Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

Although food and grass can be barely supplied now, this is all thanks to the recent high ransom. Once the ransom is spent, his army will be out of food. In addition, many soldiers died in the battle to resist the southward advance of the Hu people. He asked the court for this pension several times, but was rejected on the grounds that the treasury was empty.

When Shen Ada confirmed again that he had actually seen Xiaolan making ice, although Shen Liu appeared calm on the surface, his heart was actually in turmoil.

At night, Shen Liu and Shen Ada knocked on Xiaolan's door.

At this time, Xiaolan and her family were enjoying the cool under the sweet-scented osmanthus tree. Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door, and the whole family was startled.

"Who is coming so late at night?" Sheng Xuan muttered quietly as he went to open the door.

When he saw that it was Ada Shen who knocked on the door, Sheng Xuan quickly welcomed him in, "Sir Shen, why are you here so late? Who is this?"

Sheng Xuan saw several people standing outside the door. One of them was Shen Ada, whom he knew, but he didn't know the others. But Sheng Xuan was not stupid. He realized that this person was not ordinary from the respectful attitude of Ada and his followers towards one of them.

"Dad, who is here and why did it take so long?" Xiao Lan asked without even raising her head when she saw Sheng Xuan leading three people over.

"Cough cough cough..." Sheng Xuan coughed twice, and Xiao Lan hurriedly looked up.

Even though she had a feeling that Shen Liu would come, she never expected that he would come so soon. Should she get to know him or continue to pretend that she didn't know him? Xiao Lan was struggling with this. But when her family saw Shen Ada coming, they all stood up to greet him, and of course Xiao Lan also stood up.

"Sir Shen, didn't you just go back at noon? Why are you visiting me again so late?" Xiao Lan decided to pretend that she didn't know Shen Liu.

After hearing Xiao Lan's question, Shen Ada's eyes twitched. It seemed that this Miss Xiao Lan was pretending not to know Shen Liu. Xiao Lan could play dumb, but as a subordinate, he couldn't just turn a blind eye. "Miss Xiao Lan, this is General Shen, the commander of the city."

Although Shen Ada introduced Shen Liu to Xiaolan, Xiaolan did not say anything, but she was slightly moved in her heart, thinking that it seemed that Shen Liu would not be low-key this time. However, this really shocked everyone in the yard, and they all knelt down to salute Shen Liu.

The Shen family is a big family, and it is also the mother's family of the queen. Not to mention their relationship as royal relatives, just the identity of Shen Liufucheng's general is oppressive enough. Xiaolan's family never expected that they would be related to the Shen family and be so deeply entangled, but these are all later stories.

Shen Liu stared at Xiao Lan for a while. He didn't know whether it was because it was too dark and he couldn't see clearly, or because the girl was very brave. Shen Liu clearly felt that even though Xiao Lan knew his identity, her attitude was the same as before.

Shen Liu looked at Xiao Lan's family kneeling on the ground respectfully, and said in a light tone, "No need to be polite, everyone stand up."

Seeing that Zhang and Sheng Xuan were so nervous that they were at a loss, Xiao Lan accepted the arrangements and said, "Mom, go get the water from the stove and bring us our tea leaves. Let's entertain General Shen."

"General Shen, Lord Shen, please take a seat. It's really hot and stuffy at home. It's cool outside and there's some wind, so we won't invite you in to sit down." Xiao Lan said hurriedly.

Then, Zhang's mother and the others went into the house to get cups, tea leaves, water, and boxes of snacks. Sheng Xuan gradually calmed down when he saw how well Xiao Lan was organizing things.

Shen Liu only brought A Da with him. When they entered the yard, he looked around first. The room was a bit simple, but it was clean, so he sat down at the table.

Shen Liu's personal servant placed the tea bowls and fruit plates on the table one by one.

Xiao Lan's eyes twitched, thinking, Shen Liu is quite ostentatious. Although he came to her house, he brought his own tea sets and food. It seems that he has no intention of taking advantage of Xiao Lan's family. Or maybe he dislikes the uncleanness of Xiao Lan's family and doesn't want to eat her food.

Seeing Shen Liu's behavior, Xiao Lan thought that even if Zhang brought hot water later, these people would probably not let Shen Liu use it.

Sure enough, after the servant had placed the tea bowls and fruit plates, he came over and asked Xiao Lan, "Miss, where is the water?"

"The water is in that room, just follow me." Xiao Lan said.

Hearing this, Shen Ada quickly winked at the servant. This time their general came to discuss business with Xiaolan, so how could he send Xiaolan away just because of boiling water?

Xiao Lan looked at their quarrel and knew what was going on. "Dad, take this boy to boil some water. I'll take care of General Shen."

Seeing that only Xiao Lan and Ah Da were left in the yard, Shen Liu coughed and said, "I heard that you wanted to discuss a business deal with me, so I came here today to discuss the feasibility with you."

He has now recruited nearly 20,000 soldiers and the court approves of his actions, but he is still responsible for providing the armaments for these people.

Although the ransom can solve the immediate problem, behind these 20,000 people are their families and tens of thousands of military households. If he doesn't find a way to solve the problem of food and drink for these people, it won't be long before these people will cause chaos, which is not what he wants to see. But with so many mouths to feed, even if he empties all his family assets, it won't solve the problem. Besides, even if he is willing, the people in the Shen Mansion will not be willing.

His advisers had suggested to him that the fastest way to make money in the world was through robbery and trade. Robbery was illegal, so they naturally couldn't do it. The only way left was to do business. He had been worrying about what business to do recently. So this time he wanted to see Xiao Lan's ice-making process. If it was really like what Ah Da said, then he could really make a fortune.

"I believe Lord Shen has already told the general about the process of my ice-making process, so I will not repeat it. I am willing to present the ice-making recipe to the general, only in exchange for exempting my family from five years of corvee labor." Xiao Lan looked straight at Shen Liu and expressed her request.

"Are the ingredients in the formula really cheap?" Shen Liu asked.

"Yes, it can be recycled and reused after being used once." Xiao Lan continued, "Do you need me to demonstrate it to the general on the spot?"

After listening to Xiao Lan's words, Shen Liu pondered for a while and said with a smile, "Aren't you afraid that I will kill people and steal the treasure after I know the secret recipe? According to what you said, it is a business with no capital. I'm sure you know how hot the weather is this summer. If making ice is so simple, then if I sell ice all over Daqi, I'm sure the profit will be very considerable."