Isolated town in northern border region

After the uprising, the Northern Barbarian army completely collapsed.

Timur, with the desperate protection of his guards, fought his way through the chaotic army and fled north.

Behind them, tens of thousands of soldiers were killing each other in the darkness, their screams, cries, and the clash of swords blending together like the wailing of purgatory.

At dawn, the wilderness in northern Cangzhou was littered with corpses.

Weapons, armor, severed limbs, and broken arms were everywhere.

Those who were still alive had already scattered and fled, and the battlefield was as quiet as a dead zone.

Xiao Lie stood on the high slope, looking at the devastated battlefield in the distance, and remained silent for a long time.

Xiao Xiong stood beside him on horseback, his black armor still stained with blood.

His face showed no joy of victory, only a complex expression that was hard to describe.

"Young Master..."

He spoke with difficulty.

"The riot was so devastating... Did you intend to drive them mad from the very beginning?"

"A wailing cry..."

Xiao Lie's voice was very soft.

"I never imagined that the harassment during this period would push the Northern Barbarians to such a point."

"However, I have also learned some lessons."

Xiao Xiong tilted his head curiously, his gaze shifting from the battlefield to Xiao Lie's face.

"Only with a strong will, absolute trust among comrades, and absolute execution can your brothers survive in truly desperate situations."

Xiao Xiong bowed deeply.

"Young Master's foresight is beyond my capabilities."

Over the next two weeks, Xiao Lie divided his forces into three routes and completely recaptured Cangzhou.

Xiao Xiong led the Canglang cavalry northward to wipe out the remnants of the Northern Barbarians, pursuing them all the way to the border of Cangzhou.

Timur led his remaining troops back to the grasslands, and was no longer able to advance south in the short term.

Shen Chongyuan was seriously injured, so he temporarily ordered his deputy general Chen Hu to lead the garrison of Cangwu City and the new recruits gathered along the way to take charge of the various counties and maintain order.

The entire territory of Cangzhou, from Cangwu City in the far north to Cangnan City in the far south, has finally returned to the hands of the Great Chu intact.

On the day they entered the city, Xiao Lie did not hold a grand military parade.

He simply led the Azure Wolf Riders, slowly walking along the main street of Cangnan City.

The city was filled with people who had returned after hearing the news.

They looked at the boy on horseback with blank stares.

Were the northern barbarians really driven away?

Are we finally able to live a peaceful life?

Finally... this day has come?

Xiao Lie reined in his horse, looked around, and dismounted.

"Fellow villagers, I am late!"

"Now that the Northern Barbarians have withdrawn from Cangzhou, you can all go home!"

"After this calamity, nine out of ten households in Cangzhou are now empty..."

"I have decided that, from this day forward, I will gather the refugees from the five northern states. Anyone who registers in my Cangzhou will receive their own land, and those who wish to join the army will receive double the amount!"

"Residents of Cangzhou are exempt from taxes for one year; if someone in their family is serving in the military, they are exempt from taxes for three years!"

In an instant!

The cheers of the people rose and fell, lasting for a long time.

Xiao Lie could imagine that as long as this news spread for a while, Cangzhou would no longer be short of soldiers!

However, for now, we must be wary of the northern barbarians making a comeback.

The northern border of Cangzhou stretches from Cangwu City all the way to the Cangshan Mountains, spanning over 300 li.

This land is flat and undefended, allowing the northern barbarian cavalry to come and go as they please.

The fall of Cangzhou was due in part to the incompetence of the defending army, and in part to the fact that this plain was indefensible.

Xiao Lie stood on the open field outside the north gate of Cangwu City, looking at the boundless wasteland with a furrowed brow.

Xiao Xiong rode his horse behind him and whispered.

"Young Master, this plain is too open, and our Great Chu border army is mainly composed of infantry. If the Northern Barbarians invade southward again, it will be difficult to defend."

"It would be great if we could build a city wall to enclose this area."

"Build city walls?"

Xiao Lie shook his head.

"How long will it take to fix?"

"Besides, the imperial court won't even give me a single grain of rice now, so what am I supposed to use for repairs?"

Xiao Xiong fell silent.

Xiao Lie did not continue speaking.

He squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and kneaded it in his hands.

The soil in Cangzhou is a type of loess with strong stickiness, which becomes sticky and thick when mixed with water.

He suddenly remembered a post he had seen on a forum in his previous life, about Qi Jiguang building barracks.

"Xiao Xiong, send someone to find some bricklayers and bamboo weavers!"

