Li Cong himself was not an excessive leader. Although Li Cong became very irritable because of Li Yin's disappearance, Li Cong was still not angry at the people around him because he knew that the people around him had done their best.
Even King An and others in Guangming Nancheng arrived here with Li Cong. The temperature there was still much higher than here. When they saw Li Cong's appearance, they all arrived.
They didn't know what to say. These people also knew that Li Cong was in pain. The relationship between that young man and Li Cong should be unusual. They both had the same surname. It seemed that they were from the same family.
Perhaps it should be a more important junior member of the family, but several people have chosen to remain silent.<-》
Although the news of Li Cong leaving Beijing was very secret, everyone in the gold mine soon knew the news. They felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They could complete it quickly without the regent in the imperial capital before.
All kinds of things, but since Li Cong came, their lives have not been easy. Each of these people also understand that it was Li Cong who changed everything, although they do not want to believe that these things were caused by Li Cong.
It was a very unpleasant thing for these old nobles to bow to a new noble like Li Cong, but this time the gold mine involved was so huge that they could not care about their face.
If they don't take action now that they have a good opportunity, they may have no hope when Li Cong comes back. Therefore, several major families have successively sent their most capable young people to the gold mine.
Yes, they want to make this area a fait accompli, and it must not be given to Li Cong.
The Ukawa area has never attracted so many people before. They have no permanent residents here at all, so it is absolutely impossible for several big families to recruit a sufficient number of miners here. This
The territory of the gold mine is very large, so it seems that everything here must require a large number of miners. For these large families, it is very normal to mobilize tens of thousands of slaves, but mobilizing slaves to this place
It's not normal here. All the major forces in the empire have set their sights here one after another. They all know clearly that something unusual must have happened here, otherwise these people will not let the imperial capital go.
They came to this peaceful place to live a comfortable life. Some large forces also hoped to get some food out of this project, but when they saw the combination of this group, they retreated one by one.
, no matter how huge the interests here are, offending these people is not worth the gain.
Although Li Cong was never in the imperial capital, Li Cong also handed over all matters here to Lao Yang. Moreover, Li Cong believed that Lao Yang was still lacking in some situations, so Suo Ye, an old guy who had been idle at home for a long time,
It came out. This time Suo Ye appeared as the chief steward of the Yanping County Prince's Mansion. Since Long Yun took over, the Yanping County Prince's Mansion has not been as prosperous as before. Even with Li Cong's support, the nobles of the empire
The way he looked at him was not as good as before. Long Yun also knew why this was the case. The position he got was too simple. He just relied on luck. When Long Lu was in this position, the whole county was shocked.
The royal palace can be ranked in the top five among the royal palaces in the empire, but what about now? If it is not above or below, it is just a middle-level palace, which lacks a lot of background. The nobles of the imperial capital are not just looking at you for their dealings with you.
No matter the rank, this background is also very important. Anyway, there are not many people who respect Long Yun.
"Master Suo, our people have already heard about them. More than 40,000 miners have all arrived. If we don't take any action, they may start." Regarding Suo Ye, this old man
Yang had dealt with him a lot. The impression given to Lao Yang was that Suo Ye was a very extraordinary person, so at the beginning Lao Yang told Suo Ye that he was just a business person, and that Suo Ye's own ideas were better for big things.
Well, this old Yang doesn’t quite understand. Energy Group 1739
"Haha, Lao Yang, calm down, we are just stalling for time now. Moreover, the force we can mobilize is really too little. We are asked to use the thousands of people at hand to fight against tens of thousands of guards and tens of thousands of miners. As long as it is
Our brains are not rusty yet. I don’t think we will do such a thing. Now we can’t confront them head-on. The prince is no longer in the imperial capital, so we can’t use the army to solve this matter. So we
We have to rely on our brains. Of course we can't influence these people's ideas, but these workers can't just use their hands to help their masters dig up the entire mine. In that case, let alone these tens of thousands of people.
Even hundreds of thousands of people can't do it." Suo Ye stroked his beard and said with a smile. This guy really enjoyed his time in the Yanping County Prince's Mansion, but he also knew that he should not offend Li Cong in the past.
