Chapter 63: The Diagram That Defies Heaven

  He dismissed Xun Yu and Zhao Wu, Li Jing sat quietly behind the desk for a while, filtering the information in his mind, and slowly let out a breath.

  No matter what plan it was, before it could be implemented, Li Zhēng would bury it deep in his mind. Suddenly, he thought of something else that needed to be done.

  Every month, the mysterious shop refreshes, and Li Zhēng must take a look.

  Although the topographic map he had been eagerly expecting never showed up, Li Zhong still persisted.

  Also because of this plan, Bai Shui River has never been built. Firstly, building a city is a huge project that consumes a lot of resources and is temporarily too burdensome for Li Zhong.

  Two if you can get a topographic map conversion, an idea can be done.

  Comparing the two options, Li Zhong chose the latter.

  Unfortunately, more than half a year has passed, from the end of last year to now in August, nine months have refreshed nine times, but none of them were satisfactory.

  Li Zhong could only pin his hopes on this tenth time again.

  Perfectly beautiful! The previous ones didn't bring out this blueprint, but this time it will definitely refresh.

  Li Zheng first gave himself a boost of confidence, then resolutely opened the mysterious shop option in his mind.

  Hahaha...

  At a glance, Li Zhēng couldn't help but laugh loudly: "Damn it, I've finally waited for you!"

  The first item is that enchanting geographical transformation blueprint!

  Take another look at the price behind - 10,000 merits!

  "No way." Li Zhēng furrowed his brow: "I remember the last time a blueprint was refreshed, it only took 2,000 merits. Why does this one need 10,000?"

  He sank his consciousness in for a while, and after Li Zhēng withdrew from his consciousness, he couldn't help but laugh.

  The reason why it's five times more expensive is that this one covers a much larger area than the previous one.

  The last map could only cover an area of about 10 square kilometers, or 20 miles. But this one now covers as much as 150 miles!

  Although the price has increased fivefold, the coverage area has increased by more than seven times, it's a bargain!

  Bought it!

  In an instant, Li Zhong's merits were reduced by a quarter.

  Earlier, after being rescued by Fu Xie, Li Jing had more than 17,000 merits. Later, when he annihilated the Jie people, perhaps because this tribe would have a great impact on the overall situation in the future, he was given more than 20,000 merits. Adding these together gives a total of over 40,000!

  It's reasonable to think that the Jie people, as one of the Five Barbarians who wreaked havoc on China, had a significant impact on the overall situation. However, since the current Jie people are still relatively weak, they were given over 20,000 troops. Otherwise, if the powerful Jie people of a hundred years later were to cause harm to the Divine Land, it's likely that several tens of thousands of merits would still be worth it.

  The topographic map was transformed into a manual, and Li Zhong's heart became more open-minded.

  Today is really a good day, Xun Yu is in charge, and the drawings are also in hand. Who says good fortune never comes twice?

  The next seven items were nothing special. It seemed that Li Zhēn's good luck for today had been used up. However, it didn't matter, as the gains from today were already enough to make Li Zhēn happy.

  Open your eyes, wave your hand to project the map in front of you, and take out the topographic conversion chart covering an area of 150 square miles from the package, comparing it with the map.

  Li Zhēng's current territory includes three counties, one mountain and one pasture, covering an area of 300 miles in diameter. Although this map has a reverse function, it can only cover about one quarter of the area. To renovate the entire territory is not possible.

  It is now necessary to make a choice about which area to apply this map to, in order to best meet the current needs and be most cost-effective.

  In the end, Li Zhong decided to use it in Baishui River, including Shen Zhou Grassland and the Helan Mountain branch that separates Baishui River from Shen Zhou Grassland.

  Fully opening up the traffic in the Helan Mountains branch can not only improve the efficiency of mining transportation, but also closely connect Baishui River with Shen State Grassland and even Lingzhou and Beidi County.

  This is too important for Li Zhong.

  Although Li Zhong never gave up on using manpower to open roads in the Helan Mountains, connect mines, and clear a passage between Baishui River, the consumption was too great, and it was fraught with danger. With the productive forces of this era, it was too difficult to do so.

