Chapter 624 [Second Update]
Before Li Xi saw the enemy's wounded, he thought of many possibilities. He also knew how much these soldiers hated the Wuhuan people under Liu Tan's brainwashing, so he was always worried about how to restrain these people. He originally thought he had stepped on a big landmine, but... it turned out that it was the Wuhuan people themselves who did it?
He simply didn't understand what the Wuhuan meant. Did they think they would abuse the wounded, so they killed them themselves?
But Li Xi could only ignore these wounded soldiers. What was the point of abusing them? He might as well ask the city lord some questions.
Moreover, those who were dealing with the seriously injured wanted to minimize the suffering of their own people, which he could understand. But those who were slightly injured by the powder keg could still survive, so why were they also dealt with?
Li Xi felt that something was fishy going on, so he simply said, "Send someone to investigate what's going on."
The subordinate immediately sent someone to check. Not long after, the person came back with a bewildered look on his face and reported, "The Wuhuan said that those who were injured were people who had angered the heavens and were being punished. They should not be alive."
If Liu Tan were told such incoherent words, he would definitely not be able to understand them, but Li Xi understood them in an instant.
These Wuhuan people must have regarded the powder keg as a punishment from heaven.
That's how it is these days. Everything that one doesn't know or is not familiar with is considered a masterpiece of heaven or gods.
Even Li Xi still suspects that this is something from the fairyland that was stolen by Liu Tan and then used in the mortal world.
The Wuhuan people felt that this explosion was beyond human power, so it was a punishment from heaven, and the Han people were the ones who carried out the punishment on behalf of heaven.
It was precisely because of this idea that the Han soldiers did not offer any resistance when they entered the city - who would dare to resist the heavenly soldiers and generals?
If you don't resist, you might still be able to survive. There are very few people who are truly evil. Many people are kind and feel that they should not be punished by God.
If it were Liu Tan, after knowing this matter, he would definitely think about how to enlighten these people.
However, what Li Xi had to do was to consolidate this idea. Religious belief was the most powerful weapon in the hands of the rulers. In fact, Li Xi sometimes didn't understand why Liu Tan didn't use such a useful weapon.
However, his Highness's thoughts were beyond the reach of ordinary people, so Li Xi didn't ask and simply said, "Then send someone to tell the Wuhuan people that the Han Dynasty's Northern Border King is a deity who has descended to earth. They, the Wuhuan, seized Liaodong County and angered the Northern Border King, which is why he has brought down this punishment."
The deputy general was no fool. After hearing what Li Xi said, he rolled his eyes and asked, "So... should this news be spread?"
If the Wuhuan people believed it, they would definitely vent their anger on the Bo Xi clan, because after occupying Liaodong County, the only one who benefited from Liaodong County from beginning to end was the Bo Xi clan. The rest were just some clans close to the Bo Xi clan who got some benefits, and the other clans got nothing, so they didn't want to care.
As a result, the Bo Xi clan angered the gods and affected them. How could the other Wuhuan clans be willing to accept this?
Li Xi had this intention originally, to sow discord. He should have no problem traveling along the way, but he had to worry about his son.
In fact, although it sounded very dangerous for him to go deep into the heart of Wuhuan, he had a powder keg and did not need to pay too much attention to the life and death of the Wuhuan people, as long as he did not really kill them all. But Li Buyan and others were restrained even though they had a powder keg in their hands, and had to be careful not to hurt the enslaved Han people.
But their only chance is to land from the sea and launch a surprise attack when Bo Xi is not paying attention. After that, Bo Xi will most likely drive civilians to deal with them, so it should be difficult for Li Buyan and his men.
If other Wuhuan clans could focus their attention on the Bo Xi clan, or even attack the Bo Xi clan, then the pressure on Li Buyan and others should be greatly reduced.
Anyway, if the Wuhuan were to fight among themselves, it would be useless even if Bo Xi drove out the Han people. The other side would not hold back just because they did not want to hurt their own people.
Li Xi nodded and said, "Let's find a smart Wuhuan man to tell him the news."
One of Li Xi's lieutenants expressed some concern, "If that's the case, the powder keg situation won't be concealed. If the Wuhuan get wind of it early... wouldn't that be bad?"
The deputy general knocked the captain on the head and said, "You idiot! Now that you know about the powder keg, do you have any solution?"
The captain rubbed his head and thought, it seems... there really is no way, how can we resist this? No matter how strong and solid the city wall is, it seems that it cannot withstand the power of the gunpowder barrel, especially the city wall. Nowadays, the city wall is generally made of wood, but as long as it is not made of metal, it seems to be of little use.
