Dayao was vast and sparsely populated.
To what extent?
Apart from the Sixty Thousand Mountains, the land area of Dayao was about one-fourth the size of China.
Tianjing Basin occupied one-sixth of the total area, which was 400,000 square kilometers. It was equivalent to the area of two ordinary provinces and accommodated 10 million people.
The remaining two million square kilometers was equivalent to ten ordinary provinces, but there were less than four million aboriginals.
There were more than ten million aboriginals, and ten million of them lived in the Sixty Thousand Mountains.
Ten provinces covered an area of only four million people. From this, it could be seen how sparsely populated Dayao was.
It was common for one to not see a village for two to three days. The further they got from Lan City, the more desolate it became. Other than the barren mountains and forests where various ferocious beasts lived, there were boundless grasslands where large herds of fork-horned cows and jumping goats were raised.
Tens of thousands of fork-horned cows and jumping sheep were moving on the grassland. It was a spectacular scene.
However, he was most vexed about the road here.
There were almost no roads.
There was only one bumpy dirt road, which was much worse than the roads in other places. After the rain, it was all muddy, and the wheels often got stuck in the mud.
Just like that, he treaded forward for a week and finally neared his final destination before entering the Sixty Thousand Mountains.
When the towering mountain peaks could be seen in the distance, Ren Baqian and the others finally arrived at the last and largest city in the Sixty Thousand Mountains. It was also the port of communication between the Sixty Thousand Mountains and the outside world — Ya City.
It was also called Barbarian City.
This city had been left behind by the previous dynasty of the Hao Nation. Barbarians was how they addressed the aboriginals. It also meant that one would be in the wilderness after passing through this city.
Even though the Hao Nation had perished for 70 years, the name of this city had been passed down. Even the aboriginals called this city Man City most of the time.
"Lieutenant Zhang Jushan of the Protectorate of the South greets Your Majesty!" A thousand soldiers came to welcome him. They were also dressed in leather armor and had long sabers.
However, he felt that there was something different about them. They seemed to be more ferocious than the soldiers in other places.
The empress lifted the curtain to let the soldiers outside see her. Then, she said faintly, "Let's enter the city first!"
"Yes!"
After traveling for another half a day, they were getting closer and closer to Ya City. However, what attracted him the most was still the mountains in the distance.
Mountain peaks stood erect like pillars between the heavens and the earth, piercing straight into the clouds.
At a rough glance, there were at least a hundred such mountains. It was an extremely spectacular sight.
Between these mountain peaks, there were many shorter mountain ranges that meandered up and down, with no end in sight.
Looking at it from here, there were only mountains and mountains, and nothing else could be seen.
That was the Sixty Thousand Mountains.
When he arrived at the foot of Ya City, he finally shifted his attention to it.
The city walls were all built with gray boulders and were filled with coldness. There were sharp protrusions on top of the city walls, like the fangs of a wild beast, covering the entire city walls.
These sharp fang-like protrusions had been used to prevent the aboriginals from attacking the city. Who knew how much blood of the aboriginals and Jing Tribe had flowed on them?
After entering Tooth City, there were rows of tall stone houses. The doors were three meters tall, and the houses were four meters tall. There were no decorations, and it was filled with a simple and unadorned feeling.
What he was more concerned about were the aboriginal commoners who stopped to watch from both sides of the road.
Some wore cloth clothes, some wore animal skins, some were bare-chested and had tattoos all over their bodies, and some even wore clothes woven from grass.
Some had bird feathers tied to their heads, some had beast tails on their shoulders, some had snakes coiled around their bodies, some had luoweng horns on their necks, and many had rows of fangs on their necks.
There were also all kinds of tamed beasts. There was a white saber-toothed tiger, a black man who exuded a strong aura, a giant snake with gold and silver patterns, a monkey that was about the size of a human, and a giant bird that was as tall as two people …
It was a bizarre and dazzling scene.
Ren Baqian felt as if he had entered another world.
There was only one thing in common, and that was that all of them exuded a wild aura.
"Those people are from different regions. The people of each region have their own unique characteristics, which is a way to show their identity. For example, those with bird feathers tied to their heads are from Heishan. Those with beast tails, such as the tail of a saber-toothed tiger, are from Red Earth Peak. Those with a furry raccoon tail are from Stony Mountain … "the empress said as she looked at the various men and women outside.
"Has Your Majesty been here before?" Ren Baqian turned his head and asked.
"I came here once when I was young," the empress replied faintly.
"Your Majesty's memory is really good." Ren Baqian was speechless. It had been more than ten years since she was young, yet she still remembered it so clearly.
She was indeed a cheat-like player.
"They are my people, so I naturally have to remember them," the empress said as she stood up, pulled open the curtains of the imperial carriage, stepped out, and stood there looking down at the crowd.
"It's the little emperor!"
"The little emperor is back!"
"Her Majesty is back!"
There was a commotion outside, and many people were shouting that the little emperor was back. Their voices were filled with joy.
It seemed that seeing the empress made them very happy.
However, the empress had been on the throne for nine years, but in the eyes of these aboriginals who were far away from Lan City, she was still a little emperor.
"Your Majesty, do you still remember Yangquan Village on Red Earth Peak? You even rested in our village back then! "
"I even ate at Yangquan Village on Red Earth Peak! It was a golden-feathered eagle that my father hunted! "someone immediately shouted.
These people didn't know any etiquette, but there was a kind of simplicity in the mountains.
Although their voices were messy, it made the empress feel peaceful from the bottom of her heart.
"Don't shout! Why are you shouting in front of Her Majesty? "The general who had welcomed the empress immediately reprimanded the commoners by the roadside.
"It's nothing!" The empress waved her hand, looked around, and said calmly, "I came back this time to enter the mountains and see if you are doing well."
"It's fine, but salt is too expensive now! Also, no one is buying animal hides! "someone immediately shouted.
"This is temporary. There is a war in the north now. When we win, there will be a large number of salt fields, and the price of salt will drop. You can keep the animal hides for now. Someone will buy them in a few days, "the empress said calmly to the crowd.
"That's great! If there is a shortage of manpower during the war, let us know! My son was one step too late last time and didn't become a soldier! "
"I will!" The empress laughed.
"Little Emperor, are you going to get married?" Someone suddenly shouted.
The empress nodded her head and smiled. "Yes, someone will send news about my marriage soon."
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