Gu Zhuo also looked full of admiration: "Indeed, the population of the three counties has exceeded one hundred thousand, and then there's the Jinyang Army—just the grain alone is no small amount."
"However, there's no need to worry too much. Our lord has long since made preparations. I haven't seen it myself, but I heard from people at the government office that the farmland has already been planned out, just waiting for next spring."
Yu Zhu furrowed his brow slightly: "That middle area isn't that big—how could it possibly grow enough grain to feed over a hundred thousand people?"
Yu Shu also looked worried: "Judging by the current weather, next year might be another severe drought year, with grain production dropping sharply..."
Gu Zhuo lowered his voice: "I heard that our lord has high-yield crop seeds. Last year, with only Gefeng County, it managed to feed a small population of tens of thousands."
As he spoke, a hint of pride crept into his expression: "You two don't know yet—the three counties have already done extensive water storage construction. No worries."
Yu Shu and his grandson were first stunned, then filled with admiration.
"A person who could fight their way out of Qu Zhao's encirclement is certainly no ordinary one."
Yu Zhu nodded. With such careful, step-by-step planning, she felt more at ease.
Remembering something, Yu Shu looked at Gu Zhuo: "I heard the county office is recruiting more clerks?"
Gu Zhuo nodded: "That's right."
Yu Zhu's face lit up: "Then I'll go try my luck when the time comes."
But Yu Shu's eyes showed a flicker of concern.
Yu Zhu didn't understand: "What's wrong?"
Yu Shu sighed: "A small county doesn't need so many officials. I suspect it's preparation for other counties and prefectures."
Gu Zhuo paused, then realized: "Ah, so that's it. I was wondering why our little Chunrong County alone has dozens of yamen runners. That explains it."
Shantong County was about the same size as Chunrong County, and it used to have only ten runners.
His face showed no worry, but a bit of excitement: "Three counties really are too small."
Yu Zhu also grew excited: "Right—if we take more counties, we can save more Han Chinese people like us."
Yu Shu shook his head with a wry smile: "You two, still so young."
"Those are human lives!" he murmured.
The room fell silent. After a long while, Gu Zhuo spoke: "They are lives, but—it's for the sake of more lives."
He looked at the steaming bowl in his hands and murmured: "If I could keep my family and friends living the way they do now, I'd be willing too."
After two days of long travel, Dong Si finally arrived at Ze'a Prefecture.
When Sheng Chi saw him, he was somewhat surprised: "In such freezing weather, what business does Ambassador Dong have here?"
Dong Si let out a cold laugh: "What business? Lord Sheng—have you forgotten something?"
Sheng Chi's heart skipped a beat, sensing trouble: "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean?" Dong Si slapped the table lightly.
"My lord and I—the ships we set out on both sank. If we hadn't been lucky to survive, it wouldn't just be the ships lost—we'd have lost our lives too. How are you going to compensate for that?"
Huo Chun lifted an eyelid: "We haven't even demanded an accounting from you yet. We lost so many crew members. You owe us an explanation."
Dong Si glanced at him: "If you hadn't deliberately given us rotten ships, would they have sunk? Would your crew have died?"
"At the root of it, it's your problem. We gave you our precious vegetable seeds, and you, in return, showed no integrity and gave us inferior goods."
"I have every reason to suspect that you deliberately gave us broken ships to kill my lord. Even more—your crew might have deliberately sailed the ship into deep waters to die with us."
By now, he half-believed his own words, his face red with anger: "Fine, so you great clans had malicious intentions all along—killing without drawing a blade. As long as my lord is gone, our Jinyang Army is bound to fall into chaos, giving you the chance to seize our three counties!"
"Or even absorb our Jinyang Army and plunder our repeating crossbows."
"So that's it. No wonder back then, when I said to use our own people, you insisted on using yours to sail the ships. Wicked—utterly wicked!" Dong Si slammed the table again in fury.
The people in the hall were all bewildered by his words, not understanding how they'd suddenly become murderers for profit.
The key point was—the reasoning was disturbingly sound. If they hadn't known the truth themselves, they might have almost believed it.
