The temperature dropped sharply, and it was not only the Qin and Yan countries that were not adaptable, but also the sick numbers among the various tribes of Beidi to varying degrees. It's just that compared to Qin and Yan, Beidi is located in the northerner part of the region after all, and nearly half of the year is covered with ice and snow. This person is naturally more hardy than Qin and Yan.

In addition, each of them brought thick warm clothes according to their habits, so relatively speaking, the situation is much better.

After the spies planted in Guzhu City came back, the Beidi departments also knew how many men and horses there were in the Qin and Yan armies, and they could roughly judge how much grain, grass and clothing the Qin and Yan armies carried through the materials carried by the men and horses. It's not very accurate, but it's still an idea.

Therefore, as soon as the leaders of the various tribes of Beidi are combined, they have to meet them sooner or later, and it is better to fight early than late, so why wait for them to gain a firm foothold and have enough food and grass to go to them again.

That night, the vanguard, composed of the strongest warriors of all races, stepped on the moonlight and merged into the endless plain.

One night later, not a single secret letter was sent back from the grassland to Lone Bamboo City.

After a night of sleeplessness, the temporary group led by Zheng Gongzi finally discussed several relatively feasible plans. Just waiting for General Qin to summon and review.

Xu Ao yawned, and slowly moved from the house to the outside, the white miserable sunlight outside the house made people unable to adapt for a while, and his eyes involuntarily narrowed slightly.

During the night, the servants of the castle guard came to refill the lamp oil twice, but despite this, the dim light still made people dizzy. Didn't you see that except for Xu Ao, the first thing the rest of them did was to lie on the ground and make up for sleep. Fortunately, there is a heating trough under the house, so I don't have to worry about freezing.

Xu Ao squatted on the threshold and thought about it, always feeling that there was something missing in the whole plan.

Lack of clothing and food, the solutions that everyone came up with are nothing more than procurement, asking for help, and urging. However, even if all the food and clothing on the market are purchased in the surrounding cities, how much will there be? How long will this entire army be consumed? This month is already a time of starvation, and even if the various businesses have grain in stock, I am afraid that there will not be too much. Moreover, how to calculate the amount of money spent on this procurement?

It's not that Xu Ao doesn't have his own ideas, it's just that Zheng Gongzi and Xu Hu have been clothed and fed since they were children, and they haven't experienced any difficult days, so I'm afraid they won't understand.

In fact, it is also very simple, Xu Ao's idea is just one word: rent.

Several cities in the north of Yan that stored military rations all fell, resulting in the entire reinforcement army being unable to mobilize food nearby, so they rented it from the surrounding cities and people's homes. What to rent, to rent food, to rent clothes, to rent quilts.

Ten buckets of rice were rented, and eleven buckets were returned after half a month. Ten pieces of cotton clothes were rented, and half a month later, eleven pieces were returned. There is also the question of forage for military horses, Xu Ao also knocked on the side last night, and asked from Xu Hu and Sun Xiansheng whether the military horses eat hay or grass. Unfortunately, the military horses actually eat mixed feed, beans, bran, grass, salt, calcium, all of which are indispensable. Which is the grass that was taken for granted in the TV series in the previous life.

This made most of Xu Ao's original idea of replacing forage with lodging dead wheat scrapped.

Xu Ao looked up at the sunshine, and estimated that it was not yet time to eat, but his stomach was really hungry enough, so he drank tea with them all night and discussed, but he didn't eat a bite, but the tea was full.

As the saying goes, the emperor is not short of hungry soldiers. Why don't they understand? Let's go out and find something to eat, and see if they can think of anything.

He shook his somewhat drowsy head vigorously and sneezed two or three loud times. Tightened his clothes, touched the money bag around his waist, went around to the back door, found a random reason, and slipped out of the back door of the castle guard's mansion.

I have to say that the ancients got up early, and at most it was less than half an hour of dawn, and the street was already very lively. Although there are not as many breakfasts on the street as in the aftermarket, there are still a lot of basic pasta. I casually found a small restaurant that looked like a thriving business, two pieces of baked cakes, a bowl of gnocchi, half a bowl of hot soup, a few dollars of lean meat, and only a small piece of broken silver. But the boss was happy for a long time, and after living for so many years, it was the first time I saw a customer who only wanted lean meat but not fatty meat.

Xu Ao finished pulling a few bites, and watched the people on the street with the leftover baked cakes in his mouth.

