It is said that before the troops and horses move, food and forage go first.

  After solving the biggest worry of the development plan, Jiang Kungming turned his attention to food and grass again.

  At that time, when Emperor Xian of Han led the army to besiege the city, the people of Jie still knew how to plunder and hoard grain. How could Zhuge Kongming not know this reason?

  Just like grain and grass, money can't be grown without a certain amount of time.

  So if you want to hoard in the short term, there are only two ways by normal means. One is to increase the tax rate and the other is to buy at a high price.

  The first method was flatly rejected by Xu Haifeng at the same time it was proposed by Jiang Kungming. At this moment, when we should be winning people's hearts, how could we do something that would anger heaven and men?

  The second method requires a lot of money to support, at the beginning, Xu Haifeng was just small potatoes, until the smuggled goods in Wulong City became famous all over the world, Xu Haifeng began to dare to buy.

  Of course, there is another way to accumulate a large amount of grain and money in the short term. That is to engage in risk-free business - robbery.

  Within the first half year, Xu Haifeng's Black Flag Army, under Zhebe's leadership, repeatedly crossed the border, hiding during the day and emerging at night to plunder the territory of the Czar.

  Under the impact of these wolf-like soldiers, those villages without strong defense suffered greatly. They were like blood-sucking locusts, draining every last drop of blood from people. Wherever they passed, nothing was left behind, not even chickens and dogs. Even things that couldn't be taken away would be burned to ashes.

  Of course, they are not the kind of people who take lives lightly. As long as the robbed person does not resist, they will only rob them of their property and not harm their lives. However, when they encounter resistance, Zhebie would order a massacre, leaving no grass intact.

  Thanks to the speed and endurance of their blood horses, they could fight alone for a long time, often staying on Caesar's territory for half a month to a month before returning with full loads.

  The Caesarians, who had been robbed of their food and whose houses had been burned down, were suffering from hunger and cold, and had no choice but to enter the city to seek relief. At first, there were not many people, but after several months, a large number of refugees poured in, exceeding the city's capacity.

  This was Jiang Kongming's intention, rather than killing them all off, it would be better to give them more refugees, the more refugees there are, the more trouble they represent. Sometimes, the destructive power caused by these unarmed people is far greater than that of a fully armed army.

  The Chief Executive ordered a full-scale pursuit after learning of the situation.

  However, no matter how many times they organized the siege. But the team led by Zhebie, with no more than 200 people, perfectly executed the guerrilla tactics taught by Jiang Kongming, always coming and going like the wind, never giving Caesar's people a chance to take advantage of it.

  Just as the government official was about to have a headache from this, the group of thieves suddenly disappeared without a trace, leaving him both shocked and delighted.

  His joy, however, was short-lived. Within a fortnight or so, countless bandits were discovered in various places, well-equipped and skilled in horsemanship. Although they still couldn't compare to the elusive and invisible troops, their numbers were several times larger. The harm caused was no less than that of the Black Flag Army.

  Helpless, he had to turn to Caesar for help, and it wasn't until Caesar's regular legions arrived that the bandits retreated, but by then the economic losses suffered by Caesar were a staggering amount that would give anyone a headache.

  They didn't know that at this time, Xu Haifeng's smuggled goods were selling well on the mainland, and the money he collected every day was enough to pay for all his expenses with plenty left over, so he no longer bothered to continue doing such a shady business.

  Moreover, Zhebe had a heavier burden on his shoulders and could no longer go out to battle. Without Zhebe, the soul of the Blood Wine Warriors, the others would only execute simple commands and naturally couldn't use those guerrilla tactics with such flexibility and variation.

  Xu Haifeng had originally intended to give up the harassment action, but at this time, the 5,000-strong Red Ocean reinforcement led by Fang Ruzi arrived, and Jiang Kongming immediately began teaching his disciples, imparting guerrilla tactics. These 5,000 cavalrymen then started a new round of plundering actions in batches.

  The Caesarians, encountering this tactic for the first time, were at a loss and could only keep sending more reinforcements.

  When the direction of the horn felt that the gradually increasing military strength of the Kaisa people had posed a sufficient threat to his troops, he ordered an end to the looting behavior and returned to Wulong City to wait for the moment of decisive battle.

  Apart from these military actions, Jiang Gongming also proposed some other long-term plans.

  That's to increase crop yields, and to achieve this goal, it's naturally necessary for this all-knowing General Jiang to personally instruct.

  Jiang Kung-ming gathered a group of veteran farmers who were renowned in the village for their exceptional farming skills, and treated them to a feast. At the table, he posed a question to them: "Please tell me, how can we double the yield of wheat?"

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, and no one dared to answer.

  Jiang Gongming smiled and said: "It's okay to hybridize crops."

  At that time, it was already after three rounds of wine, and a drunkard couldn't help but retort: "Can hybrids be better than purebreds?"

  Everyone's face changed color, and they all broke out in a cold sweat, fearing that Jiang Gongming would get angry and behead him on the spot, which would make him a ghost who died unjustly.

  Who would have thought that Jiang Gongming was not bothered and instead ordered the opening of two pieces of land with similar conditions in the east of the city.

