When Liu Mingzhi went to convey the message to the Forbidden Army soldiers, he took the time to ask another question about food and grass.
"Jiang Aiqing, how is the collection of the first batch of grain and grass going? Is it going well?"
Jiang Yuanming hurriedly handed the memorial in his hand to Liu Mingzhi: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I am preparing to report this matter to Your Majesty when I enter the palace this time.
The old ministers have already joined forces with the officials to send letters to the wealthy state capitals near the border to collect grain and grass on the spot.
Today, 80% of the state capitals in the world are aware of the humiliation of three thousand of our people being massacred in two small barbarian countries.
There was a huge response to His Majesty's decision to go out to conquer the barbarians.
The first batch of grain and grass collected is enough to supply an army of 500,000 for three months, and now it is all on its way to Ganzhou and Suzhou.
As soon as the troops of various ministries move, the food and grass can be sent out of the customs first.
Make sure that my expeditionary army will not be embarrassed by the issue of food and fodder, let alone the difficulty of maintaining the supply of food and fodder.
Now the second batch of grain and grass is being mobilized in Jinling, Suzhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou...12 wealthy prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River.
It will all be shipped to the western border in less than two months.
The old minister said before that even if he tightens his belt and eats sweet potatoes for ten years, he will definitely raise enough food and grass for His Majesty.
Please put it down, Your Majesty, so that our Great Dragon Heavenly Army can go on an expedition without any worries.
If there is any mistake in the provision of food and grass, the old minister will offer his head on his neck and die to apologize!"
"Okay, I feel reassured by this!"
"I see you, Your Majesty, long live long live!"
While he was talking, Liu Chengzhi had already walked into the palace with a group of officials!
"Take your seat without courtesy, thank you Your Majesty!"
"Everyone, please take your seats and wait for Mr. Lu to enter the palace!"
"According to the order!"
The officials all walked towards their seats, knelt down and sat down. Liu Mingzhi took Jiang Yuanming's fold and put it away, tightened the jade belt around his waist, and looked faintly towards the palace gate.
Under the escort of ten Forbidden Army soldiers, a figure gradually appeared under the steps outside the Qinzheng Palace and walked toward the palace gate.
After a cup of tea, Lu Fengshuang, who had a sallow complexion and was as thin as a gust of wind, looked at the majestic Qinzheng Palace in front of him. With scarlet eyes, he took out the dragon flag from his arms and slowly unfolded it. He held the dragon flag high with both hands and walked slowly towards the palace.
.
Looking at the civil and military officials in two ranks, Lu Feng fixed his gaze on Liu Mingzhi, who was standing in the center of the hall looking at him in a daze, and knelt down with a plop.
"Caomin Lu Fengshuang pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor. Long live, long live."
Liu Mingzhi stared blankly at the dilapidated big dragon flag in Lu Feng's hands, and then turned his attention to Lu Fengshuang.
Looking at Lu Fengshuang, who was as skinny as skin and bones, Liu Mingzhi's eyes were sore. He rushed back to Dalong from Dashi, thousands of miles away. What kind of hardships did he have to endure to become like this?
Being able to come back alive is simply a miracle!
"No gifts! No gifts!"
"Xiao Chengzi, please give me a seat!"
"yes!"
"Master Lu, please sit down!"
"Caomin Lu Fengshuang, thank you, Your Majesty, long live long live long live!"
"Xiao Chengzi, ask the imperial kitchen to cook a bowl of beef soup immediately, and bring it over with some easy-to-swallow food!"
"According to the order!"
When Lu Feng sat down on his knees and fully displayed his appearance in front of the officials, there was an uproar.
Seeing Lu Feng's emaciated appearance with sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, all the officials felt pity in their eyes and had the same idea as Liu Mingzhi.
Being able to come back alive is simply a miracle!
"Lu Fengshuang!"
"The grassroots are here!"
