The problem in the north, Yang Hao has so much energy to pay attention to for the time being, now is a critical period for the Qi country to recuperate, and everything has to make way for this most important thing.

In recent years, the population of Qi has been growing rapidly.

Without the incentives for population control, and with the gradual improvement of living conditions, Qi hopes to surpass the 6 million mark by the end of this year.

Six million people, even if half of them are strong laborers, that's a huge number.

Moreover, in recent years, although Qi has focused its main energy on internal affairs construction, the military has not been pulled down.

The number of standing troops has reached 100,000.

Counting the militia and some auxiliaries, the total strength of Qi was nearly 180,000.

With so many troops distributed along the long border of Qi State, it was not so shocking for a while.

It's just that Yang Hao knows that these forces are barely enough for ordinary enemies in this era.

If you encounter an opponent of the same level, this amount of strength is absolutely not enough.

However, fortunately, Qi was a highly centralized country from the beginning, and it had a natural advantage in the ability to organize wars.

When it really comes to life and death, the whole country will fight with all its strength, and the number of troops can at least be multiplied several times.

Yang Hao didn't want to see this kind of thing happen, if it really happened, it would only prove one thing, the threat from the outside already had the ability to fight from a long distance.

After the poor envoy left, Yang Hao only gave the order to the guards in the border area to closely monitor the northern barbarians, and did not pay much attention to it.

At this time, he spent most of his energy working on a piece of machinery.

And this mechanism is the clock.

Yang Hao did not have the ability to restore the mechanical watch that was too complicated, but he had a certain degree of confidence in making the old-fashioned pendulum clock.

Because of the old-fashioned pendulum clock, when he was a child, his grandfather's family had one, and later the quartz clock became popular, and the old-fashioned pendulum clock gradually became abandoned.

At that time, Yang Hao disassembled and assembled the pendulum clock in the debris pile, and had a certain impression of its internal structure.

And what Yang Hao has to do now is to try to recall the memories of the past, combined with his own mechanical knowledge, and restore them little by little.

Accurate timekeeping tools play a very important role in scientific research.

Something that can improve the level of science and technology in Qi State, Yang Hao doesn't want to miss even a little bit at all.

The phrase that technology makes people progress is like a firm belief in his heart.

For the word technology, Yang Hao has an incomparable awe, this feeling is like the omnipotent master in the heart of a devout religious believer.

The production of the pendulum clock has begun half a year ago, and in the past six months, Yang Hao has drawn countless sketches and made countless gears, large and small.

He can't accurately recall every structure of the pendulum clock, so he can only use the stupidest method to try one by one, and the general principle knows that even if the method is a little stupid, one day the pendulum clock will always be born in his own hands, which Yang Hao is convinced of.

It is separated from Chang'an by thousands of miles across the ocean.

Stony Brook's fleet had been stationed here for three days.

A few days ago, they spent their first New Year away from home in this new world.

On New Year's Day, the tribe that had traded with the fleet found Stony Brook again.

This time, instead of trading with the fleet, the tribe sent many gifts as expected.

Nothing to do, either treacherous or thief, Stony Brook kept a high degree of vigilance against these people while dealing with this strange tribe.

There can be no accidents in the fleet at this time, although the fleet and the tribe seem to get along well on the surface, but the careful sailors will find that the number of patrols in the camp is several times the previous number.

And the search for people is required, even if they sleep, the armor cannot be taken off.

From this order, which was only issued in wartime, it could be seen how nervous Stony Brook was in his heart.

He had already decided that if there was nothing of value here, the fleet would have to leave.

It has been half a year since he left the territory of Qi State, and the time left for him is very urgent, whether this mission can be successfully completed is related to the fate of whether he can go to sea again in the future, and he will not allow any mistakes.

A few days later, the tribe visited Qi's ocean-going fleet again.

The middle-aged leader wearing an exaggerated feather headdress expresses his respect for Stony Brook with a unique understanding.

Stony Brook warmly received this person, because he found that among the people who came this time, there were many young women, which made him vaguely guess something.

After bringing this indigenous leader into the Great Horde, after difficult communication, I finally figured out the purpose of these people.

It turned out that these tribes were in conflict with an indigenous tribe to the north, and the indigenous leader hoped to use the power of the Qi people to take down the enemy for them.

Stony Brook frowned, he didn't want his fleet to get involved in a conflict with the locals, it wouldn't do the fleet any good.

But what happened next made Stony Brook hesitate a little.

The reason for his hesitation was not the woman brought by the indigenous tribe, but the middle-aged man who took out a transparent stone.

The moment he saw this stone, Stony Brook only felt as if he had heard it somewhere.

After trying to recall, in his vague memory, he seemed to have heard Yang Hao mention a similar description to this stone.

And this thing seems to be very important for navigation in Yang Hao's mouth.

It's just that Shi Xi is not sure whether this thing is what Yang Hao said in his mouth, even if it is true, whether it is worth the risk of delaying the voyage for this thing makes him a little uncertain.

In the expectant gaze of the natives, Stony Brook frowned in contemplation.

After a long time, Stony Brook used a drawing to express his meaning to the other party, he wanted to know the number of the natives and the weapons and equipment, and if it was an easy opponent to solve, without affecting the voyage, he felt that this risk was worth trying.

Regardless of whether this thing is what Yang Hao said in his mouth, just from the appearance, this transparent stone is a rare thing, maybe bring some back, there will be unexpected gains.

After some difficult understanding, Stony Brook roughly understood what the native leader meant.

The enemy seemed to these natives to be a large tribe, and as for how big it was, Stony Brook didn't quite figure out whether it was hundreds or more than a thousand, which was crucial to his decision.

If it is a tribe of five or six hundred people, the opponent's strength will not exceed three hundred at most, if it is more than a few thousand, although he is not afraid, there are too many variables in this, and there are too many risks to bear.

The long life at sea made him extremely cautious.

In the end, Stony Brook did not immediately agree to the request of the native chief, but decided to send spies to follow the tribe to investigate the enemy situation and make a decision.