Chapter 148: Threat

In the afterglow of the setting sun.

The scouts finished their patrol and returned to Yanguan as they did every day.

Gently patting their warhorses, they watched the boundless Grassland dyed a dim yellow by the rosy light, the woods rippling with red waves in the breeze; everything was so quiet and beautiful.

"Swish!"

The sound of an arrow piercing the air broke it all.

It pierced the air and struck a scout soldier right in the neck.

The soldier clutched his throat, making a strained, gurgling sound, and fell heavily from his horse.

"Enemy attack!"

The other scouts were terrified; from the woods on their left, hundreds of Beidi Cavalry charged toward them.

Arrows fell like locusts; the scouts were struck one after another and tumbled from their horses.

The Beidi Cavalry soon reached them, their Curved Blades severing the heads of the scout soldiers.

In the final, fleeting moment of their remaining vision, the scouts saw a black line slowly moving in the North Territory.

Yanguan.

The intense Alarm Bell rang at dusk.

Mo Di climbed the city wall and looked at the Beidi army surging in like a tide, his heart heavy.

"Father." Mo Yu stood beside Mo Di; he had already removed his Armor and changed into casual clothes.

The order from the Ministry of War had already reached Yanguan, dismissing him from his post on the spot.

He was just about to pack his luggage and leave Yanguan when he did not expect the Beidi army to arrive suddenly.

"You must go to Yan Commandery immediately; there is no need to stay here." Mo Di looked at the Beidi army below the city.

At a glance, there were hundreds of thousands of Beidi soldiers below the city.

Since the Ningjindusizhizhan, he had not seen the Beidi people mobilize such a large force.

"The Beidi people have attacked; it is all the fault of Yan Wang for causing such a great disaster. It's over, everything is over." Standing to the right of Mo Di was a middle-aged general, the Yanguan Vice General Xiao Yuanshan.

At this moment, his face was pale, and his forehead was covered in beads of sweat.

"What does this have to do with Yan Wang?" Mo Yu said angrily.

He had always loathed Xiao Yuanshan; in Yanguan, he was always overbearing, frequently drinking and whipping soldiers, but upon seeing the Beidi people, he was as scared as a grandson, which was contemptible.

That such a piece of trash could be in Yanguan was only because he was one of the Eight Great Influential Clans, a member of the Xiao Family.

"The Beidi people always repay their grudges; Yan Wang captured Kutu, so how could they let it go?" Xiao Yuanshan said angrily.

Thinking that Mo Yu had already been dismissed, he said furiously: "You have already been dismissed; what right do you have to speak on Yanguan military affairs? Why don't you leave here at once!"

"Vice General Xiao!" Mo Di shouted.

Glaring at Mo Yu, he said sternly: "Why don't you leave quickly? What are you doing here!"

"This child will not leave." Mo Yu looked at the Beidi army below the city, "If they attack the city, this child will fight to the death to protect Father."

His voice fell.

At this moment, a Beidi Cavalryman suddenly rode out from the formation and shot an Arrow onto the city wall.

Tied to the end of the Arrow was a piece of parchment.

A soldier picked up the Arrow and immediately delivered it to Mo Di.

"Beidi Khan Mule Hongzhen hereby warns the Emperor of Great Song: return our Beidi Nine Kings Kutu within ten days, otherwise we shall break through Yanguan, trample Yanzhou, and never break our word." Mo Di read aloud.

Xiao Yuanshan heard this.

He wiped the sweat from his head: "Immediately send an eight-hundred-li urgent dispatch to Jinling; it must be fast!"

Mo Di chose silence; he did not stop Xiao Yuanshan. For such an important matter, he had to report it to the Imperial Court.

Mo Yu looked at his father; in his father's eyes, he saw humiliation, unwillingness, helplessness, and many other emotions.

He remembered that his father had once been determined to drive out the Beidi and recover Ningjin Dusi.

But as the years went by, he gradually stopped mentioning it.

