In just two short days, every restaurant owned by the He family had gone from being packed with customers to being almost empty, with only a few patrons seen all day.
With the weather turning cold, the simple and affordable hot pot became more popular. Customers could also add dishes at any time, and the cost was less than a third of the minimum consumption at the He family's restaurants!
The restaurants in the capital and Yan Province were managed by Liang Feng, while outside these two regions, Liang Xiao had to make his own arrangements.
Even so, Liang Feng and his wife were quite satisfied. After all, their cousin's reputation was a valuable asset.
"What is this hot pot! Imitate them and make one!"
The manager of the He family's restaurants in the Yan Province area could no longer hold back and ordered his own restaurants to research and develop it.
However, it was difficult to create a delicious soup base in a short time, making it hard to compete with Liang Feng's restaurants.
The people of Yan Province had never experienced the convenience and affordability of hot pot, and it was truly delicious. In just three days, customers overwhelmingly flocked to Liang Feng's restaurants.
Some of the fresh ingredients prepared by the He family's restaurants lost their freshness, and they still had to pay the wages of the chefs and waiters...
Hearing that hot pot was promoted by Liang Xiao, Zuo Jing also put down her current tasks and visited a restaurant to try it. As she ate, she took out her small notebook and marked a "正" (zheng, meaning tally).
"The Great Liang Dynasty has no hot pot, and it's all your fault!"
Liang Xiao's steel mill continued to produce steel for armor.
When the craftsmen heard about the barbarian invasion, they voluntarily "worked overtime," and Liang Xiao did not mistreat them, paying them extra wages.
The Armament Directorate in the capital still had a large amount of high-quality iron, collected from all over the country.
The quality of this iron was no longer as good as steel refined by the "coupled-steel" method, but it could be used to forge shields, enhancing the defense of the frontline heavy shield soldiers.
Training in the northern military camps was also in full swing.
Liang Xiao kept his word and rewarded those who excelled. Hundreds of soldiers had already received rewards for the best daily training performance.
This set of wartime reward rules was motivating the officers and soldiers to train diligently.
Of course, promoting such reward rules during peacetime might not be a good thing.
After all, the abilities and character of the commanders and generals in various military camps differed, and they might use the daily rewards as a means of exercising power, leading some soldiers to use connections and disrupting military morale, which would be counterproductive.
Liang Xiao instructed the generals to repeatedly emphasize that this set of rules was only being implemented temporarily.
The soldiers, hearing that these rules might not exist in the future, trained even harder, just to earn a reward once.
Lu Yi, who was guarding Yun Province, also began to try implementing these wartime rules after understanding the situation in the northern territories, and he did not forget to emphasize "there will be no more after this."
In the stable, Liang Xiao sat on Bai Ye Fei Ying, wearing the Liuyun Gauntlets and wielding the Cang Sheng Sword, looking as if he was about to swing his sword to dispel the clouds.
"I heard that the Left Xiongnu Chieftain is a little afraid of General Tian?" Liang Xiao couldn't help but laugh.
Now, he and the northern army camps were waiting, estimating the time.
If the Tian River section in Yun Province froze prematurely, and the news reached Yan Province, the section of the Tian River not far from Yan Province would also be close to freezing.
When the Tian River here froze, and the scouts rushed back to report, it would be about the time the Left Xiongnu Chieftain might lead his troops to reinforce Yun Province.
Of course, the Left Xiongnu Chieftain might also continue to linger in Yan Province and act a few days later. After all, the speed of signal transmission between the two places could not be accurately calculated, only estimated.
The battles in the three northern regions concerned the hearts of the people of Da Gan. More and more people learned of the barbarian invasion and lost their peace of mind.
Fortunately, recruitment drives appeared in various regions one after another. New recruits in several areas were undergoing training, and veteran soldiers were heading to the north, finally bringing peace of mind to the people.
In the military camp, Liang Xiao was discussing military matters with the officers and soldiers.
"The reason why the Da Gan Kingdom has always been on the defensive is still the warhorses. The number of warhorses in our Da Gan Kingdom is far less than that of the barbarians. With only weapons, defense is not a problem, but it's difficult to charge into the desert!" Mu Hong sighed.
Everyone agreed.
