Time flies, flies, and in a blink of an eye, it has been eight years since Xiao Jiu came to this era.

In the past eight years, Xiao Jiu has completed the transformation of his identity and has become a pivotal figure in the entire northern territory.

He is no longer alone, in addition to giving birth to Xiao Xun'er with Li Luoyao, he gave birth to a boy.

Now that the situation in the north has gradually stabilized in the past two years, Xiao Jiu has also been committed to internal governance, and has not shown any ambition for expansion, which is very rare in the eyes of others.

Although Xiao Jiuxin expanded two military regions and formed a new-style army, he was always in a state of training.

On the contrary, Xiao Jiu was very interested in maritime trade, and had been paying attention to the development of overseas Japanese states during this time.

With policy support, the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce began to plan to move some residents to the island and transfer some factories out.

With the development of the Wa Kingdom, its unique geographical location also showed its unique advantages.

First of all, the sweet potatoes and other food crops experimentally planted in the Wa Kingdom were harvested, which made Xiao Jiu more sure of the fertility of this land.

Secondly, it was based on the Wa Kingdom and reopened the route to the north, so that the footprint of the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce could reach Liaozhou and the more southern regions.

Ever since Xiao Jiu's navy occupied the Wa Kingdom, Xiao Jiu envisioned turning it into an overseas food producer.

Therefore, one manor after another came into being, and the first batch of soldiers and civilians of Yangcheng County who landed on the island also became the first batch of plantation owners.

Moreover, the land of the Wa Kingdom not only indicates the cultivation of grain, but also cash crops such as cotton and linen that grow very well in this land.

The construction of a factory in the Wa Kingdom not only absorbed these original Wa people, but also brought a steady stream of money to Xiao Jiu.

In addition to the overseas Wa Kingdom, Xiao Jiu has been constantly building new schools and spreading new ideas, which has created a frenzy of ideological enlightenment throughout the northern border.

In this feudal era, limited by the limitations of productive forces, people's views may be somewhat narrow-minded, but this does not mean that the ancients were stupid.

On the contrary, there are many talents in the schools, medical centers, research institutes and other places established by Xiao Jiu.

Sometimes Xiao Jiu just pointed out a direction, and they could study what they wanted, and it was more applicable to this era than what Xiao Jiu knew in his previous life.

No, recently, the research institute has made simple cement according to the ideas provided by Xiao Jiu.

Because Xiao Jiu doesn't know much about these building materials and doesn't know the ratio of cement, the strength of the cement produced is very low.

But Xiao Jiu didn't think about making a concrete house, with these cements, it could be used to build the ground floor building with the fired red bricks first.

Of course, the most important thing is to pave the road with cement.

There is an old saying that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads, and with the application of cement in the engineering industry, you can take the lead in building hardened pavement.

After all, in this era, most of the transportation relied on ox carts, and even horse-drawn carriages were very rare.

For example, the current loess road, as long as it encounters rainy weather, it will become extremely difficult to walk, and it often takes several times more time.

With the pavement made of cement, the transportation efficiency of the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce will be greatly improved, and the cost of trade will be reduced accordingly.

In addition, if there is a war, you can also speed up the march, and you can take it and send the generals at the first time.

After the successful research and development of cement, Xiao Jiu began to vigorously allocate manpower and material resources for construction, and for a while, the entire Yangcheng County once again entered a labor shortage.

In the end, I really had no choice, so I had to capture a large number of slaves in the Japanese country and use them as laborers to build roads.

For example, after the local people joined the ranks of laborers, they also received a large amount of salaries, which can be regarded as revitalizing the market economy in Yangcheng County.

According to Xiao Jiu's plan, it will take about two years to complete the construction of cement roads leading from Yangcheng County to various townships and counties, including some mines, salt farms, etc.

Although the process is arduous, as long as it is completed, the entire territory of Yangcheng County can be unimpeded.

In addition to cement, the output of steel mills such as the earliest ones established by Xiao Jiu has also increased with the expansion of scale.

Compared with the small steel mill in Lingshui County at the beginning, there are now three large steel mills covering an area of dozens of acres in Yangcheng County alone.

After a little more time, Xiao Jiu can release the thing in his hand that can change the times-the steam engine.

Now that there are too many unstable factors due to the production capacity of steel and the situation in the north, Xiao Jiu does not dare to rashly release all these things in a short period of time, after all, things have to be done one by one.

With the support of the state government, the roads in Yangcheng County were quickly built.

While the people in the county were amazed at the durability of the concrete pavement, the peasants, whose hands were bound to the land, also had other thoughts in their hearts.

Now they are no longer confined to the immediate area, they can go further and find more opportunities.

With the completion of the cement road, various peddlers and pawns continued to appear along the new road, and for a time Yangcheng County was in the limelight, and there was a faint scene of prosperity in Kyoto City before the war.

In this era, the blockage of transportation makes Yangcheng County, a paradise, unknown to outsiders.

