Chapter 128 The Scholar Who Favored His Concubine Over His Wife (Part 20) Taking Pure Love to...

"Husband, I've heard the servants say these past two days that they're going to stockpile rice and grain. Is our Qizhou City going to war with the imperial court?" Liu Wanyao asked worriedly, placing a piece of green vegetable on Song Ce's plate.

Upon hearing this, Song Ce put down his chopsticks, reached out to tuck a stray hair behind Liu Wanyao's ear, and said gently, "Qizhou City has made all the necessary preparations. I'll take care of everything, so my wife doesn't need to worry."

"Of course I believe in you, my husband." Liu Wanyao smiled gently and grasped Song Ce's hand in return.

The next morning, Wang Sushou sent the county yamen runners to gather the people of the city in the courtyard of the county yamen. In just one hour, the courtyard of the county yamen was packed with people from Qizhou.

The early spring wind carried a slight chill, yet it could not dispel the reverence in the eyes of the people of Qizhou. Wang Sushou stood on a makeshift wooden platform, and in a loud voice, proclaimed to all the people of Qizhou the truth about the oppressive policies of the Great Wei Kingdom and the disaster relief funds provided when the Ji River flooded.

"Gentlemen! Three years ago, the Ji River flooded. The Great Wei court said it would allocate 100,000 taels of silver for disaster relief, but how much did Qizhou actually receive? Only 2,000 taels! The rest of the silver all went into the pockets of corrupt officials! And that's not enough, the Emperor himself has increased the fixed tax rate for Qizhou! This is clearly leaving us no way to survive!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd below the stage erupted in an uproar.

"No wonder! So many people starved to death in Qizhou back then!"

"It turns out that the corrupt officials in the imperial court didn't treat us like human beings at all!"

"If it weren't for Mr. Song and Lord Wang, how would Qizhou be any different from the neighboring Danzhou today?"

Seeing the fire ignite, Wang Sushou raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet and said loudly, "If it weren't for Mr. Song's wisdom in Qizhou, we would be the ones selling our children now! Mr. Song and I have been discussing this for many days, and hereby we assure our fellow villagers that we will definitely lead everyone to find a way to survive!"

A thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd. Someone raised their fist and shouted, "Lord Wang! Mr. Song! Let's fight the Great Wei Dynasty to the death!" "Yes! We can't let them bully us anymore!" "It's just one life! Let's fight!"

Amidst the rising and falling cries, an elderly woman with gray hair trembled as she squeezed to the front, choking back tears as she cried out, "Count me in! My poor grandson starved to death during the flood... My Nan'er!"

The old woman's cries were like a heavy hammer blow, striking everyone's hearts and fueling the anger of the people of Qizhou.

Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from afar. A guard rushed into the courtyard, shouting, "Report! The Wei army has reached thirty li south of Qizhou City!"

Wang Sushou's expression changed, and he subconsciously looked at Song Ce. Song Ce strode quickly onto the platform from behind the stage. Looking at the panicked crowd below, he calmly said, "Proceed according to plan! The elderly, women, and children should go home and lock their doors. The able-bodied men should follow me to the city!"

"Yes, Mr. Song!"

Qizhou's city walls, recently repaired, were already extremely sturdy. Song Ce looked at the dark mass of Wei troops in the distance, then at the able-bodied men armed with weapons below the walls, and shouted, "Fellow elders! Fellow villagers! Qizhou is in grave danger! The Great Wei court has dispatched a large army! The guards are positioned at the front, ready to fight the Wei army at any moment! Today I stand here with only four words: Fight to the death! If the Wei army wants to enter Qizhou, they will first have to step over my dead body!"

"Mr. Song is so righteous!!" The crowd below the city walls were all red-eyed and shouted loudly.

Song Ce: "Do you know why I'm like this? Because behind me, behind us, are the unarmed elderly, weak, women, and children of Qizhou City! Among them are our parents who gave us life and raised us! Our wives who have been with us all our lives! And our babies crying for milk! Tell me, can we back down?"

"No! No! We will fight to the death!"

