Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 63 A bowl of rice stumped a hero
The new territory of the Igor family, "Frost Maple Ridge", is located in the southeast corner of the southern wasteland of the empire, an extremely awkward location.

The Lionheart River running through the east of the empire took advantage of the momentum from north to south, but turned a sharp bend in the east of Yanxi City, rushing white waves to the southwest, and at the junction of the empire and the demon territory, it injected into the Haiwen Continent. The sea of ​​salt on the west side.

On the further east side of the Lionheart River, running through the center of the continent, the dust mountain range that has been the eastern frontier of the empire for thousands of years and has blocked the greedy eyes of the federal orcs continues to extend southward, straight into the southern part of the continent. The eighteen domains of the Demon Race.

So, the Lion Heart River flowing to the southwest;

The dust mountains extending north-south in the east;
and a whole line of arcane spires further south;

On the barren land in the southern part of the empire, these three together formed a triangular plain area with long grass and sparsely populated people, just like a pair of briefs worn by this plump beauty in the empire's territory.

This triangular land has had a frightening name since ancient times:

"The Land of Souls".

The origin of the name is very simple: this alluvial plain in the border area of ​​the empire and the demons, no matter which war between the two countries, is the first death zone to encounter Bing Xian:

No matter who is attacking or defending, no matter how far the front line advances, the war horses of the empire and the nightmare beasts of the demon race will first imprint their blood-soaked hoof feet on this land, leaving the bones of countless dead soldiers in the grass. between.

Even in the east, the Glorious Federation established by the Orcs would often send troops to bypass the "Yuanwang Peak" at the southern end of the Dust Mountain Range, either openly or surreptitiously through the Demon Race's territory to launch a surprise attack on the southern part of the Empire.

There is no doubt that the territory of the empire that first welcomed these elite orcs is also the triangular "land of split souls"!
It can be said that in any war that takes place in the southern part of the empire, this is the most brutal mill of flesh and blood!
The Lionheart River, which traverses the southern wasteland, has always constituted a security barrier for the empire, using her wide river channel to guard Rockbrook City and other cities in the Central Plains of the Empire to the north;
And the offensive of the demons and orcs is not always strong enough to cross the river;
So, while the north became safer, the situation in the Soulshattering Land, located on the south bank of the Lionheart River, got worse.

In history, it is not that no nobles were assigned to this area to reclaim wasteland and build cities;
But who can stand firm under the double offensive of the desolate land, the scarce materials, the demons and the orcs?
You must know that although the arcane spire defense line in the south has prevented the invasion of the large demon army to a certain extent, a small group of demon skirmishers or mercenaries can intrude into the empire wantonly like boring relatives visiting the door. !

Therefore, in the era of Xiahouyan, the empire had long since abandoned the naive idea of ​​expanding territory and organizing Qimin in the land of split souls, and instead regarded this wasteland as a defense line behind the arcane spires to deal with the attacks of the demons. buffer belt.

The opinion of the military is very clear: since the demons cannot attack with a large army, then the land of the split soul is so desolate, there are only a few impoverished towns in no-man's land, plus the wide Lionheart River in the north, it is enough to kill All the food and patience of the small demon army made them have to return without success!

It was precisely because of this traditional strategy of the empire that Xia Houyan was a little surprised to find that he was actually the first noble lord to be entrusted by the empire to the land of broken souls in the past 200 years!
His territory, "Frost Maple Ridge", is located at the easternmost end of the Soul Splitting Land, at the foot of the western side of the Dust Mountains.

This piece of hills and mesas rises from the east of the plain through the terrain of the Dust Mountains, and relies on a stream that flows from the valleys to become the wasteland of the soul-splitting wasteland, one of the few pieces of hope with the breath of life. land.

In the easternmost part of Frost Maple Ridge, under the shadow of the Dust Mountains, there is even a lush Frost Maple forest.

The so-called "Frost Maple Ridge" is actually named after this.

The above is the geographical situation that Xia Houyan learned from his subordinates after leading the team to the new territory.

"So, is this location safe?" The Lord asked thoughtfully while sitting on a wooden crate containing grain.

His eyes scanned the cluttered scene around him:
Early this morning, after the Igor family team boarded a platform in Shuangfengling, they quickly began to set up camp - now everyone is basically still in the stage of unloading, almost everyone is holding large and small boxes, hurrying to and fro Between the jagged carriages, the noise and chaos were like a group of refugees fleeing from the famine—

In fact, it stands to reason that there is nothing wrong with being a group of refugees...

"Lord Lord, the entire 'Land of Soul Crack' is not very safe." Archer Chris shrugged and reported to Lord Lord, "But the conditions here are relatively good: there is a small stream to the north of Frost Maple Ridge. To the east is the Dragonbone Peak of the Dust Mountains. Both directions are safer, but we can't guarantee that there will be no bandits or looters from the west and south - but my lord, this is a high place after all, and it is better than being caught on the plains. It's better to kill people..."

