Isolated town in northern border region

Where are the sons of the northern frontier?

"exist!"

…………

"What should we do when our country and family are in peril?"

"Defend our homes! Protect our country!"

…………

"Now that the northern barbarians have no soldiers willing to fight, it is the time to reclaim the northern frontier!"

"Soldiers of the Northern Frontier, follow me on my expedition!"

"Drive out the northern barbarians and reclaim our land!"

Just five days after the battle of Youzhou, Xiao Lie spent most of all the money and food he had accumulated, and took advantage of the great victory to have Shen Chongyuan and Chen Hu recruit soldiers like crazy!

In just five days, Xiao Lie expanded his army to 120,000!

Although the new recruits had almost no training, fortunately, Xiao Lie hadn't originally expected them to be on the front lines anyway.

The Northern Barbarians were nomadic by nature, and even though they occupied five states on the border of the Great Chu, they had no intention of settling down there; they came purely to plunder.

In addition, Timur was first defeated in Cangwu City, then intimidated by the Trapped Camp on the border of Cangzhou, and now Youzhou has been defeated head-on by Xiao Lie, so he can only flee in panic!

Xiao Lie was certain that Timur would never dare to fight again at this point, and as for those small tribes, they had probably already fled back to the grasslands with the looted money!

Given this situation, recovering Yunzhou, Shuozhou, and Daizhou will be effortless, provided the momentum is strong enough!

Sure enough, Xiao Lie led his troops to chase after Timur all the way, and in just half a month, he recovered the entire northern frontier!

The five prefectures of the Northern Frontier are all under Xiao Lie's control!

After taking full control of the northern frontier, Xiao Lieqian's first task was to station troops and cultivate the land, and to build fortresses along the northern border to completely transform the northern frontier into an impregnable fortress!

Then came the mining of coal, and with the craftsmen conducting repeated experiments, they finally achieved blast furnace coking!

The temperature of coke is several times higher than that of ordinary firewood, and the blacksmiths produced their first batch of steel in just three days after obtaining the new fuel!

Although this batch of steel cannot compare with the alloy steel of the previous life, in this era, it is a complete game-changer.

Xiao Lie personally tested it, and the battle sword made of the new steel could easily cut through the previous battle sword!

If they could be deployed in large numbers on the battlefield, it would be a complete crushing victory!

Of course, it wasn't enough to just smelt steel and forge weapons and armor. Xiao Lie also worked diligently to mine limestone. Now that he could produce coke, he could naturally produce cement as well.

Just as Xiao Lie was contemplating how to utilize his talent as an infrastructure construction maniac, a new problem suddenly appeared and grabbed him by the neck.

Inside the government office, Xiao Lie, covered in lime, was engrossed in writing and drawing at his desk when Qian Wanli rushed in carrying an account book.

"Your Highness! Stop immediately!"

"We're out of money in northern Xinjiang!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lie's pen fell onto the drawing with a click.

"What?"

"I collected so much commercial tax in Cangzhou, and it's all just gone like that?"

"Old Qian, if you don't give me an explanation today, I'm going to investigate the accounts!"

Xiao Lie's eyes widened, and he roared out.

Qian Wanli looked miserable and aggrieved.

"Your Highness! Back when Cangzhou was short of grain, it was you who allowed those merchant caravans to use grain to offset their taxes!"

"Now you're expanding the army, recruiting craftsmen, building fortresses here, and repairing blast furnaces there. You're even ordering us to have three meals a day."

"The grain in the granary is dwindling, and we're completely out of money. You can't do anything about it even if you tear the account books to shreds!"

As Xiao Lie listened to Qian Wanli's complaints, his anger gradually subsided.

"Alright! I understand."

"Old Qian, I was too anxious just now, don't take it to heart."

Qian Wanli sighed and leaned close to Xiao Lie's ear.

"Your Highness! I have failed to share your burdens, and I deserve to be scolded!"

"But if this continues, we'll run out of food in less than a month!"

"I think we should exempt the craftsmen from meals, even if it's just one meal a day!"

"They're just craftsmen. Your Highness drove out the northern barbarians and saved the people of the northern frontier from suffering. I doubt they'll say anything more."

Xiao Lie shook his head repeatedly upon hearing this.

Others may not know the hardships of mining coal and burning lime, but he does.

This kind of work is inherently dangerous, and over time it can lead to occupational diseases. If they don't even provide meals, Xiao Lie simply can't live with himself.

However, Xiao Lie must now strengthen his power as quickly as possible and cannot afford to stagnate because of a little money and food.

Because the news of the liberation of the northern frontier should have reached the capital by now, and that good uncle on the dragon throne will definitely try to trip us up!

If the Northern Frontier cannot develop rapidly and possess the strength that the imperial court and the Northern Barbarians fear, once it is attacked from both sides, it will probably only be able to blow itself up and go into hiding, just as Zhou Xun said!

