mtl008 Chapter 164 Border War Begins
Chapter 164 Border War Begins
Qianyuan County
Since Xiao Siyu left, the Xiao family seems to have become much quieter, and no one chatters during mealtimes anymore.
Time flies, and Qianyuan County has undergone a complete transformation.
Xiao Siyue and her daughter Lin Qin had nothing to do today, so they decided to go for a stroll in the street.
She still remembers when she first came to Qianyuan County, the streets of Qianyuan County were very desolate, and there were very few small vendors.
But now, the whole street is very lively.
There are all kinds of snacks available, and the streets are crowded with people.
Xiao Siyue looked around and bought many interesting little items.
It seems that since the beginning of this year, Qianyuan County has seen an increase in merchants from other places. Xiao Siyue took the opportunity to chat with the merchants while shopping.
It turns out that the merchants came specifically because they had heard about the current situation in Qianyuan County.
This is actually partly due to Xiao Siyue. In the past two years, at Xiao Siyue's suggestion, Xiao Qinian has reorganized the streets.
With the addition of several factories in Qianyuan County, some merchants come to Qianyuan County to purchase goods, such as white sugar made by Xiao Siyue.
Although we had previously collaborated with Sheng Yashu, we did not restrict other people from purchasing from us.
It's just that Sheng Yashu is her biggest buyer.
After wandering around for a long time, the two finally returned to the Xiao family home.
Xiao Siyue bought a very delicate little trinket on the street, intending to give it to Xiao Qinian.
When they arrived at Xiao Qinian's place, they found him sitting on a stool with a worried expression.
Xiao Siyue was still a little confused. Qianyuan County was developing rapidly, and the people were happy and healthy. There were no cases to deal with recently. What was wrong with her father?
"Father, what happened?" Xiao Siyue asked, placing the wooden carving on Xiao Qinian's desk.
"Oh, it's Yue'er. What's this?" Xiao Qinian picked up the ornament on the table and looked at it curiously.
"Dad, I saw this on the street this day. I thought it was pretty, so I bought it."
It's actually just a very ordinary wooden ornament, but its strength lies in its exquisite craftsmanship.
A piece of wood the size of an adult's palm has been carved into a majestic tiger, looking incredibly lifelike.
Xiao Siyue thought it looked quite nice on her desk.
Xiao Qinian also liked it very much.
I held it in my hand and played with it for a while.
Seeing that Xiao Qinian's expression had softened considerably, Xiao Siyue continued to ask, "Father, what happened? You didn't look well just now."
"Sigh, I received a letter from the capital saying that things aren't going well at the border lately, and it's estimated that fighting might break out in less than a month," Xiao Qinian sighed.
For the past two years, the neighboring country has been provoking the border, but hasn't done anything too outrageous. However, in the recent past, they have started seizing grain from the border people and destroying farmland. They also frequently provoke the border people directly outside the city gates.
Upon receiving news from the border, Emperor Zhou immediately convened a meeting of his civil and military officials, and ultimately decided to launch a direct attack.
Two years have passed, and they couldn't take it anymore. They decided to teach Da Jin a lesson and let them know that Da Zhou was not so easy to mess with.
Xiao Siyue was aware of this matter as well. It had been mentioned before that neighboring countries had been training their troops on the border, so the Great Zhou had been preparing as well. However, due to insufficient national treasury and lack of provisions, they had to put up with it.
It seems we can't wait any longer.
"Father, are you worried that our Great Zhou can't win?"
"No, it's just that I was thinking that if war breaks out, it will be the common people who suffer," Xiao Qinian said.
"Father, there's nothing we can do about it. The Great Jin is preparing for war, and we can't just sit here and wait to die."
This is natural. The Jin and Zhou dynasties were roughly equal in strength, but the Jin dynasty was extremely ambitious and always wanted to annex the Zhou dynasty.
"Yes, Father knows, but I feel a little reluctant." Xiao Qinian understood, but he was always worried about those people.
"Dad, do you know who's leading the troops this time?" Xiao Siyue was still a little curious about this.
"It's the Duke of Dingguo. This time, the Duke of Dingguo is in charge." The Duke of Dingguo's family has been guarding the border for the Great Zhou for generations.
More than ten years ago, the Duke of Dingguo lost two sons in a battle with the Jin Dynasty. This was a pain in the Duke of Dingguo's heart, and also a pain for the entire Zhou Dynasty.
Now that the war has broken out again, the Duke of Dingguo once again led his only son and grandsons to the frontier.
"So it's the Duke of Dingguo." Xiao Siyue knew him too, and she admired him greatly.
However, Xiao Siyue was not worried about this battle, because the Great Zhou Dynasty was no longer the Great Zhou Dynasty of more than ten years ago. Because of glass, the Great Zhou Dynasty made a fortune and its national treasury was full.
In addition, previous news indicated that the telescope had been successfully built, which provides further assurance.
Xiao Siyue was actually quite surprised by this. She had only given her a recipe beforehand, but she didn't expect that it would be made in such a short time. It seems that ancient people are no less capable than modern people; on the contrary, they are quite clever.
Now that the Great Zhou is much stronger, the soldiers are in high spirits, and their treatment is much better, Xiao Siyue believes that the Great Zhou will surely be the victor in this battle.
It would also be a good opportunity to settle old scores. Although we won that battle, we paid a heavy price; it was a Pyrrhic victory, and I couldn't feel any joy in it.
In fact, Xiao Siyue had considered improving the weapon before, but she has not yet found the right opportunity.
This thing is different from things that benefit the country and its people, like grain seeds and cement. If weapons fall into the wrong hands, it will lead to utter ruin.
So Xiao Siyue thought she would look for an opportunity after she arrived in the capital.
And then there's gunpowder. Xiao Siyue has been struggling with whether or not to introduce gunpowder into this era.
On the one hand, Xiao Siyue thought that if they had gunpowder, then the Great Zhou would no longer have to fear other countries.
On the other hand, if we had gunpowder, such a powerful weapon, what uncontrollable things would happen? You have to understand that in the era of cold weapons, gunpowder can be said to be a game-changer.
Xiao Siyue feared that in the end, she would not help the people but harm them, so what would be the point of all her efforts?
Xiao Siyue planned to leave the things she couldn't figure out to her father to figure out later. But for now, she decided to leave it for later.
Xiao Siyue suddenly remembered that her third brother had also joined the army, but she didn't know if he had gone to the border this time.
Xiao Siyue was still a little worried. Although she firmly believed that the Great Zhou would win, it didn't mean that every soldier would be safe and sound.
On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes; no one knows what might happen.
Sighing inwardly, Xiao Siyue realized she had no other options but to pray for Xiao Siyuan's safety.