After bidding farewell to Wu Qi, Ma Yue rushed into the Xi'an branch. The spirit horse on the plain began to gallop wildly, very fast. It seemed that the spirit horse also enjoyed this state of running wildly at lightning speed.
The Xi'an branch is too large, with tens of thousands of farming population and only three stone cities. Some villages are hundreds of miles away from the core stone cities.
With a large population and large livestock, the cultivated land is increasingly far away.
Fortunately, the Xi'an branch had no shortage of rivers. As long as there was water, people could gather and survive. Of course, it would be best if there was enough cultivated food.
Ma Yuegen doesn't need a guide. Just run along the river and you will definitely find the village of the Hai tribe.
It wasn't harvest time yet, so the people of the Hai Tribe weren't busy with farming, so they had a little more leisure time, and thus more time for military training. Every village needed militia training, and the Hai Tribe was already familiar with this model.
Ma Yue encountered many villages along the way, and the biggest problem was a lack of grassroots cadres. With so many people and villages suddenly increasing, where would so many instructors come from? They could only promote from the grassroots core non-commissioned officers, and those who could read a few words were considered good enough.
Even many village chiefs are illiterate. Okay, just organize production and train the militia.
At Ma Yue's suggestion, the densely populated Xi'an branch established a leadership organization at the township level. You can't expect the Xi'an branch to directly govern so many villages, right?
Ma Yue inspected the organization of a town and found it quite good. At least the mayor was a former instructor and had considerable experience. A town's leadership over five or seven surrounding villages was considered local management, and this structure was generally reasonable. Villages varied in size, of course, but generally ranged from 300 to 500 people to 1,000.
The concentration of villages is of course due to the expansion of cultivated land areas. You can't be too far away from cultivated land, right?
This wasn't the original warm zone north and south divisions; back then, many of the population weren't from the Sea Tribe. Now, the Xi'an division was entirely comprised of Sea Tribe members, so the village divisions had to be as detailed as possible.
The Xi'an branch is not an endless grassland. There are also many hillsides, barren hills, and small woods. Many of them are separated by villages in this way.
There was also a map of the Xi'an branch in the mayor's house, and Ma Yue took a quick look. Since he was already here, he decided to see as much as possible; there wasn't much point in just going into the city.
I have a spirit horse and I can run fast. I am just out here to relax, why are you in such a hurry?
Then again, the mere presence of the spirit horse made the people of the Sea Tribe know that a charlatan had arrived. In this world, who else could be a charlatan if such a giant horse wasn't one? This also prevented unnecessary misunderstandings from people not recognizing the charlatan.
The spirit horse galloped through seven or eight towns. Ma Yue took a rough look and found that there were difficulties, which were inevitable, but there was no major trouble. Ma Yue was very satisfied.
"Ma Han? Are you the mayor here?" Ma Yue was a little surprised to see Ma Han.
"No, the Second Priest asked me to lead the troops here. This town is too far south, and the natives of the vast forest are somewhat unruly. When the exchange was not satisfactory, they would resort to violence at the slightest provocation. Later, they simply started to rob. The Second Priest suspected that other hostile tribes were deliberately instigating this."
As expected, with the veteran Ma Han here, it would be strange if nothing happened.
"Can't it be collected?" Ma Yue asked. If it is an unstable factor for a long time, the impact will be huge.
"Those natives run too fast in the forest. We can't even run fast on horseback in the forest." Ma Han said. It is really troublesome to run away when you can't beat them, and then you can't catch up with them after running away.
Otherwise, even though the people of the grassland were so powerful, they didn't enter the forest. Their skills in archery and horse riding were useless. The forest was so densely populated that even the large livestock would run.
"Charlatan!" The person who came in was Xu Da, looking much more heroic.
"Still not found?" Ma Han asked.
"Those natives are so cunning. What kind of grass or wood did they set on fire this time? The smell made even my donkey dizzy." Xu Da was instructed by Ma Yue in the past, so it seems that he has some ability to lead troops in battle.
"Spirit!" Ma Han was completely lost. He'd been stuck here for half a month, and couldn't find a match. How could he solve the problem? He had to reason with these natives. Only then would they be willing to communicate with him, right?
"How many troops do you have?" Ma Yue asked.
"One thousand cavalry and two thousand regular and deputy infantry." Ma Han said.
“Are there many Aboriginal people?”
"I've been observing for half a month, and those natives came out four times. Each time, there were less than a thousand more people and at least three hundred less. You charlatan, I'm not sure about the exact number of able-bodied men in this group of natives." Ma Han still spoke realistically. If you don't know, then you don't know. If you can't even find where the enemy is hiding, how can you determine the number of this group of people?
"Don't worry, I have Wangcai." Ma Yue said, touching Wangcai's head affectionately. A dog's nose is the most sensitive, especially a smart dog.
"I'll go and investigate first. Xu Da, you take a hundred cavalrymen and follow me. Ma Han, wait for my news." We can't just lead the army there blindly. After all, the towns and villages here also need garrisons to guard them.
Now that we are here, why not take a walk in the forest? Can this also be considered a kind of travel?
With Wangcai and Lingma here, how can they, just a bunch of natives, kill Ma Yue?
It was a big forest, and even a spirit horse had to move forward slowly.
"here?"
"Yes, it's here. The last natives we met were the ones who released the smoke," said Xu Da.
Wangcai jumped off the back of the spirit horse, knowing that it was time to work on his own.
They can't run fast anyway, so Xu Da and the cavalry can follow if they want.
Wangcai wasn't looking for the scent of the smoke, but the scent of the indigenous people who released it. This scent was mixed with the smoke, requiring an extremely high sense of smell. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult for Wangcai.
The team continued to move forward with Wangcai... No, they moved forward a few hundred meters, made a big turn, and were obviously heading back.
Ma Yue's patience was sufficient, and the pace of the march was not very fast. The cavalry carried their own dry food and water, and when they were hungry or thirsty, they just solved the problem on the donkey's back. When the donkey got tired, the cavalry fed it some cornmeal, which was nutritious and could quickly restore its strength.
The group rested about nine times along the way, hunting for game and eating something warm. It was almost the ninth day of following Wangcai, which showed how far they had traveled. Ma Yue was completely disoriented, having lost all sense of direction.
One thing that is certain is that the team is already very far away from the town where Ma Han is.
“Woo…”
"We're here!" Since Wangcai didn't leave, the destination must be not far ahead.
A tribe that could gather so many people must have a large gathering place. To Ma Yue's surprise, this place was incredibly large. Was it still in the forest? He wasn't sure.
There was nothing to fear. Ma Yue led the cavalry directly into the flat area. There was no sign of farming at all. Perhaps, they were just a group of natives?
No, this place is more than ten days' journey from Ma Han's town. What does it mean to be aboriginal? Traveling so far to rob? At most, there are about a thousand aboriginals. What do they eat on the way? Is the little they steal worth it?
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