The Prodigal Son

That evening, Yan Li ate with the soldiers in the army camp.

He was eating the same food that soldiers in the army usually ate.

It's just millet rice with some pickled vegetables.

Moreover, this millet rice has a strange taste.

It has a slightly musty smell, but more of a herbal aroma.

The taste wasn't too bad, but it gave off a strange feeling.

It's like eating while drinking a refreshing soup.

The only consolation is that the corn rice is dry!

Wang Sengyuan originally wanted to add some other dishes for him, but Yan Li refused.

Since he was eating like that, his entourage had no choice but to eat along with him.

Yan Li quickly finished the millet rice and pickled vegetables in her bowl, put down her chopsticks, and asked Wang Sengyuan, "Is this the old grain we bought from Daning?"

"yes!"

Wang Sengyuan nodded slightly, muttering under his breath, "The Ning people are really no good; more than half of the grain they sell to our dynasty is old grain..."

So what if it's old grain? These are people who have all gone hungry. If the price were lower, they wouldn't complain.

But damn it, all the old grain in Ningren is priced the same as new grain!

Millet, sorghum, and wheat are a bit better.

But almost all of the rice was old grain!

Some of these are estimated to be grains that have been stored for more than two years!

The longer these grains are stored, the stronger the musty smell becomes, and it can't be washed off no matter how you wash it.

That's why they added some herbal juice to the water when cooking rice.

It can mask most of the musty smell and also has a slight cooling effect.

This period is also the rainy season.

Some of the grains that were already old had an even stronger musty smell.

They don't usually eat dry food every day, but recently there's been too much leftover grain, so they've started eating leftover grain to their heart's content.

If they don't eat it soon, I'll just have to wash it a few more times and feed it to the livestock.

When the topic of grain came up, Wang Sengyuan silently cursed the ancestors of the Ning people for eighteen generations.

They knew Ning was doing it on purpose.

But they had no choice.

Eating slightly moldy grains is better than going hungry.

"Alright, stop complaining! Everything will be fine once our new grain comes out."

Yan Li smiled, "I've come here to help you solve your troubles!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Sengyuan was overjoyed and asked expectantly, "Your Highness will allow the people of Ning to sell us the new grain?"

"I don't have that ability!"

Yan Li shook his head and smiled, "But I can help you use up some of the old grain."

"How do we consume this?"

Wang Sengyuan was puzzled.

Surely the Crown Prince wouldn't replace all their old grain with new grain?

Should we still use all the old grain to feed the livestock?

If that's the case, it would be such a waste.

He preferred eating stale grain to going hungry.

"Brewing wine!"

Yan Li provided the answer.

Wang Sengyuan's expression changed. "Your Highness, I'm afraid this won't work?"

"I know what you're worried about!"

Yan Li smiled knowingly, "This wine I brewed is no ordinary wine! It's specially made to heal injuries..."

As she spoke, Yan Li briefly explained the matter of alcohol to him.

The autumn harvest is just around the corner.

The new grain from the Yan state will be ready soon.

Those older grains were used to brew wine and then produce alcohol.

That's for treating injuries. Even if the alcohol still has a slight musty smell, it won't have any effect!

In this way, the problem of old grain can be solved, the waste of new grain can be avoided, and alcohol can be obtained to exchange for warhorses, cattle and sheep and even grain from Beiqi!

This can be considered a win-win-win situation.

Besides, some of the old grain is so bad it's been used to feed livestock; wouldn't it be better to use it for brewing wine?

Upon hearing Yan Li's words, Wang Sengyuan was overjoyed: "Thank you, Your Highness!"

"You will personally oversee this matter!"

Yan Li said sternly, "Only aged grain is allowed to be used for brewing wine; new grain is absolutely forbidden! Anyone who dares to do so will have their head chopped off! Also, the wine is for making alcohol, not for anyone to drink!"

"Understood, sir!"

Wang Sengyuan nodded emphatically.

As they were talking, one of Yan Li's guards rushed over and presented him with a letter: "Your Highness, General Zong has sent a message!"

Yan Li took the letter and opened it.

Upon reading the contents of the letter, Yan Li immediately smiled.

"Your Highness, what good news is there?"

Feng Shu asked curiously.