Chris's expression was very helpless: Frost Maple Ridge is already a land of split souls, a rare treasure land that is easy to defend and difficult to attack;
It can only be said that this whole wasteland does not look suitable for survival...

Xiahou Yan sighed softly, nodded, and waved his hand casually.

Chris gave the Lord a military salute slightly cautiously, and ran to help carry the goods.

Now, what this archer is wearing is no longer the tattered armor in the infected area, but a set of hard leather armor with excellent production and excellent protection. It was taken from the group of mercenary knights of "Desolation Wind" before.

The lord, who is so poor, has already cultivated the good virtues of making the best use of everything and being diligent and thrifty;

After returning to the camp, he dispelled the magic and destroyed the sixty skeleton soldiers, but none of the leather armor and weapons left by them were left. People sent a set.

After all, "Wind of Desolation" is an elite mercenary who is domineering in the wasteland. Although these lancers do not wear iron armor, the hard leather armor on their bodies is of good quality. equipment.

As for the remaining 48 sets of armor, Xia Houyan did not put them on the truck for nothing.

Along the way, he selected a group of physically fit men from the agricultural group and craftsman group, and distributed the 48 sets of equipment——

After all, the military team supported by only 48 soldiers is too thin. These [-] strong men who farm and iron can work as usual on weekdays, but if the situation changes, they will take up arms and become the leaders of Shuangfengling. The first militia.

Like all unscrupulous warlords who love crowd tactics, Xia Houyan added a "first batch" designation prefix to these 48 militiamen, which is very meaningful;
In his opinion, in order to survive in the wasteland where robbers are rampant and wild animals are infested, the best development strategy for the territory is to use all soldiers!

According to the plan, once he settles down, he will soon organize other territorial people to conduct some limited military training - he hopes that this group of people will at least gain basic combat power enough to protect themselves in the future, no matter the old, the young, the woman or the child!

The wasteland will not be kind to the weak!

It is also out of concern for safety. As early as the day the convoy had just crossed the Lionheart River and entered the Land of Soul Splitting, Xia Houyan had already dispatched his guards in turn to scout the situation, Chris Mann. En is also in it.

According to the previous reports of the guards, the security situation of this wasteland seems to be relatively good at present: they can only see the bandits of the young man, or some wild beasts foraging in groups, and they can't see any factors that are enough to pose a threat;

In fact, the robbers that the family motorcade encountered along the way were all escorted by more than a dozen guards, and they whistled and ran away. Obviously, they had a full understanding of their own strength and did not want to touch the lord. grown-up brows.

According to Master Laurie's analysis, this should be due to the fact that it is almost winter and the number of traders is very small. Most of the bandits in the wasteland have completed a year of accumulation and have retreated to the camp in the Dust Mountains to prepare for the winter;

As for the Glorious Federation and the Southern Demons, one is in constant friction with the Empire in the East, and the other has been living in peace for many years. Naturally, there will be no troops from these two forces that needlessly set foot on the territory of other countries in this desolate early winter season;

As a result, there are only a few small bandit gangs left in the area of ​​the land of split souls, like hyenas picking up carrion on the grasslands, hoping to take advantage of the robbers from the cottage to slaughter some small caravan travelers in the wasteland to stuff their teeth;

And with their size, naturally they can't eat the fat of the Igor family team.

However, this fact did not make Xia Houyan much easier.

The cold weather in early winter certainly means that the density of bandits in the wasteland has been greatly reduced, but it also means that the agricultural construction of the territory itself is difficult to carry out!
Mayor Joel told the lord that they had completely missed the time to plant winter wheat and could only wait until the next spring to make calculations. However, according to the current temperature situation, the agricultural team could try to reclaim the land and sow a batch of potatoes first. It can be harvested in January and February, thus linking with the wheat rotation.

But in the months before potatoes are planted and harvested, the territory is destined to have no food income!
If it is the three seasons of spring, summer and autumn, in the eastern woodlands or the hilly areas near the dusty mountains, you can pick some fruits and vegetables, or hunt animals;

But now the weather is getting colder, and the keel peak in the east is about to fall snow...

It is obviously unrealistic to rely on simple collection operations to obtain food.

And the reason why the Igor family fell into such an embarrassing situation is not unrelated to the delay in the infected area for too long before - if according to the original plan, they should have arrived at Frost Maple Ridge in the autumn, then not only did they immediately The sowing of winter wheat can begin, and there will be many birds and beasts in the woodland, so that the white land is not as clean as it is now.

The food from Yanxi City can last for about half a month, which is obviously not enough to last for the next spring.

