After several years of development, Daxia has undergone new changes.

The number of human beings in Great Xia has officially exceeded one million, and at least one school has been built in every city, and the literacy rate in Great Xia has exceeded 50%, which means that every day Xia Qi does nothing, he can get a large number of civilization points.

The rail-drawn carriages have been laid in the major cities, and they can transport a large number of goods each time, but the maintenance of the rail-drawn carriages is a huge expense, accounting for a large part of the annual income of Great Xia.

So Xia Qi came up with a trick to divide the rail carriage into sections, and then let the merchants bid. The merchant who wins the bid can get the right to use the railcar after paying a fee, but he needs to maintain the railcar every year.

Also, during the war phase, the merchants needed to make way for the army.

Under all kinds of harsh circumstances, the businessmen who won the bid are still in an endless stream.

It's really because there are a lot of benefits in it.

It doesn't cost a penny, and it also earns a lot of money, which makes the personnel of the Ministry of Economic Affairs look at Xia Qi as if they are looking at a fairy.

For another example, Lu Meng, the governor of the navy, once applied to build more building ships, but was rejected by the Ordnance Department due to lack of funds.

As a result, the next day, led by Li Jun, the general of the navy, directly pulled dozens of carriages to the ordnance department, and all the carriages were copper coins and cloth and other things.

Li Jun's move seemed to push the entire navy to the forefront.

Some people say that this is because Li Jun and Lu Meng, the governor of the navy, embezzled a lot of money.

It is also said that this entire navy army has committed illegal acts, such as plundering passing merchant ships.

The most outrageous one directly said that the navy wanted to defect to Great Xia and live a free life outside.

But when the investigation report came out, it directly slapped those guys in the face.

According to the investigation, these are all the legal gains of the trolls.

When the navy is on patrol, they catch a lot of fish and sell it at the market.

And Li Jun also set up a water caravan in the name of the navy, most of the members of the caravan are all retired sailors, and as for their ships, they are all retired ships purchased from the navy at low prices.

All in all, with the blessing of fishing and water transportation, the navy can be said to have made a lot of money.

I heard that after this, the army also began to think of ways to make money.

When they used to come to ask for weapons and equipment, the Ordnance Department always had a dead face, and they also wanted to learn from the water army, and use money to smash those guys in the face.

Regarding this, Xia Qi did not speak out to stop it.

The army is a big money eater, and since they want to make money on their own, let them make it.

As long as it doesn't happen, such as bullying other businessmen, forcing to buy and sell, etc., this kind of viciousness does not happen. incident, Xia Qi can be said to be happy to see it.

Also, a few years ago, the prospecting team discovered a metallic substance called chromium. After a few years of research, those guys from the research department actually plated chrome on the bronze sword.

After being plated with chrome, the original brittle and hard bronze sword became extremely tough, and it would not rust if placed in water for more than a month.

It's a pity that this chrome plating process is not yet mature, and only three or five chrome weapons like this can be produced every year, which is destined to become Xia Qi's collection.

Perhaps, it will occasionally be taken out by Xia Qi to reward which minister or general.

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The bitter cold land in the north, although it is Xia Qi, is still icy and snowy, and the cold wind is howling.

At present, the temperature in this place has dropped to below minus 10 degrees.

When they first came here, Rao was a little overwhelmed by people from the bitter cold land, such as Rowling and Alola.

At this time, the members of the exploration team sent out by Xia Qi were hiding under a huge hill with bated breath.

A heavy footstep suddenly came from not far away, and I saw a burly orc, more than two meters tall, covered in white hair, walking not far away.

The orc had a white bone stick in his hand, and every now and then he would sniff twice and look for something.

Rowling recognized this kind of orc, if she remembered correctly, the predecessor of this orc should be a kind of bear, with strong attack power, but fortunately, under normal circumstances, they all appeared alone.

But now, the bear actually walked on two legs, had obvious intelligence, and had become a social creature.

