Chapter 67

Fang Hedong called in a few people, moved the three boxes of military supplies into the warehouse, specifically exhorted them to strictly inventory and account for them, and only after everything was arranged did he sit down beside Wei Yuan.

Fang Hedong was silent for a moment, then sighed and said: "Speaking of which, this is actually my fault. A few months ago, the Liao barbarians invaded, and I threw my pen into the army with a heart of blood. As a result, when I arrived at Quyang County, I found that the assistant regional commander here was eating empty quotas, and the county magistrate was shielding him. If it were a peaceful time, eating empty quotas would be fine, but now alien races are invading the border, and the border army is understaffed. Isn't it the common people who are unlucky? In a fit of anger, I played to the prefect, and by the way, I also participated in the county magistrate."

"It's just that I didn't expect the prefect to be in collusion with them. After my letter was sent up, there was no news, but the retaliation of the county magistrate and the assistant regional commander followed one after another. At that time, I called out, gathered hundreds of people with lofty ideals to defend the enemy and guard the home, but the assistant regional commander refused to recognize their status as civilian braves, and the county did not issue a cent or a grain of food, so I could only subsidize the food and pay myself. But what family wealth do I have? Selling fields and houses didn't have a few taels of silver, and I relied on the help of fellow disciples in the academy to barely support it until now, and finally the food was cut off. If it weren't for Brother Wei's arrival, I really didn't know what to do."

"Brother Fang is older, I dare not accept the title of Brother Wei."

"This foolish brother is a few years older, so I will boldly call you Junior Brother."

"Brother Fang, please continue."

Fang Hedong sighed for a long time and said: "Actually, I have thought that if it weren't for me, but others gathered to guard the border, those brothers outside might have already obtained the status of civilian braves, and would not have had to fight the Liao barbarians regardless of life and death, while their families still had people starving to death."

Wei Yuan was not familiar with the Western Jin political situation, and his task here was only to guard the border. The Grand Void Palace also had no intention of interfering in Western Jin politics, and at this time he did not know how to deal with these official matters. However, if the government does not care, there is still the Grand Void Palace.

The two boxes of dried meat each had a thousand pieces, enough for these two hundred soldiers to eat for ten days. But the standard for Grand Void Palace soldiers is that tendon and muscle forging is completed, and such people eat far more than ordinary people. For these people in Shayang Village who have just started body forging, half a piece a day is enough. For ordinary people who have not cultivated, it takes four days to eat one piece of dried meat.

Such a box of dried meat is priced at one tael of immortal silver in the Grand Void Palace. In other words, the monthly silver of an entry-level disciple of the Grand Void Palace can allow thousands of ordinary people to live for more than a month, and this is still according to the military ration standard. If it is changed to brown rice, it is enough for them to live for more than half a year. Wei Yuan can also support these people just by exchanging his monthly silver for food.

Fang Hedong cheered up and said: "I was just unable to think about it for a while and complained a few words. Junior Brother, don't take it to heart. Junior Brother is new here, I will tell you about the war situation first."

The two came to the map, and Fang Hedong said: "The enemy we are facing is the Agula tribe of the Liao barbarians. Agula belongs to a medium-sized tribe among the Liao barbarians, but there are also more than one hundred thousand soldiers who control the bow. A few months ago, Agula took down the last three counties of Pingning County, annexed the entire Pingning County, and Bianning and Ganning counties became the front line. Our Quyang County is also the poorest county in the whole county, and the Liao barbarians are not very interested in this side. The main force is all placed in Ganning County, and there are only some partial divisions here. Usually, they mainly come from the north and northwest. I suspect their camp is in these few places."

Fang Hedong pointed to a few locations on the edge of the map and said: "According to the earth veins, these few places may have underground water sources, which are natural places to camp. The Liao barbarians are used to looking for water sources, and these few places should not escape their eyes."

