"Father, can they really transport that much grain over there?"
In North Sea City in the Northern Frontier, the Duke of Wei personally led his men to wait at the port of the North Sea, waiting for the grain that was about to be transported from the Grand Canal in Jiangnan!
"How would I know?" The Duke of Wei, with his thick eyebrows and large eyes, glared at his son. "I'm with you every day. Do you think I know more than you?"
Upon hearing this, the eldest son of the Duke of Wei gave a wry smile. He knew that his father's knowledge was limited, but the matter was so bizarre that he subconsciously asked the question.
About half a year ago, someone in the court, using some unknown means, persuaded the Kingdom of Guhuang to besiege the Northern Frontier. This was a blatant betrayal of their previously favorable situation, and their rear was almost lost. Although they reacted in time, defended Youyun, and drove the Kingdom of Guhuang's allied forces out of the Northern Frontier, the losses were enormous.
The largest granary was destroyed, and the newly planted grain was harvested. The army ran out of food, especially the noble families who were starving. The situation turned around instantly, and the imperial army pushed them all the way to the north of the Hetao. They were almost on the verge of collapse.
It was around that time that many grain merchants suddenly appeared in the south!
The grains those people sold were not only plentiful, but also of extremely high quality. Many of the grain varieties were completely unfamiliar to them, yet the cooked grains were far superior in both quantity and taste to ordinary refined rice and flour.
Thinking of this, the Duke of Wei took out a soft, white cake and started eating it.
The cakes were made from a type of soft rice, which was not only sweet but also incredibly filling. Ordinary bloodline members and martial artists of the Sixth Rank or above would eat at least five catties of rice per meal, and that was without adding water or cooking. But the grains produced in Jiangnan often only needed one-fifth of that to fill the soldiers' stomachs!
Not only did it last a long time, but even these advanced martial artists could clearly feel that the rice from Jiangnan had extremely strong nourishing effects on the body. After each meal and circulation of their blood, they could clearly feel that their bodies were nourished, which was even more effective than some high-grade medicinal herbs!
Such grain, flowing into the already food-scarce north, naturally sold very well.
The soldiers naturally dared not scare away the grain merchants, and they all swallowed their pride and sat down to negotiate. Most of the grain merchants preferred to exchange goods for goods and seemed less interested in gold and silver. Instead, they were more interested in horses, dried timber, and some fine iron ore.
After several collaborations, the amount of grain flowing from Jiangnan exceeded their expectations, and in the following months, they managed to stabilize their army's food supply problem!
It is precisely because of our multiple collaborations that we have been able to hold such large-scale negotiations!
Previous collaborations involved different grain merchants, and the partnerships were intermittent. While these collaborations were steady and long-term, they were inherently unsafe for them during a period of war.
So he discussed with several grain merchants about going for a big deal.
In the north, they used 100,000 horses, along with several tons of timber and refined iron ore, to exchange for grain in one go!
Faced with such a large transaction, the grain merchants did not refuse. Less than half a month after returning home, they wrote to say they agreed to the exchange, which completely baffled the Duke of Duke of Wei and several other military leaders.
Didn't Jiangnan suffer a great calamity?
Where did all this grain come from?
Filled with both doubt and excitement, the Duke of Wei personally led a large army to this place to conduct the largest transaction to date!
"Father, a ship is coming."
A young general riding Dragon Horse galloped over from afar, hurriedly dismounted, and exclaimed excitedly, "They've come as promised! So many ships have arrived!"
Looks like I wasn't just fooling them!
Duke of Wei's eyes lit up, and he quickly waved his hand, saying, "Everyone, follow! Don't expose yourselves at the dock, all of you, hide well!!"
"Father," the eldest son said with a wry smile, "Are you really going to rob us?"
"Nonsense, are you really going to trade horses for grain if we don't rob them?" Duke of Wei sneered. "If those grain merchants can really bring that much grain, they must have special supply routes. How could I let a few merchants control such a route forever? With such supply routes, we'll have more confidence to march on the capital!"
"We've been raising an army for a year now, and we have absolutely no intelligence on His Majesty's situation. We must speed things up. If we slow down any further, I fear His Majesty will..." The Duke of Wei squinted, recalling the pair of eyes he had seen in the imperial palace in the capital, and suddenly felt a chill.
