Chapter 154: Chapter 155 Liang collapsed
In the evening of the next day, in the afterglow of the setting sun, Hei Fu and others escorted the real food and fodder to the Qin army's east camp on the other side of the Honggou. Before entering the camp, everyone in the food team, whether Qin or Wei, was surprised by the changes in Daliang.
When they left this place in February and followed the detachment to the east to conquer the land, Daliang was still a strong city that seemed indestructible.
But now, looking around, this big city is completely immersed in turbid water. The Honggou was once the lifeline that Daliang was proud of, but now it is like a yellow hemp rope, tightly wrapped around Daliang's neck.
The 100,000 Qin garrison soldiers and prisoners were the dark hands pulling the knot. They dug the Yingkou and let the river water rush into the Honggou. They also built a stone dam and dug a long canal, cleverly blocking or guiding the surging flood to flow to Daliang City.
They were the biggest contributors to this war. With hoes and hoes as weapons, they slowly and resolutely tightened the throat of Daliang City and strangled the breath of Wei State...
Chen Ping looked at this scene with a complicated expression, not knowing whether he should be happy or worried. He didn't come to his senses until Hei Fu asked him if he had been to Daliang before.
"I have never been to Daliang."
Chen Ping looked at the black spots on the top of Daliang City and smiled: "My family is poor. I have already spent all the money and food to support my study in the neighboring counties. How can I have the opportunity to see the splendor of Liangcheng?"
Although he had never been there, Chen Ping had heard a little about the magnificent palace buildings, prosperous market streets, and luxurious banquets in Daliang City.
But now it seems that his impression of Daliang City can only remain at "hearing".
After this battle, Daliang, which had been flooded for almost three months, is likely to become a wasteland. Not only were the fertile fields, houses, and streets destroyed, but it was unknown how many people were left. In April and May, damp and hot weather is most likely to breed diseases. At this moment, the city is probably already plagued by epidemics.
Those black spots standing on the top of the city are corpse dumpers. Corpses are constantly thrown down the high walls and swept into the surging flood, disappearing quickly.
As a Wei citizen, it is a pity that I was unable to see the prosperity of Liangcheng. Seeing that the city was in danger, Chen Ping also felt a sense of sympathy.
Heifu, who was not a Wei citizen, also sighed on the side.
"When I was in the military camp, I heard from Yang that the prime minister of Wei Huiguo, Bai Gui, was a smart and wealthy businessman. He helped the king of Wei choose Daliang as the capital, and he also managed river disasters, built dams, and dug the Honggou. But why didn't he think that one day, all of this would be used by others and become a weapon to destroy Daliang?"
Chen Ping continued: "Although Bai Gui is said to be richer than Tao Zhu, his strategy for governing the country cannot be compared with Tao Zhu. Bai Gui's vision can see things within ten years, but not a hundred years later. He can see the benefits brought by Daliang's extensive and converging roads, but he can't see the disadvantage of the lack of famous mountains and rivers here after the decline of Wei's national strength, and he didn't anticipate the crisis of this place becoming a place of war."
Hei Fu nodded. The lack of strategic locations to defend is the biggest weakness of Daliang. The Qin army attacked Wei seven times and entered Liangyou five times. Liangcheng has become the bastion of Wei. The king of Qin sent people to pinch it every now and then, forcing the king of Wei to beg for mercy.
Later dynasties that used Liangdi and Kaifeng as their capitals had to face this dilemma. It would be fine if they could expand in all directions, but once they were stuck in defending the status quo, this capital would become a burden. Not to mention that this is a natural low-lying area, and the nearby water conservancy projects could turn into floods that would flood the city at any time.
As he spoke, the military camp in front had already checked the seals, and the wooden gate was opened to let Heifu and his group in.
…
The Qin army camp was divided into east, west, south, and north, with 10,000 Qin soldiers stationed in each camp, plus 20,000 prisoners and garrison soldiers. The defense of the East Camp was particularly tight, because it was also a place for storing grain and grass. As soon as Heifu entered the camp, he saw dozens of earthen granaries two feet high across several camps. These were hastily built by Wei soldiers. Each granary could hold about a thousand stones of grain. It looked like General Wang Ben was indeed planning to plunder tens of thousands of stones of grain from the newly occupied Wei territory...
In addition, Heifu also heard that a new permanent granary was being built near the Dahe Wharf in the northeast of Xingyang, called Ao Cang, where grain transported from Henei, Hedong, Henan, and Guanzhong could be stored. It was also a large warehouse that could store 100,000 grains.
Heifu observed that the Qin people in the camp were all beaming with joy and were not short of food. They urged the counties and towns to deliver grain, mainly to prepare for a rainy day. It must be said that the Qin army's logistics work was really excellent.
The two thousand stones of grain they brought were transported into the warehouse by the garrison soldiers and prisoners under the supervision of a grain official. Before entering the warehouse, the grain had to be measured. The grain official would check it every once in a while. Looking at the good quality old grain, he nodded slightly.
"The grain transported from Huyou Township is good, unlike the grain sent from Xiaohuang Township yesterday, most of which was inferior grain, and a lot of it was mixed with sand and soil to make up the number. The captain has ordered severe punishment!"
Hei Fu couldn't help but secretly sigh. Thanks to Chen Ping's grain loan strategy, the grain transported from Zhang's granary was of course better than the grain from various households. He didn't have to take risks to make up the number.
After the grain official checked it, Hei Fu bowed to him and asked about the matter of paying grain and receiving the title.
"So that's it."
