119: Chapter 0119 General Lin, who neglects his duties

Su Wansha looked puzzled. When she reached a recently built brick house, she saw a sign hanging at the entrance—

"Health Clinic."

Su Wansha's head was full of question marks. What kind of research was going on here now?

After knocking on the door, Lin Xiao's voice came from inside.

Su Wansha pushed the door open and saw hundreds of moldy oranges laid out on a table in front of her!?

There were various kinds of oranges, seemingly of different varieties, but all of them were rotten.

Lin Xiao was in a corner, fiddling with some strangely shaped pottery and bamboo tubes.

"General, these oranges are all rotten. Why are they still here?"

Su Wansha thought no one had come to help clean up and intended to do it herself.

"Don't, don't, don't! These are all treasures! I collected them with great effort and have been waiting patiently for many days for them to grow mold!"

Lin Xiao hurriedly stopped her and said with a smile, "Just tell me directly why you're looking for me."

Waiting for them to mold on purpose? Treasures!?

Su Wansha was speechless. She didn't know what strange research this man was up to again.

She didn't dare ask too much, so she gave a rough account of Princess Meng Xi and Xie Juner fighting over the scented soap.

After hearing this, Lin Xiao laughed and said, "This is a good thing! If they hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten that the barbarian tribes also really need scented soap!"

"But the problem is, the soap production at the workshop is already a bit tight just supplying Cang Province, isn't it?"

Su Wansha said, "If we give a batch to the Western Qiang, and the shop opens but there's not enough stock, wouldn't that be bad?"

"Why is our production insufficient?" Lin Xiao asked.

"Insufficient raw materials."

"Then what is the most scarce raw material for soap?"

"Fats and oils..."

A realization dawned on Su Wansha, and she said in pleasant surprise, "Are you saying we should have the Western Qiang trade cattle and sheep for our soap!?"

Lin Xiao smiled smugly and said, "A few bars of scented soap for a fat sheep—is there any better deal than this?"

"Pfft," Su Wansha couldn't help but giggle. "General, you are too ruthless. If the Western Qiang found out how soap is made, they would probably try to kill you!"

"This is just the beginning. Later, scented soap made from mutton fat will be called 'Suet White Jade Soap' and sold back to the Western Qiang to make them bleed even more!"

Su Wansha felt pity for Princess Meng Xi and the others. "What did the Western Qiang ever do to you? You're just picking them clean, aren't you?"

"This is called technology determining productivity. Since they don't have the technology, they have to be exploited! We're going to make money with our heads held high!"

Lin Xiao felt it was only natural. When the barbarians came to pillage the Central Plains, wasn't it even worse than this?

Although Su Wansha didn't quite understand, she roughly gathered that it was about overwhelming strength—bullying them without discussion!

After seeing Su Wansha off, Lin Xiao continued preparing the experimental equipment on hand.

Because glass-making technology wasn't available yet, he had craftsmen make some pots and jars out of pottery first.

These rotten oranges were, of course, the raw materials for making Penicillin.

"Sigh... it would be great if the system could produce medical equipment."

Lin Xiao had tried refreshing the shop at pharmacies and clinics, but all that came out were some medical books and cultivation methods related to medicine.

Aside from that, there were some ridiculously expensive miraculous elixirs that were completely out of reach.

In order to deal with the war that could start at any time after spring, Lin Xiao wanted to produce Penicillin.

Although he likely wouldn't need it himself, if the women around him—like Mu Wanying or Leng Bingyan—got injured, antibiotics would be crucial.

Of course, it could also save his soldiers and even earn him a massive fortune!

"It's a pity Old Yu and Xie Yu aren't into medicine."

Lin Xiao had thought about finding a few trustworthy people who understood medical principles to help him with the research.

But he found that medical talent was much harder to find than martial talent; there was simply no one suitable in the Zhenbei Army.

With no other choice, Lin Xiao had to do it himself and see how it went.

Fortunately, winter was approaching, so there wasn't much to do in the military camp, and Mu Wanying was overseeing the training.

On the business side, Su Wansha would help him handle things.

The official business of the two counties was being managed by his Empress wife, Qingxuan.

Leng Bingyan had taken over the scout and intelligence work, keeping an eye on Prince Bai and the Northern Barbarians.

As an idle general, he had the time to mess around with these experiments.

Two days later.

Princess Meng Xi and Diplomat Zhong Lang led their team away.

They had signed an agreement, promising to use iron ore, cattle, and sheep to exchange for honeycomb coal, scented soap, and a small amount of pickled vegetables with the Zhenbei Army.

As for the money, the price had dropped directly from thirty-five taels to twenty taels per dan, which was less than a third of the original price!

But even so, Princess Meng Xi didn't hesitate much before signing because... someone was competing for it!

Xie Juner was very frustrated. She was supposed to be the exclusive agent, but now a Western Qiang princess had appeared to fight her for the source of goods!?

What kind of joke was this? She was Lin Xiao's fiancée!!

If it weren't for her pride, Xie Juner would have wanted to run to the Generals Mansion and cause a scene. How could he screw over his own people like this!?

Originally, it was a 40-60 profit-sharing model, but because of Princess Meng Xi's bidding, it had become 30-70!

The Xie Family got thirty percent, and Lin Xiao got seventy percent!

After deducting various channel costs, Xie Juner's heart was bleeding!

Fortunately, Lin Xiao promised her exclusive agency rights for the North, so she endured it!

Thinking about the high profits of honeycomb coal and scented soap, earning a few million taels a year would still be easy!

Unknowingly, nearly a month passed.

Baishui City grew colder, and snow had begun to accumulate on the mountaintops.

Early in the morning, a noodle shop was doing very good business. Many Militia members working on construction were eating noodles there.

"Have you heard? Tomorrow, the West City Guild Hall will officially open, and General Lin will personally come to unveil the plaque!"

"Apparently, there's some 'Ribbon-cutting ceremony.' I don't know what that means, but General Lin always has so many ideas!"

"Speaking of which, the General hasn't shown his face for over a month, has he? I really miss him..."

"Yeah, every time the General sees us, he cordially calls us by name, just like an older brother..."

"Stop it, the General is so busy with a thousand things every day! We have to be understanding!"

The waiter of the noodle shop walked over, and while cleaning up, he asked with a smile, "Brothers, will General Lin really appear?"

"What, you want to see our General too?" a Militia member asked proudly.

"Of course! General Lin is the savior of us border people. I really admire him!" the waiter said.

"Haha, you've got good taste, kid! Let me tell you, the news is absolutely true. Go to the West City Guild Hall tomorrow morning and grab a good spot early!"

The waiter nodded repeatedly, "Thank you, thank you!"

The moment he turned his back, the waiter—who was actually the Faceless Boy—showed a hint of impatience in his eyes.

He had finally found an opportunity to get to this Lin Xiao!

A Great General who didn't go to the military camp or work at the Generals Mansion, but neglected his proper duties every day! It was infuriating!

When he did occasionally appear, it was only to go back to the Generals Mansion to sleep.

The Faceless Boy had also thought about whether to disguise himself as a servant in the Generals Mansion.

But the Lin couple was very frugal and had few servants—they were either old men or young maids. The difficulty of disguising as them was too high, and it would be easy to slip up!

Plus, Lin Xiao's martial arts were definitely not low; he had managed to fight his way out of tens of thousands of troops multiple times, so he couldn't be underestimated.

There might only be one chance, so he had to ensure it was foolproof!

"Tomorrow morning, the West City Guild Hall..."

The Faceless Boy made his plan. He turned around, put on a smile again, and went to enthusiastically greet the customers.