After tasting all the dishes Ling Xue had cooked, the old general was naturally very satisfied. He was not a big eater and did not often indulge in rich food, so he still liked the home-cooked dishes Ling Xue had cooked.
"Your cooking skills are pretty good, almost catching up with the royal chefs in the palace!" The old general got Ling Xue's sponsorship and praised Ling Xue to the sky.
Although Ling Xue knew that her cooking skills were good, they were still far inferior to those of the imperial chefs in the palace.
The old general's praise really made her blush.
"Thank you so much, thank you so much!"
Neither of them was polite, and they devoured all the food Ling Xue had prepared. Even the large basket of steamed buns Ling Xue had prepared was devoured by the two of them, and the pot of soup made with tender sweet potato leaves was also drunk by the old general.
Seeing how he devoured everything, Ling Xue was worried that he might not be full. She had underestimated the old general's appetite. "General, are you full? How about I make some more?"
The old general waved his hands and repeatedly declined: "Enough, enough! I haven't had such a good meal in a long time. This vegetable steamed bun is very good. This method can save a lot of food! What a good idea!"
Ling Xue was also a little pleased with herself. It was a good thing to save more food!
"I've planted so many sweet potatoes, and there are plenty of tender leaves. We can't eat them all by ourselves. When you have time, ask the soldiers to come and pick them!"
The old general felt a little embarrassed for taking advantage of you. After thinking for a moment, he said to Ling Xue, "Let's put it this way. We feel really bad for taking advantage of you. We don't have any money or food, just our strength. Didn't you say you wanted to dry the vegetables? Let them come over and pick some young sweet potato leaves for you. When they leave, just take the ones for the barracks."
Ling Xue was worried about not having enough manpower, and the old general's words seemed to have opened up Ling Xue's Ren and Du meridians. Yes, she did not have enough manpower, but the old general had it!
Ling Xue gladly accepted the old general's arrangement. This would make the old general and his men feel better. Otherwise, they would still feel bad about letting these soldiers eat for free.
"Well, your soldiers come over and help. I'll provide them with young sweet potato leaves. If there are any leftovers, you can blanch them, dry them, and store them. That way, you'll have an extra dish to eat during the winter!"
With this arrangement, both parties are happy!
As for whether to hire these soldiers when harvesting sweet potatoes, Ling Xue felt that it might not be necessary.
It’s not that she is unwilling to give the soldiers more opportunities to earn some food, but Ling Xue feels that by the time the sweet potatoes are ripe, there will definitely be more and more refugees, and this opportunity must be left to them.
Thinking of this, Ling Xue called Shen Zhen to discuss it with him.
"I'm planning to ask the refugees to help me harvest sweet potatoes. Do you think this is feasible?"
Shen Zhen also thought it was feasible, but the details needed to be carefully considered.
"It's feasible, but the rules must be set in advance, otherwise if those refugees come pouring in, we'll be left with nothing!"
Ling Xue nodded. This was natural. If they were worried about the refugees causing trouble, they could always ask the old general to come and take charge. At this time, not only were the refugees short of food and drink, but other factions, both large and small, were also short of food. Therefore, asking the old general and his men to come and take charge was not only to prevent the refugees, but also to prevent other factions from coming to steal food.
Don't think these forces are unaware of Yunyang City's developments. They're fully aware of Ling Xue's new crop plantings, but they're currently vying for territory and can't spare the effort to attack Yunyang Prefecture. But when the crops are ripe, that's not certain; they might very well attack Yunyang Prefecture for the sake of food.