  Now that I have the drawings in hand, everything is easy to handle.

  Li Zheng superimposed the blueprint with the selected area, and the blueprint instantly turned into a blue light, merging into the map. In front of Li Zheng, all the terrain in this area appeared immediately!

  Li Zhēng was like a creator, stretching out his hand to part the mountains and press down lightly, forming a straight and grand heavenly road. His fingers moved back and forth, drawing several wide and large canals from the great river, passing through Báishuǐ Zé, flowing over Hèlán Shān's branches, and directly reaching Shénzhōu Cǎochǎng.

  Li Zhong's face was full of infatuation.

  This method is simply awesome!

  By the time Li Zhēn nodded in satisfaction, the terrain on the map had undergone a heaven-shaking and earth-shattering change.

  First of all, there is the Baishui River. On both the east and north sides, a mountain range rises abruptly from the ground, towering hundreds of meters high, with steep cliffs that are unmatched in their danger. Together with the great river on the west side and the Helan Mountains' branch on the south side, the entire hundred-mile-around Baishui River is surrounded, making it impossible to escape.

  Two battalions turned into two steep stone forts, standing quietly, guarding the only two passes leading to other places in the Hetao Grassland.

  And on the west side of the grassland, a huge stone city rises from the ground, with a length and width of ten miles, which is the governing center of the entire Baishui River. There are rows of buildings with grand and heavy stone houses, straight streets intersecting each other, dividing the entire stone city into four parts.

  To the west of Baishui River, along the banks of the great river, a massive stone dock has emerged. On the edge of the dock also stands a gigantic military camp.

  There are four main canals that branch off from the Great River, running from west to east, traversing the entire Bai Shui River and providing an endless source of water that nourishes this grassland at all times. Eight smaller canals connect these four main canals from north to south, eventually merging into an even larger canal that flows southward, passing through the Helan Mountains and reaching the Shen Zhou Grassland.

  A broad stone road that leads to all corners, starting from the grassland and extending to the branches of Helan Mountain, branching out into dozens of roads, connecting all the mines.

  This main road finally passes through the Helan Mountains, enters Baishui River, and then splits into four, each pointing directly to Bingying, Shicheng and Matou. At the same time, there are dozens of four-way eight-reach branch roads that run through it, connecting these four main roads.

  And on the canals, there are naturally solid stone bridges that carry these major arteries.

  Apart from changes in roads, water conservancy, cities, barracks and docks along the Baishui River, Shen State Pasture also underwent tremendous changes.

  This pasture originally had only 300 mu of land, but this time Li Zhēng moved the surrounding hills outwards by five miles, making the entire pasture expand to 9,000 mu!

  The layout of the pasture has also undergone changes. All the houses are concentrated in one area, which is the entrance to the south of the pasture, forming a square and regular residential area, no longer the long strip along the hillside as before.

  The four main functional buildings, including the War Horse Hall, and their related supporting facilities are all concentrated together. The four main functional buildings stand in front, with the related supporting facilities on either side, and the Taming Beast Arena is at the back, still built into the mountain.

  Stables, sheepfolds, and cowsheds, all specialized buildings for livestock, were also concentrated by Li Zhuang, no longer scattered as they had been before.

  There is also a simple school field, from the ground to the military camp, to the point of the general platform, all are integrated stone, looking rough and grand, majestic and solemn.

  A stone road, centered on the southern entrance of the grassland, connects to the road leading to Lingzhou in the south and leads to the direction of Baishui River in the north. It also extends a section of the road that runs through the entire Shenzhou Grassland, all the way to the Forging Center.

  Correspondingly, some facilities such as the medicine field also made subtle adjustments. At the same time, in order to facilitate the supply of water for the pasture, several neat small canals were also drawn from the large canal.

  From then on, the entire meadow looked more orderly and pleasing to the eye on the map.

  Of course, this also makes the pasture look more empty. Especially the stretched-out area, all of it is desolate, and we still need to plant some grass and build some facilities to make it perfect.

  With great interest, Li Zhēng was admiring everything on the map, and he couldn't help but smile to himself - facing such a huge change, what kind of surprise would his subordinates have?

