"It's rare for you to show such filial piety, Mo ge'er. Have a taste too!"
Although unsure what schemes this girl was brewing now, Zhe Ke Cun was quite satisfied with her current demeanor. After all, she was a girl, and needlework and cooking were skills that a young lady should master.
"Uh, maybe it's better if..."
Han Mo was about to say "forget it," but halfway through his sentence, he caught Zhe You Rong's gaze, which was as fierce as a chainsaw.
"This one is yours!"
As Zhe You Rong spoke, she placed one of the plates in front of Han Mo.
Recalling the pickled radishes he had made last time, Han Mo's mouth twitched at the thought. He was almost certain that if this woman, Zhe You Rong, hadn't tampered with this dish, she wouldn't be Zhe You Rong.
"These pastries are made well, they even have a taste of the palace chefs. Mo ge'er, you try them too!"
Zhe Ke Cun chuckled, picked up a pastry, and popped it into his mouth. To his surprise, the pastries his daughter presented this time were quite to his liking.
"Of course! The brown sugar used to make these pastries costs thirty guan per jin! I don't know which scoundrel invented this thing. What's the difference between this and robbing money?"
Zhe You Rong spoke as she glanced at Han Mo. Han Mo's mouth twitched. This woman was clearly doing this on purpose.
"Thirty guan per jin? Has someone gone mad with poverty? That's too expensive!"
Zhe Ke Cun had no idea what she was talking about. As a great general, he had no interest in such kitchen matters. However, even for a great general, the price of thirty guan per jin sounded painful.
"This..."
Han Mo was truly embarrassed. But speaking of which, Feng Yuan Bao was really something else; these had already hit the market in just a few days?
"Mo ge'er, why aren't you eating? Give it a try, it really tastes good!"
Zhe Ke Cun, not noticing Han Mo's embarrassed expression, smiled and gestured to the pastries on the table.
"Well, Uncle, I just had lunch before coming..."
Glancing at Zhe You Rong, Han Mo resolutely refused.
"It's just a pastry, it's my token of affection!"
As Zhe You Rong said this, she emphasized the word "affection."
"Try it!"
Zhe Ke Cun, though unaware of her antics, said with a smile.
"Then, young nephew, I will gratefully accept."
With things having reached this point, Han Mo had no choice but to accept, even if he wanted to refuse. He carefully picked out a smaller-looking pastry from the plate and, as if being led to an execution ground, shoved it into his mouth. The moment it entered his mouth, Han Mo felt nothing but malice. Looking at Zhe You Rong's radiant smile, if Zhe Ke Cun weren't present, Han Mo would have loved to give her a good whack. This was no pastry; apart from the thin outer layer, the inside was filled entirely with salt!
"How is it? Delicious?"
Zhe You Rong asked Han Mo with a beaming smile.
"G-good, delicious!"
Han Mo, with all his willpower, managed to suppress the urge to spit it out. This girl truly retaliated, returning salt for salt...
"If it's delicious, then eat more. Finish this whole plate!"
Zhe You Rong said to Han Mo with a broad smile.
"Well, Uncle, why don't you look at that document first? This is more important!"
As Han Mo spoke, he picked up the teacup on the table again, using the pretense of drinking tea to spit out the salt he was holding in his mouth into the cup.
"A document? Oh, have there been any troubles? If you really can't handle it, perhaps I should go myself!"
Seeing Han Mo's expression, Zhe Ke Cun immediately understood. It seemed his daughter was up to some mischief. However, he had no intention of meddling in these matters between young people. Since Han Mo had brought up official business, he immediately picked up the document placed in front of him.
"There are no difficulties, really. I just didn't perform as well as I could have this time and didn't acquire much. I only managed to get this little..."
As Han Mo spoke, he coughed and placed the remaining half of the pastry back onto the plate.
"If you can't do it, you can't. Why all the fuss?"
Zhe You Rong, having successfully pranked him, felt much better. However, seeing Han Mo's smug look, she instinctively rolled her eyes at him again.
"It's alright, as long as there's a gain. If we can get half, it will still resolve the immediate crisis. I'll..."
Halfway through his sentence, Zhe Ke Cun finally saw the numbers written on the document and his eyes widened. He had only requested a thousand sets of armor, three thousand spears, and a hundred thousand arrows, along with fifty thousand guan in copper coins. However, the items on this document were several times more! Especially the iron armor, which he was most in need of, had increased to five thousand sets. He knew that in the past three years, the total iron armor produced by the court and distributed to Lin Fu and San Zhou was less than two thousand. Even more heartening, Liang Shi Cheng had generously allocated a thousand sets of infantry armor within these five thousand sets. He knew that this type of infantry armor was extremely troublesome to produce, with each set often costing around a hundred guan. A proper set of infantry armor consisted of one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five plates, weighing fifty-eight jin. This armor could basically cover the entire body. With this, he believed he could quickly assemble a formidable army based on these sets of armor! Just this alone made him overjoyed, not to mention the other surprises Han Mo had brought him. Eight thousand spears – don't assume this item is simple. It's just an iron spearhead with a wooden shaft. He knew that the shafts of spears produced by the court were all composite. They used high-quality 拓木 (tuò mù - poplar wood) or 稠木 (chóu mù - Chinese toon wood) internally, wrapped with bamboo strips externally, then tightly bound with silk thread, and finally soaked in copper oil. This entire process took at least a year. The shafts made in this manner were not only moderately soft and hard but also as sturdy as metal materials. This way, they could withstand the chopping and slashing of swords and sabers on the battlefield! Of course, the difficulty of production was no small matter. Even the Zhe family, with their vast resources, found it difficult to produce these. Although there were no copper coins, these extra items were far more valuable than mere money!
"Daddy, what's wrong?"