After a night of hard work, everyone was covered in black soot and looked terrible. Gong Xiaohua ordered everyone to rest on site.
"General Gong is truly amazing. This is the first time I've seen such a fire extinguishing method. It was quite effective actually. In the future if we encounter a big fire, we can learn from this method instead of panicking." People in the army kept discussing.
"That's true."
The group of generals sat together, also curiously looking at Gong Xiaohua, asked: "General, how did you come up with this method to extinguish the fire?"
"The three elements of combustion are fuel, oxidizer, and ignition source. By isolating the fuel from the ignition source, the combustion reaction will naturally stop."
"I don't quite understand what I just heard. Did you guys understand it?" He Lianyu asked.
"No." Everyone shook their heads.
"General Gong must have read many books to gain such knowledge. Qin Chuyuan, you must have heard about this method before?" General Zhang said.
"No." Qin Chuyuan looked at Gong Xiaohua. He was very well read but had never heard of this method. Also, he found that Xiaohua knew many things that were unheard of to him. This was something he could not understand.
"Oh." General Zhang was embarrassed while others laughed at him for over flattering.
Gong Xiaohua noticed Qin Chuyuan's expression and panicked inside, worried that he would investigate further. So she changed the topic: "Rest time is over. Get ready to head out."
"Yes."
When the army arrived at the northern battlefield, the Ye army was facing an invasion from Wei Country.
Upon hearing that Gong Xiaohua had brought an army of 100,000, Zhen Guo Duke quickly brought Gong Xiaohua, Qin Chuyuan and other generals to the city tower.
When Gong Xiaohua reached the tower, she saw the Great General solemnly looking at the battlefield outside the city.
Gong Xiaohua walked to his side. He didn't turn his head and only said: "You came right on time."
Gong Xiaohua stood next to him, looking at the endless enemy troops outside the city: "Great General, do you know the approximate number of enemy troops and ours?"
"The enemy has 300,000 men. With the 100,000 you brought, we now have 300,000 in total."
Gong Xiaohua frowned. In just one year, 600,000 men were invested in the northern battlefield. Now only 200,000 were left. The northern battlefield was worse than she imagined. Ye Country could no longer afford such losses.
She then said: "He Lianyu, bring the Wei Country's Second Prince here."
"Yes."
Upon hearing this, the Great General suddenly turned his head and looked at Gong Xiaohua in disbelief: "The Wei Country's Second Prince is in your hands?"
"On our way here they tried to ambush us but in the end we captured him instead, heh heh." General Zhang excitedly said next to them.
When He Lianyu brought the man, the Great General recognized Wei's Second Prince and said: "It really is him." Then he happily said to Gong Xiaohua: "General Gong, you brought us a big gift as soon as you arrived!"
"The General exaggerates." After saying that, she signaled He Lianyu with her eyes. He Lianyu understood. He tied the man onto a cross and erected it in the middle of the city tower, facing the Wei army below, shouting loudly: "Hey! Do you see who this is?"
Soon, voices kept coming from the Wei army: "It's the Second Prince!" The voices grew louder until they reached the top of the city tower.
"That's right, this is your Second Prince. He is in my hands now. If you don't want him dead, get the hell back to your Wei Country immediately!" He Lianyu shouted loudly.
The Ye generals saw his extremely annoying manner and were speechless.
When the Wei soldiers saw their Second Prince being tied up and used as a hostage, they didn't dare act rashly.
"Uncle Wang, what should we do now?" The Eldest Prince asked. He wished he could just shoot the Second Prince dead with an arrow.
"Retreat first."
"Yes."
After the entire Wei army retreated, the Ye army finally sounded the golden horn to cease fire.
Great General's camp in Ye Country.
After Gong Xiaohua and the others got acquainted with the generals of the northern battlefield, everyone else left. Only Gong Xiaohua and Qin Chuyuan remained in the tent with the Great General.
"Speak your mind." The Great General said to them.