Now it is even more difficult to offend. In fact, the Yanping County Prince's Palace has always been supported by Li Cong. Li Cong's affairs are much more important than their own affairs. After Li Cong's instructions, Master Suo will also
Without any delay, he led his people to join Lao Yang and followed the miners all the way. Li Cong gave them the order to give them one to two months to prepare with all their strength, but
Since work couldn't really start, Li Cong knew that such an arrangement would definitely not be as good as before, but it was very worthwhile to postpone the time.
"Master Suo, that's a really good idea. We have all the news here. These people ordered these tools in Wuka County, where they hibernated for 60 miles. They can't be delivered today. It's estimated that they will be delivered tomorrow afternoon.
We should be here by then, I will arrange this matter immediately. If Mr. Suo is willing, I think they will never get the tools." Lao Yang found a message and said, let's go and give these things.
Grabbed it.
"Wait, Lao Yang, things can't be so panicked. If we take action now, these people will definitely connect us with the prince. We can't do such stupid things now. People are looking for evidence.
If we just sent it up like that, we would be the real fools. There is a very powerful group of bandits nearby, with about two thousand people. We made a heavy promise to them, as long as they can delay the time, the rest
Let's wait until the prince comes back to discuss the next thing. These bandits probably don't have many other abilities, but asking them to cause trouble is really a good idea. Bandits just know how to make trouble, but they don't know anything else.
"Master Suo is still thoughtful. If I do this, I will probably mess it up. Master Suo, I think it's a bit too weak to just attack them with tools? There are several counties around here."
City. Several of their big families have also come with tens of thousands of private troops. They may not find anything in this short time. If it takes a long time, we really have no chance to stop them." Lao Yang was worried about Li Cong's affairs.
That's why I said it. No matter how capable Suo Ye is, he is still a slave. To put it bluntly, this means that he doesn't know Suo Ye very well, or that Li Cong's decision feels a bit too hasty. After all, Suo Ye has some understanding of things.
It's limited. If things get messed up, you can be shameless along with it.
"Haha, Lao Yang, these things are of course just superficial phenomena. I have more back-up plans. Do you think that since the prince has given me so much financial resources and force, I can only rely on the bandits to give it to them?
Come down, I'm not useless." Mr. Suo didn't even look at Lao Yang. In Mr. Suo's opinion, even people like Lao Yang are beginning to doubt his abilities. He looks a bit old.
, I should not have made my life so leisurely in the past. The people below thought that I was already about to die, so I will show them this time. Whether it is the enemy or one of our own,
I, Mr. Suo, am still the same Mr. Suo I was back then. I am still alive. If you want to fight me, there is no way.
"Yes, what Mr. Suo taught me is to resign." Lao Yang said, wiping the cold sweat from his head. After he became the steward of the Regent's Palace, no one dared to talk to him like that, but today
This person is somewhat different from others. This person is Mr. Suo, who has served several generations of princes. Those princes are all top-notch people. I have benefited a lot from following him for two years, not to mention
He has been with the prince for decades, and has been a steward of the prince's palace for decades. This is because he went to a small Kahuan County to recuperate because he was old. If Li Cong hadn't asked for help, he would have simply
I will never leave the place where I live.
Suo Ye naturally does not need others to teach him how to do things. Just like this, Suo Ye, in addition to letting the bandits go there to add a little more fun, the most important way is to create a natural environment in this valley.
It's a disaster. If there is this disaster, it is estimated that they will not be able to resolve this matter for several months. Many people have also said that there have been no natural disasters here for a long time, but this thing can be a natural disaster or a **
Yes, as long as there is enough power, this thing can also become a natural disaster. Suo Ye has already asked someone to study the terrain here. It must be a rainy season here recently. If there is not much vegetation, it will definitely be here.
There are mudslides and so on, but now there are dense trees on the mountain. This is no joke. If you want to create a mudslide here, you must cut down the trees. Naturally, it is impossible for Suo Ye to send a large number of people to cut down the trees, but cutting down the trees is not possible.
, it should be very easy to burn all the trees. A fire can handle the matter. It should be possible now that it is relatively dry.
The person in charge of this gold mine is the next head of the Ulanala clan, Yunpeng Ulanala. Although this boy is only less than twenty-five years old this year, when everyone in the imperial capital mentions this guy,
I want to give him a thumbs up. This guy has served as the city lord of a county twice in other places. If this were China on earth, he would also be a department-level cadre. Speaking of which, he has already entered the ranks of high-ranking officials.