Even the spies who were dormant in Yangcheng County in other places only passed on things like cement to their respective lords.

But these warlords don't care about the cost of building roads, what they really care about is how much grain they can collect in their territory and how much they can use to feed their army.

Compared with the people in other places, the people in Yangcheng County support Xiao Jiu and the current regime from the bottom of their hearts.

And this is where Xiao Jiu's real confidence lies, and before he knows it, Xiao Jiu has mastered the hearts and minds of the people.

Just when Yangcheng County entered the rapid development, the southern border was not peaceful, although it had little impact on Xiao Jiu's industry in the south, but it had begun to be in turmoil.

First of all, You Yichun, the governor of Yuzhou, died of illness, because his son was young, so the entire military and political power in Yangzhou fell into the hands of his son You Xi's uncle.

This also caused the dissatisfaction of the local family forces in Yangzhou City, and after sending people to assassinate them unsuccessfully, they have risen directly to the front of the stage from the conspiracy design behind their backs.

And this also made Zhong Asi, who was eyeing him on the side, see the opportunity and organized two attacks on Yangzhou City.

At this critical time, the local family of Yangzhou City brazenly led Wang Yunfei of Yuzhou and the rebel army under his command to enter Yangzhou, and a chaotic battle began without surprise.

And the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce where Li Fu belonged was always in a neutral attitude, because Xiao Jiu didn't want to join the complicated political struggle in the south right now, because all this was meaningless.

On the contrary, Zhong Asi returned to Jiangzhou in embarrassment after two unsuccessful attacks on Yangzhou City.

After Zhong Asi withdrew his troops, Wang Yunfei, who had already entered Yangzhou, did not want to return to Yuzhou with a benefit.

Under the coercion of force, the prince You Xi disappeared, and You Xi's uncle was directly killed by the rebels.

Since then, the wealthy Yangzhou City has entered a situation of family division, and Wang Yunfei has become the emperor of Yangzhou.

Because Wang Yunfei had previously fought with Chen and Li in Yuzhou, Xiao Jiu had assisted the other party and always had resentment towards him.

So at this time, he thought about spreading anger on the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce in Yangzhou, and prepared to charge a large amount of tariffs from the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce in the trade in the south.

In this regard, the contradiction arose, and the backlog of goods of the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce could not be circulated in Yangzhou in the concession area, which also made Xiao Jiu, who was far away in Yangcheng County, begin to set his eyes on Wang Yunfei.

The current Yangcheng County is no longer what it used to be, although it is not the force with the largest number of troops in the entire northern territory, but it is not inferior to others.

Therefore, as soon as Xiao Jiu got the news, he went to write letters with Chen Peixing and Li Shihao in Yuzhou City, and began to intervene in the battlefield of Yuzhou.

Although Chen and Li were also jealous of Xiao Jiu, the northern tiger, they could only choose to cooperate because they were incompatible with Wang Yunfei.

After a simple agreement between the two sides, Xiao Jiu sent a newly formed army of 40,000 to Yuzhou.

After Wang Yunfei, the leader of the rebel army, got the news, he began to return to Yuzhou with his troops to prepare for the next big battle.

In July, with the bumper harvest of grain, both sides of the confrontation began to make pre-war preparations.

Until August, the 40,000 new troops under Xiao Jiu and the 30,000 troops of Chen and Li in Yuzhou began to open a position with Wang Yunfei on the line from Yuzhou to Linyang County.

Today's Wang Yunfei has experienced previous natural and man-made disasters, and although the number of troops is still maintained at about 60,000, the actual combat effectiveness is very stretched.

Now that Xiao Jiu, Chen and Li have joined forces, Wang Yunfei began to fall into deep sorrow, and some regrets that he should not have started in Yangzhou Nalingshui Chamber of Commerce.

It's useless to say more, now that the two sides have begun to fight to the death, even if Wang Yunfei doesn't want to fight this battle, he can only go up hard.

The big war was about to break out, Xiao Jiu's side had a numerical advantage, and Wang Yunfei occupied a favorable terrain in his home field.

Originally, the odds of victory on both sides were open, but how could Xiao Jiu, who had always been steady, fight an unprepared battle.

For this war, Xiao Jiu prepared a secret weapon, which was first unveiled on the battlefield of Yuzhou.

Of course, in addition to these, Xiao Jiu did not want to attack Wang Yunfei because of a Lingshui Chamber of Commerce.

Instead, Xiao Jiu saw an opportunity from it, an opportunity to control Yuzhou justifiably.

Now Chen and Li in Yuzhou City do not have the strength to control the entire territory of Yuzhou, so as long as they defeat this Wang Yunfei, Xiao Jiu can gradually overtake Chen and Li in Yuzhou City, and use economic means to achieve the goal of controlling Yuzhou.

And all this depends on the outcome of this war, Xiao Jiu can be said to have high hopes for his two new armies.