradually darkened, and the wind grew stronger.
Wang Juan went to observe the terrain last night. She didn't find any good ideas. The two tribes of Tubo actually kept a little distance from each other. They didn't even send out scouts. They just followed the traces left behind. If they wanted to attack, it was like facing a turtle. They couldn't find a place to attack.
Wang Juan didn't want to use less than ten thousand people to charge head-on. Although she hoped that others would use normal methods to fight, she didn't like it. There were too many people who died in a head-on battle. Unless they were forced to the point of no return, they could only face the enemy head-on. Otherwise, she preferred to plan slowly.
She would eat a little bit at a time. When she ate more than enough, it would be enough. She would use guerilla warfare to fight. Of course, at this time, if there were dozens of large copper cannons on the naval gunboats, she would dare to attack the Tubo cavalry under the cover of the cannons. With the cannons moving forward and the cavalry's speed, it would be too easy for them to charge at the infantry.
Now that the sky had darkened and the wind had gotten stronger, Wang Juan went to observe the terrain again. Opportunity. Any change in the weather was an opportunity for the troops in battle. It just depended on whether they could grasp it.
According to their current speed, they would arrive at the desert in four days. Wang Juan stood on a very small hill and observed the terrain. Zhang Xiaobao squatted beside her and dug for wild vegetables. There weren't many wild vegetables in the autumn, but it couldn't be compared to the ones in the spring. Zhang Xiaobao said more than once that if it was spring, he could make a small root vegetable for Wang Juan. It would taste very fresh with 'cat's ear' soup.
Wang Juan looked for a while and was very disappointed. The hill was too short, and it was difficult to grasp the overall situation. She turned her head and shouted to Zhang Ying, who was at the foot of the hill, "Call Shui Yun over. Catch me and take me to the sky to have a look."
Zhang Ying was a little worried, but he still made a net with a leather rope and sent it to Wang Juan. He let Wang Juan put it on, tied a piece of wood to the leather rope, and called Shui Yun to catch her.
Shui Yun was indeed obedient and did what it was told. It didn't know how it communicated with Zhang Ying, but it flew up and slowly swooped down to catch Wang Juan. Wang Juan held the binoculars in one hand and grabbed Shui Yun's foot with the other. She was afraid that Shui Yun would be happy and let go of its claws.
One person and one eagle flew up and hovered high in the sky. Wang Juan's field of vision widened, and she looked left and right happily. After a while, she put away the binoculars, took out a piece of cloth from her body, and threw it out. Zhang Ying saw the cloth and whistled. Shui Yun slowly swooped down again. When Wang Juan's foot was about to touch the ground, it let go of its claws. Wang Juan rolled forward with the force, jumped up and said to Zhang Xiaobao, "It's flying.
"They're flying. How satisfying. If I were to raise a hundred of these eagles, wouldn't I be able to form an aerial unit?"
"I think that if we can find a way to find more than a hundred Shui Yun, it's better to spend the energy on research. Maybe we can even build an airplane. Have you thought of how to scheme against people?"
Zhang Xiaobao looked at the Shui Yun that had landed on Zhang Ying's shoulder and was rubbing its head against his face. He dispelled Wang Juan's unrealistic fantasy.
"I thought of it. It's going to rain, and the traces on the ground will be obvious when it rains. We were prepared and knew in advance that we were going to the desert, so we brought a lot of supplies. There are 40,000 people in Tubo, and they didn't steal as many horses as we did. How much food can they bring with them? Didn't you want to use salt to pickle vegetables? Now we have it. "
Wang Juan patted the dust on her body and said to Zhang Xiaobao.
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