Ouyang Shuo was deep in thought after checking the attributes of the territory.
The upper limit of a level-three town was ten thousand people. Normally, it would take two months for Shanhai Town to reach full population again.
The territory was upgraded in advance and doubled in size. The third step of the spring offensive, which was to suppress bandits outside the borders, had to be changed to suppress bandits inside the territory. Fortunately, the information collected by the Military Intelligence Department could still be used.
In terms of territory index, the cultural index was still the weakest link. During this time, there were still a few scholars among the newly spawned refugees. Ouyang Shuo arranged for them to go to Lianzhou Academy. Under Xu Shuda's leadership, Lianzhou Academy was on the right track. It was no longer the grass-roots organization it had been when it was first established.
During the spring offensive, the moat project had been completed. The arrow towers and turrets on the city walls had also been completed and put into use. The initial construction of Shanhai Town's military defense system had been completed.
The basic building materials of the level-three town had been automatically updated to mainly green bricks, supplemented by wood and stone. Of course, as an ancient building, wood was still an important component. The carved railings and painted rafters were all inseparable from it.
Among the six buildings, the pawnshop had been automatically generated. There was no need to pay attention to it. The tea garden didn't need blueprints. It only needed to find wild tea trees in the wild and transplant them. It was similar to the mulberry garden. The blueprints of the remaining four buildings — the Taoist temple, the inn, the restaurant, and the jewelry shop — had all been seized during the spring offensive a few days ago, saving 400 gold coins for the blueprints.
Ouyang Shuo had already promised to let Gu Sanniang manage the restaurant. The inn and the jewelry shop were relatively simple. They could be built immediately since there were special talents in the territory.
The most troublesome thing was the Taoist temple. It needed at least a Taoist priest to manage it. In the previous timeline, many Lords used a shortcut, and that was to replace the Lords with players. Among the combat professions of the players, there were Taoist priests, so it was barely acceptable.
…
Ten o 'clock in the morning, in the mayor's office of the lord's mansion.
"Sir, after nearly a month of arduous investigation, the Military Intelligence Department has obtained basic information about the nomadic tribes in the middle of Lianzhou Basin and the green beetle horses. The one who spoke was a middle-aged man with a determined face. He looked ordinary at first glance. He was another big shot of the Military Intelligence Department, Lei Xun.
After the expansion of the Military Intelligence Department, apart from the ten internal affairs personnel, the remaining forty people were divided into the first and second Military Intelligence Teams. Leng Qian was the leader of Military Intelligence Team 1, while Lei Xun was the leader of Military Intelligence Team 2.
Ouyang Shuo's heart shook. "Tell me, what's the situation?"
"Nomadic tribes exist in the form of a large tribe and a dozen small and medium-sized tribes. The large tribe was called the Sky Order Tribe, with more than 30,000 people. It was located in the center of the basin and occupied the best pastures. There was an inland lake in the center of the basin. The Sky's End Tribe called it the Blessed Lake. The tribe's royal court was built beside the Blessed Lake. The rest of the smaller tribes have a few hundred to a few thousand people scattered around the basin, "Lei Xun reported.
"Which tribes are closest to us?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
"There are three tribes closest to us, located in the west, middle, and east. The tribes in the east and west direction were both small tribes with less than a thousand people. The tribe in the middle is more powerful. It is a medium-sized tribe with more than three thousand people. "
"How are the relationships between these tribes?"
"Small and medium-sized tribes often have conflicts because of fighting over pastures, and the Sky's Limit Tribe is needed to mediate. Interestingly, in order to maintain their position, the Sky Order Tribe would often suppress medium-sized tribes in the dark and support small tribes instead. Because of this, there has never been a tribe with more than ten thousand people in the center of the basin. This kind of long term suppression has already caused dissatisfaction among many medium-sized tribes, but because of the difference in strength between the two sides, they had no choice but to swallow their anger. Therefore, generally speaking, the small tribes are close to the Sky Order Tribe, while the medium-sized tribes form their own alliances, "Lei Xun replied.
Ouyang Shuo nodded and said, "What's the situation with the green beetle horses?"
"The situation is not good. The green beetle horses are almost completely controlled by these nomadic tribes, and it is very difficult to find wild horses. If we want to obtain green beetle horses, we can only do it through war or trade. "Lei Xun said bitterly.
"If it's trade, is it feasible?" Ouyang Shuo asked uncertainly.
"These grassland tribes lack iron products, salt, tea, and other daily necessities. Some tribes even lack food. Therefore, in theory, there is a possibility of trade. Of course, the prerequisite is that we have enough strength to defend against their attacks. These nomadic tribes have a strong attacking nature. If they can rob, they will definitely not buy. "Lei Xun did not waste this month and knew the nomadic tribes very well.
