Chapter 165: The New Governor

Fontainelu, the largest city in the central territory of the Sea People, was the capital of a Grand Duchy that was conquered by the Sea People. The city is backed by mountains and faces the lake, and the crescent-shaped urban area extends along the largest freshwater lake in the central territory, and a stone road that is not more than three feet wide rises and falls along the shore of the lake, which is the largest traffic artery in the city. Less than three feet below the roadside embankment is the crystal clear water, and the waves crash against the clean and slippery roadbed rocks, making a tiny sound.

A clean and tidy cobblestone path runs from this lakeside promenade into the city and leads to a small mountain range behind the city. It is the season of spring flowers, and on the mountain range behind the Fontaine dew, the flowers of a very tall and very large tree are extremely gorgeous, red as neon, pink as frost, and flowers of various colors decorate the mountain range beautifully. Tiny castles and small wooden buildings with steeples of wood emerge from the trees, overlooking the reddish roofs of the city below.

It was a peaceful and tranquil city, and even when the sea people's armies first swarmed from the west to occupy it, they did not suffer any fire. Because the Grand Duke of this Grand Duchy was very wise, when hundreds of heavily armored knights under the command of the Grand Duke at that time were easily smashed to pieces by a heavy chariot of the sea people in the field, he immediately issued an order for the whole country to surrender. It is precisely because of his surrender that it has brought great convenience to the sea people to conquer the central territory, and for thousands of years, Yi Feng Dan Lu has been extremely favored by the sea people, not only the key support object of the sea people to build the central territory, but also has been greatly favored and cared for in all aspects. The inhabitants of Fontaine are happy and peaceful.

However, since last year, everything has changed.

First, a group of ferocious barbarians led countless monsters to sweep through Fontainelu, annihilating hundreds of elite troops of the sea people and tens of thousands of levies in the city. A massacre frightened the Grand Duke of Fontaine and countless courtiers and people. It was a cruel method they had never seen or heard of, and all the soldiers of the Sea Man Legion who were killed had no corpses.

Subsequently, the Sea People's army reoccupied the area and launched an attack to the east. According to the leader of the Sea Man Legion, the barbaric and primitive country in the East is about to be conquered by the Sea People. The people of Fontaine Lu cheered, and the army of sea people who were eating pot pulp and saw off the sea people even regarded themselves as the current Grand Duke of a pure sea people, and sent 3,000 knights of the guards to help in the battle.

But the good times did not last long, ushering in the complete rout of the Sea People's ground legions, and the army that was mobilized by the whole country and swept across the land like a swarm of locusts. Yfontaine was plundered by the only terrible plunder in history, and all food and wine, all materials that could be used as military supplies, were swept away. There were even some Xia soldiers who were not very disciplined and harmed the local people, so that three or four out of ten families in the city had to hold funerals, and as for the unmarried pregnancies, there were even more.

Therefore, the inhabitants of Fontaine Lu had the deepest fear and awe of the army from the country called Great Xia in the east. They were scourged, they were spoiled, they were ravaged, but they could not raise the slightest spirit of resistance. For thousands of years, the sea people's rule over them has perfectly brainwashed them. The strong are respected, respect the strong, and dedicate everything to the strong, which has become the consensus of the people in the territory of these sea people.

"Well, I like people like that. At least it won't cause us too much trouble. ”

Riding on Xuanwu's back armor, Xia Jie touched the slag of his beard that was a little prickly on his chin, and smiled meaningfully at the people who were densely holding flowers to greet them on the side of Hubin Avenue.

The sound of iron hooves, the mounts of the newly recruited 'barbarian' warriors, the triangular bison peculiar to the southern mountains and forests, impatiently kicked and beat the smooth stone slabs, making a dull sound of 'popping', and the heavy sound of hooves seemed to knock on the hearts of the people on the roadside, making some gorgeously dressed people who obviously had aristocratic status bow their heads in horror, bowed deeply ninety degrees, and expressed their most pious submission to Xia Jie, who led the army into the city.

