Song Lin grabbed Shen Xu's wrist tightly and pulled him into his arms, "You seem to be hiding a lot of things from me. It's best to tell me the truth."
Shen Xu uttered a cry and fell onto his lap, her face flushing red. She whispered angrily, "What are you doing? There are so many people watching."
The three of them covered their eyes tactfully, and Murong Yan also blocked Yan Ze's mouth.
"Hearing them call you Ah Xu, I suddenly remembered something."
"Um?"
"You were the one who killed the deputy director of the Imperial Observatory and several officials from the Ministry of Works, right?"
Song Lin lifted her legs, and her body lost its center of gravity and moved closer to him. He took her shoulders and held her tightly in his arms. "You did so many tricks under my nose. Are you trying to murder your husband?"
Shen Xu didn't deny it and said guiltily, "I'm sorry, A-Lin. I was too radical before. How did you guess it from my name?"
"These officials' duties are all related to weather, agriculture, and water conservancy. At first glance, the Xuchuan River, the main stream in the southern border, and the Anxu Dam outside Qiyun City seem unrelated. But when you add in the Bingwu War of Tingnan Hou over twenty years ago, everything becomes connected."
"Husband, you still know about the Bingwu War."
Song Lin nodded. "The Bingwu War, also known as the Yunguo Offensive War, is a relatively famous war in the history of Yanyang Kingdom."
He gave a brief account of the war.
In the winter of the Jiachen year, heavy rains lasted for months and the city of Jinlun on the southern border was flooded. Marquis Tingnan abandoned Jinlun and ordered all the soldiers and civilians in the city to evacuate.
Without the protection of the fortress, Tingnan Hou Yu Fengming's main city failed in his fight against the Yun State coalition forces, and lost eight cities in two states in the southwest, with nearly 300,000 casualties. He retreated to Nanguan City in defeat.
In April of the Yi Si year, the Yun army gathered outside Nanguan City, preparing to launch a general attack on Nanguan City.
Emperor Hui believed that this incident was caused by the hostage from the Yun Kingdom and wanted to return the prince to seek peace and ceasefire.
However, Prince Heng firmly disagreed and would rather give up his position as crown prince and elope with the hostage.
Marquis Tingnan had no choice but to take his 100,000 remaining soldiers and defend Nanguan City to the death.
On the day of the decisive battle, the water level of the Xuchuan River suddenly rose, and the waves rose hundreds of feet high. The entire Xuchuan Mountain Range moved ten miles, and mud flowed down the mountain.
The 200,000 vanguard troops of Yun Kingdom were instantly overwhelmed by the natural disaster and were completely wiped out overnight.
The villages stretching for hundreds of miles from Qiyun City to Nanguan City were all covered by floods and moving mountains, resulting in nearly 600,000 casualties.
Although the remaining Yun State Army had a large number of people, their morale had already been damaged. Under the aftershocks, they abandoned their weapons and retreated to Fengming City to recuperate.
By this point, half of the 100,000 Southern Border troops had been lost, leaving only 50,000. The Yun Kingdom army, even with the previous losses, still had a full 250,000 soldiers and horses.
However, Marquis Tingnan became more and more courageous as the battle went on. He led 50,000 elite troops to drive the 250,000 troops of Yun Kingdom back to the border of Yun Kingdom, and was ready to march into the imperial capital of Yun Kingdom.
In the summer of Bingwu year, the Yun army finally announced its surrender and ceded territory in exchange for peace.
"This wasn't the version I heard when I was a kid." Ye Wanqing stood up and retorted, "Marquis Tingnan has never been defeated, so how could he have lost so many men?"
"Twenty years ago, my grandfather would have had your head cut off if you told me this story."
"Me? I won't comment." Yan Ze spread his hands. "I only know about Madam Fu's canal construction and dam building. Our Yan family's ancestors were neither in politics nor in the military, nor in business."
"If we destroy the filled dam after hundreds of thousands of troops have reached Nanguan City, the Southern Border Army can divert the water from the Xuchuan River into Nanguan City, and the situation will be reversed immediately."
Shen Xu shook his head, gently broke away from him, and sat on the chair, "If I demolish the Anxu Dam, my mother will beat me."
Seeing Song Lin's bewildered look, Murong Yan replied, "This is something very few people know. When the sediment upstream of a dam accumulates to a certain level, the water flowing normally from upstream to downstream will backflow, and the water level downstream will quickly rise to the same level as upstream.
The difference in elevation between Qiyun City and Nanguan City is at least several dozen feet. Furthermore, the construction of Qiyun City has altered the shape of the mountain. The wind from upstream will always blow from west to east, while the summer monsoon in Nanguan City blows from east to west. When these two winds meet, Nanguan City will be greeted by persistent torrential rain. Coupled with the rapidly rising riverbank, hundreds of thousands of troops will engage in a water battle.
"You'll have to ask Brother Yan about water conservancy. I've done my research. The Western Wasteland is mostly desert, with no conditions for training a navy. The Black Sail Army is a regular navy, but there's a group of people who have been wanting to beat them up for a long time. The Haoyue Kingdom Privy Council has tactics and equipment specifically designed to target the Black Sail Army, and they're looking to avenge their previous defeat."
Yan Ze gave a thumbs-up, saying, "I don't understand, but you're really good at it." He gave a thumbs-up and said, "You're worthy of being the female chancellor who can drive away the royal cavalry of Haoyue Country."
"But aren't there still Southern Border Army troops in the city?" Hearing this, Song Lin was even more puzzled. "If the Yanyang Army doesn't attack in the summer, then wouldn't your efforts be in vain?"
"It turns out that Liu Zhang and the 50,000 Western Wasteland troops were not within my consideration."
"Pfft, Liu Zhang would be so pissed if he knew that."
"The key to victory in this battle lies in controlling the amount of silt in the upper reaches of the Xuchuan River. The purpose of building Qiyun City is to store silt. It is also to test Murong Yao's intelligence transmission speed and ability to distinguish authenticity. In short, if we start the war now, the Xuchuan River will once again bless the people of the southern border."
Murong Yan covered his face, "Ah Xu, are you also playing such a dirty trick in Haoyue Country? Didn't anyone beat you up?"
Shen Xu blushed, "Probably not. All those who wanted to attack me in Haoyue Country were wiped out."
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