Shuncheng of Wu State.
Before the lord of Shuncheng was informed that the border had been breached and before he had time to react, the Song army had already arrived at the city and started challenging him.
You must know that since the reign of the previous Emperor Song and Emperor Wu, the border between the Song and Wu countries has been in an uneasy state of mutual testing. Today you stir up trouble, and tomorrow I will launch a sneak attack. War is a common occurrence.
More than ten years have passed like this, and the war between the two countries seems to be a joke. Apart from making the lives of the people of both countries unable to survive and making their lives increasingly difficult, it is really hard to tell who is winning and who is losing.
Later, the emperor of the former dynasty ascended the throne, and the two countries enjoyed peace for many years, allowing each country to recuperate.
It was not until a few years ago that the emperors of both countries believed that their country had become strong and powerful and wanted to become the overlord of the world, so the war broke out again.
Even during the most intense years of fighting, Shuncheng was only lost five or six times, but it was quickly recaptured.
However, this time...
The Lord of Shuncheng City saw that the morale of the Song army soldiers below the city was high and they were full of confidence, while our army was dejected and had shown signs of decline before the battle even started. He knew that the game was over.
However, even for the sake of the people in the city and his loyal Majesty, the Lord of Shuncheng would never flee from the battlefield.
If Song wanted to fight, then he would fight. It would also be good to delay for a while so that the cities behind could prepare.
City Lord's Mansion.
"First send some people out to delay time with the Song army. Also, when will the people from the ninth battalion arrive?" The Lord of Shuncheng frowned.
The messenger knelt on the ground, covering his face, and cried bitterly, "City Lord, General Rong of the Ninth Battalion died of a sudden illness. Now several lieutenants of the Ninth Battalion have started an internal conflict and are busy fighting for power. I'm afraid... I'm afraid he won't be able to come!"
"What? If they don't come, what will happen to the people in the city?" The eyes of the Lord of Shuncheng were distracted for a moment, but soon he regained his spirit and couldn't help cursing: "Asshole, you really can't understand the situation."
The officials below also looked very unhappy.
An official looked around and saw that no one was around. He couldn't help but persuade them: "Sir, if we can keep the green mountains, we will not be afraid of running out of firewood. Why don't we abandon the city and flee?"
However, the city lord kicked him angrily and said coldly, "What nonsense are you talking about? As the lord of a city, how can I abandon the people in such a difficult time?"
The official was kicked to the ground, his face pale. "I was just distracted for a moment, please forgive me, sir."
The city lord still looked gloomy and scolded the official a few more times.
After hearing this, the other officials dared not persuade him anymore.
After a long while, the city lord sighed and said, "Forget it, all of you go back, take the people in your respective counties, pack up your things and run for your lives."
As the lord of the city, he cannot leave selfishly, but he can let his subordinates and his people hide in other cities. Let as many as possible escape.
The officials below nodded in agreement and looked at the city lord with sorrowful expressions.
Because they knew that the city lord wanted them to leave, but they were determined to die and planned to live and die with the entire Shun City.
At this time, outside Shuncheng, the Shuncheng advisor standing on the city wall was cursing the Song army's shamelessness with his eloquent tongue.
However, the Song army was not angry at all. Instead, they watched the performance of the advisor with a smile.
In fact, everyone knows that Master Shuncheng is delaying time, but Mingyue and others know better that Shuncheng will not receive reinforcements, because the spies of Song State have already provoked a civil war in the Ninth Battalion, which is closest to Shuncheng, so she can let the people of Wu State see the benevolence of the Song Army.
Yes, they could have clearly captured the city directly, but the Song army chose to be challenged and had to endure the scolding from their advisors.
The Song army also sent people to explain seriously at the city gate that the Song army would not harm innocent people, and even the more than 100,000 prisoners who surrendered last night were now unharmed. The Song State only fought to stop the war. When the people in the city heard this, their hearts, which were already biased towards the Song State, became even more restless.
So when the Wu officials asked the people to retreat and escape, the Song spies who were mixed in among them expressed their unwillingness to leave their hometown and suggested surrendering if they could not win the battle. Unexpectedly, they were recognized by the majority of the people.
Even the officials were moved. They had heard a lot of rumors about the State of Song in recent days. It was said that being an official in the State of Song was better than being an official in the State of Wu!
So it’s not just the common people who are moved.
When the Lord of Shuncheng learned what the Song army said, he immediately said, "Not good, the Song army is attacking our hearts."
Sure enough, when the officials below offered to surrender and even the common people knelt outside the city lord's mansion and begged him to surrender, the city lord of Shuncheng knew that the Song army had won this battle of hearts and minds.
He closed his eyes with a pale face, and after a long while he knelt down and kowtowed towards the southwest: "Your Majesty, I am sorry for you!"
After he finished speaking, he stood up, opened the door and walked out of the mansion, as if he had used up all his strength to say, "Raise the flag and open the city gate."
Amid the cheers of the people, the city lord returned to his mansion. He put on his official uniform and hat, and ended his life with a dagger.
He is the lord of Wu, so he has to put the people first. However, since the city already belongs to Song, he should go with it.
After Mingyue and others entered the city, they learned from spies that the city lord had died.
Mingyue was a little surprised, but more of a pity.
She had previously asked spies to learn about the Lord of Shun City. He truly was a man who loved his people and cared about the things around him, but his loyalty was to the wrong person.
Mingyue ordered: "Don't alarm the people in the city. Ask his family and officials to go see him for the last time. Let them handle the funeral themselves."
In addition to the pitiful relatives of the city lord, these people must also know that the city lord chose to sacrifice his life for his country, and it was not the murderous hands of the Song army.
Moreover, Mingyue and others really had no intention of interfering in Shuncheng. The original officials were still retained, and the people were not disturbed at all. Only a person named "Inspector" was left to temporarily take over the position of City Lord.
After the army had a short rest, the Song army set out for the next city.
At this time, the news that the Song army broke through the border, Shuncheng surrendered and the lord of Shuncheng died finally spread.
Regardless of how angry and flustered the Emperor of Wu and his ministers were, and how uneasy the people in the cities neighboring Shuncheng were, Mingyue was very happy at the moment.
Because she finally received a reply from Qin Xingye.
Seeing the simple word "可" written on the huge piece of white paper, Mingyue couldn't help laughing.
Perhaps Qin Xingye didn't know how to face her female body. In the past, his replies were always long and took up a lot of paper, but this time it was just one word. It was really double standards.
But Mingyue was already very satisfied.
After all, she knew that the word "可" was a response to her question about whether a woman could be an official.
She has opened up an unprecedented path for women of this era. I only hope that there will be more people like her in the world in the future.
But yeah, that’s great.
(End of this chapter)