Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Chapter 1357 The First Letter from Liuyang Prefecture

On the same day that the capital received the letter from Liuyang Prefecture, the garrison camp in Fuzhou also received a letter from Liuyang Prefecture.

A small training ground.

"sit--!"

With a meat jerky in hand, the dog trainer gave a command, and more than a dozen red-nosed, white-haired dogs sat down in unison.

"Xuefeng!" the dog handler shouted, suddenly throwing the jerky in his hand into the air.

"Wang!"

A white dog immediately leaped up, its body as light as an arrow, and snatched the jerky in mid-air.

After landing, it didn't start feasting, but instead squatted down in front of the dog trainer, holding a piece of jerky in its mouth and waiting for orders.

The dog handler smirked and raised his hand: "Eat!"

Xuefeng then wagged its tail and lowered its head to nibble on the jerky.

Even while eating, it remained alert, its ears perked up high.

Suddenly, the dog trainer squatted down in front of it and stretched out his palm towards it.

"threw up."

Without hesitation, it opened its mouth and spat the remaining half of the jerky into the dog trainer's hand.

Seeing this, the dog trainer couldn't help but pat its head and give the jerky back to it: "Eat it."

It wagged its tail again and gently took the jerky back from the dog handler's hand.

On the command platform not far away, two people clad in armor stood side by side.

The person on the left is tall and wiry, with sharp eyebrows, and appears to be around thirty years old.

The man on the right was about forty years old, with broad shoulders and a thick back, and he was staring intently into the arena.

“Wei Shan, you’ve really trained these dogs.” The man on the right sighed. “That one named Xuefeng eats when you tell him to eat and spits when you tell him to spit. The other dogs are so hungry they’re drooling, but they don’t move or bark. They’re more obedient than those greenhorn recruits who just joined the camp.”

General Shao Weishan of Ningyuan stood with his hands behind his back, speaking calmly: "General Gao is too kind. This is simply the result of choosing the right breed of dog and the daily training by the dog trainers."

Upon hearing this, Gao Cheng glanced at him and said, "Judging from your words, it seems you're not entirely satisfied with these dogs?"

Shao Weishan nodded: "It's not that I'm dissatisfied with them, but the current training results are nothing special."

In his mind, military dogs should not only be able to understand commands and catch up with fugitives, but also be able to distinguish scents and guard the military camp. Only in this way can these dogs be considered the soldiers' most powerful arms and help them safeguard peace in the world.

"That's nothing?" Gao Cheng's lips twitched slightly, and his tone changed: "Seriously, Wei Shan, my Linjiang Prefecture is rainy, has a long border, and is surrounded by deep mountains and dense forests. We are in dire need of these skilled mountain herders to help us. Could you spare a few for me?"

Shao Weishan didn't even glance at him before saying, "No."

"Don't be so heartless!" Gao Cheng softened his tone and began to list his conditions on his fingers. "I'll allocate three thousand shi of grain for you, enough for half a month's expenses for your Fuzhou garrison, in exchange for five puppies."

He refused to believe that Shao Weishan could resist the temptation of three thousand shi of grain!

"How about it?" He chuckled. "If you're willing, I'll send troops to transport it when I return to Linjiang."

Shao Weishan chuckled, unmoved: "We have no shortage of food and fodder."

Gao Cheng choked.

I almost forgot, the prefect of Fuzhou, Jiang Zhiming, is on good terms with the prefect of Liuyang, Shen Zheng. With high-yield rice to be planted throughout Fuzhou next year, the garrison in Fuzhou will certainly not lack food.

After thinking for a moment, he changed his terms: "I'll trade you my armor. It's all newly forged by the Ministry of Works this year. It's lightweight, durable, and very long-lasting."

Upon hearing this, Shao Weishan finally turned his head: "Made of steel?"

"No way, what do you take me for?" Gao Cheng almost jumped up. "I'm just the garrison commander of Linjiang, not the commander of the Imperial Guard. Where am I supposed to get steel weapons for you? Are you going to rob us in Tong'an County?!"

Shao Weishan looked him up and down. "That's true."

The three words, spoken so casually, felt like an extreme insult to Gao Cheng.

"Wang-"

A bark rang out, and the military dogs in the field began their high-jump training. One after another, white figures stepped over the springboard and leaped into the air.

Those beautiful, snow-white arcs made Gao Cheng's heart itch with longing.

With a determined look, he said, "Here's the deal: I'll send you another twenty elite scouts to guard the border outposts for a year, giving your scouts a break. Didn't you say yesterday that a few of your scouts had fallen ill and wouldn't recover for a couple of months?"

Shao Weishan turned his head: "It violates military law."

"Damn it..." Gao Cheng clenched his fists tightly. "Wei Shan, we've known each other for so many years, can't we talk this over again? I see that these dogs in the barracks are both male and female, and there will be three, four, five, six, seven or eight puppies in a litter. Do you think your Fuzhou military camp will be short of dogs?"

Shao Weishan slowly shook his head: "General Gao, the breeding dogs are selected from among the best. They are not just randomly paired with a female. Breeding is about complementing each other's strengths, not about indiscriminate breeding. As you know, what I want are military dogs that are stronger and stronger with each generation, not a pack of small dogs that are good-looking but useless."

At this point, all of Gao Cheng's words were cut off.

If he hadn't known Shao Weishan for a long time, he might have wondered if he had offended the kid somehow.

"Stinky and hard!" Gao Cheng muttered indignantly. "I'll hold a dog show when I get back, and I'll definitely find a better breed than your pig-nosed dog, hmph!"

Shao Weishan pretended not to hear, his eyes fixed on the military dogs in the field.

Just then, Shao Weishan's personal guard walked across the training ground, holding a letter, and said, "General, there is a letter for you."

Shao Weishan withdrew his gaze and took the letter.

The handwriting on the envelope was clear: "To be opened by General Ningyuan."

"Who sent it?" he asked.

The confidant secretly glanced at Gao Cheng.

Shao Weishan said, "It's alright, just speak."

"It was delivered by the constables of Tong'an County," the guard said. "They said it was written by their Lord Shen himself."

"Shen Zheng?!" Gao Cheng's reaction was even stronger than Shao Weishan's. "Weishan, when did you get involved with her? Did Jiang Zhiming introduce you to her?"

Shao Weishan looked at the envelope with a puzzled expression: "We've never met before, and we have no connection whatsoever."

"Then this..." Gao Cheng pointed to his hand, "She wrote you a letter! Think again, didn't you see her when she came to Fuzhou to fight the locusts?"

Shao Weishan shook his head: "I've never seen it before."

"Hey—?" Gao Cheng said urgently, "Then quickly see what she said to you? Does she want you to help her train her troops? Here's what you do, when the time comes you can rip her off, ask her for some steel weapons, and once you have them, you can show them to me too!"

Shao Weishan glanced at him and opened the envelope.

After reading only a few lines, his previously tense jawline relaxed, and even a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes.

Gao Cheng was horrified: "What are you laughing at? What did she say in the letter?"

Shao Weishan casually tucked the letter away and looked at the room: "Same as you."

"What do you mean 'with me'..." Gao Cheng paused for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "She's here to get her dog too?!"