A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

After drifting at sea for seven days, Ke Zhenchuan sent a letter back to Liu Jingshuang.

The letter was sent back in a bamboo tube.

A man who looked like a fisherman threw a bamboo tube in front of the Yuezhou checkpoint and ran away.

The sentry chased after him for a couple of steps but couldn't catch up. The man climbed over the dike and disappeared into the reeds. When he came out again, he was already on a small sampan, which paddled into the fog in a few strokes.

Liu Jingshuang was eating when she received the bamboo tube.

She put down her chopsticks, unscrewed the bamboo lid, and pulled out the slip of paper inside.

The note was short, and the handwriting was neat, with each stroke showing signs of practice.

"General Liu, you can control the ports, but you can't control the hearts of the people. Ask the people of Quanzhou, Yuezhou, and Mingzhou—what will they eat when the government takes away the grain from the granaries? I may not go ashore, but the fishermen will soon come to me to exchange grain."

Liu Jingshuang wasn't angry after reading it.

Instead, she laughed.

"He truly understands the people's sentiments."

The lieutenant beside him leaned over for a look, his expression changing: "Is this old bastard threatening us?"

Liu Jingshuang turned the note over and looked at the back; there was nothing there. She then looked at the front again.

It's not a threat, it's settling scores.

She had previously ordered the transfer of grain from the official granaries to inland stockades, which indeed cut off the coastal people's access to nearby grain supplies.

Ke Zhenchuan saw this point clearly.

With the government granaries empty and fishing boats forbidden from going to sea, fishermen have no way to make a living. Sooner or later, someone will secretly row out to trade grain with pirates.

By then, Ke Zhenchuan won't need to go ashore.

People on the shore will take the initiative to help him.

She folded the note and tucked it into her sleeve.

This person is definitely smart.

If a mediocre general were to be provoked like this, he would either stubbornly insist on holding on regardless of the lives of the people, or open the port and compromise.

No matter which one you choose, he will win.

But he overlooked one thing.

She is no mediocre general.

"Pass on the order." Liu Jingshuang stood up, not even finishing her meal.

"Send me an official document to the six neighboring prefectures, requesting the allocation of grain. Each prefecture shall contribute 5,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), to be transported to the coastal areas of the three prefectures within three days."

The lieutenant was taken aback: "Six prefectures? General, this requires approval from the Ministry of War—"

"No approval is needed."

Liu Jingshuang slammed the black iron token given to her by Wei Zhao onto the table:

"Seeing this edict is like seeing His Majesty. Take this and urge him to comply. Anyone who dares to delay, give me their name, and I will personally write a memorial."

The lieutenant looked at the token, his throat moved, but he dared not say anything more.

Before he could process what she was saying, Liu Jingshuang continued.

"Once the grain arrives, set up free grain stalls throughout the coast. Set them up in every port, every fishing village, every market town—wherever people live. Grain can be collected based on household registration, two catties per person per day. If that's not enough, more will be given."

The lieutenant had already started taking notes on paper.

"besides."

Liu Jingshuang paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Post the notices as well."

"Write what?"

"The government grain stolen by the pirates has been recovered and distributed by the court to the people of the three prefectures."

The lieutenant's pen stopped on the paper.

He looked up at Liu Jingshuang and opened his mouth.

That doesn't quite sound right, does it?

The grain in the official granaries was transferred by them themselves, not stolen by pirates.

Now they're saying they've recovered it? Isn't that just blatant lying?

Seeing his expression, Liu Jingshuang knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Do you think ordinary people care about where their grain comes from?"

The lieutenant didn't dare to accept it.

"They only care about two things."

Liu Jingshuang took back the token: "First, is there any grain to eat? Second, who provided the grain? Ke Zhenchuan wants the people to think that the government is unreliable, so I'll let the people see with their own eyes that the government delivers grain to his doorstep."

She had a very clear understanding of the situation.

Ke Zhenchuan was playing the time difference.

He was betting that the government would react slowly, that the people would go hungry for ten or eight days and become resentful, and that if he then sent food ashore, the people's hearts would be won over.

She didn't give him that time window.

The grain will arrive within three days.

Before the people even had a chance to feel hungry, they were already chewing on freshly harvested rice.

As for the accusation of "pirates stealing grain," it was easy to smear it on them.

