Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

Li Jing frowned and looked at Li Chengqian, asking:

"Your Highness, an army marches on its stomach. The journey from Chang'an to Liaodong is long."

Even if the Cui family is willing to provide grain or the Ministry of Revenue allocates more, there will still be a gap of half a month. What do you plan to use to fill it?

We can't expect the soldiers to tighten their belts and travel long distances, can we?

Li Chengqian shouted in the direction of Xiao Shunzi:

"Xiao Shunzi, after Young Master Cui finishes writing the letter, have him carry two bags up from my personal supply wagon."

Xiao Shunzi responded.

The group of second-generation rich kids down the slope were still punching and kicking Cui Hao. It took Xiao Shunzi and the guards of the East Palace a lot of effort to pull them apart.

Cui Hao had been beaten so badly that even his own mother wouldn't recognize him. He lay on the ground, too weak to even cry.

After hearing the order from Xiao Shunzi, Cui Hao hurriedly bit his finger and wrote while crying, his words filled with "affectionate greetings" to his own father.

Before long, Xiao Shunzi led two guards carrying three sacks up the small hill.

Li Jing looked at the sack and asked in confusion:

"Your Highness, what is this? Could it be newly harvested rice from Guanzhong?"

Li Chengqian didn't say anything, but simply raised his chin at Xiao Shunzi.

Xiao Shunzi untied the burlap sack.

A burnt aroma wafted out.

Li Jing took a closer look and saw that it was full of yellowish-brown powder.

"Is this wheat bran? Or ground millet?"

Li Jing grabbed a handful of powder and rubbed it together.

"Your Highness, this stuff is dry and scratchy, but if you mix it into porridge and cook it, it can fill your stomach."

But how could an army possibly have enough time to start a fire and cook porridge while on the march?

Li Chengqian said with a smile:

"Uncle Li, who said this stuff needs to be boiled over a fire? Little Shunzi, show the General what you can do."

Xiao Shunzi took a wooden bowl off his waist, reached into the burlap sack, grabbed two handfuls of powder, and put them into the bowl.

Then he poured in some cold water.

I just grabbed the chopsticks and stirred it a few times.

The originally dry powder expanded instantly upon contact with water, turning into a bowl of sticky paste.

Xiao Shunzi held the wooden bowl and respectfully handed it to Li Jing.

"General, please have a taste."

Li Jing was completely dumbfounded.

Can you just rinse it with cold water and eat it?

He had fought wars his whole life and had never seen such an easy way of eating.

After taking the wooden bowl, Li Jing looked at the sticky mess inside and couldn't muster any appetite.

But out of curiosity, he still picked up his chopsticks, picked out a piece, and put it in his mouth.

The moment it enters your mouth, a rich wheat aroma and a subtle salty taste spread out.

It wasn't exactly delicious, and was even a bit rough around the edges.

But after swallowing it, I could indeed feel full.

Li Jing turned his head and looked excitedly at the three sacks on the ground.

This thing doesn't require cooking over a fire.

Not needing to light fires means that the army's position will not be revealed by cooking smoke when marching at high speed.

This means that a lot of time can be saved for marching.

What's even more terrifying is that this thing is very light; a soldier only needs to carry a small bag, which can last for several days' worth of rations.

"Your Highness! This thing is simply a miracle for military campaigns. With it, the army will never have to worry about going hungry."

Li Chengqian smiled and said to Li Jing:

"Uncle Li, it's just some food, there's no need to get so worked up."

Li Jing continued excitedly:

"Your Highness, you don't understand. This old minister has led troops for decades and has seen countless soldiers starve to death on the roadside because of lack of food."

We've seen countless instances where enemy troops have pinpointed our location just because we were cooking, leading to surprise attacks.

With the advent of this item, the fighting strength of our Tang army will at least double.

Your Highness has truly saved the lives of countless soldiers of our Great Tang Dynasty.

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said:

"This thing is called fried noodles. Actually, it's very simple to make. You just fry wheat until it's cooked, grind it into flour, and add some salt."

