Chapter 147 – First Arrival to the North Sea

As for how Shi Xiujin complained to her father and sister after returning, Liu Miantang didn’t care at all.

On the second day, the carriages of the Huaiyang Prince’s Residence were also neatly packed, and Miantang, along with Xiaoyi’er, Cui Fu, and Jin’er, set off for the North Sea.

Unlike in the past when she secretly feared being discovered by Cui Jiu when he went to the northwest, Miantang followed the army in a large and orderly manner, following behind the carriage.

Although the road to the North Sea was short, the previous Emperor, once went on an expedition to the North Sea, and the post road was built very well, making it easy to march. Originally, Miantang was worried that her son was too young to bear the pain of traveling far away. But Xiaoyi’er eats and sleeps all day long, and is hugged by a wet nurse to bask in the sun, making him chatter comfortably.

Because Cui Xingzhou had to wear armor, when he entered the North Sea, he was so stuffy that he had prickly heat on his body. Although he marched hastily along the way, he occasionally rode a fast horse to reunite with his wife and children for a while during rest stops.

Every time she saw him take off his armor, his body turned red. Miantang felt heartbroken when she looked at it. Fortunately, she had a lot of medicine with her, so she searched and found a solution for itching and dampness to apply on Cui Xingzhou.

Cui Xingzhou was already suffering like this, not to mention the other soldiers. Most of them simply don’t wear military armor and walk bare-shirtless, but in this way, as they rush on the journey in the scorching sun, their bodies are exposed to the sun. If there were a surprise attack from the enemy at this moment, the soldiers would be like a snail with its shell removed and left to be slaughtered.

However, when Cui Xingzhou saw his son Xiaoyi’er, he was very carefree.

The little doll, with its buttocks bare and only a small innerwear, was munching on fruit on the ventilated and cool carriage covered in gauze. As the month grew older, Xiaoyi’er began to taste the taste of the world. He can start to eat some egg yolks, and some soft fruits recently.

So Miantang prepared some soft and mashed flesh for him, fed it with a small spoon, and only ate it until the little doll lay on the grass mat, vigorously swinging its calves as if a dog was happily wagging its tail.

While feeding her son, Miantang also delivered the cut fruit pieces to her husband’s mouth.

Cui Xingzhou ate the sweet and crisp fruit. He saw various books with different Chorography scattered on the mat of the carriage. Some of the pages were carefully marked with small characters by Miantang, and he wondered what Miantang was doing.

Looking at Cui Xingzhou reading her handwriting, Miantang smiled and said, “There are many different races in the North Sea, and there are many wars. I can also learn about the local customs by looking at the local books.”

She pointed to a line of small characters and said, “The local military armor is mostly made of a type of vine, which not only can withstand knives and guns but also provides shade and cooling. It is much more practical than iron armor.”

Cui Xingzhou actually heard the guide say along the way and also had a mindset on armor making. But as a newcomer, it would take time to collect the raw materials for making amour, let alone arrange manpower. It would not be enough to quench his thirst for a while.

Miantang was applying medicine to Cui Xingzhou’s back when she heard this and said, “Didn’t you send someone to find my brothers? The North Sea is not the only place that can make rattan armor. I heard that you are coming to the North Sea, and I was idle at home flipping through books when I saw this.”

The thoughts of men and women are approximately different. Cui Xingzhou carefully considered before marching, but did not expect to encounter a situation where his armor could not be worn in the North Sea.

Liu Miantang silently thought of these seemingly insignificant things and did them well.

This made Cui Xingzhou realize again that the delicate and soft woman who gave him a son was indeed Lu Wen, who had stood out against him in the past.

He still remembered back then, when the heavy rain in the mountains continued, Lu Wen expected that many of his soldiers must have rotten feet. She even took advantage of the soldiers’ foot pain and couldn’t walk. She launched a surprise attack, achieving a complete victory, almost causing his generals to feel ashamed and commit suicide.

Later on, he went to the Mountain of Yang to find out that the people under Lu Wen had been waiting for the rainy season for a long time, and everyone’s shoes were covered in damp-proof grass ash insoles.

Moreover, the bandits of the Mountain of Yang disguised themselves as charity merchants early and sent a large number of shoes made of calendula grass to their soldiers. These shoes are usually durable but caused foot diseases during the rainy season easily.

At that time, Cui Xingzhou only felt that this method of winning by digging holes was so malicious. What kind of dog person does it take to come up with this idea?

