104: Chapter 0104 The Best Strategy is to Outwit the Enemy.

In the mountains west of Baishui Prefecture.

A cavalry troop of over a hundred men wound their way into a valley.

"Colonel Wen, this should be the place, the spot agreed upon for the trade with the Western Qiang."

The "merchant" leading the group was a disguised officer of the White Kings Army.

He looked at the map and nodded. "Thanks to the defense map from the secret guards, we didn't see a single soldier from the Zhenbei Army along the way."

After a while, a transport team arrived at the other end of the valley.

Carts were laden with goods covered by rain tarps.

"They're here! Everyone be careful, the Western Qiang are cunning and prone to changing their minds!"

Colonel Wen warned his men, and the group of White Kings Army soldiers secretly prepared for defense, their hands resting on the hilts of their blades.

A man dressed as a Western Qiang tribesman on the opposite side called out loudly, "Are you from Prince Bai's side?"

Colonel Wen nodded. "That's right, have the iron ore supplies arrived?"

The Western Qiang leader asked, "Give the code word first!"

"Code word?"

Colonel Wen frowned. "What code word?"

After a moment, the Western Qiang leader laughed heartily. "Just kidding, just testing you, haha!"

Colonel Wen felt secret disdain; barbarians were just barbarians, not serious even when doing business.

Soon, the two sides began the transaction.

One side handed over several chests of gold and silver, as well as medicinal herbs that could treat the wounded, while the other side delivered over a dozen carts of ore.

Colonel Wen checked them one by one, picking up pieces of iron ore to confirm the quality.

He was responsible for procurement in the army, and at a glance, he could confirm that this was indeed high-quality iron ore from the Western Qiang.

Just as Colonel Wen was secretly pleased, a group of soldiers wearing Western Qiang leather armor suddenly charged down from both sides!

"Clang! Clang!"

Hearing the sound of swords being drawn, the Western Qiang leader, who had just been laughing, suddenly slashed at Colonel Wen with his blade!

Although Colonel Wen had been on guard and drew his sword to block immediately, the opponent was skilled, and one blow forced him back three steps!

"Damn Western Qiang! You don't keep your word!?"

But the opponent clearly had no interest in chatting with him, and another strike landed, directly decapitating him!

The group of White Kings Army soldiers disguised as merchants had just relaxed their vigilance and were caught completely off guard, quickly slaughtered in the valley.

At this moment, Lin Xiao rode out from the other end of the valley.

The "Western Qiang leader" took off his hat and ripped off his fake beard; it was Qin He.

Those who charged down were naturally disguised soldiers of the Zhenbei Army.

Relying on a surprise attack, not a single member of the Zhenbei Army died, and they easily wiped out their opponents.

"General, Prince Bai is truly generous. These gold, silver, and herbs combined must be worth at least two hundred thousand taels, right?"

Qin He looked excited; this double-dipping was truly a case of getting something for nothing! The Zhenbei Army made a huge profit!

"For Prince Bai, it's nothing. Even if he lost it, it wouldn't hurt him."

"Prince Bai wants to fund the Western Qiang to help him deal with Prince Qing and share the pressure."

"Otherwise, these dozen carts of iron ore wouldn't be worth that much money."

Lin Xiao turned and asked, "Have you received any news from the people I sent to the Western Qiang to inquire about the iron ore trade?"

Qin He gave a bitter smile. "They haven't returned yet. After all, we aren't familiar with that area, and it's not easy to find someone who can make decisions."

"I suppose so. In any case, let me know as soon as there is news."

Lin Xiao looked at the iron ore, feeling greedy. "For our Zhenbei Army, this ore is still far from enough."

"General, can't we just go and take that iron mine in the Western Qiang directly?"

Qin He frowned. "Even if we just mine for a few months and then retreat, it would be a huge profit!"

"A few months?"

Lin Xiao shook his head with a smile. "Believe it or not, Prince Bai is dying for me to go and rob the Western Qiang's iron mine."

"Once I divide my forces, within half a month, the White Kings Army and the Northern Barbarians will immediately ensure we have no place to be buried!"

"The Western Qiang are indeed not as strong as the Northern Barbarians, but we cannot afford the trouble."

"At this stage, using the geographical location of Baishui Prefecture to do business with the Western Qiang to obtain iron ore is the best choice."

Qin He frowned and thought about it; military conquest was indeed unrealistic, so he could only sigh and nod helplessly.

"You are responsible for sending this gold, silver, and iron ore back to the city and handing them over to Fiscal Officer and Old Yu."

"Yes!"

After giving the instructions, Lin Xiao rode to the official road.

When he arrived at the side of an official road, hundreds of workers were laying stones.

There were also a large number of workers mixing cement nearby.

In order to allow Baishui Prefecture and Wushan Commandery to quickly support each other, Lin Xiao had already started building cement roads on both sides simultaneously.

Because the land reclamation and winter wheat planting were finished, a large number of Militia had free time.

And in this season, it was unlikely that the White Kings Army and the Northern Barbarians would come to harass them.

Therefore, it was definitely a great time for infrastructure construction!

The surplus of twenty thousand laborers significantly increased the production efficiency of the workshops, and the cement roads were growing visibly every day.

"General Lin! Are you here to inspect again?"

A Militia Colonel responsible for this section, who had been promoted one rank for his merit in guarding the village, was Colonel Liu Kun.

