I'm in trouble again! My best friend, the princess in the group, please save me!

In the East Palace, Wu Ye suddenly jumped out.

"Your Highness, Miss Jiang is here."

"Why is she here? Doesn't she know that I am under house arrest?" The prince was resting with his eyes closed.

"I'm afraid she does. Because she's climbing over the wall."

The prince laughed. "Let her in."

Wu Ye disappeared.

Jiang Xingkuo was sneakily climbing up a tree, trying to climb over the palace wall from the tree.

Suddenly, her vision went dark and she was lifted into the air by a shadow. Just as she was about to shout, she found herself falling to the ground again.

"His Highness is waiting for you inside."

"Hey hey hey? This, this, could this be the legendary Qinggong?" Jiang Xingkuo opened her mouth, but when she turned around and saw the prince looking at her with a smile on his face, she quickly closed her mouth.

"Not wearing a veil today?" The prince took the initiative to pour her tea.

"Oh, I'm here to see you, not to see anyone else. There's no need for that!" She climbed over the wall for a long time and was very thirsty. She gulped down a cup of tea.

"Just because you see me not wearing it?" His eyelids twitched slightly.

"Not really... Oh, I called you here to ask you something." She put down the teacup.

The prince lowered his eyes, hiding his slightly disappointed look, and refilled her tea. "What's the matter?"

"Will Huanyan definitely be sent to marry a foreign prince?" she said with a firm look in her eyes.

"Not necessarily, but there is no other candidate at the moment." The prince sighed.

Jiang Xingkuo suddenly remembered the story of Wang Zhaojun, and asked tentatively: "Then... is it possible to pick a beautiful palace maid or a branch of the royal family, confer the title of princess and send her over?"

"No, the Khitans also attach great importance to the purity of their bloodline. If we insert a branch into their family, given their character, they will think that we, the Jin Kingdom, are perfunctory and look down on them. Maybe the war will start again."

The prince was obviously also stumped.

"There must be something that can be exchanged...other than a marriage alliance." Jiang Xingkuo scratched his head, trying hard to recall the little historical knowledge that remained in his mind.

"The Khitans are a nomadic people, living wherever there is water and grass.

Their main source of income and food is animal husbandry. Even though they are brave and good at fighting, it is difficult for them to maintain their strength if the weather is not good. "

Her pensive look was reflected in the prince's black eyes.

Although the prince thought her choice of words was strange, he probably understood and responded, "Indeed. Miss Jiang is very insightful."

Seeing Jiang Xingkuo's expectant eyes, he continued, "The Khitans often come on horseback in autumn and winter to harass the Central Plains, and our counterattack is usually in the spring. On the spring grassland, we are usually busy delivering calves and sheep, and we have to drive the hungry and weak cattle and sheep that have experienced the cold winter to the spring and summer pastures to eat new grass."

"On our side, we are busy with farming in the autumn and conserve our energy in the winter. So the two sides gain and lose each other." Jiang Xingkuo took over his words.

The prince nodded, his eyes full of admiration.

"So, what is the purpose of the Khitan marriage? Is the prince willing to share his opinion?" Jiang Xingkuo finally asked the key question.

"You mean... if we can solve their needs, we can avoid war, marriage alliances, and mutual constraints?" The prince's eyes lit up.

"Yes." Jiang Xingkuo felt inwardly that it was fortunate that my mother was a liberal arts student.

"But," the prince hesitated again, "it's hard to say. They often fight in autumn and winter. The weather is cold and they have to travel long distances. It's easy for pregnant women and cattle and sheep to have miscarriages. Without food and grass, they are also overwhelmed. In order to preserve their strength, they have no choice but to seek peace. How easy is it to solve these problems?"

Jiang Xingkuo also calmed down.

That's true. If it were that easy to solve, there wouldn't have been so many marriages throughout the dynasties.

The two fell silent.

"Is it in history books? Is it in maps?" Her sudden question made the prince excited.

"Just a little more."

The palace servants moved the pile of books to the desk.

Jiang Xingkuo was overwhelmed by the endless stream of palace maids and eunuchs.

"Um...you don't need that much, just give me the map first."

The prince handed over a map, "What do you want to see?"

"I want to know the boundaries of the Khitan people's land." Without raising her head, she stared at the mountain range in the picture.

This map is much simpler than modern ones, but Jiang Xingkuo still identified the approximate location based on the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.

"The Khitan tribe, the border roughly extends from here... to here." The prince divided the location on the map.

"Their territory is so big?" Jiang Xingkuo was so shocked that his jaw dropped.

The prince smiled bitterly, "Yes, so if we really have to fight a war, even if we don't lose, it will cost a lot of manpower and financial resources. The three years of drought in the past few years have left the treasury empty and many people displaced. Otherwise, Zhao Yan will never step back if he can mount a horse and kill the enemy!"

The indignation on his face infected Jiang Xingkuo, and she pursed her lips and nodded. "I believe it."

She lowered her head again, observing the scope he had just mentioned.

Judging from the map, the Khitans' rule included the entire present-day Mongolia in the west and the entire Northeast in the east.

Jiang Xingkuo took a look and said, "Yes, grasslands, forests, deserts, everything."

"Wait! The desert..."

She raised her head and looked at the prince.

"If I say I have a good way to control sand..."

The prince looked at her in disbelief.

"Grass checkered sand barrier!"

"Grass grid sand barrier? What is that?" The prince couldn't help but feel happy when he saw her energetic look.

"Don't worry about it for now. Just help them control the sand, teach them how to farm, and open up ports for trade, um... that's what you call mutual trade. Can it fundamentally solve their problems?"

The prince was silent for a long time before he slowly said, "Do you really have a solution?"

"I swear on An Huanyan's life."

She looked serious.

"..." The prince froze again.

"Tell me in detail how to control sand." He was really interested.

How could there be a woman so smart, knowledgeable and talented?

They ended their meeting only when night fell and the crickets on the wall came out to sing in chorus.

"Your Highness, how is it?" Her eyes were still bright.

"How wonderful!" The prince clapped his hands and praised repeatedly: "How did the young lady know that using wheat straw and reeds to make a grid can prevent wind and sand and conserve water resources?"

"I saw it in a book... It's not worth mentioning..."

Jiang Xingkuo rubbed his head awkwardly, thinking to himself, "If you had gone to high school, you could do this too... I'm not very talented, but I was just a representative of the geography class."

"Which book may I borrow to have a look?" The prince became interested as soon as he heard it.

"Ah... this, this... I don't remember the name. Hehe, I read it when I was a kid, but I can't find it anymore. It's probably out of print."

She underestimated the prince's love of learning and could only make up an excuse.