Yan Li handed the letter to Feng Shu, "Qin Yu left Panyang early this morning, probably heading to Wuzhou to visit Qin Fumeng."

Feng Shu took the letter and laughed, "He's faster than us!"

"He definitely needs to be quick!"

Yan Li nodded and smiled, "He visited Qin Fumeng and has to rush to Zhenzhou! For him, fighting a war of attrition against Beiqi in Zhenzhou is also a good opportunity to hone his skills."

Feng Shu lowered his head, quickly scanned the contents of the letter, and then pondered to himself, "Is it possible for us to make something of this? To make the Empress of Da Ning think that the grandfather and grandson are plotting something?"

In Feng Shu's view, the best way to deal with Qin Yu was to arouse the suspicion of the Empress of Da Ning.

Qin Fumeng was a pillar of the Da Ning army, and Qin Yu was a rare and talented commander.

If Zhao Luan becomes suspicious of the grandfather and grandson, Da Ning may very well descend into internal strife.

This is in the best interests of the Great Yan!

"Let's wait until they start fighting with Bei Qi first."

Yan Li smiled and said, "If Zhao Luan stops fighting Bei Qi now because he is suspicious of them, it won't do us any good."

Yanli already had a plan in mind regarding this matter.

When the time is right, he will order his men to sneak into Daning and throw a stone dragon with inscriptions into the Yi River, so that the fishermen along the river can retrieve it.

"Too!"

Feng Shu smiled upon hearing this, "Your Highness sees things very clearly."

After putting away the letter sent by Zong Zhao, Yan Li stopped discussing the matter with Feng Shu and instead continued talking to Wang Sengyuan about brewing wine.

"War between Beiqi and Da Ning is imminent; this matter must be resolved as soon as possible!"

Yan Li reiterated to Wang Sengyuan, "Furthermore, all those involved in making alcohol must be strictly controlled, and the method of making alcohol must not be leaked!"

He spent a lot of money to come up with this method of making alcohol!

We absolutely cannot let this method fall into the hands of Northern Qi spies!

Otherwise, how would they get it from Bei Qi...?

As Yan Li was thinking, she suddenly shuddered.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?"

Wang Sengyuan and Feng Shu looked at Yan Li with puzzled expressions as she suddenly changed her expression.

Yan Li remained silent, lost in thought.

After a long pause, Yan Li frowned and asked Feng Shu, "Do you think it's possible that Qin Yu could sell the method of making alcohol to Bei Qi through someone else?"

"this……"

Feng Shu thought for a moment, then frowned and said, "Your Highness suspects that Qin Yu's hasty departure from Panyang was not only to visit Qin Fumeng, but also possibly to secretly conduct a transaction with Bei Qi?"

"Um."

Yan Li nodded solemnly. "Qin Yu knows we'll definitely sell the alcohol to Bei Qi! Rather than that, why doesn't he just sell the alcohol-making method to Bei Qi directly?"

"In this way, not only can they make a fortune again, but they can also swindle us along the way!"

"Moreover, among the warhorses we gave him were so many old and weak ones, yet he didn't say a word..."

Yan Li thought about it more and more and it seemed very possible.

Based on his understanding of Qin Yu, he was absolutely capable of doing such a thing.

"Probably not?"

Feng Shu also looked grave, saying uncertainly, "Even if he wants to do this, shouldn't he at least wait until Bei Qi has finished this battle with them? Doing this now won't benefit either him or Da Ning."

Upon hearing this, Yan Li began to ponder again.

Hmm, what Feng Shu said does seem to make some sense.

For Qin Yu to do something like this at this time is tantamount to treason!

"I'm probably overthinking it."

Yan Li shook his head. "However, after they finish this battle, Qin Yu might very well do that!"

By then, they would have already sold the alcohol to Beiqi.

Bei Qi also realized the enormous effects of alcohol.

Instead of buying alcohol from the Yan Kingdom, we should buy the method of making alcohol from Qin Yu!

Correct!

Qin Yu most likely had this plan in mind!

Hmm, we need to speed things up the alcohol production!

During the battle between Beiqi and Daning, they tried to trade alcohol for more items from Beiqi!

Once there were signs that the war between the two countries was coming to an end, they took the initiative to sell the method of making alcohol to Bei Qi before Qin could!

This thwarted Qin Yu's wishful thinking!