Cheng Qianye was reading a letter from Duke Xiang of Song State.
The book expressed the sincere hope for friendly diplomatic relations between the two countries, and also included a number of precious state gifts.
Seeing what was happening behind her, Cheng Qianye curled up the corners of her mouth and smiled. She waved to Cheng Feng, the left historian of Sikou, who was guarding in front of the palace.
Cheng Feng came to her side with a sword.
Cheng Qianye pushed the letter over and pointed at a line of words with two fingers: "Confiscate your property and demote yourself to a commoner."
Cheng Feng stared at the line of words and tightened his jaw.
"How about it? If you still have hatred in your heart, I can let him die."
After a while, she saw the red-robed guard gently shook his head: "No, such a villain is not worth keeping in mind."
Cheng Qianye looked at him and said, "In that case, your past is over. From today on, just look to the future."
When Yao Tianxiang came in, she passed Cheng Feng at the threshold.
Yao Tianxiang looked back frequently until the crimson figure walked away.
"This Cheng Feng is so beautiful." She squeezed down next to Cheng Qianye, and Cheng Qianye moved to make room for her. "It's a pity that it's too cold. She has a stern face every day."
"But what did you do to him just now? I saw that his expression was not right." Yao Tianxiang glanced at Cheng Qianye, "Qiao Sheng was fighting for you on the front line, and you have a new love so soon?"
Cheng Qianye flicked her forehead with his finger and said, "If you keep talking nonsense, I will send your Sima Tu to the front line tomorrow."
Yao Tianxiang took Cheng Qianye's arm and said, "Stop making trouble, stop making trouble. Qianyu, let's go to the hot springs, shall we?"
She knew Cheng Qianye's real name, but in order to avoid accidentally letting it slip, she always called Cheng Qianye his brother's name, Cheng Qianyu.
Cheng Qianye and Yao Tianxiang, under the protection of the judge, drove a carriage towards the West Mountain.
When passing through the city gate, I saw many soldiers busy building the city wall.
Cheng Qianye stopped the carriage and stood there to watch for a while.
She was surprised to find that the city walls of this era were not made of bricks, but by pouring the excavated loess into a template made of wood and bamboo strips, and then repeatedly pounding it by hand until it was solid. It is a bit like the way modern houses are built, where templates are built, steel bars are inserted, and cement is poured.
As a result, soldiers with bare upper bodies could be seen everywhere on the construction site, pounding the earth with wooden pestles in turn, making a staggered sound.
An official supervising the project saw Cheng Qianye, and hurriedly walked through the line of soldiers carrying loess back and forth, and trotted up to Cheng Qianye.
Cheng Feng stepped aside and blocked the way: "Who are you? Don't be reckless in front of the lord. Tell me your name quickly."
The man realized that he was being rude. He patted his official uniform, which was so dirty that the color could hardly be seen, and knelt down to salute: "Bianzhou Sikong Sefu, Cui Youyu, greets the lord."
Cheng Qianye remembered that she had seen this person before. When she and Xiao Jin were inspecting the Bian River, this person left an impression on her because of his professionalism and seriousness in flood prevention work.
Of course, the reason why I noticed him among the crowd of Bianzhou officials was because he had a beautiful snow-blue color on him.
Cheng Qianye looked at the man kneeling on the ground in front of him, covered in mud from head to toe, who knew how long he had been on the construction site, and said with a smile: "Get up, I remember you. The last time I saw you, weren't you the governor of the state? How come you are going backwards as you get promoted? From governor to assistant governor, to governor's assistant. You've been demoted two levels in such a short time."
Cui Youyu climbed up, patted the dirt off his knees, and blushed: "I am not very good at doing things, and I have made many mistakes. Fortunately, the new Bianzhou Muhong did not hold it against me, and let me do my job."
Cheng Qianye remembered that this person was a somewhat pedantic, inflexible young man who did not do well in official circles.
The last time we met, I saw that he had offended all his colleagues and superiors, and he was completely unaware of it.
Perhaps he is indeed professional and rigorous in water conservancy and construction, and has outstanding qualities, which is why he can barely sit in the position of a state-level official.
"Master Cui, let me ask you, is this wall made of rammed earth strong? Will it collapse easily?"
"No, no, there is absolutely no possibility that the city wall built under my supervision will collapse." Perhaps because it involved his professional field, Cui Youyu retorted with a red face, and suddenly he changed from being reserved and shy to being eloquent.
He took out a messy stack of drawings from his sleeve and began to explain in great detail everything from the construction of the city foundation, the enclosure of the walls, to the requirements for the hardness of the rammed earth, etc.
He also brought Cheng Qianye and others to a section of the city wall that had been rebuilt and dried.
Cheng Feng drew out his sword and slashed hard at the rammed earth wall. There was only a muffled sound of gold and earth colliding, and only a shallow scratch was left on the wall.
"It's really solid." Cheng Qianye touched the wall that felt like rock, marveling at the ancients' architectural wisdom. "If it's built like this, then the enemy wouldn't be able to break through the wall even with a catapult, right?"
Cui Youyu was very happy to receive the recognition from his superior. "My Lord, if all the walls of Bianzhou were built to this standard, I can guarantee that no matter how hard the enemy tries, whether it is throwing stones or using swords and axes, it will be impossible to break through the walls from the outside. Unless..."
"Unless what?" Cheng Qianye asked.