His Majesty must be rescued, otherwise that demon may be beyond the reach of anyone in the world!
"Father, look at those ships, something seems off!" The eldest son of the Duke of Wei looked into the distance, then suddenly frowned, his expression turning serious. "These ships don't look like the imperial fleet!"
Upon hearing this, the Duke of Wei looked over and was immediately stunned.
"Damn, what a huge ship!!"
He had once commanded naval battles, and even he was utterly shocked by what he saw. Those towering, massive ships, like castles on the sea, were incredibly imposing. Compared to them, the Hei Yun of the imperial court looked like tiny chicks!
And it wasn't just the ships; the metal pipes loaded on those ships looked very dangerous.
"Father, look, there are soldiers on deck."
"Hmm," the Duke of Wei nodded, "Damn it, I knew it! If they could really provide so much grain, how could they be just some ordinary merchant?"
"These soldiers," the younger son, riding a horse beside him, looked even higher and exclaimed in surprise, "They look like..."
"They're elite!" the older man next to him nodded solemnly.
The ship was hundreds of meters away from the harbor, but they could all feel the vibrant energy of the soldiers standing on the deck. In terms of imposing presence, they were probably even stronger than the elite troops they had brought!
Bang bang bang!
Suddenly, several burly men on the deck leaped into the air and landed on the dock hundreds of meters away. Their imposing presence was astonishing. The leader's blood and energy were like a furnace, and even the Duke of Wei and his entourage were moved when they got close.
Above First Rank martial artist!!
"And who are you, sir?" Duke of Wei stepped forward and bowed, though a smile played on his lips, his muscles tensed and he became wary.
The burly man before them was no ordinary man. His body was filled with pure energy and his blood and qi were incredibly abundant. Such a young, Above First Rank martial artist was probably a rare sight in the entire Great Jin Dynasty. Even his eldest son was still a bit lacking in skill.
Although he was also Above First Rank, he was old after all, and in terms of vitality, he was probably inferior to the man in front of him!
"My name is Xu Hu!" the burly man grinned. "I have been ordered by my lord to complete this transaction with the Duke of Wei!"
"Who is your master?" Duke of Wei sized up the man, trying to guess his background.
The ship is filled with at Above First Rank tens of thousands of bloodline disciples, all of whom are of high quality, likely all at least Sixth Rank or higher.
When did such a force emerge at sea?
Is it Aolai Kingdom in the East Sea?
But the other party was clearly coming from the West Sea, and in his mind, the West Sea was full of small countries!
As for the Jiangnan they mentioned, haha, do they think they're fools?
"It is inconvenient to disclose the Lord's name, but the Lord greatly admires Duke of Wei." Xu Hu smiled and said, "Now that he knows Duke of Wei is in trouble, he has naturally mobilized the entire nation to prepare this grain."
As he spoke, he clapped his hands, and a figure in the distance suddenly threw a large bag of grain over.
The force of the throw was so great that when Xu Hu caught it from hundreds of meters away, the entire dock shook!
The Duke of Wei and his entourage were immediately startled; what incredible strength!
That short figure on the distant ship is no ordinary person; he's probably a martial artist of the Above First Rank!
With two Above First Rank martial artists and the elite troops on board, it seems unlikely that they can seize these resources by force today!
"Your Excellency, please take a look." Xu Hu opened the grain bag, revealing the bright white rice grains inside. "This is freshly unearthed soft rice. Take a look at the quality!"
Upon hearing this, Duke of Wei grabbed a handful himself, rubbed it, and found that the rice had a strong aroma, plump grains, and was crystal clear, with each grain about the size of a thumb. It was indeed of excellent quality!
He could feel it in his body; if this rice were cooked into porridge, one bowl would probably be equivalent to five bowls of regular dry rice.
"This is truly a fine product," the Duke of Wei, rubbing the rice grains together as he looked at the other party. If it weren't for the fact that the other party's strength was not to be underestimated, he would have really wanted to arrest everyone and interrogate them to find out exactly where the rice was produced!
Such high-quality rice! Judging from how they presented it, the yield must be quite high!
This is simply the very foundation of a nation!