Because Hei Fu did a good job, he saved the grain official a lot of trouble, and he was willing to answer Hei Fu in a friendly manner.
"It just so happens that the king's edict arrived yesterday."
The grain official said: "According to the old rules, in the surrendered counties and towns in Wei, if there are noble elders who are willing to donate 1,000 stones of grain, they will be granted one level of nobility."
After saying that, he smiled and said: "Anyway, almost everyone in the counties of Wei is a soldier, and at most one level of nobility will be granted. Moreover, the nobility can only be promoted once for donating grain, and the nobility cannot be higher than that. Just give a few public officials and Shangzao, and you can get 1,000 stones of grain. It's really a wonderful strategy."
This strategy was proposed by Qin Xiang Fan Ju during the Battle of Changping. After that, it became a good method that has been tried and tested. Every time there was a famine or war, it helped the Qin government reduce a lot of food burden.
Hearing that the order to pay grain had indeed been issued, Hei Fu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The matter of Zhang Er's wife and son made him and Zhang Bo fall out. Fortunately, Xi Zhang Zhang Fu knew what was good for him and said a lot of words of thanks to Hei Fu. Now, I can keep my word and help Zhang get a title, so it is not considered cheating them.
Heifu immediately told the grain official that Zhang from Huyou Township offered a thousand stones of millet in the hope of getting a title. The grain official nodded and took note, saying that this matter must be reported to the general in charge of the money and grain of the entire army in the East Camp.
So far, Heifu's mission on this trip has been completed. As for their contributions in Waihuang, their superior Yang Xiong must report them for him. In the Qin army, there is basically no situation of skipping levels to report, so no matter what position you are in, you have to have a good relationship with your immediate superior...
Yang Xiong has already greeted Heifu. Although it is a hurdle to never be promoted to a doctor, Heifu not only beheaded Yinglun this time, but also wiped out the "remnant bandits of the Wei army", killed Zhou Shi, and captured the son of the wanted criminal Zhang Er. So his entry into the "doctor" class is basically stable.
"The titles of doctor and above are not under the jurisdiction of the county, but must be approved by Xianyang, but you will be promoted by June at the latest. As for the money and silk rewards on the wanted order, I will send someone to accompany you to the camp with the head and Zhang Ao, explain the situation, and maybe you can get it the next day!"
That night, Hei Fu and his men stayed outside the Qin camp. Early the next morning, he was summoned by the military judge and a lieutenant of the East Camp to ask him about the capture of Zhang Ao and the design of luring Zhou Shi to death.
The question and answer went smoothly. The military judge asked him to wait until the afternoon, and someone would be sent to take them to collect the reward. Zhou Shi's head would be sent to various counties in Wei to deter those who resisted. As for Zhang Ao, he was taken into the camp crying, and Hei Fu did not know his fate.
After the questioning, Hei Fu opened the tent and came out. Now that his official duties were over, he felt relieved. Thinking that he would soon be promoted, he was reluctant to "not change" this good title...
Just as Hei Fu returned to the outside of the camp to meet up with his men and prepare to set off in the afternoon, they heard a faint cry from the shore of the ditch.
"Liangcheng is going to collapse!"
...
"Liangcheng is going to collapse!"
A loud shout came from the shore, attracting everyone's attention.
Then, these sounds were covered by a louder collapse sound.
"Boom!"
Hei Fu heard that there seemed to be a huge rock falling into the water in the distance, making a loud noise.
Hei Fu and others looked back in a hurry, but saw that the angle between the north and east walls of Liangcheng, surrounded by turbid water, collapsed like a melting and peeling iceberg!
After being soaked by the river for more than two months, the seemingly indestructible thick city wall finally couldn't hold up. The rammed earth at the bottom had been soaked by the flood and was extremely fragile. It was unable to bear the weight of a high wall that was three times its length. So the whole wall peeled off and collapsed from the bottom up...
The collapse of the northeast corner of Daliang triggered a follow-up effect. The flood that had been unable to find a breakthrough suddenly poured in from the gap, rolling up the turbid waves and submerging the houses and people inside.
Although there were many black spots on the top of Daliang trying to throw earth, stones and wood to block the gap, it was no longer something that could be saved by human power. Then, like falling dominoes, a large section of the east and west walls of Daliang also collapsed one after another! The Wei people on top didn't even have time to scream before they disappeared with the wall...
A huge gap suddenly appeared in the solid Daliang!
It was like a warrior's rhinoceros armor, which was torn open in a tragic way, revealing the unprotected flesh inside.
Hei Fu's men, Ji Ying, Dongmen Bao and others, were all stunned to see this scene. This was a spectacular spectacle that they rarely saw in their lives, enough to brag about to their descendants for a lifetime.
In the Qin camp, more than 100,000 people were also watching this scene. This was their masterpiece that they had been working day and night for more than two months.
With the collapse of a corner of the beam, different voices were heard inside and outside the city.
"Hao Tian is unkind, and this great evil has been sent!"
Inside the city, there were desperate cries from the princes and grandsons of Wei State and the common people. The high walls were breached, and their last shelter was gone.
"The king will win! The Qin State will win!"
Outside the city, there were shouts of thousands of troops and horses! They raised their hands to cheer for victory and the end of this war!
Only Hei Fu watched this scene quietly. He knew that this was the first time he witnessed the destruction of a country and a city, but it would definitely not be the last time.
Chen Ping, a man from Wei, saw Daliang for the first time and was about to witness its fall into destruction. There seemed to be tears in his eyes, but he forced himself to hold them back and let out a long sigh.
"Liangcheng has collapsed, and the Wei Kingdom is dead!"
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