"Duke, ever since we captured the Wei Country's Second Prince, Xiaohua and I have been thinking, why not use another method to end this war?" Qin Chuyuan said.
Hearing this, the Great General became interested and curiously asked: "Oh? What method?"
Qin Chuyuan and Gong Xiaohua looked at each other, then said: "Change the Wei King."
Zhen Guo Duke was so shocked that he almost fell off his seat. He felt it was nonsense.
"Don't joke around when we have such a formidable enemy ahead."
"Duke, we are not joking. With the other Wei princes being so ambitious, instead of confronting a militant future ruler, why not choose a benevolent one to befriend? We believe this Second Prince is the best candidate." Qin Chuyuan said.
"That sounds nice, but how? And he doesn't look like an easy guy either. It could very likely backfire."
"We can help him seize military power. Currently this is also the most advantageous path. Ye Country cannot afford more losses."
Zhen Guo Duke fell silent as he contemplated deeply. After a while, he asked: "How confident are you that this will work?"
"Sixty percent."
Hearing sixty percent, Zhen Guo Duke paced back and forth in the tent, before finally making up his mind: "I agree."
"Yes."
Qin Chuyuan then turned to outside the tent and said: "Bring the Wei Country's Second Prince here."
"Yes."
The tied up Second Prince was brought to the main general's tent.
Zhen Guo Duke sat in the main seat inside the tent. Qin Chuyuan and Gong Xiaohua sat on each side.
Qin Chuyuan signaled for the guards to untie him.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Second Prince looked at the three persons in the tent, asking doubtfully.
After he was completely untied, Qin Chuyuan invited him to sit down, then said: "I believe you can guess your fate next."
"To the victor go the spoils. Kill me as you wish."
"Does Your Highness really want to become a sacrificial flag of the two countries' war?"
"What, you can let me go?"
"Your Highness, if you cooperate with us, we can let you go."
The Second Prince fell silent. Anyone would choose living over dying. But to betray Wei Country, he could never do such a thing.
"I cannot betray Wei Country."
"The Prince overstates it."
Since he didn't ask for betrayal of Wei Country, this piqued his curiosity: "State your conditions."
"We will help you to ascend the throne of Wei, and you shall not invade Ye Country again during your reign."
"Haha, not to mention how you plan to help me take the throne, even if I sit on that seat in the future, how do you know I won't tear up the agreement?"
"Although you are no gentleman, you are a man of honor. To cooperate with you is a gamble. And we decide to take this gamble because no matter how bad the outcome, it would still be better than now."
The Second Prince went silent.
"Is Your Highness wondering if the Wei army would choose to retreat in order to keep you safe?"
"Although I am not my father's only prince, I do have considerable influence in Wei Country." The Second Prince said confidently.
"For your father's ambition, do you think he would choose your life over the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains?"
The Second Prince frowned. They were right. After years of preparation, how could his father give up so easily: "How will you help me?"
"Help you seize the military power here."
"What do I need to do?"
"Draw us the march routes and supply routes maps." Gong Xiaohua said.
"You want to sabotage my army again like last time? No way."
"Rest assured, I don't kill indiscriminately. I will only help you get rid of your commander-in-chief and the Eldest Prince. Then you can take over the army. Not a bad deal, right!"
"Killing people from an army of 300,000 is spoken of so casually by you, yet I believe you can do it. I can only say, as your opponent, it's terrifying."
Knowing the other party had agreed, Gong Xiaohua didn't continue the conversation, only saying: "Pleasure to work with you."
"Pleasure to work with you."
"Oh, right, I've always wanted to say something unrelated to the topic to the Second Prince. Wars only bring disaster to the common people. If the Prince wants the people of Wei Country to live abundant lives, it doesn't necessarily have to be through plunder. The two countries can take what they need and conduct long-term trade deals, achieving common prosperity."
"Common prosperity?" The Second Prince murmured to himself, as if what they had always thought was to satisfy their own needs through plunder.
