knife

Chapter 362 The Final Resistance
Xiao Changche bent down, grabbed a handful of white crystals from the ground, licked them with his tongue, and spat them out with a "pui" sound.

It's salt.

Salt Lake and Salt City are the last forces outside the Great Wall still fighting against the Beiting Protectorate.

As its name suggests, Yancheng, a salt lake city, naturally relies on salt production for its livelihood.

The salt lake, located at the border of Daqin and Beiyuan, is truly a place blessed by God.

The vast salt lake produces high-quality salt that requires no processing. It can be scooped out of the lake, dried, and then bagged and sold.

Such a place is naturally not something that ordinary people can possess.

Without formidable strength and powerful backing, trying to control such a treasure trove is simply a pipe dream.

For many years, the Wu family of Salt Lake has been able to prosper and thrive, not only because of its own strong strength, but also because of the support it has received from the Yuan Kingdom.

The Yuan people obtained cheap salt from here and then resold it to their own people at a high price, earning more than the Wu family. However, their endorsement of the Wu family allowed the Wu family to firmly occupy a place in the area outside the Great Wall, where powerful clans were numerous.

After Li Dachui split the Northern Yuan and unified the area outside the Great Wall, he naturally would not tolerate such a good place and good business continuing to be controlled by local powerful families. Businesses such as salt, iron, and grain could only be managed by the government. The economy outside the Great Wall had to be anchored to bulk commodities such as grain and salt. Only with official control could it be ensured that there would be no major ups and downs and that it would not be arbitrarily exploited.

The Beiting Protectorate naturally adopted a policy of diplomacy before resorting to force.

If the Wu family is sensible enough to hand over the salt lake and then take their accumulated wealth to places like Tai'an City or Baoping City to enjoy life or do other business, then naturally everyone will benefit.

Unfortunately, the Wu family refused.

They believe that the salt lake has been the private property of the Wu family for over a hundred years, and even Linghu Ye has never tried to take it from them, so why should Li Dachui try to plunder it?
So upon receiving this invitation, their reaction was to mobilize their troops for war. At the same time, they immediately cut off the supply of salt to the entire Beiting Protectorate. This move immediately caused the price of salt outside the pass to skyrocket more than tenfold.

How could the Beiting Protectorate tolerate this?
Naturally I can't tolerate it.

Moreover, this also shows that salt, a vital national commodity, cannot be controlled by private individuals. Otherwise, if they were to pull this trick on you at any time, could you withstand it?

It's fine now, but what if the Beiting Protectorate is betrayed at some crucial moment in the future? Wouldn't that pose an even greater risk?
All risks must be nipped in the bud.

The Wu family of Yancheng's act of cutting off supplies immediately provided the Beiting Protectorate with the best pretext for war.

Deputy Protector-General Xiao Changche personally led the team, which included a number of formidable generals such as Gu Xiaoman, Xia Zhi, and Xiao Dongwei.

Wu's arrogance was not without its reasons.

The guys who monopolize the salt trade are all loaded.

Therefore, the Wu family's army was quite formidable. More importantly, the Northern Yuan actually had troops stationed here. Although they never flew the Northern Yuan flag to avoid provoking the Qin army, everyone knew the truth.

A long, drawn-out horn sounded ahead, and a faint black line could be seen appearing on the horizon. Then, countless flags suddenly appeared in everyone's field of vision.

It must be said that Wu Zheng, the current head of the Wu family, is quite courageous. At least outside the Great Wall, under the current circumstances, there is really no one else who dares to confront Xiao Changche head-on and is prepared to have a real fight.

Because those who challenged Beiting before him are all dead now.

Ironclad led his skinny horse to Xiao Changche.

Xiao Changche glanced at him sideways, but his gaze was mostly fixed on the skinny horse that Qian Jia was leading.

Qian Jia coughed and said, "Protector, we have already made arrangements with the Yuan people. They will withdraw immediately after the outbreak of war."

Xiao Changche nodded: "They're smart enough to know what's good for them! Otherwise, we would have taken them all down!"

The Yuan cavalry stationed at the salt lake belonged to the personal guard of Akdun, the capital of Yan.

The salt lake was once Akdun's source of wealth, and even now, it remains something Akdun finds hard to part with.

However, faced with the aggressive negotiations from the Beiting Protectorate, Akdun had no choice but to abandon the salt lake.

Because there was no salt from the Wu family of Salt Lake, and no salt from the Beiting Protectorate.

The Beiting Protectorate has taken over the salt lake. The salt still needs to be sold, and money still needs to be made. They can get a higher price for it and then add a little more when reselling it.

But if you offend the Beiting Protectorate, and they ally with the Tiele in a fit of anger, then you'll be in for a world of trouble.

In fact, let alone an alliance, he couldn't stand the fact that the Beiting Protectorate had cut off all trade ties with him.

After weighing the pros and cons, they had no choice but to sell the Wu family to the Beiting Protectorate.

Of course, the price offered by the Beiting Protectorate this time was also quite good.

In addition to promising to continue supplying salt at a fair price, they also revealed to them that the Tiele had purchased a large amount of strategic materials from the Beiting region, and explicitly stated that these materials were purchased by the Tiele for Jebe in the north.

