Chapter 41 Husband and wife become one

With the full efforts of the Jizhou government, and the money spent at all costs, the materials needed to build the temporary settlement were quickly purchased.

Since it was just a temporary shack, it was not very time-consuming to build. In addition, each family received the materials and built it by themselves, so the speed was not slow.

Finally, before dark, these bandits and their families had a place to shelter from the wind and rain.

As for the porridge shed that Wang An ordered to be built, it was completed very quickly, and even more than a dozen stoves and large iron pots were collected.

So by the time everyone had finished building the shack, it was just time for dinner.

Since it was the bandits' first meal in Baicheng, Wang Anxiang had to appear more serious. In addition to a bowl of porridge, he also received two large white steamed buns.

For this meal, almost all the refined flour in Baicheng was consumed.

There is no way. This small city is already poor, and now is the time of famine. The food reserves in the city are also pitifully small.

In Wang An's opinion, the meal was not that sumptuous, but surprisingly, the bandits who were given the meal were almost moved to tears.

After receiving the food, everyone bowed to Wang An.

Wang An was a little puzzled. It was just a bowl of porridge and two steamed buns. Was it worth everyone taking it so seriously?

Later, I asked someone and found out the reason.

Although Jizhou has a vast territory, most of it is barren desert, and there is not much land suitable for farming.

Moreover, even the land that can barely be used is too thin, and the output is only enough to barely maintain food and clothing, and there is no such thing as a bumper harvest.

In addition, due to excessive looting by foreign races in recent years, many places far away from Shuangfeng Pass have suffered almost every year.

The amount of food obtained was even less, and almost most of it had to be purchased from Qingzhou, the neighboring land of fish and rice.

However, even if there were merchants traveling back and forth to sell grain, the grain would become extremely expensive by the time it arrived in Jizhou due to the wear and tear of the carriages and horses.

The people were already poor, so they could afford even less.

Therefore, even though several tens of thousands of taels of silver were collected on Crescent Moon Mountain, and there were also a number of antiques, calligraphy and paintings, if Guoshanhu wanted to keep his subordinates well-fed and well-dressed, this amount of silver would not last long.

However, the proceeds from the looting were not as rich as Wang An had imagined.

Sometimes after a robbery, you might only get half a bag of food or a few dozen copper coins.

What's more, it is not uncommon to go days without finding anything.

Therefore, the bandits on Crescent Moon Mountain, like the farmers in the rain, uphold the fine tradition of eating dry food when busy and drinking thin food when idle.

Two meals a day are barely enough to keep me alive.

As for white flour buns, they can only be eaten during festivals and when the tiger is merciful.

It is no wonder that these thieves were so excited. They thought that if they were captured, they would either die or be forced to do hard labor.

Unexpectedly, Wang An not only promised to pay the wages, but also was willing to provide two meals a day for everyone.

This was the first meal in Baicheng, and there were actually two white flour buns to eat. How could everyone not be happy? Upon learning this, Wang An couldn't help but sigh.

Even the bandits who do business without capital have such a hard life, what about ordinary people? If they encounter any misfortune, they will probably have to sell their children.

Seeing that all the big and small things were almost done, Chen He finally found some time to walk to Wang An and said in a low voice: "Your Highness, the food stored in the treasury is only enough to support these bandits for two days at most. After two days, there will be no more to sustain. Then..."

Although Chen He hesitated to speak, Wang An still understood what he meant.

They are simply worried that once the food is gone, these bandits will start making trouble, and then there might be another big chaos.

Wang An was also a little surprised. He had just arrived in Baicheng when he encountered two major events: bandits attacking the city and going up the mountain to suppress bandits. He was also busy settling the prisoners and had no time to check the money and grain in the treasury.

Although he had a premonition that there might not be much in the treasury, he did not expect that it would only be enough to support two days.

But at least I was mentally prepared, so I didn't panic when I suddenly heard the news.

Wang An frowned and said, "These captives are in a state of panic, and they are always worried that we will coax them, so the two meals a day must not be interrupted, otherwise there will be chaos!"

"But I won't make it difficult for you. I just happened to have seized tens of thousands of taels of silver on Crescent Moon Mountain. There are grain merchants in the city. You can go to them and buy some for emergency."

Chen He looked hesitant, but didn't say much and immediately took the order.

After the last bandit who came to collect food left happily with his bowl in hand, Wang An mounted his horse and hurried back to the government office.

Now that the decision has been made to build the city wall, that needs to be put on the agenda immediately. It is already July, and there are only two months left until the autumn harvest.

Although foreign races usually wait until the end of the autumn harvest before raiding, which means they invade in October, Wang An still has three months.

But preparing for war, cultivating wasteland, and building city walls are not things that can be accomplished overnight.

Three months may seem like a long time, but in reality, compared to what I have to do, it is just a flash of lightning.

Therefore, Wang An had to seize every moment and now was preparing to go to the government office to find the map of Baicheng and observe the layout of Baicheng and the surrounding terrain so that he could decide where to start building the new city wall.

Therefore, when Wang An returned to the government office and ran into Cao Yunmeng and Xiao Zhao, he just nodded and did not stop.

However, what Wang An didn't notice was that Cao Yunmeng stamped her feet fiercely after he left, and said with a pah sound: "I was so kind that I didn't leave, but he didn't even say a few words of thanks. He has no conscience!"

Xiao Zhao smiled and said, "Your Highness must be very busy with both suppressing bandits and pacifying the people. When Your Highness knows how kind-hearted you are, he will surely come to thank you."

"Humph!" Cao Yunmeng snorted and said arrogantly, "If I hadn't seen him calming down the incident and comforting the people outside the city, looking like a responsible person, I would have told Chen Huaian to leave this damn place long ago!"

"It was he who almost failed to protect his wife. I left with a clear conscience. Even those people in the capital can't say anything to me."

"Yes, yes, yes," Xiao Zhao agreed with a smile, "Young lady is also thinking that if the Black Armor Guards are withdrawn at this time, there may be trouble in Baicheng again, which will harm the people. You are really a Bodhisattva who understands the big picture!"

Cao Yunmeng's lips curled up slightly, and she grinned proudly: "It's a pity that I have sacrificed so much, who knows about the people of Baicheng?"

"I gave it to Wang An for no reason, and made a good name for myself!"

Xiao Zhao chuckled: "Miss and the prince are husband and wife, so doesn't the prince's reputation belong to Miss?"

(End of this chapter)