Chen Xi smiled and said, "How could that be a waste? What Fengzhou lacks the most is medicinal herbs. If we don't end up using them, we can ship them back to Fengzhou. Winter is just around the corner, which is the season when typhoid fevers are most likely to break out."
"As for the price..." He spoke with full confidence, "Have you forgotten the connections the Qiu family has? We can negotiate with those few families to see if they can offer us the same price as before."
"If that doesn't work out, out of respect for Old Master Qiu, they won't charge us more than the market rate no matter what. At the end of the day, it will still be a cost-effective deal."
After Suo Qian talked things over with Old Master Qiu, the old man took this matter extremely seriously. He immediately wrote several personal letters to his old friends in Sizhou.
Those friends were more than helpful. Before long, they had prepared a large stock of medicinal herbs that matched exactly what Fengzhou needed.
Chen Xi was the one who had arranged the transport ships for the herbs back then, so he knew exactly who those suppliers were.
Li Tong sighed, "I'm just worried they won't agree. After all, they only cooperated last time out of respect for the Qiu family, and Old Master Qiu hasn't reached out to them this time around."
Those families truly only answered to Old Master Qiu—even Qiu Dao didn't carry enough weight to sway them.
Chen Xi glanced at the sky outside, "No rush. I'll go talk to them first. Last time I noticed they had intentions of expanding their business into Fengzhou. This is a win-win situation. I'm sure the heads of those families will be happy to work with us."
There were far too few medical practitioners in Fengzhou, and it was unavoidable. Most of the people Jiang Jin had taken in were poor common folks with no specialized professional skills.
At the moment, the only established medical clan that had settled in Fengzhou was the Qiu family.
Mu Zhuo's ancestors had been physicians too, but his family had run a single clinic for generations with no deep heritage, so they couldn't be counted as a major medical clan.
As for Suo Qian, he used to be just a military doctor.
Of course, that didn't mean their medical skills were subpar. It just meant they didn't have the extensive connections and deep-rooted foundations in the field.
Mei Sheng laughed, "Now that Fengzhou is thriving, they will naturally flock to it."
Li Tong nodded in agreement, "This is a great thing. We really are short on doctors in Fengzhou."
"The Qiu family is the best possible brand name in Fengzhou. Sooner or later, they will see the bigger picture." Chen Xi took the umbrella handed over by the shop steward and got ready to head out.
Li Tong followed after him, "I'll go with you."
This day was destined to go down in history. The Jinyang Army had taken control of two prefectures, and the Ji Army troops stationed in those two regions had all been forced to withdraw, except for the ones remaining in Wenxia City.
Even though the Nanpu and Shangjing prefectures were still in utter chaos at the moment, both the local people living there and the Jinyang Army that had just taken over the two prefectures were brimming with excitement, full of hope for what the future held.
When the sun rose over the land, Jiang Jin wore a bright smile as she saw Ji Duoyan off, along with all the members of the Ji clan staying in Wenxia City.
Jiang Jin was quite satisfied with how cooperatively the Ji Army had behaved over the past few days, so she kept her word and released them all.
She stood on top of the city gate tower, watching the emotional scene unfold below where the Ji Army troops were reuniting with their leader.
At that moment, there were still roughly twenty thousand Ji Army soldiers outside Wenxia City; the rest had already pulled back.
Ji Duoyan had become nothing more than skin and bones. Worse still, it looked like he hadn't washed himself in ages, and a foul, sour stench drifted over from him.
Bian Huai held his breath, his heart filled with mixed emotions, "Grand Chanyu, you have suffered greatly."
Ji Duoyan's face was dark and gloomy. Having kept his life under such humiliating circumstances, he felt both deeply ashamed and strangely fortunate—his mind was a whirl of conflicting feelings.
Jiang Jin called out to him with a bright, cheerful voice, "We'll meet again someday! Grand Chanyu of the Ji clan, you are always welcome to visit Wenxia City. I will roll out the red carpet for you."
Ji Duoyan: ......
He let out a cold huff. He never wanted to lay eyes on this woman again for as long as he lived, not unless she was dead!
He hauled himself up onto the waiting carriage.
Jiang Jin didn't take his rudeness to heart at all. She turned to look at Bian Huai, "If you are heading back to the Ji tribe's lands outside the pass, you can travel through Nanpu Prefecture. All you need to do is pay a small toll. Since we are on friendly terms, I will definitely give you a nice discount."