Jebe has allied with the Tiele, which is not good news, and of course, we must do everything we can to sabotage it.

After finishing this, Qian Jia, noticing that Xiao Changche's eyes were still fixed on his horse, said dryly, "This horse is as thin as I am."

Xiao Changche snorted coldly, extended his spear, and pressed it against the saddle of the skinny horse. With just a light press, the horse neighed, raised its head to look at Xiao Changche, and slowly grew fat. Watching its fur spread out layer by layer, Qian Jia's eyes darted around. Suddenly, he reached out and pulled away Xiao Changche's spear, flipped himself onto the horse, reined in the horse, and with a shout, the horse shot off, leaping more than ten zhang in one bound.

"What a fine horse!" The group of people around him, all connoisseurs, praised it loudly while laughing heartily at Qian Jia's disheveled escape.

"Still trying to hide it from me! I'll get rid of you sooner or later!" Xiao Changche said irritably, brandishing his gun.

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter again.

In fact, Xiao Changche's horse, Xiao Hei, used to be Li Dachui's mount. In the entire area outside the Great Wall, it's probably hard to find a better warhorse than Xiao Hei.

However, people like Xiao Changche, upon seeing a fine horse, want to possess it. Everyone was already silently mourning for Qian Jia; he wouldn't be able to keep this horse sooner or later. At the very least, it would have to stay on Qiyue Island for a few months to be bred before it would be released.

"Gu Xiaoman!"

"Your subordinate is here!" Gu Xiaoman stepped forward on his horse.

"The Yuan cavalry will leave after the battle begins, leaving a huge gap on the Wu clan's left flank. Lead your troops and charge in!"

"As ordered!"

"Xiao Dongwei!"

"The general is here!"

"Lead your troops, flank and outflank the enemy, surround him from behind. I don't want their main cavalry force to escape!"

"As ordered!"

Summer Solstice!

"Your subordinate is here!" Xia Zhi, dressed in red armor and a red cloak, rode forward.

"Your unit is in reserve; your task is to clean up the battlefield after the war."

"Okay!" Xia Zhi pouted!

"What did you say? I didn't hear you!" Xiao Changche glanced at Xia Zhi.

"Yes, sir!" Xia Zhi shouted.

Xiao Changche took out the demon mask from her bosom, slowly put it on her face, and then waved her hand. The generals surrounding her immediately spurred their horses and galloped to their respective troops.

With his gun raised, Xiao Hei slowly walked forward.

Behind him, a thousand guards followed closely, and a wedge formation naturally formed.

No one needs to give orders; after fighting alongside Xiao Changche for so many years, everyone has become highly skilled.

Xiao Changche's five thousand iron cavalry swept across the border, among whom a thousand personal guards were the main force that followed Xiao Changche in breaking through the enemy lines. For every one that died, one was brought in to replace him.

Behind him were two bodyguards, one holding a flag and the other raising a bugle.

As the bugle sounded, Xiao Changche began to gradually accelerate.

A thick arrow shot straight toward the enemy in the distance.

Behind him, Xiao Dongwei led four thousand light cavalry, following at a leisurely pace.

The commander-in-chief broke through the enemy lines, his personal guards tore open a gap, and these light cavalrymen immediately followed. They had fought countless battles like this, and were always victorious.

Behind them, Xia Zhi stood beneath the central army banner, holding drumsticks in both hands, vigorously striking the large cowhide drum in front of her, which was not much shorter than her, her eyes filled with envy.

She also wanted to be at the forefront of the charge, but Xiao Changche's words shut her up.

We can talk about breaking through the formation when we reach the ninth rank of the Profound Origin Realm.

Otherwise, it would end up like that bloody mess under the walls of Yuan'an City again, and I wouldn't be able to explain it to Li Dachui.

This infuriated Xia Zhi to the point of despair, yet she couldn't refute it.

I just recently broke through to the eighth rank of Xuan Yuan, and the ninth rank is still too far away for me.

Even Xiaoman has only just advanced!
Wu Zheng was furious.

Yancheng has always held the Protectorate General in high esteem, and has never shortchanged the tribute paid to Andong, Anxi, or Beiting.

But that doesn't mean Yancheng is afraid of you.

This battle must be fought.

Hit a punch to avoid a hundred punches.

If we win this battle, we'll send someone to Aquarius City to apologize, say some nice things, and offer them some money to try and settle things peacefully.

Isn't it better to maintain the status quo?
Why do you always want to eat alone?

The Wu family has been operating in Yancheng for over a century; they are not pushovers. The demise of the Yan family has served as a wake-up call for the Wu family. In the past two years, they have been strengthening their military; they are not foolish enough to fight you on the outer front.

We definitely can't beat you on the outside, but when we're on our own turf, it's hard to say who will win!
Looking at the mighty army marching forward, Wu Zheng felt a surge of pride.

On the flank, a seemingly inconspicuous force of three thousand cavalrymen was actually the personal guard of the Northern Yuan emperor, and their strength was beyond doubt.

Xiao Changche, even if you're a tyrant, this time I'll make sure you lose your front teeth in Yancheng.

Let me show you that the area outside the Great Wall is not a place where you can do whatever you want.

Let's sit down and have a good talk; making money together is the right thing to do.

(End of this chapter)