On the way out of the bitter cold land before, Rowling and the others also encountered several monsters, and when they came to Great Xia, they learned that the creatures they called monsters were actually orcs.

It's just that this kind of bear-like orc is the first time they have encountered it.

This kind of bear man has a strong attack power, and it is still a group action, and if it appears here, it means that there must be other bear people around.

As soon as they reveal their position, or fight the monster outside, they will soon be surrounded by a large group of bear people.

Because before that, they had already suffered a loss.

On that occasion, they had three dead and eleven wounded.

Therefore, if it were not a last resort, they would not have done anything with these bear people.

But the god didn't turn to the people, and the bear man actually sniffed and walked over to them.

Rowling, who was observing the bearman, tightened her heart, and while clenching the weapon in her hand, she also thought that the others had made a gesture, which was to tell them that the bearman was coming.

The mood of everyone was a little heavy, but one by one they were all mentally prepared.

I have to say that this bitter cold place is really a place to hone people.

Except for some of the members of the exploration team who came from the bitter cold land, most of them were ordinary people, and when they first came here, they were directly shivering from the cold.

But now, they all have good skills.

In other words, those who have not been tempered have already lost their lives on the ice field.

Alola clutched the battle axe in her hand and hid around the corner below the hill.

Although this guy seems to be a reckless man, he always has to have a bit of brains to be the leader and develop the race into a decent person.

The bear-man trampled on the snow and ice, and kept making a creaking sound, and the sound was getting closer and closer, like a drumbeat, and kept hitting people's hearts.

Fortunately, during this time, everyone has learned to be patient.

Although they were nervous and timid, they still hid under the hill and remained silent.

I have to say that the bearman's sense of smell is a good messenger, even if they are smeared with some potions on their bodies to dilute and dilute the smell on their bodies, but they are still captured by the bearman's nose.

Finally, the shadow of the bear man had appeared in their sight, that is, the owner of the shadow was behind the corner.

At the moment of turning the corner, a palpitation suddenly appeared in the bear man's heart, and he subconsciously clenched the drum stick in his hand, and his face also showed a cautious expression.

The moment it turned the corner, Alora, who was hiding in the shadows, suddenly raised the tomahawk in her hand and slashed at the bear-man with all her strength.

The bear man didn't have time to react, and the battle axe in Alora's hand slashed at the monster's head.

I only heard a "click", and under one blow, Alora actually slashed the bear man to pieces, and the blade of the tomahawk directly sank into the monster's brain!

The bear-man didn't even have time to roar before blood flowed down its mouth and nose.

"Roar—"

However, this blow did not kill the bear man, and the low roar was marked with obvious pain and irritability, and the sound resounded throughout the hill at once.

"!"

The faces of everyone who originally thought that Alola had solved this bear man changed instantly.

Alora wanted to pull out the tomahawk and make up for the bearman, but she didn't expect that the blade of the tomahawk was stuck in the bearman's skull, and she couldn't pull it out for a while.

Faced with the threat of death, the bear man roared wildly and waved the bone stick in his hand, and his bloodshot pupils were full of tyranny.

The pain fueled the ferocity in its bones, and it wanted to fight Alola desperately.

Seeing this, Rowling immediately clenched the short spear in her hand and stabbed at the bear man.

In the next moment, with the sound of a sharp weapon piercing into the flesh, the spearhead of the short spear suddenly pierced the bearman's throat, giving it the final blow!

In the next second, the bearman fell to the ground with a bang.

However, it was too late, and as the roar spread, as long as the other bears scattered around were not deaf, they must have heard it.

Sure enough, soon, the roars of the bears continued to sound around them.

The faces of the crowd became extremely ugly.

"Let's go! If you're surrounded by them, you're doomed!! ”

As she spoke, Rowling rushed a few steps and climbed directly onto the back of the mammoth Elly, and Alola on the side also hurriedly rode on her yak mount.