"Unless it's flooded or burned." Cui Youyu lowered his head and replied, "When building walls with rammed earth, these two things are the most feared. No matter how strong and thick the wall is, if it is flooded for half a month, the foundation will loosen and the ground will collapse."
"Flood..." Cheng Qianye stood on the top of the city wall, looking far towards the north.
At this moment, in Qi County, north of Bianzhou.
On top of the thick city wall.
Gan Yanshou, the defender of Qi County, stood on the top of the city wall, frowning as he looked at the city below which was immersed in the surging river water.
Behind him, the soldiers squatted on the top of the city wall, scooping out half-cooked millet from the hanging pot to barely fill their stomachs.
The city was flooded everywhere. Although there was food, there was no way to start a fire to cook.
All the wooden furniture, even the roof beams, were taken down to cook. People even had to hang clay pots and hold up firewood to barely heat the chestnut porridge in the pot, and then eat it half-cooked.
At the same time, due to being immersed in water for a long time, there was no place to bury the dead livestock, people and horses. An epidemic gradually broke out in the city and it was out of control.
Gan Yanshou's gaze fell on the dry land more than 20 miles away from the city.
There are countless black shacks densely packed there.
The Jin army camp was surrounded by a fence made of thick tree trunks. Outside the camp were ferocious chevaux de frise and deer horns. Inside the camp, flags were waving, cavalry were running in and out, and infantry were marching in unison.
The Jin army's captain, Mo Qiaosheng, had led his troops to besiege Hua County for more than half a month, but had never launched a real attack.
A few months ago, when Gan Yanshou heard the news that the State of Jin sent troops to take Qi County, he was not panicked.
Although Qi County is not big, he has been stationed here for many years, with well-trained soldiers and sufficient food, a strong city, and the people's hearts are converted.
There is Weihui below and Huaxian above, which can serve as his left and right wings.
No matter where the Jin army general Mo Qiaosheng attacks, the other two places can respond at any time to form a pincer attack.
If the enemy army is defeated, we will pursue and attack it, and many of them will surely drown in the Yellow River.
If the enemy invades, he only needs to stay in the city and hold his ground. There is enough food in the city for the entire army to use for half a year.
He had arranged to fortify the city and clear the fields early on, leaving the enemy without food and grass, and in his opinion, they would have no choice but to retreat without a fight.
But who would have thought that Mo Qiaosheng would be so swift and quick that he could take down the most inconspicuous Wei Hui within a day.
The army then marched to the city of Qi County.
But they surrounded but did not attack.
Every day, one could see large numbers of military laborers carrying hoes and pushing carts, going in and out.
At that time, Gan Yanshou knew what Mo Qiaosheng wanted to do, and this was also the move he feared the most.
He knew that the Jin army had sent troops to attack Hua County upstream.
However, he was trapped in the city and was helpless.
Hua County is located upstream of Qi County, at the confluence of the Yellow River and Wei River.
Mo Qiaosheng captured Hua County, which had weak defenses, dug canals and broke the river embankment.
Gan Yanshou could only stand on the wall day after day, trapped within the city wall.
I watched helplessly as the soldiers dug a canal under the city wall.
They watched helplessly as the water of the Yellow River rolled in and flooded the entire city.
There are only two options waiting for him: death or surrender without a fight.
The Jin army was about to capture the city that he had painstakingly built up for many years without sacrificing a single soldier.
Gan Yanshou let out a long sigh. He didn't know why his lord would provoke such a powerful opponent for no reason.
His family has been the retainers of the Han family for generations, loyal to the lord of Hanyang. But in his heart, he really despises the current lord, Han Quanlin.
He was a dissolute and immoral person who only cared about sensual pleasures.
Gan Yanshou remembered the rumor he had heard.
The master was attracted by the beauty of Mo Qiaosheng, and when he failed to humiliate her by force, he was so absurd as to want to exchange her for Qi County.
She exchanged such a man who was a master of military strategy just to take him into her harem and use him as a pleasure in bed.
The ruler of Jin, Marquis Yue of Jin, was a man of virtue, so he was naturally furious.
The first thing he did after repelling the Quanrong was to appoint Mo Qiaosheng as general and send out 10,000 troops to take Qi County.
Isn't it just to let this powerful general under his command personally avenge the previous shame
Gan Yanshou closed his eyes and called his adjutant, "Hang up the white flag, open the city, and surrender."
The flood receded.
The Jin military flag was replaced on the city wall of Qi County.
Mo Qiaosheng rode his horse, stepping on the muddy ground, and stood under the city gate.
He looked up at the towering ancient city and the two ancient characters above the city gate - Qi County.
On that dark and desperate rainy night.
Han Quanlin's ugly face swayed before his eyes. This disgusting man carried out this huge city, which almost completely bent his spine.
He couldn't believe that he was so valuable that his lord would choose him over his humble and insignificant self.
He even wanted to compromise at one point out of humiliation.
If it wasn’t for the lord, he would have been able to hold him back from such a desperate state.
Why could the lord at that time firmly declare in front of others that he was more valuable than this city
Faced with so many doubts and slanders, the lord must be under pressure.
Now, I have really done it. I have captured Qi County without bloodshed and without wasting almost any of my lord’s soldiers.
More than one city.
In the future, there will be ten, or even a hundred.
I want everyone in the world to know that the value of me, Mo Qiaosheng, cannot be compared to this mere city.
My lord, I have made you proud.
I may let you stand on a high platform and look down on those who once slandered you.