Chapter 1 The Xuehaiguan School

The Xuehaiguan school, upholding the tradition of the former Shengle City, would dedicate five days each month to "extracurricular activities," where children would not attend classes but would instead be led out of the school by their teachers.

Sometimes they would organize visits to the military camp to watch the soldiers train, help feed the horses and wipe the armor, and then share lunch with the soldiers.

Sometimes they would go to the workshops and work as apprentices for a day, having lunch with the workers there.

Basically, all the production and business activities under the Earl's Palace, except for the red tent (brothel) which they were too young to visit, could become places for the school students to "experience life."

Xuehaiguan didn't support idlers. Unless someone was truly old and immobile, they would be assigned a job, such as sweeping the streets.

Liu Dahu's grandmother was responsible for cleaning a section of the north city street.

From a later perspective, it might seem that the people living here or in areas controlled by the Earl's Palace lived a hard life, but in reality, they had no complaints.

Having experienced war and turmoil, they had already shed any pretense. Moreover, being able to eat their fill, these three words, seemingly simple, were the lifelong pursuit of most people in this era.

As long as they could eat their fill, they would do anything.

Today, Liu Dahu and his peers were taken by their teacher to a construction site in the south of Xuehaiguan. Rows of residential houses were being built in a uniform manner, divided into blocks and areas, as orderly as squares within squares.

This mandatory uniformity and symmetry reflected Zheng Boye's, as a painter, obsessive-compulsive disorder in design and composition.

The construction of the houses wasn't complicated, the materials weren't particularly good, and the construction period was rushed. There were also many civilian laborers involved in the construction, but in terms of quality, there was a great guarantee that they would be windproof, rainproof, and wouldn't suddenly collapse and kill people.

Because everyone involved in the construction of each section was registered, including the names of the inspectors, the foremen, and the workers.

It was explicitly stated that if there were any quality problems with the houses in the future, all those registered would be held accountable. If there was a major problem, such as someone being killed, the builders would be fined, and the inspectors and foremen would be sentenced to death.

Not only in this aspect, but also in Xuehaiguan's weapon workshops, the casting bureau, not to mention every set of armor, but also every spear and every knife, would have a mark indicating the person responsible. If there was a problem with the quality of the military equipment, they would be held accountable.

These details were not the Earl's Palace's original creation, but rather a blind man's imitation of some of the Qin Dynasty's systems.

Today, Liu Dahu and the other students would be working as apprentices on the construction site, and there would be a special foreman to explain things to them. How much they could understand was another matter, but at least it would broaden their horizons in advance.

After all, after they turned sixteen, they would basically be involved in these industries. Because they were literate and numerate, and had grown up under the care of "Zheng Boye," their loyalty was ingrained in their bones. In the future, they would easily be able to reach the position of small foremen in the Earl's Palace's industries.

Because Liu Dahu usually exercised under the guidance of the Sword Saint, although he couldn't refine his muscles and bones due to his young age,

his strength and size gave him an advantage over his classmates. After being divided into groups, Liu Dahu became the group leader, responsible for carrying small bricks with more than twenty students.

They had only been working for half the day when everyone felt the ground beneath their feet shaking.

For a moment, everyone, both adults and children, turned their eyes to the southwest, where a dark "cloud" appeared.

No,

it was cavalry!

The Yan soldiers of Xuehaiguan, who were responsible for supervising the work and patrolling the area, actively dispersed, preparing to meet the enemy. But soon, the preparations were called off, and the Yan soldiers who had dispersed earlier began to return, cooperating with some of the Earl's Palace officials on the construction site to maintain order and clear the road.

The minds of the confused commoners on the surrounding construction sites swung back and forth, suddenly raised and then suddenly lowered.

Most of them were no strangers to war, but most of them didn't want to fight, at least not in front of their own homes.

Liu Dahu led his classmates forward to the side of the road, wanting to see the excitement. Although they were stopped by the soldiers, they had already secured the front row.

