My wife, Wei Gui, was 1.9 meters tall and fought against the Tang dynasty for the throne.

Thirty li east of Yongji Canal lies Qingshicang.

The garrison commander stood atop the watchtower, his face ashen as he gazed at the dust rising in the distance.

The sound of scouts' hooves grew louder as they approached, stopping outside the warehouse gate to shout, "Captain! More than three hundred bandits have crossed the Liu River estuary and are less than ten li from our warehouse!"

The captain gritted his teeth, turned to the messenger behind him, and said, "Send the signal and proceed according to plan."

Three whistling arrows shot into the sky.

The garrison, which was already fully prepared, immediately sprang into action.

Bundles of grain were carried out of the warehouse, not loaded onto trucks, but piled up on the spot.

In less than half an hour, several piles of dry firewood and withered grass were stacked between the grain sacks.

"withdraw."

The captain mounted his horse and led over a hundred garrison soldiers to retreat via a small path behind the warehouse.

As the last soldier left, he threw his torch toward the grain pile.

The weather was dry and the flames instantly licked the grain sacks, billowing thick smoke that shot into the sky.

When the rebels arrived, they found only a burning granary.

The fire was too intense to be extinguished, and we could only watch helplessly as the granary turned to ashes.

Several bandits rushed in and snatched out a few bags of unburnt grain. When they opened them, they found that they were filled with sand, not rice.

"Damn it! The granary is empty again!" The leader kicked over a grain sack, scattering sand all over the ground.

This is the fifth granary to be "captured" in a month.

It's always the same – the defending troops crumble at the first contact, retreat hastily, and the granaries are either burned or left with only ruins.

Occasionally, we could manage to snag a few bags of grain, but when we opened them, they were full of sand.

When the news reached the rebel camp, the leader flew into a rage: "Are the imperial army made of clay? They won't fight, they run faster than rabbits, and their granaries are full of sand! They're playing us for fools!"

No one could answer him.

Meanwhile, the water monitoring station is on duty.

The account books in front of Du Chen were piled up like a small mountain.

He picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and crossed out each stroke one by one.

Each entry corresponds to a lost granary, and each granary is marked with the words "bandit attack, grain and fodder destroyed."

The number is neither too big nor too small, it's reasonable, and there's no flaw in it.

Changsun Wuji stood to the side, watching him put down his pen, without saying a word.

Wu'an Prefecture, Huangshishan Granary.

Wang Yuan stood in front of the warehouse gate, watching the long convoy of vehicles winding its way down the mountain road.

Pack horses, mules, and wheelbarrows stretched for miles, seemingly without end.

The carts were loaded with grain sacks, weapons, tung oil, and cloth, one cart after another, transported in from outside the mountains.

"How many are there in this batch?" he asked the accountant beside him.

The accountant flipped through the ledgers and whispered, "Twelve thousand shi of grain and three hundred sets of military equipment."

Wang Yuan nodded and waved his hand, instructing the laborers to unload the supplies into the warehouse.

He entered the granary and walked slowly along the passageway.

The grain sacks were piled up neatly, stretching from the ground all the way to the roof, and seemed to go on forever.

Inside the armory, swords, spears, bows, crossbows, and armor were arranged in rows.

He stood in the center of the warehouse, listening to the mountain wind whistling as it seeped in through the cracks.

He recalled the secret letter sent by his elder brother, Wang Yu, which contained only one sentence: "Guard the granary well, and do not ask when you will return."

He raised his hand and stroked the pile of grain sacks beside him. His fingertips touched the sturdy grain sacks, and he understood—the censor was preparing grain for the chaotic world, and this Huangshi granary would be the foundation for their future.

The Imperial Water Conservancy Bureau, Inner Hall.

The door was bolted from the inside, and the windows were also tightly shut.

Li Ju sat in the main seat, with Du Chen, Wang Yu, and Zhang Yi sitting on either side.

There was no tea or lamp on the table, only a map, faintly illuminated by the light seeping through the window cracks.

"Zhang Yi, speak first." Li Ju's voice was not loud, but every word was clear.

Zhang Yiqing cleared his throat and said in a simple voice, "From March until now, a total of twenty-three granaries and wharves along the river have been lost. As instructed by the supervisor, we did not engage in a direct confrontation. The defending troops all withdrew, and the casualties were not great. More than forty were wounded and seven died. The granaries that should have been burned were burned, and those that should have been emptied were emptied."

Wang Yu chimed in, his tone laced with sarcasm: "Not only the granaries, but all the boats at the small docks along the river have been completely cleared out. The rebels have occupied the docks, and they can't even find a single sampan. They still want to fight their way downstream? Dream on."

