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"Father, can they really transport so much grain over from there?"

In the northern border city of Beihai City, Duke of Wei was personally waiting at Beihai Port with a group of his men, for the grain that was about to be transported from the Jiangnan Grand Canal!

"How would I know?" The Duke of Wei, with his bushy eyebrows and big eyes, glared at his son: "Your old man and you, together every day, could I possibly know more than you?"

Upon hearing this, the eldest son of the Duke of Wei couldn’t help but give a wry smile, knowing that his father had limited knowledge; the situation was just so bizarre that he subconsciously asked anyway.

It was about half a year ago that someone within the Imperial Court, by some means, convinced the Ancient Huan Country to surround the northern border.

With the situation previously in their favor, they suffered an ultimate betrayal.

Although they reacted promptly, securing Youyun and driving out the joint forces of the Ancient Huan Country from their territory, the losses were still enormous.

The largest grain depot was destroyed, and the newly planted grain was harvested, leaving the army with no provisions.

Especially the high-born warriors couldn’t be fed, and the situation turned around instantly.

They were pushed back by the Imperial Army to the north of the Hetao Region, nearly reaching their breaking point.

It was during that time that many grain merchants suddenly appeared in the south!

Not only was the amount of grain these people sold not small, the quality was also extremely high. Many of the grain varieties they had never even heard of, but the quantity and taste of the cooked grains were far superior to the usual polished rice and white flour....

Thinking of this, Duke of Wei took out a soft white cake and began nibbling on it.

The cake was made of a type of soft rice that was not only sweet in flavor but also extremely filling.

The offspring of noble bloodlines, warriors above the rank of Super First Rank, needed at least five jin of grain per meal, and this was the amount before adding water for steaming.

However, these grains produced in Jiangnan, oftentimes only one-fifth was required to fill a soldier’s stomach!

Not only did it last longer, but these high-level warriors could also clearly feel that Jiangnan’s grains had a very strong nourishing effect on the body.

Every time after consumption and circulating their bloodline power, it was evident that the body was nourished, almost more useful than some high-grade medicinal herbs!

Such grains, entering the already scarcity-stricken north, naturally became a hot commodity.

The military personnel naturally didn’t dare scare off the grain merchants, so they all put aside their pride, sat down, and negotiated.

Most of the grain merchants preferred bartering and seemed less interested in gold and silver.

Instead, they favored horses, seasoned timber, and some refined iron ore.

After several collaborations, the amount of grain flowing from Jiangnan exceeded their imagination. In the following few months, it stabilly supported their army’s food supply problem!

It was precisely because of these multiple collaborations that this even larger negotiation took place!

The previous contracts were with different grain merchants, and the mode of cooperation was intermittent. Though it was a consistent slow stream, it was naturally insecure for those engaged in war....

So they negotiated with several grain merchants for a large-scale exchange.

They from the north, with one hundred thousand horses, plus a number of seasoned timber logs and refined iron ore, would exchange for grain in one go!

Facing such a large transaction, those grain merchants didn’t refuse. Within less than half a month of returning, they sent word agreeing to the exchange, which left Duke of Wei and several other military leaders utterly baffled.

Jiangnan was hit by a great disaster, wasn’t it?

Where did all this grain come from?

So with extreme curiosity and excitement, Duke of Wei personally led a large army here for the largest transaction to date!

"Father, there are ships coming...."

A young general riding a Dragon Horse galloped from a distance, hurriedly dismounted, and excitedly said: "True to their word, so many ships have arrived!"

It seemed they weren’t fooling them!

Duke of Wei’s eyes lit up, and he quickly waved his hand, "Everyone, follow me, don’t expose yourselves at the dock, hide well!!"

"Father..." His eldest son immediately gave a bitter smile: "Are we really going to rob them?"

"Nonsense, would we really trade horses for it?

" Duke of Wei sneered: "If those grain merchants can bring so much grain over, they must have a special grain route.

How could I let a few merchants control such a channel forever?

With such a grain route, we will be even more confident in reaching Capital City! "

"We have been raising troops for a year now, and we have no information about what is happening with Your Majesty... We must speed up the pace. If we’re any slower, I’m afraid that Your Majesty.