The first to arrive was Zheng Boye, riding ahead of everyone else.

The soldiers and civilians in Xuehaiguan knew that their Lord did not want to be special, so he did not wear specially made armor, but wore the same as the soldiers.

But it was easy for everyone to recognize him, because in the entire Xuehaiguan, no one but Zheng Boye could ride a pixiu, and Zheng Boye's mount was a pixiu!

As Zheng Fan approached,

except for the soldiers maintaining order on the road, all the soldiers and civilians on both sides knelt down:

"Greetings, Lord Earl, may the Lord Earl have good health!"

"Greetings, Lord Earl, may the Lord Earl have good health!"

Zheng Boye waved his riding whip, cracking it in the air as a response to the soldiers' and civilians' greetings. Then, without slowing down, he entered the south city gate.

Following closely behind Zheng Boye, many people recognized Jin Shuke, one of the Lord's trusted generals, who had once guarded the east gate of Shengle City and had risen through the ranks based on military merits after being appreciated by Zheng Boye.

Among the Xuehai Iron Cavalry, there were many barbarian soldiers, and Jin Shuke was one of the highest-ranking and most influential barbarian soldiers.

As for the barbarian with long hair in another type of armor next to Jin Shuke, everyone felt a little unfamiliar.

Keyan Dongge was a little nervous. On the one hand, the walls of Xuehaiguan gave him a sense of oppression. After all, apart from the royal court's location, which had a royal city, there were basically no cities in the desert. On the other hand, the scene of the soldiers and civilians kneeling down had made him a little shaken.

The Keyan tribe wasn't a small tribe. With a bit of effort, they could forcibly muster ten thousand archers. But the hierarchical culture of the barbarians, while present and strict, was definitely not as refined as that of the Eastern countries, especially in Xuehaiguan, where great efforts had been made in etiquette to satisfy Zheng Boye's personal preferences and enjoyment.

It was like, both were kings, but in your place, at meetings, everyone would drink wine and eat meat together, even personally wrestling each other. On the other hand, there was a dragon throne above, and civil and military officials kowtowing in unison below. The feeling was actually different.

Because Zheng Boye entered the city directly, Jin Shuke didn't dare to make too many movements towards the kneeling soldiers and civilians around him, but controlled his horse's speed and followed Zheng Boye into the city gate.

After that,

the warriors of the Keyan tribe rode in,

and because Zheng Boye had already entered the city, the people on both sides of the road also stood up, and everyone couldn't help but begin to comment on this new face of the army.

"Where did these beggar soldiers come from?"

A child named Li Erniu next to Liu Dahu laughed.

Liu Dahu replied to him:

"They are barbarian soldiers, barbarian soldiers, from the western desert."

Desert, barbarians,

the Jin people were actually very unfamiliar with them.

Because there was the Yan Kingdom between the Jin Kingdom and the desert.

However, what Li Erniu said was indeed very accurate. The cavalry team that was entering the city looked really like an army of beggars.

The Keyan tribe was actually still behind, more than ten miles away from Xuehaiguan. These seven thousand warriors were summoned by Zheng Fan himself, who ordered Keyan Dongge to gather them in a short period of time.

These tribal warriors had basically been migrating with their families, and may even have been holding their children. As a result, at the sound of a military horn, they immediately put down everything in their hands and were summoned to rush here, so it could be said that they were completely unprepared.

Naturally, there was no time to tidy themselves up for their first appearance. The dust and dirt accumulated during the long journey were so clear.

At the same time, many great generals had analyzed why the Zhenbei Army could suppress the desert for a hundred years, and these analyses basically revolved around two elements.

The first was the Zhenbei Army's military equipment, and the second was the Zhenbei Army's discipline.

Since the decline of the royal court, the desert could be said to be a mess. Even if multiple tribes were forcibly gathered together, they were actually fighting on their own.

As for military equipment, this was something that couldn't be helped.