In the end, because it is located in the north, most of the Yan people are stout, and both men and women are wearing a small hat, a cotton coat, and a gourd of different sizes tied around their waists. Maybe the clothes will be a little shabby, but it doesn't look like the rumored Yan people are all poor.

"Shopkeeper" Xu Ao greeted, and the shopkeeper immediately trotted over, and went out with a few taels of silver, but it was not something that he could offend in this small shop: "Son, what do you order?"

"Let me ask a few things, if you answer well, I will buy another twenty pieces of baked cakes and go back, if the answer is not good, I will only buy two pieces, what do you think?" When the shopkeeper heard this, how could he not be happy, you know, even when the business was at its best, he would sell about thirty pieces of baked cakes in the morning. Buy twenty yuan at a time, isn't this a distinguished guest: "Childe, please say, the small ones who are too important must not know, but as long as the small ones know, they must explain it clearly to the son." ”

"First, I heard that there are a lot of people in Yan Country who raise horses, how to solve the problem of forage in this winter?" Xu Ao took out a piece of broken silver from his money bag and knocked it on the table.

The little neighbor kept a few donkeys, most of which were hay and straw in the autumn and mixed with dead leaves in the winter. When there was not enough forage, he took them out to gnaw on the bark of the trees. ”

Alas, this is no problem for ordinary donkeys and bad horses, but it is not enough for military horses.

"Okay, wrap me four pieces of biscuits. Xu Ao knocked on the table with the broken silver. The shopkeeper immediately told the young man to go quickly.

"The second question, I heard that the national strength of Yan is weak and the people are poor, but when I see it today, it is definitely not what is said in the rumors, so why can't the big river be repaired?"

"Childe, since the death of the first king and the regent of the queen mother, many policies have been promulgated that are beneficial to the common people, among which the desert opening order is the biggest one. Newly reclaimed wasteland, which will not be taxed for five years. Therefore, most of the current Yan people, as long as they are not idle lazy people, are considered to have a good life. Alas, it would be better if there were no Beidi, who suffered my sister and married into a town more than 200 miles to the north, and I don't know whether she is dead or alive now. The shopkeeper patted his thigh, sighed and sat down on his knees, took the initiative to take the gourd from his waist, and poured a bowl of wine for Xu Ao.

Xu Ao was a little tired and panicked when he raised his head to speak, but the shopkeeper could take the initiative to sit down, which was just right: "The shopkeeper, Jiren has his own natural appearance, you don't have to worry too much." ”

"Xie Gongzi Jiyan, come on, come on, this bowl of wine is a small heart, if Gongzi doesn't dislike it, taste it. It's made in the cheap, and it's definitely not as good as the wine that Childe drank in the past. ”

Xu Ao wanted to say that he was not good at drinking, but when he saw that the boss was a little depressed and looked at the north from time to time, he couldn't bear to refuse, so he picked up the bowl and drank it cleanly: "Good wine." "This wine has a hint of sweetness in the mouth, but it is a bit like rice wine in the previous life, sweet and sour, but not spicy.

"It's good if Childe likes it, if you like it. The shopkeeper waited for Xu Ao to fill it again, Xu Ao hurriedly excused himself, and the shopkeeper was no longer reluctant: "I don't know if the son still has any questions? ”

"By the way, I see that most of the people of Yan Country have gourds tied around their waists, could it be that CD is a wine gourd?"

"It is exactly, Yanbei is bitterly cold, not as good as Yannan, there are no young and old here, most of them are drinking. If you don't drink a little in winter, you will freeze to death in the future. ”

"Then why don't you see a liquor shop along the street?"

"Haha, childe, almost everyone in Yanbei makes wine at home, all of them are local methods, and the wine brewed is not on the table, how can any store do this loss-making business. ”

"I see. Xu Ao took out a few more grains of broken silver: "The shopkeeper has extra wine, please sell it to me, and I'll bring it back for everyone to taste." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare, if Childe likes it, I'll give Childe a gourd. "Then there was a flurry of back and forth.

In the end, Xu Ao exchanged three or four pieces of broken silver for a pot of wine and more than 20 pieces of baked cakes.

humming a little tune all the way home. Zheng Gongzi, Zheng Gongzi, it's not that the master doesn't help, but he really drank some wine and can't think of a way.

Wine!

It is the mountains and rivers that are full of doubts, and the willows and flowers are bright and another village.