Now that he remembered that she showed the cunning of an ancient spirit. He should have long guessed that Lu Wen was a woman.

Prince Huaiyang thought of the pain in the past and looked at the woman holding his son in front of him. For a moment, he didn’t know whether to kiss her well or spank her.

In summary, after arriving in the North Sea, the concern about military supplies for armor was finally successfully resolved.

Just as the State of Zhen army arrived at Cangwu County in the North Sea, the loyal four brothers arrived in time with dozens of armored vehicles.

In addition to rattan armor, there are also many refreshing grass shoes and herbs for relieving heat. Miantang wrote in the letter that Prince Huaiyang did not like them, so this time preparing the armament was to ask their brothers to flatter Prince Huaiyang well, so as not to be disliked by the prince in the future and tied up in a carriage to be sent out again.

The four brothers of loyalty and righteousness, apart from being in charge, didn’t pay attention to anyone, and even disdained to flatter Cui Xingzhou’s towering buttocks.

But as the leader ordered, they naturally had to do it wholeheartedly to show that they were hundreds of times stronger than Fan Hu and others assigned by Cui Xingzhou to the leader.

This job was done beautifully, and the soldiers of the State of Zhen changed into cool rattan armor. Finally, they didn’t need to be exposed to the scorching sun and practiced without any cover.

But in addition to military armor, things such as building barracks and training the navy also came one after another. These are not the State of Zhen soldiers and horses who are unfamiliar with their place of life and can handle them independently.

After Cui Xingzhou arrived at the county, he summoned local officials. The local sheriff was an old man with a beard that was 50 years old, named Su Xing. Unfortunately, Sheriff Su was very greedy for wine and spent most of the day not being awake.

He once served as an imperial censor in the court, but unfortunately, his outspokenness angered Empress Dowager Wu of that year. He was demoted to Cangwu County and stayed there for thirty years. The spirit of youth was almost worn away by the miasma of the North Sea, leaving only the fatigue of living comfortably.

Cui Xingzhou frowned and looked at Su Xing, who was full of alcohol fumes. He repeatedly asked him about local affairs, but he didn’t know what Su Xing wanted or said about it, and he said that it wasn’t his responsibility.

At the end of the inquiry, Prince Huaiyang had already suppressed his anger and patted the table, saying, “As a local official in Cangwu County, you knew that there would be reinforcements from the court, but you were unprepared and evasive. What are you doing? Are you taking the court’s salary in vain?”

Sheriff Su rolled his eyes and a rare hint of clarity appeared in their eyes, “I don’t want to receive the salary of the court anymore.” He said with a cold smile. “Unfortunately, the emperor is capable, and the officials in the court are all sensible. No one has been demoted to the North Sea for a long time. The memorial to my retirement has been delivered no less than ten times, but no one has taken over the hot potato… Prince Huaiyang, there are many talented people under your command. Otherwise, you can apply to the summit and dismiss me as a useless old man.”

After saying this, Old Su, on the pretext of having hemorrhoids, shook his sleeve and left.

Prince Huaiyang has not seen such an unlikely local official for a long time. If it weren’t for this that he will only have the power to dispatch troops and no local jurisdiction. He really wanted to immediately have someone capture the old drunken and treat his hemorrhoids with a wooden board.

However, Li Guangcai comforted Prince Huaiyang, “Su Xing was a talented person back then, but he worked as a local official in the North Sea for half of his life. Unfortunately… Because there are many tribes of different ethnic groups in the North Sea, most of them are governed by local chieftains. Although they are nominally dependent on the court, most of them are not under their jurisdiction. Sheriff Su said that they do not belong to him, it’s not a lie. Moreover, Cangwu County is a poor county, and they hardly receive silver from the court every year. They also have to pay annual tribute, and the Japanese people are creating trouble, Many local people have fled. This land is vast and sparsely populated, and Sheriff Su has no money or people, so he can’t do anything.”

Cui Xingzhou didn’t say anything after hearing this, but in the following days, he led a group of people to visit several nearby counties in normal clothes. Unfortunately, they were born tall and burly, completely different from the small and dark locals in the area. Every time they walked past those low grass houses, someone would look at them with strange eyes, especially some people who looked like barbarians, each emitting an unfriendly cold eye, as if they were cannibalistic.

Going further, when they reached the territory under the jurisdiction of the local chieftain, some fierce guards intercepted them, making it impossible to approach at all. As Sheriff Su said, it was impossible to gather the local people to quickly build a military camp.