Fang Hedong also said: "The Liao barbarians mainly rely on horse warfare, coming and going like the wind. In order to limit their actions, in addition to heightening the protective wall, I also specially dug many pits one foot wide and two feet deep outside the wall, so that the Liao barbarians could not sprint with all their strength. However, the Liao barbarians sometimes raid at night, which is very troublesome. Many people can't see things at night, so I can only guard the night myself to ensure everything is safe."

Fang Hedong also talked about several defense methods, the most important of which was the three strong crossbows borrowed from the academy, which were infinitely powerful within a hundred zhang. In addition, he also had a magic treasure long bow, which could shoot three hundred zhang. Fang Hedong relied on a hand of archery to shoot against the Liao cavalry without falling behind.

Fang Hedong also concentrated all the old, weak, women, and children of the three villages in the two villages behind. At first, small groups of Liao barbarian cavalry saw that the defense of Shayang Village was tight, so they wanted to bypass it and attack the two villages behind. Unexpectedly, Fang Hedong's magic treasure long bow could cover all the passages to the two villages behind. The Liao barbarians were shot and killed more than ten cavalrymen before and after in the detour, and since then they have never dared to bypass Shayang Village.

Fang Hedong knew Northern Liao quite well, the defense was well arranged, and it was because he was guarding his hometown and relatives, everyone used their lives, and he was able to lead hundreds of untrained farmers to block Northern Liao for three full months without food or pay.

Wei Yuan was quite impressed with Fang Hedong after listening. Fang Hedong had already cultivated a Dao foundation and could be considered to have stepped onto the path to immortality, but he endured hunger and cold, led a group of farmers to resist alien races, and did not hesitate to sell all his family wealth, even if he was suppressed and made difficult by the powerful and noble, he did not give up. This kind of character is rare.

"Junior Brother Wei, can we exchange Dao foundations and good magic arts, so that we can know ourselves and the enemy on the battlefield and cooperate with each other." Fang Hedong proposed. This is a matter of course, and Wei Yuan naturally agreed.

Seeing Wei Yuan nod, Fang Hedong said: "I am dull in aptitude, and after more than twenty years of hard cultivation, I have only just forged my body, and originally there was no hope for a Dao foundation. Later, one day I read the three immortality of the sage, felt something in my heart, and achieved a Dao foundation. My Dao foundation is a book, which contains three articles, one is 'establishing words', and the second is 'establishing merit'."

A book appeared in front of Wei Yuan, the style of the book was quite ancient, and it was still bound with thread. Seeing this book, Wei Yuan was a bit surprised. He had not seen a book made of ordinary paper for a long time. The Grand Void Palace was all jade paper, and the so-called books were mostly a piece of paper, read by spiritual sense. Important books were only three pieces of jade paper: cover, content, and back cover.

A piece of jade paper can hold a million words, and high-quality jade paper can also carry a trace of Dao rhyme, so all the cultivation methods in the Grand Void Palace are written on jade paper, and when writing, a strand of the writer's perception is often added, which is of great help to the reader's understanding of the content of the book. The highest-grade jade paper can even carry the Fenhai Zhenjun's perception, but it takes ten thousand pieces of ordinary jade paper to refine one highest-grade jade paper, so there are not many in the entire Grand Void Palace, all used to record the path to the sky.

This book of Fang Hedong is not thick, but it is about a finger thick, about a hundred pages. Although this is a Dao foundation, the Dao foundation is also integrated into the human heart, which shows that in Fang Hedong's heart, a book should be like this.

"Why not use jade paper?" Wei Yuan asked. This is not that Wei Yuan dislikes ordinary paper, but as a Dao foundation, jade paper and ordinary paper are not the same rank, and can have many miracles out of thin air. A book can carry the Dao, not a mortal tool. If Fang Hedong's Dao foundation was a jade paper book, it might already be Earth-rank.

Fang Hedong said helplessly: "Our Bai Feng Academy is a small sect, how can it be compared with the immortal sect. Except for a few inheritance cultivation methods in the academy that use jade paper, others are ordinary paper. Since I entered the academy, copying books and practicing calligraphy have all been on ordinary paper, and the books I read are also ordinary paper. Even if it is ordinary paper, it cannot be used at will. So the Dao foundation I condensed is like this."