"Yes, Colonel Liu Kun, how is your injury?" Lin Xiao asked with a smile.

"It's nothing, thank you for your concern, General!"

Colonel Liu Kun felt a lump in his throat with emotion. Lin Xiao knew almost all of their Militia and would kindly call them by their names every time.

What did this mean? It meant the General cared about them!

"You must remember, it is better to be a little slower than to cut corners. You must compact the road surface before pouring the cement!"

Lin Xiao knew very well that these soldiers were not professional craftsmen, and it was inevitable that they would be lazy or not do the work thoroughly.

Therefore, he needed to frequently inspect the site and give reminders, including in Wushan Commandery, where he also asked General Zhao Kuan and Wei Dongxue to supervise the site daily.

After running to two road sections and inspecting the construction teams, Lin Xiao returned to Baishui.

Inside the city, various construction works could be seen everywhere.

In less than half a month, the main roads had already been replaced with cement roads.

Everywhere you could see people digging septic tanks, digging sewers, and building public toilets.

Some wealthy people started building toilets in their own homes.

Even Su Wansha's Baiyu Pavilion had been given a new look, with a "luxury toilet" built in the backyard.

The model of the "family village" was gradually being promoted in Baishui.

At first, many local gentry in the city were purely afraid of Lin Xiao and dared not resist.

But as the environment in the city gradually improved, everyone realized that Lin Xiao was not only good at fighting, but also excellent at governing the place!

"My husband is back?"

Returning to the Generals Mansion, it was already dark.

Xiao Qingxuan and Mu Wanying were already waiting for him to eat.

"Husband, Qin He brought back a dozen carts of iron ore to the city, why did you come back so late?" Mu Wanying asked.

"Must have gone to inspect the cement official road and the various construction sites again, right?" Xiao Qingxuan said with a smile.

Lin Xiao laughed. "My wife understands me!"

"What kind of great general is not in the military camp every day, but looking at people building toilets everywhere?" Mu Wanying teased.

Lin Xiao casually picked up a chicken leg, took a bite, and teased with a smile:

"I don't know who was playing with the flush toilet yesterday, having so much fun that she went to the toilet five or six times in one night."

Mu Wanying's face turned red, and she playfully pushed the man.

She really loved that toilet; she had never imagined that going to the toilet could be so clean and have no smell at all!

"Speaking of that toilet, if you are willing to promote it, husband, I'm afraid you could make a fortune!"

Xiao Qingxuan also felt amazed by their toilet, which was even more comfortable than the one in the Western Shu palace!

"This thing requires a whole set of supporting facilities, and it doesn't have much technical content, so it's easy to copy. It's not the time to promote it yet."

Lin Xiao shook his head with a smile.

"Husband is right. It won't be too late to promote it when we take over the entire Cang Province next year and have a larger market," Xiao Qingxuan said with a smile.

"Why does my wife think I will wait until next year to take action?" Lin Xiao asked back.

"Husband is so keen on infrastructure and managing people's livelihoods. Isn't it just to publicize it, gain a good reputation, and let the people of all prefectures in Cang Province build confidence and increase expectations for our Zhenbei Army to take over?"

"Once the people of the various prefectures feel that the Zhenbei Army is not a wolf or a tiger, but a benevolent and righteous army, wouldn't it be much easier to take over Cang Province?"

Xiao Qingxuan's beautiful eyes turned, and she smiled sweetly. "The best strategy is to attack the strategy, defeating the enemy without fighting. Your move, husband, is truly exquisite!"

"Hiss... Wife, it's fortunate that you are my wife. If you were my enemy, it would be troublesome!"

Lin Xiao sighed. He really hoped to take over Cang Province "painlessly."

Because he needed a large population, killing was easy, but a devastated Cang Province was not what he wanted.

Therefore, it was very important to spend a few months to build the reputation of Baishui Prefecture and Wushan Commandery.

In the eyes of the people of the northern border, the Zhenbei Army was a group of murderous tigers and wolves. This image had both advantages and disadvantages.

If you want to truly win the hearts of the people in a place, you still have to make them support you from the bottom of their hearts, not fear you.

Mu Wanying said sourly, "It's a pity that I have read military books since I was a child, and I still don't see things as clearly as Qingxuan."

Xiao Qingxuan chuckled and put a piece of meat for Mu Wanying.

"At least Wanying's martial arts are higher than mine."

Mu Wanying thought about it and nodded happily.

Lin Xiao secretly smiled bitterly on the side. His wife really didn't blush when she told lies!

If they were to fight now, Mu Wanying might not even last three moves.

Just at this moment, a hurried figure ran in from outside.

"Lin Xiao! Lin Xiao! It's bad! Something big happened!!"

The person who came was Xie Yu. This young master was now wearing the coarse cloth clothes of a craftsman, his face was tanned, and he couldn't look like a rich young master at all.

"What's wrong?" Lin Xiao asked.

He still valued Xie Yu quite a bit; the flush toilet at home was "hand-made" by this guy.

Old Yu was the "Technical Director," Yao Gang was the number one blacksmith, and Xie Yu was the number one craftsman.

"My sister... that Princess Ningxiang who was betrothed to you, wrote me a letter saying she is coming here soon!"

Xie Yu looked bitter, clutching a letter in his hand, looking panicked and uneasy.