The gold mine incident this time was really serious, so the family called this boy here. This is an income of several billion gold coins, definitely not a small amount. Otherwise, this Yunpeng would not come back.
In addition to helping the family, the family also promised that 100 million gold coins would be owned by this guy himself. The people sent by other major families were also the absolute elites of the younger generation, and they all received such a promise. They came
From now on, I naturally hope to finish mining this place as soon as possible.
In fact, it is impossible to finish mining such a huge gold mine quickly. It will take at least ten years or even longer. They come here just to get the place on track first. As long as it is on track.
, they don’t need to stay in such a place. After all, they are all pampered. They are not very comfortable living in such a place. They all want to return as soon as possible.
They go to the imperial capital or the place where they work. For them, although money is also very important, it is still very difficult compared with political matters.
"Today is really boring. It's been another day of exploration. I really don't know when we can start digging. When can we finish digging such a big mountain..." A noble boy came out dirty.
Well, this guy is the eldest grandson of the Minister of Rites. This guy has also been studying ores for a while. These people also know the importance of this matter. If they call their younger brothers and sisters, they probably won’t be able to come to the mine.
Let's take a look at what's going on down there. It's impossible to stand the sweltering heat inside. Now they're doing a pretty good job.
"Haha, work hard. We went down to take a look today. It's pretty good. At least this mine can start working. Tomorrow, tens of thousands of gold coins may be transported out to us in a day. You know, this is tens of thousands of gold coins a day.
. This kind of deal is worth a few of us. By the way, where did that guy Yunpeng go? Didn't we ask him to be our team leader? Why is this guy not here? Where did he go?
Come on, this guy didn't arrange for us to do hard work. Why don't you find a place to enjoy yourself?" Another guy who was not very clean said.
"Yunpeng? This guy is not idle. He went outside the mountain to receive some tools. Are we asking tens of thousands of workers to clean the entire mountain by hand? They don't have that ability. I guess this
It's time to come back." A young man who was responsible for recording the failure from above said that they also liked this kind of working atmosphere very much. At least the people around them are doing practical things. What they fear most is a group of people doing serious things.
If there are a few young men who don't do serious things, the project will be slowed down by at least one-third.
Just when these guys were cursing and preparing to go back, they heard the sound of galloping horses. This was the sound of war horses. Something had happened. Several people looked outside with unkind expressions. What would happen now?
What? Could it be that people from the Regent's Palace are here? Impossible, they can't move so fast. Besides, this place has been registered with the court, and the ore here is already owned by several of their big families. With the Regent,
It didn't matter to the palace. A few people called a hundred guards and headed towards the entrance of the valley to see what was going on.
"General Cui, why are you back? Where is Yunpeng?" A boy who came up just now saw a general rushing in from a distance covered in blood. Something must have happened, otherwise what happened to this guy's body?
There will be so much blood.
"Something happened, something happened. We met the bandits outside. They surrounded us. Although there were many of us, we were all coachmen and workers. Not many of them had combat effectiveness. Mr. Yunpeng led his people to follow
They are entangled, I will come back to move the reinforcements, take them away quickly, otherwise we will be in trouble." General Cui dismounted and simply treated his wounds and said.
This sentence made all the rich kids dumbfounded. How could there be such blind bandits? You must know that this time, the members of their major families are all from the top families in the imperial capital. Normally, such a family is very powerful.
This is a strange thing. Several companies have come out this time. That is to say, the royal family has the ability to fight against Li Cong, and this deal also involves the royal family's shares. These bandits are really giving you a little face. Why don't you ask about this in advance?
Although there are not very few bandits in the empire, the area around the imperial capital is relatively clean. Even the bandits in other places work in some deep mountains and old forests, but there are none outside. The straight-line distance from the imperial capital here is quite close.
, someone would come to rob them, I really don’t know what to say.
"Now is not the time to hesitate, General Cui. You must immediately mobilize your troops and rescue Yunpeng. Kill those bandits on the spot." Some of these rich family members are also in the army. Of course they know that all bandits in the empire are
It's okay for some people to go to the countryside to harass the rich people and extort two small coins when they have nothing to do. But if they encounter the regular army of the empire, they can only run away. Yunpeng is the same.