PREVIOUSNEXT
After a night of hard work, everyone was covered in black soot and looked terrible. Gong Xiaohua ordered everyone to rest on site.
"General Gong is truly amazing. This is the first time I've seen such a fire extinguishing method. It was quite effective actually. In the future if we encounter a big fire, we can learn from this method instead of panicking." People in the army kept discussing.
"That's true."
The group of generals sat together, also curiously looking at Gong Xiaohua, asked: "General, how did you come up with this method to extinguish the fire?"
"The three elements of combustion are fuel, oxidizer, and ignition source. By isolating the fuel from the ignition source, the combustion reaction will naturally stop."
"I don't quite understand what I just heard. Did you guys understand it?" He Lianyu asked.
"No." Everyone shook their heads.
"General Gong must have read many books to gain such knowledge. Qin Chuyuan, you must have heard about this method before?" General Zhang said.
"No." Qin Chuyuan looked at Gong Xiaohua. He was very well read but had never heard of this method. Also, he found that Xiaohua knew many things that were unheard of to him. This was something he could not understand.
"Oh." General Zhang was embarrassed while others laughed at him for over flattering.
Gong Xiaohua noticed Qin Chuyuan's expression and panicked inside, worried that he would investigate further. So she changed the topic: "Rest time is over. Get ready to head out."
"Yes."
When the army arrived at the northern battlefield, the Ye army was facing an invasion from Wei Country.
Upon hearing that Gong Xiaohua had brought an army of 100,000, Zhen Guo Duke quickly brought Gong Xiaohua, Qin Chuyuan and other generals to the city tower.
When Gong Xiaohua reached the tower, she saw the Great General solemnly looking at the battlefield outside the city.
Gong Xiaohua walked to his side. He didn't turn his head and only said: "You came right on time."
Gong Xiaohua stood next to him, looking at the endless enemy troops outside the city: "Great General, do you know the approximate number of enemy troops and ours?"
"The enemy has 300,000 men. With the 100,000 you brought, we now have 300,000 in total."
Gong Xiaohua frowned. In just one year, 600,000 men were invested in the northern battlefield. Now only 200,000 were left. The northern battlefield was worse than she imagined. Ye Country could no longer afford such losses.
She then said: "He Lianyu, bring the Wei Country's Second Prince here."
"Yes."
Upon hearing this, the Great General suddenly turned his head and looked at Gong Xiaohua in disbelief: "The Wei Country's Second Prince is in your hands?"
"On our way here they tried to ambush us but in the end we captured him instead, heh heh." General Zhang excitedly said next to them.
When He Lianyu brought the man, the Great General recognized Wei's Second Prince and said: "It really is him." Then he happily said to Gong Xiaohua: "General Gong, you brought us a big gift as soon as you arrived!"
"The General exaggerates." After saying that, she signaled He Lianyu with her eyes. He Lianyu understood. He tied the man onto a cross and erected it in the middle of the city tower, facing the Wei army below, shouting loudly: "Hey! Do you see who this is?"
Soon, voices kept coming from the Wei army: "It's the Second Prince!" The voices grew louder until they reached the top of the city tower.
"That's right, this is your Second Prince. He is in my hands now. If you don't want him dead, get the hell back to your Wei Country immediately!" He Lianyu shouted loudly.
The Ye generals saw his extremely annoying manner and were speechless.
When the Wei soldiers saw their Second Prince being tied up and used as a hostage, they didn't dare act rashly.
"Uncle Wang, what should we do now?" The Eldest Prince asked. He wished he could just shoot the Second Prince dead with an arrow.
"Retreat first."
"Yes."
After the entire Wei army retreated, the Ye army finally sounded the golden horn to cease fire.
Great General's camp in Ye Country.
After Gong Xiaohua and the others got acquainted with the generals of the northern battlefield, everyone else left. Only Gong Xiaohua and Qin Chuyuan remained in the tent with the Great General.
"Speak your mind." The Great General said to them.
