Chapter 256: Lack of meat and manpower, someone sent it
April 28, the second year of Daxia

As soon as night fell, a large group of people rushed out of the gate of Wu Shuang Jushi Station. They were all armed, and a few of them were even wearing armor. When they walked out of the gate, they looked at the people of Da Xia with a hint of gratitude and emotion in their eyes.

I don’t know who was the first person in the crowd to turn around and bow to the iron gate. Seeing this, the people behind him followed suit and bowed respectfully to the iron gate before leaving.

Inside the iron gate, seeing the actions of the Longshan and Zhaoyang families in the Digging Realm, Qiu Peng showed a smile on his face, and chuckled to Xia Chuan and said:
“People are made of flesh and blood. The leader is right. These people were saved twice by Da Xia. Now we have returned all their weapons and equipment to them and let them all leave. No matter what, they will remember Da Xia’s kindness in their hearts.”

“But more than a little…”

Xia Chuan’s smile deepened as he shook his head and continued, “Think about what happened in Hulu Valley before, and you’ll understand why these people would bow down to him.”

Qiu Peng lowered his head and thought for a moment, then quickly reacted.

“By the way, the leader was killed by Li Xuanling and his men in Hulu Valley last night. The Diggers witnessed it with their own eyes. The Longshan group was even directly involved in the killing. The Zhaoyang group hid in the valley and watched from the beginning to the end. Even if they did not take direct action, they are still accomplices.”

After failing to kill Xia Hong, Li Xuanling led his men to continue attacking the inner valley. Hou Tong led his men to resist the enemy. Then Wu Xiong revealed his strange true form and started a massacre in the valley. He also drove away Li Xuanling and other cold-resistant level warriors, and was about to turn the entire Hulu Valley into a living hell.

It was at this point in time that Xia Hong appeared again and saved them!

After Qiu Peng figured out the whole context of the incident, he couldn’t help but look back in the direction of the main building where Xia Hong was, with sincere respect in his eyes.

“The killing of Hulu Valley was obviously a conspiracy between the Longshan and Zhaoyang families. After my eldest brother escaped, he not only did not bear grudges, but also went back to save them in times of crisis. This is not just a simple life-saving grace. If these 1600 people still have a little conscience, it is unlikely that they will take the initiative to attack our people in Daxia in the future.”

“Is this what the leader said before, repaying evil with kindness? I didn’t quite understand it before, but today I finally saw it.”

Although Qiu Peng now fully understood the actions of those people, what he felt more in his heart was respect and admiration for Xia Hong’s broad-mindedness.

“It all comes down to vision and perspective. What’s in my brother’s mind may be too grand. Not only you, but even I can’t understand it!”

Xia Chuan sighed slightly, and a sense of urgency arose in his heart. After four months, when he saw Xia Hong again, he felt very clearly that the gap between himself and his elder brother had become larger and larger. This gap was not only reflected in the level of strength, but also in the vision and even pattern of thinking.

“The biggest reason why we can’t conquer Longyou at the moment is us. We can’t hold the leader back any longer. The overall strength of Daxia, as well as our individual strength, must be improved as quickly as possible!”

Upon hearing this, Qiu Peng nodded heavily, with a hint of guilt in his eyes.

Strictly speaking, there are currently three forces in Longyou: Daxia, Zhaoyang and Longshan.

In terms of top combat power, Daxia was not at all inferior. They all knew what happened on the right side of Longshan Mountain on the night of the 14th. Both Li Tiancheng and Hou Hu were no match for the leader.

The biggest problem now is that the Blood Guard Army, the Longyou Army, and the Longshan and Zhaoyang families have far more Digging Realm than Daxia.

To put it bluntly, isn’t it the business of the people under them?
“Luo Yuan and Zhu Yuan, have you counted the number of people?”

Hearing Xia Chuan’s question, Qiu Peng immediately nodded and said, “They have been busy with this matter for four hours since dawn. They have already counted it and reported it to me.”

As he spoke, he took out an account book from his pocket and continued:
“A total of 17421 people came from Hanqiong last night, including 2931 in the Digging Realm. Excluding the 1672 people from Zhaoyang Longshan who just left, the remaining 1259 in the Digging Realm all came from the Hanqiong camp and are considered people from Daxia. This is the number Luo Yuan counted.