Bian Huai's expression darkened, "Our territories border each other. We will have plenty of opportunities to interact in the future. Farewell for now."
Jiang Jin laughed, "That's perfectly fine. Since we are neighbors, we can hold more martial duels between our generals later on to liven things up."
Bian Huai: ......
Was she trying to remind him that his side had lost seven duels in a row?
He decided not to say another word, mounted his horse, and ordered, "Move out!"
Yao Ji led nearly ten thousand Jinyang soldiers, following at a safe distance behind the retreating Ji Army.
Shi Ju glanced back at the Jinyang Army, his face full of resentment, "It's such a pity we have to escort the Grand Chanyu back. Otherwise, I'd love to wipe them all out right here."
Bian Huai said in a flat, emotionless tone, "Three out of every ten of their soldiers are armed with repeating crossbows. Out here on this flat open ground, we are no match for them."
As unwilling as he was to admit it, he had to face the fact that a Jinyang soldier with a repeating crossbow could easily take on several of their men in one-on-one combat.
Besides, even if they somehow managed to kill this ten thousand strong Jinyang unit, it would do nothing but spark a full-scale war between the two armies, which served no practical purpose.
Their top priority right now was to consolidate all their tribes, rebuild their morale, redivide their territories, and unite all their people to defend the three remaining prefectures they still held.
Yao Ji didn't lead his troops back until the last of the Ji Army had crossed the border out of Nanpu Prefecture.
In Daqing, Luo Qingci looked down at the note in her hand, a look of "just as I expected" crossing her face.
"Have all the relief supplies like grain and medicinal herbs been prepared?" She lifted her head and asked He Qiuchi.
He Qiuchi quickly replied, "Everything is ready. The supplies are all stored in Xianglu County, and they can be loaded onto the ships at any time."
Luo Qingci nodded, then turned to look at Zhou Leng and Xie Nanxiao, "Our lord has ordered the two of you to travel together to Sizhou to carry out disaster relief efforts."
She paused and smiled, adding, "And you are granted full discretionary powers to act as you see fit."
Xie Nanxiao raised an eyebrow slightly, "Full discretionary powers?"
After arranging the defensive posts along Daqing's border, he returned to Denggao County.
Jin Feng and the others were all seasoned veterans of the battlefield, so he had full confidence in them to hold the line at Daqing's borders for the time being.
Yan Ke bit her lip and asked, "Can I come along with you?"
Luo Qingci shook her head, "That's not up to me. You can ask the Chief Instructor Xie directly."
Xie Nanxiao: ...... "There could be a plague breaking out in the disaster zone."
Yan Ke stated her resolve firmly, "I'm not afraid."
She felt she hadn't gotten nearly enough practical training, and she needed to get out into the world more to gain experience.
Xie Nanxiao saw the unwavering determination in her eyes and nodded in agreement.
He turned back to Luo Qingci, "Did our lord say whether we can bring any Sizhou disaster survivors back to Fengzhou with us?"
Luo Qingci handed him the note, "Yes, she did. She told you to judge the situation on the ground. Try your best not to get into conflicts with the Sizhou army. Of course, if they act aggressively and rudely, you can give them a proper lesson."
Xie Nanxiao looked down at the note, his gaze lingering a little longer on the line that granted him "full discretionary powers".
A moment later, he lifted his head and said, "Alright, we'll leave right away. We'll head back to Xianglu first, and tomorrow I will set off for Sizhou with the grain supplies."
Traveling by water was very fast. He had night vision telescopes, so the ships could sail even at night. They would reach Xianglu by early the next morning.
Yan Ke frowned slightly, "Shouldn't we notify Sizhou in advance about this? To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings?"
Luo Qingci smiled, "Of course we will. We will inform the First Prince as soon as we enter Sizhou's territory. Later today, I will have an official formal document drawn up and sent ahead to Sizhou."
While all these discussions were underway, Dong Si in Gofeng also received Jiang Jin's letter. When he read the part that called for voluntary donations from the local people, he let out a sigh of relief.
He had received a previous letter from Luo Qingci ordering him to prepare large quantities of grain, clothing and other supplies.
Even though he wasn't the one who had gathered all those supplies personally, he was the one who had issued the order, and it had felt as if someone was slicing pieces of flesh right off his body.
Now things were much better. Letting the local people donate whatever they could would greatly reduce the financial strain on their lord's treasury.
He issued a swift order: "Bring Wei Qingran here immediately."
