Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 459 Greed is Not Enough (2)

"Stop standing around here, Zhenzhen and Huihui should go freshen up. We can talk later tonight."

"Yes, Master."

"Understood, Dad."

By dusk, Lou Qianyu and the guard Lan Jianbin returned to the station. Just as they were about to wash up, seeing Lan Jianbin still waiting at the side, Lou Qianyu frowned and asked, "Why are you still here?"

Lan Jianbin was startled at first, but then, remembering the afternoon’s incidents, he nodded and said, "I’ll get going right away."

"Right, after you are done, think about why you were beaten," Lou Qianyu had just finished speaking when the washroom door also closed behind him.

After staring at the door for a while, Lan Jianbin turned to receive his punishment. Only after twenty military cane strokes did Lan Jianbin stagger out of the room, and while applying medicine in his own room, he pondered his master’s words, reflecting on why he was beaten. Try as he might, he couldn’t grasp any clear thoughts. After the medicine was applied, he felt much better.

Lan Jianbin prepared the evening meal, and just then, Lou Qianyu arrived at the dining hall and sat at the octagonal table, cocking his head to look at Lan Jianbin, and slightly raised an eyebrow, "Have you figured it out?"

Shaking his head: "Master, was what I said incorrect? Why not take advantage of..."

"An opportunity for an all-out attack?" Lou Qianyu coldly finished the sentence for him, watching Lan Jianbin with a frosty gaze.

Lan Jianbin met his master’s stern gaze and nodded vehemently: "Yes, our soldiers’ morale is high right now..."

"Hmph, foolish," Lou Qianyu scoffed, his eyes no longer warm and cultured but laced with barely discernible scorn.

"Master?"

"Mingyi Country attacked Xueyan Country, what was the outcome? Didn’t they get annihilated? Do you want Sunset Kingdom to end up the same? In terms of military power, Sunset Kingdom can’t compare, and financially, even less so. Tell me, in what way do we surpass Xueyan Country? Just because we’ve recently acquired a handful of cities?"

After listening, Lan Jianbin broke out in a cold sweat, his gaze drifting, afraid to meet his master’s face.

Lou Qianyu fell silent for a moment, then looked at him: "Although those cities have expanded our country’s territories, as of now, they are also a burden."

"A burden?" Lan Jianbin was perplexed. A dozen cities could bring significant tax revenue to a country; how could they be a burden?

"Indeed, after a recent war, the city walls are damaged, merchants lost, farmlands yield no crops, and the people face hunger and cold — which doesn’t need silver? A dozen cities, tens of thousands of citizens, think about it, aren’t they a burden right now?" Lou Qianyu put down his chopsticks and stood up, gazing out at the moonlight through the window with a soft sigh.

"But isn’t Xueyan Country in the same situation?"

Lou Qianyu laughed mockingly, "Don’t you know Xueyan Country has several Prefecture Governments with high-yield farms that can produce two crops a year?"

Lan Jianbin’s eyes widened in surprise, looking at his master. He truly hadn’t heard of this.

"The solution is to capture those who can farm high-yield crops and bring them back. I believe it won’t take long for Sunset Kingdom to have high-yield farms as well," Lan Jianbin suggested enthusiastically, suddenly struck with the idea.

Hearing this, Lou Qianyu pressed his lips into a smile and shook his head: "It’s useless, others have thought of that already, but after they tried to grow the crops back home, either the seedlings withered and turned yellow, or there were all sorts of insect disasters. Before you know it, by the time you notice, only a bit of straw is left above the ground. Overnight, all the farms were like this."

Lan Jianbin was at a loss for words. Overnight, the rice fields were destroyed; it sounded like a fable to him.

"I am absolutely not exaggerating, this incident happened to a small country, and it can be easily verified," Lou Qianyu said, seeing him open his mouth and the skeptical look on his face, he knew what Lan Jianbin was thinking.