RWNEFE -Chapter 287 Abu Khan Panics!

Was the Shen family really being granted a marquisate just like that?

That was a marquis we were talking about. If it were a man, the title would definitely be hereditary. The Shen family would be completely transformed, becoming a noble house from then on, with descendants born into a marquisate.

But the one being enfeoffed was, unfortunately, a woman.

Could this honor truly extend to the sons of the Shen family?

…

It was once again the annual harvest season. Leaving aside other regions, within Shen Lanxi’s jurisdiction it could truly be said to be a year of bumper harvest. Soldiers and civilians worked together to gather the grain, and everyone’s face was filled with the joy of abundance.

After Shen Lanxi arrived in the northwest, she vigorously developed water conservancy projects and promoted agriculture and animal husbandry according to local conditions. Very quickly, she began to reap the benefits of vast land with sparse population.

“General, thank goodness for the improved farm tools. Otherwise, with so much grain, there’s no way it could’ve been brought out of storage this fast!” Che Mingyuan said with a smile brighter than ever.

Since ancient times, many great heroes and powerful figures had risen through military farming. Even after expanding their power, they never forgot cultivation. That was because they all came from humble origins and understood the consequences of having no food.

But their general hadn’t been born into poverty. Why, then, did she value military farming so much—and even understand its many key principles?

Truly strange, truly baffling!

Shen Lanxi said, “Even though it isn’t spring now, there are still many plants that can be cultivated.”

This wasn’t said to Che Mingyuan, but to Liu Yanhui standing nearby.

“In the northwest, spring, autumn, and winter all have fierce winds and sandstorms. Planting trees in sandy soil can stabilize the ground, improve the soil, and retain moisture. After a few years, when the trees grow thick, the sandy land can be turned into arable farmland.”

Liu Yanhui nodded. “The Qinglong Lake water diversion project is already two-thirds complete. We’re diverting water while also making use of the land along both sides of the canals. So far, over eight hundred mu of vegetable fields have been opened up along the canals. There are also thirty sunken vegetable pits for winter planting and thirty pits for growing mushrooms. Ten heated sheds are used for fattening and hatching chickens, ducks, and geese, as well as pigsties and cattle sheds…”

Listening nearby, Ban Sicao felt his head spinning. He had never imagined that a commander-in-chief would concern herself with so many things besides fighting wars.

By now, he had followed Shen Lanxi on countless inspections of vegetable sheds, countless chicken, duck, goose, cattle, sheep, and pig pens. He had seen her plow fields, plant vegetables, assist cows during calving, and observe breeding among stud pigs…

Tsk—raising so many soldiers was truly no easy task!

People always said starting an enterprise was easy while maintaining it was hard. With Shen Lanxi, it had become: recruiting soldiers was easy, but feeding them was hard.

If this had been that foolish imperial prince, he probably would’ve been scared off long ago by the sheer number of soldiers opening their mouths to eat every day.

Although Liu Yanhui’s report was detailed, Shen Lanxi still spotted a problem.

“What about the feed? The feed I had you prepare earlier—has it been made?” If livestock only ate chaff and leaves, they wouldn’t gain weight, and chickens, ducks, and geese wouldn’t increase their egg production.

Liu Yanhui nearly fumbled his reply, but fortunately there had already been feedback on this issue.

“The livestock officials have produced soybean cake feed and tested it specifically on chickens and ducks. Both egg production and egg size have increased significantly!” The first time Liu Yanhui reported this, his face had turned red.

After a while, he didn’t even have time to blush anymore. In the past, a chicken’s egg was only slightly bigger than a quail egg. Now, a single egg was twice as large as before. Previously, a chicken laid one egg every two or three days; now it laid eggs daily. Before, a hen’s monthly egg output couldn’t even sell for ten wen. Now, the eggs from a single chicken could sell for six or seven hundred wen a month.

One chicken alone could earn that much—and they were raising six or seven thousand. Just thinking about the daily income was staggering!

