A hint of surprise flashed across Qiu Liao's brow; he hadn't expected Jiang Jin to be so confident in Gefeng.
At the same time, he saw her honesty and open-mindedness.
In that moment, he suddenly felt a bit ashamed, but also filled with curiosity and anticipation regarding Gefeng.
He had been struggling to hold on up in the mountains. Every day, the moment he opened his eyes, the question was: how to feed so many people, and where to find food?
He hadn't wanted to take in so many people. Their original troop consisted of barely a thousand men, all soldiers, young and strong—they could have survived no matter what.
It was just that Nan Wen, that foolishly kindhearted fellow, would bring pitiful refugees up the mountain whenever he saw them, causing the mountain's population to grow larger and larger.
He had also made the people on the mountain plant crops. In the past, it was somewhat enough to keep them fed and warm, but with this year's drought, let alone harvesting food, they couldn't even recover the seeds they planted.
Qiu Liao pondered for a moment, then bowed to Jiang Jin, "May I ask when it would be convenient for you, milady?"
Gefeng was bustling with activity again today. The city's commoners watched the long grain transport procession with wide smiles, filled with a sense of security and pride.
"This is all grain, right? Hehe, we definitely won't go hungry now."
"Listen to you. This is just the beginning! Haven't you seen the crops planted in the new city and outside the walls?"
"Of course I have. Our Gefeng is a city blessed by heaven. Good heavens, I've farmed my whole life and never seen such high yields."
"I haven't either. They're so heavy and full. I heard these seeds all belong to the Lord. The Lord was sent by heaven to save us."
While they were murmuring among themselves, Dong Si trotted out from the county office. "My Lord, you've returned?"
Jiang Jin pointed to the grain. "Put the grain in the storehouse, and make arrangements for these people as well."
The ones who had transported the grain back were the cart slaves. These people would also become citizens of Gefeng in the future.
Dong Si nodded. "Understood. I'll have someone move the grain to the storehouse right away."
Not just anyone could enter Gefeng's underground storehouse; naturally, it required trustworthy people.
Jiang Jin then turned to look at Qiu Liao and Nan Wen, who were following behind her. "Will you two come with me to the county office, or would you like to stroll around the city first?"
Ever since Qiu Liao and Nan Wen had seen the crops in the outer city from a distance outside Gefeng, they had been in a state of shock.
Now, looking at the commoners in the city, what met their eyes were no longer people lacking clothes to cover their bodies, nor were they sallow, emaciated, or wearing bitter expressions.
Instead, they had a leisurely demeanor. Though not particularly robust, they looked very healthy, and what was even more rare were the smiles on their faces.
How long had it been since they last saw commoners smiling so healthily and relaxedly?
No, they had never seen it. Even in the past, when the Yan Kingdom still existed, the commoners had faced all sorts of hardships.
Qiu Liao opened his mouth, ultimately asking, "Were those crops outside the north city all planted by you?"
Jiang Jin nodded. "That's right. Not only outside the city, but we've planted them inside as well."
Qiu Liao was stunned. Remembering something, he asked again, "Were those refugees you were taking in at the city gates just now?"
When he first entered the city, he saw houses being built on the left side of the gates, with quite a few refugees gathered around, and soldiers maintaining order.
Jiang Jin's expression turned compassionate. "Natural disasters and man-made calamities make the commoners suffer. But as you know, there are corpses littering the fields outside. I'm worried about plagues, so I'm having them stay outside the city for a few days first. Once I'm sure there are no issues, I'll let them in."
She hadn't expected that after being away for just half a day, so many more refugees would arrive outside the city. She wondered if Chen Xi's preaching was taking effect.
Qiu Liao nodded inwardly, filled with admiration. "The City Lord is truly benevolent. I would like to stroll around the city first."
Jiang Jin nodded. "Alright."
She turned to Luo Qingci, who had just come out of the county office, and said, "Arrange a runner for them to show them around the city."
Luo Qingci nodded. "Yes, my Lord."
Jiang Jin said to Qiu Liao and his companion, "Then you two go ahead and look around."
Qiu Liao bowed respectfully. "Thank you, City Lord."
Jiang Jin nodded and quickly entered the county office. Today, because of the matter at Baba Mountain, she hadn't been able to go to Shanguan County. She would just have to go another day.
"My Lord, we can start building the new county office in a couple of days," Dong Si said excitedly upon returning after having his men move the grain into the underground storehouse.
The location of the new county office was in the area where the previous Gefeng residents lived, so it wouldn't interfere with the work at the current office.
As the number of commoners in the city grew, the former horse ranches, livestock areas, and farmlands were all being converted into residential areas, which were nearing completion.
Speaking of this, he couldn't help but remember Mu Qing's displeasure. When it was announced that the farmlands would be built over with houses, Mu Qing had pulled a long face.
Fortunately, they no longer needed to raise seedlings at that time, and the planted crops were mostly mature. Only then did he reluctantly agree, leading his men to harvest the crops.
Dong Si couldn't help but ask, "My Lord, once the new county office is built, will we keep this current one?"
Jiang Jin nodded. "Keep it as a backup."
Gefeng Commercial District.
From afar, Nan Wen smelled the aroma of meat buns and involuntarily walked toward the tavern. As he got closer, the scent of the meat buns grew stronger.
He couldn't help but swallow hard. They were meat buns made of fine white flour—so fragrant.
He hadn't eaten such fine flour meat buns in a long time; his mouth was watering.
Qiu Liao couldn't help but glare at him. This useless fellow was too embarrassing.
The runner assigned to show them around, named Guan Jiang, heard his gulp and introduced it with a smile.
"This is the tavern opened by our Lord. There's even more delicious food if you come in the morning. My favorite is the deep-fried dough sticks."
Nan Wen was immediately drawn by his words. "What are deep-fried dough sticks?"
Guan Jiang explained, "It's also a type of wheat food, but it's deep-fried in oil. It's incredibly tasty."
His description made Nan Wen swallow hard again, filled with yearning for the deep-fried dough sticks.
Soon, the three of them arrived at the tavern's entrance. Guan Jiang greeted Sun Acao. He often ate breakfast at the tavern, so they were familiar with each other.
Actually, there was more than one tavern in Gefeng now. Small merchants in the city had also opened taverns, and there were people pushing carts in the mornings, using small stoves to keep buns and steamed bread warm for sale.
However, they were all used to coming to the Gefeng Tavern. This was opened by the Lord, and it had certain foods that other taverns didn't offer.
Nan Wen touched the copper coins he had been carrying on him. This was his own money that he had saved up for a very long time, but unfortunately, he never had the chance to spend it.
Although there was money on the mountain, it belonged to everyone.
"How much is this meat bun?" He stared fixedly at the meat buns.
Sun Acao flashed a commercial smile. "Meat is expensive. Meat buns are one copper coin each. You can get two vegetable buns for one copper coin. There's also plain steamed bread; the coarse grain ones are cheaper, three for a copper coin. Which kind would you like to take a look at?"
Although Gefeng was trying its best to develop animal husbandry, it all took time. Right now, there was mostly just mutton. They could slaughter about a dozen sheep a day, but the portion distributed to their tavern wasn't much.
Nan Wen pulled out his entire net worth from a small pocket lining his inner clothes—three copper coins. He asked for two meat buns and two vegetable buns.
He gave Qiu Liao one meat bun and one vegetable bun. Just as he was about to dig in, he saw the runner staring blankly at him.
He hesitated for a moment, then painfully handed over his own vegetable bun. "I've been craving meat buns for a long time, so I can only give you the vegetable bun."
