Jiang Jin smiled, "It is not exactly helping them; our next plan was originally these two counties anyway."
"However," she changed the subject, "the time is not right yet. We must wait!"
This time, even Yun Ci was puzzled and asked, "Wait for what?"
Jiang Jin helplessly spread her hands, "Wait until our city walls are built and the grain is ripe, or at least until the majority of the crops have matured."
Once she made a move, Quzhao would definitely turn around to deal with her.
Although the Eight-Ox ballistae had a long firing range, each machine could only fire three arrows at a time. The reloading time was relatively long, and the cost of the arrows was high.
If the Quzhao soldiers swarmed over, disregarding their lives, even her current two hundred Eight-Ox ballistae would not be enough.
It should be known that the arable land outside her city extended over a thousand meters in some places, which was beyond the range of the Dragon Feather crossbows.
Then the crops she had worked so hard to grow would very likely be destroyed in an instant.
The walls of the new city could currently hold the Eight-Ox ballistae and soldiers, but without the protection of battlements, they would be at a great disadvantage in a real fight.
The new city's moat was also not finished.
Therefore, now was not a good opportunity to strike.
She turned to look at Yun Ci, "Do you think Ze'a Commandery can hold out for another two months?"
Yun Ci thought for a moment and shook his head, "I reckon it will be a bit difficult."
After a moment of pondering, Jiang Jin said, "Then put more effort into the city walls and see if we can strive to finish them by September."
Most of the crops planted outside the city would basically mature in September.
She also did not want to drag things out too long. Judging by this year's situation, winter might arrive even earlier than last year.
If so, after she took Chunrong County and Shanguan County, there would not be much time left for her to build.
Yun Yu pursed his lips, "My Lord, are we just going to help Ze'a Commandery for free?"
Zhou Sui's eyes flickered. Based on his understanding of Jiang Jin, she would definitely fleece them for all they were worth. Sure enough, Jiang Jin's voice rang out.
"Why would you think that? Naturally, it will be for a price."
Gefeng's next plan was originally Chunrong County and Shanguan County. Ze'a Commandery just happened to stumble into it, so Jiang Jin was ready to conveniently fleece them.
It was just that the time to attack the cities might need to be moved up a bit.
Everyone's eyes lit up; they were more than happy to shear the sheep of the noble families.
Everyone present harbored resentment towards the noble families of Fengzhou for previously standing by coldly and watching the Northeast Army get surrounded and slaughtered by Quzhao.
If it were just a lack of military support, it would have been one thing. But they had also taken away all the provisions and resources they could carry from the various commanderies and counties of Fengzhou, causing the Northeast Army to run out of food. One could imagine how difficult those battles were.
The tables had turned. Now, the anxious ones were Ze'a Commandery, seeking outside rescue.
The one holding the initiative was her Gefeng, so she absolutely had to shear a good layer of wool off them.
Yun Yu was the first to ask, "My Lord, what kind of compensation do you have in mind?"
Jiang Jin smiled, "Naturally, we want grain, salt, oil, gold, and silver. We want it all."
She looked around at everyone and asked, "Which one of you will go negotiate this?"
Everyone unanimously turned their gaze to Dong Si.
Dong Si: "..."
While they were discussing things here, some of the early-planted wheat in the new city had already matured. Mu Qing and Mu Wanbai were directing the farmers in the harvest.
Everyone's face beamed with smiles. They worked with burning enthusiasm, not feeling tired at all.
Even the workers building the city wall were full of motivation. With grain, they felt a sense of security.
Whenever they were exhausted, they would look down and see the lush green and shimmering golden grain all around them. A sense of pride and satisfaction would well up spontaneously, filling them with renewed energy.
This city wall was to protect them and their grain. They were all working for themselves, and the Lord even paid them wages.
On the Gefeng official road.
A group of refugees in tattered clothes trudged forward with great difficulty. They were the villagers from the three villages of Yunzuo.
The lake near them had completely dried up, and the crops they planted had all died from prolonged water shortage before they could even ear.
Along with the crops, their hopes had also died.
Left with no choice, the people of the three villages tremblingly went down the mountain together, stepping into a life of fleeing refugees that felt like a terrifying beast to them.
They did not dare enter cities or walk on official roads. They only dared to take mountain paths, digging up grass roots and tree bark to eat along the way.
Unfortunately, due to the drought, even grass roots and tree bark were scarce, and many had already been dug up. They could only scavenge for leftovers, never knowing where their next meal would come from.
Along the way, they occasionally saw corpses. Some had already rotted, emitting an extremely foul stench.
Some were left with only hair and tattered clothes, perhaps eaten by wild beasts in the mountains.
Even more were white bones. They would basically see one, or a pile, every few miles.
At first, they would scream and run far away when they saw them.
A few days later, they got used to it and could walk past these bones turning a blind eye.
The only thing they rejoiced about was their luck: they had not encountered any other refugees, vagrants, or mountain bandits along the way.
However, their good luck ran out today. They encountered Quzhao soldiers.
In fact, there were not many Quzhao soldiers, less than a hundred, but they were all burly and held bows and arrows aimed at them.
Han Yi was so scared his legs went soft. He begged for mercy with a trembling voice, "We... we are just ordinary commoners. We will leave right away, right away."
Seeing they were ordinary commoners, the Quzhao soldiers secretly let go of their apprehension. It was truly because the area around Gefeng had been very unsafe lately.
Although this mountain path was dozens of miles away from Gefeng, who knew if those lunatics from Gefeng would come out to rob the road.
It should be known that back outside the pass, over a distance of a hundred miles, Gefeng still managed to snatch their Quzhao horses and sheep. That was outside the pass, the territory of the Quzhao people!
It was said that the Jinyang Army came and went like ghosts. Now they did not dare walk the official roads or take shortcuts, making the Quzhao suffer unspeakably.
That was why they were so tense when this group of refugees came over.
The leading Quzhao general felt a bit humiliated and angry, feeling that his earlier cowardice had been made a fool of by these lowly Han commoners.
He scanned the villagers with a sinister gaze and noticed dozens of young women among them. Although their faces were sallow and they were painfully thin, they were young women after all.
He gave a crooked smile, "Leave? The entirety of Fengzhou is Quzhao territory. Naturally, you are also slaves of the Quzhao."
He pointed at the dozens of young women, "If these women serve us comfortably, I might consider letting you off."
Han Yi was shocked and terrified, "No, you cannot."
Han Ping and Han Da also hurriedly begged for mercy, "We beg you, we are just ordinary commoners, please let us go."
"I... I will kowtow to you," Han Ping said as he knelt down.
His eldest granddaughter was only 13 years old. If she were subjected to so many men... would she even survive?
The villagers were also trembling with fear, constantly begging the Quzhao men for mercy. The young women and children were even more terrified, hiding behind their parents and relatives.