Ai Wei, who was riding a pony and followed Xia Jie's side, gritted his teeth, looked angrily at the people on the side of the road, and scolded in a low voice: "These poor insects who have forgotten their roots, have they forgotten to be ......?"

The small bamboo whip in Xia Jie's hand gently tapped Ai Wei's shoulder, stopping Ai Wei's curse and complaining. Xia Jie sighed and said, "Ai Wei, you have to remember that because of your help to me during my first expedition to the west, I allowed you to rebuild your kingdom with your retainers. But don't you get me in trouble, okay?"

He looked deeply at Ai Wei, who was biting his lip with a resolute face, and sighed: "Remember one thing, I am just a small person in Great Xia who can be crushed to death by some people. It's not easy for me to let you return to the country, don't think about taking your weak motherland to resist our rule in Great Xia. ”

"Your motherland is not in the central territory that I guard, your motherland is in the eastern territory. And the current governor of the Eastern Territory, unfortunately, is a not-so-friendly enemy of mine, Xiang Liurou, who has a femme fatale heart. If you do something too excessive, I don't think he'll hesitate to slaughter all living beings in your country. Xia Jie solemnly admonished Ai Wei: "I allow you to come to Ifontaine to recruit a group of troops to bring back to your homeland, but I do not allow you to do something that may get me into trouble." ”

Xiang Liurou guards the eastern territory, which is really a fucking trouble. Xia Jie cursed angrily in his heart. However, there is no way, the positions of several governors are divided between the four great witch families and the royal court, since the governor of the central domain is he Xia Jie, then, the governor of the eastern domain has become Xiang Liurou, the governor of the northern territory has become several brothers of Shen Gongbao, and the governor of the southern territory has become a few capable sons of the Fengfeng family, which is also a matter of course.

Ai Wei, who bit her lip, nodded vigorously, she said a little unwillingly: "I'm not so stupid, the people of the sea have been completely conquered by you, how can I think of rebelling against you? I hope that the Xiang Liurou you mentioned will allow me to go and fight against the great nobles who have divided our motherland at the instigation of the sea people!"

Xingtian Dafeng rushed over from the side with a little evil smile, and he smiled and said: "Ai Wei, in fact, this matter is also simple, if you are willing to marry me Xingtian Dafeng as a concubine...... Alas, do you really dare to do it?" Ai Wei whipped on the back of Xingtian Gale's hand stretched out to her thigh, Xingtian Gale reluctantly withdrew his hand, his mouth purring, not knowing what he was complaining about.

Ahead was a gentle hillside, and a group of well-dressed people stood on the top of the hillside, looking at Xia Jie's group along the stone path. This slope is about two miles long, and Xia Jie and the others are standing at the bottom of the slope, and they have to raise their heads to see the group of people. Of course, these people were under the banner of welcoming the Great Xia garrison to enter Ifontalu, and the handwriting on the banner was twisted and ugly, obviously from the hands of some officials who were in a hurry to learn the Daxia script in Ifontalu.

Xia Jie ignored Xingtian Gale and Ai Wei's 'flirting and scolding', Xuanwu climbed up the stone road steadily, and gradually, he reached the end of the stone road. Several big fat men with oily faces blinked their small eyes and looked at Xia Jie motionlessly. The position they were standing in was relatively high, occupying the advantage of the terrain, and Xia Jie still had to look up at them.

With an unpleasant cold snort, Xia Jie patted Xuanwu's head. Xuanwu realized, and his body quickly swelled up, expanding into a big turtle ten feet high. Xia Jie stood up, stood on Xuanwu's back armor, glanced coldly at the frightened big fat men, and sneered, "Are you greeting us?"