Because it's cooked, all the moisture has been evaporated, so it won't spoil for months. A quick rinse with cold water is all it takes to fill your stomach.

After listening, Li Jing nodded repeatedly:

"Stir-fried noodles? What a name. Where did Your Highness obtain the recipe for such a powerful military weapon?"

Li Chengqian made up a lie:

"It was taught by that white-bearded old man who taught me military strategy in my dream. I think this method is quite good, so before the expedition, I had the cooks in the Eastern Palace prepare a batch, filling fifty carts, enough to feed this army of 100,000 for a month."

Seeing that Li Chengqian didn't want to talk about it, Li Jing didn't ask any further.

No wonder the Crown Prince dared to accept the mission even though he knew the powerful families wanted to seize the grain.

It turns out they had been prepared for this all along.

"Uncle Li, I have other good things here."

Li Chengqian turned around and walked to another sack, reaching inside to take out several hard strips of meat.

"This is dried meat. Fighting is physically demanding, and eating only fried noodles will leave you without energy."

These dried meats can be soaked in water and restored to their original state. Fried noodles with dried meat, I call it military rations.

"War is all about logistics."

Li Jing looked at Li Chengqian, and his heart was filled with turmoil.

With such a crown prince, how could the Tang Dynasty not be at peace?

While others take things one step at a time, this guy is planning ahead a month in advance.

Just as the two were talking, Cheng Chumo ran up the slope.

"Your Highness! I could smell the delicious aroma downstairs. Is dinner ready?"

He walked up to the sack.

"What's delicious? I want to try it."

Cheng Chumo reached into the sack, grabbed a handful of fried noodles, and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Mmm...smack smack..."

Cheng Chumo chewed twice, and his expression changed instantly.

The powder from the fried noodles immediately choked his throat as soon as it entered his mouth.

"Cough cough... cough cough cough..."

Cheng Chumo clutched his neck, rolled his eyes, his face flushed red, and desperately pounded his chest.

"water......."

Li Jing was startled and quickly poured some water into the wooden bowl he was holding and handed it over.

Cheng Chumo grabbed the wooden bowl and gulped down the paste and water in one go.

It took me a lot of effort to finally swallow the fried noodles.

He plopped down on the ground, panting heavily.

"My God... what is this thing? It almost wiped out my Cheng family line!"

Li Chengqian kicked him in annoyance.

"Who told you to eat it dry? This stuff needs to be rinsed with water before eating. Why are you stuffing just anything into your mouth?"

Cheng Chumo stood up with a wronged look on his face, staring at the remaining fried noodles in the sack with disgust.

"Your Highness, this stuff is awful."

My dad said we get to eat meat every day in the army, you're not going to make me eat this stuff later, are you?

Li Chengqian snorted coldly:

"You're lucky if you have anything to eat. The grain the Cui family sent is all sand. If you young masters think the fried noodles are bad, go gnaw on tree bark."

I guarantee you won't starve, but want some meat? Go to sleep. You can have anything in your dreams.

Cheng Chumo immediately shut up upon hearing this.

Having food to eat is better than starving to death.

He turned and shouted down the slope:

"Guys, dinner's ready."

As soon as the second-generation kids heard that it was time to eat, they all ran up the slope.

Cheng Chumo said to Li Chengqian with a mischievous grin:

Good things should be shared.

Li Chengqian and Li Jing exchanged a glance, speechless.

As night fell, not a wisp of smoke rose from the army camp.

One hundred thousand soldiers ate fried noodle soup with cold water.

Changsun Chong held the earthenware pot, eating and crying at the same time:

"Is this even fit for human consumption? I want to go home..."

Du He, who was eating nearby, cursed as he spoke:

"Alright, stop complaining. Let's save our energy for tomorrow's journey."

Didn't you see that Cui Hao, that grandson, didn't even have any porridge to eat?

His Highness said that until the grain arrives, he will have nothing but the northwest wind to eat.