Chapter 162: First Volume, Chapter 162: Shameless Tactics

First Volume, Chapter 162: Shameless Tactics

The Liang Emperor's reservations vanished from his gaze, and he exclaimed loudly: "Excellent—peaceful years, burden borne in silence. Qin Feng speaks truly: on the battlefield, only results matter, not methods; victory is the only path. Even though our Great Liang values human ethics and looks down on such tactics, the barbarians beyond the frontier won't think twice."

The civil and military officials present knew full well that Qin Feng's shocking remarks already qualified as an outstanding Military Strategy.

Merely this point alone proves Qin Feng's military talent.

Those ministers who had doubted him fell silent; even the Piaoqi and Wei Wu Grand Generals could only sit down reluctantly. Though their political views clashed, they humbly accepted Qin Feng's strategy and secretly memorized it, planning to try it later.

Qin Tianhu exhaled in relief and silently resolved: when he got home, he'd torture this brat until he revealed where he'd learned these tactics!

At the Liang Emperor's instruction, Qin Tianhu quickly announced the verdict: "Lin Rong's strategy is usable, but not the best."

Lin Rong could only sit down helplessly.

Now only Xu Mo and Ning Hu remained.

Not just the officials present, but even Qin Feng himself waited with anticipation, eager to see what answer this little tiger had brewed for so long.

Finally, Ning Hu rose slowly—but instead of immediately submitting his strategy, he bowed deeply to the Liang Emperor and apologized: "Your Majesty, I dare to ask: may I propose a change to the rules?"

Before the Liang Emperor could respond, Marquis Yong'an, Ning Wenyu, could no longer sit still and shouted: "Audacious! The Qingyi Ceremony has always been conducted this way—how dare you alter the rules?"

Ning Hu lowered his head and whispered: "At Po Zhen Guan, I already lost with full conviction—my tactics and Military Strategy were nowhere near Young Master Qin's. I only wish to know how far behind I am. Let me be the attacker, and Young Master Qin the defender. This way, we can clearly see the gap between us, while still fulfilling the strategy's prompt—two benefits in one."

Marquis Yong'an stared blankly, his mind churning: Is this really my son—the one with courage but no wit?

How could he have grown so clever after only brief contact with Qin Feng?

The Liang Emperor, upon hearing Ning Hu's words, was greatly pleased: "This is acceptable!"

Qin Feng had been eager to return home for training, but seeing Ning Hu suddenly introduce a twist, he lost his urgency and grinned: "Little tiger, go easy on me—I'm just a commoner with no military training."

Hearing this, the Piaoqi and Wei Wu Grand Generals couldn't help but blush.

Ning Hu took a deep breath, picked up the strategy he'd written furiously, and said solemnly: "I command one hundred thousand troops, divided into Eight Camps. Aside from the main camp, each of the other Seven Camps leads ten thousand, stationed in eight directions, surrounding the isolated city without attacking—cutting off all possibility of reinforcements or grain supply! Even a Border Fortress stores only enough grain to last six months. How would you respond?"

In this era, wars lasted a year or more; besieging a city for half a year was nothing.

Qin Feng tilted his head, feigning deep thought, then slapped his thigh: "Can a living man die from holding his urine? If no grain arrives, I'll just grow my own!"

At this, Ning Hu frowned: "An isolated city's size naturally matches its eight thousand defenders—it's impossible to station few troops in a major fortress or few generals to guard a large city. This isolated city's area must be small; even if you tore down every house and leveled every warehouse, you still couldn't clear enough land. If you could grow food internally, how could there ever be an isolated city siege?"

The officials around them praised Ning Hu's words and accused Qin Feng of absurd fantasy.

The military officers present felt a complex mix of emotions.

If Qin Feng lacked military knowledge, how could he always propose brilliant Military Strategies?

If he were a military genius, why did he so often utter unprofessional remarks?

The Liang Emperor, thoroughly intrigued by their debate, pressed: "Ning Hu speaks wisely—if self-sufficiency in grain were possible, how could any city ever be isolated? Why would Great Liang need to spend recklessly to transport grain to the frontier?"

Facing their skepticism, Qin Feng smiled mysteriously: "If you merely remodel the city, you won't get enough land—but who says farmland must be on the ground? I'll farm in the sky."

Li Xu couldn't help laughing: "Qin Feng, are you having another fit? I'd like to see how you plant fields in the sky!"

Qin Feng didn't blame the officials—such ideas were too advanced for this era: "The city has no shortage of timber; if lacking, we can dismantle houses and wooden carts. Craft wooden boxes, stack them in layers—every three to four layers as a unit. Fill each box with soil and plant grain like potted plants. In limited space, is it hard to grow enough grain?"

"Though the soil is poor and lacks fertilizer, this method yields only two or three harvests before the soil exhausts. But the grain it produces can extend the city's survival by two or three years. By then, even if reinforcements crawl, they'll reach the city, won't they?"

As Qin Feng expected, his words sparked fierce debate.

"Impossible! If this could grow grain, the army would have adopted it long ago."

"Who says it's impossible? With proper care, growing grain is no challenge. Moreover, this is a desperate measure for a besieged city with no supply—why use it if stable grain lines exist? In extremis, it's still a valid option!"

"True—if it buys two or three more years, the war's outcome will shift! How many cities fell precisely because they lacked those two or three years?"

The Liang Emperor pondered, then asked the Wei Wu Grand General: "Is this feasible?"

The Wei Wu Grand General slowly rose, hesitated long, then nodded firmly: "If we consider only the isolated city scenario, it's viable in extremis—and…"

The Wei Wu Grand General clenched his teeth, as if making a final decision, and said gravely: "This wooden-box farming method deserves recording in the Military Strategy, for future emergencies."

With this, the Liang Emperor was thrilled.

The phrase "Great wisdom appears foolish" suited Qin Feng perfectly.

And…

In all Heaven and Earth, only Qin Feng could make the Liang Emperor's face light up.

Ning Hu, though surprised, found Qin Feng's response logically inevitable, and said: "Then what of Fire Attack?"

Qin Feng shrugged: "Go ahead and attack—the city's houses are all torn down to make planting boxes, stacked in the center. Only a few essential buildings remain. Fire won't spread, and even if it does, putting it out won't be hard."

Ning Hu frowned, refusing to yield: "Then I'll launch a direct assault! Even if I lose several times more men, if I achieve the Strategic Goal, necessary sacrifice is acceptable!"