After calculating this, Liu Yanhui no longer dared to look down on farmers and livestock keepers.

“The feed formula has also been finalized. It uses powdered pig bones, fish bones, and shells, mixed with corn cobs and chaff to make fodder. Over the course of a month, cattle and sheep eating this feed gain six or seven jin more than those that don’t.”

Shen Lanxi nodded in satisfaction. The infrastructure for supporting the army had finally caught up.

Next, they needed to focus on stability—maintaining this state and extending it over time, letting logistics and the military camps advance together and grow stronger.

…

The annual grain harvest season was always when the foreign tribes were most restless.

After several years of warfare, Great Zhou had completely cut off mutual trade with the three tribes. The salt they now consumed was purchased at high prices from other foreign groups.

As for cloth, sugar, tea, and medicinal herbs—if they didn’t successfully negotiate peace with Great Zhou and reopen trade routes soon, the ones who would suffer were the three tribes themselves.

Regarding trade routes and markets, the three tribes, led by Abu Khan, had held talks countless times.

Every time, what began with joy and hope ended in unpleasant separation. At the root of it all was money.

Persia was willing to provide the Turks with salt and cloth, but at exorbitant prices. Likewise, the Turks were willing to supply Persia and the Tatars with hides and dried meat, also at sky-high rates. The Tatars, who had planted vast areas of highland barley, wanted to sell it to the other two tribes and were holding out for high prices. None of the three sides would yield, and none wanted to barter goods directly, leading to a stalemate that continued to this day.

During these years of war, the Turks had suffered far greater losses than the other two tribes. Because of their prolonged confrontation with Great Zhou, failed peace talks, and lack of benefits gained from Zhou, Abu Khan’s prestige within the Turkic realm had begun to decline.

Recently, opposition to Abu Khan had grown even louder, to the point where voices in the court began calling for resistance to the Empress Dowager’s regency and demanding that she return power to a Turkic prince.

When Abu Khan received news from the royal court, he panicked and summoned his subordinates for an emergency meeting overnight.

The next day, Turkic envoys once again sought out Che Mingyuan.

Che Mingyuan went off yet again to negotiate with the three Turkic tribes.

“How many times has this been now?” Xiao Fang folded his arms and shook his head as he watched Che Mingyuan leave.

He really couldn’t understand these scholar-strategists. What was there to negotiate?

Over and over again, it was just the same issue, endlessly arguing around it. What was the point?

If they had the guts, they should just fight it out!

Qian Feng laughed. “Be a little patient. Do you think battles between armies are really that simple?”

Xiao Fang had accompanied Shen Lanxi to inspect the logistics before, so of course he knew that war wasn’t as simple as those two words made it sound.

He was just impatient!

“I figure I’ll only ever be good for charging into battle and killing enemies!”

Qian Feng patted his shoulder. “Wars will end sooner or later. Once they’re over, who will you fight then?”

Xiao Fang: “…”

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, several months passed. On the day of the Winter Solstice, Abu Khan suddenly sent envoys, offering to return the occupied cities on the condition that trade with Great Zhou be restored.

Che Mingyuan immediately reiterated the additional terms and easily dismissed the Turkic envoys.

After that, envoys from both sides went back and forth like a kicked ball. Finally, as the year-end approached, the three tribes made concessions.

The Turks agreed to return the occupied cities, send back the abducted Great Zhou civilians and slaves from other tribes, and compensate Great Zhou with twenty thousand taels of silver and two thousand head of cattle and sheep. At the same time, they—put forward one condition.

“General, the Turks want to sign a ten-year peace treaty with Great Zhou, and they also want Great Zhou to support the Eighteenth Prince’s bid for the throne!” Che Mingyuan unrolled the scroll of terms and placed it in front of Shen Lanxi.

“According to our scouts, there was a coup in the Turkic royal court some time ago. The Empress Dowager has been claiming illness ever since, and three princes have already died!”

Wei Dongzhu said, “No wonder Abu Khan is so eager—turns out something’s gone wrong inside the Turks!”