"Also, how good are you at archery? How far can you shoot?"

Xiao Xiong didn't understand why Xiao Lie suddenly brought this up. Although he was a little puzzled, he still patted his chest confidently.

"Young Master, rest assured! When it comes to riding and archery on the grasslands, my Canglang tribe fears no one. As for this humble general..."

"Hehe, this is the Eagle Shooter of the Azure Wolf Tribe!"

Xiao Lie couldn't help but burst into laughter when he saw Xiao Xiong's smug expression.

"Very well! Then please accompany me, General, to test my archery and horsemanship on this three-hundred-mile plain!"

The two rode their horses at full gallop, with Xiao Lie occasionally having Xiao Xiong shoot an arrow while he himself sketched on the military map for three days.

Three days later, Xiao Lie led Xiao Xiong and Chen Hu into the government office and met with a group of craftsmen.

"General Xiao, you and Chen Hu should discuss this. Twenty men should be formed into a team, with each team including one bricklayer and one bamboo weaver. Go to the place I have drawn on the map and build the fortress."

Xiao Lie spread the map on the ground. The red dots on the map were densely packed and interlocked, forming three lines of defense.

"I intend to build a fortress every arrow's length along the northern border of Cangzhou."

"Each fortress is garrisoned with twenty soldiers, and equipped with ample arrows and oil."

"If the Northern Barbarians come again, these fortresses will break up their cavalry formation. Our soldiers can simply light the beacon fires and shoot down the Northern Barbarian Tartars from their high ground."

"Moreover, each fortress can support the others, leaving the northern barbarians nowhere to hide!"

Xiao Xiong and Chen Hu exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with shock. Chen Hu quickly spoke up.

"Your Highness! Your method is good, but building so many fortresses will definitely take at least a year or two."

Xiao Xiong nodded in agreement.

"Yes! By then, the Northern Barbarians will have already recovered their strength."

"In my humble opinion, it would be better to recruit new soldiers and train them properly!"

"I have a method that won't take a year or two; if things go quickly, it could be done in just one or two months!"

Xiao Lie smiled and took out a bag of soil from the Cangnan Plain from his pocket, looking at the craftsman in front of him.

"Could any experienced craftsman take a look and see if this mud can be used to build an earthen wall?"

At this moment, an experienced craftsman standing at the front stepped forward at the urging of the crowd.

"Your Highness, I am Ma Laosan, and my family has been doing masonry work for three generations. It's a family tradition."

Xiao Lie nodded and handed over the soil. Ma Laosan pinched the yellow clay and immediately replied.

"Your Highness, this soil is excellent! It has great adhesiveness; the walls built from it will be incredibly sturdy!"

Xiao Lie raised his chin.

"If you mix grass roots into the soil, it will become even stronger!"

"Moreover, I do not need you to compact the soil layer by layer. Just build a frame with bamboo strips first, then compact the soil mixed with grass roots into bricks, and then build on top of it."

"One layer of bamboo strips is woven, and another layer of mud bricks is filled in. In less than three days, a two-story fortress can be built."

"Once the grass roots sprout from the mud bricks, they will connect the entire fortress into one!"

As Ma Laosan and a group of craftsmen listened to Xiao Lie's words, their eyes widened as they imagined the scene unfolding before their eyes.

"Your Highness, you are truly a celestial being!"

"This technique is even faster than my family's ancestral craft!"

"This skill is enough to be passed down through generations, and the Prince has taught it to us..."

Xiao Lie bent down and took Ma Laosan's hand.

"Master Ma, I'm just offering some suggestions. The future of the entire Cangzhou depends on you building it brick by brick."

"Moreover, besides these fortresses, Cangzhou is also lacking in civilian housing, and the refugees from the northern border are all heading towards us!"

"Those are all people from our Great Chu!"

"This time, Prince Ning of Great Chu, Xiao Lie, entrusts this matter to you all!"

As Xiao Lie spoke, he bowed deeply to the craftsmen.

The craftsmen's eyes immediately filled with tears, and their faces flushed red!

This prince not only drove away the northern barbarians, but also cared about the lives of us ordinary people!

Ma Laosan knelt down excitedly, raised three fingers to the sky, and swore an oath.

"I, Ma Laosan, hereby swear!"

"The fortress will be completed within three months to help the Prince defend against the northern barbarians!"

…………

True to his word, Ma Laosan set off with the craftsmen that very day.

Three days later, the first fortress was erected on the Cangnan Plain.