  Put this person in charge of one block, and he directed a group of people to be responsible for the other block. After several years, the hybrid wheat grown by Jiang Kongming was far superior to that of this person in terms of both yield and quality. In the end, the farmers were convinced and accepted the new farming method he taught.

  However, this measure cannot be effective in the short term. Without several years of effort, it is impossible to achieve any results. If it were not for Chiang's high position and heavy power, if someone else had taken his place, they might not have been able to persist either.

  Apart from this, Jiang Kung-ming entrusted the three major families in the capital to find those Persian merchants who came from afar. While trading with them for white wine, they promised high interest and asked them to search for a crop that was easy to grow on another continent.

  Months later, Fang's family received a message. A Persian merchant had seen the crop he spoke of, but it was in an extremely distant place. The ruler of that continent was a nation that called themselves ants. Although tempted by heavy profits, the merchant agreed to go, but heaven knows how much time this back-and-forth trip would take.

  Jiang Kongming's eyes widened in shock, his mouth agape for a rare moment before he could close it again. He muttered to himself, "Ants? How can there be such a nation? Could they be the miraculously vanished Mayan civilization...?"

  As for this matter, Xu Haifeng did not hold any hope. On the vast ocean, he didn't know how many dangers were hidden, and it was not easy to travel back and forth between two continents.

  Besides, a big war is about to break out, even if they come back, it will definitely be after this battle.

  In addition to food and money, various minerals are also essential military supplies.

  The armor diagram designed by Jiang Gongming was being rushed day and night by the engineering troops led by Su Jiaqiao's craftsmen.

  Chiang's chief engineer despised their slow speed and introduced the principles and procedures of flow production to the engineering troops.

  It was as if overnight, the engineering corps had burst forth with boundless vitality, and brand-new full-body armor poured out of the production line in an endless stream, including not only human armor but also ingeniously designed horse armor.

  Su Chunwei had raised objections before, although the total amount of these armor is much lighter than the heavy armor of the Caesarians, but adding the weight of the horse armor is absolutely not light. The heavy cavalry formed by them, due to their small number, may not be a match for the Caesarians. It's better to abandon the heavy cavalry and focus on building a light cavalry that is not inferior to the Xiongnu Golden Wolf Army.

  Xu Haifeng burst out laughing after hearing this and did not accept his suggestion, instead insisting on going it alone, causing Su Chunwei to sigh endlessly.

  For Su Chunwei who didn't even know the existence of Blood Horse, being able to make such a suggestion was already precious. Although Xu Haifeng did not adopt it, his evaluation of him in his heart rose to another level.

  In this way, every day, with Wulong City as the center, countless merchants gathered from all directions. Some of them were for selling white wine and smuggled goods from Kaisa and Xiongnu, knowing the huge profits contained in it. Some were for transporting grain, medicine and minerals.

  The world is full of bustling activity, with everyone rushing about in pursuit of profit.

  In short, in just half a year, Wulong City's surface became prosperous beyond compare.

  The circulation of merchants stimulated all industries in the city, especially hotels and inns, which benefited greatly.

  Xu Haifeng took advantage of the opportunity to reduce the entry tax by one tenth, which won the favor of all merchants and made the coming and going businessmen more frequent.

  A large number of people and goods brought infinite income to Xu Haifeng, which greatly alleviated his financial burden.

  Xu Haifeng made Wòlóngchéng his home, vigorously recruiting soldiers and buying horses, stockpiling grain and fodder.

  If it were in a time of peace, he would have been accused by the censorial officials of harbouring treasonous intentions and even if he didn't die, he would have lost a layer of skin.

  It's just that at this moment, Han Xian Emperor and Cheng Jia not only have no intention of pursuing him, but are secretly supporting him, opening doors for him everywhere. Making him like a fish in water, his power is constantly expanding.

  During this period, Xu Haifeng had a smooth and pleasant life, feeling very contented.

  Even Oben Master gave up his intention to continue entanglement and returned to Caesar.

  This was not because Auben didn't want to continue assassinating, but rather he sensed the spiritual power that Taiyi True Person had intentionally released, and knew that Xu Haifeng had such a top-notch master guarding him. If he were to make another move, it would be like throwing an egg against a rock - there would be no return.

  Now that Auben is gone, Xu Haifeng has nothing to worry about.

  According to Xu Haifeng's intention, he originally wanted to bring his parents and brother-in-law into the imperial palace to live together.

  But as soon as Xu's father heard that this was originally the location of the imperial palace of Tuban, he immediately turned around and left, no matter how much Xu Haifeng pleaded with him.

  Even under his insistence, his elder brother who had some interest was forced to give up the idea of tasting the daily life of the emperor.

  Xu Haifeng had no choice but to move his elderly parents into a larger courtyard, and he also hired several agile maidservants to serve the old people and his brother. Of course, the safety of family members was also a top priority, with teams of soldiers guarding outside the courtyard day and night, if someone who didn't know saw it, they would think it was the mansion of some current high-ranking official.

  After solving the problems of money, food and materials, Xu Haifeng had to face how to expand his army and prepare for war.

  Just then, two pieces of news arrived, making him both happy and worried.