There are more than 700 samurai under the command of the Qingtian family, which is a bit stretched for the size of the town, but it is a very appropriate and low-key number, and it will not cause unnecessary attention.

The Land of the Moon is a highly centralized state. Despite this, if everything was to be controlled by himself, the scale of Xinjing's management would be too large, which eventually led to a strong bureaucratic atmosphere in the Great Moon Pavilion, and he became slow to respond to problems.

For the volcano-ridden and disaster-prone indigenous people of Crescent, maintaining a small and flexible leadership class will ensure a swift response when a crisis strikes.

The longitudinal distance between the north and south of the country of the moon is far away, and the narrow crescent-like Crescent Moon Island is mountainous and bumpy, and the road from the south where Xinjing is located to the north has nine twists and eighteen bends. If there is a disaster in the north and the decision-making power is firmly controlled by Xinjing, by the time the news is transmitted to Xinjing layer by layer, and the instructions are transmitted back layer by layer, most of the dust has already settled, and all the person can do is collect the corpse.

By delegating power to the local government, even the mayor of a town can have a certain degree of decision-making power, not only can it respond more quickly to crises, but it is also usually more accurate to respond to emergencies. Because this is a decision made by the people who were on the ground at the time, rather than a supreme leader thousands of miles away, who can only rely on letters and reports with limited information capacity to cross the river.

Across the ocean, with so many kingdoms and so many kings and nobles, Rigal has a saying: "Power is like wine, the more you drink, the more you want to have." ”

It is not uncommon for people in high positions to indulge in the sense of superiority that comes with holding power and refuse to delegate their power. And the emperors of the Moon Country were not insulated in this list. Although foreign enemies and civil strife did not really shake the country, the emperor's wrong decisions caused by famine and other disasters have also left a heavy and inglorious mark on the history of more than 4,000 years.

All in all, today's Xinjing has made big concessions in terms of decentralization. Local nobles and samurai could have a degree of autonomy and decision-making power. Although still under the control of the state, many of the samurai under the command of the nobles could be commanded by the nobles themselves without an order to transfer troops in Shinjing.

The wisdom accumulated over more than 4,000 years can also be seen here.

Xinjing's delegated military power was limited, and unless there was an emergency, the local tycoons had to obtain consent to mobilize troops larger than a certain size. The easiest way to avoid rebellion is to control the output of armor and other equipment.

Crescent Island is mountainous, but there are not many high-quality minerals. The good armor and swords were produced in the hinterland of the South, and controlled the circulation of them, so the local rebels with only inferior equipment were not worth mentioning—one of the fundamental reasons for the defeat of the rebels previously instigated by the missionaries was this.

As for the samurai who have one or more sets of family heirloom armor, because of the ideas they have been instilled in since childhood, they often have a high sense of reverence for the royal family as the heir of the Great Moon God, and even if the lord orders a rebellion, they are more willing to die than make a choice.

——In the warrior class, with spiritual beliefs to make their hearts very loyal.

- As for the small commoners, if the lord compelled them to rebel, they were already untrained and strictly controlled by weapons and armor. There is only a rabble of civilians with wooden sticks, bamboo guns, and cloth clothes, and as long as the archers put on a shower of arrows, they will break their heads and cry and flee from the wasteland.

This is the further information that Henry and the others have learned about various aspects of the society of the Moon Country after continuing to communicate with Aota and the samurai leader Narumi.

Some of these things have been partially understood before, but only here can they be considered to have a thorough and systematic understanding through the mouths of the real local authorities.

The part of this series of information that was directly related to their subsequent course was that Aota could dispatch it, and the samurai team led by Narumi could not be particularly large. At most, twenty or thirty samurai were drawn, plus a dozen or so retinues in charge of logistics and care. These people, including the men, women, and children of the Yi people fleeing group led by Temulun, as well as Henry and others, suddenly expanded to a scale of about 100 people.

It is impossible to keep a low profile with such a large number of people, so they directly choose to show people in a high profile. The samurai were equipped with armor and weapons, mounted horses, and guarded the vicinity of the young master, and walked through the avenue in the name of the nobles' heirs, so as to dispel most people's doubts.

The discussion of the detailed plan continued for several hours, and after everyone else, including the young master and our Luo'an girl, went to sleep, the discussion between Henry and Qingtian did not stop, but moved to the tea room.

The candles were renewed twice, the tea was added again and again, and after a series of matters and matters that needed attention were carefully finalized, the two said goodbye and returned to their respective resting places.

It was drizzling and it rained all night.

The stars are changing, and the time of the night passes so quickly.

Early the next morning, shortly after dawn, the samurai and their servants began to act in accordance with the orders and began to prepare for the long journey.

The overnight drizzle caused a lot of water to accumulate on the dirt floor of the yard, and a small fish accidentally swam out due to rainwater overflowing from the small pond where koi fish are raised, and it is now churning on the ground. When Mira woke up and walked out of the dormitory with Aya, she saw a servant grab her and throw her back into the pond.

The eaves of the tiled roof were still dripping with rain, but at slightly longer intervals, because the rain had stopped for more than an hour, and it was just not dripping.

After a night of washing, the air was very fresh, but a little cold. The weak Miss Doctor immediately sneezed a little beside Miss Luo'an because she took a breath of cold air, and she felt a little embarrassed, so that her nose turned red and her ears turned red.