Then there is Zhu Yuan. During the distribution of the fire-condensing oil last night, the 421 people who died in the outbreak of the Dew Plague were basically ordinary people without any cultivation. Among the remaining 14069 people, 4282 were in the Woodcutting Realm, and the rest were ordinary people. “

Yuwen Tao was still recuperating in the Beehive, so matters concerning the Digging Realm were naturally handled by Luo Yuan, the deputy director of the Hunting Department. Zhu Yuan was the director of the Civil Affairs Department, so he was basically in charge of all issues concerning the population.

Xia Chuan did not respond when he heard the voice, but just continued to look at Qiu Peng.

Qiu Peng immediately understood his expression and flipped through the account book and continued:
“On Wu Shuang’s side, excluding the 821 people who were captured in the battle with us, the total population is 28814. There are no people in the Digging Realm, but there are 3821 people in the Logging Realm. The remaining ordinary people are 24993.

There are 129 Beehive Digging Realm, 3639 Woodcutting Realm, and 29273 Ordinary People. “

“What about the migration of the hive?”

“The Hive has already started. Meng Yi and Yue Feng stationed in Jinggu started to coordinate three days ago. According to the plan they agreed upon, it should take a total of six days to move all the ordinary people to Xiacheng.”

Xia Chuan nodded. It was he who led the team to formulate the migration plan, so he knew all the details. It was agreed three days ago that after all the captives were escorted back, ordinary people would be relocated back to Xiacheng first, and the loggers and diggers would not move.

“There are 129 people in the Hive, 1259 people in Han Qiong’s camp last night, and the newly added Digging Realm people, which adds up to 1388 people. We have 1000 Digging Realm people staying in the Hive, and there are 1472 people in Wu Shuang’s camp, which adds up to …”

Xia Chuan murmured softly, his expression gradually becoming somewhat ugly.

“3860 people!”

This is the number of Digging Realm personnel currently available in Longyou by Daxia. Qiu Peng was obviously very clear about this number. He reported it directly without any calculation.

However, after reporting it, his expression gradually became ugly.

Obviously, he realized something just like Xia Chuan.

“No wonder the leader said that we are not strong enough. Not to mention the Blood Guards and Longyou Army, we are not as strong as those two in terms of available Digging Realm personnel!”

“It’s not inferior, it’s far inferior. Not to mention the number of Diggers in Longshan itself, they used beheading to capture the three families of Yucheng, Changning, and Songyuan. As long as they are handled properly, the Diggers in these three families will soon be able to take up weapons and fight for Longshan.

Let alone Zhaoyang, the three camps of Xiling, Dongkang, and Baiyuan have not yet been involved in the battle. The three camps, plus Zhaoyang’s own 3500-plus people, are far superior to us in the Digging Realm!”

Hearing this, Qiu Peng’s expression became more serious, and he said, “Before coming to Longyou, the total number of Digging Realm people in Daxia was 2941. We have already transferred 2600 people out, minus the 100 people stationed in Wuyuan and Jinggu. Currently, there are only a little over 200 Digging Realm people left in Xiacheng. Even if some of them break through, it is impossible for them to exceed 300. We can no longer spare any manpower!”

Today is April 28th. It was actually only eight days ago that Daxia started transferring people to Longyou. In such a period of eight days, even if there were people breaking through to the Digging Realm every day in Daxia, it would not be possible for the number to increase too much.

There were only over 200 Digging Realm warriors left in Xia City.

Xia Chuan, whose attention had been focused on Longyou for several days, became increasingly serious when he heard about this from Qiu Peng.

Even if the 100 people from Wuyuan and Jinggu are included, the number of Digging Realm warriors left in Xiacheng is obviously seriously insufficient.

The Digging Realm is not only a guarantee for the safety of the camp, but also a guarantee for the supply of beast meat. Without these people going hunting, where would the people in Xia City get the beast meat for their training?
The key point is that the people of the Beehive have already migrated to Xia City, and the population of Daxia has also been growing steadily in the past four months. In this case, is there enough meat in the camp now?

