Our family has been rebelling for generations, and you've become the top scholar in the imperia

The border region.

Dongliao Prefecture.

At this moment, many officials gathered together, their faces filled with anxiety as they waited for Prefect Zheng to come out.

The imperial decree has been issued, ordering General Gou of Chentu Pass to come out of the mountains and mobilize the garrison troops of other passes to Pingsha Fort, gathering a total of 20,000 soldiers to guard the pass.

All the major state governments fully cooperated, requisitioning and transporting supplies there.

"The Gou family is difficult to deal with. What are we going to do now? We don't have any extra grain. The grain in the granaries has already been distributed, and much of it has been sold off. They want us to hand over grain, but how are we supposed to do that?"

"What does the Commander mean? He has directly appointed General Gou as the Supreme Commander. Has the Prefect not inquired about this beforehand? We must hurry and find a solution."

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"

"..."

The group of people were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

He kept pacing back and forth in the courtyard, occasionally looking up at the side rooms inside.

This is the border region.

In peacetime, when there is no war, the highest-ranking official is the Commander, followed by the Prefects of several prefectures.

However, once war breaks out, the imperial court will appoint a supervising general, and even the commander must obey the supervising general's command to mobilize troops, transport money and grain, and prioritize the war.

Now that General Gou has taken office, he will immediately begin to mobilize various supplies to the frontier.

The people are fine, but the money and supplies...

They had already divided it all up; there was no money or food left.

"Creak!"

Just then.

The door to the side room opened.

Zheng Shijun frowned, his eyes sunken, and glanced at the officials in the courtyard.

"Come in, all of you. Last night I personally went to see the commander, and I have a plan for this matter!"

Upon hearing this...

Everyone was overjoyed and hurriedly followed them inside.

"The Gou family is difficult to contact. The commander has sent people to make contact more than once, but they have only been guarding the Dust Pass with more than two thousand people and have not participated in other matters. This time will probably be the same."

After taking your seats.

Zheng Shijun took a deep breath and said in a deep voice:

"We must raise the money and supplies. The commander has given a strict order: even if we lose, we cannot openly lose money and supplies. At the same time, we have petitioned the court to continue allocating funds. Gentlemen, go back and raise the money and supplies as soon as possible to get through this difficult time together."

The others looked extremely grim.

They actually need to raise money and food.

"It's already been divided up completely. If we try to gather more, it'll be very difficult!"

"If we can't gather enough, we'll sell it. At the very least, we must gather enough grain to transport the first batch!"

Speaking of it.

Zheng Shijun sighed softly.

"As for the second batch, do you think we'll even need one? Tens of thousands of men couldn't hold out; do you think it's possible to stop Wild Boar Skin with only 20,000 troops?"

Upon hearing this...

The people below all looked up, their eyes gleaming.

I immediately understood.

That's right.

Can you hold it?

How could we possibly hold on?

They were very familiar with the situation at the border. The garrison was no match for the wild boar hide. Moreover, since the Great Zhou had not fought a war for many years, there were plenty of people in the garrison who were just drawing salaries without working and were simply waiting to die.

Once on the battlefield, besides running away, would anyone really dare to take up a knife and fight a wild boar to the death?

How did Duan Zhenjiang lose?

That's exactly how we lost!

As soon as the wild boars surrounded them, thousands upon thousands of soldiers dropped their weapons and ran away, and the morale of the entire army collapsed.

If it's about preparing the first batch of grain, they can manage to scrape together some. But if the border falls, it won't concern them much.

"And don't forget, there's also a military supervisor coming this time, a scholar. As long as he's a scholar..."

Zheng Shijun didn't finish his sentence.

But the people below all laughed.

If it's a eunuch who comes, they really don't have much of a way to deal with him, but if it's a scholar, it's much easier to get in touch with him.

Women and money always share a common preference.

"The first hurdle the military supervisor faces upon arriving here from the capital is our Dongliao Prefecture. We should treat him well and explain our difficulties clearly. If he is willing to speak up for us, even General Gou can't do anything about it."

"That's right!"

Everyone nodded in unison, and immediately had an idea in mind.

Gu Ningzhi was the same last time. From the moment she arrived in Dongliao Prefecture, she was pampered and coaxed by them. In the end, when she learned that they were in dire straits and only needed a third of their food, she fainted.

"Scholars value their reputation, so they'll make a grand entrance when they arrive!"

In conclusion.

Zheng Shijun added another instruction.

As long as the military supervisor is satisfied and the first batch of grain is successfully delivered, there will be no further losses, and it will be impossible to ask them for more grain in the short term.

……

A few days later.

on the official road.

Smoke and dust rose everywhere.

A large procession of several hundred people sped along, and Qin Feng, sitting inside the carriage, lifted the curtain and looked outside.

Along the way, people could be seen everywhere preparing to flee.

Without a doubt, these are all people living on the border; the crops in the fields will be ready for harvest soon.

If we flee at this point, we won't even need the food.

It's easy to imagine that the situation at the border is probably more serious than I thought.

Keep in mind, we haven't even reached the border yet; we've only reached Liaodong Prefecture.

"Sir, we've encountered a group of..."

"A bunch of what?"

Cao Liang rode back to the carriage window and lowered his voice:

"Judging from the situation, they should be officials from Liaodong Prefecture, waiting here in advance; there are many of them..."

Upon hearing this...

Qin Feng frowned, a cold smile creeping onto his lips.

He arrived here without notifying any prefecture in advance, and time was of the essence; he needed to go directly to Pingsha Pass to meet up with General Gou.

There was no time to stay in the state capital.

How did these officials know?

"Let's go take a look!"

After thinking for a moment, Qin Feng nodded slightly.

The Ministry of War would retain a portion of the silver sent by the imperial court to the border, as Qin Feng knew in the capital; the rest would go directly to the border commander.

As for what to do next...

Qin Feng didn't know the details, but he probably couldn't get around these state officials.

"Supervisor Qin, we have been waiting here for a long time. Now that we have met, it is truly..."

Qin Feng got off the car.

Looking at the grand scene, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

There were at least several hundred people waiting here, and some locals were even clapping along both sides of the road.

Who are you?

Staring at the official walking at the front, Qin Feng narrowed his eyes and asked.

"Zheng Shijun, the Prefect of Liaodong Prefecture, greets Military Supervisor Qin."

"The military supervisor has had a long journey. A banquet has been prepared. Please come to the prefectural government to rest and let us local officials show him some hospitality."

Qin Feng remained silent.

He reached out from behind.

Cao Liang immediately came over with a booklet in his hand.

"Liaodong Prefecture has two granaries, with a minimum storage capacity of 20,000 shi of grain. This time, the imperial court has ordered Liaodong Prefecture to transfer 5,000 shi of grain there. Have you gathered enough? If you have, then you can leave the city alone. Immediately order people to transport the grain out, and I will personally take it with me."

These words were spoken.

Zheng Shijun and the others in front of them couldn't help but change their expressions.

Five thousand shi?

They had only prepared to collect 1,000 shi of grain for the first batch, so where would they get 5,000 shi of grain?

"Lord Qin, may I have a word with you in private?"

Zheng Shijun's lips twitched, he forced a smile, and muttered something under his breath.

"cannot!"

I just didn't expect it.

Qin Feng on the other side showed no respect whatsoever, completely disregarding any established patterns.

"Speak your mind here. I'm asking you, have you gathered the five thousand shi of grain?"

"Yes or no?"

"say!"