Chapter 485: Seeing Explosions Again

The next day.

The sky was faintly bright.

Dou Wei was woken up by cheers coming from the city wall.

Having returned last night, he had been too excited to sleep and had only just dozed off.

Confused about what had happened, he dressed, got up, and climbed the city wall, only to discover that the Northern Di were breaking camp.

Understanding in his heart, he was just about to go back to sleep when Dou Rui Guang suddenly pointed to the north and said, "Sir, is that the Great Song army returning from Xian City?"

Dou Wei looked out as far as he could see, and sure enough, there was an army coming from the opposite direction of the Northern Di's main force.

After waiting on the city wall for a quarter of an hour, the army gradually drew near, and he said, "It is indeed Yang Feng and the others; let them enter the city."

Not far away.

Yang Feng saw the familiar Wuguan again, and suddenly his eyes turned slightly red, his mood complex.

The Northern Expedition had failed, and Great Song had made peace with the Northern Di.

The soldiers who died on the lands of Qinzhou and Yongzhou died as humbly as wild grass, without any value.

And after he returned to Jingshi, he would face the reproaches of Zhao Heng and the noble clans.

Someone had to bear the blame for the failure of the Northern Expedition.

The Emperor Zhao Heng would not take it, and the Second Prince would be protected by the Han Family.

He, Yang Feng, would be the perfect scapegoat.

After all, since the Northern Di and Great Song had made peace, those of them in the War Faction would certainly be suppressed to cater to the atmosphere of the peace treaty.

Thinking of this, his heart instantly turned to ash.

If not for the poor granddaughter still in Jingshi.

He would have just committed suicide at Xian City to apologize to the world.

Dazed and confused the whole way, Yang Feng did not even realize he had entered Wuguan.

Not until Dou Wei blocked his path.

"Yang Feng, for a veteran of a hundred battles, you have actually managed to turn a Northern Expedition into this. When we return to Jingshi, I will certainly impeach you before the Emperor," Dou Wei shouted.

Yang Feng glanced at Dou Wei indifferently, "If one wants to condemn, one can always find a pretext. I, Yang Feng, know that my fate is sealed; why do you need to clamor?"

Having said that, he ignored Dou Wei and rode his horse toward the south.

He had to return to Jingshi.

Dou Wei gave a cold laugh, ordered his carriage and horses prepared, and likewise headed toward Jingshi.

While Yang Feng and Dou Wei were returning to Jinling.

The Northern Di troops in Qinzhou and Yongzhou were gathering one after another at Xiao Pass.

They would return to the Grassland through Xiao Pass.

After Tiemuta led his troops to withdraw from Wuguan, one day later, he joined forces with Mule Hongzhen at Weng City.

At the same time, he told his Great Khan the content of his conversation with Dou Wei.

"Hmm, this is enough. Next, we only need to wait and see how things develop," Mule Hongzhen's eyes narrowed slightly.

Then he said to Tiemuta, "Now, let us begin to implement our plan."

A flash of bloodthirst instantly crossed Tiemuta's eyes.

During this Northern Expedition,

the weakness of the Xiliang and Ma Jin's troops had been seen by them.

Therefore, after the peace treaty, his Great Khan decided that while passing through Xiliang territory, he would take the opportunity to kill the Xiliang Chanyu Murong Hao and formally incorporate Xiliang into the Northern Di.

In this way, only the Northern Di would remain in the entire North Territory.

At the same time, devouring Xiliang would also compensate for the losses in this war between the Northern Di and Great Song.

Most importantly, this plan was not only aimed at Xiliang, but also at the Yan Wang.

After they eliminated Murong Hao and took control of the Xiliang territory, they would relocate all the Xiliang people to Ningjin Dusi and establish the Xiliang Royal Tent.

Thus, they would have enough population to supplement their military strength, build up Ningjin Dusi, and guard against harassment from the Yan Wang's troops.

