Outside Tree Snake City, the Mexica camp stretches for several miles and is heavily guarded. Hundreds of alliance warriors, wearing armor and holding bows, were patrolling around the camp. On the hill a few miles away, the flag of the Lord God was flying at the head of White Snake City, and two thousand-man warrior battalions were stationed.
As for the more distant mountains, Yunshe Mountain City is quiet and deserted, standing alone on the top of a towering mountain. The large alliance camps blocked almost all mountain passes and cut off the inflow of most supplies, especially food and salt. Even the nobles of the alliance's city-states will be executed by military law if they are found to dare to smuggle salt into the mountains!
This strict siege has lasted for more than a year and a half, making the defenders in the mountain city even more embarrassed and difficult. In this dangerous mountain city, there are only the last four or five thousand Tlaxcala gods, warriors and militia left. They already know that White Snake Qiu City has completely fallen and all the divine nobles have been executed! At this moment, the descendants of the Cloud Snake Gods were holding on to the mountain fortress with their last slim hope.
A bonfire was lit in the big tent, and stars fell from the ceiling. When Shulot returned to the main camp of Tree Snake City, the kingdom's war machine accelerated again. Many letters and reports came from all over the place, most of them were just reports afterwards, and only a few needed the king's instructions.
Under the current military system, the chief of the royal capital, the bishop of the priesthood, and the local county magistrate all have great administrative autonomy. They made their own decisions and actively maintained the operation of the kingdom's war machine, without the need for Shulot's personal command. It was under such a decentralized kingdom system that Shulot was able to lead an army on an expedition and not return to the capital for three years.
"Master, information about this year's autumn harvest from the Kingdom of the Lake has been urgently delivered. Hekou County has good weather and has a bumper harvest. Gyeonggi County has floods in the rainy season and has a slightly poor harvest. However, Zicao County and Apa County, which have opened up wasteland, are in normal years. As for In Qingqiu County in the north, the specific information has not yet arrived, but according to previous estimates, there will be little change."
Eckart, the captain of the guard, was holding a stack of letters and summarizing the latest information. There was no one else in the tent, so he naturally addressed himself as the head of the household, which made him even more intimate.
Shulot listened carefully and wrote down the key points with a pen. Once he encounters an issue of concern, he will check it out personally.
"There are floods in Gyeonggi County during the rainy season? How much harvest will be missed?"
"About 10% of the harvest is lost. The farmland affected by the flood is not large, so it is not serious."
"Since there is a flood in Gyeonggi County, the two downstream counties of Zicao and Apa will also be affected! Their report is in an ordinary year, so they must be hiding something. Send a few teams of secret guards..."
Having said this, Shulot paused, thought for a moment, and changed the order.
"We will not transfer the secret guards. We will transfer a batch of grain from Hekou County to replenish Gyeonggi County. Then we will transfer a batch of grain from Gyeonggi County to the south to replenish the two southern counties!"
"The head of the family, according to the latest news from Hekou County, Yin from Kuruka County has once again assembled his army after the autumn harvest and is preparing to plunder the Chapala Lake area downstream. He expects to mobilize four thousand spear warriors and ten thousand canine militia groups, and then Pull together 6,000 Guamar tribesmen to form a 20,000-strong plundering army!... He needs to leave enough food, maintain the army's logistics, and trade prisoners of war with the Guamar people. Therefore, Hekou County cannot recruit too much food .”
"A plundering army of twenty thousand people?..."
Hearing this scale, Shulot rubbed his eyebrows and asked in a deep voice.
"How was the 10,000 canine vigilante group formed and what was its equipment like?"
"Ten thousand dog-born vigilantes, five thousand from the experienced Guakili flag force, three thousand from the Bossaros transported from the north, and two thousand from the wasteland tribes with no identifiable ethnic group..."
"This militia of ten thousand dog descendants are all skilled warriors from the wilderness, good at marching and attacking. Most of them wear paper armor, and a few wear leather armor. They are all equipped with copper spears and axes, and there are also many cheap bamboo and wood bows. ... Generally speaking, their combat effectiveness will not be weaker than that of the alliance's city-state legions, and may even be better than them!"
"Able to pull out ten thousand wasteland vigilantes who are good at fighting, and the equipment is not bad... Monkey has really done well in the past few years!"
Shulot nodded with satisfaction and praised him sincerely. He is not worried about the expanded army in Monkey's hands, because the bronze armor rate of the kingdom's main army is steadily increasing and has reached 10 to 20%. And the Guards Corps with half of the bronze armor in his hands has an overwhelming advantage over the local legions!
Moreover, Monkey Kuruka was born as a civilian warrior and lacked family roots. He did not have the foundation to be independent, so he was allowed by the king to acquiesce and take over more military power. In fact, several of the most commonly used military commanders by Shulot, including the warrior captain Bertard, the black wolf Toltec, and the miner Ezpan... were all from civilian backgrounds. Most of the remaining legion commanders are their own retainers.
"Since the monkey is about to go on an expedition again, let's not transfer his food. We should transport food from the capital to supply the two counties in the south that are opening up wasteland!"
"Yes, I obey you! Master!"
