Feng Yu Heng's research on the geography of this era was not very thorough. First, she had not taken the initiative to understand it, and second, there were no complete maps of this era. For example, in the desert, no one could say for sure how many countries there were, but people had discovered ten. As for the depths of the desert, it was unknown whether or not there were still countries in the places that could not be reached by human power.
According to Li Zhu, aside from Gu Shu, the other ten small countries in the desert were: Wulan, Xiaomi, Yi Lou, Weidu, Xi Yue, Huxiu, Wennai, Jushi, Guishan, and Nanwan. Their names were rather rare, and they were like the thirty-six countries of the Western Regions that were discovered by archaeologists in the future. Although they were all in the desert, they were not in the same direction.
None of these ten small countries were large. Li Zhu had gone to a few of them before. The largest was only a province in Dashun, and the smallest was a province. Each country depended on an oasis to survive, and it could be considered rich. These countries formed an alliance, but in reality, they could not send out too many soldiers. According to Li Zhu's calculations, it would be quite good if the ten countries could gather two hundred thousand soldiers. However, Gu Shu alone had three hundred thousand soldiers. Calculating it like this, it was nearly twice as many as Dashun's army in the South.
Li Zhu was a bit worried about this battle. He said to Feng Yu Heng: "The South is especially hot. Not to mention wearing armor, even if you are bare-chested, you will still feel unbearably hot. This is the most difficult hurdle for General Dashun. On the other hand, the people in the desert had become accustomed to that sort of climate. Relatively speaking, the South was a bit cooler than the desert. That was why they were able to fight with ease, and they were able to force Da Shun into dire straits without much effort. Earlier, when His Highness the eighth prince conquered the South, to be honest, the battle was won, but the price was too great. This subordinate always felt that it was not worth it. The lives of so many brothers were sacrificed to obtain the South. There is nothing to be proud of. "
Li Zhu had a lot of complaints about the Eighth Prince, but what he said was fair. Feng Yu Heng could naturally understand the reasoning behind it. Right now, the problem she was most worried about was the one hundred thousand soldiers of Zhou.
It had to be said that the soldiers of Dashun were able to endure the weather in the South. After all, the capital also had Summers, and there were also times when it was so hot that they could not breathe; however, Qian Zhou had Winters all year round. They had been born in Qian Zhou and had grown up in Qian Zhou. They had also joined the army in Qian Zhou and began their military training. Everything had been carried out in the cold. To suddenly be moved to such a hot place in the South, the 100 thousand people definitely would not be able to endure it.
Survival might be a problem, let alone war.
Seeing her frown, Li Zhu did not say anything more and got up to leave. Recently, the county had recruited a lot of new soldiers, and they were all trained by him. The city defense of Ji 'an County was also being set up bit by bit. It was very busy.
Feng Yu Heng thought that other than military supplies and provisions, she had to quickly think of a way to deal with the intense heat. At the very least, she could not let the hundreds of thousands of Zhou soldiers lose their ability to fight. Even if she had the most advanced weapons, aside from the hundreds of thousands of Zhou soldiers, Xuan Tianming had brought less than 20 thousand Dashun soldiers. The disparity was truly too great.
For the first time, she began to feel anxious about the battle in the South. The weather was a critical factor. Even in the modern era, there was no good way to deal with it. They could only rely on the soldiers' physical fitness to endure. But the battles of the ancient era were much more difficult than those of the modern era. The battle lines were also longer. It was fine for a short period of time, but staying in the South for a long period of time would be a particularly large loss for Xuan Tianming's army.
It seemed that her plan to head to the South would need to be brought forward. At the same time, she would need to prepare some more medicine and tea to deal with the heat. In such a hot place, with so many people, not to mention not being able to supply ice, even if she could supply ice, it would not solve the problem. It would melt upon contact with the sun, and it could not be used at all. The battle had to be resolved quickly. She had a certain degree of confidence that she could quickly deal with the enemy, but she was afraid that the 300 thousand soldiers in the South would secretly make trouble for her and harm her own people.
In Ji 'an County, Feng Yu Heng had already begun to prepare the military supplies and provisions. At the same time, she was clearing the surrounding mountains of Ji' an County and having people plant all kinds of commonly used herbs. A portion of these herbs could be sold by Hundred Herb Hall itself, but they could also be sold wholesale to medical centers in other places. For the people of the county and Yu Zhou, this was a good place to work.
Nowadays, as long as it was Princess Ji 'an's work, everyone would like to do it. This was because the wages were high and the benefits were good. Most importantly, everything Princess Ji 'an did was beneficial to the country and the people. If she did it well, everyone would benefit.
At the same time, the people who had been sent to the capital to file a complaint had been recommended by the Seventh Prince, Xuan Tianhua, to kneel in front of the Heavenly Hall and expose the Eighth Prince's evil deeds in front of everyone. When the complaint of a thousand people was handed to Emperor Tianwu, the old Emperor was so angry that his entire body trembled.
He suddenly threw the complaint in front of the Eighth Prince's face and shouted, "Who gave you the right to use the lives of the people for your own personal gain?"
Xuantian Mo quickly knelt, but refused to admit it. He insisted that he had been harmed by evil people. He pointed at the people who had come to file a complaint and loudly asked, "How much money did your master give you? You dare to slander I like this? "
Those people did not hesitate. Looking at their former master's face, they were so angry that their lungs were about to explode, "You are our master!" Someone replied, "Money? Our own son's life was lost. Do you think that we would give up on our own son for the sake of slandering you? Your Highness the Eighth Prince, in the past, we trusted you and obeyed your orders, but in the end, what did we get in return? In return, you killed the donkey after it had outlived its usefulness and even killed the donkey's child! Today, even if we have to risk our lives, we will expose your crimes in front of His Majesty and seek justice for the souls buried in the jade mine! "
After saying this, these people shouted to the Emperor: "We beg His Majesty to investigate clearly!"
