After staying in [Pioneer City] for four full days, Zhu Jue led the accompanying ants to visit this comprehensive metropolis.
The purpose of his trip, in addition to touring, was also to cultivate and train a new generation of ant nobles. At present, in the Ant Federation, except for the big-headed ant clan, which has a stable mechanism for cultivating ant talents, most of the other clans' ant talents are in a state of inactivity, especially the shortage of middle-level officials.
This is related to Zhu Jue's previous policy of deliberately suppressing those who joined the ant tribe except the main ant tribe Big-headed Ant. Now as the rule of the Ant Alliance gradually stabilizes, especially the authority of the God Envoy King has been recognized by these ant tribes, long-term Suppressing these useful members of the ant tribe is not a long-term solution.
Zhu Jue hopes to discover some talents from various races during this tour, and prepares them to take over the positions of some old or rebellious officials of their own race, and to cultivate the loyalty of these new generations.
There are a large number of sub-nests that have been newly established for one or two years around [Pioneer City]. These sub-nests are engaged in basic agriculture such as animal husbandry, breeding, planting, and collection.
Zhu Jue stayed here for a few more days, also waiting for the representatives and officials from these places to come. Through direct communication with the deputy nest ants, he learned about the grassroots affairs of the Ant Alliance.
What is this called? Without investigation, there is no right to speak!
Zhu Jue paid great attention to the land on the south bank of Qinghe River. In his mind, he had even considered moving the capital to [Pioneering City] many times!
Moving the capital was not a trivial matter in all dynasties. It meant the transfer of the center of governance, and often also indicated the change of the national policy of the dynasty.
[Xinyang City] is currently the main nest of the Ant Alliance. The buildings here are magnificent, second only to [Pioneer City], the infrastructure is very complete, and the fortifications are stronger than [Pioneer City].
However, [Xinyang City] has a narrow terrain and has little potential for development. Further development will require crossing the canal and building a satellite nest on the north bank of the canal.
Zhu Jue has no intention of doing this. As the Destroyer approaches, the north bank of Qinghe River will fall into war sooner or later. Zhu Jue does not have much confidence in defending the Destroyer from outside the country. The strategic depth from [Panxia City] to [Xinyang City] is too shallow, and the Destroyer can easily approach the current main nest.
If the main nest is not stable, the Ant Alliance may be in danger of being destroyed at any time. Chongzhen refused to leave Beijing at the beginning, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would have been able to survive for at least a few more years. This is a lesson learned from the past.
In order to avoid this, Zhu Jue began to gradually move the industries and ant colonies in [New Yangcheng] to the south bank of Qinghe River early in the morning.
In his strategic plan, the south bank of Qinghe River is the hinterland to resist the invasion of the Destroyer, responsible for the continuous supply of supplies and soldiers, while the north bank of Qinghe River is the front line of the war, and Qinghe River is the defensive moat.
On the north bank of Qinghe River, there are only two places that cannot be lost.
One is [Hematite City], which is currently the only iron ore producing area in the Ant Alliance. Without iron, the war strength of the Ant Alliance will be greatly reduced. Until a new stable and safe iron mine is discovered, [Hematite City] cannot afford to lose anything.
The second place is [New Yang City]. The terrain here is extremely favorable and a small number of defenders can be used to contain a large number of enemy troops. Even if the Destroyer wants to capture it, it will not be easy. Moreover, with the existence of [New Yang City], it is possible to attract the main force of the Destroyer and prevent [Hematite City] from hanging on the north bank alone and becoming unsustainable.
As for other nests on the north bank of Qinghe River, they can all be abandoned strategically. Zhu Jue knew that even if the Divine Envoy King's army was much stronger now than it was in its homeland, even if all the civilized ants were tied together, it would be difficult to compete with the Destroyer for supremacy on the ground.
He still can't see the hope of defeating the endless number of Destroyers and the endless emergence of new types of soldiers. But he believes that the ant civilization in this world will not sit still and wait for death. There is always a glimmer of hope!
At present, his strategic vision is to stick to the Qinghe defense line, leave several strong strongholds on the north bank of the Qinghe River, continuously weaken the Destroyer through defensive warfare and mobile warfare, and finally seek a slim chance of victory!
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After leaving [Pioneer City], Zhu Jue and his party headed west along the banks of the Qinghe River, passing through vast wilderness and dense woods, passing through countless small and medium-sized secondary nests along the way, either sleeping in the open air or temporarily staying in nests.
The terrain along the way is varied, and the styles of sub-nests in different places are also different. Some sub-nests are underground nests of big-headed ants and pavement ants, some are tree hole nests of arboreal ants, and there are also ant mounds and stone crevice nests.
Afterwards, they arrived at the Quagmire, the new eastern border of the Ant Alliance.
In order to achieve Zhu Jue's goal of subduing the turtles and ants in black, some of the soldiers of the Angel King's Legion and the pioneering team of the Ant Alliance have entered this barren land and established many tree nests, forming a new border.
In order to maintain traffic in the muddy swamp, the unique suspension bridge-style rope bridge of the Ant Alliance was built. In addition to communicating with the existing nests, it is also extending continuously. It will eventually run through the swamp and reach the east side of the swamp forest. Highlands.
The tree nests in this forest are mainly inhabited by three tribes of tree-dwelling ants: leafcutter ants, bellied ants, and red forest ants. The local native black turtle ants have moved inland after being subjugated. There are also some big-headed ants living here. The big-headed ants are not very accustomed to the complicated tree life. Only some male ant kings and garrison soldiers are stationed here, responsible for balancing the local ant clan and playing a supervisory role.
There are still many indigenous tribes of corn ants, black turtle ants, and pan-bellied ants in the swamp. The Ant Alliance is gradually suppressing and expelling them to prevent them from damaging the rope bridge traffic.
After Zhu Jue and his party arrived, they conducted an inspection on the criss-crossing trees and encountered sneak attacks from indigenous ants hiding behind the leaves, but there was no danger.
This inspection gave Zhu Jue an unexpected harvest. There were some resources in this seemingly barren swamp.
On the muddy ground of the swamp are large expanses of peatland. Considering the local environment, it is normal to have peat, and the peat here is very easy to develop. Before the annual rainy season, the swamp land cannot be replenished with water, and the ground is relatively dry, so it can be dug directly.
Peat can be used as fuel. Although it is not as useful as the high-quality anthracite from the Black Fire Ant Country and cannot be used to make iron, it is no problem to use it as an ordinary fuel.
Peat can also be used as fertilizer and is rich in humus. The planting industry in the Ant Alliance is relatively undeveloped, and it can only use the natural fertility of the land. Insect excrement is the only fertilizer currently available, and the effect is not very good. Once a large amount of peat fertilizer is available, the crop production on the south bank of the Qinghe River should be able to increase a lot.
Finally, peat can also be used to make food with unique flavors, and it is said that baking wine will produce unique flavors. Zhu Jue has already begun to conceive of new crow wine varieties in his mind, and how much the price can be increased!
