In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

Shen An's voice sounded like a messenger from hell to Yang Ke.

Yang Ke trembled as he desperately tried to recall everything about him and Li Huaiyi.

His will to survive made him forget loyalty and righteousness, and forget Li Huaiyi's cultivation of him.

All he wanted was to live a good life!

"Three breaths have passed! Speak or die!"

"I'll talk, I'll talk. I know that Li Huaiyi has distributed grain in seven locations. Five of them are the ones in front of the store, and the other two are unknown to others. In order to hide the location of the remaining two grain locations, he only sent less than a hundred people to each location. If you send people to rob the grain, you will definitely succeed every time," Yang Ke replied in a very fast voice.

Shen An's heart stirred.

If what Yang Ke said is true, then that would be a really great thing.

Although his businesses selling skincare products, aphrodisiacs, and charcoal made from human hair never stopped, even with a steady stream of money, he could not guarantee a constant supply of food.

After all, grain production is limited, and in these chaotic and famine-stricken times, money can't buy it.

If we can seize Li Huaiyi's two granaries, we can sustain our army for a long time, even if it expands in size.

and so!

He absolutely had to get his hands on that granary.

"Where exactly is it located?" Shen An asked.

"One is in the Qiannan Mountains of Qiangbei County, and the other is near the Lianshui River in Qingping County," Yang Ke replied. "As long as Master Shen promises me that he will spare my life after I finish these things, I will take you there!"

Shen An thought Yang Ke was really brainless; could a verbal promise really stand the test of time?

Since he wanted to make such a promise, Shen An granted it to him.

"Lead the way, and I'll spare you if we successfully get the food!" Shen An promised.

Liu Wenyuan, Liao Bing, and others all thought Yang Ke was brainless, only knowing how to lead troops into battle and unaware of the treacherous nature of people.

Shen An treats his own people with complete honesty and openness, and he treats his enemies with the same utmost honesty and openness—the former being an adjective and the latter a verb, meaning exactly what they say.

They wouldn't bother reminding Yang Ke; they wished they could kill him right now.

Yang Ke was overjoyed to hear what Shen An said and quickly expressed his sincere gratitude.

Shen An immediately counted two hundred people, dressed them in civilian clothes as refugees, and everyone carried crossbows and specially made Tang-style swords. They first headed to Qingping County.

When they arrived in Qingping County, they saw people checking the checkpoints.

Shen An didn't say anything, but just glared at Yang Ke.

Yang Ke snorted angrily and took out his token.

Upon seeing that he was Li Huaiyi's military commander, the guards dared not stop him and immediately let him pass!

They traveled all night and finally arrived at the riverbank that Yang Ke had mentioned early the next morning.

This place is an abandoned dock with few civilians around, but some soldiers can be seen hiding in the shadows.

"Yang Ke, it's your turn to perform. Call them all out. Remember, there are two hundred men watching you with crossbows. If you make any unusual moves, you will be killed!" Shen An warned.

Yang Ke had already experienced the terrifying power of Shen An's weapons, so he dared not make any move.

Obediently following Shen An's orders, he went out and took out his token: "I am Yang Ke, the military commander under the Jiedushi. I have an oral order from the Jiedushi: You all come out!"

His words caused the guards of the grain supplies to stop hiding and immediately appear.

Just as Yang Ke said, there were fewer than a hundred people.

Shen An made a quick decision and ordered his men to appear immediately.

One hundred people against more than two hundred.

With overwhelming superiority, Shen An told them, "I only want food, not your lives. If you surrender now, I might spare your lives!"

But nobody took Shen An seriously and still chose to fight.

But when Shen An's men fired their crossbows and hit more than a dozen of them, the rest of them instantly regained consciousness.

They no longer dared to oppose Shen An and surrendered without resistance.

Shen An successfully transported the grain out; judging by the total amount, it was enough to feed 20,000 people for a year.

No wonder Li Huaiyi could command over 100,000 mercenaries; his grain reserves were truly astonishing!

Just as Shen An was about to leave, the leader of the guards of the granary stepped forward and blocked his way.

"What? You want to stop me?"

"Sir, you've stolen our supplies! The military governor won't forgive us. Please take us in!"

"I'll take you in, but you have no grudge against me, and I don't want you to die because of me."

"I have a thousand taels here. You rest of you can divide it among yourselves and go home." Shen An took out a silver note and threw it to the man.

The guards were overjoyed; even if the thousand taels were split equally, they would still have more than ten taels.

This was much more than their military pay, and in this famine year, the money was enough for them to go home, start a small business, and support their families.

"Remember, give those who just died a few days ago a generous settlement fee. Your survival is all thanks to their lives. Without them, you would all be dead!" Shen An reminded them.

