"At that point, maybe an outlet will be needed to the outside world. Bagan meant something.

Wu Xing's eyes lit up and he asked, "Are you finally going to do it to your neighbors in the east?" However, if the barbarians in the north don't solve it, how can they dare to rest assured that they will go east?"

"It's hard to say. The monarch is eloquent, this year is only the year of the weak crown, it is said that next year after the spring ploughing, the crown ceremony will be performed to show adulthood. Bagen took off his felt hat, touched his bald head, smiled, and said: "The Seven Royal Families are orthodox, claiming that Guozuo inherited from the old calendar, but they can't have short hair like our grass people. ”

"However, a question suddenly occurred to me. Wu Xing's words changed and asked, "You just said that the barbarians exchanged copper and silver for all the pig iron on the spot....... Since the steppe barbarians didn't use that pig iron to equip the army, where did that pig iron go?"

Bagan shook his head and said, "I don't know about this at all. The escort of those copper and silver ingots will be arranged for each tribe to be completed in turn, so if I pay attention to inquiring, I can know a little bit of the inside story. My guess is that the pig iron must have gone north. Presumably, there is something more important that requires a lot of pig iron. ”

Wu Xing echoed and said, "The Southern Chu Kingdom just wants to drive the tiger and devour the wolf, and will not teach the barbarians advanced smelting techniques such as the 'steel frying method', so the threat of the barbarians should not be too great." ”

Bagen disagreed, and said: "Back then, the First Emperor of the Ages set a strategy of first the south and then the north, and it can be said that in the end, it was the forces of the Star Falling Continent that drove the barbarians out of the mainland, and then locked them in the bitter cold land of the north through the Great Wall....... According to legend, there is an agreement between the First Emperor of the Ages and the Golden Family, unless the glacial strait between the Far North and the Starfall Continent becomes a land of flat rivers again, the Golden Family will not be allowed to set foot on the Starfall Continent for the rest of their lives! The current military operations of the steppe barbarians are just a small fight for the northern countries, and the barbarians have not officially declared war on the Starfall Continent at all, and now they ...... There is no longer a Great Wall defense. ”

"Then in the old calendar, how did the empire resist the attack of the barbarians?" Wu Xing asked curiously: "If it is just because the Great Wall has been broken by the barbarians in many places, you only need to transport the giant stone stele from the nearby stele forest to make up for it and rebuild it into a defense line, right?"

Bagan waved his hand and said, "If it were that simple, the northern countries would have already done it. But in fact, in the old calendar, the Starfall Continent used to be a unified and huge empire. Now, from the Great Wall to the south, it is basically the terrain of a horse and a flat river, and you can reach the country of Xifeng, the country of Northern Zhao, and the country of Yanliao within a few days. Let's talk about it, let's say that after the Great Wall defense line has been rebuilt, how should the vast area of borderless land south of the Great Wall be divided?

"Secondly, and very important. The reason why the Great Wall defense line was able to block the barbarians in the north back then was because there were arrays of weapons on each section of the city wall, and Wenqu Xingjun was in charge, and even Wuqu Xingjun only needed to pick up the gaps in the entire defense line. There are still songs and ballads about these old stories among the barbarians, praising the barbarian warriors who have followed the line of the Great Wall. The allusion to the defense line of the Great Wall, on the contrary, has been almost forgotten by the people of the seven countries of the Starfall Continent due to the deliberate actions of the royal families. ”

"Why do you want to hide the truth of history?" Wu Xing was puzzled.

"Hehe, because the Seven Kingdoms divided the world, when they were divided, they also divided the weapons arrays on the defense line of the Great Wall, transported them back, and arranged them on the walls of their capitals. The Star God Temple didn't stop it, and directly transferred back the last batch of Wenqu Xingjun and Wuqu Xingjun stationed on the defense line of the Great Wall. With a look of disdain, Bagan said: "It is said that at that time, the seven countries were no longer able to fight with each other, and they were content with the status quo, so they discussed dividing the weapons of the Great Wall defense line. This kind of behavior of opening the door and stealing was punished in the second year! After discovering that only the city wall was left in the defense line of the Great Wall, the barbarians naturally unceremoniously broke through the city wall and went south to the Koubian. ”

"It is said that the feud between the Star God Temple and the Seven Royal Families of the Starfall Continent was formed at that time. The Star Temple accused the Seven Kingdoms of trying to use the barbarians to weaken the strength of the Star Temples in various places, while the Seven Kingdoms criticized the Star Temple's abandonment of the Great Wall, causing countless casualties and casualties in the northern countries. ”

So, then things became the way they are. The south of the Great Wall became a racecourse for the barbarians, and whenever the barbarians suffered a white plague, they naturally passed on the losses to the northern countries, rushed in to burn and plunder, and then returned with a full load. Wu Xing's voice was low, and he had personal pain about this.

Bagen was also a little excited, and said: "The Golden Family lost the bet, so they drew a place in the extreme north as a prison, and really no longer set foot on the Starfall Continent for half a step. Now it is only the vassals of the barbarians harassing the northern states, far from all-out war. In recent years, the river in the village has been freezing for longer and longer, and I always feel that this is not a good sign. ”

Wu Xing seemed to feel that this topic was a little heavy, so he took the initiative to change the conversation and said: "I heard that there is a kind of bituminous coal in the northern land of the barbarians, and the price is more than gold for only a few tens of grams?"

"Oh, you're talking about 'stone grease'. Bagen really followed Wanhu around the battle, and almost knew the customs of the Northland, only to hear him be silent for a moment before he said: "There is a Tyumen tribe in the west of the Northland, which is the fiefdom of the Khan, and there is a special large river in its territory, and the water floating on the water is 'Shigrin', which is a brown liquid that can be used for cooking, lighting lamps and heating. No one knows exactly where the stone resin came from or how it was produced, but according to ancient legends, the stone fat was once one of the few trading goods between the empire and the barbarians in the old calendar, and it was inexhaustible. However, although the bituminous coal produced when the stone resin is burned is extremely thick, if it is collected and used to make ink, it is as bright as lacquer, and the quality is even higher than that of the best pine ink produced in the Starfall Continent. The students in the Mengxue Hall and the Academy, and the students in the Star Hall are all big users of ink. Every year, the 'stone ink' obtained from the northland is transported south by caravans from various countries. Because almost all of the materials obtained from the 'Stone-Ink' trade were paid to the Khan, no barbarians dared to attack those caravans. And the patrons behind those caravans are naturally the dignitaries and nobles of various countries and even the Star Palace, and they will try their best to maintain the smooth flow of trade routes...... Therefore, I said that the copper and silver poison of the Southern Chu State is actually a conspiracy, unless the countries ruthlessly cut off the trade of 'stone fat ink'. Hehe, if you really want to go that far, it will even shake the foundation of Wenqu Xingjun! After all, every Wenqu Xingjun is enlightened from practicing calligraphy. ”