“Have you started using the animal meat in the Quartermaster Department’s inventory?”

Hearing Xia Chuan’s question, Qiu Peng immediately smiled bitterly and said, “Not only will we use the meat in stock, but the night before yesterday when Si Cheng returned to Xiacheng and wanted to transfer 1600 people, I realized that there would be problems with the meat supply soon. I have already notified the department to raise the price of meat to 5 contribution points per catty. We have a lot of meat in stock. If the population situation remains unchanged, at this price, it is estimated that we can last for two months, but now…”

Xia Chuan’s brows suddenly furrowed.

Qiu Peng’s subsequent words were obviously referring to the recent population explosion in Xiacheng.

That’s right. Xiacheng’s population was only over 30,000 before. If this number remained the same, the meat in the Quartermaster Department’s inventory would definitely be able to last for a long time. But now, it obviously can’t.

“The population has increased by 77604 at once. When all these people return to Xiacheng, I estimate that even if the price of the beast meat in stock doubles, it will only be enough for one month.” “The price has increased tenfold. If it doubles again, it will be twenty times the original price. We can’t do this. This round of new people is more than twice our original population. The price is too high, which is not conducive to their rapid integration into Daxia. We must find a way.”

At this moment, Xia Chuan truly realized how correct Xia Hong’s words were at dawn.

“We need to absorb all the new population and do our best to narrow the gap between us and Longshan and Zhaoyang. What the leader said earlier is really no problem at all. We have been immersed in the joy of conquering the three camps recently and even forgot to pay attention to the situation in Xiacheng.”

Obviously, Qiu Peng realized this as well as he did.

“We currently occupy Wushuang, Hanqiong, and Fengchao. The territory we have gained in Longyou this time is quite large, but we don’t have the people to defend it. There are 3860 people. Based on the combat power of the Longyou troops we saw in Hulu Valley last night, I estimate that even if we exclude the Yuhan class and gather all these people together, we may not be able to defend it.”

Xia Chuan’s tone was a little weak, but he quickly adjusted his mentality and said in a deep voice: “The dew plague is not over yet. Longshan and Zhaoyang are likely to come to us to ask for fire oil. This alone is enough to make them dare not go to war with Daxia. We must make good use of this window of opportunity.”

“I’ll take some time to go back to Xiacheng and temporarily tighten the resources for cultivation such as beast meat, elixirs, and the quota for the martial arts hall. I’ll give priority to those who are about to break through. I’ll train a group of people in the Digging Realm as quickly as possible and see if Xiacheng can solve the shortage of beast meat with the existing people.”

“it is good!”

Xia Chuan immediately nodded in agreement with Qiu Peng’s proposal and continued:
“When you go back, inform Meng Yi and Yue Feng that the migration plan remains unchanged. Only a group of lumberjacks will be left in the Hive to guard the camp. Everyone must be sent back to Xiacheng as quickly as possible. Also, have Meng Yi release another 800 people to go back with the migration team. The camp cannot have too much meat shortage!”

“Send 800 back? Then there are only 3000 people left in Longyou?”

Seeing Qiu Peng’s puzzled expression, Xia Chuan shook his head slightly: “That’s enough. Longshan and Zhaoyang won’t attack us in the short term. If they really fight with all their strength, it won’t matter whether these 800 people are there or not.”

Xia Chuan took out a map of Longyou from his body, looked at it for a while, and continued: “The Beehive is located in the southeast corner of Longyou. To the north is Hanqiong, to the northwest is Wushuang, and to the west is Yanglu. It is currently a dead place. With the previous dew plague incident, no one dares to go there. It happens to be a natural barrier.

We don’t need to leave troops in the Beehive. We can just concentrate 3000 people in Wushuang and Hanqiong. Both Wushuang and Hanqiong have branches of Longshan passing through their territories. When there is no war, we can organize these people to go hunting in the mountains on their own. The prey we hunt can be transported back through the Beehive Valley, which can also solve the meat problem in Xiacheng…”

Xia Chuan and Qiu Peng focused on the current predicament of Da Xia and have been actively thinking about and discussing ways to improve it. As they walked and talked, they unknowingly reached the top floor lobby of the main building.

