57: A pub without wine

Han Huohuo built another Spearmen Barracks, spending 100 gold coins just for the blueprint. This was a worthless barracks because Spearman were the lowest-level troops, and the blueprint drop rate was too high.

Han Huohuo found that he had no luck with low-level blueprints; they never dropped. All the drops were high-level blueprints.

He suspected it was the horseshoe.

Hua Mulan had already arranged people to train guards. They didn't expect these Spearman to fight, mainly just to maintain city order, guard the city gates, and so on.

It was a rare leisurely day. Han Huohuo held Mu Jiu's hand and took a walk in the completed street area.

As a leader, you can't do everything yourself, or you'll forever be a small boss with no prospects. You have to learn to use people, and also relax yourself when appropriate.

Unknowingly, there were already several hundred people. The street area became lively, and there were even children running around and playing.

His eyes lit up. There was even a wooden tavern on the street side. The oil lamps were bright, snowflakes danced, and it had a bit of a Nordic style.

Han Huohuo entered the tavern.

There was no alcohol in the tavern, only tea.

A tavern without alcohol naturally couldn't be lively. There was only one young man wearing a bamboo hat inside.

The young man wanted alcohol, but the boss only brought him a cup of bitter tea. He was sitting there sighing.

Han Huohuo and Mu Jiu sat at another table. The boss recognized the Lord and quickly brought over the tea.

The young man turned his head and saw Han Huohuo and Mu Jiu. He was astonished by Mu Jiu's beauty and almost stared blankly.

Han Huohuo was annoyed. The Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty instantly appeared in his mind. He wondered if he should build a secret prison in Tongtian City, lock this kid in a water cell, and give him a good beating. How dare you stare at my woman?

The young man's gaze finally managed to move away from Mu Jiu. Then he walked over and sat across from Han Huohuo.

"I heard you are the Lord here?"

Han Huohuo was startled and greatly surprised. This guy was actually looking for him?

"Are you looking for me for something?"

"Lord, I've been traveling in the Ten Thousand Mountains downstream. Seeing a city suddenly appear here, I came in to take a look. I've been familiar with military strategy since childhood and am quite skilled in leading troops. I wonder if I could have a chance to serve the Lord?"

Han Huohuo blinked. So he was someone looking for a job here. It seemed this young man wasn't one of the vagrants Liu Qiang had recruited.

[Class C Hero, Ma Xiaosuo, is actively seeking to join you. Do you wish to recruit him? Recruiting Ma Xiaosuo requires 2500 gold coins.]

This is a Hero?

Looking at the stats of this ordinary Hero, he was miles worse than Hua Mulan and Mu Jiu.

[Hero]: Ma Xiaosuo (Class C Hero)

[Level]: One

[Stats]: Strength 2, Defense 2, Stamina 4, Intelligence 6.

[Exclusive Skill]: Stone Skin Strengthening

[General Skill]: Basic Wisdom.

[Loyalty]: 50

Han Huohuo had never seen a Hero with such poor stats. They were almost the same as his initial stats, simply unbearable to look at.

The aptitude was too poor.

The only advantage was that recruiting this kind of ordinary Hero didn't require a hero token.

He didn't agree immediately. He called the tavern owner and asked him to fetch Hua Mulan.

As soon as Hua Mulan entered the room, a killing intent filled the entire space. As soon as Ma Xiaosuo saw Hua Mulan, he was like a mouse seeing a cat. He quickly stood up, flustered, rubbing his hands, not daring to speak.

"Lord, you called for me?"

Hua Mulan ignored Ma Xiaosuo and walked directly over to ask Han Huohuo.

"Take a look at this young man. Can we make use of him?"

Hua Mulan looked at Ma Xiaosuo's stats: "A Class C Hero, looks alright. Let him stay. The Spearman Barracks and the Rogue Guild also need a dedicated Hero for training and management."

If Hua Mulan said he was alright, then he was alright. Han Huohuo was just puzzled, how could such poor stats be considered alright?

He spent 2500 gold coins to recruit this young man.

Hua Mulan led Ma Xiaosuo out of the tavern.

Mu Jiu saw the confusion in Han Huohuo's eyes and explained with a smile, "A Class C Hero is already good. Heroes in this world are divided into ten ranks: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui, with Jia being the highest. This young man isn't old and is already a Class C Hero, which is rare. He might have room for growth in the future. Don't be dissatisfied."

Only then did Han Huohuo feel relieved.