Even the cavalry in the northern territories had more than half of their active warhorses captured from the barbarians in the battle of Yan Province last year and when General Tian manifested in the west of Yanzhou this year.
The prices of horses in the Great Liang Dynasty varied, but warhorses were generally the most expensive.
It was not uncommon for a qualified warhorse to cost over a hundred taels.
According to shoulder height, for every inch the shoulder height increased, a warhorse could sell for several more taels of silver, or several thousand copper coins.
Larger size meant stronger carrying capacity and a higher price.
As for the warhorses of Liang Xiao, Ding Wuyi, Lu Yi, Gongsun Ye, Ning Xuejun, and others, they were all famous horses that money could not buy.
Xiao Qing did not have the habit of riding horses, as riding horses carried risks and was not necessary.
The Great Liang Dynasty also bred horses, but the supply could not meet the demand. Soldiers in various regions urgently needed warhorses to form cavalry units.
Liang Xiao nodded and said, "After this battle, we must actively contact the Western Regions and purchase good horses from the Western Regions. As for the Guishuang Dynasty, we can trade if possible, otherwise, it's another matter."
In recent years, the Guishuang Dynasty had been quite hostile towards the Great Liang Dynasty. The Great Liang Dynasty, facing this dynasty thousands of miles away, did not pay much attention to it.
However, the "Silk Road" that Liang Xiao envisioned was also a crucial part for the future.
The geography here was different from his hometown, so Liang Xiao modified some of the Silk Road arrangements based on the actual situation.
It was imperative to open up trade channels with the West, selling some harmless commodities such as silk, porcelain, and ghost-work balls to foreigners, earning their gold, or exchanging them for weapons, minerals, and food.
With this shift, even if the national strength of potential enemy countries like the Guishuang Dynasty did not weaken, Da Gan would still be growing stronger.
The King of Kucha, entrusting Chriss to send a treasure map to the Great Liang Dynasty, was like a timely rain.
Although Chriss was not the biological daughter of the King of Kucha, Liang Xiao still recognized his father-in-law. For public and private reasons, he could not let the Kingdom of Kucha suffer a loss, otherwise, it would chill the hearts of all the countries in the Western Regions.
Otherwise, the Silk Road would only turn into a mirage and be shelved for the time being.
Nan Jiyun sighed, "Actually, what is most unbearable is not the warhorses, but that the total number of troops in our Yan Province garrison is even less than the barbarian cavalry!"
All the generals nodded in righteous indignation.
The policy of exalting civil arts and suppressing military affairs had caused deep harm. Being a soldier offered no dignity, involved danger to life, and did not earn much money. The eventual fate of the Great Liang Dynasty was predictable.
Liang Xiao did not rush to explain the harm of powerful families and cliques to everyone, but smiled and said, "Everyone, do not be discouraged. The barbarians have many cavalry, but if it's the same kind of cavalry, one-on-one, they are not a match for Da Gan's cavalry. We also have cavalry available, and in the future, we will have a force that can crush the barbarians!"
While the barbarian cavalry was formidable, the barbarians themselves were small and thin.
The reason was simple: poor nutrition.
The desert cavalry in movies and novels were always tall and strong, able to eat meat freely, which was also highly misleading.
Salt, meat, vegetables, cotton, linen...
Food, clothing, housing, transportation, no matter which aspect, the overall conditions of the barbarians were inferior to those of the Da Gan people, and living in harsh weather, how could they all be tall and strong.
The saying "one Han is equal to five barbarians" was precisely for this reason. This statement might be exaggerated, but under normal circumstances, in a one-on-one cavalry engagement between Da Gan and the barbarians, the Da Gan people generally had an advantage, as evidenced by the White Robe Army.
If the barbarians had not secretly learned Da Gan's technology, such as stirrups, horseshoes, and crossbows, it wouldn't be impossible for "one Da Gan to be equal to five barbarians."
The premise was that the Great Liang Dynasty could form cavalry units...
Only then did the generals smile with relief.
In the northern territories, nothing was more reassuring than the guarantee of the Marshal and Deputy Marshal.
"Reporting to the Deputy Marshal! The Left Xiongnu Chieftain has sent someone to deliver a challenge again!"