"So that's it, then what is the use of these three articles?" Wei Yuan changed the subject calmly.

Fang Hedong was indeed refreshed and explained in detail.

Establishing words can make Fang Hedong get twice the result with half the effort when preaching and teaching and solving puzzles. The so-called preaching is not just reading, but also has bonuses for leading disciples to cultivate. For the past few months, Fang Hedong has taken everyone to build city defenses during the day, busy with farm work, and taught them to read and write at night, and then forged their bodies for an hour before going to bed. These people were originally illiterate farmers, but after a few months, the few recognized more than a hundred characters, and the many already recognized five or six hundred characters, and body forging also had progress. In the case of not being able to eat enough, it is not easy to have progress in body forging.

Establishing merit originally refers to building merit and establishing a career. In Fang Hedong's Dao foundation, it can temporarily improve the ability of people around him. Under the blessing of this article, these original farmers can exert the ability when tendons and muscles are forged, and their combat power is equivalent to qualified soldiers of the regular border army. Although the duration is very short, it can have miraculous effects when used well on the battlefield. Fang Hedong relied on this article to turn the tide of the battle every time, leading a group of farmers to block the fierce Liao barbarians for several months.

Fang Hedong did not say what the third article was, and Wei Yuan did not ask. After all, the two met for the first time, and it is normal for Fang Hedong to have reservations.

When it was Wei Yuan's turn, Wei Yuan frankly said that he had only forged his body to completion and had not condensed a Dao foundation. As for what he was good at, Wei Yuan really had not thought about it, and could only say that he knew a little bit of everything.

Wei Yuan's physical strength was seven or eight times that of the same rank, and his Dao power was more than ten times that of the same rank, so Wei Yuan basically used the Dao arts at this stage at will, so he could not say he was good at it.

Fang Hedong did not look down on Wei Yuan because he had not cultivated a Dao foundation. Immortal sect disciples and people like their small sects were completely different worlds, and challenging across ranks was a common occurrence. Even if the immortal sect disciple's Dao foundation was mediocre, magic treasures and Dao arts could crush small sects at will.

Of course, what is more terrible is not the immortal sect disciple himself, but the teachers and fellow disciples. If you hit an immortal sect Dao foundation, you have to fight all the way up, and maybe an Imperial View Fenhai Zhenjun will pop out in the end. Unlike Bai Feng Academy, which at most has one Dharma Form, and this Dharma Form is still at the bottom of the same rank, having to be accommodating everywhere.

After exchanging Dao magic abilities, Fang Hedong and Wei Yuan exchanged defense systems.

Fang Hedong first talked about local defense. Northern Liao invaded south on a large scale, of course, it was impossible to rely only on garrison soldiers and civilian braves to resist. The main defense force of Quyang County was actually the fifteen hundred elite border troops stationed in the military camp thirty li away. The assistant regional commander leading the army was surnamed Liao and named Jingwu, who had forged a Dao foundation twenty years ago, and it was said that there was still a line of hope for further progress.

The military camp was the core of the defense of the northern border of the Great Tang. The army built camps in key areas to defend, and the military camp would be equipped with powerful bed crossbows, which could not be activated without Dao foundation cultivators, and one arrow could kill a Dao foundation. Each military camp would be equipped with a cavalry, and if they encountered a large army of alien races, they would defend the camp, and small troops would send cavalry to destroy them. Each military camp with elite soldiers was a defense fulcrum within a hundred li, forming a defense network with the county town and villages.

Wei Yuan understood as soon as he heard it. The key figure in charge of the overall situation of local defense was actually the assistant regional commander Liao Jingwu, who had the power to mobilize military forces, allocate military supplies, and restrain civilian braves.

It was just that when Fang Hedong played to the prefect to impeach the assistant regional commander who ate empty quotas, it was this Liao assistant regional commander.

(End of chapter)