Because he knew clearly that with Great Song's current military strength, it was simply impossible.

This was also the reason why he was so happy when he learned that Yan Wang had soundly defeated the Beidi people.

Because he felt he had found someone who could realize his own aspirations.

For this reason, he even set a trap for his son, using this matter to have him dismissed so that he would go to Yan Commandery to assist Yan Wang.

"Father, this child is leaving." He said at this moment.

The Beidi's goal was obvious; he knew that staying here would be of no use.

Mo Di nodded and patted his shoulder heavily; this was a silent language.

"Hey, be careful, don't bump into His Highness."

North of the city, Chengde Workshop.

Zhao Xu watched the busy craftsmen, and an official stood beside him, introducing something.

During the last war with the Beidi, he had chosen a civilian workshop to burn down to create a false impression.

After the war, many buildings in this civilian workshop were burned to ashes.

The Prince's Mansion compensated the local people with quite a bit of Silver.

Later, he felt that there were not many intact buildings left in this civilian workshop, so he simply used Silver to buy the entire workshop.

After giving instructions regarding the Iron Mold Casting, he thought of this place, so he called the Works Official from the Government Office and asked him to tidy up Chengde Workshop and re-plan it.

"Build two main roads here, north-south and east-west, dividing the entire workshop into four sections; the east side for living, and all the houses on the west side built with blue bricks..." Zhao Xu drew on the ground.

Currently, the Prince's Mansion needs to produce Allicin and brew Wine, and now Perfume has been added, so there simply isn't enough space.

Moreover, using the land around the Prince's Mansion for Workshops is a waste.

So, he decided to renovate the entire Chengde Workshop and move all the Workshops there.

In this way, it would also be convenient to manage.

"Mm-hmm..." As Zhao Xu spoke, the official nodded repeatedly.

He was called Zou Rong, a former classmate of Liu Fu, who had been placed by Liu Fu in the position of Works Section Chief, specifically responsible for the irrigation ditches of Yan Commandery, the repair of city walls, and other such matters.

"The Workshop buildings must be built large and long; for the roof, the traditional tile roof will suffice," Zhao Xu added.

Zou Rong kept everything Zhao Xu drew on the ground firmly in his mind.

This was the first time Yan Wang had given him a task alone, and he dared not slack off.

"Your Highness, green bricks are no problem, but the mud between the green bricks is easily washed away by rain over time, making the walls prone to becoming unstable," Zou Rong reminded Yan Wang.

After taking this position, he had spent quite a bit of effort studying the science of construction.

"What mud? No need to..." Zhao Xu almost blurted out "cement."

But he immediately realized that there was no cement here.

He patted his head, "Ouch, how could I have forgotten this."

So he said to Zou Rong, "Let's go, come with this Prince to the Armory; I will show you something good."

Zou Rong nodded; Yan Wang had always had many ingenious ideas.

This was something all the officials in the Government Office knew.

Hearing Yan Wang say this, he felt a slight sense of anticipation, wondering what Yan Wang was going to show him.

The two arrived at the Armory.

Zhao Xu found Wang Ying in the courtyard, working with the potters to make Mud Cannons.

At this moment, Wang Ying was covered in mud, using a wooden board to smooth out the barrel of a Mud Cannon.

"Not bad, it's starting to take shape after just over a day of work," Zhao Xu laughed.

The Mud Cannon in front of Wang Ying was about the same size as the one on the blueprints he had provided.

The barrel was 1.8 meters long with a caliber of about 110mm; this was a typical Siege Cannon.

However, the Mud Cannon was still a bit rough at the moment and needed further smoothing.

Beside Wang Ying, other craftsmen were manufacturing Artillery of smaller calibers; this was a type of Field Artillery with a 75mm caliber, a relatively shorter barrel, and thinner walls, making it more portable.

Since he was manufacturing Artillery, he naturally wanted to produce Artillery suitable for different combat situations all at once.

There was no need to rigidly follow the historical path of Artillery development.