"How are your health? Can you bear it? If you can't bear it, rest for a while. I and all the ministers can wait. If you are in good health, I will tell you in detail what happened to the caravan in Dashi and Tianzhu.
I and all my ministers need to know the specific situation!"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the common people are fine."
Liu Mingzhi nodded silently, walked up to the dragon platform, picked up the warm tea and walked towards Lu Fengshuang.
"Drink a cup of tea to moisten your throat and speak slowly!"
"Grass...Grass people don't dare!"
"It doesn't matter, you can drink it as long as you want. You are Dalong's people and my subjects. Drinking my tea is a matter of course."
"Thank you... Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Lu Feng drank the warm tea with gratitude and trepidation, then knelt down in front of Liu Mingzhi again holding the tea cup.
"Your Majesty, the common people are suffering. Please make the decision for 18 merchants and 3,742 people, brothers and sisters!"
"Get up! Get up!"
I have now prepared my army for war and am ready to send troops to attack the barbarians of the two countries at any time.
Don't worry, I won't let them settle the blood feud of more than 3,000 people easily.
I will never forgive anyone who is stained with the blood of my people, the Great Dragon!"
"Your Majesty is Holy! Your Majesty is Holy!"
"Get up, let's talk about what happened first. How did you cross the border of Dayuan and go deep into the territories of Dashi and Tianzhu to conduct trade?
What about the Kingdom of Parthia? Is there any reason why there was no time to elaborate in the letter?
To be more specific, I’m not afraid of waiting!”
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, this matter started in May last year."
"I already know that your eighteen merchants did not set sail in time for Haining. Let me tell you in detail why your caravan went deep into Tianzhu and Tianzhu after entering the Western Regions."
"yes!
That was what happened after Cao Min's father and seventeen other merchants received the customs clearance documents.
Originally, our assembled caravan planned to go to Xinfu or Beifu to sell the goods in hand.
However, the owners of the nine merchant houses of Dong, Chu, Feng, etc. believed that there were officials and merchants from the imperial court in these two prefectures, and many private caravans had already rushed to trade.
We delayed for more than two months, and it was too late to go again. Firstly, we were afraid that the goods would not be sold, and secondly, we were afraid that the price would not be high.
Later, after discussion, eighteen merchants decided to trade with the countries in the Western Regions.
After all, with the customs clearance documents in hand, and our eighteen families united with more than 3,000 people, we can go to the Western Regions to do business without any scruples.
The eighteen families hit it off immediately and immediately left the border with customs clearance documents and rushed to the countries in the Western Regions with a large amount of goods!
At the end of August we arrived at Gumo Country in the Western Regions.
The goods we brought were very popular. In Gumo, Loulan, Cheshiqian and Qiuci countries, about half of the goods were sold.
Later, under the guidance of translators from the Western Regions who understood Chinese, the caravan continued to move westward.
Until about 80% of the goods were sold in Xiuxun State to the east of Dawan State. Under normal circumstances, the remaining goods should be sold at a low price and returned home as soon as possible.
Later, for some reason, my father and others learned from another caravan from the Western Regions that there was a powerful country to the west of Dawan that was not recorded on the map.
Cao Min's father and the others got together to discuss, and decided to continue heading west with the remaining goods, trying to sell the goods at a high price.
If the rumor is wrong, sell the goods at a cheap price in Dawan, buy a batch of high-quality horses from Dawan, and then sell them back to the country.
Your Majesty also knows that the Horse Administration of the Imperial Court always accepts as many fine war horses as possible.
With this idea in mind, the caravan once again headed west to the Kingdom of Dawan.
We originally planned to go to Ershi City, the royal city of Dayuan Kingdom, to inquire about the news about Dashi Kingdom, but we did not expect that on the second day after entering Dayuan Kingdom, we met merchants from Dashi and Tianzhu.
The caravans from the two countries immediately took a fancy to the slightly defective remaining goods in our caravan. Because of the presence of the Western Regions translator, they quickly negotiated a price that was very satisfactory to both parties and sold the goods.
To be continued...