Although Aili's combat effectiveness is extremely strong, the combat effectiveness of the yak is not weak.

But the number of bearmen is too much, even if it is a mammoth, in the face of such a number of bearmen, it is a little powerless. And as the battle continues, it will definitely attract other orcs.

It is also because of this that they can hide and hide all the way, striving to return to the place where the original two tribes lived as soon as possible.

But alas, they are still being found now.

After determining the direction, the group fled directly, and since they couldn't hide anymore, they simply didn't hide!

The surrounding bears had also sensed the movement and quickly converged in this direction.

Alora glanced back, there were quite a few bears behind them, not to mention dozens of them.

Alola, who is good at being tough and tough, couldn't help but have a trace of palpitations on her face.

If they had chosen to fight head-on with those bear men before, they would have killed and injured a lot of people in this wave, and maybe they might all be wiped out.

Everyone ran all the way, and they didn't know how long they had been running.

Those bears are bulky, not very fast, and not good at long-distance running, so they can't catch up with them under normal circumstances, but they are afraid that the monsters will follow the smell and tracks.

So for a short period of time, Alola, Rowling and others didn't dare to stop at all.

I don't know how long I ran this way, but I felt that it should be far enough, until the strength of Aili and the yaks was almost unbearable, and the speed of the group slowly slowed down.

Rowling sat on Eli's back and turned her head to look behind her, by which time they could no longer see the bears.

"Whew-"

With a long breath, Rowling said after checking the sky again, "It's not early, we need to find a place to spend the night." ”

After saying that, Rowling glanced at Alola and said, "As usual, your people are responsible for collecting food, and my people are responsible for housing them." ”

If you want to spend the night in the bitter cold and cover it with snow all year round, you either have to set up a permanent camp or dig a deep enough snow cave nearby, and after nightfall, everyone will take refuge in the snow and then block the hole with snow, leaving only a few small holes to keep the air circulating.

This was done on the one hand to shelter from the wind and snow, and on the other hand, to avoid the attacks of individual beasts and monsters, so that they could rest relatively peacefully.

If you want to survive in the bitter cold, these are the most basic survival skills.

However, they are outnumbered, and they are accompanied by large creatures such as mammoths and yaks, and it is obviously unrealistic to create a snow cave that can accommodate so many people, including mammoths and yaks.

So the members of the expedition team usually rest in the snow caves, while members of the northern tribes, like Alora and Rowling, camp outside the snow caves.

For the members of the northern tribes who live in bitter cold all year round, such environmental command makes them feel cordial, but it is not unbearable.

It darkened quickly in the bitter cold land, and after nightfall, several fires were lit in the camp, and after a simple meal, and then two bowls of ginger soup, everyone went to bed early.

At the end of the day, it was really tiring enough for them.

But to be honest, the nights in the bitter cold are still not very peaceful.

The slightest unusual movement immediately aroused the alarm of the surrounding yaks and mammoths, and Alola, Rowling and others, who were resting in the tent, also opened their eyes one after another, and the soldiers in the camp who were responsible for taking turns to keep vigil were the first reaction after noticing the abnormality was to extinguish the campfire.

Soon, the members of the exploration team, who were sleeping soundly in the snow cave, were also woken up.

Seriously, they're used to being woken up in the middle of the night, and a good night's sleep is a luxury.

A glimpse of the whole leopard is enough to show how harsh the living environment in the bitter cold land is.

"Those monsters are a little too persistent......"

After realizing that the group of monsters had chased the neighborhood during the day, Rowling couldn't help but feel a little bad.

At this time, she really wanted to step on the heads of the bears, and then ask them well, if you have this spare time, why do you have to go and find some food, why do you have to chase them to the death?

However, in the eyes of the bears, Rowling's people are food, and a lot of food.

Especially judging from the size of the mammoth Eli, it looks like a mountain of meat.

And that's the whole reason why these bears are chasing after them.

But anyway, they need to get out of here.