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On the 2nd of April, Friendship Town, with the help of the headquarters, had finally completed the construction of the city walls. Until the completion, the nomadic tribes did not notice that a military fortress had been quietly built to the south of them.
In order to further strengthen the defensive capabilities of Friendship Town, Ouyang Shuo sent an official letter to Zhou Haichen, requesting him to start the construction of the moat. The scale of the moat was based on the headquarters, from the Friendship River in the west to the Qiushui River in the east, forming a large arc that surrounded Friendship Town.
In this way, Friendship Town would be surrounded by water on all sides. With the support of the navy, they would be able to advance and retreat at will. They would be in an invincible position. Before Friendship Town was completely turned into a military fortress, Ouyang Shuo was not prepared to make contact with the nomadic tribes.
After settling the matters of Friendship Town, Ouyang Shuo set off for the Mystic Bird Tribe with Ge Hongliang and Tian Wenjing. Li Mingliang led the first squadron of the cavalry battalion and was responsible for the security along the way.
As they passed by Pool Town, Ouyang Shuo stopped for an hour to listen to Zhao Dexian's report on the recent work of Pool Town. He also took the time to inspect the newly formed cavalry battalion of Pool Town.
Seeing that the Qingming Festival was approaching, Zhao Dexian, as the food base of the territory, had already started various preparations for the spring sowing. The original plan of 20,000 mu of farmland had already been completed. Under the effect of the Spring Breeze Rain Talisman, all of it had become fertile farmland. These 20,000 mu of farmland would all be planted with rice.
Apart from the farmland, Pool Town had also built a large lumberyard in the forest area to the south. The wood here was of a higher quality than that of the headquarters. The wood was denser and the storage was more abundant. Currently, the wood needed for the advanced shipyard across the river was completely from the lumberyard in Pool Town.
Because it was about to enter the busy farming season, the construction of the city walls had to be temporarily put on hold. After the spring sowing was over, the construction would start again. Fortunately, the area was relatively peaceful, so it did not matter much if the construction was delayed.
At 11 o 'clock in the morning, after two hours of trekking, Ouyang Shuo and his party finally arrived at the Mystic Bird Tribe. Unlike the cold reception they received last time, the chief of the tribe, Shi Xiong, personally welcomed Ouyang Shuo and his party outside the village.
"My Lord, welcome to the Mystic Bird Tribe!" Shi Xiong said enthusiastically.
This was the magic of food. Ever since the Mystic Bird Tribe cooperated with the Shanhai Town, they had an abundance of food and no one in the tribe had to go hungry. As the chief, Shi Xiong naturally changed his attitude and no longer dared to put on airs in front of Ouyang Shuo.
However, if Shi Xiong knew that what they had obtained was not even one-thirtieth of the Wolf Mountain Mine's output, who knew what he would think?
Ouyang Shuo, the capitalist, smiled and said without batting an eyelid, "Greetings to the leader, greetings to the great shaman!"
"Everything is fine, please!" Shi Xiong led the way in front, and Ouyang Shuo walked shoulder to shoulder with him into the stronghold.
After the members of both sides met in the stronghold's meeting hall, Ouyang Shuo left Tian Wenjing and Shi Xiong to discuss the matter regarding the in-depth cooperation between Shanhai Town and the Mystic Bird Tribe. He got up and went to the stronghold's ancestral temple to visit the Great Shaman.
The ancestral temple was built at the highest point of the stronghold, there were more than two hundred steps, ascending the steps, the Great Shaman welcomed Ouyang Shuo at the entrance. This was an old man with one foot in the grave. His eyes were turbid, and it seemed like he was about to enter the grave. Such an old man was the spiritual leader of the Mystic Bird Tribe, and was revered by the tribesmen.
"Guest from afar, welcome!" The Great Shaman's voice was hoarse.