"Duke, ever since we captured the Wei Country's Second Prince, Xiaohua and I have been thinking, why not use another method to end this war?" Qin Chuyuan said.
Hearing this, the Great General became interested and curiously asked: "Oh? What method?"
Qin Chuyuan and Gong Xiaohua looked at each other, then said: "Change the Wei King."
Zhen Guo Duke was so shocked that he almost fell off his seat. He felt it was nonsense.
"Don't joke around when we have such a formidable enemy ahead."
"Duke, we are not joking. With the other Wei princes being so ambitious, instead of confronting a militant future ruler, why not choose a benevolent one to befriend? We believe this Second Prince is the best candidate." Qin Chuyuan said.
"That sounds nice, but how? And he doesn't look like an easy guy either. It could very likely backfire."
"We can help him seize military power. Currently this is also the most advantageous path. Ye Country cannot afford more losses."
Zhen Guo Duke fell silent as he contemplated deeply. After a while, he asked: "How confident are you that this will work?"
"Sixty percent."
Hearing sixty percent, Zhen Guo Duke paced back and forth in the tent, before finally making up his mind: "I agree."
"Yes."
Qin Chuyuan then turned to outside the tent and said: "Bring the Wei Country's Second Prince here."
"Yes."
The tied up Second Prince was brought to the main general's tent.
Zhen Guo Duke sat in the main seat inside the tent. Qin Chuyuan and Gong Xiaohua sat on each side.
Qin Chuyuan signaled for the guards to untie him.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Second Prince looked at the three persons in the tent, asking doubtfully.
After he was completely untied, Qin Chuyuan invited him to sit down, then said: "I believe you can guess your fate next."
"To the victor go the spoils. Kill me as you wish."
"Does Your Highness really want to become a sacrificial flag of the two countries' war?"
"What, you can let me go?"
"Your Highness, if you cooperate with us, we can let you go."
The Second Prince fell silent. Anyone would choose living over dying. But to betray Wei Country, he could never do such a thing.
"I cannot betray Wei Country."
"The Prince overstates it."
Since he didn't ask for betrayal of Wei Country, this piqued his curiosity: "State your conditions."
"We will help you to ascend the throne of Wei, and you shall not invade Ye Country again during your reign."
"Haha, not to mention how you plan to help me take the throne, even if I sit on that seat in the future, how do you know I won't tear up the agreement?"
"Although you are no gentleman, you are a man of honor. To cooperate with you is a gamble. And we decide to take this gamble because no matter how bad the outcome, it would still be better than now."
The Second Prince went silent.
"Is Your Highness wondering if the Wei army would choose to retreat in order to keep you safe?"
"Although I am not my father's only prince, I do have considerable influence in Wei Country." The Second Prince said confidently.
"For your father's ambition, do you think he would choose your life over the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains?"
The Second Prince frowned. They were right. After years of preparation, how could his father give up so easily: "How will you help me?"
"Help you seize the military power here."
"What do I need to do?"
"Draw us the march routes and supply routes maps." Gong Xiaohua said.
"You want to sabotage my army again like last time? No way."
"Rest assured, I don't kill indiscriminately. I will only help you get rid of your commander-in-chief and the Eldest Prince. Then you can take over the army. Not a bad deal, right!"
"Killing people from an army of 300,000 is spoken of so casually by you, yet I believe you can do it. I can only say, as your opponent, it's terrifying."
Knowing the other party had agreed, Gong Xiaohua didn't continue the conversation, only saying: "Pleasure to work with you."
"Pleasure to work with you."
"Oh, right, I've always wanted to say something unrelated to the topic to the Second Prince. Wars only bring disaster to the common people. If the Prince wants the people of Wei Country to live abundant lives, it doesn't necessarily have to be through plunder. The two countries can take what they need and conduct long-term trade deals, achieving common prosperity."
"Common prosperity?" The Second Prince murmured to himself, as if what they had always thought was to satisfy their own needs through plunder.
PREVIOUSNEXT