In fact, if Liu Tan were there, he would tell the captain that with the current metal smelting technology, even a door made of metal may not be able to withstand the gunpowder barrel. It’s just that the dosage is larger.
Li Xi sent someone to spread the rumor, and then wrote a victory report to Liu Tan, and also wrote a battle report.
To be honest, he didn't worry at all when writing the victory report. There was basically a certain format for it. He would first write that we won, then praise the Han soldiers for their bravery in battle and his effective command as a general, and then report the casualties and prisoners. That was it.
The only thing that troubled him was probably that the victory news seemed fake, because they had only casualties but no deaths, which was almost impossible in war.
But this was still considered good. He didn't know how to write a combat report. It felt like the summary could be summed up in one sentence: the gunpowder barrel was launched, the enemy's city gate was blown open, and that was it.
In the end, Li Xi simply wrote it in more detail, just like a letter to Liu Tan describing the entire battle process.
Liu Tan was worried when he received this letter. There was no news from Li Buyan or Li Xi. Even if Yan State started to build various workshops, it would not make him happy.
In addition to a part of these workshops being used to distill alcohol, the rest will be used to process soy products in the future.
The wheat and rice planted last year survived tenaciously thanks to the greenhouse. Liu Tan directly asked them to lower the temperature of the greenhouse little by little, preserve the seeds of the surviving plants, and then cultivate them from generation to generation, striving to produce rice and wheat that can adapt to the environment of the Northern Country as soon as possible.
It has to be said that those plants cannot even adapt to the climate of the Northern Border Country, let alone the climate of the Yan Country.
Millet and sorghum don't grow well here, but soybeans grow well. This piece of land is very suitable for growing soybeans, so he plans to let the people switch to growing soybeans.
By the way, promote soybean oil in Yan State, and the soybean oil production in the northern border country is already a bit behind.
The number of workshops is not important. What is important is that the soybean production is not enough. It is too difficult for the Northern Border Kingdom to supply the entire Han Dynasty alone.
In the past, soybean oil was available mainly because it was only promoted in some major cities, such as Chang'an or the capitals of various vassal states.
However, after several years of development, the demand for soybean oil has spread from these cities to surrounding towns, causing it to grow.
Especially in winter, people need more fat to fight the cold, and the demand for oily products is even greater. This has made Liu Tan worried before. He has tried his best to purchase soybeans from other places, but in order not to disrupt food prices, the purchase price has not been very high.
Before, he had always wondered why the State of Yan did not grow soybeans. When he asked people to purchase soybeans, the amount provided by the State of Yan was always very small. Although the price was not high, it was always better than the grain obtained by the people from farming. After all, the harvest was good and the price was not low, so it would be relatively much better.
When he arrived in Yan State, he found that it was not the problem of the people here, but the court had never publicized it at all.
Liu Tan deeply suspected that Liu Dan was doing this just to compete with him. Otherwise, why would he just leave the money unclaimed? Whether he collected all the soybeans and resold them to him at a high price, or let the people sell them themselves and he would collect taxes, it would still be much more money than before.
Anyway, now there is finally an opportunity. Let the people of Yan grow soybeans, rice and wheat first.
While thinking about these things and worrying about the war, Li Xi's letter somewhat calmed his anxiety.
He first opened the victory report, and after looking at the casualties, he knew that Li Xi must have used a powder keg, so this result was also normal.
However, regarding Li Xi's question about whether to send the victory report to Chang'an, he thought about it and decided to send it. Although he could push it faster and the victory report would be more frequent after Li Xi got used to the power of the powder keg, it would make him happy once and for all if he sent it together. The happiness would come in waves, and he would be even happier after he captured the royal city, and it would last for a long time.
Liu Tan decisively sent the victory report to Chang'an, but he was afraid that those people in Chang'an would not believe that there would be no casualties in the war, so he specially wrote a memorial and asked those who had been to Lingnan before to testify.
In this way, if those people still don’t believe it... then don’t believe it. Anyway, the city has been taken firmly. When these soldiers are brought back, they will be able to tell them apart by checking the heads.
Liu Tan didn't care much about those things.
After he finished writing the memorial, he opened the letter written to him by Li Xi. He was still wondering whether Li Xi wanted to ask him for more gunpowder barrels. After all, according to calculations, the gunpowder barrels he took away would only be enough to destroy one more city at most. He was worried about the transportation of the gunpowder barrels, so he didn't give many. Now that he had used some of them, he really needed some more.
When he opened the letter, he found that Li Xi's letter consisted of just one sentence: Your Highness, the Wuhuan people now worship heaven and earth as well as you.
Liu Tan: ????
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