Chapter 2763 Success
The emperor flipped through the articles and paintings in his hands for a long time before putting them down with a look of dissatisfaction. "I see the brushstrokes are different here. Who painted them?"
Manbao's heart was pounding, and he quickly said, "Your Majesty, we have asked Lord Fang for help, and we have also asked many people to help with the drawing and copying."
The emperor assumed that the manuscripts were drawn by different people. He nodded and looked at Bai Erlang with a hint of admiration. He asked, "Did you write this article and these stories?"
Bai Erlang replied "Yes," and then said, "The article was guided by Bai Shan, who wrote down a lot of information. Zhou Man told me most of the story."
The emperor glanced at Zhou Man beside him and said to him, "How can it be so impolite to call them Senior Sister and Senior Brother?"
Bai Jilang: "...Senior Sister."
Manbao shuddered, glanced at Bai Erlang, and hesitantly responded in front of the emperor, "Hmm?"
The emperor was very pleased with this and said to them, "Senior sisters and fellow apprentices should be friendly and respectful to each other. Well, you have done a great job on this matter. Erlang, please write down the results of Xue Gui and Governor Niu's raids over the past few days and attach them to this article. I want you to prepare everything within two days, and have everything ready by noon the day after tomorrow."
It's already afternoon now, it's not even two days, okay?
At most a day and a half would be too short a time. The two were about to bargain when the emperor said, "All literate men in the army are at your disposal."
So in the afternoon, many people were called to copy stories and articles, those who could draw were asked to draw, and the craftsmen in the army were recruited to make Kongming lanterns.
At noon the next day, the weather was fine and there was no wind at all. An official from the Imperial Observatory said, "If we release the Kongming lanterns at this time, they won't be able to fly into the city."
The emperor was a little unhappy and asked, "When can we release it?"
He came all the way from the small town to the main camp specifically, not to get any information, so he used his eyes to force the officials of the Imperial Observatory.
Imperial Observatory official: ...He can’t just make things up out of thin air, right?
So he ignored the emperor. There was no wind anyway, so it was useless to force him.
The emperor could only wait with Zhou Manbai Erlang and others for the wind to come.
Fortunately, it is winter and the wind is still blowing frequently.
The official from the Imperial Observatory felt the direction of the wind and said to everyone, "This position is not suitable. We need to change it."
Just change it. Anyway, the three sides of the city are now occupied by the Jin army. As long as he doesn't want to go to the easternmost place to release Kongming lanterns, the emperor can satisfy him.
So, under the protection of the Imperial Guards, the group moved to another location. Half an hour later, several lanterns began to float unsteadily, carrying Bai Erlang's efforts for many days towards the inner city...
Under everyone's gaze, the Kongming lantern floated into the domestic city. The rope that was specially wrapped inside was burned off, and the half-open cloth bag tied under the rope fell down with the rope. It was blown by the wind in the air, and a lot of paper flew out as it rolled.
Papers fluttered down lightly, some flew far away, and some fell directly...
Of course, Bai Erlang and his men could not see these things. In order to ensure that the ropes would not be burned until the Kongming lanterns flew over Guonei City, they chose a very far away location under the guidance of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory. They could only see the Kongming lanterns flying into Guonei City from a distance and had no idea what the outcome would be.
So they stood there waiting. After a long while, a member of the imperial guards came back on horseback and reported, "Your Majesty, I saw the articles on the Kongming lanterns flying down."
The emperor asked excitedly, "Are you sure?"
"Sure!"
"Good," the emperor said happily, "release all the Kongming lanterns."
So everyone went to light Kongming lanterns together.
Bai Erlang and Manbao were the most excited. One of them held a Kongming lantern, and the other lit one. They whispered to each other, "What a pity that Bai Shan can't come to release the Kongming lantern."
You know, even in the capital, they rarely had the opportunity to set off lanterns, unlike today, when they can set off as many as they want.
Manbao and Bai Erlang worked together and released twelve lanterns in one breath. They felt very happy watching them swaying and flying into the sky.
Every time a Kongming lantern is released, two people must make a wish. There are twelve lanterns, each representing twelve wishes, and no two are the same.
The emperor also released three lanterns as a token of his respect. Turning around, he saw that they were still mumbling something and could not help but say, "This is not a Kongming lantern for making wishes."
Manbao asked, "They're all Kongming lanterns, right? They just have an extra string underneath. What's the difference?"
The emperor couldn't tell the difference and could only say, "You guys have nothing to worry about. If you do wish, you should wish for the swift capture of the inner city and the end of the Eastern Expedition. This Kongming lantern was originally released for the sake of war. If you make any personal wishes, be careful that it becomes too heavy to fly."
Zhou Man and Bai Erlang: ...They may make this wish, okay? And if the wish is too big, it will fall off. This wish is even bigger, okay?
There were as many as eighty or ninety Kongming lanterns flying into the sky. For good luck, the emperor specially collected ninety-nine lanterns.
They flew with great difficulty in the air, following the wind. Then, at a certain moment, their whole bodies shook, and the entire lamp felt much lighter, and suddenly flew faster and farther...
In the city, paper rain began to fall, and many articles and paintings floated down from the sky and landed on the streets.
It was the afternoon when ordinary people finished work and went home for dinner. Although there were fewer pedestrians on the streets than usual due to the siege, there were still quite a few people.
These people bent down to pick up the paper that fell on the ground, and subconsciously looked up at the sky. Some people saw nothing, while others saw Kongming lanterns floating in the sky.
"Who's flying a Kongming lantern in broad daylight?"
Shouldn't this be put on at night?
Someone cleverly shouted in fear, "Is this a signal for the Jin army to attack?"
"Is this paper poisonous?"
When these words were spoken, many people who had picked up things were so frightened that they threw away the papers in their hands with a look of horror on their faces.
The literate man scanned the text on the paper and said in a complicated tone, "It's not a signal. It's a declaration of war."
"What is a letter of retribution?"
Those who could read would read the article aloud. Bai Erlang had specially written the vernacular, which was easy to understand and the common people could understand it as soon as they heard it.
Not everyone could read, so many people picked up paintings of people who had a good life at first, but then things got worse and worse, and finally they were almost starving to death. The emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty ordered people to make porridge to provide relief...
The painting was easy to understand. Although there was not a single word on it, the familiar clothes allowed them to recognize it as a yamen runner at a glance. The grain and linen carried away and the protagonist made three trips back and forth, with more and more patches on his clothes and an increasingly bent back, told them that this was the third round of donations.
The people in the city instantly felt the same way when they saw these paintings. Some of them couldn't help but shed tears when they saw the people in the paintings pushing their daughters out and handing them over to a man to take them away.
In order to cope with the war, many of them had to sell their children to raise taxes. This war should not have started if their king had not taken the initiative to attack Yingzhou of Jin State...
See you tomorrow, double the monthly tickets for monthly tickets
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com