When he saw the smooth surface, the first thought in Zhao Po Nu's mind was: How can I climb this high and flat city wall?
You should know that today's city walls are generally built with stones. If they are more sophisticated, such as Chang'an, they will chisel large stones into squares of similar size, and then stack them up little by little, using mud to fill the gaps in the middle to stabilize them.
If it is a lesser-built city, they would just randomly pile up some stones without paying attention to the shape, as long as it is strong.
The next closest thing is the rammed earth city wall, but let’s not talk about that for now.
The common feature of these city walls is that their surface is uneven, even the walls of Chang'an City are the same, so if you have a sharp dagger or something like that, you can climb them.
To put it in scientific terms, there is a place to leverage, but the surface of the wall of Shuofang City does not seem to have any place to leverage. At that moment, Zhao Po Nu even wanted to use a dagger to test the hardness of the wall.
But reason stopped him. If he really did that, he would be the one being laughed at.
As he got closer to Shuofang City, Zhao Po Nu saw people busy coming and going on the road.
For some reason, he always felt that it was different from other places.
If I had to describe it, it would be hope in his eyes.
According to Zhao Po Nu's inherent impression, after experiencing the war, the people in those cities were like walking corpses, even if they survived, and they were all numb.
He had seen many people like that, but the people in Shuofang City were special because although they looked dusty and dirty, they were all full of energy.
Zhao Po Nu couldn't help but observe for a while longer. When he noticed a shadow covering him, he looked up and found that they had begun to enter the city gate.
He calculated in his mind and found that the width of the city wall was far more than two meters. Just as he was about to ask, he remembered that the city wall was never straight up and down.
After entering the city, he looked back at the city wall, and his impression of Shuofang City changed slightly. At the same time, he also had some different opinions about the King of the Northern Territory and Huo Guang.
In any case, building such a city wall requires an extraordinary amount of manpower and material resources.
He had long heard the legend that the King of the North could turn stones into gold. He didn't quite believe it before, but now he couldn't help but wonder if what he heard was true?
With this doubt, Zhao Po Nu was shocked again when he turned around.
What caught his eyes was a wide and straight road. From what he could see, it could at least accommodate eight carriages traveling side by side. The most important thing was that the color of these roads was very similar to that of the city walls, and one could tell at a glance that they were made of the same material.
In addition to the road that looked very clean at first glance, the trees and walls on both sides of the road also surprised him.
As he walked along, he saw walls separating the entire city. He was confused for a moment and couldn't help asking, "What are these walls?"
Jiang Chong said casually, "It's the Fang. Your Highness's new idea, it's quite good. As for what's inside the Fang, it's actually empty now. Only the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Posthouse have been built first. The general also knows that we are short of manpower, so we can only focus on the most important things first. Even Your Highness's palace is not yet completed."
Zhao Po Nu was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Liu Tan would actually suspend the construction of the palace and devote himself to the royal capital.
For a moment he didn't know what he was thinking. To say he admired her wasn't enough, nor was he moved. It was very complicated.
Along the way, Zhao Po Nu couldn't help but compare Shuofang City with Chang'an City. Apart from being sparsely populated, this place was almost the neatest and cleanest city he had ever seen.
This neatness and cleanliness has nothing to do with the number of people. It is the kind of clear division of labor that can be seen from the initial planning.
The Shuofang City was in stark contrast to the dilapidated appearance after the war that Zhao Po Nu had imagined.
Not to mention the war, a long time ago, Zhao Po Nu also passed by Shuofang City when he fought against the Huns. In his impression, it was just a small earthen city.
Zhao Po Nu couldn't help but sigh and said, "It's a pity that it's too empty. If it were Chang'an..."
At this point he stopped talking, feeling a little puzzled. Why would he compare Shuofang with Chang'an?
Even if Shuofang City is the capital of the Northern Border Kingdom, Chang'an is the capital of the Han Dynasty and should be the best city in the entire Han Dynasty.
Jiang Chong smiled and said, "After all, we are few in number, but His Highness said that the number of people will increase, and we can't wait until the number increases before expanding."
Zhao Po Nu was at a loss for words to comment on the Northern King's thoughts, so he changed the subject and asked, "Why do the hooves of your horses sound a little off to me?"
This is what Zhao Po Nu just heard. Before, he was so shocked by the current Shuofang City that he didn't notice it. Only after he came to his senses did he realize it.
You should know that as a general, understanding the sound of horse hooves is also one of the necessary tasks, and the sound of horse hooves can provide many clues.
Now the sound of the horse's hooves hitting the ground was relatively dull, while the hooves of the horses ridden by the Northern Border officials passing by him were very crisp.
Jiang Chong was stunned for a moment: "General Zhao's horse doesn't have horseshoes?"
Zhao Po Nu was stunned for a moment: "What is that?"
Jiang Chong wanted to explain to him, but he didn't know how to explain it, so he said: "When we get to the post station, I'll show it to the general."
Zhao Po Nu nodded, and when he looked up, he saw a group of Huns carrying things and walking towards him. It was obvious that they were carrying out construction.
Zhao Po Nu was stunned: "Why are there still Xiongnu people?"
Jiang Chong said calmly, "Oh, these people, these are the prisoners that His Highness ordered Lieutenant Li and Lieutenant Wei to capture. As you know, we are few in number, and it is not easy to build such a city in a short time. But it is not a good thing to let the people be homeless forever. In addition, we don't want to delay the spring plowing, so we have to find another way and capture the Xiongnu people to work."
Zhao Po Nu's body trembled instantly: "Capture the Xiongnu... and do the work?"
Jiang Chong smiled and said, "Yes, His Highness said that although the Xiongnu are enemies, it would be a pity to kill them. It would be better to let them work and save us from conscripting corvée and oppressing the people."
Zhao Po Nu couldn't help swallowing and asked, "Then...how many did you catch?"
Jiang Chong tilted his head and thought for a moment: "I'm really not sure about this." He turned to look at Li Buyan: "Captain Li, how many have you captured?"
Although Li Buyan tried his best to appear calm, he couldn't hide the pride on his face: "Probably only about 1,500 people."
Zhao Po Nu: ???? You guys are so capable, what else do you need me for?
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