Chapter 805 A Dream of Youth 337
After the war came to an end, Xie Ning and Xu Hongying returned to Bingzhou City. Magistrate Li repeatedly hinted that he wanted Xie Ning to teach the city's craftsmen to make some thunderclaps, but Xie Ning ignored him.
They had no choice but to stay at Songshi Fortress before, and now they are returning to Bingzhou City with those craftsmen from Songshi Fortress, as the technology needs to be kept secret.
If it were leaked to their own people, that would be fine, but if it fell into the hands of the Northern Jin army, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The Song clan chief wanted to keep one or two craftsmen, but none of them wanted to stay, even when asked to secretly leave behind the production methods.
Now Chief Song understood why Xie Ning had left so confidently. Besides possessing the core technology, she had also bribed the craftsmen.
After all, it's obvious who has a brighter future to follow.
Xie Ningxu gave them far more than Chief Song had given them.
"How despicable! They didn't leave me a single one!" Chief Song was on the verge of tears.
"What are you angry about? Didn't Lord Xie leave a lot of thunderbolts in the storeroom? He also promised a bright future for his sons, especially Sanlang. He's only ever been an average student. It would be good if he could become a military officer in the future."
The clan chief's wife, however, took it all in stride.
"But should we send a few children to the capital or the south?"
“No need,” Chief Song waved his hand. “Everywhere is in chaos right now. We should just stay put in our fortified village. Going out would only make things worse.”
Speaking of other things, Chief Song gradually forgot about Xie Ning's secret poaching of their Song clan's craftsmen.
General Xu, who was stationed in Bingzhou City, was also quite shocked by Xie Ning's thunderbolt. They had thunderbolts in their warehouse, but they were far less convenient than the thunderbolt made by Xie Ning.
After learning of the power of the thunderclap, the prefect hurriedly summoned the city's craftsmen and asked Xie Ning to make one. Suddenly, a huge mountain was placed on Xie Ning's shoulders. She had only just returned and hadn't had a chance to catch up with her relatives and friends.
Xie Qi was very dissatisfied. He only hoped that Xie Ning could rest for a few days to recover properly, instead of being busy like a spinning top day after day.
But the Northern Jin army had regrouped outside Bingzhou City, so they couldn't rest even if they wanted to.
General Xu was so anxious that his lips were blistered, but no news came from the capital. According to scouts, the number of Northern Jin troops seemed to have increased again.
This is a stalemate. I don't know how things are in Zhen Ding, but we absolutely cannot open the breach in Taiyuan first. The only option is to fortify our defenses and cut off the Northern Jin army's food supply.
Fenglan can provide some supplies to the Northern Jin army, but it won't last long. It's a matter of who can outlast the other.
What General Xu didn't know was that Yu Tong from Zhen Ding had already left with his men and was now on the outskirts of the capital. The prefect of Zhen Ding and the garrison commander had only 5,000 soldiers, but they had to fight against an enemy force of 60,000.
If it weren't for their strategic defense of the city, and the fact that the city's defenders were personally chosen by Prefect Zhang, Zhen Ding would probably have been trampled to the ground long ago.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Route Army of the Northern Jin Dynasty, seeing that it could not capture Zhen Ding after a long siege, left one force to continue the siege, while he led the main army south, with the capital as their destination.
The western route army, led by Gu Yan, the young grandson of the Northern Jin emperor, and a veteran general of the Northern Jin, split into two groups after contacting reinforcements to fight against the northwestern defense army.
Gu Yan was quite anxious after receiving news from the Eastern Route Army. He had been unable to capture Bingzhou for a long time, and he originally wanted to leave some men to besiege Bingzhou, just like Commander Zou, and then lead his men south. However, reason prevailed and he suppressed his impulse.
“Send an envoy to the Emperor of Great Zhou to say that if he agrees to cede Bingzhou and Zhengding, I am willing to cease hostilities.” Of course, this was just a test.
Gu Yan was unaware that the Emperor of Great Zhou was bedridden and unable to get up. If he had known, he would have led his army directly to the capital.
Before the Northern Jin envoys even arrived in the capital, the capital was already in chaos.
The Empress and the Crown Prince were killed during a sacrificial ceremony to Heaven. All the evidence points to Prince Duan, who is now imprisoned in the palace. Only the Empress Dowager is in charge of the court, and the court officials are all submitting memorials requesting the establishment of a new crown prince.
Yan Xi knelt dejectedly in the mourning hall. Her father was still lying in bed, unable to speak, while her mother and younger brother had already passed away.
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