Xianyu Infrastructure, I have a lot of troops in my hands

In the past, the Black Stone Guards suffered the most, did the most tiring work, and were owed the most food and wages. Today, the Black Stone Guards are not active in eating and have problems with their thinking. The patrol mission is far away, which is just right, as it makes it convenient for the brothers to slack off.

In the past, the Black Stone Guards patrolled the border diligently and drove away bandits. Now, as long as Ma Zi didn't kill people in front of them, they would just ignore it. They were all foreigners anyway, so why bother about who killed whom?

It's so hard to get out of the city, so you might as well go to the mountains and have a good meal.

It only took half a year for the Black Stone Guard to go from being an elite soldier to being a rogue soldier. Since when, the reputation of the Black Stone Guard plummeted, but the Black Stone Guards felt that their previous hard life had become an easy and comfortable one.

Xie Xian had never expected that the thick black theory that she wrote for fun would produce such an unexpected effect.

Xie Xian's three shops caused quite a stir in the muddy waters of Tongguan.

At this time, Xie Xian was wearing a red leather robe, with a red scarf covering half of her face. She was holding a shiny horse whip in her hand, looking at the caravans passing by on the road below the mountain with a distant look.

"There are so many people coming and going here, how can you say the trade route is cut off?"

Liu Yu behind him got a fur hat from somewhere, also dressed like a foreigner. Upon hearing Xie Xian's question, he stepped forward and said, "These are all nearby border residents. The route to the east from Kangju is blocked by the old Jin. The exact location is still three to five days away to the west."

Xie Xian looked carefully and found that the pedestrians on the road were indeed riding horses and leading sheep, while the merchants from Kangju mostly used camels to pull goods, which was different.

"Have our people been settled?" Xie Xian shook her head. She followed the local customs and was a little uncomfortable with the foreign attire.

"They have already set up camp five miles away. We have also contacted Mr. Qu. The situation in Wei is even worse than before. The Governor's Office is exploiting the military households from top to bottom. It's not just the Black Stone Guards. The situation in several Wubao is not much better than ours."

Liu Yu was talking about the news that came back yesterday, feeling fortunate that they had the queen behind them to support them, otherwise they would be like those hereditary military families in Wubao, with the main family in decline, the road ahead being long and the sky being high, and then being devoured bit by bit.

Military households are even more miserable than ordinary people. If their masters do nothing, they will be like meat on the chopping board. Not only will their children be enlisted in the army for generations, but some of them cannot bear it and become slaves of wealthy and powerful families, with no chance of recovery.

The emperor was also happy to see this scene. Daxia now had both hereditary military system and recruitment system going hand in hand. However, the drawbacks of the hereditary military system were dragging Daxia's military power step by step into the abyss.

Without elite soldiers and generals, and if wars have to be fought only by farmers recruited on short notice, how can the country's military strength be guaranteed?

So when Xie Xian heard that there were guards who had suffered worse than the Black Stone Guards, she couldn't help but wonder how the Great Xia had managed to survive until now. What? All thanks to the noble families? Oh, that's fine.

Now that the Xie family has grown and prospered, after a year of hard work, they have finally gained a firm foothold in Que County.

"Let Brother Wei Zhong take all the supplies, but don't be too ostentatious. Bring the shop's plan back later. We still need to interact more with the border residents."

Xie Xian showed a little bit of righteousness.

Liu Yu nodded. Niu Er, who was squatting beside him, chewed some dried meat that he had gotten from somewhere. He said as he chewed, "It tastes pretty good. I don't know how it was made."

They arrived at Tongguan a day ago, but Xie Xian didn't want to alert the enemy. Once her title of female monarch came out, Yang Mao would be alert. Moreover, since it was related to the war situation in the north, the matter of the guard camp could only be dealt with slowly.

The first thing in the plan was to open the shop so that there would be a reason for the changes in the guard camp so that it would not appear abrupt.

Under the blue sky and white clouds, the girl in red stood on the hillside. Not far away was a surging river. Looking back at the high ochre-colored walls of Tongguan, the place where three counties met, although it was dangerous, it was also accompanied by opportunities.

In Tongguan City, three new shops opened on the street, which was a big deal in the city. The items in the grocery store were ordinary, just the things that ordinary people needed, and the prices were not that cheap, but the quality was obviously much better than the original one.

"Look, this sickle feels heavy in my hand, and the blade is sharp. It's only 80 coins a piece, which is much better than that broken piece of iron."

"That's right. My wife said that the needles here are half an inch thinner than those over there." The goods in the grocery store have been put on the shelves, and many villagers have come to watch. They are amazed at what they see. The prices are still the same, but the quality of the goods is completely different.

Now many people can't sit still anymore and rush into the store to make large purchases. The saying goes "the early bird catches the worm".

There were also herdsmen who saw tools they liked and wanted to exchange them with sheep. Jiang Wu pointed to the fur shop next to him and asked them to exchange the money there and then come back here to buy things.

The entrance of the fur shop was also crowded with sheep lined up. Gigita, wearing a brand new sheepskin coat, stood at the door with an excited look on her face, stroking a sheep with her hands and talking non-stop.

"This one is too thin, and its teeth are not good. It's an old sheep, so it can only be considered inferior. This little lamb is good, and it's top-quality. Hey! This one is fat."

As he spoke, he also weighed the sheep with his hands. Every time a sheep passed by, he would give the owner a wooden sign based on its quality. The wooden signs were divided into four grades, and each grade corresponded to a different price.

The sheep owners can take these tags and exchange them for money in the next room, or directly exchange them for supplies. They are used to bringing whole sheep to exchange things, and money is not a necessity for them.

In the back room, Jiuzifu was writing with a brush, quickly writing down people's names and prices and what they wanted to exchange for.

Feng Chan, who was standing next to him, spoke the Central Plains dialect with a hint of mutton skewers, talked to the herdsmen and asked them what they wanted to exchange.

Jiuzifu was very upset. He wrote mechanically until his hands were sore, but his mind was blank. Who am I, where am I, and what am I doing?

Before he could think about it, he heard a light cough from the room next to him! He came back to his senses immediately, feeling sad and angry, but he had no choice but to continue writing.

Si Ji who was standing by was laughing as he watched. He had great admiration for Mr. Qu in the inner room. He was worthy of being a disciple of Zongheng Sect and his ability to control people was top-notch. Since Jiu Zifu dared to be the supervisor of the Black Stone Guard, he should be prepared to be treated as a spy. If he was not still of some use, he might not even be able to enter the city.

The yard behind the fur shop is crowded with lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Once a certain number is reached, they will be driven to a special place for slaughter. The fur needs to be tanned and the mutton needs to be marinated and baked.

The back streets of the shops were filled with busy figures. The man who was killing sheep was shaking with the knife. His hands were sore but he was happy in his heart, because this was a big job and he could make a lot of money.

But when he looked back at the hundreds of sheep behind him, he felt dizzy and thought he should ask someone to call more colleagues over, as it would take him forever to finish the job alone.

Like him, there were people who washed clothes, soaked skins, and chopped meat. They rarely had work and were idle on weekdays. But today, there was not a single person on the street.

Everyone gathered together and worked enthusiastically. There were also many wives and mothers doing sewing and mending work. The Black Stone Guard brothers changed their clothes and cleaned the house after setting up the kang. They were busy and happy.