"By the way, send another messenger to Monkey with a message: Let him pay attention to the intelligence of the various tribes in Guamar and further win over some small tribes who are willing to take refuge. When the Chapala Lake area is annexed, the barrier of the northern plateau, where the Guamar people are located The land and the kingdom must be taken down! At that time, the best excuse to send troops to the Guamar people is to be actively invited by some Guamar tribes to arbitrate their inheritance or disputes..."
Shulot said a few words and then stopped. He believed that the monkey could understand the meaning, and he was sure that the other party had already buried hidden clues among the Guamar people. This oral message encourages the monkey to go further, be bolder, divide the various tribes of Guamar, and look for opportunities for the kingdom.
"I obey you! Master!"
After talking about the military situation of the kingdom, the next step is the development of the kingdom. The most critical ones are land reclamation, faith missionary work, mineral production increase, ironware promotion, saltpeter production increase, new navigation exploration, and large-scale road and water network construction.
"Master, there are 400,000 people in the two southern counties. This year, 1.6 million acres of new fields have been cultivated, and the total farmland is about 3.6 million acres... It's just that the new fields have just been cultivated, and the autumn harvest per mu is not enough."
"Huh? 1.6 million acres of new land have been reclaimed?..."
Shulot touched his chin and did some calculations. In the two southern counties, more than 200,000 Tlaxcala tribesmen moved in, most of them young and strong. This year, 1.6 million acres of farmland were newly reclaimed, with an average of about 8 acres per capita... This number is relatively reasonable. Even if there are some exaggerations, it is not too much.
"Send envoys to tell the two county governors in the south, especially Ezpan, the governor of Apa County: Do not be too harsh on the newly 'immigrated' Tlaxcala tribe. We must provide enough grain and rations, and also Send priests to guide.”
"Now that the rainy season is over, the autumn harvest is complete. For the large-scale construction after the autumn harvest, we must properly mobilize the men and women to ensure the food supply. The Eastern Expedition Corps worked hard to transport the men back from two thousand miles away, and they are not just for your casual consumption. . Even the enfeoffed serfs must be fed with grains..."
"Of course, for the strong and unruly warriors who refuse to convert, especially some of the Totonak warriors who were transported back alone... we can let them bear the heaviest labor! Before next spring plowing, there will be more More than 100,000 tribes have 'immigrated' into the kingdom, mainly the Totonac people. Please bear with me and conquer these coastal people..."
Having said this, Shulot pondered for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. There are so many newly moved tribes in the two southern counties that it will take time to digest them, and the missionary work will also need to be strengthened. In the short term, it is better not to bring in too many immigrants. After thinking again and again, Shulot made a decision.
"As for the distribution of the more than 100,000 tribes, it will be roughly divided equally among the four counties! Apa and Zicao will each be divided into 30,000 people, while Hekou and Gyeonggi will be divided into 40,000 each!..."
"Yes! Master!"
Eckart, the captain of the guard, quickly drew up the royal order and then asked the king to use his seal. The first royal order was naturally addressed to the warrior chief in charge of farming in Shuigu City. The next few royal orders were given to the county governors of the four counties and to Noya, the commander of the Southern Navy who was responsible for the transshipment.
It is worth mentioning that after Puap was sent to the exploration fleet, he participated in two long-distance navigation explorations. The management of the kingdom's southern navy belongs to the newly promoted hereditary noble of Prepecha, Noya.
Noah came from a family of boatmen from Prepecha and was familiar with the water network and lakes in the southern part of the kingdom. There is an ancient family behind her, with more than a hundred navy backbones passed down from generation to generation. Noya's appointment came from the strong recommendation of Chief Minister Jatiri. Her allegiance means that the last hidden elites of the Prepecha tribe have chosen to join the kingdom.
All of these are advantages that Huitu Puap cannot match. After thinking over and over again, Hulot handed all the fleet transportation on the Talsas River to the naval commander Noah.
Facts have proved that Noah did a good job and lived up to the king's trust. As for Puap, if he can return successfully, Shulot has prepared another position, the commander of the navy along the West Sea coast, specifically responsible for the trade of the Northern Route.
"Master, the Royal Capital Divine Enlightenment Office sent an urgent notification. They brought good news of divine enlightenment! The application of struvite in farmland has greatly increased the yield of the field!..."
"Bring it here! I'll see it myself!"
After hearing such a report, Shulot's somewhat tired spirit suddenly cheered up. He stretched out his hand, took the document from the Divine Enlightenment Office, and read it carefully. After a while, the king's young face was filled with a joyful smile.
"...Your Highness the Divine Enlightenment! We ground and applied more than 30 tons of struvite and sprinkled it on 1,800 acres of corn fields... After the autumn harvest, compared with the surrounding farmland, the fertilized fields increased their yields. More than 120 tons, approximately more than 130 kilograms of grain per mu have been increased this year... And 1 ton of struvite can increase the production of at least 4 tons of grain. This is only the first year!" "According to your divine revelation, these grains buried in the soil can be increased by at least 4 tons. 'Nutrition' should continuously flow out vitality, allowing the earth to harvest abundantly!...The alliance's farmland needs more, more struvite!"