  At this time, Li Zhēng had already heard various cries of surprise coming from the grass field.

  Suddenly, a hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

  Xun Yu's voice rang out: "My lord!"

  "Come in."

  Li Zhong didn't take down the map and was still admiring his masterpiece.

  Xun Yu was also startled by the light curtain map after entering the door, but Xun Yu's endurance was much stronger. He calmed down and said steadily: "My lord, the grassland..."

  "Has it grown bigger?" Li Zhong chuckled and pointed at the map in front of him: "Mr. Gongda, come take a look."

  Xun Yu heard this and stepped forward, looking at the light screen.

  A moment later, Xun Yu's face showed a look of realization: "Could it be that our lord is behind this?"

  Li Ding nodded and smiled: "Just now I got a good thing, so I slightly changed the terrain." He pointed to the Bai Shui River on the map again, saying: "This time the terrain change covers an area of 150 miles, and the Bai Shui River is completely included. Look at these canals and roads, as well as that ring of mountains, haha..."

  Xun Yu hesitated for a moment, then slowly let out a long sigh: "Your Excellency, in this case, many construction projects can be stopped. At the same time, we must also send messages to Zhou Fei and other leaders of Baiti Brook to reassure them."

  Li Zheng slapped his forehead and chuckled: "I was so excited that I almost forgot about this. Mr. Gongda, you go down now and send a message in my name immediately."

  Although I really want to know the expressions of those people in Baishui River now, the main task is important.

  "Ah." Xun You nodded and continued, "Regarding the construction of Bai Shui River and He Lan Mountain branches, after stopping, will the withdrawn manpower and resources be invested in the construction of Lingzhou and other three counties?"

  "It's up to you, make your decision now."

  Xun Yu was speechless, now he finally knew that Li Zheng wanted him to acknowledge his master, the biggest reason being his own laziness.

  Li Zong also seemed to have understood Xun You's meaning, and with a smile, said: "The lord has something on his mind, I'll take care of it. Mr. Gong Da, since you're capable, I'll leave it to you!"

  Xun Yu couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Since the terrain of Baishui River has changed greatly, under the current situation, it's naturally not necessary to station too many troops. Why not dispatch the main army back to Lingzhou?"

  Li Zheng nodded slightly and smiled: "That's what I'm thinking."

  Xun Yu understood and bowed before turning around and leaving.

  "These days have been pretty good."

  Li Zhong waved his hand and scattered the light curtain map, muttering to himself, but in his mind, he couldn't help but analyze the situation, consider development, and so on.

  It seems like I can only be a hard worker then.

  Now the terrain of Baishui River has changed greatly, and the whole area is surrounded by mountains. The Li Zhong Mountains are steep and rugged, and it's hard to imagine how they were formed. Even a monkey would find it difficult to climb over those treacherous peaks.

  This way, they would provoke the Xiongnu people, and the Xiongnu people would have no choice but to fight back. They could advance and attack, or retreat and defend, and it was up to them whether to fight or not, which is the current situation at Baihe River.

  Li Zhong couldn't help but laugh at this thought.

  Although he advocates for offense, it doesn't mean he doesn't need safety. Facing two enemies is already extremely dangerous. Not to mention that the combined strength of these two enemies far exceeds his own. At present, he agrees with Xun Yu's suggestion, and his main energy should be focused on the south. However, with only a few thousand men under him, it's not easy to defend against the Huns while also giving Han Sui some color and Dong Zhuo some deterrence.

  Now it's fine, the Xiongnu side doesn't need to worry for the time being. The two military camps have transformed into a steep and rocky pass, according to Li Zhong's design, which is indeed a situation where one man can guard the pass and ten thousand men cannot open it, even if tens of thousands of troops come to attack, 500 people can defend it safely.

  That is to say, just one thousand infantrymen can easily guard Baishui River.

  Thus, the Xiongnu threat was completely eliminated.

  Later, Li Zhēng thought he could fight if he wanted to, and if he didn't want to, he could just pat his butt, close the gate, and defend the city.