The coastal people already knew that the pirates had looted the government granaries when they came ashore. Who could tell whether the grain had been stolen and then recovered, or whether it had been transferred from elsewhere?

As long as there's food to eat, that's enough.

Ke Zhenchuan wants to use public opinion as a weapon? Then she'll take the weapon away first.

"Go and do it."

The lieutenant left the tent, clutching the paper.

Liu Jingshuang sat back down at the table, glanced at the cold porridge in her bowl, and didn't touch her chopsticks.

She was actually thinking about something else.

Ke Zhenchuan's letter was sent at the perfect time.

She had only been under lockdown for seven days when he accurately hit her sore spot.

This shows that he not only had informants on the shore, but also people calculating how many days the people's food rations could last.

If such people are not eradicated, the consequences will be endless.

She suppressed that thought for the time being.

The most important thing right now is to distribute the grain and stabilize the situation.

No matter how cunning Ke Zhenchuan is at sea, as long as the people on land don't follow him, he's just a snake trapped in the water.

Three days later, the grain arrived.

It was half a day faster than she had expected.

Four of the six prefectures opened their granaries and loaded the grain onto wagons that very day, while the remaining two dawdled all night before rushing to send the grain out the next day.

The Xuan Tie Token was even more effective than she had imagined.

When grain stalls were set up along the coast, some people couldn't believe it.

A woman holding a child stood in front of the stall, looking at the pile of rice bags, hesitant to reach out.

The bailiff next to her shouted "Receive your grain rations with your household registration" three times before she finally handed over her household registration, trembling.

The woman was stunned for several moments when the grain sack was handed to her, and then her eyes suddenly reddened.

The constable thought she was complaining about the amount.

"Sister-in-law, if it's not enough, come again tomorrow. We have it every day."

The woman shook her head, picked up the grain sack, and left.

Liu Jingshuang didn't go to see this scene.

She doesn't need to see it.

All she needed to know was that the food had been delivered and the message had been sent out.

The notice was also posted, written in black and white, simple and straightforward.

"The other day, pirates invaded our territory and looted the government granaries. They have now been recovered and returned to the people. The Xinwu court and the three prefectures are united, ensuring a continuous supply of food and that the people are not scattered."

Some people gathered in front of the notice and read it twice, then turned to their neighbors and said, "Hey, the government still has some authority."

Some people didn't believe it and muttered, "How could they catch up so quickly?"

He muttered to himself, but didn't loosen his grip on the grain sack.

Liu Jingshuang stood on the Yuezhou seawall, gazing at the faint silhouettes of pirate ships in the distance.

The sea breeze was strong, making her sleeves flutter loudly.

His adjutant followed, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.

"explain."

"General, once this grain is distributed, Ke Zhenchuan will most likely find out very soon."

"Of course he'll know."

Liu Jingshuang didn't turn around: "He has people on the shore, he'll know everything I do."

The lieutenant swallowed hard. "So what will he do next?"

Liu Jingshuang looked at the sea.

The ships looked like a row of short black dots, floating at the horizon where the sky meets the sea, neither too close nor too far.

"He has another trick up his sleeve."

She turned to look at the deputy general.

"Next, he will most likely send people ashore to spread rumors. He'll say that the government is distributing old grain, grain mixed with sand. He'll say that we're putting on an act, deceiving the people and then stopping. He'll say that the grain will only be distributed for a few days, and people will still starve to death in a few days."

The lieutenant's expression changed: "Then what do we do?"

Liu Jingshuang pressed her lips together slightly: "The Embroidered Uniform Guard is ready. We'll expose the rumors on the spot as soon as they surface. We'll arrest and interrogate anyone who spreads them, and once we find out who sent them, we'll post their names on the notice board."

She paused for a moment, her voice low.

"The battle at sea has not yet been fought, but I have already won the battle on land."

The lieutenant looked at her. The wind blew stray hairs from her temples onto her face, but she didn't reach out to brush them away.

He suddenly realized that Ke Zhenchuan might not even know what kind of person he was fighting.

General Liu defended Yangguan for seven days, raised his child in the capital for three months, and then rode his horse from north to south, driving a man who had become a king at sea into a dead end with just one letter.

She won't compete with you in boat races at sea.

She dug up your roots on the shore.