My escort team of several hundred people is too confident. This is a wasteland area, but the courage of these bandits is really not small. Yunpeng's transportation team is also tens of thousands of people. I really didn't expect them.
They would take action against such a team. Some of the things Yunpeng and the others escorted were tools and not very valuable. I really don’t know if these bandits have their brains stretched to their butts. If such people would take action, it seems that they can only do it.
was destroyed.
General Cui agreed and immediately led the army out again. This guy is a brainless general, and his fighting ability is acceptable. But his brain is not good at wandering, and all the noble children who are left here have it.
Thinking about it, I felt that something was not right. Domestic bandits rarely provoke such large-scale crowds. This must have been done by someone with good intentions. Thinking of such people, they began to be suspicious, even if they were sitting next to me.
The guys also began to doubt. With such a large amount of money, no one can stay rational. Kill them and eat them? Everyone has thought about this idea, but quickly rejected it. Although they are all
They are important young people in the family, but their life and death is not a big deal to the entire family. Even if they all die, the family will not lose much because of their death. At most, they will take another person over.
That's it. The possibility of them having internal strife now is not very high. After all, we are all on the same boat now. Even if we want to harm others, we have to wait for the gold mine to be mined, right?
"No, Yunpeng brought out hundreds of people, and thousands more went out. We only have a few thousand troops under our command. If something happens at this time, we will definitely not be able to suppress those slaves. Quick, let's leave immediately.
We can't stay here any longer. Those slaves are our most unstable factor. When there are enough troops to watch them, they are slaves who work for us. But if there are not enough troops to watch them, those people
This is our reminder. Come on, we must leave quickly to join Yunpeng. Tens of thousands of slaves just ask them here." The boy who just spoke to General Cui seemed to want to understand now.
He stood up and said loudly. His words made the people who stayed think of something, and their expressions changed greatly. Energy Group 1739
Slaves are from the bottom, and these people have never regarded the lives of slaves as one thing. If nothing else, there are thousands of slaves under these people. There are more than 50,000 slaves gathered here.
, originally there were more than 10,000 soldiers watching them, all of them were wearing torture instruments and guarded by soldiers. These slaves were naturally very honest and would not make trouble. It turned out that one soldier was watching the five slaves.
slaves, it’s different now, the ratio has dropped by more than half. A soldier has to watch over a dozen slaves, and there will definitely be places he can’t see. If nothing happens in this military camp, of course
It is the best. If there is any disturbance, these people may riot. Thinking of the riot, everyone is dumbfounded.
These aristocratic young men also work very quickly. They must quickly move towards the nearest pipeline or military camp or even the county town. If they continue to stay, the danger is too great. The slaves don't know yet.
Whatever happened outside, the people who dealt with them must have very strong abilities. It is impossible to arrange such a thing. There will definitely be various things later, but they have no
Without the ability to control the situation, there is only a dead end if you continue to stay. The young masters got on their horses and left with their own soldiers, leaving more than 2,000 soldiers behind to look at the 50,000 slave army.
Rebellion is best, but if there is rebellion, these two thousand people will not even be enough to fill the teeth of the slaves.
The young master's departure did not cause any huge commotion, and even some of the guarding soldiers didn't know. They still thought that they might have to get off work in two hours, so they could go to the shabby tent to have a rest. No need.
Being with these damn slaves, although the smell on myself is not very good, the smell on these damn slaves is even more unpleasant, and even makes people feel vomiting. Each of these people are following
They are almost dead. I really don’t know why they are looking at them like this. The soldiers know that there are thousands of cavalry patrolling around here. If a few slaves dare to run out, they will definitely be killed directly. This is definitely not right.
What needs to be questioned is that he does not feel any danger in his work.
Of course, if he follows his thinking, there is really no danger now, but if the surrounding conditions change, especially when it affects the life and death of so many slaves, these slaves who have no concept of survival may behave
He has another kind of survival instinct. The soldier held the whip in his hand boredly. The dozens of slaves squatting next to him looked at the soldier with some horror. This guy would take out his anger on a few people for nothing. This is not the case.
Coming to this place is really boring as far as methods are concerned. They are all soldiers, not supervisors. The only thing that made these slaves slightly dissatisfied was the beatings and kicks. I don’t know how many of them were broken with the whip.
