Chapter 683 Desert Project

"Your Majesty, are you planning to send troops to conquer the extreme south now?" Iron Ax's usually calm face showed a rare excitement, "But the evil moon is coming soon..."

"How many people do you think are left in Neverwinter to deal with the swarming evil beasts?"

"This..." He took a deep breath and suppressed his excited expression. "If you look at the scale of the previous year, a thousand people can hold the city wall."

"So for the sake of conservatism, leaving 2,500 soldiers should be more than enough, not to mention that the new batch of reserve troops has already started to recruit, so there is no problem in defending Neverwinter." Roland stood up and walked to the French windows, "I Tell me about the extreme south, you should be the person who is most familiar with it.”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Iron Ax made a military salute, "Most of the land in the extreme south is covered with yellow sand, and the oases are scattered along Yinchuan to the west of the desert. More than 90% of the Mojin people live in these oases. On the largest oasis There is a city built, and it is also the only city in the extreme south - Iron Sand City."

"Is Yinchuan a river?"

"It can only be regarded as half a river," Iron Ax explained. "Most of the time, it is buried underground, just like the underground Styx, and the part exposed to the ground forms an oasis, so the Mojin people also call it Be the river of life."

Roland turned around and asked curiously, "Where did it originate? From the map, there are no mountains or lakes nearby."

"It comes from the sea, and it is a gift from the Sea God." Iron Ax walked to the table, pointing to the connection between the west side of the Extreme South Territory and the green land. "There is a huge cave here. You can feel the vibrations in the soles of your feet when you are on it.”

"You mean, sea water is the source of Yinchuan? But it can obviously breed oasis."

The ability to breed oases means that Yinchuan is a freshwater river - the seawater is too salty to be used for irrigation and drinking, which sounds completely unreasonable.

"The mother of the earth absorbed the salt in the sea water, and the whole area was covered with white salt powder, which also isolated the green space of Graycastle. When you need to use salt, you only need to pick up a bucket and scoop it on the ground."

Is this a miracle of nature? The soil under the yellow sand actually filtered the salt, and formed a saline-alkali land? Roland was amazed. It seemed that besides oil, he had another resource that needed to be collected.

"How many people live in Iron Sand City?"

"Around forty thousand."

"It's actually more than the old capital of Graycastle?"

"Your Majesty, the city of the sand people is different from the capital of the kingdom," Iron Ax smiled. "Iron Sand City has only one core city area, which is for the rulers of the six clans to live in, and the outer periphery is basically tents or thatched bungalows, layer by layer. After the expansion, it gradually formed what it is today—as long as you enter the scope of the oasis, you are considered to have entered the territory of Iron Sand City."

"What about the Mojin people living in other oases? There should be a lot of them, right?" Roland asked. Population is the key to quickly converting local specialties into usable resources. It is unlikely that he will dispatch a large number of people from Neverwinter to extract oil, and in the end he will have to use local people to work for him.

The commander-in-chief nodded, "No one has counted, but I estimate there are at least 100,000 people."

Then it should be enough to establish several mining stations and a transportation line, and the next question is how to control them.

"By the way, what happened to the sacred duel you mentioned last time? How did the Mojin people determine the right to rule?"

This time Iron Ax's answer was very detailed. It took almost half an hour for Roland to figure out how the sand people compete for power.

Putting aside the promotion within the clan, for these aliens who advocate force, strong strength is the only trustworthy thing. The ruling class of Iron Sand City is usually composed of six clans. They are not the same line of life, but have been fought for by their own strength. However, in order to prevent the various clans from fighting for power and profit, causing the clans to weaken their ability to deal with external dangers, it is the best choice to pick a small number of people as representatives for a duel.

Over time, this rule has been recognized by all sand people, and it has been endowed with a sacred meaning-whether it is a big clan resident in Iron Sand City or a small clan born in the oasis, they must abide by the results of the sacred duel. Anyone who defiles the duel will be spurned by all the sand people.

"Is the highest authority of the Mojin people the patriarchs of all the tribes?" Roland asked puzzled, "Don't you have people like great chiefs?"

"Big... chief?"

"It is the leader who can unify all the clans, similar to the king of Graycastle."

"This..." Iron Ax hesitated for a moment, "There is a saying among the clans that there are only two ways to make all the sand people submit - one is to get the affirmation and blessing of the three gods, and the other is to serve the clan. Open up a vast oasis, eliminate the sandstorms that block the sky, and keep the sand people away from the threat of hunger, thirst and death."

"The three gods are sure... how do you calculate this?" Roland frowned.

"It is enough to offer corresponding sacrifices to the three gods in the burning land, namely the iron-clad giant scorpion that rules the earth, the one-horned sea beast that rules the extreme southern cape, and the four-winged eagle that rules the sky." Iron Ax paused , "These three wild beasts appeared like ghosts and ghosts, and took countless lives, but no one has ever found their lairs, and the bait and traps are even more useless—I even guess that they may be hybrid evil beasts that already have basic wisdom."

The two conditions are not easy to achieve, especially the second one, which can make the desert grow an oasis, which is almost close to the power of the gods. Roland couldn't help but fell into deep thought. If Hui Yin was only allowed to regain the position of patriarch and avenge the frame-up five years ago, it would not be of much help to unify the entire South Extreme Territory. Although the status of the six clans is different, they have no direct affiliation, let alone those sand people scattered in the oasis. He had to find a way to make himself the great chief of the Mojin tribe.

In addition, the sacred duel must also be considered. The First Army may be able to defeat the iron sand city guards in a devastating manner, but it may not be so easy to make the sand people consciously obey the rule.

The most suitable method is to use the rules set by the Mojin tribe themselves to realize the annexation plan.

"Can people from other races be invited to a duel?"

"There is no problem with this," Iron Ax affirmed, "I am a half-breed, but I can still participate in duels instead of the Osha clan. In fact, brave gladiators are often welcomed by major clans, and this is also the reason for small clans to stand up. The only hope—if there are three or four heroes in the descendants, there is hope for a better ranking in the holy duel."

"Really?" Roland smiled slightly, "Since this is the case, it will be much easier."