Sheng He panicked: "Ambassador Dong, don't slander us! How could we possibly do such a thing?"
Kong Yi followed up: "We're all Han Chinese, and we're partners now. How could we do something like this? Ambassador Dong, please don't misunderstand."
"Besides, the Jinyang Army has repeating crossbows and formidable fighting strength. Wouldn't opposing you be asking for our own destruction?"
Dong Si looked at them with suspicion, then after a long pause said: "Fine. Whatever your intentions, I'll take the loss. Just compensate us with an equal number of ships."
"Impossible!" Zhang Tinghan roared. "Who knows where you sailed those ships off to? We haven't even settled accounts with you over our crew members."
"Ha! Then let's settle accounts." Dong Si sneered.
"The ships really did fall apart and sink. You can go search the sea—maybe you'll even find a few planks."
"As for your crew—how many did you have? And how many did we have on that last voyage? Most of them are gone."
"Not to mention our lord." His eyes blazed with fury: "That was our lord! If he hadn't been lucky enough to run into kind people, the consequences—you all know very well what would have happened!"
"Our Gefeng County, out of consideration for fellow Han Chinese, chose not to press the matter. And yet you want to demand compensation from us?"
He suddenly stood up: "I don't think you want to settle accounts—I think you want war!"
Sheng Chi's heart trembled; he could hardly choke on his own frustration. He knew the ships couldn't have sunk, but they had no proof.
Zhang Tinghan was so angry he couldn't speak: "You—you're twisting the facts!"
Even if he wasn't the sharpest, he knew Ze'a Prefecture was no match for the Jinyang Army. If it really came to war, they'd be doomed.
Kong Yi sighed inwardly, feeling a deep sorrow.
The weak get bullied—that was an unchanging truth.
Their Ze'a Prefecture was the weakest now. Even knowing the other side was twisting the facts, they could do nothing about it.
He kept his composure and smiled: "Ambassador Dong, don't get so worked up. We're still discussing how to resolve this, aren't we? Come, sit down first."
Dong Si snorted coldly: "I won't waste words with you. Out of consideration for being fellow Han Chinese and having a common enemy in Qu Zhao, just compensate us for the ships we lost."
Kong Yi shook his head: "Ambassador Dong, it's not that we're unwilling to compensate—but the matter is highly suspicious. How about we wait until we've investigated the matter thoroughly before deciding?"
Dong Si laughed in fury: "Investigate? We experienced it with our own eyes—what is there for you to investigate?"
"Since you have no intention of compensating, then I'll return and report this. As for what happens next, that's up to my lord to decide."
With that, he made to leave.
Sheng Chi felt a splitting headache and quickly signaled Sheng He with his eyes.
Sheng He, equally exhausted in mind and body, moved quickly and grabbed Dong Si by the arm: "Look at you, why so impatient? We're still negotiating, aren't we?"
He pulled Dong Si back to his previous seat: "You saw it yourself—we don't have many ships, especially large ones. We have to keep some for emergencies."
Dong Si's expression eased slightly: "Then tell me—how do you plan to compensate?"
Sheng Chi felt like a mouthful of old blood was about to spray out—he knew this black pot had to be swallowed whether he liked it or not. It truly was a case of losing both the bait and the fish.
It took him a long while to suppress the resentment in his chest, and his voice sounded as if it were squeezed out between his teeth: "And what compensation does Ambassador Dong have in mind?"
Dong Si lowered his head in thought for a moment, then asked the crucial question: "Then what do you have?"
The room fell silent. What did they have?
In the end, they paid out fifty thousand bolts of cloth and ten thousand in gold.
It wasn't until Dong Si left the council chamber that Sheng Chi slumped heavily onto the low couch, feeling as though he hardly had any breath left in him.
Zhang Tinghan said viciously, "Just where the hell did they stash those ships? If we can only find the ships, we'll make them pay us double in compensation."
Huo Chun glanced at him. This idiot—the real reason they had to pay compensation wasn't the ships at all, but the fact that they were weak.
Still, he was genuinely curious about where the Jinyang Army had hidden those ships.
"Could they be in Sizhou?" Sheng He guessed.