There is absolutely nothing good about a few slaves, and they have been treated poorly.
"It's on fire, it's on fire..." Less than an hour after the noble gentlemen left, the mountain started to burn, and several of the slaves close to the other side of the mountain were already burning.
, this is amazing all of a sudden. These people all looked at the dense forest around them. This is no joke. The entire mountain is covered with woods. If they really stay here, they will follow soon.
The wood was burnt black, and the slaves began to shout loudly to escape. Naturally, these soldiers would not let them get their wish. Although several soldiers looked at the fire in the distance with some astonishment, they
I also know that I can't stay here anymore, and now is not the time to stay. Now I must control these damn slaves. The soldiers threw away the whips in their hands. At this time, the whips had no effect. They must
I have to use the steel knife in my hand.
"Asshole, you damn bastards, squat down. Go one by one in order. If anyone disobeys, I will kill you with a knife." The soldier said loudly after killing a slave with a knife. This guy is usually still
It's amazing. The dozens of slaves he was in charge of all squatted down. Although they were still very scared of the fire a few hundred meters away, they didn't want to be hacked to death by this guy.
This guy kills without blinking an eye. He didn't even frown when he killed those people just now. He is simply a devil. It is better to be honest when you are with the devil. These brainless soldiers are still managing slaves here. Look.
Seeing that those soldiers with brains no longer cared about what happened to their slaves, they all ran to the stables immediately. Suddenly they were dumbfounded. There were so many horses now with nothing, but they still had nothing.
There were a few useless horses, which were always better than none. One by one, these people got on their horses and hurriedly ran towards the outside of the valley. They all understood that if it continued to burn for a while, the valley would probably be full of people.
It was black smoke, and chaos started at that time. Even if I wanted to get out, it was impossible.
At the beginning, despite the desperate suppression of these officers and soldiers, many slaves did not take any drastic actions. However, as a large number of soldiers fled, more and more slaves were left unattended. At this time, dozens of them
Individuals surrounded a soldier. Even if this soldier had the ability to hack several slaves to death, what happened in the end? He could not stop the chaos of these slaves. A large number of slaves began to run towards the entrance of the valley. Now there is
It was as if it had become an exit from paradise. They all knew very well that as long as they could rush out from there, they might be saved.
The fleeing noble children also saw the fire on the mountain. They were all very happy to have escaped. If you are still inside at this time, those angry slaves will not care whether you are an ordinary soldier or a noble.
In the eyes of those slaves, these people should not be alive. Now each of them is very excited. They have saved their lives, but they don't dare to rush back to the imperial capital like this.
Although it is not very far away from the imperial capital, who knows whether their opponents will do anything untoward to them on the way, so they all rush towards the nearest county town.
, I passed several county towns on the road and had no intention of entering. After all, the city walls of this county town were too small and could not block anything at all. The tall walls of the county town gave me a sense of security. Everyone was tired and ran away.
That’s it.
On the way, they saw Yunpeng and General Cui. There was nothing serious about these two people, but after knowing what happened in the valley, they were frightened and didn't know what to do. They were played by an expert.
, first let Yunpeng and the others go back to ask for help, and then there were not so many guards in the valley, and then they used fire to get all the slaves out of the valley. Now, even if they continue to go back, it is impossible to mine, because the slaves are all
No more. Besides, I still don’t know what the state of the fire inside is like. The fire there can be seen from dozens of miles away. The rest time will definitely not be short, and neither does Yunpeng.
What a good idea. The only way is to gather these people and walk towards the imperial capital together. Now they have tens of thousands of guards. It's no problem to return to the imperial capital. I haven't heard of any bandits who can keep up with an army of tens of thousands.
Despite the confrontation, Suo Ye's plan was initially successful.
Li Cong in Guangming City was not happy at all when he received the news. Li Cong still believed in Suo Ye's ability to do things. Even if he was in the imperial capital, he would not be able to handle this matter so well, but Suo Ye
I spent some money to get this thing done. From the beginning to the end, no one of my own came forward. It was all bandits who came forward. Of course. Afterwards, I changed my name and found a killer organization to bring the bandits into contact with me.
It is necessary to kill all the leaders. It will only result in the loss of some money. Compared with that gold mine, this loss is nothing.