.." Duke of Wei narrowed his eyes, remembering the pair of eyes he saw in the Imperial Palace at Capital City, and shivered unconsciously.

We must rescue Your Majesty, otherwise that demon, I fear, could be unstoppable by anyone in the world!

"Father, look at those ships, something doesn’t seem right!" The Duke of Wei’s eldest son looked toward the distance, his brow suddenly furrowing, his expression turning serious: "These ships... they don’t look like the Imperial Court’s ships!"

Duke of Wei also looked over, and instantly became stunned....

"Damn it, those are huge ships!!"

He had once commanded sea battles as well, and at this moment, as he looked over, he was stunned beyond measure. Those towering ships, feeling like seafaring castles, exerted an immense visual pressure. Compared to them, the Imperial Court’s Black Cloud Sails were practically chicklings!

Furthermore, it wasn’t just the ships, but those metallic tubes loaded on them that gave off an incredibly dangerous vibe.

"Father, look, there are soldiers on the deck..."

"Hmm..." The Duke of Wei nodded, "Damn it, I knew it. How could any common merchant provide so much grain?"

"These soldiers..." The younger son, riding beside him, could see better and was also surprised, "They seem like..."

"Elite!" His older brother nodded gravely.

The ships were only a few hundred meters from the port, but they could all feel it—the robust vitality of the soldiers standing on the deck. In terms of aura, they seemed even stronger than the elites they had brought!

"Bang bang bang!"

Suddenly, several burly men on the deck leapt into the air, spanning the hundreds of meters to the dock with one jump, their presence astonishing. The leader’s vigorous energy was like a blazing furnace, and even the Duke of Wei and the others couldn’t help but be moved upon closer encounter.

Super First Rank Warrior!!

"Who might you be?" The Duke of Wei approached to give a greeting, and although he wore a smile, his muscles were tensed in alert.

This burly man before him was no ordinary person; his energy was pure and his vitality overflowing. Such a young Super First Rank Warrior was rare throughout all of Great Jin, even his eldest son fell a bit short.

Though he was also a Super First Rank, he was older after all, and feared his vitality paled in comparison to this man’s!

"I’m Xuu Hu!" The burly man grinned, "I am here by the order of my sovereign to complete this transaction with you, Duke of Wei."

"Who is your sovereign?" The Duke of Wei scrutinized the man, guessing at his origins.

Super First Rank Warrior, with at least ten thousand bloodline descendants on the ships, and of no small quality at that—probably all Rank Six or even higher...

Since when was there such a force on the sea?

Could it be the Aolai Country from the Eastern Sea?

But the direction they came from was clearly from the West Sea, an area he remembered full of small nations!

As for their mention of Jiangnan... ha, do they take them for fools?

"It is inconvenient to disclose the name of my sovereign... but he holds great admiration for you, Duke of Wei," Xuu Hu said with a smile. "Knowing you are in trouble, he mobilized the entire nation to prepare this grain."

With that, he clapped his hands, and a figure in the distance suddenly tossed a large bag of grain over.

The force behind the throw was immense, the bag flying over a few hundred meters. Xuu Hu caught it, and the dock trembled under the catch!

The Duke of Wei and the others felt their hearts leap. What great strength!

The figure on the distant ship was short but not insignificant, likely another Super First Rank Warrior!

With two Super First Rank Warriors, plus the elites on the ships, it seemed impossible to seize these resources by force today!

"Please see, my lord..." Xuu Hu opened the bag of grain, revealing the sparkling white rice grains, "This is the newly harvested soft rice; have a look at the quality!"

Wei Guogong took a handful personally and rubbed it, the rice aroma was intense, the grains round and plump, clear and translucent, each grain the size of a thumb, indeed of very high quality!

He could feel in his body that if this rice were cooked into porridge, one bowl could probably substitute for five bowls of regular dry rice.

"Truly outstanding..." The Duke of Wei rubbed the grains while watching the other party. Had not the display of strength been so daunting, he would have captured everyone and pressed for the location of such high production!

Such splendid grain, and from the carefree way it was being offered, the production seemed to be quite high!

This was essentially... the very foundation of nation-building!