Lingshui County, Wild Wolf Mountain.

Xiao Jiu looked at the shrimp crawler and the miners who were forced to mine on Wild Wolf Mountain, his face expressionless.

But the people in front of him had slight corners of their mouths, and even many people cried with joy, glad that they were free again.

Not long ago, Xiao Jiu ordered the liberation of these miners and allowed them to freely choose to stay.

At this time, Xiao Jiu's Lingshui County can be regarded as a three-way zone, and there is no need to worry about the existence of iron ore veins in Wild Wolf Mountain leaking.

Shrimp crawler and his group of difficult brothers and sisters have also been initially recognized by Xiao Jiu, and there is no need to let them continue to sacrifice for free as slaves.

From then on, they were free people, and they could choose to stay as they pleased.

Those who choose to leave, Xiao Jiu, will assign them to the townships under their jurisdiction, become a member of the proletarian guild, and participate in labor.

And those who remain on the mountain will also get what they deserve.

In the future, the iron ore of Wild Wolf Mountain will be mined separately in Lingshui County.

In order to reduce transportation costs, Xiao Jiu also plans to build a separate steel factory in Wild Wolf Mountain, where the iron ore produced in the future will be refined into steel.

As for the original one in Hare Hill, it will be transformed into a military factory, and all future ordnance equipment will be carried out by Hare Hill Iron and Steel Works.

In addition to leaving a part of the permanent soldiers in Wild Wolf Mountain, the Xiao Zi Battalion will be stationed in Hare Mountain in the future for weekday training.

In addition, Xiao Jiu also prepared to purchase military horses from neighboring states to form a cavalry.

In this era, there were no means of transportation in Xiao Jiu's previous life, and all travel basically relied on manpower or livestock.

A cavalry with super mobility is undoubtedly a great weapon of death on the battlefield.

Xiao Jiu made these plans because in the face of the official documents issued by the county, Xiao Jiu decided to resist taxes.

Since he is already a thorn in Lu Yaoliang's eyes, instead of hoping that he will let himself go because he pays taxes honestly, it is better to hold the initiative in his own hands.

Xiao Jiu had already felt the feeling of putting his life in the hands of someone else, and this time he wanted to take control of his own destiny.

What gave Xiao Jiu confidence was the growing team of Xiao Ziying, and the hundreds of thousands of people in Lingshui County behind him.

As long as we can withstand the pressure from Qingzhou and wait for this drought, Lingshui County will usher in a huge period of development.

In addition, both Jizhou and Yuzhou have already sent letters, promising to sell Xiao Jiu a batch of war horses to help him form cavalry.

And Xiao Jiu had also observed before that although the horses of this era were equipped with saddles and stirrups, they did not have horseshoes.

As a result, the loss rate of horses is very high, and a large number of horses will be scrapped after every long-distance run.

If you form a cavalry, you can minimize losses by nailing horseshoes to the hooves of each horse.

In addition to the military aspect, Xiao Jiu also has a lot of ideas in other places.

As Xiao Jiu gradually gained a firm foothold in Lingshui County and became the "Renyi County Order" supported by the people under his rule, the power in his hands was also expanding.

In this era of agriculture, productivity is relatively scarce, and the fundamental reason is the backwardness of the mode of production.

Although the entire Great Xia was nominally under the control of the imperial court, the actual power had long been divided among the warlords in various places.

In the midst of a once-in-a-century drought, rebels and mountain bandits sprung up in various places.

All this is a challenge and an opportunity.

Previously, it was a successful attempt to divide the land of the lord of Lingshui County and implement the collective economy in a unified manner.

Although they were obstructed by a small number of people, they were all insignificant in the face of thousands of poor people.

Today is cruel, tomorrow is even more cruel, but as long as you hold out until the day after tomorrow, a beam of light will pierce the darkness and bring dawn.

……

In the north, Liangzhou City.

At this time, a large army of aliens gathered outside the city and began a knock once every few years.

This alien army was led by a number of large tribes of the steppes, who worked together to form a simple alliance.

The leader of the alliance is Tukutunle, the lord of the steppe black wolf country, and in addition to this, he also has a Great Xia name, named Zong Yu.

After hundreds of years of ethnic integration, these steppe tribes have undergone cultural assimilation in Bactria and have changed many of their original customs.

Although these steppe people were not engaged in farming, they flowed in a large amount of Bactria products through caravan trade.

The tribes gradually evolved into small states, and those tribal chieftain-like figures began to proclaim themselves lords.

They wore costumes from Bactria and learned the language and writing of Bactria and even began to master some of the governing systems of Bactria .

As they continued to learn about Great Xia, this group of herdsmen, who had never been able to get out of the grassland in their lives, longed for the rich land in the south.

There are countless grains and cloths to wear, and even the women of Daxia are much more beautiful than those on the grassland.

The only thing that stood in their way was the thick city walls of Liangzhou City.

At this time, Yuan Zhen, who was patrolling the city wall, looked at the black and oppressive heads under the city, but he didn't panic much.

In the past, every few years, these Rong tribes would gather and go south to raid several times.

But every time, after robbing some villages and towns outside the city, they will return to the grassland, and they will not be able to break through the defense line of Liangzhou City at all.

Just counting the number of Sheng flags outside, the number of Rong people who came to knock on the customs this time was much more than usual.

"How many refugees from outside the city are coming in?"

Yuan Zhen looked at the Rong clan coalition army outside the city and asked a Liangzhou military general beside him.