Ouyang Shuo didn't dare to be negligent, and said sincerely, "Greetings to the Great Shaman. The gift from the Great Shaman last time was a great help to Shanhai Town. In order to express my gratitude, I specially prepared a small gift, I hope the Great Shaman will kindly accept it. "Ouyang Shuo took out a luminous pearl from his storage pouch, and handed it to the young shaman beside the Great Shaman.
This luminous pearl was obtained when they annihilated a large bandit camp. The young shaman had never seen such a treasure, and was so shocked that he didn't dare to accept it.
"Lord is too polite, such a precious gift, I really don't deserve it." The Great Shaman gestured for the young shaman to accept it, and then led Ouyang Shuo forward, saying, "Lord, please follow me."
The ancestral temple of the Mystic Bird Tribe was completely built with stone masonry, and was a relatively complete building complex. An outsider like Ouyang Shuo naturally couldn't enter the main hall of the ancestral temple, and the two of them went to the reception room next to the ancestral temple.
"Great Shaman, the Shanhai Town is willing to establish a friendly and cooperative relationship with the various tribes in the mountain, I wonder if the Great Shaman is willing to mediate between them?" After the small talk, Ouyang Shuo went straight to the main topic.
The Great Shaman opened his turbid eyes, and a bright light flashed, and said, "Our Mystic Bird Tribe is in contact with the surrounding four tribes, since Lord has this idea, this old man will invite them."
"In that case, many thanks to the Great Shaman!" Ouyang Shuo was overjoyed.
When leaving the Mystic Bird Tribe, Ouyang Shuo left Tian Wenjing behind, and let him be in charge of negotiating with the other tribes, and the specific content of the cooperation could be carried out according to the Mystic Bird Tribe.
At the same time, in order to express his gratitude to Ouyang Shuo for the luminous pearl, the Great Shaman gave Ouyang Shuo a pair of hummingbirds from the Mystic Bird Tribe. These hummingbirds were extremely intelligent, and could transmit messages over long distances.
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On the 3rd of April, the Shanhai Town harvested the potatoes. Because the land was barren, the potato yield was only about 1,000 units per mu. Two thousand mu of land produced a total of 2.1 million units of potatoes. The territory collected 70,000 units of potatoes in the form of agricultural taxes, and Ouyang Shuo gave all of them to the War Preparedness Department to be used as military rations.
With this batch of potatoes, along with some grains and meat, the food crisis of the Shanhai Town was finally resolved, and there was no longer a need to purchase food from the market on a large scale. After harvesting the potatoes, Ouyang Shuo did not plant rice on the two thousand mu of land, but ordered the Department of Agriculture to arrange for all the farmers to plant cotton.
As the saying goes, clothing, food, shelter, and transportation, not a single one can be missing. The current Shanhai Town still relied heavily on purchasing cloth from the market, and did not have the ability to be self-sufficient. As for the silk silkworm industry that the Textile Association was cultivating, the industry had yet to take shape, and silk was a rare and expensive cloth, and was not suitable for large-scale promotion in the territory.
~ Cotton was different, with it, the territory could skip the hemp cloth, and directly use cotton. Therefore, it was imperative to plant cotton. It just so happened that the two thousand mu of land was not fertile, and if they planted rice, the profits would be limited, so it was better to plant cotton, which had lower soil requirements.
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On the fourth of April, after the Great Shaman of the Mystic Bird Tribe mediated, another three Mountain Barbarian tribes agreed to cooperate with the Shanhai Town. The scale of these three tribes was slightly smaller than the Mystic Bird Tribe, with only two thousand people. Another tribe rejected the Great Shaman's invitation. That tribe was called the Swift Wind Tribe, and it was larger than the Mystic Bird Tribe, with more than five thousand people. After knowing that the Mystic Bird Tribe had attached themselves to the Shanhai Town, they regarded themselves as the representatives of the Shanhai Town, and were very indignant, so they refused to cooperate with the Shanhai Town.
