Chapter 375 Imminent
After dinner, Magistrate Zhou from the county government sent someone to deliver several carts of firewood, weighing more than a thousand pounds, as well as dozens of water jars and several new large bathtubs.

County Magistrate Zhou is a good guy, very attentive, and knows what they lack.
Xiao Xia didn’t know that it was actually the restaurant manager who told County Magistrate Zhou that the Prince of Chu’s Mansion had no firewood and couldn’t even cook. How could County Magistrate Zhou miss this opportunity to show off?

With the firewood, the kitchen started to boil water, and the women could finally take a good hot bath to wash away the dust from the journey.

Xiao Xia also took a comfortable bath, changed into a set of thick new clothes, and sat down comfortably in the study. Candles were lit in the room, and the light was soft.

At this time, Cui Yu brought in a cup of tea. Xiao Xia hugged her and sat in his arms and asked, “Can you adapt to this place?”

Cui Yu nodded. “I feel that it is no different from Chang’an. It may be a little colder in winter, but we can warm ourselves by the fire, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Xiao Xia nodded. “The winter here is much colder than in Guanzhong. Our troops all came from Guanzhong. The first difficulty we face is the cold winter. Warming up by the fire is indeed the most urgent matter. I must solve this problem.”

“Have you thought of a solution, my husband?”

Xiao Xia nodded, “I’ve thought of a way!”

The next morning, Xiao Xia came to the military camp and issued a military order, ordering the border troops and recruited soldiers to send 5,000 people each to pick up sheep dung on the north bank of Macheng River for a period of ten days. There was no limit to the number, the more the better.

Although this order was a bit absurd, Yin Shishi did not dare to neglect it. He immediately dispatched Cao Taiyue to lead 5,000 border troops with rattan baskets to pick up sheep dung. Pei Wen’an also dispatched Wang Bodang to lead 5,000 recruited soldiers to Macheng River to pick up sheep dung. Each person also took a rattan basket and a shovel and set off.

In order to encourage soldiers to pick up more sheep dung, special awards for excellence and encouragement were set up. The top 100 soldiers who picked up the most sheep dung would each receive a reward of five strings of cash. In addition, all soldiers who collected at least ten kilograms of sheep dung a day would receive a subsidy of one hundred coins a day.
Xiao Xia then summoned Helou Shanzhu, the Hexi Pastoral Supervisor. The Hexi Pastoral Supervisor was originally located in Shandan County, but since Tuyuhun attacked Shandan County, Helou Shanzhu moved the office to Guzang County.

Helou Shanzhu was an official sent by the Imperial Household Department to be stationed in Hexi. He was a fifth-rank pastoral supervisor. When he heard that His Royal Highness the King of Chu had summoned him, he did not dare to be negligent and hurried to the Grand Marshal’s Office. However, he had been a little lazy this year and was not very familiar with the latest situation of the Hexi Ranch, so he simply brought the Pastoral Secretary Wang Jian along as well.

Soon, Fang Xuanling brought the two of them to Xiao Xia’s official residence, where Fang Xuanling served as the recorder, that is, Xiao Xia’s confidential secretary.

“Your Highness, they are coming!”

“Please come in!”

Helou Shanzhu and Wang Jian walked into the official room and bowed, saying, “I pay my respects to His Majesty the King of Chu!”

Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, “Helou Mujian, we meet again. Who is this?”

“Your Highness, this is Minister Wang Jian. If Your Highness asks about the details of animal husbandry, I am not very clear, but Minister Wang Jian knows all the details.”

Xiao Xia nodded, “Today I am actually asking about the situation of horse manure, you should know it!”

“Horse manure?”

Helou Shanzhu was stunned for a moment, then he smiled bitterly and said, “In normal seasons, war horses are raised freely, so we don’t have to worry about horse manure. They are scattered all over the grasslands. But in winter, war horses are kept in pens, and we, the animal husbandry supervisors, have to fight against horse manure. We have to carry away mountains of horse manure every day.”

“How do you deal with horse manure?”

Helou Shanzhu glanced at Wang Jian who was standing beside him, and Wang Jian quickly said, “Your Highness, we usually put the horse manure in the warehouse to dry naturally and make it into horse manure cakes. We burn them in the stables in the winter of the following year to keep the horses warm.”

“Do you still have dried horse manure? Or horse manure cakes?”