The crucial point is that although northern Xinjiang is developing rapidly, it is still in its initial stage and cannot immediately form an industry to generate income and food.

Xiao Lie closed his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

"Old Qian, the workers' benefits will remain the same, I'll figure out the money and food issue myself."

Seeing Xiao Lie's worried expression, Qian Wanli immediately knelt down.

"Your Highness, I am willing to give my entire fortune to aid the northern frontier!"

"I will go back and sell the family property immediately! That should buy me another half month."

Xiao Lie quickly helped Qian Wanli up.

"Old Qian, I appreciate your kind intentions!"

"But things haven't gotten to that point yet."

"Alright, please sit for a while. I'll summon them all here so we can think this over together."

Xiao Lie paced back and forth in the government office, while Qian Wanli sat to the side with a worried expression. After a while, Shen Chongyuan, Xiao Xiong, Chen Hu, and Zhou Xun arrived one after another.

"We're out of money now, but the coal yard, cement plant, and military operations can't be shut down. Does anyone know a way to make money? Please tell me."

Xiao Lie's words silenced the entire room.

Shen Chongyuan, Xiao Xiong, and Chen Hu are all capable of leading troops into battle, while Zhou Xun is good at analyzing the situation but lacks practical experience.

Qian Wanli, the most shrewd businessman, raised his eyelids and looked at Xiao Lie with a helpless expression.

Well, there's nothing we can do!

Fortunately, Xiao Lie also let go.

"Speak up, even if you're wrong, it doesn't matter. Maybe the solution will come out as we talk."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Chen Hu began to curse.

"Damn it! It's all those Tartars!"

"They came to our northern border to burn, kill, and loot, and after one trip, we weren't left with a single hair!"

Xiao Xiong, who was standing to the side, also had a short temper.

"Exactly! I think we should just ride our horses across the grasslands, grab any tribe we can, and rob them!"

"If we grab a few more, we might be able to recover some of our losses."

Shen Chongyuan glanced at the two clueless young men, and his lips twitched violently.

"Your Highness, in my humble opinion, we should abandon the idea of ​​galloping across the grasslands. Although General Xiao is familiar with the grasslands, sending too few troops to raid them would be risky. Too many troops would just be another expense, and we might not even break even!"

"After all, how much wealth can each of those small tribes possibly have in total?"

"In my humble opinion, it would be better to hold another trade fair at the border to attract more caravans to settle in the northern frontier. At worst, we can collect two years' worth of trade taxes at once, which can solve our immediate problem."

Shen Chongyuan was steady in his work, and the ideas he put forward were indeed more realistic than those two murderers, Xiao Xiong and Chen Hu.

Before Xiao Lie could speak, Zhou Xun stood up.

Zhou Xun first bowed to Shen Chongyuan before speaking.

"Your Highness, we have just driven the Northern Barbarians back to the grasslands. If we invite them to trade now, I'm afraid they will not agree."

"Firstly, Timur is still the Khan. If he were to come and do business with us after just being beaten, the people of the steppe would spit on him!"

"Secondly, if we take the initiative to propose trade, the Northern Barbarians will surely deduce that we are short of money and supplies, which could lead to trouble!"

When Shen Chongyuan saw Zhou Xun refuting him, he was not angry. Instead, he raised his teacup and bowed respectfully from afar.

"What this young man says is correct; I, your humble servant, have been reckless in my consideration."

At this moment, Xiao Lie was completely lost in thought, staring at the roof beams of the government office, seemingly preoccupied with something.

The group exchanged glances, afraid of disturbing Xiao Lie's thoughts, and waited silently to the side.

"Your Highness? Your Highness!"

It wasn't until Bisu came in a second time to change the tea that Xiao Lie was gently awakened.

"Rob it! Rob the hell out of him!"

"Xiao Xiong, you don't need to bring too many people. Just go and cause trouble on the grasslands!"

"Remember when we trained the hawks last time?"

"I'll have them tortured to death!"

Xiao Xiong was completely bewildered.

"Your Highness, if we bring too few people, we won't be able to bring back any cattle or sheep, except perhaps to set a fire!"

"Aren't we short of money?"

Xiao Lie waved his hand.

"Don't worry about the rest, just remember these two points."

"First, hunt wherever you can and eat wherever you want; don't stay in one place for too long, just roam freely across the grasslands!"

"Secondly, the same old rule: run if you encounter Tug!"

Zhou Xun heard this and his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Your Highness! Are you trying to extort money from Tugezhu?"

Xiao Lie laughed heartily.

"That's right!"

"Since it's pointless for the smaller tribes to fight over it, let's force their leader to give back what he's eaten!"

"What Tug needs most right now is prestige, I'll give it to him!"

"But it's only fair to reciprocate; he has to show some sincerity, hehehe..."