Song Ce: "Some of us have lived for generations in the three counties of Dacheng, Yulin, and Qinghe, which were merged into Qizhou! It can be said that the souls of our ancestors are buried here! Now that Qizhou is in trouble, do you think we can submit?"

"Never yield! Never retreat! Fight to the death!"

Seeing that everyone had begun to spontaneously take up their weapons, Song Ce smiled with satisfaction, walked to the highest point of the city wall, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Wang Sushou.

"Mr. Song, do you think we can win this battle?" Wang Sushou turned to look at the people below the city wall and asked in a trembling voice.

Song Ce smiled faintly at him, then pointed to the mysterious war chariot that had been transported to the city wall and said only one word: "Yes!"

An hour later, the bugles of the Great Wei army resounded through the sky, and 80,000 troops were arrayed in the open area south of Qizhou City. The eldest prince, Xiao Yunqi, sat in his chariot, looking at the plain white battle flag fluttering at the highest point of Qizhou City Wall, and couldn't help but sneer.

Once the entire army was in formation, Xiao Yunqi stood up and shouted to the soldiers behind him, "Warriors of my Great Wei Kingdom! Follow me on this expedition! Crush the rebellious city of Qizhou! Capture this rabble alive!"

"Qizhou will perish! Long live the Great Wei! Qizhou will perish! Long live the Great Wei!" all the Great Wei soldiers shouted in unison.

The war drums of the Great Wei army resounded, and the vanguard, disciplined and orderly, marched swiftly towards Qizhou City. On the city wall, Wang Su, the garrison commander, kept a close watch on the Wei army's movements, fine beads of sweat slowly forming on his forehead.

"Mr. Song, they're attacking!"

Song Ce immediately raised his hand, signaling the soldiers waiting beside the mysterious chariot to light the torches in their hands.

Wang Sushou then discovered that the twelve strangely shaped chariots that Song Ce was studying were completely covered in iron armor, and a thick bronze fire tube extended from the front of the chariot, with wisps of blue smoke rising from the tube.

"Release!" With Song Ce's command, the fuses on the chariot were lit. Immediately afterwards, twelve streaks of fire shot into the sky with the force of thunder!

"How...how is this possible!"

Xiao Yunqi stared intently at the monsters on the city wall that were constantly spewing flames, and exclaimed in astonishment, "When did such deadly firearms appear in our Great Wei territory?" The deputy general beside him was also stunned by the scene. He looked at Xiao Yunqi with a panicked expression and exclaimed, "Your Highness... what is that?"

"How would I know? Where are the scouts? Where are they? How could they not have found out such crucial military intelligence! Useless! A bunch of useless people!" Xiao Yunqi clenched his fists, his face terribly gloomy.

"Your Highness, please calm down..." The deputy general felt bitter, but still loudly advised, "Now that such weapons exist in Qizhou City, in my opinion, we should withdraw our troops first! How can the flesh and blood of the Great Wei soldiers withstand the raging fire from outside Qizhou City?"

"Shut up!" Xiao Yunqi suddenly drew his sword and killed the lieutenant with a single stroke.

"On the battlefield, instead of thinking about how to capture the rebel city, you spread rumors and mislead the masses in front of our army. What are your intentions? All generals, listen to my command! These rebellious people dare to resist! Charge! Attack the city with all your might!" Xiao Yunqi roared.

"Charge! Charge! Charge!"

Upon receiving the order, the morale of the Wei army soared. They quickly formed ranks and charged towards Qizhou City without regard for their own safety.

For the next three days, Qizhou City and the Wei army were locked in a fierce tug-of-war. The Wei army, with its numerical advantage, launched wave after wave of attacks, but was quickly repelled time and again by Qizhou City's mysterious war chariots.

In this battle, whenever the Wei army assembled to attack the city, artillery fire would roar in, blasting the Wei army into disarray. In just seven or eight days, the Wei army suffered extremely heavy casualties.

Looking at this hellish scene, Xiao Yunqi felt a chill run down his spine. Who on earth was providing such powerful assistance in Qizhou City? He had considered deserting, but as the eldest prince of the Great Wei Kingdom, how could he abandon his army?

No! No! Absolutely not!