More than a hundred years ago, the desert barbarians were not as miserable as they are now. During its heyday, the barbarian royal court once led the desert tribal warriors eastward, pressing the Yan Kingdom to fight. If the Yan Kingdom hadn't been tough and fought to the death with several emperors who personally led the expedition, they might have broken through the Yan Kingdom and entered the East.

To the west, they crushed the Western countries, and even took a large number of Western countries as their affiliated countries, providing the barbarian warriors with food, military equipment, and other benefits that only urbanized civilizations and agricultural civilizations could provide.

That period was actually the most prosperous period for the barbarians.

But flowers don't bloom for a hundred days. The royal court's westward expedition failed, and its status plummeted. Western countries, led by the Roman Empire, rose up and began to actively compress the barbarians' living space eastward.

To the east, since the founding of the Zhenbei Army by the first Marquis of Zhenbei, the Yan Kingdom had gradually gained the upper hand in the Yan-Barbarian conflict.

For a time, the barbarians' two neighbors, east and west, began to press them to fight, which made the barbarians' lives more and more difficult. The embargo on ironware, military equipment, and technology was a policy that both the East and the West tacitly agreed on against the barbarians.

That was how the beggar army came to be.

Within the Keyan tribe, only a few warriors were qualified to wear armor, while most of the others were only wearing leather clothes. Even more people's arrowheads were made of animal bones.

This poor state was really no better than the savages who hadn't entered the pass.

But Zheng Boye's side, since he started building his army from hundreds of barbarian soldiers, had been investing heavily in military equipment, sparing no effort. Later, as he grew stronger step by step, he continued to adhere to the policy of elite soldiers.

Therefore, the soldiers and civilians of Xuehaiguan had long been accustomed to this excellent military appearance.

Moreover, people always need some self-superiority to increase their daily happiness. Not to mention these civilians, even the barbarian soldiers and generals in the Xuehai Army, after seeing the Keyan tribe's "beggar outfits," immediately gave them a contemptuous smile as if they were looking at "poor relatives."

The Keyan tribe's warriors also clearly felt the unusual atmosphere around them. It could be seen that they wanted to make their formation more neat, but because they hadn't rehearsed beforehand, the more they wanted to be neat, the less neat they became.

At the same time, their identity was also somewhat awkward here, because they knew that Xuehaiguan would be the place where they and their families would live and survive in the future. They always carried a complex emotion towards the people here.

They were not enemies, but... neighbors?

The barbarians, who were accustomed to tribal life, didn't have a clear concept of this broad sense of "neighbors." In the desert, two adjacent tribes would often be wary of each other, fearing that the other would annex them one day.

"Woo woo woo!!!"

The military horn sounded again,

this was the signal to speed up the march.

……

Inside a dark underground prison cell, there was a black table.

Opposite the table was an iron栅栏. The Barbarian King grabbed the iron 栅栏 with both hands, watching a familiar figure slowly walk over and sit down behind the table.

"So fast?" the Barbarian King asked.

Since the last time the Barbarian King had told the Blind Man about the situation in the snowfield and the circumstances of the various tribes, the Barbarian King had been left here unattended for a long time.

Asking if it was so fast meant that they were going to take action so soon?

Summer hadn't passed yet, and autumn was still far away.

The Blind Man opened his mouth and said,

"The Naiman tribe."

The Barbarian King, who was grabbing the 栅栏 with both hands, laughed,

and said,

"Is it to beat them down or win them over?"

"Exterminate the tribe."

"Has it been announced?"

"It has been announced."

"Then it has to be fast."

The Barbarian King said directly.

"How fast?" the Blind Man asked.

"The faster the better." The Barbarian King continued, "The Snowfield tribes need time to form alliances and coalitions. They need to agree in advance on how to divide the spoils of war, and they also need to swear oaths and perform sacrifices. Warriors also need to be gathered, which will delay a lot of time. Since it has already been announced that the Naiman tribe will be conquered, the action must be fast, and no opportunity can be given to them to unite several tribes.