Li Cong had not eaten for a day. He didn't say a word during this day. He just stood on the city wall and looked at the darkness in the distance. He was waiting for some equipment. Some equipment that could move in the polar regions. These
The thing has been found on the earth, and some modifications are being made. It can be here through the teleportation array in two hours at the fastest. Li Cong must go there in person. He believes that he can definitely make it in that valley with his own ability.
He found his son in the house. He had to live to see someone, die... When Li Cong thought of that word, his whole body trembled. His son was so young, there was no way he could just be gone. Meng Tian stood beside Li Cong
It’s hard to imagine what was happening behind him. Li Cong must have thought of something at this moment. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be shaking.
"Your Majesty, the territory of this savage tribe is different from ours. It is common for people to freeze to death in the winter here. The Bear King also said just now that if they are not careful, they themselves can freeze to death. This year's
Winter is different from other winters. It is even more severe. I think you should not go out. We will just wait for news in Guangming City. The Bear King has already contacted the people of the Mountain Clan. What are the activities of the people of the Mountain Clan in winter?
They are very capable. They are good at moving in the mountains. It is only a matter of time before they enter the valley." Meng Tian knew that it might not be useful if he said it, but if he didn't say it, he would still feel uncomfortable in his heart.
Li Cong's ability is very powerful. He can fight against the Snake Queen alone and defeat the Behemoth. But this time the enemy is God. In Meng Tian's heart, this is simply impossible to defeat. No matter who is against Li Cong.
How important it is that it would be unwise to go out at this time.
"Meng Tian, that person is... my son. I have kept many secrets from you all this time. Now I have to tell you. I have been too depressed. I haven't relaxed for a moment these days.
I'm afraid I might not be able to stand up if I relax. I only have two sons. This is the younger son. If I lose him, I..." No matter how strong a person is, there will be times when he is weak. At this time
The thing about Li Cong is that from the beginning of his career to now, he has never been so fragile inside. This is the first time. It seems that everything will change when his son is involved.
"Ah...?" Meng Tian didn't expect such a result. He once thought that the young man should be a junior in Li Cong's family, but he never thought that the young man was Li Cong's son.
I have a lot to say, but I can’t say a word now. Also, if something like that happened to my son, I would do the same thing. Although I don’t have the ability as powerful as Li Cong, if I don’t do it,
I will never feel at ease in my life.
"I really hate that my energy is too small. If I were really as capable as you, I really want to go out with you." Meng Tian said helplessly. At this time, he and Li Cong did not seem to have a superior-subordinate relationship.
, just like a pair of friends, Li Cong also viewed them this way.
"Haha, good brother, I know this. You didn't bother to go with me. This shows that you have matured a lot. You are still needed here. Although I didn't pay much attention when I came here, I can see that this winter
It will definitely not be peaceful. In the past, if the winter of the savages was normal, humans would also be normal. But if the winter of the savages was very cold and the snow was very heavy, the war that year would be very serious.
It's amazing, because these people of the savage tribe have nothing to eat, so they will work harder. They know that they will not survive after going back. It is better to die on the battlefield, or if they don't die, they can enter the human world.
The territory has been robbed, and the assistance to people like the Bear King must not stop. When necessary, they must be our advance team. In winter, we humans can't even get out of the house." Li Cong said with some worry,
The winter here is like the Antarctic on earth. Fighting in such an environment? Don’t even think about it.
Hearing Li Cong's words, Meng Tian felt a little relieved. Li Cong now seemed to have become the original strategizing prince again.
"Yes, I have also discussed this issue with the Bear King, but this guy wants too much. He wants ten million pigs and millions of other animals. These things in our northern province are basically
If we transport it here from the south, it may increase our costs." Meng Tian said with some embarrassment, because of the large-scale purchases by the army, the price of pork in the empire has begun to rise, and the Ministry of Household Affairs has already
There have been several protests, and Prince Gong has tried his best to suppress it, but it is not a good way to suppress it. Raising the bear tribe is not the same as raising an army. One person in the army can eat half a catty of meat a day or
One kilogram of meat is enough. These bear tribe people don't eat pasta. They only eat meat. Twenty kilograms of meat a day is not enough for them. Especially those high-ranking officials eat even more.
The Bear King himself gets a pig a day, and I don’t know how this guy eats it. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.