Lu Qing Wan yanked the pretending-to-sleep Teng Snake, "Did you hear that? Go quickly inform your beastly army and see if there's really a test field. If there is, steal a few samples for me."
The Teng Snake zipped around Lu Qing Wan's finger, refusing to bite down.
Lu Qing Wan struggled to pry it off, "Stinky snake, I asked you to do something and you're being so reluctant. What use are you to me?"
Seeing that Teng Snake's slender body was about to be torn into several pieces by Lu Qing Wan, Ru Yue quickly snatched the Teng Snake away and said sympathetically, "Mistress, have you forgotten that it's winter!
As soon as Teng Snake goes out, it hibernates. In this weather, asking it to find those new crops is indeed making things difficult for the snake!"
Teng Snake coiled around Ru Yue's finger and nodded incessantly, making itself look worthless despite being an ancient Teng Snake.
Lu Qing Wan sneered disdainfully, "You're a Teng Snake, I thought you'd be a bit more capable than other snakes?
So you're just a small fry after all!"
She then pulled out Da Bai. This guy was the most active when it came to mocking Teng Snake.
Meowing and yelping, it strutted towards Teng Snake, shaking its head, and leaped out of the carriage window with its tail held high.
Teng Snake was so angered that it almost ignored its aversion to the cold and wanted to rush out to fight it.
"Save it, you. You know how to show off now!"
Lu Qing Wan stuffed Teng Snake into the spatial laboratory and then turned to the serious matter.
"Previously, the four hundred thousand Xuan Jia Army was dispersed and stationed along the northwest border, weakening their fighting strength due to scattered troops.
Now that the Xuan Jia Army has returned to Bei Xiao Pass, and the border areas are garrisoned by other Wang armies, the Xuan Jia Army should be able to concentrate its forces and fight seriously, right?"
Li Su remained silent and turned to fiddle with a small ornament on the carriage.
Lu Qing Wan was then astonished to see the opposite carriage wall retract like a rolling shutter.
A map the same size as the carriage wall was revealed on the wall, showing the terrain of the southeast three kingdoms and their surrounding areas.
"If I remember correctly, this is my carriage. When was this put in, and I didn't even know?"
Lu Qing Wan was truly surprised.
Ever since she married Si Feng Wu, she had everything a Princess Consort should have in the Prince's manor.
Other small items were fine, but a large item like a carriage didn't need to be too numerous.
This carriage was specially made by Tie Shou for Si Feng Wu, so wherever Lu Qing Wan went, the carriage followed.
Lu Qing Wan was certain that this was her original carriage, but she had no idea when the map was added.
Li Su smiled, "It's been there from the beginning, we just haven't used it before.
Since Princess Consort has seen it, let me show you something else..."
As she spoke, she fiddled with the lamp holder at the foot of the carriage where the luminous pearls were placed. The hidden compartment beneath the carriage was filled with swords and weapons, as well as poisons Lu Qing Wan had prepared herself.
Li Su continued to fiddle with the lamp holder amidst Lu Qing Wan's childlike wonder, as if she were a child seeing a new toy.
Another movement occurred within the carriage walls, and the dark metal fitted together seamlessly, turning the carriage into a sealed iron box.
Lu Qing Wan was dumbfounded, "It's really a waste of Tie Shou's talents to just be a craftsman in the Xuan Jia Army.
It's a pity he doesn't care for officialdom. If he had ambitions to enter politics, with his skills, he wouldn't even be qualified to be a servant in the Ministry of Works."
Li Su smiled and brought the map back up, "It's probably unlikely for Tie Shou to enter politics, but he also wants to pass on his skills.
If Princess Consort doesn't mind, you can let him be a teacher at the Military Training Hall. He might find that place quite interesting."
"That's true."
Lu Qing Wan, who was still trying to figure out her own situation, did not forget to help Si Feng Wu cultivate talent.
However, these were all empty words while traveling.
She quickly returned to the main topic, "Tell me about the deployment situation at the border. Let's see where it would be most suitable to create a breach."
Although Li Su was by Lu Qing Wan and Si Feng Wu's side, she was fully aware of the situation on the northwestern front.
She could recite all sorts of important information off the top of her head.
"Currently, besides the sixty thousand soldiers of the Da Di Battalion in Zhong Zhou and the thirty thousand soldiers of the Huang Qi Battalion in Shang Jing, the remaining three hundred and ten thousand troops are waiting in the northwest, ready to be dispatched at your command."
She tapped the map with her slender bamboo stick, "Currently, General Shen is leading sixty thousand troops of the Xuan Zi Battalion on the north bank of the Fei Cui River.
This creates a pincer movement with Shen Qing Zhou's Tian Zi Battalion against Nie Jin Tang and Cheng Nan Liu's Northern Wei cavalry.
This forces Nie Wu Ming to be hesitant and unable to provide aid.
Therefore, I believe that at this time, sending troops to raid Xia Yang Pass and directly attack Qiang Du.
This would be the most labor-saving and time-efficient way to completely secure our position in Qiang Du and tear open a gap in the joint defense line of the two kingdoms."
The map was large, and both Li Su and Lu Qing Wan were intimately familiar with the defensive situation along the border of the southeast three kingdoms and their surrounding areas.
Therefore, Lu Qing Wan understood Li Su's strategy without needing to think.
After listening, she stared at the map for a long time, then lowered her head to examine the status of the Xuan Jia Army's equipment upgrades.
After a while, she slowly spoke.
"I remember you were most skilled in mopping-up operations in the Xuan Jia Army. This kind of direct, lightning-fast assault probably wasn't your idea, was it?
Did the Prince and Lian Yu discuss the upcoming strategy without my knowledge?"
The one hundred and thirty-two cannons, one hundred thousand muskets, and three hundred pistols were not distributed evenly per capita.
A large portion of the firepower was allocated to Shen Qing Zhou, and the remaining part was in Lian Yu's hands.
It seemed like they were planning to encircle the Northern Wei army of Cheng Nan Liu and Nie Jin Tang, who were already within the Da Gan territory, but in reality, only General Shen and a portion of his Xiao Qi Battalion would be enough to deal with them.
The Tian Zi Battalion, equipped with a large number of firearms, and the various Xuan Jia Army units under Lian Yu seemed to be intercepting the Northern Wei reinforcements.
However, with a slight adjustment of the cannon barrels, Xia Yang Pass, the dividing point between Yun Qiang and Da Gan, was well within range.
If this was still not proof that they had long coveted Yun Qiang, Lu Qing Wan would never believe it.
Li Su smiled proudly and smugly, "We did discuss it a long time ago, but it wasn't the Prince and the strategist."
She deliberately left the sentence half-finished for Lu Qing Wan to guess, but with everything laid out in front of her, what was there to guess?
Lu Qing Wan blurted out without hesitation, "When the late Emperor was still alive, he and the Prince discussed the matter of marching north to conquer Yun Qiang?"
Li Su slowly smiled.
"If it weren't for Feng Qing Heng and Consort Ye causing trouble and crippling the Prince, who knows who would be in charge of the southeast three kingdoms and their surrounding areas by now!"
Li Su pointed to a stack of documents beside Lu Qing Wan's hand, "A lot of the things here were prepared as early as three years ago.
It's just that the firearms brought by Princess Consort have made the Prince and the strategist's plans even bolder.
Yun Qiang has always been the stepping stone for the Prince to step on Da Gan, control Northern Wei, and conquer Xi Liang.
If nothing unexpected happens, the strategist has already made arrangements. He will order Shen Qing Zhou to launch a full-scale attack on Xia Yang Pass as soon as Princess Consort arrives in the northwest."