The total journey from the current location of the Arctic Team to the Blue Mountains was four days, not three days as mentioned before. On the second day, everyone left the plains and entered a hilly mountainous area, which made the journey even more difficult. The walking time has increased, and starting from here, it is actually the edge of the Blue Mountain. Of course, this is still the territory of the human country, so the dwarves of the Turin line have not occupied land here. However, there are also Several inconspicuous dwarf farms.
That's right, dwarves cultivate hillside farms. Because of the hilly mountains, the land here is actually not suitable for farming. Therefore, the farming here is not intensive farming. It is more like a kind of free-range farming, directly clearing wasteland and burning the land. Just sow the seeds and wait until the time comes to harvest. You can imagine how low the harvest rate is, but there is nothing you can do. One is the technological level of this world, and the other is the terrain constraints here. It is estimated that this can only be done to this extent.
Why is so little land cultivated? If the land on the hillside is not enough, the land under the valley is actually better. And there are streams flowing down there. If it is used for irrigation, good food can definitely be grown.
There are endless scenery along the way, and after Chu Hao said what he said about attacking local tycoons and dividing their fields, everyone in the Arctic Team began to pay attention to everything along the way, be it the scenery, the terrain, and more. I wanted to see if the dwarves in Blue Mountain were really like what Chu Hao said.
After seeing the sporadic farmland on the hillside, Tom took the lead and asked curiously. After hearing his question, before the dwarves and Gandalf could say anything, Chu Hao first explained: Because farming can only be done on the hillside. , firstly, this place is still on the territory of the human country, or it can be said to be the border of the human country. Although there is no one here, and no one will say anything if you do a little farming, but when there is a real conflict, this may be the human territory. The country has an excuse to attack the dwarves of Turin, so it is best not to develop here as much as possible. Looking at the situation here, it should be that very poor dwarf families farm here, harvest grain and vegetables, and then sell them in the Blue Mountains.
Secondly, there is an unwritten rule, or tacit understanding, in the world of Middle-earth, that is, the plains belong to humans, the forests belong to elves, and the mountain caves belong to dwarves. Of course, I mean roughly, for example, orcs will and Just like dwarves fight for mountain caves, humans don't fight for it. This is why. The land on the hillside can barely be considered a mountain, but the plains under the valley are not mountainous. Therefore, you can understand why the lonely mountain is so important to the dwarves. It is so important because there are mountains, vast plains for farming, and abundant water resources for irrigation and drinking. It can be said to be the largest blessed land for dwarves in Middle-earth.
Everyone in the Arctic Team could hear the voice in their head. It was said through the mind controller, because some words were not easy to say directly in front of the dwarf, but these few words made everyone understand. , to put it simply, they are afraid of disputes. The elves have the power of the forest, the dwarves have the power of the mountains and caves, and the humans have the power of the plains. This is an invisible rule in Middle-earth. If the dwarves enter the human kingdom, In the mountains, humans may only move or take refuge as a tribe, but if a group of dwarves enters the human plains and sets up camp, then there is no guarantee that it will lead to a war between the two races.
In the past few days, Chu Hao also got some information about the Blue Mountain dwarves from the dwarves. Many of them were attributed to the lawyer Nohanbis. His sharp tongue seemed to be better than Chu Hao's. Hao is more suitable for dealing with ordinary people, and many things were revealed during his chat with the dwarves.
At present, the Blue Mountain dwarf line, which is the original Turin dwarf line, is committed to developing the rich mineral resources of the Blue Mountain and forging them into various weapons, tools, etc. needed by humans and elves. A certain amount of gold and gemstone reserves are used as a source of funds, and the money obtained from transactions is used to purchase food and various survival supplies. To put it simply, it is already a stable dwarf country if you don't look at its future crises.
In fact, Blue Mountain is not an uninhabited land. It is the edge of the human kingdom. Of course, it is okay to say that this is not a human kingdom, but it is also a territory of the human kingdom. This is the so-called in-between. Of course, , according to the intensity of land development in this era, there may be no need to worry about any territorial disputes with humans here for at least five hundred years.
That is a normal situation, but there is an invisible prophecy in this world. When the next era comes, the dwarves will take refuge in deep mountain caves, and the elves will go to the fairy mountains overseas. Then humans will become the masters of the next era. That is a human Era, and Blue Mountain is so close to the human world. Once the human era comes, how will the dwarves fare? Will they perish like the non-human race that did not retreat in the prophecy? Or will they lose all the dwarven traditions and culture and become part of the human race? This is the biggest crisis for the Blue Mountain dwarves, and the future Thorin envisions for them is to take back the Lonely Mountain and the kingdom under the mountain, the most famous and legendary territory of the dwarves, so that all problems can be solved.