A chill ran through the guards, and their faces showed relief. Luckily, they hadn't been at the front, or they would have been dead.

They dared not disobey Shen An and nodded in agreement.

On the return journey after escorting the grain, Liao Bing asked, puzzled, "My lord, why didn't you take in those people?"

"We don't have many soldiers now, and the path we take is one of absolute loyalty. These people will surrender immediately, but they are not as loyal as those who are killed at the front. Keeping them alive doesn't necessarily mean they will betray me again, but the chance of them betraying me is definitely greater than that of others."

"We may seem strong now, but we are also very fragile and cannot withstand these risks," Shen An explained while riding his horse.

"What happened to Yang Ke's men? Were they kept around after they went back?"

"Yang Ke has already told me that Li Huaiyi has given orders that if they defeat us, they should kill all the civilians. The soldiers who followed were all prepared to start a massacre."

They didn't even spare the common people; they were just bandits disguised as soldiers, so naturally they were all killed! This also lets those who dare to oppose me know that anyone who dares to fight against Shen An will be slaughtered!

"Alright! We'll go back and kill them all!"

Liao Bing scratched his head again after he finished speaking: "My lord, if we want to expand our scale in the future, we will need to recruit soldiers on a large scale. At that time, it is impossible to guarantee that everyone will be loyal."

"The future is the future, and the present is the present. Circumstances are different, and standards and requirements will also be different. If those people come to me in the future when I need to expand, I will naturally welcome them with open arms."

After Shen An finished speaking, he remembered that there were some snacks in Qingping County that Dugu Meng, Shen Xiaoqi, and Zhao Long liked. So he told them to continue escorting the grain and grass away, while he took only two guards with him to Qingping County.

I bought the snacks from last time before going home.

When they arrived outside Qingyang County, apart from still smelling a faint stench of blood, it seemed that nothing had happened.

But once inside the city, everything felt different.

The streets were unusually lively, and everyone's face was beaming with smiles.

Shen An knew that the victory in this battle had put their minds at ease.

They knew that Shen An's army was very powerful, capable of providing them with a stable life, freeing them from the oppression of high taxes, exempting them from corvée labor, and allowing them to live freely.

Some people recognized Shen An and stepped forward to bow, their eyes filled with respect.

Shen An also quite enjoyed this feeling of being genuinely respected.

When he returned to the county government office, Liao Bing had already stored most of the grain in the granary. He then asked expectantly, "Now that we have enough grain to feed 20,000 people for a year, should we recruit more soldiers and expand our forces quickly?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Wenyuan also looked at Shen An expectantly.

Now their ambitions have been stirred up by this battle.

They all wanted to expand as quickly as possible so that they could confront Li Huaiyi head-on and bring him down.

"Now is not the time."

Why?

"What will we do if we run out of food? Will we just sit around and eat it all up?" Shen An asked rhetorically.

Liu Wenyuan and Liao Bing overlooked this point.

"What should we do then? If we lower taxes for those people, we'll really be living off their savings." Liu Wenyuan frowned and said, "How about we raise taxes on them?"

"Raising taxes is out of the question. I have my own way of dealing with the grain issue, but not now. After Liao Bing has stored all the grain, he should come with me to Qiangbei County and seize the grain from that granary again!" Shen An instructed.

Although Liu Wenyuan and Liao Bing immediately continued to arrange for the grain to be stored in the warehouse, they were both thinking about what Shen An's method was for solving the grain problem.

Dugu Meng watched from the side, also eager to know the answer.

"These are some snacks I bought for you. Don't wait for me tonight, you can eat and go to sleep first." Shen An handed the snacks he bought to Dugu Meng.

When Dugu Meng opened the food box, she saw that it contained all her favorite foods.

Thinking to herself, this man does at least know how to be considerate.

Just as he was about to praise Shen An, he discovered that Shen An was already gone!

"Hmph, you really have no sense of romance. Shouldn't you be talking to me more at a time like this?" Dugu Meng stomped her foot in anger.

"Hehe, sister-in-law, let me talk to you a bit more, okay?" Shen Xiaoqi leaned closer.

"Go, go, go eat!"

"Then I won't be polite!" Shen Xiaoqi grabbed him and ran.

"Keep some with me! Your brother bought it for me..."

into the night!

Shen An set off again.

at the same time!

Li Huaiyi was in his tent in Yangnan Prefecture, writing a novel with Shen An as the male protagonist.

He was completely absorbed in his work, and when he got excited while writing, he even slapped the table in admiration.

Then, the anxious voice of Deputy Military Governor Cui Tianhe rang out: "Military Governor, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"

Li Huaiyi abruptly stopped, and said unhappily, "What is it? Don't you know I'm writing a book? Don't you know I'm just getting into it?"