"Wear more. She said this to Miss Doctor, and the other man nodded, and returned to the room where there was still room for warmth. Outside, a servant with a bundle of firewood walked by, and Mira listened to him and the other person next to him complaining about something, because she was still not fully proficient in the language, but she could probably understand that the person in charge of cutting the wood had not collected it before complaining, causing the pyre to become soaked with water.

The houses that are propped up from the ground are similar to the houses of the Yiren who lived in them before, and also have a brick flue underneath. There are also servants who are responsible for lighting the fire at night, so that the floor where everyone sleeps is always warm, even if they step on it barefoot.

In the early spring in the north, the mornings and nights are still a little chilly, and in order to heat the whole house, a lot of firewood has to be chopped every day, and a lot is consumed every day. This is also the reason why the subordinate with the firewood in his hand complained, because the soaked firewood burned with choking smoke, whether it was directly burned or dried and reused, it always added a lot of trouble, and even delayed the rhythm of the morning, affecting the Lord's schedule for today.

The absence of a link will cause a series of chain reactions. It's just that they naturally have some countermeasures, even if there will be subtle loopholes, the whole will not be chaotic.

Words go back to square one.

I changed into my own clothes and added a warm coat. After a short breakfast, the extremely complex team of Dr. Xingyong and Oiran of the Yi people, the Lamanites, the Loans, the Suomirs, and the Wa people, joined the ranks of packing up.

Although Qingtian detained the boat group for a while, he did not treat them as prisoners. In addition to ignoring Alfonso's request for an interview, he provided simple but useful clothing and costumes for everyone, including the Yi people. The purchase of thirty or forty people was obviously not worth mentioning to the wealthy city lord, and the Yi people who had changed into brand new clothes did not look much different from ordinary and ordinary civilians at first glance, and their original clothes and equipment were packed in simple baggage and stored.

After breakfast, the more than 100 people who were about to travel gathered in front of the gate in the backyard, and the little young master Yajiro changed into the outfit for going out, the wide dark blue brocade and the aristocratic costume were embroidered with white cranes, and the outside was covered with a warm sleeveless vest with gold embroidery on the edge, and there was a decorative ribbon near the belly.

When Henry and the others approached, the Lord's wife was whispering something and helping Yajiro to sort out his clothes up and down—this behavior seemed to have been going on for quite some time, as Mira immediately noticed that the young master's brow was furrowed, as if she was a little dissatisfied with her mother's behavior.

Fortunately or unfortunately, when the sage came over, the lady of the city lord immediately straightened her face, and once again admonished, and then shouted to Narumi in a loud voice that was obviously deliberately intended for them to hear: "Narumi!

"Yes, ma'am. The samurai leader replied as he straightened his saddle, and the castle lord's wife finally let go of Yajiro and turned around and walked away.

"Huh. The girl looked at her teacher and raised her eyebrows, looking arrogant.

"......" and Henry shrugged, deliberately ruffling her gray hair, which had only been combed in the morning.

"The teacher is such a terrible adult. ”

————

————

Even with the prior preparations, it took more than half an hour to sort out the trip.

Only high-ranking samurai were allowed to ride horses, and even lower-ranking samurai were on foot. Therefore, there were only thirty or so horses, and among them, one of them, who stood out from the crowd, with a snow-white coat and a tall physique, but still young in terms of age, sensed the arrival of the Luoan maiden, and quickly broke free from the hand of the samurai who was pulling the reins, and galloped towards her.

"Long time no see. The little unicorn that rubbed the white-haired girl affectionately for a while did not see that the horn on its head grew longer, but when Mira touched the side of its face and furrowed her little eyebrows to look at the horn that was too obvious, the little one who shared her heart shook her head, and then the horn disappeared from view in everyone's eyes.

"Wow. "As a rare magical beast, when you grow to a certain level, you will naturally master magic. Mira was pleasantly surprised by the little one's actions, and the samurai, who had known very well after the arrival of the Galeva party, also expressed a little regret with jealousy when they noticed the presence of the main one.

Even if the baggage for 100 people can be replenished at the post stations along the way, it still needs to be fully prepared. Due to the large number of mountain trails, donkey carts with higher payloads and higher road requirements are not suitable for long-distance travel. And because of the noble status of horses, and people used to tow goods, they also used more hard-working pack oxen.

A total of 10 sturdy pack oxen were placed on their bodies with two bent wooden brackets made of cloth cushions, followed by heavy supplies and various items needed for the road, which were placed in chests and hung on them.

The subordinate and ashigaru in charge of the traction led the "Mu Mou" to call the pack ox non-stop, and the samurai turned over and mounted after preparation. The Yi people took out some of the items needed for travel, such as wooden sticks for walking, and Henry and the others could only walk, after taking back the equipment that had been confiscated in the warehouse, putting them back on, and putting on the outer side to cover and keep warm.

One after another, the mighty procession donned all sorts of hats or helmets.

It was only then that the first rays of the morning sun finally broke through the clouds and fell.

The little young master Yajiro was at the front of the line, tightened the long knife on his waist, and looked back at the mansion, but neither the city lord Aotian nor his mother came out again.

"Let's go. He turned his head in the direction of the gate, and then gave an order.

。 m.