Du Chen remained silent, waiting for Li Ju to ask him.

Li Ju glanced at him: "Du Chen, where's the account?"

"It's settled," Du Chen said. "Twenty-three granaries, all the grain and fodder were destroyed, and the losses were reported as banditry. The accounts are clear and there's evidence for everything. Even if the imperial court sends people to investigate, they won't find anything."

Li Ju nodded, his gaze falling on the map.

"Wang Yu, how much did your brother collect in Wu'an County?"

Wang Yu held up five fingers: "Five hundred thousand shi of grain is enough to equip five thousand elite troops."

The hall was quiet for a moment.

Zhang Yi scratched his head: "My lord, what are we going to do with all this grain?"

Wang Yu glared at him: "What's it to you? Eat what I tell you to eat, and hit what I tell you to hit."

Zhang Yi muttered, "I was just asking."

"Next, the rebels will attack the medium-sized granaries. You should evacuate what you should evacuate and keep what you should keep. The large granaries cannot be lost, they are our foundation; evacuate half of the medium-sized granaries first, defend them if you can, and evacuate if you can't, there's no need to linger in battle; as for the small granaries—let them occupy them, the more they occupy, the more they will wear us down."

"However, there is one thing: not a single grain of food can be left for them," Li Ju added.

Wang Yu clasped his hands in a fist and said, "This subordinate understands."

Zhang Yi also clasped his hands in greeting, though he still looked somewhat confused, he didn't ask any more questions.

Du Chen stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, there is one more matter. If the court inquires about the loss of grain supplies—"

"Report the truth." Li Ju interrupted him. "Report the exact amount of loss. Not too much, not too little. What His Majesty wants is for the front lines to have a continuous supply of provisions. He doesn't have time to investigate the situation at the rear."

Du Chen nodded and said no more.

After the meeting, Wang Yu and Zhang Yi walked out of the Water Conservancy Bureau side by side. The night wind was biting, making them both hunch their shoulders.

Wang Yu rubbed his hands together and shook his head, saying, "Openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass, the Imperial Supervisor played this trick brilliantly."

Zhang Yi said in a simple voice, "What do you mean by 'crossing the Chencang pass in secret'? Isn't it just hiding the grain?"

Wang Yu sighed and patted him on the shoulder: "You, you won't admit it even when I tell you you're stupid. The Imperial Supervisor is leaving us a way out, don't you understand?"

Zhang Yi nodded as if he understood, then shook his head: "I don't understand. Anyway, I'll do whatever the Emperor tells me to do."

Wang Yu was too lazy to explain any further and strode forward.

The rebel army camp.

Inside the central command tent, torches blazed brightly.

Several leaders sat around a rough wooden table, their faces grim.

A simple map lay spread out on the table, marking the locations of granaries along the Yongji Canal.

"Qingshi Granary, empty." A one-eyed leader pointed to a mark on the map, his voice hoarse. "Liulin Granary, also empty. Huaidian Granary, Wangjiadu, Zhaojiabu... all empty! Damn it, the imperial army ran faster than rabbits, leaving the granaries full of sand and rotten wood, not even a single grain of rice for us!"

Another leader slammed his fist on the table: "So in the past month or so, we've lost hundreds of brothers, and all we've accomplished is a bunch of empty shells?"

The one-eyed leader snorted, "Be content. At least we weren't caught by the government troops. I heard that several groups of brothers in the south tried to storm a medium-sized granary, but were killed by the grain transport troops, with over a thousand men losing their lives."

There was a moment of silence in the tent.

A younger leader stood up, his eyes grim: "This can't go on. If we keep dragging this out, the brothers will go hungry, and morale will crumble. I propose we gather our forces and attack the medium-sized granaries. If we capture a few, we'll have enough food."

The one-eyed leader frowned: "The medium-sized granary is heavily guarded, and there are also patrolling soldiers protecting the grain transport. Do we think we can take it down with our small force?"

"We have to fight, even if we can't!" the young leader gritted his teeth. "If we don't fight, we'll starve to death first."

Inside the tent, a lively debate erupted, with some advocating for fighting and others for waiting, and no consensus was reached.

The one-eyed leader slammed his hand on the table, making the map jump: "Enough! Stop arguing!"

The tent fell silent.

He stood up, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, and said, slowly and deliberately, "Pass down the order: assemble all units, and attack Wupingcang in three days. It's the largest medium-sized granary on the east bank of the Yongji Canal. If we take it, we'll have grain."