Xuanwu's transformation frightened this group of nobles who had never seen anything in the world, and the leader of the big fat man in a golden and luxurious robe fell to his knees on the ground, and shouted in a trembling voice: "Your Excellency Governor, your most loyal servant, Grand Duke of Bailu and the nobles who are also loyal, welcome your arrival." ”

With a sneer, Xia Jie looked at the palace-like building behind the group. This is the end of the stone path, on the highest hill in the city of Fontainelu. There are about five or six miles of flat land, several buildings of strange style, the lower half is extremely thick and strong like a pillbox, and the upper half is a delicate, almost strange palace standing quietly. In the middle of the red and white palace there is a tall tower that is about 100 feet high, which should be shared by the watchtower, and standing on it, you can overlook the movement of the vicinity of Ifontaine Lu for hundreds of miles.

Behind this group of big fat men, nearly a thousand well-dressed men and women bowed to Xia Jie in fear, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

Xia Jieyou looked around, the location of this high hill is very good, just enough to see the urban area of Yifontaine and the lake outside the city, the scenery is excellent. Of course, if there is no group of fat people in front of you who are here to get the eye here, the scenery is even better. He couldn't help but sneer in his heart, these nobles who have been conquered by the sea people for thousands of years, I am afraid that the peaceful life has passed for too long, and they have no political sensitivity at all. They stood at such a high place to greet the conquering army of Great Xia, fortunately it was themselves who came here, if it was any other Great Xia general who led the army, I am afraid that this group of nobles would have been killed cleanly.

Shaking his head, too lazy to bully these nobles who had been trained by the sea people to be as well-behaved as slaves, Xia Jie motioned for Xuanwu to shrink his body, and the bamboo whip in his hand gently knocked on Willy Bailu's head: "I guarantee the safety of your family and your property." As long as you uphold the rule of my Great Xia and pay your grain, grass and taxes on time every three months, you can retain your noble position. Of course, you have to understand one thing, are you now the people of Great Xia, your aristocratic status...... Nobles of the second class. ”

Second-class nobles, that is, they enjoy privileges, but in front of the real Bactrian nobles, they are just unpopular characters. Retaining their own title of nobility is nothing more than saving a little trouble. But Xia Jie knew that the good days for these people to retain the title of nobility would not last long, and Great Xia would slowly digest these territories. When Great Xia has enough good appetite to swallow these new territories, these people will all become ordinary Great Xia people.

At this time, retaining their noble titles is nothing more than saving them from making trouble, and at the same time, it is just for them to appease the people in the territory.

They also rushed over with a strong wind. Ai Wei couldn't bear to glance at Grand Duke Bai Lu, who was lying on the ground in fear, and said in a low voice: "Lord Xia Jie, my army." ”

"Hmm!" Xia Jie nodded, and the bamboo whip struck the Grand Duke of Bailu hard. He said coldly: "You can keep five hundred guards, and the nobles under your command will be reduced in order of title." The rest of the extra guards and private armies are all left to Princess Aiwei, and she will lead them to do something. Princess Ai Wei wants to recruit an army of 30,000 people in the Duchy of Bailu, and you will be responsible for the salary, food and grass, understand?"

Soliu Rou can tolerate Ai Wei's restoration in his own territory, but he will definitely not agree to Ai Wei's conscription in his territory. Only Xia Jie, a witch whose style of acting is completely different from that of the great witches, would fulfill his promise to Ai Wei so softly.

Behind, thousands of warriors of the barbarian army rode tall triangular bison, dressed in pitch-black witch armor, and wore helmets with two sharp horns on their heads, like a group of devils from hell. With the appearance of this group of murderous warriors with ugly faces, more than 1,000 aristocratic men and women who greeted Xia Jie's party in the square softened to the ground at the same time, and some even shivered with feces and urine, and even more timid women were frightened and fainted.