Of course, most importantly, they would help the Northern Di win in the contest with the Yan Wang and ultimately kill the Yan Wang.

"Yes, Great Khan," Tiemuta said with an excited expression.

From the very beginning, his stance had been to eliminate Xiliang, not to form an alliance with them.

Now, he had finally achieved his wish.

Wulanba stood beside his father; this plan was his father's first step in dealing with the Yan Wang.

However, he was not very optimistic about it.

The Yan Wang had forged Yanguan and the mountain paths of Yanshan into an impenetrable fortress.

No matter how large an offensive they launched, the Yan Wang could repel them by relying on the formidable pass and his Artillery.

The result of the contest would be mutual destruction.

In his view, the way to eliminate the Yan Wang and eliminate Great Song was still to be found in the Ross country that Ivan had described to him.

According to Ivan, compared to the Ross country, the Yan Wang was nothing more than an ant to an elephant.

It was just that although he kept trying to persuade his Great Khan, his Great Khan had little interest in it.

In his Great Khan's view, the Northern Di did not need to beg for help from enemies.

"One day, you will believe my words," Wulanba sighed helplessly.

Yancheng.

At the moment the Northern Di army set out toward Xiliang.

A loud bang coming from the Technology Academy gave Zhao Xu, who was meeting with the Commandery Governors of the Southern Three Commanderies, a start.

"What is going on?" Liu Fu's body gave a jolt.

This sound was similar to someone setting off a cannon inside the city.

"In short, a Commandery Governor is the parent-official of a commandery; the common people lower their own status to call you parent-officials, so you must be worthy of those three words. After you each arrive at your posts, you must be diligent in government affairs and must not abuse power to cause chaos." Zhao Xu had vaguely guessed what it was.

However, there was just one sentence left to impart, so he simply finished speaking.

"Your subordinates will keep Your Highness's teachings in mind." The three Commandery Governors bowed and saluted.

Zhao Xu nodded.

These three were all outstanding students from the Government Academy.

After Zhao Heng bestowed the Southern Three Commanderies upon him, he had Liu Fu organize an examination at the Government Academy to select officials for the three commanderies.

During this period, the officials and students of the Government Academy listened to his lectures and learned different methods of governance.

At the same time, they also learned quite a bit of practical experience from incumbent officials during the academy's practical courses.

Although they were still selected through examinations.

They had reached a certain level in both practice and theory.

Relying on the knowledge he imparted, it was more than enough to surpass the traditional feudal officials of the Great Song.

Moreover, these three had previously been County Magistrates and had experience in holding office; after they arrived at their posts, they would certainly make the Southern Three Commanderies radiate a different kind of vitality.

"Mi Xuan, Cang Chuanyi, Cheng Tu." Zhao Xu read the three men's names and handed them their official robes and official seals.

The ceremony for conferring the offices then concluded.

Ordering Liu Fu and the three men to return first, Zhao Xu strode out.

Xu Lie had already assembled the guards at the entrance.

Having been with Zhao Xu for a long time, he knew that Yan Wang would definitely rush over to take a look.

Seeing Yan Wang approach, he immediately led the guards to follow, and they arrived at the Technology Academy all the way.

At this time, the Technology Academy was already in chaos.

Walking inside, Zhao Xu even heard faint groans.

He knew it must have been an explosion in the Technology Academy's Laboratory.

But he was not clear if it was Qu Sheng's Chemical Laboratory or Wang Chong's Physics Laboratory.

However, after walking a few more steps and turning a corner, seeing a puddle of water at the Physics Laboratory, he understood.

"Steam explosion?" Zhao Xu asked.

His arrival naturally drew the attention of the students.

Wang Chong was quickly called over.

Seeing the back of Wang Chong's hand was red, seemingly scalded by hot water, he could not help but ask.

Before the Northern Expedition war broke out, he had ordered Wang Chong to conduct steam experiments to prepare for the next step of developing the Steam Engine.

Wang Chong had been preparing, but he did not expect it to explode today.