Looking at the terrified and panicked soldiers below the platform, Xiao Yunqi gritted his teeth and said, "Pass down the order! Cease the frontal attack! Switch to an ant-like siege! At midnight tonight, the entire army will be lowered up the city walls! I refuse to believe that their Heavenly Fire can't be exhausted from a mere Qizhou City!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

As night fell, the lights on the walls of Qizhou gradually went out. The soldiers of Wei held their breath, using ropes in the darkness to silently climb over the wall. Just as the first soldier was about to scale the surface, a sharp whistle suddenly rang out from the top!

In an instant, torches lit up the city walls, and the soldiers guarding Qizhou were all holding a short-handled firearm. If the Fourth Prince Xiao Yunzhan were here, he would recognize it at a glance as the weapon that the Qizhou guards wore when he first arrived in Qizhou!

"shoot!"

At a command, the Qizhou garrison pointed their muskets at the Wei army and fired a volley!

The deafening roar of muskets echoed through the night, and the Wei soldiers plummeted like kites with broken strings. Song Ce, draped in a cloak, stood atop the city wall, looking down at the Wei army lying in disarray. He whispered to Wang Su beside him, "We should simply repel the enemy; do not pursue them."

"Yes, sir."

No matter how brave and fearless the Wei soldiers were, they couldn't withstand such a devastating weapon. When the Wei army finally retreated in disarray, Song Ce looked at the pile of "corpses" below the city wall and sighed, "Drag them in."

Wang Sushou couldn't help but turn his head to look at the profile of the young man beside him, and sighed inwardly, "Mr. Song's heart is still too soft." It turned out that the musket was not equipped with specially made iron bullets that could take lives instantly, but rather with anesthetic needles that would make people lose consciousness for a short time.

In this way, Qizhou City captured more than 1,200 prisoners of the Great Wei.

The battle lasted for more than a month. Qizhou, with less than 10,000 soldiers, defeated the Great Wei Kingdom. When the news reached the capital, Emperor Wenyuan smashed his beloved teacup to pieces.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash! Our Great Wei Kingdom's 80,000 elite troops couldn't even take a small city like Qizhou in a whole month! Since the founding of our Great Wei Kingdom, we have never suffered such a defeat in war!"

Emperor Wenyuan looked at the silent and trembling officials below the throne, and suddenly thought of something. He said coldly, "Where is the eldest son? Why hasn't he returned to the capital to apologize to me?"

"Your Majesty, His Highness was wounded by a stray bullet and is currently weak. He is not... not fit for a long-distance raid," the soldier replied, trembling.

"Good! Very good! Fourth brother! Tell me! Who exactly is this Song Ce? Was our Great Wei's defeat today solely due to this man's efforts?" Emperor Wenyuan roared.

Xiao Yunzhan stepped forward, his expression complex, and said, “Father, Song Ce is not simply a traitor. He has implemented new policies in Qizhou, established free schools, and improved people's livelihoods... every single one of these actions is beneficial to the people. I believe that he is deeply loved by the people of Qizhou, so it would be better to appease him with kindness…”

Before he could finish speaking, Emperor Wenyuan rudely interrupted him: "Enough! You were the one who ordered me to send troops, and now that we've suffered a defeat, you're the one who says you want to appease us with kindness! The people's hearts? In my heart, the vast land of my Great Wei is the most important thing! Issue the order! Quickly assemble an army of 200,000! This time, I will personally lead the expedition and supervise the battle! Qizhou, this small city, I want to see how long you can hold out!"

Emperor Wenyuan couldn't understand how Qizhou City, a remote and indefensible border region, could have defeated his meticulously trained and fierce army.

As the prince pondered, a sea of ​​ministers knelt on the ground, shouting, "Your Majesty! A personal expedition is absolutely out of the question! We beg Your Majesty to reconsider!"

"My ministers need not persuade me any further; my mind is made up."

This time, he will personally lead the troops in his imperial form to fight a decisive battle against Qizhou City!

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Author's Note: P.S.: The entire content has been completely revised, so I'll finish it slowly [crying emoji]. Please, my little darlings, read it again~