Chapter 427: Rounding Off to Five Hundred in the Great Army

The Great King counted Bai Yang's chips, saying, "I brought fifty personal guards, all from the Owl Riders, all capable of battle. Adding the four hundred Snow Riders, that rounds up to five hundred men—I think a lightning strike on Great Permit Valley is no problem… as long as we don't lack oxygen."

"I've never seen this kind of rounding‑up method! But… actually, you've already reached the vicinity of Golden Radiance City; the altitude is already two thousand higher than your East Sea, and you've slowly made your way here—you must have adjusted by now, right?"

The Great King nodded, and Bai Yang continued, "Great Permit Valley—don't think that being only three hundred li from Golden Radiance, roughly the same distance as from Longxi Commandery to Golden Radiance, means the altitude is similar; it's actually risen by nearly a thousand meters. Just because you feel no altitude sickness at two thousand meters doesn't mean you'll be fine at three thousand. For safety, stay in Golden Radiance for two days to acclimate, and meanwhile wait for reinforcements."

"The garrisons of Luo River, Northern Frontier, and South Mountain can't possibly arrive in three or five days, or even eight days—they have few Black Wind Horses. Even if they did arrive, they'd still need to acclimatize to the altitude, making them inferior to the Snow Riders that have come slowly all the way."

Even so, the Great King still has Cover Heaven and White Marsh—Cover Heaven strikes wherever it points, while White Marsh doesn't usually get involved in such matters; but if the Great King falls into danger or the battle turns against him, it won't ignore him either. The Great King's calculations are crystal clear, and he's full of confidence.

"That's not how you calculate it—you're not going up there to sightsee; you're going to fight to the death, which requires intense exertion, and that's different!"

The Great King looked at him with a sharp gaze, saying, "Then why don't you help think of a solution? On my territory they tattoo civilians to enslave them, massacre the elderly, and forcibly take brides—just thinking about it…" His expression was both aggrieved and angry; he hadn't imagined that under his rule, besides poverty, some people lived in hell.

Cool Prefecture boasts the largest land area of Great Jin and also the most complicated borders; the Great King has only been in charge for a year, and he didn't expect such things to exist right under his nose.

"Alright, alright, alright! Let me think—should I buy some Rhodiola or prepare some backup oxygen? Oxygen's a hassle—how would you even take it out to use?"

Bai Yang started noting it on his phone, then suddenly thought, "What about provisions? How can impoverished Golden Radiance scrape together grain for attacking the Qiang?"

Great King: ……

"Cheating."

The Great King was candid.

A little fire sparked in the Great King's heart, and he insisted on personally going to beat the Shaodang Qiang.

This guy left Bai Yang's place and went to find Qiao Yi, ordering a batch of Bigu Pills just in case.

One opening and it's five hundred.

"…I just need something to stave off hunger for half a month—anything longer would be useless, and I'll still bring grain, this is just a precaution." The cost of lasting a month versus half a month is worlds apart, right?

Qiao Yi wondered, "Don't wars usually involve long marches and be settled in a month? Not to mention sieges that can last a month."

"If we don't settle Shaodang within half a month, the Snow Riders will disband on the spot."

Qiao Yi gave the Great King a strong thumbs‑up; it looks like he's really furious this time.

After parting with Qiao Yi, the Great King kept busy summoning Zhu Ti, having the Chief Steward prepare some dry rations for people and horses; when the time comes he'll directly use the authority of the Ministry of Commerce and the Intelligence Bureau to send them out, then have people retrieve them.

Doing it in such quantities is truly unrealistic and hard to justify, so the Great King could only urge Zhu Ti to prepare more compressed, small‑volume, high‑energy food; once ready, he'd store it in his warehouse over these two days.

The Great King had heard that cooking at high altitude is especially troublesome, but his warehouse actually holds the grain stockpiles Bai Yang brought from there, with considerable amounts of unmilled rice and flour.

After Zhu Ti left, the Great King sat down and figured it out—this trip won't be too worrisome about food.

If we win, we'll have something to eat; if we lose, we won't need to eat.

Meanwhile, Zhu Ti began the next day busy with the new task the Great King had sent her; she intended to store all the newly finished products from the Granary Bureau's first‑half‑year output into the Great King's warehouse, which would save space, keep them fresh, and provide a backup for the Great King—multiple benefits in one.

The second‑half‑year output would remain in the Granary Depot, out in the open, and that would also be acceptable.

She was so busy she didn't touch the ground, while the three top officials at court anxiously tracked the Great King's movements; today Xie Yuan had free time, so he came out specially to intercept her.

Nothing else—the Chief Steward is the Great King's trusted confidant, known throughout the court; even the matter of the new currency is something she receives the Great King's order for first and then takes charge of pushing forward.

They believed the Chief Steward and the Great King must be in contact, after all the Chief Steward controls the entire Intelligence Bureau.

Xie Yuan had previously received a letter from Xie Tu sent back from Wing Prefecture, but after that there was no further word.

How would he know that Xie Tu was too scared to write because he felt guilty? Xie Yuan assigned him to supervise the Great King's work, but the Great King's progress showed zero characters……

Xie Yuan came over just to ask where the Great King had gotten to and when he'd return to Youzhou.

The Chief Steward was also honest; when Xie Yuan asked her, she simply answered.

"I can't say for sure when the return will be, but your visit today is quite timely. I just got word that His Highness is preparing provisions to attack Golden Radiance City and the Shaodang Qiang. This delay makes the return date uncertain. If I later receive news of His Highness's change of plans, I'll notify Mr. Xie right away."

Always graceful and perfectly poised, Xie Yuan nearly choked on his own saliva.

What? Attack, strike Golden Radiance City and…… the Shaodang Qiang?