Lord Lord, Johnson Joel, Victor Laurie, the three main leaders of the territory, have recently begun to discuss whether they should take out the last family property and go to Rock Creek City businessman Rogge to buy another batch. Food for the winter?
Although the Archduke of Houston is a threat to be reckoned with, it's better to take a little risk of being plotted than to starve to death en masse on the wasteland...

However, there are always people who are much more sensitive to food conditions than Lord Lords...

"What?" Wilf's pretty face turned pale, "We're running out of food?"

"My dear slave lady, yes." Xia Houyan stood up from the wooden box and said to the elf girl with a smile, "So I regret to inform you that everyone, including you, will receive food from the future. Limited supply!"

Wilf's expression was as if Mount Tai had collapsed, and she also smashed the ancestral tablets of her eighteenth ancestors along the way.

In order to prevent this elf slave girl, who has no other use other than being good-looking and edible, from becoming a complete waste, the Lord Lord has recently ordered her to learn some cleaning, tea and water, from Anjie Randall. The basic work of a maid who sews clothes.

It has to be said that her work attitude is quite serious.

But it also has to be said that even cleaning or sewing requires talent...

In the past few days, Wilf has lost two brooms, disfigured several clothes with a rag that had been wiped with ink, and even pierced herself with sewing needles and cried several times.

If it is in a wealthy area of ​​the empire where nobles are competitive, such a beautiful elf slave, even if it is placed on the bed or in the hall as a vase, is a luxury that satisfies the vanity of the lord;
But in the southern wasteland where food and survival are a problem, she can play a role no greater than that of a useless literati in a time of war and turmoil in the country, who has no power to hold chickens and thinks the water is too cold!
In the past few days, Xia Houyan's patience has been exhausted by her.

He has secretly decided that if this girl dares to disobey the territory's food rationing policy, then let her go!

A high-priced elf slave who can't make a move, even if it is thrown into the wasteland to feed the wolf for nothing, it is better than staying in the territory to consume food!
However, Wilf's answer was a bit unexpected.

"Then... what if I said, I can help you find food?" The elf girl twitched her fingers.

"What kind of food?" Xia Houyan and Master Laurie looked at each other and squinted at her.

"Elf plants..." she said, her voice even lower.

"Please don't tell me it's another 'flower of abundance'." Lord Lord sneered, "I can't afford it."

"No... it's a real elf plant..." She obviously sensed the Lord's high level of dissatisfaction with her, and was so anxious that she almost cried, "...'Red Lianhua'... Have you heard of it?"

Xia Houyan didn't realize what it was, but Master Laurie let out a harsh sneer.

"Lord Lord, this girl is teasing you!" The master folded his arms, "Red Lianhua is a special elf plant with a strange aroma that can attract a large number of beasts, and it is indeed used to assist hunting in the elf tradition. Props - However, this plant has been extinct for hundreds of years. The last 'Red Lianhua' on the mainland was crushed to pieces by countless beasts and beasts in the 'Connon Tetis Great Beast Tide'! "

Xia Houyan was still a little impressed by this beast tide.

It seems that hundreds of years ago, the orcs of the Eastern Federation tried to use some kind of magic to control the beast herd to attack the Empire, but the result was a cocoon. Lu Zhanxiang and many ferocious Yalong species of Warcraft.

This human-caused animal disaster has seriously damaged the vitality of the Eastern Federation. It was also written in the "Historical Record of Magical Disasters" by gloating human mages to warn future generations.

"But... I really know where there is a Chilian flower!" Seeing that the lord and the chief mage didn't believe him, Wilf became anxious, "On the keel peak in the east, there is a elf of our own. The treasure house left by the empire, the red flower is placed in it!"

Elf treasure trove?This seductive word attracted the attention of two old fritters.

Wilf, who is an elf herself, knows the location of some ancient elf empires due to historical reasons... This logic seems to make sense?
"Will it be dangerous if we go to that treasure house to get the red flower?" Xia Houyan looked at her suspiciously.

I went to Adrian's laboratory for a while before, and the runaway bronze golem has left him with enough psychological shadows on the topic of "treasure hunting in the secret room";
What's more, until now, he has not given full trust in this cute and edible elf slave.

After all, when she encountered a food shortage, she jumped out and said that she could find elf plants;
This is so coincidental that it smells of conspiracy!
Even if this little girl wants to lead herself into some deadly trap, Lord Lord will not be surprised at all!

"Uh...it might be a little dangerous." Wilf hesitantly said.

This equivocal answer, which seemed to have no falsification, caused Master Laurie to smack his lips.

"How dangerous is it?" Xia Houyan stared at Wilf, trying to find traces of lying in her big golden eyes.

"Uh..." Wilf stretched out two jade hands and gestured exaggeratedly, "The size of a giant dragon?"

(End of this chapter)