~ With the three tribes joining the alliance, the number of miners in the Wolf Mountain Mine increased to five thousand. Basically, the capacity of the Wolf Mountain Mine had already reached a state of saturation, and adding more miners would be somewhat redundant.
~ Because the Swift Wind Tribe refused to cooperate with the Shanhai Town, Ouyang Shuo had no choice but to strengthen the defense of the Wolf Mountain Mine. Three hundred young and strong men were selected from each tribe, and together with the two previous companies, they were reorganized into the Wolf Mountain Guard Battalion, with the Mystic Bird Tribe's Shi Lang as the battalion commander. The other company leader, Shi Bao, was transferred to the Shanhai Town's headquarters.
~ Other than participating in the operation of the Wolf Mountain Mine, the three tribes sent a total of five hundred of their most elite barbarian warriors to join the army of the Shanhai Town's headquarters. For this, Ouyang Shuo chose two hundred soldiers from the Shanhai Town's residents, and combined them with the three previous infantry companies, forming two infantry battalions at once.
~ Inside the Shanhai Town's meeting hall, Ouyang Shuo announced the personnel changes of the infantry.
"Zhao Sihu!"
"Here we are!"
~ I order you to use the original first company of the infantry battalion as the core, in addition to the two hundred soldiers from the Shanhai Town, and choose another two hundred people from the barbarian tribes to form the Shanhai Town's City Defense Battalion, "Ouyang Shuo said.
~ Zhao Sihu was a little confused. ~ Yes.
"Not bad. The main responsibility of the City Defense Battalion is to protect the headquarters, and the military camp is set up within the city. In order to adapt to the requirements of defending the city, the City Defense Battalion consists of two archer companies, two hand companies, and one sword and shield company. The original first company is the sword and shield company, and the two hundred people from the Shanhai Town are trained to be the hand company. The barbarian hunters are good at archery, so they are trained to be the archer company, "Ouyang Shuo explained.
~ Don't worry sir, I promise to complete the mission! "Zhao Sihu said loudly.
~ Ouyang Shuo turned to look at Shi Wansui, and said, "General Shi!"
~ This general is here, please give your orders, my lord! "
~ I order you to use the original second and third companies as the core, in addition to the three hundred elite soldiers sent by the tribes to form a heavy infantry battalion made up of barbarian warriors. "
~ Heavy infantry? But we don't have heavy armor! "Shi Wansui was also confused.
~ Ouyang Shuo shook his head, and said, "Who said we don't have heavy armor? The armor workshop is speeding up the production of infantry armor, and the weapons workshop is also forging Tang swords. These two main battle equipment will be given priority to the heavy infantry battalion. "
The other generals immediately looked at Shi Wansui with envy. Not to mention the infantry armor, that thing weighed 29 kilograms, and only the barbarians could carry it. However, the Tang swords were standard equipment, regardless of whether it was the cavalry battalion, the City Defense Battalion, or the Navy Battalion, they could all be equipped with Tang swords. Who would have thought that the heavy infantry battalion would take the lead.
~ Shi Wansui laughed, and said excitedly, "Then there's no problem, thank you for your support, my lord!"
~ The heavy infantry battalion's barracks will be outside the city. During this period of time, the general needs to strengthen their training, especially the weight training. I don't want your soldiers to be unable to carry the heavy armor when the time comes. That would be a joke. "Ouyang Shuo continued.
~ Don't worry, my lord, this general will train them fiercely. "
~ Ouyang Shuo nodded, and said, "Then I'll wait and see. When you are truly equipped to fight, I will personally give the heavy infantry battalion a name. "
~ This was a great honor. Up until now, there hadn't been a battalion in Shanhai Town that had their own name. From this, it could be seen how much importance Ouyang Shuo placed on the heavy infantry battalion.
~ Soldiers viewed honor as their lives. Shi Wansui's blood was boiling, and he loudly said, "I will definitely not let my lord down!"
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