Hua Mulan and Mu Jiu were both Epic-grade Heroes, even above Class Jia. Their stats naturally far surpassed ordinary Heroes. But there was simply no other Lord in this world with his kind of luck.

The only guest in the tavern also left. The tavern owner came over and refilled Han Huohuo's hot tea.

Han Huohuo smiled and chatted with the boss, "Boss, your business isn't doing well here. It's too deserted."

"Lord, this is a tavern, but there's not a drop of alcohol in our Tongtian City. Who would come here? When can we get some alcohol back so my business can flourish?"

"Don't worry. There's too little grain now. When there's enough grain next year, we'll brew some alcohol."

"Haha, then I'll wait for the Lord's good news."

Han Huohuo chatted with the boss for a while. After finishing the hot tea, he and Mu Jiu left the tavern.

The efficiency of the Tulip Merchant Group was truly high. By evening, a hundred thousand units of grain had already been transported over and sold to Han Huohuo at a very favorable price. The merchant group only charged Han Huohuo two thousand gold coins.

Receiving the grain, Han Huohuo finally breathed a sigh of relief. This winter was finally not a problem. With the addition of a hundred thousand units of grain, plus the remaining surplus from before, it was enough for several hundred people to get through this cold winter.

When receiving the grain, Han Huohuo found that the Tulip caravan also had a large amount of supplies, far more than the hundred thousand units of grain.

"What is this?"

The leader of the merchant group knew this was a client Manager Jin valued greatly, so he quickly explained in a low voice, "Sir, these are goods being transported to the Barbarian King. It's all iron, and some other special resources."

"Iron?"

"Exactly. Please don't spread this around. Iron and grain are embargoed goods by the Great Qian Dynasty. We had to clear many hurdles to transport them out."

Han Huohuo laughed, "Why would I talk nonsense? Strictly speaking, I'm also a wanted criminal of the Great Qian Dynasty."

The leader smiled knowingly.

They were just passing by, unloading some grain along the way, and did a simple repair. They didn't stay in Tongtian City for too long. Carrying the large merchant group, they continued towards the Barbarian King's territory.

"The Barbarian King is buying so much iron, is he going to start a war?"

Han Huohuo was a little worried.

If the Barbarian King went to war with the Great Qian Dynasty, would the Ten Thousand Mountains become a battlefield? This was what Han Huohuo was most worried about.

He was very worried and went to find Hua Mulan.

Hua Mulan was a Barbarian; she understood the Barbarian King best.

Hua Mulan comforted him, "No, it won't happen. Logistics are too difficult in winter, and many places will have heavy snow blocking the mountains. The Barbarian King is just preparing. I guess if he wants to start a war, it will at least be after this winter, so you don't need to worry too much."

Han Huohuo temporarily put his mind at ease.

Winter lasts for three months. They could talk about what happens after three months when the time comes.

Hua Mulan added, "Let's still figure out how to deal with Nine Dragon Mountain. I just got intelligence from the scouts that a troop has arrived from Wanqing City and stationed themselves on Nine Dragon Mountain. I suspect they might be unfavorable to us."

"Oh, what kind of troop?"

"We need to be vigilant this time. The arriving troop has many types of soldiers, including a flying unit, which are Griffons."

"Griffons?"

Han Huohuo frowned. Griffons weren't considered high-level troops, but these large birds posed a great threat to the ranged archers on the city walls.

He suddenly said to Mu Jiu, "Little Jiu, please prioritize helping me gather some iron ore now. I want to continue upgrading the Mecha Workshop."

Previously, to build the city, resources were more inclined towards wood and stone. Black stone collection couldn't stop either, so the collection of iron ore was naturally reduced.

Because no matter how much iron ore there was, without black oil, they couldn't manufacture more advanced mechanical troops.

Moreover, when mechanical troops went out on campaigns, charging was another problem. The stored electricity severely affected the mechanical troops' ability to attack.

Mu Jiu knew the importance of the battle and quickly nodded in confirmation. She adjusted the proportion of mechanical workers and then had the blacksmith shop work overtime to smelt all the iron ore into iron ingots.

The number of iron ingots grew rapidly, and the Black Stone Mine was also being desperately harvested.

But the city's construction could only slow down a bit.

There was also another issue: mining wasn't just about the number of mechanical workers. The number of surrounding mineral deposits would also limit development. No matter how many workers you had, a single mineral deposit could only produce a limited amount at most.