Chapter 492: A Thousand Years Old (13)
However, it was not easy. For example, obtaining raw materials was very difficult, and she had to go through countless experiments and failures. Wen Wan wanted to give up several times, but she couldn't. There were small battles every three days and big battles every five days. Every day, people died, and there were winners and losers.
At first, when Chen Wenbin heard that Wen Wan wanted to send a few people to the wilderness, he thought she was being ridiculous. But there was nothing he could do, and he didn't have time to care about her. The war was urgent, and he just wanted the Second Prince to stay out of trouble.
However, one early morning, while everyone was still asleep, a sudden, earth-shattering sound rang out, waking almost everyone up. Chen Wenbin quickly sent people to investigate, and they found a group of people staring intently at them.
Chen Wenbin looked over. He was familiar with every plant and tree in this place. There was a huge mountain-suppressing stone here, but now the place where the mountain-suppressing stone was placed was broken into countless pieces, and there was a strong smell of burning saltpeter.
"Your Highness, what are you doing?"
Wen Wan: "I succeeded."
"What?"
So several soldiers demonstrated for Chen Wenbin. Chen Wenbin watched as a dark, round ball was thrown over, and the ball quickly exploded, sending stones and dirt flying everywhere, creating a huge crater.
Chen Wenbin's eyes widened. "What is this?"
Wen Wan: "The bomb is a weapon I recently developed."
At this moment, the strategist and other generals also arrived. Seeing this scene, they could not hide their shock. How could this be? How could such a small sphere cause such great damage? If this were a weapon, and it were thrown into the enemy army, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The strategist immediately began questioning Wen Wan, who answered all his questions without reservation, saying, "I can give you the prescription, but I have one condition."
The strategist said, "Second Prince, please speak. Whatever your request, we will do our best to fulfill it."
Wen Wan: "I want you to end this war as soon as possible, and then sign a peace treaty between the two sides so that we will never fight again."
One general couldn't help but ask, "If we had this weapon, we could definitely conquer the barbarian lands completely, annihilate the enemy forces, and then what would be the point of signing a peace treaty?"
"That would require countless battles, and how many people would die?"
"Woman—" the other party almost blurted out. Wen Wan looked at Chen Wenbin and said, "Marshal Chen, I only need one promise from you, and I guarantee to tell you all the secret formula. Otherwise, even if you arrest and thoroughly investigate all the people who helped me, it will be useless. If it is even slightly different, it will not succeed and may even be very dangerous."
Chen Wenbin: "..."
He never imagined that one day he would be threatened by this second prince. Wasn't the deposed crown prince supposed to be arrogant, domineering, and cruel? This was clearly not the case; he was even somewhat soft-hearted.
"Alright, I promise the Second Prince that I will only ask to repel the enemy and will not pursue them to the death."
"OK."
Afterwards, Wen Wan instructed the soldiers to begin producing a large number of bombs. There were some problems along the way, but they were all overcome little by little.
In the next battle, when the bomb was used for the first time, the enemy came with great force, but after the bomb was thrown, they were thrown into chaos.
No one could remain calm in the face of such a terrifying weapon; to them, it was... witchcraft.
The war was won, even before it had begun.
Afterwards, Chen Wenbin led his army triumphantly, recapturing the lost cities and territories. The enemy suffered repeated defeats, developing despair at this terrifying weapon and even losing the will to resist.
Finally, a letter of request for peace was sent.
The generals were initially unwilling, as they were fully capable of marching to the enemy's homeland and completely annihilating them. However, Wen Wan disagreed, and the group argued about it. Wen Wan said with a stern face, "Marshal Chen, what did you promise me? You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Chen Wenbin remained silent.
Wen Wan asked, "How many people have we lost in these wars?"
"More than five thousand."
"Where is the enemy?"
"Roughly estimated at 30,000."
"Isn't that enough? Aren't enough people dead? War makes soldiers suffer, but it makes civilians suffer too. You can go and see how many people have lost their homes, their houses, their loved ones. It's not just our people; have the people of the enemy country done anything wrong? Do they deserve to die because of war?"
"But war is accompanied by death."
"But we could have stopped it now. We have also spent a lot of money on this war, and the national treasury is empty. What the people need is to recuperate and rebuild, not to expand our territory and force people to submit. People may submit temporarily, but they just want to live. If we are strong enough, the country is rich and prosperous enough, and the people live in peace and contentment, then people will naturally come to submit. Benevolent governance is the way to secure the country and its people."
Chen Wenbin remained silent.
It was the strategist who spoke up, “This humble general agrees with the Second Prince’s words. War is a waste of resources and manpower. Whether we win or lose, it is the common people who suffer. Therefore, if we can stop the losses in time, it will be a good thing for the people. The Second Prince is indeed the Second Prince. This humble general admires him.”
Other generals were either in agreement or strongly opposed.
Finally, everyone looked at Chen Wenbin, who glanced at the Second Prince and ultimately made the decision to agree.
Wen Wan breathed a sigh of relief.
She didn't see the look in Gu Li's eyes as he looked at her, a look that was full of profound meaning and a touch of burning passion.
Ultimately, this side agreed to the other side's request for peace, which even the other side found unbelievable.
Wen Wan personally negotiated the peace treaty, only bringing her strategist and Gu Li with her.
Wen Wan mainly stayed in the rear, while the strategist and Gu Li negotiated with the envoys from the other side. They did not make any overly harsh demands, which shocked the other side. Usually, when a military defeat occurs, ceding territory and paying reparations are minor matters; more often, there are various humiliating treaties that would break the country's sovereignty. However, the local authorities only asked for compensation for the wartime losses of the army, without asking for any land or any additional conditions.
The peace treaty was signed quickly, exactly twenty years later.
After that, they returned to the capital, and Wen Wan began to discuss the important points with Chen Wenbin and the others.
Chen Wenbin was shocked, seemingly unable to believe what he had just heard. "What did the Second Prince say? He wants us to keep everything you've done a secret? Why?"
He didn't understand why the Second Prince would give up such merits so completely, given his current situation. If he had such merits, his status would have been greatly elevated, which would have been very beneficial to him.
And isn't the purpose of coming here to achieve something?
However, Wen Wan was adamant and explained her reasons: "My maternal grandfather's family was implicated and their entire clan was punished for their mistakes. I am just paying off their debts. Besides, given my current status, the tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind. Commander Chen, you understand this principle, right? I just want to protect myself. If I didn't feel sorry for the people suffering on the border, I wouldn't have taken the lead."
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