“Of course there are, too much. We give a lot to the herdsmen every year. In fact, there are still a lot, and the warehouse can’t hold them all. They are all dry horse dung cakes from a few years ago.” “Is there any sheep dung?” Xiao Xia asked again.

Wang Jian bowed and said, “Your Highness, our horse dung cakes are also called three treasure cakes. They are a mixture of horse dung, cow dung, and sheep dung. The herdsmen taught us how to make them. Compact them tightly so that they burn more vigorously. The burning time and heat of a pound of three treasure cakes far exceed that of a pound of wood.”

“Isn’t this kind of Three Treasures Cake used by the army?”

Helou Shanzhu shook his head, “General Manager Xue has a prejudice against Sanzhen cakes, so the army did not use them. The army still mainly burns firewood.”

“Why do you have a prejudice against it? Do you dislike it because it stinks?”

Wang Jian shook his head. “I don’t know the specific reason, but to be honest, it doesn’t stink at all. We use naturally dried manure, add water and mix it, then make it into three-treasure cakes and dry them on the grassland. The stink has long disappeared. We also use it to keep warm and boil water. When it burns, it has a light grass fragrance or frankincense.”

Helou Shanzhu added: “We Han people in the Central Plains discriminate against cow and sheep dung, but the herders on the grasslands regard it as a treasure. The Han people in Hexi also praise it as a treasure. It is not only a fertilizer, but also a fuel. Even the ash from burning is the same as wood ash. Sprinkling it on the ground is the best fertilizer.”

Xiao Xia had burned cow dung cakes in her previous life and knew that they did not stink at all. Instead, they had a refreshing fragrance. Many people liked this smell.

Xiao Xia nodded, “I plan to have the soldiers burn three-treasure cakes to keep warm in the winter, and also supply them in the market. How many do you have?”

“There are too many. All five warehouses are full. If it’s not enough, we can make it now. If there is enough time, it will be dried in a month. Anyway, we have plenty of raw materials.”

“Is there any in Guzang County?”

“Yes! There are two warehouses outside the city, with about 300,000 catties. After drying, one cake weighs a little over one catty. Let’s count it as one catty. There are 330,000 cakes in the two warehouses, so we count it as 330,000 catties. In fact, it’s more than that.”

Xiao Xia happily said: “Take me to the warehouse now!”

There are many warehouses in the pastoral administration, most of which are concentrated in Shandan County. There are also seven or eight in Guzang County, such as dairy warehouses, sheepskin warehouses, wool warehouses, and dried mutton warehouses, etc. These are all prepared to be sent to Chang’an. There are also two warehouses for storing Sanzhen cakes. In the words of the pastoral administration officials, there are too many of them. Shandan County cannot hold them all, so some of them have to be transferred to Guzang County. Once the court approves trade with Tuyuhun, these Sanzhen cakes will be sold to Tuyuhun in exchange for salt.

The warehouse was outside the south city, a group of warehouses surrounded by earth walls. When the warehouse door slowly opened, Xiao Xia knew that his imminent crisis had been resolved.

The dark brown Sanzhen cakes were piled up like a mountain. Wang Jian introduced: “These are made from summer manure that has been air-dried for three years. They are of the best quality. It is enough to bake two pieces a day.”

Xiao Xia picked up a piece. It felt very light, yet as hard as a stone. It made a clanging sound when he threw it on the pile of cakes.

“Usually they break it into small pieces and burn it, then use some straw to start the fire, and it will light up quickly.”

Xiao Xia nodded and said, “Not only the Three Treasures Cakes, we have also requisitioned all the supplies in the animal husbandry warehouse, including 100,000 war horses. I will apply to the emperor to transfer them to the army for use first.”

Xiao Xia immediately stopped the army’s action of picking up sheep dung, and subsidized each participating soldier with 100 coins. The collected sheep dung was used to fertilize the fields in the military settlements.

He also wrote an eagle letter to his father, requesting that the supplies of the pastoral supervisor be requisitioned as war supplies.

At noon that day, the military camp began to experiment with using Sanzhen Cake as fuel for cooking. Xiao Xia organized the generals to come and visit. They all saw with their own eyes and smelled it for themselves. Sure enough, there was no odor at all, and there was even a very pleasant fragrance. The generals praised it highly and expressed their willingness to accept Sanzhen Cake as heating fuel.

(End of this chapter)