Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

After the order for the Shu army to launch a western expedition was issued, the entire Dongzhou military camp began to work frantically.

As the saying goes, "An army marches on its stomach."

In any expedition, food supplies are the greatest guarantee for maintaining morale.

On May 22, Jiang Chong ordered Zhang Lan and Lei Jun, two famous generals from Dongzhou, to lead 5,000 troops to set up camp on Qishan Road.

Accompanying the army were 60,000 auxiliary soldiers and civilians transporting provisions.

The Dongzhou camp had 530,000 troops, but only 60,000 were actually armored combat soldiers; the rest were auxiliary troops responsible for supplies and maintaining order.

The saying goes that one soldier requires three households, meaning that on average, it takes fifteen people to support one soldier.

In ancient times, there were generally two ways to transport grain during military campaigns: by water and by land.

In comparison, transporting grain by river is cheaper, but the river conditions are demanding, and the timing of high tide must be very accurate, otherwise accidents can easily occur, preventing the grain from being delivered smoothly.

Even so, waterways remained the optimal first choice for transporting grain and supplies.

After all, compared to land transportation, the cost is significantly lower.

If 10,000 catties of grain are transported by river and 1,000 catties are lost along the way, then at least 4,000 catties of grain would need to be transported by land.

This is just an optimistic figure. Moreover, the route is flat and easy to travel. If the grain were transported in the mountains, it would take 70-80% of the grain to be consumed, and less than 10% would end up in the hands of the soldiers.

Especially in mountainous regions like Sichuan, transporting grain was even more difficult.

During the Three Kingdoms period, the reason why Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu Han, failed in his five Northern Expeditions was not only because Wei's national strength was overwhelmingly superior to the other two states, but also because the biggest problem was the difficulty in transporting grain and supplies.

In fact, readers who are familiar with the historical materials related to the Three Kingdoms period will find that each of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions was very short.

The total duration of the five Northern Expeditions was less than two years, with only the fifth expedition lasting for six months.

Why? Because transporting supplies was difficult. A hundred catties of grain might only amount to two or three catties by the time it reached the soldiers at the front. Under such circumstances, the Northern Expedition was destined to be unsustainable for a long time.

Although the Shu army solved its food shortage problem by establishing military farms on the border with Cao Wei during the last Northern Expedition, it ultimately failed with the death of Zhuge Liang.

Today, Jiang Chong is facing almost the same problem as Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions: the difficulty of transporting supplies.

However, Jiang Chong had a considerable amount of grain reserves. In Dongzhou alone, there were more than 2.8 million shi of military grain, and other places also had grain reserves.

In contrast, Jiang Chong could afford to wait, unless a major upheaval occurred within Shu.

Watching the army marching off through the streets of Shu County, Shen Lang maintained a faint smile.

"Oh, aren't you going back to the capital yet?"

Jiang Chong, clad in golden armor, sat astride a warhorse, looking quite imposing at first glance.

"My Lord, what are you doing?"

Shen Lang pretended not to know and pointed to the Shu soldiers coming and going, asking them a question.

"This is not something someone of your status should be asking about."

Jiang Chong glanced at Shen Lang sideways, his face full of undisguised arrogance.

"Shen Lang, I hope that when I return in triumph, you will have accomplished what I entrusted to you, otherwise..."

He glared at Shen Lang with a threatening look, then flicked his whip and rode away.

"Humph."

Watching his departing figure, Shen Lang merely smiled contemptuously.

"Then I wish Your Highness a resounding victory."

Now that Jiang Chong had left the capital of Shu, Shen Lang decided to begin implementing his plan.

Just then, Wu Siyue appeared beside him and reported, "Duke Zhenguo, Zhen Yi has returned and is waiting for you to return to the official residence."

"Walk."

……

Inside the official residence, Zhen Yi had been waiting for a long time.

Besides him, there were more than thirty grain merchants from all over Jiangnan.

"This humble subject pays respects to the Duke of Zhenguo."

Upon seeing Shen Lang arrive, everyone quickly stood up to pay their respects.

"Gentlemen, there's no need for such formalities. You've all come all this way from afar to see me in Sichuan, so I should be thanking you for your support. Please sit down and let's talk. Hey you, quickly bring some tea."

"Thank you, Duke Zhenguo."

Shen Lang didn't put on any airs of a duke at all, and warmly invited everyone to sit down and talk.

