"Your Majesty, are you going to send troops to the Southernmost Region now?" Iron Axe, who had always been calm, showed a rare excitement. "But the Months of Demons are coming soon..."
"How many people do you think should be left in Neverwinter to deal with the swarming demonic beasts?"
"Well..." Iron Axe took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his excitement. "According to the scale of the previous year, 1,000 people should be enough to defend the city wall."
"So, to be on the safe side, 2,500 soldiers should be more than enough. Moreover, a new batch of reserve troops has been recruited, so it won't be a problem to defend Neverwinter." Roland stood up and walked to the French window. "Let me tell you about the Southernmost Region. You should be the most familiar with the people there."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Iron Axe saluted. "Most of the land in the Southernmost Region is yellow sand. Oases are scattered along the Silver Stream to the west of the desert. More than 90% of the Mojins live in these oases. There is a city built on the largest oasis, which is also the only city in the Southernmost Region — Iron Sand City. "
"Is the Silver Stream a river?"
"It can only be regarded as half a river," Iron Axe explained. "Most of the time, it's buried in the ground, like the underground Styx River. The exposed part has become an oasis, so the Mojins also call it the River of Life."
Roland turned around and asked curiously, "Where does it originate from? According to the map, there are no mountains or lakes nearby. "
"It originates from the sea. It's a gift from the Sea God." Iron Axe walked to the table and pointed to the western part of the Southernmost Region where the green land was connected. "There's a huge karst cave here. The seawater constantly flows into the cave. When you stand on it, you can feel the tremors under your feet."
"You mean the seawater is the source of the Silver Stream? But it can obviously breed oases. "
The fact that it could breed oases meant that the Silver Stream was a freshwater river. The seawater was too salty to be used for irrigation and drinking, which sounded completely unreasonable.
"Mother Earth absorbed the salt in the seawater. That area is covered with white salt powder, which also isolated the green land of Graycastle. When you need salt, you just need to take a bucket and scoop it from the ground. "
"Is this the work of Mother Nature? The soil under the yellow sand actually filtered out the salt and formed a saline-alkali land? Roland clicked his tongue in wonder. It seemed that apart from oil, there was another resource that he needed to collect.
"How many people live in the Iron Sand City?"
"About 40,000."
"Even more than the old king's city of Graycastle?"
"Your Majesty, the city of the Sand Nation is different from the capital of the Kingdom," Iron Axe said with a smile. "Iron Sand City only has one core area for the rulers of the six clans to live in. The periphery is basically filled with tents or thatched bungalows. The city has gradually become what it is today. As long as you enter the oasis, you'll be considered to have entered the territory of Iron Sand City."
"What about the Mojins who live in other oases? There should be quite a number of them, right? "Roland asked. Population was the key to quickly converting local specialties into usable resources. It was unlikely that he would dispatch a large number of people from Neverwinter to extract oil. In the end, he still had to use the locals to work for him.
The commander-in-chief nodded. "No one has counted, but I estimate that there are at least 100,000 of them."
Then it should be enough to build several mining stations and a transportation line. The next problem was how to control them.
"By the way, what about the holy duel you mentioned last time? How do the Mojins determine their ruling rights? "
This time, Iron Axe's answer was very detailed. After about half an hour, Roland finally figured out the way the Sand Nation competed for power.
Putting aside the promotion within the clan for now, for these aliens who revered strength, great strength was the only thing that was worth trusting. The ruling class of Iron Sand City was usually composed of six clans. They were not under the Wan Shi family, but fought for power with their own strength. However, in order to avoid the clans fighting for power and profit, which would weaken the ability of the clans to deal with external dangers, it became the best choice to select a small number of people as representatives for the duel.
Over time, this rule was recognized by all the Sand Nation and was given a sacred meaning. Whether it was the big clans that lived in Iron Sand City or the small clans born in the oasis, they all had to abide by the result of the holy duel. Anyone who tarnished the duel would be despised by all the Sand Nation.
"Is the supreme ruler of the Mojins the chiefs of the clans?" Roland was puzzled. "Don't you have a chief or something like that?"
"A chief?"
"A leader who can unify all the clans, like the king of Graycastle."
"Well..." Iron Axe hesitated. "There's a saying among the clans that if you want all the Sand Nation to surrender, there are only two ways — one is to get the affirmation and blessing of the Three Gods, and the other is to open up a vast oasis for the clan, eliminate the overwhelming sandstorm, and keep the Sand Nation away from hunger, thirst, and death."
"The approval of the Three Gods... How do you calculate that?" Roland frowned.
"In the Land of Fire, you just need to offer the corresponding offerings to the Three Gods, namely, the Giant Armored Scorpion that rules the earth, the Unicorn that rules the Southernmost Corner, and the Four-winged Eagle that rules the sky." Iron Axe paused. "These three beasts come and go like ghosts and have taken away countless lives, but no one has ever found their lair. Baits and traps don't work. I even guess that they may be hybrid demonic beasts that have the most basic intelligence."
Both conditions were not easy to achieve, especially the second one, which was to make an oasis grow in the desert, which was almost close to the power of God. Roland could not help but be lost in thought. If he could only let Echo regain the position of chief and take revenge for the framing five years ago, it would not be of much help to unify the entire Southernmost Region. Although the six clans were different in status, there was no direct relationship between them, let alone the Sand Nation scattered in the oasis. He had to think of a way to make himself the chief of the Mojin Clan.
In addition, he had to consider the holy duel. The First Army might be able to easily defeat the guards of Iron Sand City, but it would not be so easy to make the Sand Nation voluntarily obey the rule.
The most suitable way was to use the rules set by the Mojin Clan to realize the annexation plan.
"Can we invite people from other clans to fight in the duel?"
"That's not a problem," Iron Axe affirmed. "I'm a mixed-blood, but I can still participate in the duel on behalf of the Osha clan. In fact, brave gladiators are often welcomed by the big clans, and they are the only hope for the small clans to turn over. If there are three or four brave gladiators in the later generations, there is hope for a better ranking in the holy duel. "
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