After the Naiman tribe is destroyed, the other tribes will not speak out for a tribe that no longer exists."

The Blind Man nodded,

and said,

"It's already very fast."

………

"So fast, directly to the battlefield?"

When the Keyan tribe began to enter the city, the north gate of Xuehaiguan had also been opened. Zheng Fan didn't stop at all, but rode his pixiu and flew out directly from the wide road that crossed the north and south gates.

Keyan Dongge, who was following behind Zheng Fan, originally thought that he would enter the city to rest for a while, but who knew that he would enter from the south gate and then leave from the north gate. He couldn't help but ask Jin Shuke.

In fact,

Jin Shuke didn't know anything either,

but he didn't want Keyan Dongge to think that he didn't know,

so he just pretended to be profound and said,

"Just listen to the Lord Earl's orders."

When he left the north gate, Keyan Dongge saw rows of simple shacks in front of him.

Some of the shacks had boiling water in them, while others had steamers, steaming hot and fragrant.

Zheng Fan dismounted, led the pixiu to a shack, reached out and took three large steamed buns, and also took a bowl of meat soup.

Then he led the pixiu to the other side and began to devour it.

Jin Shuke did the same, dismounting to receive food, and Keyan Dongge followed suit.

Standing in front of the shack where the buns were being distributed were barbarian soldiers, many of whom were disabled, wounded soldiers who could no longer go to the battlefield, so they were transferred to logistics.

However, it was convenient to face the people of the Keyan tribe at this time, because everyone could communicate in the barbarian language.

"How many buns do you want?"

Keyan Dongge: "I want them all."

"…………" The soldier was speechless.

Jin Shuke reminded him, "This is hot food. You'll get dry rations later after you finish this meal."

The barbarian soldier who was distributing the buns didn't recognize Keyan Dongge, but as if he saw his former self, he smiled:

"Here, we make sure you eat your fill."

"Then give me ten."

"Okay, ten."

After receiving the buns and the meat soup, Keyan Dongge and Jin Shuke came to Zheng Fan's side. When they walked over, Zheng Boye had already put the last bit of bun into his mouth, and then picked up the soup bowl and drank the last bit of soup.

After seeing the ten buns that Keyan Dongge was carrying in his arms,

Zheng Boye's eyes couldn't help but twitch twice,

suddenly feeling sorry for his own food reserves.

But he couldn't help but let people eat their fill, nor could he seem petty, so he could only leave a sentence:

"Don't waste food."

"Yes, Lord Earl."

Keyan Dongge happily learned from Zheng Fan's previous appearance and squatted down with Jin Shuke, starting to devour the food in the same way.

The Keyan tribe warriors who followed behind also began to receive buns and meat soup, and then squatted down and ate and drank heartily, imitating the people in front.

When the Keyan tribe migrated, Yan officials provided food along the way, but the food was definitely not abundant, and not only did the warriors have to eat, but they also had to support their families, so the consumption was even greater. Most of the barbarian warriors had actually not eaten their fill for a long time.

The Keyan tribe warriors who had eaten well at this meal then received fried noodles at a shack further north, and also had boiled water to fill their water bladders.

Several barbarian soldiers who were responsible for filling the Keyan tribe warriors' water bladders joked in the tone of someone who had been there:

"You're unlucky, you didn't get to bathe. That soap is so slippery and fragrant. You should be arranged to do that when you come back after the war. Remember to save it, that thing is expensive, the price in the city's shops is very expensive, but women like it."

The old barbarian soldiers were recalling the scene when they had first come and were picking up soap in groups.

Liang Cheng rode his horse to Zheng Fan's side,

Zheng Fan was sitting there,

lighting a post-meal cigarette,

and at the same time,

as he always did before every march and battle,

he asked Liang Cheng:

"What's next?"

………

"Next, we should drive straight in!"