This deeply moved the merchants from Jiangnan, who had a very good first impression of Shen Lang.

After everyone was seated and fresh tea was served, Shen Lang slowly revealed his purpose.

"I believe Manager Zhen has already explained the purpose of inviting you all here, so I won't repeat myself. Since you are willing to cooperate with His Majesty..."

"Shen won't treat you unfairly. After the deal is done, you won't lose a single penny of your profits. If you still have any concerns, please speak up; don't hold back."

Shen Lang poured thirty-six cups of tea into the tea set in one go, speaking in a very relaxed and easy tone, without showing any coercive attitude.

The group exchanged glances, none of them daring to speak first.

Zhen Yi spoke first: "Just say what you think. The Duke of Zhenguo is very easy to talk to. As long as what you say is reasonable, he will consider it. Don't have any worries."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, a portly grain merchant stood up, cupped his hands in greeting to Shen Lang, and said:

"Since the Duke of Zhenguo has asked us to speak, then I won't stand on ceremony. My surname is Sun, and I am the owner of Fuji Grain Shop."

Actually, Manager Zhen had already given us instructions on the way here.

However, we are new to Sichuan and don't know the price of grain here, or what price to use to purchase it.

We urge the Duke of Zhenguo to give us a clear answer so that we can carefully consider the matter.

Shen Lang picked up a cup of tea and said to Manager Sun, "Manager Sun, please have some tea."

"Thank you for the tea, Duke Zhenguo."

Manager Sun dared not be negligent in the slightest. He carefully took the tea, put a sip in his mouth, and waited quietly for Shen Lang to explain.

"I've found out about this over the past few days. Grain merchants in Sichuan are buying grain for four shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain for one tael of silver, and in some areas for five shi of grain for one tael of silver."

The market price for rice is one tael of silver for two shi (a unit of dry measure). Of course, in years of great famine, the price of rice is unpredictable, but judging from the current situation, this year the Shu region should have favorable weather and abundant harvests.

"Those issues don't need to be considered for now. Manager Sun, do you have any other questions?"

After thinking for a moment, Manager Sun asked, "Then, Duke Zhenguo, what price would be appropriate for us to buy it and sell it to you?"

Shen Lang: "Farming is not easy for ordinary people. How about this, the guaranteed purchase price for grain will be one tael of silver and two shi (a unit of dry measure), and the selling price of rice will remain unchanged at one tael of silver and three shi."

If local grain merchants raise their prices, then the price will be one tael to one shi, and the selling price will be one tael and four shi.

"Ah this..."

The entire audience erupted in uproar, everyone staring at Shen Lang with disbelief.

Manager Sun was holding a half-full cup of tea, unsure of what to do.

“Lord Zhenguo, it’s fine if we lose ten thousand taels, but at your price, we’ll lose everything on this trip.”

Manager Sun looked troubled.

"Don't worry, you won't have to pay any extra money. Just focus on collecting the grain. Buy it now at one tael and two shi."

In just over a month, it will be time for the new rice to hit the market. We should hurry and buy up all the local grain merchants' stocks before then.

"The more the better. The goal is to ensure that when the new rice hits the market, grain merchants in Sichuan have no surplus grain. Any shortfall will be made up for later; you won't be shortchanged a single penny."

Upon hearing this, the major grain merchants quickly gathered their thoughts and roughly understood what Shen Lang was planning to do.

Shopkeeper Sun: "Lord Zhenguo, we can agree to do this, but I dare to ask you for something as payment. Is that alright?"

Shen Lang asked curiously, "What do you want?"

"With the Luchuan development permit granted, please, Duke Zhenguo, contract out 10,000 mu of land in Luchuan to me. Rest assured, I will pay my taxes on time."

We guarantee there will be no tax evasion. If the Duke of Zhenguo agrees, the losses from this grain purchase will not need to be compensated by the imperial court; we will handle them ourselves.

As soon as Manager Sun finished speaking, it immediately resonated with the other grain merchants.

Clearly, these people weren't stupid. The opening of the Southern Railway gave them an unprecedented business opportunity, and they were eager to get a piece of the pie.

"Manager Sun!"

Shen Lang raised his teacup in a gesture of respect, then drank it down in one gulp.

Shopkeeper Sun was overjoyed and quickly drank it down as well.

The agreement was thus reached, effectively sealing off Jiang Chong's escape route.