After Zhu Jue and his party arrived at [Hematite City] along the busy canal, they did not enter the city directly. Instead, they followed the long wall originally built on the outside of [Hematite City] to protect the Pavement Ant Empire, until they arrived at the Hematite Mine. .
Today's hematite mine is already a large pit. The diameter of the surface pit is about 5 meters and the depth is also 1 meter. Little ants stand beside the pit, like a pebble on the shore of a large lake. Just as small.
When such a large mine was expanded many times, a section of the outer city wall that originally protected it had to be demolished, resulting in a gap in the city wall here. Now that the threat from the north has been temporarily lifted, there is no need to build a new wall. After all, as the mine continues to expand, the wall must be built very peripherally to prevent it from being demolished again. In this way, the length of the wall that needs to be built is very considerable, and Very uneconomical.
Zhu Jue took the younger generation of ant nobles, including male ants from the big-headed ants and other tribes, and female ants from the leaf-cutting ants and sickle-hunting ant tribes, to stop in front of the huge mine.
The young nobles were whispering to each other, exchanging that this was the place where the Divine Envoy King smelted metals under the power of the God of Fire. Yesterday, they had visited the blast furnace and experienced the power of the God of Fire up close.
Today, this mine shocked them again. In the eyes of the ants, the amount of work done was no less than that of Foolish Old Man who moved mountains. It was simply a miracle.
At the edge of the mine, you can see a spiraling downward road that continues to the bottom of the mine. Countless small and medium-sized beetles are carrying baskets or empty baskets filled with ore particles on their backs, and are moving slowly under the control of the ant driver.
At the bottom of the mine, most ants could only see a blur of darkness, but Zhu Jue could see countless ants digging for ore with their jaws and iron tools.
The dust below is shrouded in dust. Mining is a hard and harmful job. Currently, it is mainly some domestic ants who have made mistakes, such as the ants from the United Ant Clan in the sub-nest that were involved in the incident against the main nest, or the ant slaves. , prisoners of war work again.
During the previous construction of the canal, a large number of slave ants and other slaves had been exhausted. The Ant Alliance currently mainly relies on purchasing low-priced slave ant eggs from the hairy forest ants to maintain consumption.
At the edge of the mine pit, in an empty space near the canal, there are hills of ore piled up, and other beetles are transporting the ore to rafts on the canal.
After taking the young ant nobles to the mine to intuitively experience the powerful power of the Ant Alliance, Zhu Jue taught the young ant nobles the principles and knowledge of iron smelting in the [Hematite City] conference room. Among these young nobles, there may be talented ants who can understand scientific principles and will join the scientific research department in the future.
On the same day, Zhu Jue and his party had dinner and stayed overnight in [Hematite City]. Although this simple mining nest has an important status, its business is simple and there are no particularly complicated situations to deal with.
The local Ten Ant Group just hopes to obtain more beetle beasts, so that they can further expand hematite production.
Zhu Jue vetoed their request. Now the production of hematite is enough to supply the blast furnace to start construction. The places where iron is needed in the Ant Alliance are close to saturation. Each sub-nest is even equipped with iron cannons. The country does not plan to sell iron to the outside world. , there is no need to expand iron ore production for the time being.
————
On October 8, Zhu Jue and his party set out from [Hematie City], walking along the rapid stream on the west side of the city and walking through the slightly damp woods on the shore.
Although this road is still within the territory of the Ant Alliance, because the forest is dark and barren, there are only a few small sub-nests along the way. Occasionally, you can see foraging ant Alliance ants or red forest ants, most of which are hunting or grazing. Aphids - The forest is too dark and humid, and there are not many herbaceous vegetation, so there are not even many aphids that like sunshine and grass.
On the other side of the stream, leaf-cutter ants from the leaf-cutter ant kingdom appeared and disappeared, and occasionally patrolling star beetles flew through the air.
Streams are the natural boundary between the ant kingdom and the leafcutter ant kingdom.
It was not until noon that Zhu Jue and his party turned east, left the rugged woods, followed the long ant trail, and arrived at [Slippery Rock City].
This is not the place to stay today. Zhu Jue and his party just watched the turtle ants and fly tiger knights in black who were training here, visited the nearby talc mine, and then left.
Before nightfall, Zhu Jue and his party arrived at today's destination - [Beehive City].
As the nest next to [Xinyang City] on the north bank of Qinghe River, [Hive City] is not only large in scale and has many ant colonies, but also has a good geographical location. Therefore, this place has been the main nest of the old fire ant country for a long time.
Zhu Jue and his party stayed here for two days, taking the young ant nobles to visit nearby old battlefields, and told how the heroic Divine Envoy King Army cleverly conquered this fortress that the leaf-cutting ant country had not conquered for thousands of years. Nest.
In the evening, Zhu Jue met with ant representatives from nearby sub-nests in the conference room to learn about the local situation and give suggestions or instructions.
The area near [Beehive City] is a fertile land on the north bank of the Qinghe River, second only to [Xinyang City] south of the Black Forest, and produces a large amount of grain and honeydew. The composition of the local ant colony is also relatively complex. Burrowing ants, red forest ants, abdominal ants, pavement ants, and big-headed ants live together. Representatives of each sub-nest meeting and members of the Ten Ant Group face difficult problems. many.
Zhu Jue commended some capable local officials, rewarded them with honeydew, or promoted them to serve in the main nest. Officials who perform poorly will be criticized or even dismissed.
On the 11th, Zhu Jue and his party left [Beehive City] and headed north, passing through a large wilderness, and headed straight for [Panellia City].
The team walked for three days, stopping and moving, visiting the old battlefields of the Pavement Ant Empire while advancing in the wilderness.
The war with the Pavement Ant Empire Army was the most difficult and dangerous war that the Ant Alliance had ever encountered since its birth, and the final victory was partly a fluke.
Many of the young ant nobles led by Zhu Jue will become army commanders or even higher-level generals in the future. Zhu Jue also spared no time and patiently explained the background of the battle, the comparison of strengths between the enemy and ourselves, and the strength of both sides. tactical intentions and the specific process of the battle.
Many young generals were fascinated and inspired by it.
Therefore, under the blue sky of autumn, under the mixed yellow and green leaves, and among the gradually yellowing undulating autumn grass, you can always see such a scene:
A large group of ants and insects formed a circle, with the ant infantry and fly tiger knights outside, and Zhu Jue and the young noble in the middle. There are also flying knights circling and alert in the sky, like a teaching oil painting.
Just walking and stopping all the way, at dusk on October 13th, Zhu Jue and his party finally entered [Panxia City].
The next day, Zhu Jue, who had just woken up, suddenly received an urgent report - the thin-footed ant warriors from the thousands of civilized ant clan suddenly broke into [Panellia City], and they came with bad intentions!
The error-free chapters of "The World of Ants" will continue to be updated. There are no ads on the site. Please bookmark and recommend it!
