Chapter 1170: Jiuyuan

The situation in Jiuyuan seemed even worse than in Yanmen Commandery, especially in terms of the environment, which was even colder.

The weather was cold, and for most of the year, it was winter; such weather naturally had a great influence on the production of grain.

After all, the Liu Han Dynasty did not have the productivity of later generations.

However, the folk customs here were even more fierce, looking even fiercer than those in Yanmen Commandery, and one could see big men everywhere holding swords.

Clearly, in the folk of Jiuyuan, it could be said that everyone practiced martial arts.

Wandering knights could be seen everywhere.

It could be said that when the grassland aliens moved south, many times, these wandering knights were also a force to resist the grassland; do not look at how many wandering knights liked to harm the common people in their daily lives.

They were called wandering knights, but in reality, sometimes they were no different from hoodlums. Of course, some wandering knights were virtuous people who liked to act with chivalry, but some were just hoodlums.

However, whether they were wandering knights or hoodlums, when the grassland aliens really attacked, these people would be the first to pick up weapons and become the second line of defense against the grassland aliens.

As for the first line, it was naturally the army. Whether it was the commandery soldiers or the local county soldiers, these would become the first line; even if the local soldiers had very poor strength, they had to pick up weapons.

Because behind them were their own relatives; if they did not step up, then what awaited them was their own families being harmed.

Because they were constantly receiving invasions from the grassland aliens, the folk customs in Jiuyuan became increasingly fierce.

Su Fan came to this place and looked at the situation here, but he was not surprised; Yanmen Commandery was actually just slightly better.

In the northern lands, the folk customs were indeed fiercer than in the Central Plains.

Su Fan's gaze quickly looked toward the Jiuyuan Commandery government city, at a team of cavalry that had just rushed out of the city gate; that head big horse, the big man at the head, was riding a warhorse that was pitch black all over.

That warhorse's back was a *zhang* high, and its overall length was no less than a *zhang* and a half; clearly, this was not an ordinary horse, as it had already become somewhat of a spirit.

After all, this was a mythical world; ordinary wild beasts could become spirits, and this warhorse and that team of warhorses were actually all somewhat spirits.

This kind of mount was actually very normal in this world.

In the Great Qin era, the mounts under those military generals were all monster beasts; some were warhorse monster beasts, and some were replaced by other demon race divine beasts.

If you had the strength, even getting a Qilin divine beast was normal.

Of course, most of the Qilin bloodlines in the Primordial World were not pure; after all, after the Great War of the Three Clans back then, the Qilin were almost exterminated.

Originally, the number of the Qilin clan was much smaller than that of the Phoenix clan.

In the Jiuzhou, there were once human sages who used Qilin as mounts; after all, many in the Confucian School always believed that Qilin were divine beasts.

Of course, military generals did not have high requirements for mounts, as long as they were suitable.

It was just that in the Great Qin era, those mounts were all very fierce; of course, Wu'an Jun Bai Qi even directly suppressed a Golden Immortal Great Demon to serve as his mount.

The Jiuzhou today naturally could not be compared with the Great Qin era.

Now, most are based on warhorses; northern warhorses are still easy to get, especially some elite imperial troops, who also often counterattack the grassland, will break into the grassland, raid those tribes, and seize their cattle, sheep, and warhorses.

There are also some merchants who will enter the grassland to trade with the aliens in exchange for warhorses.

Do not look at how deep the hatred is between the two sides, but trade is still a common occurrence.

This is also what the Youzhou Prefect has always wanted to use as a policy of appeasement to turn those Xianbei tribes around and let them be used by the Prefect's office.

Of course, many people in Youzhou naturally are unwilling; after all, many noble clans also have blood feuds with the Xianbei, and the noble clans exterminated by the grassland aliens over these years are as numerous as crucian carp crossing the river.

Of course, most of the noble clans are like those small landlords; truly powerful noble clans have enough strength to protect their families.

Especially like the Bingzhou Wang clan and the Yanmen Zhang clan, these first-class noble families will instead build armies to ensure the safety and interests of their families.

Therefore, families like the Zhang clan have never lacked warhorses; among the tens of thousands of elites controlled by the Zhang clan, there are twenty thousand elite iron cavalry alone, and the other thirty thousand belong to the various major families of Bingzhou.

Of course, it is not that the Zhang family cannot build more iron cavalry, but the consumption of cavalry far exceeds that of infantry; the consumption of one cavalryman is often several times, or even ten times, that of an infantryman.

After all, the resources consumed by those elite warhorses are even more terrifying; being able to raise twenty thousand cavalry is actually the Zhang clan gritting their teeth.

This is also the reason why Zhang Hu of the Zhang clan runs to the grassland from time to time to raid those tribes; otherwise, they simply could not afford to raise them.

The Zhang clan, after all, is not those major clans of the Central Plains, with thousands or even tens of thousands of years of family foundation, and one does not know how much wealth they have.

However, while the major clans of the Central Plains have a lot of wealth, the power they control is far inferior to that of the border areas.

First, there is no crisis in the Central Plains; although the major clans will raise some thugs or family guards, there will not be too many, because their influence can directly command the local commandery and county troops.

Secondly, the imperial court still has majesty in the Central Plains; local major clans do not dare to go too far. If they really followed the imperial court's laws, those hiding three hundred sets of armor would be equivalent to rebellion.

Although today's noble clans, let alone three hundred sets of armor, even three thousand sets of armor, many powerful figures in the commandery government could gather.

And in various places, many government officials also turn a blind eye; as long as you are not really rebelling, these officials do not care.

After all, these government offices have intricate relationships with those noble clans; as long as they do not stand up to rebel, then reporting or handling them will not bring any benefits to themselves.

This is just an unwritten rule.

However, although this is an unwritten rule, everyone follows it; the major clans of the Central Plains also need to give the imperial court face, and things like building armies are definitely things those major clans will not do.

At most, they will do it secretly in the dark.

In the border areas, things like the Zhang clan and Wang clan are naturally impossible.

Of course, in the border areas, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away; the imperial court's laws are very difficult to affect this place, not to mention that the imperial court simply does not care about the life and death of the border, so the noble clans here will find ways.

The Yanmen Zhang clan is like this, and the Jiuyuan Lv clan is also like this.

The Lv clan has gone through three generations; in Jiuyuan, perhaps their foundation is not the most powerful, but in terms of strength, there is that God of Slaughter whom even the grassland fears, and almost no one in Jiuyuan can resist that person.

Therefore, the influence of the Lv clan in Jiuyuan is also rising in a straight line.

The team of majestic cavalry Su Fan saw, the one at the head, was precisely this guardian god of Jiuyuan, the current head of the Lv family, Lv Bu.

The "slave of three surnames" in the *Romance*, of course, in this era, it is clearly impossible to achieve this goal. ===== CHAPTER 1171 =====