The Blind Man said calmly:

"Be more specific."

The Barbarian King stretched out his hand and pulled back the beard and hair that covered his face, and said powerfully:

"The Naiman tribe is located north of the Snowfield Deep Pool. To its east is the Suoge tribe, and to its west is the Anyang tribe.

The main force of the Anyang tribe once followed me into the pass. Now, all the warriors in the tribe have been lost, and now it must have been encroached upon by the Naiman tribe. The rules of the Snowfield are that when you annex a tribe, you will absorb its population as slaves and then immigrate your own tribe to operate the pasture that originally belonged to you.

Therefore, the western side of the Deep Pool, which was originally the Anyang tribe's area of control, is obviously very empty, with only a small number of the Naiman tribe's people guarding it.

The Suoge tribe on the eastern side of the Deep Pool has a very deep kinship relationship with the Naiman tribe. They even joined forces with the Naiman tribe to oppose me in the past, and did not send their tribe's warriors to follow me into the pass. The tribe's warriors are still there.

Therefore, the army should drive straight into the heart of the Naiman tribe from the west!"

The Blind Man nodded and said,

"Continue."

The Barbarian King stretched out his arms, as if he was not standing in a cage, but standing in front of a map, commanding his own thousands of troops:

"The Naiman tribe's chieftain is short-sighted. All the tribes that did not follow me into the pass in the past, don't look at how they have made a profit now by annexing other tribes and expanding their power. In fact, their chieftains are all short-sighted people.

The Naiman tribe's core pasture is north of the Deep Pool.

Since the Lord Earl has issued a clear order to conquer the Naiman tribe, the Naiman tribe will definitely first send messengers to contact other nearby tribes for assistance, and at the same time, they will gather their own troops.

In recent days, the Naiman tribe has grown rapidly by merging with other tribes, but it has hidden dangers. The number of its own warriors has not increased much. What has increased is the number of slave soldiers and the soldiers of the attached tribes.

Therefore,

when conquering the Naiman tribe,

first use a surprise force to bypass the front line, from the flank, no, it is best to cut into the Naiman tribe's pasture from the rear and plunder and kill their cattle and sheep.

The Naiman tribe's own warriors on the front line will definitely return to support the pasture. At that time, the Lord Earl's main force will launch a decisive battle. The attached tribes and slave soldiers will definitely have no will to fight and will inevitably collapse!

Once the collapse is formed, the victory will be set!"

The Blind Man quietly "watched" the Barbarian King's performance,

and after the Barbarian King stopped,

the Blind Man opened his mouth and said:

"Should we notify the other tribes?"

"Notify the other tribes? Warn them not to stand on the Naiman tribe's side? Or let them send troops to help the Great Yan Heavenly Master wipe out the Naiman tribe?"

"I'm asking you."

"The most terrifying creature on the snowfield is the wolf. It is the nightmare of all herders in the middle of the night.

The wolf is proud, and what the herders fear is its pride. When you have crushed everything that resists you, the rest will naturally crawl at your feet.

Therefore, since the Lord Earl has issued his will to the snowfield that he wants to wipe out the Naiman tribe, there is no need to contact those tribes anymore. When the Naiman tribe is destroyed, they will not feel sad for the rabbit and the fox, but will instead kneel more respectfully at the Lord Earl's feet, licking the Lord Earl's boots!

This is the snowfield, this is our holy race, a bunch of... cheap bones."

"Heh heh, is the wild man really as不堪 as you say?"

"Pa!"

The Barbarian King grabbed the iron 栅栏 with both hands,

smiled and looked at the Blind Man,

and said:

"Heh heh heh, hahahaha!"

Then,

the Barbarian King stood on tiptoe to make himself look taller, and then stuck out his tongue and licked the rust on the railing,

and put his mouth between the two iron pillars,

and said:

"It wasn't originally,

but after they lost me, they are just a bunch of trash."

————

Good night, everyone.