But are the dwarves of the Blue Mountains, or the dwarves who truly control the power of the Blue Mountains, willing to do this
There is such a detail in the original movie plot that after the dwarves were forced to leave the Lonely Mountain, they tried to take back the territory that the dwarves once had. It was a huge underground city that had been abandoned for many years, but it had been occupied by orcs and half-orcs. Therefore, the dwarves and the beast army fought a big battle, but the result was a tragic victory. This is a plot clearly performed in the movie.
In that battle, the dwarf king Thor died in battle, but the most orthodox new dwarf king, Thorne, Thorin's father, was missing. Therefore, although Thorin was the prince of the Turin dwarves, Turin The most direct heir of the dwarves, but he could not legitimately ascend the throne, because the real dwarf king should be Thorne, so even now, Thorin is still called the dwarf prince, not the dwarf king. This is the reason Because he does not have the power to ascend the throne, at least until Thorne's situation is clear, he has no power.
Judging from the current situation in Blue Mountain, and based on the information Chu Hao obtained from the accompanying dwarves, there is only one conclusion, and that is that the real ruler of Blue Mountain is not Thorin, but the nobles of the Turin lineage. Together with the elders, they established an organization similar to a noble council, which almost took over all the power of the Blue Mountain. Although Thorin had a high reputation for finding the Blue Mountain, his plan to take back the Lonely Mountain could not be implemented because of this This is it, he has a conflict of interest with those who are really in power in the Blue Mountains.
First, the terror of the fire dragon Smaug left these nobles with lingering fears. Second, this was Chu Hao's own guess. He was never afraid to use the darkest psychology to guess others. Those dwarf nobles did not want to lose the power in their hands, because once Thorin recaptured the Lonely Mountain and obtained the Heart of the Mountain Gem, the symbol of the dwarf king of Turin. So even if Thorne has disappeared, he still has enough reasons, power, reputation, and rationality to ascend the throne as king. , this world respects royal power very much. At that time, Thorin had legitimately regained the dominance of the Turin lineage, and there was nothing they could do.
It was precisely because of all these speculations and intelligence results that Chu Hao made such a judgment. It was impossible for the Turin dwarves of the Blue Mountains to agree to Thorin's expedition plan. Because of this, Thorin only had a dozen or so people. The dwarves followed.
But this is not unsolvable
The reason why Chu Hao insisted on going to Blue Mountain to take a look was because he already had a way to deal with the blue mountain nobles, that is, the supremacy of royal power.
Yes, in Middle-earth, this is a country where kingship is supreme. This is true for dwarves, elves, and humans. Whether it is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings or the Lord of the Rings trilogy, many things in it undoubtedly show this kind of power. The royal power is supreme. Chu Hao may have to call the dwarves and poor people out of thin air to oppose the nobles, asking them to overthrow the nobles, fight against the local tyrants, and divide the fields. Even without the nobles taking action, the poor people may tear him apart, let alone the elves, humans, and Everyone will regard the wizards who roam the Middle-earth continent as enemies. At that time, Chu Hao will be unable to move forward. In fact, even the dark forces may regard him as the biggest enemy, because he is overthrowing the world. The basis of order.
But what if we change the method
When the nobility and the royal power were in conflict, Thorin, who had a high reputation, the ordinary people of the Turin dwarf lineage, the poor, and even the dwarf warriors and soldiers, had to choose whether they were the nobles who oppressed them or the ones who led them. What about the royal family that gives them glory and a future? It’s almost no longer a choice.
As Chu Hao said before, Thorin has the suzerain responsibility for those nobles. It is impossible for him to call on his people to defeat the nobles, because this will completely destroy the foundation of his rule and even make other dwarf clans hostile. He, but Chu Hao does not have such a psychological burden. In fact, it may be more to his liking if the Turin dwarves are hostile and isolated by other dwarf clans, because only the Turin dwarves have no way out. Then his rugged road is their only choice, and they will risk everything to fight the Samsara Team for him, instead of abandoning the Arctic Team and allowing the Turin Dwarves to gain greater benefits.
So when the team arrived at the Blue Mountain territory, when the dozen or so dwarf nobles who greeted them saw the indifferent behavior of Thorin and his team, Thorin and the dwarves who followed him looked cold and handsome, and so did Gandalf. Only Chu Hao had a calm face
smiled lightly