Ouyang Shuo lightly tapped the table with his hand, remaining silent. According to his original plan, after upgrading to a third rank town, the last subsidiary territory was to be built at the junction of the Friendship River and Qiushui River as a bridgehead to attack the center of the basin. But from the information Lei Xun had gathered, there was a risk of being robbed by the nomadic tribes at any time if the subsidiary territory was built there.
What gave him a headache was that if he wanted to build a Radiant Armor heavy cavalry unit, the normal warhorses given by the system would not be enough. He had to get green beetle horses. If he did not build a strong bridgehead, he would not feel at ease sending his troops to the other side of the river. If they were discovered by the nomadic tribes, it would be too late to retreat.
Even if he did not build a bridgehead and tried to trade with them in the name of Shanhai Town, it would still be very dangerous. Rashly exposing Shanhai Town to these wild wolves was tantamount to asking a tiger for its skin. Just as Lei Xun had said, these nomadic tribes had a habit of robbing. If they could rob, they would definitely not buy. This time, he was really in a dilemma.
Since he could not make up his mind, he could only listen to the opinions of others. Ouyang Shuo asked Lei Xun to wait for a moment and asked the gatekeeper to invite the four directors over, saying that he had something important to discuss with them.
Twenty minutes later, the four directors arrived one after another. Ouyang Shuo first let Lei Xun introduce the information he had just reported, then he told them his thoughts and asked, "What countermeasures do you have?"
"Big Brother. Little sister thinks that in this situation, we should temporarily put the green beetle horses on hold. In any case, the production efficiency of the Radiant Armor is not high, and it will take some time to equip the cavalry unit. Currently, the most important thing for the territory is how to promote it to a first rank county. It won't be too late to make plans after the promotion. "Ying Pomo stood on the side of the finance bureau and expressed her opinion first.
Following that, Fan Zhongyan also expressed his opinion, saying, "I agree with Director Cui's opinion. The nomadic tribes are all soldiers, and the current military strength of Shanhai Town is not enough to contend against them. For now, the best plan is to stay still and stop them. "
Seeing that two directors had agreed to put the green beetle horses on hold, Ge Hongliang, as the military representative, could not sit still and was about to voice his objection. Unexpectedly, Tian Wenjing, who was sitting beside him, suddenly stood up and said loudly, "My lord, I have a different opinion."
"Sir, please speak!" In truth, Ouyang Shuo also did not want to put the green beetle horses on hold. Building a heavy cavalry unit would not only help to increase the territory's military strength, but it would also be helpful for the important matter in the near future. Hearing Tian Wenjing's objection, he immediately became spirited. This cold-faced director usually did not say anything, but when he did, he always said something meaningful.
"I think that not only must we build the bridgehead, we must also do it quickly. While the nomadic tribes on the other side of the river are still unaware of us, we must quickly plant a wedge on the other side. Otherwise, we will wait until the other side notices. If they set up a garrison on the other side of the river, then it will be even more difficult for us to advance into the center of the basin in the future, and we will completely lose the strategic advantage. "Tian Wenjing said firmly.
Fan Zhongyan asked in reply, "What Director Tian said seems to make sense. But have you thought about how to build a subsidiary territory without the other side noticing? This is not something that can be done in a day or two. Moreover, even if the subsidiary territory is successfully built, with its weak defense, how can it withstand the invasion of the nomadic tribes? I'm afraid that after spending a large amount of manpower and resources, it will still be a wasted effort. "
Tian Wenjing replied confidently, "Director Fan's problem is actually very easy to solve. Since it is a bridgehead, then we naturally cannot build it according to the conventional construction of a subsidiary village. We need to build this subsidiary territory into a military fortress. The first step is to build a sturdy stone wall like the headquarters. After the wall is built, we can start the internal construction. This way, as long as we station a small number of troops inside the fortress, it will be enough to withstand the invasion of the nomadic tribes. These nomadic tribes are used to fighting cavalry battles in open areas, and are not good at sieging cities. They don't even have the most basic siege weapons. "
"That's right. I suggest that we station the cavalry battalion in the subsidiary territory to provide support. Together with the garrison of the subsidiary territory, it will be enough to ensure the safety of the subsidiary territory. "Ge Hongliang continued. He did not expect Tian Wenjing to have such a strategic vision. Even as the director of military affairs, he did not think that deeply. Just now, he only subconsciously felt that he should speak out against it, otherwise he would miss a good opportunity. As for the specific operation, he did not have a complete idea. Now, Tian Wenjing had given a perfect solution.
Ying You was not proficient in military affairs, so she did not speak up. After Fan Zhongyan, who had spoken out against it, listened to Tian Wenjing's explanation, he seemed to be thinking about it, which was a tacit agreement.
Since the four directors had reached an agreement, Ouyang Shuo no longer hesitated. He said, "Very well, we will follow what Director Tian said and start building the third subsidiary territory tomorrow."
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