When the final decision was made, Qiu Peng was just about to say goodbye and rush back to Xiacheng, but when he looked up, he found Xia Hong sitting above the hall.

“Meet the leader!”

Xia Chuan did not expect that Xia Hong, who had just said at dawn that he would go into seclusion for cultivation, would come out so soon, and he immediately bowed to him.

“Now you find that you are short of manpower?”

Xia Hong looked down at the two of them with a smile on his face.

He had basically heard what the two had discussed just now. He was naturally very pleased that the two had realized Da Xia’s biggest predicament so quickly.

Hearing Xia Hong’s teasing, the two of them lowered their heads slightly, with a hint of sullenness on their faces.

“It’s not a big problem. Xia Chuan is right. Longshan and Zhaoyang will not attack us in the short term. You have plenty of time to solve the problem of the shortage of beast meat and the lack of manpower in the Digging Realm!”

Xia Chuan realized that Xia Hong had heard what he had just said, and immediately said, “Leader, do you think my idea is okay?”

“Of course, no problem. I even think that 800 people are a little too few. After this round of population growth, Daxia’s total population will exceed 1000. The amount of meat that 1000 people need every day is huge, and it is impossible to satisfy it by hunting with more than 2000 Diggers. How about this, send another people back, and leave Diggers in Longyou!”

Seeing that Xia Hong gave the order directly, Xia Chuan and Qiu Peng hesitated but nodded without raising any objections.

“Let Hong Guang, Hong Tian, ​​Zhao Hu, and Zhao Bao take 1000 Diggers to garrison Hulu Valley. The rest of the people and the other 1000 Diggers will stay with Wu Shuang. Also, we need to send people to count all the iron mines, coal mines, and other special resources in the territories of Han Qiong, Wu Shuang, and Fengchao, including all the supplies in their camps. Except for some that are needed, the rest can be gradually brought back to Xiacheng.

To improve the camp’s strength, you can’t just focus on cultivation, other aspects are also possible!”

To improve the strength of the camp, you can’t just focus on cultivation.

Other aspects are also possible.

After repeating Xia Hong’s words in their minds, Xia Chuan and Qiu Peng’s bodies shook violently. They seemed to have been enlightened and their eyes lit up instantly.

Yup!

The number of people in the Digging Realm is of course the basis for determining the strength of the camp, but other aspects are also important, such as weapons, armor, construction, and even people’s hearts…

“Chief, I understand!”

“Leader, Si Cheng, I will go back to Xiacheng now.”

Qiu Peng’s comprehension was obviously very strong. He immediately said goodbye to the two of them impatiently. After Xia Hong nodded, he turned around and left the hall, rushing towards Xia Cheng.

“After you broke through to the Cold Resistance level, how much strength did you gain?”

As soon as Qiu Peng left, Xia Hong immediately asked Xia Chuan.

“Six manes!”

“It hasn’t been rising much, has it?”

Xia Chuan was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, “The effect of intermediate beast meat on me is minimal, and the increase from sunbathing during the day is also very small. There is indeed no change.”

After answering, seeing Xia Hong smiling and taking out a wooden box from his body, Xia Chuan had some vague guesses in his heart and his expression suddenly became excited.

Xia Hong opened the wooden box, and inside were thirty drops of Hanping Yulu lying quietly. These were what he got after killing Wu Xiong who was controlled by a monster.

“I already have the recipe for boiling jade bones. The medicinal materials collected from Wu Shuang and Han Qiong are also sufficient. You can have someone prepare coal and other medicinal materials, and try boiling jade bones with Wu Shuang. This will also allow you to experience how to practice the Cold Resistance Level.”

“Okay, big brother, but……”

Xia Chuan spoke excitedly, but soon he realized something, frowned and continued: “Brother, but we don’t have jade bones in our hands!”

Jade bones are the bones of high-level cold beasts.

Xia Hong has been dealing with various camps in Longyou for some time, so he definitely has no time to hunt high-level cold beasts, let alone people like them.

“Just get ready, someone will be here to deliver it to us soon!”

Hearing this, Xia Chuan thought of something and his originally furrowed brows immediately relaxed. A smile slowly appeared on his face. He turned around and walked out, arranging for people to start preparing.

(End of this chapter)