Too lazy to look at this group of nobles who had no meaning to him, Xia Jie took it upon himself to assign these thousands of barbarian warriors to set up a military camp nearby. The barbarian army recruited by the Xingtian brothers in the barbarian country had a full five million people, and they almost swept away the remnants of the barbarian country's elite witch warriors. The five million Wuwu are all high-ranking warriors above the five Ding, and with a large number of other ordinary Wuwu and shamans, it is enough to hold the vast central territory. As long as more than 100 barbarian soldiers are stationed in each city, they can intimidate the people within a radius of tens of miles.

As the largest city in the Central Territory, the garrison of Fontaine will reach 200,000 men. 20,000 barbarian soldiers with high positions, and 180,000 low-ranking or non-elite, similar to the reserve army like the Black Gang Army and the Xuan Biao Army back then.

Although Xia Jie is not good at things like internal affairs, this is an era of convincing people with strength, as long as he has enough force to destroy the central collar, there is nothing to say about the rest. Mastering the army, and then urging the nobles and nobles everywhere to pay taxes and grain and grass on time, this is Xia Jie's main task now. Great Xia is mobilizing and cultivating enough officials in government affairs, preparing to slowly replace these original nobles.

As long as Great Xia had enough officials to rule this new territory, it would be the time when nobles such as Grand Duke Bailu in front of him would be completely abandoned. Of course, this process will be very long, because after defeating the sea people, the territory obtained is too large, more than ten times or even dozens of times larger than that of the Great Xia mainland, and the officials needed are too many. Even the major witch families can't draw so many manpower at all. Besides, they still have their own clan land to take care of?

Before Great Xia completely mastered the new territory, Xia Jie, the governor of the central territory, was going to work for a long time.

Not bothering to pay attention to these incompetent nobles, Xia Jie and his colleagues took care of themselves and commanded his generals to set up a large camp outside the city of Fontainelu. The 5,000 barbarians stationed in the city, plus the 195,000 troops stationed in the three large battalions on the north, west, and south sides of Fontainelu, were enough to suppress all the mutations within a radius of 1,000 miles.

The poor Grand Duke of Bai Lu dragged his fat wolf body, followed behind Xia Jie, busy in front of the saddle and behind the horse, and constantly instructed the people in the city to donate all kinds of materials to help the army arrange the barracks. At the same time, he also had to deal with Ai Wei's urging, gathered the private army in the hands of the nobles of the Bailu Principality, gathered 30,000 horses, and handed them over to Ai Wei.

After being so busy for four or five days, it was easy to settle the army of Great Xia, and Ai Wei also rushed to the eastern territory with 30,000 troops and a hundred expert guards who supported her by Xia Jie. It's just that Xia Jie, who was so busy that his heel hit the back of his head, resolutely refused his invitation, and Xingtian Dafeng, the only one of the Xingtian brothers who came to Imafontanlu, and Xia Jie's deputy Chi Starling also refused the invitation, which made Grand Duke Bailu anxious again, and he was busy offering a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry.

Xia Jie and Xingtian Gale, who were busy with their own affairs and refused the invitations of all the nobles in their territory, made these nobles suspicious to wonder if they had offended these terrible conquerors somewhere, and they even wondered if these conquerors were planning a massacre against these nobles. For it is said that the nobility of some of the countries of the Eastern Territory has been slain by the new governor.

The nobles, who felt that the future was precarious, hurriedly offered a large amount of wealth to Xia Jie. Thousands of years of family savings, the wealth offered by these nobles is very rich, and even the Xingtian Gale has a sense of almost suffocating consternation.

It happened that Xia Jie had already completed the work of thoroughly mastering these conscripted barbarian troops in accordance with Han Xin's instructions, and the five Xingtian Xuanlee brothers who led the army stationed in several other important cities also sent back the same news, so Xia Jie, who was in a relaxed mood, gladly accepted another kind invitation from Grand Duke Bai Lu and attended the palace banquet he held.

It was at this banquet that Xia Jie was challenged for the first time after becoming the governor.