Xiao Lie went to see for himself and slashed at the wall a few times with his sword, but the wall only had a slight dent.

He then had someone bring in a battering ram, which he rammed into the wall dozens of times, causing several cracks to appear, but the wall did not collapse.

Xiao Xiong stood to the side, dumbfounded.

"Young Master, where did you get this method?"

Xiao Lie smiled.

"Um... just take it as the late emperor appearing in a dream."

From that day on, hundreds of fortresses were built simultaneously across the open fields three hundred miles north of Cangzhou.

The people cut bamboo, wove frames, and tamped down the soil, working day and night.

Xiao Lie deployed all available manpower to this line.

In one month, 160 fortresses were erected along the northern line of Cangzhou!

Two months, nearly four hundred seats!

In three months, along the 300-mile border, fortresses stood in rows, one every arrow's length.

Each fortress was equipped with a beacon tower; if the northern barbarians made a move, beacon fires would be lit across the sky.

Xiao Lie can receive the news within half an incense stick's time and promptly dispatch troops.

Of course, all of this could not be kept from the Northern Barbarian spies, and Xiao Lie never intended to hide it from them.

The scouts sent by Timur lay prone on the edge of the grassland, looking at the cluster of fortresses that had suddenly appeared, their faces ashen as if they had eaten shit.

When he returned to report, Timur remained silent for a long time before asking a question that silenced everyone.

"Is that kid a human or a ghost?"

As the fortress was being built, Xiao Lie also officially issued the decree for land reclamation.

Anyone who settles in Cangzhou, regardless of their place of origin, status, or ethnicity, will be allocated one mu of land and exempted from taxes for one year. If someone in their family is serving in the military, they will be exempt from taxes for three years.

Moreover, land reclamation is ongoing throughout Cangzhou, and more land can be acquired based on military merits in the future.

The land deed was issued on the spot, stamped with the official seal of the Prince of Ning's Mansion, and would never be taken back.

The first group of refugees arrived on the third day after the notice was posted.

They fled Youzhou after hearing the news, dragging their families along, dressed in rags.

Xiao Lie personally received them at the city gate, allocated land to them, distributed grain, and arranged accommodation for them.

The news spread like wildfire throughout northern Xinjiang.

Youzhou, Yunzhou, Shuozhou, Daizhou...

Those people who had been killed by the Northern Barbarians, leaving their families destroyed and displaced, flooded into Cangzhou like a tidal wave.

Within a month, the population of Cangzhou skyrocketed from less than 50,000 to 150,000!

Two months, 200,000!

Three months, 300,000!

Xiao Lie welcomed all who came, registering them all and making them part of the common people.

He established the Tuntian Division and organized production in a militarized manner: fifty people formed a Tun, with a Tun chief appointed.

A battalion of five hundred men was established, with a military agricultural commissioner appointed for each battalion.

Farm tools, seeds, and oxen were distributed by the government, and 20% of the cost was reimbursed after the autumn harvest.

If you can't repay, you can extend the repayment period for up to three years without any increase in interest.

At the same time, Xiao Lie also faced a new problem—he was out of food!

The entire Cangzhou had already been plundered by the Northern Barbarian Tartars, and now the newly planted grain was not yet ripe, leaving a gap between harvests!

Although they had made arrangements with major grain merchants such as Qian Wanli, the number of people was increasing, and the few major grain merchants alone could not support the economy.

The remaining food can only last a starving person for two months at most!

Just when Xiao Lie was worrying about food, he arrived with a barbarian from the north...

The visitor was an envoy from the Northern Barbarians, who came to sue for peace!

"The foreign envoy pays his respects to His Highness Prince Ning!"

"I have come on the orders of Great Khan Timur to sue for peace and present this letter of state, hoping that our two families may forever cease hostilities."

"Eternal cessation of war? Hmph!"

"What about the remaining four prefectures in my northern frontier?"

"What about the countless Chu people who died by your swords?"

The envoy was speechless after being asked the question, and it took him a long time to stammer out a reply.

"This...the land of four provinces...the Great Khan..."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear any more!"

"Go back and tell Timur that I am merely the Pacification Commissioner of the Northern Frontier and am not qualified to preside over peace talks. If he requests peace, he should send his letter of credence to the capital of Chu."

The messenger slunk away.

No sooner had the envoy left than Xiao Lie jumped up with joy!

"Xiao Xiong! Come quick! Come quick!"

"Send men to escort the Northern Barbarian envoys to the capital, and spread the news of their pleas for peace along the way!"

"Our food supply is secured!"