The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 452 No one is allowed to eat

Yue Fei led his men up the mountain. After taking only a few steps up the slope, he gave orders: "Yao Zheng, you lead three hundred men to hold this place first. If the pseudo-Song forces intend to attack the mountain, you should fire arrows to defend against them while shouting loudly to alert the people on the mountain."

Yao Zheng: "Understood!"

Yue Yun said in a low voice, "This is unnecessary."

Yue Fei: "What did you say? Say it again!"

Yue Yun was terrified and quickly shut up.

Yue Fei continued upwards, taking a few more steps: "Xu Qing, you lead three hundred men to guard this place."

Xu Qing: "Understood!"

Yue Yun covered his mouth and remained silent.

Yue Fei had 400 men left, along with several fierce generals such as Zhang Xian, Gao Chong, and Yang Zaixing, and they continued up the mountain.

The mountain path was steep. As they walked, a soldier slipped and accidentally stepped into the field beside him. He swayed and was about to fall, and it looked like he would crush a stalk of corn. Suddenly, Yue Yun leaped to the side and darted to the man's side at lightning speed. He reached out and helped him stand up straight, complaining, "Walk carefully. If you crush a stalk of corn, we'll suffer a huge loss."

The soldier gave an awkward smile.

Yue Fei's attention, however, shifted to the corn. He turned to look at the corn, which had grown to almost the height of a person: "This is the new crop you mentioned, corn?"

Yue Yun nodded: "We planted them in early July, and now it's the end of September. We've been planting them for over eighty days, and the harvest is just around the corner. We can't damage them now."

Yue Fei was greatly surprised: "It's only been eighty-odd days and the harvest is almost here?"

Yue Yun quickly began to show off, "Hehehe, Father, you don't know this, but this crop called corn, if not for long-term storage and just for eating young, only needs 70 to 90 days to harvest. That means it can actually be harvested now, but the harvested corn is called tender corn and must be eaten immediately; it cannot be stored. If you delay harvesting it for a few more days, to 100 to 120 days, it becomes more resistant to storage. Of course, late harvesting carries the risk of lodging, which might affect the yield... Oh dear, it's quite complicated, and I've been studying it diligently lately."

Yue Fei: "!!!"

Father sent you here to guard this place and prevent the puppet Song dynasty from coming, not to learn farming.

Yue Fei was furious.

Just as he was getting angry, Yue Yun reached out and broke off a few tender corn cobs from the side, handing them to the soldiers beside him: "Quickly cook them and let Father and the generals have a taste."

The soldier quickly grabbed the corncobs and went to the kitchen...

Yue Fei: "..."

Seeing that he was already getting a little red and his anger meter was about to be full, Zhang Xian quickly stepped in to mediate: "Marshal, don't rush to blame your nephew. Let's taste the corn first."

Zhang Xian had followed Yue Fei in battle since he was young and was one of Yue Fei's most trusted generals. Since he came out to plead for Yue Fei, Yue Fei took the opportunity to back down and snorted, "If this corn is unreliable, see how I deal with you."

The group wandered through the mountain stronghold. The military stronghold was like an agricultural cooperative. Corn was planted in every corner of the stronghold. Walking through it was like walking through a field. The soldiers' tents were surrounded by cornfields.

Even the area beneath the arrow tower is covered in corn...

Yue Yun: "The chicken farm is just ahead!"

Yue Fei looked up and saw a very spacious wooden house in front of him, which was even more magnificent than the central command hall. Large tree trunks were neatly arranged together to form wooden walls, and just by looking at its outer walls, one could tell that the interior was extremely spacious.

Yue Fei: "You built such a big house just to raise chickens?"

Yue Yun: "Don't be fooled by the size of the house; each chicken's cage is tiny! Reducing the chickens' exercise is the only way to make them fatten up quickly. As Young Master Yue across from me said, this kind of chicken can also be called 'fat-house chicken.'"

Yue Fei: "What kind of nonsense have you been learning lately?" He scolded his son as he walked into the chicken farm...

As soon as I entered, I was shocked by the scene before me. Rows and rows of chicken coops were neatly arranged in the factory. These chicken coops were all made of wood, each one square and similar in size, and each coop contained one or several chickens.

Looking around, hundreds of chickens were clucking in two rows of cages, a truly spectacular sight.

The noise of so many people entering the chicken farm startled everyone inside. Suddenly, a burly man leaped out from the far end of the chicken coop, shouting, "Who? Who's sneaking into the chicken farm to steal chickens? I told you long ago, no eating! Nobody's allowed to eat them! All these chickens are to be bred into breeding stock, then the chickens will lay eggs, the eggs will hatch into more chickens, the chickens will lay more eggs, the eggs will hatch into more chickens... Hahahahaha..."

Yue Fei: "Dong Xian? What are you doing?"

It turned out that the man was Dong Xian. He shouted a few strange words, and when he looked closely, he realized that the person who came was Yue Fei. He quickly put away his fierce expression and said awkwardly, "Oh, the Marshal is here! I thought those good-for-nothing gluttons in the army were here to steal my chickens again."

Yue Yun: "Uncle Dong, our breeding chickens are increasing every day. We already have several hundred breeding chickens. It should be almost time to start eating some broiler chickens, right?"

Dong Xian: "No way! A few hundred breeding chickens are not enough. We need at least five thousand, no, ten thousand breeding chickens. Kids are short-sighted and don't think long-term. If you eat the chickens that lay eggs, there will be no chickens or eggs left in the future."

Yue Yun: "..."

Yue Fei: "..."

An eerie silence lasted for several seconds.

Zhang Xian quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Dong Xian, what are you doing? The Marshal sent you to assist the Young General in resisting the puppet Song, how did you end up like this?"

Dong Xian: "Ah! The people of the Northern Song Dynasty are all good. Why fight? We've fought wars our whole lives. It's rare to run into good people on the other side. Let's take this opportunity to enjoy ourselves."

Yue Fei covered his forehead...

Zhang Xian, Gao Chong, Yang Zaixing, Wang Gui, and others all covered their foreheads...

Dong Xian: "Since the marshal is here, let's make an exception today and bring some chickens for everyone to eat."

He spoke with great enthusiasm, but his face showed deep reluctance. He reluctantly took a few chickens that were just 40 days old from the cage and handed them to the soldiers: "Go and prepare these chickens so that the marshal can have a taste of these 40-day-old fat chickens."

Yue Fei didn't know how to complain anymore. Oh well, even Dong Xian, you're doing this too, right?

Yue Yun's behavior can be dismissed as childish and naive.

Dong Xian echoed this sentiment, but Yue Fei became more cautious: "Do you really trust the pseudo-Song regime so much?"

Before Dong Xian could say anything...

Suddenly, a soldier rushed in and said quickly, "Marshal! Gong Yi, the Privy Councilor of the Pseudo-Song Kingdom, already knows you have arrived and would like to meet you in the valley to discuss some matters concerning the border."

In the Song Dynasty's official system, the Privy Councilor was the top military officer.

Although the Northern Song Dynasty was called a "pseudo" Song, the personal invitation from such a high-ranking official as the Privy Councilor was still quite significant.

Yue Fei's official position in the Southern Song Dynasty was not as high as that of Gong Erniangzi in the Northern Song Dynasty.

He frowned slightly: "When?"

Soldier: "It's evening."

Yue Fei: "Alright, agree to her request. I want to see just who this Privy Councilor of the pseudo-Song Kingdom really is."

(End of this chapter)