In the big tent, the generals who were discussing the military situation and the servants who were handling the military reports all looked at Niba who was speaking in bewilderment.
For such a major event as the loss of the country, the Qi people's court waited for half a month without responding.
What kind of court is this?
Su Lu thought of a court, the Qing court.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the domestic political situation was corrupt, corruption was rampant, military armaments were lax, domestic suppression was brutal, and external humiliation was sought. The last person in power once said that he would rather be with friends than domestic slaves.
Could it be that Qi State is also like this?
Su Lu thought like this and asked Niba casually: "How is the situation in Qi State? Is there a big grain merchant who can take over and sell grain to us?"
Niba scratched his head when he heard this: "Forgive me, Commander, I really don't know. These days, I only focus on ambushes and assassinations. Commander Li Ling went to Qi State. Commander, you can order him to search. There should be a big grain merchant in Qi State.
, I raided two large grain depots on the south bank."
Su Lu nodded and told Niba and the others to go down and rest. They stretched their strings on the ground continuously for more than a month. These boys had almost reached the limit of their bodies.
The captain who had left the Dingxiang guards in the camp was summoned. Su Lu gave instructions and the captain took the order.
Luo Xuan said next to him: "Commander Commander, we attacked Qi State and occupied Qi State's land. No matter how lawless Qi State merchants are, they may not dare to sell grain and grass to us."
Before Su Lu could speak, Su Yun came in from the outside and said, "That's impossible to say. When Thule invaded our Han Kingdom, my brother and Thule fought hard, and those Shanxi merchants didn't carry the same baggage."
Sell the grain and grass to support the enemy."
Luo Xuan was speechless, not knowing what to say.
"Hey, there are so many bags, what's in them?"
Su Yun saw the bag placed in front of Su Lushuai's case, and stepped forward to open it and take a look.
These dirty bags were placed haphazardly in front of Su Lushuai's case. They were out of tune with the surroundings. Su Yun noticed them immediately.
Only then did Su Lu think of the bag that several captains had put in front of the case before Niba left.
"ah!"
Su Yun screamed, covering the mouth of the bag tightly, his cheeks flushed, and his eyes flashed brightly.
"Poof"
A silver ingot rolled out from the mouth of the bag and landed at Luo Xuan's feet.
"This is the official silver of Qi State?"
Luo Xuan picked it up and took a look. He was surprised when he saw the inscription on the bottom.
Su Lu stood up and asked, "Come here, let's ask how much official silver Niba brought back this time?"
A guard went out and came back after a while, saying in an excited voice: "Prince Qi, Lieutenant Niba has brought back fifteen carts of supplies, which are basically Qi State's official silver. Lord Zhou Yuan is counting them."
Su Lu pinched his chin. Niba did a good job. Although the money could not be used as food, if he was willing to accept Tang Guo's price, he could still buy a lot of food from Tang Guo.
Three days later, Li Ling returned from Qi, covered with dust.
"Your Majesty, the general has lived up to his command. Not only did he find out the movements of the Qi people's court, but he also persuaded several big grain merchants in Qi State, and their shopkeepers are here."
Su Lu nodded: "Why didn't Qi people send troops?"
A strange look appeared on Li Ling's face: "Before Kang'an was massacred by Colonel Niba, he did not report the loss of hundreds of miles of land north of Qingjiang to the court. Up to now, most people in the Qi court have not reported it at all.
I know that the area north of the Qingjiang River has fallen into the hands of our Han Kingdom."
Luo Xuan was snatched from the side and asked: "Impossible, Qi people can't only have Kangding to reach the sky. In that case, the Qi court would be derelict in its duty."
Li Ling smiled: "What General Luo said is true. Qi State also has a surveillance system, and the intelligence was also transmitted to the capital, but it was suppressed by Kang An's backers."
Everyone in the account looked confused. Damn it, you can actually do this.
Su Lu smiled. Just like the Qing court, many strange things were unimaginable.
"Zhou Yuan, go ahead and call your civil servants to meet with the big businessmen of Qi to lower the price of grain. The quantity can be raised to a very high level. No matter how high it is, we are not afraid."
Zhou Yuan looked happy. Now that he had money in hand, he would soon have food again. He had solved the problem of the Han army's food shortage and handled the logistics for the prince. The Han Dynasty's national book records this time of opening up the territory.
, it is necessary to give him a heavy brushstroke.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will let Qi people go away happily."
The next day, just after dawn, Zhou Yuan walked into Su Lu's tent and found a chair in the tent to sit down.
Su Lu, who was giving instructions on military affairs, looked curious: "Zhou Yuan, what's wrong with you? Your eye bubbles are as red as copper bells?"
Zhou Yuan's face wrinkled and he smiled as if he were crying: "Your Majesty, last night I negotiated the price with Qi Ren's grain dealer all night long. When the price reached three cents per pound, Qi Ren offered me an offer that I couldn't help but accept.
Bait.”
Su Lu put down the brush in his hand, leaned back on the chair, and asked, "Can the Qi people's grain merchants help cover up our attack on the Kang'an Camp and occupy hundreds of miles of Qi State's land?
The country will not raise an army."
Zhou Yuan opened his eyes wide and looked at Su Lu in surprise, with a look like "How do you know? Did you secretly hide some people outside my tent?"
Su Lu waved his hand: "The political situation in Qi is corrupt and corruption is rampant. It is not surprising that Qi Shang made such a promise. Compared with lowering food prices, real interests are what they pursue."
"Okay, I agree to them, but the requirement is that money and goods must be paid in full. No money can be paid in advance. The handover will be done south of Jiangling."
Zhou Yuan nodded solemnly, turned around and left the camp, and went to negotiate with Qi people.
Niba, who had already washed himself, stood beside Shuai An in a daze, his eyes almost bulging out of his head. He simply didn't believe that this could happen.
Su Lu smiled bitterly: "Are you surprised? Strange? If I told you that this is nothing to the Qi people, would you believe it? As long as we can come up with money, these Qi people merchants dare to destroy the city one by one.
Sell it to us."
Niba felt that his three views had been overturned by his eyes, and he felt dizzy, as if he had not yet recovered from the fatigue of fighting in Qi for days.
On the contrary, Zhao Zheng next to him spoke: "This is not unusual, Mr. Niba, we have seen many people in Qi who are not fully clothed and have no food to eat. There is not even a handful of grain in the big vat at home.
No, they have all been plundered by the government. It is not surprising that such a court would do anything."
Zhao Zheng glanced at the door of the camp and saw that there were no outsiders, so he simply said: "Not to mention the Qi people, even our Han country, before the prince came out, was not much better than the Northern Qi Dynasty. How much fertile land and sand were occupied by the Shanxi merchants?
The people of the state do not have enough to eat."
"The eldest brother can't laugh at the second brother. Our Han country was no better than that before. Colonel Zhao Zheng said it right."