The military general who was questioned said in a deep voice: "Less than 30,000. ”

Yuan Zhen heard the voice beside him, sighed slightly, and stopped speaking.

As a military city, Liangzhou is more inclined to the form of a fortress, and there is a large amount of land and population in Liangzhou outside the city, and it is roughly estimated that there are more than 100,000.

Now there are only 30,000 people who have fled into Liangzhou City with the invasion of the steppe people, which means that the other people of Daxia are living and dying under the hooves of the Rong tribe.

After fighting with the Rong people on the border for many years, Yuan Zhen's hatred for the Rong people can be said to be deep in the bone marrow.

You can say that he is a fierce general, but when faced with an alien invasion, there is no denying that he is a national hero.

With Yuan Zhen's order methodically reaching all parts of Liangzhou City, these soldiers who have been guarding the border all year round did not panic much.

"I don't know how many people will die this time."

On the city wall at dusk, an old soldier looked at the sun setting on the horizon in the distance and muttered to himself.

On the second day, the steppe coalition army began to attack the city.

Huge stones were thrown into the city wall by wooden giant catapults, and many Liangzhou soldiers fell to the ground one after another.

Then a number of strong Rong men shot their arrows into the tower, taking the lives of the defenders.

The Liangzhou army, which could defend the city, was relying on the tall city walls at this time, taking advantage of the geographical advantage, and was constantly counterattacking.

The large bed crossbows placed on the castle tower shot meters of crossbow arrows, and rolling logs and stones fell from above.

The whole Liangzhou city was noisy with gongs and drums, and the wails continued.

Yuan Zhen had collected most of the military power of the Liangzhou Army some time ago, and at this time it was in the limelight, and he was the first to boost morale on the front-line battlefield.

The fierce siege lasted less than two hours before ending with the retreat of the steppe coalition forces, leaving only corpses and pools of blood.

After Mingjin withdrew his troops, the grassland coalition sent a team to collect the corpses of the dead in battle, and the defenders of the city did not attack, which was considered a kind of war etiquette.

Of course, there is more concern that the bacteria that grow after the corpse decomposes will bring a terrible plague.

At night, Yuan Zhen gathered a group of generals of the Liangzhou Army in the military tent in the city to discuss how to deal with the siege of the enemy army tomorrow.

Just as the generals in the tent were discussing lively, a herald with a red flag on his body ran to the camp tent.

This herald was Qin Yi's mansion, the son of King Huai, and he also carried a letter from Qin Yi at this time.

Yuan Zhen took the letter handed by the soldier, glanced at the herald suspiciously, and then opened it and read it.

The content of the letter is very brief, probably because tomorrow Qin Yi will bring the soldiers of the Huai Wangfu to support the front line.

At the end of the letter, it was also mentioned that all the liquor purchased by the palace would be used as a reward for the army.

After reading the letter, Yuan Zhen waved his hand to disperse the herald soldiers, and circulated Qin Yi's letter to the generals in the tent.

As the letters continued to alternate in the hands of these people, a cold snort came from the mouth of a military general.

"Hmph, what can these old soldiers in the palace do."

With his cold snort, many generals nodded in agreement, looking down on these soldiers who showed off their fists and legs.

But Yuan Zhen had an indifferent expression and said slowly.

"His Royal Highness the Prince can think of coming to the army at this time, so don't say more."

As Yuan Zhen's voice fell, the generals who were originally disdainful put away their thoughts and began to continue to discuss the military situation until late at night.

Early in the morning of the second day, before the grassland coalition army launched an offensive, the prince Qin Yi took hundreds of soldiers to the city tower, in addition to a cart of wine.

Yuan Zhen looked at Qin Yi, who was emaciated in front of him, with mixed feelings.

"It seems that this son is not as unbearable as he used to be."

Thinking like this in his heart, he already stepped forward to salute Qin Yi, who was gradually approaching.

After the two exchanged pleasantries for a while, Yuan Zhen took Qin Yi to the highest city tower and overlooked the gradually converging siege coalition forces.

"Your Royal Highness, please sit in the city later, don't be injured by stray arrows."

Seeing Qin Yi staring outside the city in a daze, Yuan Zhen said in a deep voice.

For Qin Yi to come to the front line of the battlefield, no matter what happened before, Yuan Zhen still had a trace of respect for this prince of Huaiwang.

Hearing this, Qin Yi slowly turned around and looked at Yuan Zhen silently, with a complicated expression on his face.

At this time, the wine brought by the palace was distributed to the generals and soldiers on the city tower, and now they are drinking happily with pottery bowls.

That Mr. Ye also carried an altar and walked towards Qin Yi.

Qin Yi took the wine bowl handed by Mr. Ye, his movements were a little slow, but his eyes gradually became firm under Mr. Ye's gaze.

"General Yuan, please drink this cup."

Yuan Zhen drank it all and called it a good wine.

Just as Yuan Zhen thanked Qin Yi and was about to go to arrange for the defenders to resist the attack of the coalition forces outside the city next, there was a commotion in the distance.

Yuan Zhen turned his head to look, but suddenly there was a sound of drawing a knife in his ears.

Yuan Zhen, who had been on the battlefield for a long time, almost instinctively turned back to dodge, but after all, he was a step slower.

As the cold light flashed, the sharp blade slashed through Yuan Zhen's neck, creating a line of blood.

"The ...... of the Prince"

only shouted out Shizi, Yuan Zhen fell directly to the ground, and there was still a look of disbelief in his gradually dilated pupils.

A generation of fierce generals died here.