Tianwu placed great importance on this case. After all, the mine disaster was considered a disaster. He immediately had the Board of Punishments take over this case. The current Minister of Punishments was the former governor, Xu Jingyuan. Upon hearing that something had happened in Ji 'an Prefecture, Xu Jingyuan's face sank. Glaring at the Eighth Prince, he snorted and went forward to receive the order. He then said: "Then would the Eighth Prince please come to the Board of Punishments for some tea after morning court is dismissed!"
Xuantian Mo flicked his sleeve and said with an unkind expression: "Then would Lord Xu please be a little more efficient in handling this case. Do not delay I from arranging the supplies for the battle in the South. That is an important matter and cannot be delayed."
Xu Jingyuan nodded, "Your Highness the Eighth Prince's words are reasonable. Since both sides are equally important, how about we ask His Majesty to send someone else to take over the task of transporting the supplies! The Eighth Prince's crimes have yet to be determined. Thinking about it, he is not suited for the task of transporting the supplies. "
Xuantian Mo's eyes were practically on fire, but Xu Jingyuan was not afraid of him in the slightest. In addition to this, the seventh prince, Xuan Tianhua, also said: "Transporting the supplies is an important matter. Father Emperor, please reconsider."
Emperor Tianwu nodded and looked around. In the end, his gaze landed on the second prince. In the end, the task of transporting the supplies to the South fell to the second prince, Xuan Tianling!
For the capital, the third day of the fourth month was the time when Spring came and flowers bloomed. It was the time of year when the weather was the best. But for the South, all four seasons were scorching hot. There was no longer any distinction between seasons.
In Lan Zhou's Feng manor, Fu Ya sat in her own courtyard and ate the fruits that the prefect's wife had sent over. She drank some sour plum soup that had been made from ice cubes that had been hidden in the cellar, but she still felt that the heat was unbearable, and her heart was extremely dry.
Yao shi could not bear to see her daughter suffer, thus she called for four maidservants to form a circle and fan Fu Ya. She also pulled out a handkerchief and repeatedly wiped away the sweat on Fu Ya's forehead. At the same time, she advised: "Bear with it a little longer. If it really is no good, we won't be living in Lan Zhou anymore, right? As long as you and mother are together, it will be the same no matter where we live. "
Fu Ya helplessly shook her head, "It's fine, mother. I can still bear with it." This was not a question of whether they could bear it or not. They did not come to the Southern Border to pass their days. They were here to carry out a mission for the Eighth Prince. Only by carrying out this mission brilliantly and seeing the results would they be able to obtain some benefits from the Eighth Prince in the future. Once the Eighth Prince was able to successfully take care of the Ninth Prince and Feng Yu Heng, she would truly become Princess Ji An. In this life, she would be able to live a life of riches and honor without any worries.
A servant quickly came over from the front yard to report: "Imperial Daughter, the medicine merchant that opened Hundred Herb Hall with you, Fang Ru Jiang, has come again. He's right at the entrance. No matter what, he wants to see you."
Yao shi frowned upon hearing this: "Wasn't it told you to announce to the outside that Heng Zheng had caught a heat stroke and would not see anyone? Why is it that that person is so ungrateful? "
The servant that came to report said: "The news has been spread, but that person is carrying medicine in his hand. He said that he has come to help Imperial Daughter relieve the heat."
Fu Ya angrily smashed the cup of sour plum juice and suddenly stood up. Yao shi thought that she was going to see someone and quickly tidied her clothes; however, Fu Ya said: "Mother, sit for a while. Daughter will go and speak with father." After saying this, she quickly headed toward Feng Jin Yuan's study.
Yao shi looked at Fu Ya's back, and for some reason, her heart felt empty. It was as though this daughter would be leaving her very quickly. She was clearly right in front of her, but she could not hold on to her. The feeling of growing further and further away from Feng Yu Heng in the capital surged forth once more, and Yao shi was extremely worried.
Feng Jin Yuan also received news that Fang Ru Jiang had come to the manor from his study. Seeing Fu Ya hastily come over, he helplessly said: "If there's truly no other way, just meet him! Hundred Herb Hall has been open for a while, and you've been avoiding it the entire time. Yesterday, father was walking around the streets and heard quite a few citizens discussing it. There were people saying that the Hundred Herb Hall that Princess Ji 'an opened in Lan Zhou was too different from the one in the capital. No matter how one looked at it, it looked like a fake. Father was thinking that it was time to make an appearance to reassure the people. Lord Ji also sent someone to the Hundred Herb Hall out of the province to buy that special medicine. I trust that he will be back before long. "
There was nothing that Fu Ya could do. She could only follow Feng Jin Yuan to the front yard and receive Fang Ru Jiang in the hall.
That person was very polite when he saw Fu Ya. Hearing that she had caught a heat stroke, he asked about her for a while and brought over some medicine to deal with the heat stroke. But when the medicine was placed on the table, Fang Ru Jiang said: "These are all things that need to be made into a medicinal soup. Thinking about it, Imperial Daughter will not eat this sort of medicine. Our Hundred Herb Hall's good medicine ran out a few days ago, and Imperial Daughter has not gone to Hundred Herb Hall ever since it opened. Recently, the citizens have been gathering at Hundred Herb Hall to cause a ruckus. That's why this lowly one came this time in hopes that Imperial Daughter would come to Hundred Herb Hall to sit for a while. Secondly, I hope that Imperial Daughter can replenish the missing medicine. After all, our Hundred Herb Hall's reputation is built on those special medicines. What do you think? "
Fu Ya facepalmed and felt a headache …
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