In the carriage, Yuan Taizuo pressed his temple tiredly. The crisis on the Liaodong Peninsula made him a little worried now. Ning Hanyi said in the letter that the 3,000 troops in Huilong Town have been completely wiped out, and only 5,000 people are guarding Beishe City. The Liaodong Peninsula has been completely lost and begged him to send troops to rescue him.

This is the second time. The first time Zhang Xuan wiped out his 10,000 troops on the Liaodong Peninsula. This time he was going to eat up his 8,000 troops. The Liaodong Peninsula was like a whirlpool, constantly devouring his resources, but he could not use it. There was no tax or population. What's the point of using this peninsula as a sphere of influence?

A few years ago, when the Sui Dynasty ended its third Eastern Expedition, he and Gao Yuan reached an agreement to recapture the Liaodong Peninsula. Gao Yuan agreed to use the Liaodong Peninsula as his territory. At the same time, Yuan Taizuo also agreed to give up all the interests of Liaodong after Goguryeo conquered Liaodong in the future. At that time, he thought Liaodong was out of reach, so he gave up Liaodong and chose the Liaodong Peninsula, a benefit that could be realized immediately.

Now Yuan Taizuo began to regret it. The Liaodong Peninsula consumed too much resources, but there was no profit at all. More importantly, it was now a reality to capture Liaodong. Therefore, Gao Yuan appointed Yizhi Wende as the general of the Western Expedition and was preparing to lead an army of 30,000 to attack Liaodong. It was obvious that Yuan Taizuo was left aside. Therefore, Yuan Taizuo secretly instructed the Khitan to take the lead, just to introduce the Khitan, the disruptor, and eventually forced Gao Yuan to intervene in Liaodong.

Although Yuan Taizuo was very smart about Liaodong's wishful thinking, the situation on the Liaodong Peninsula made him helpless. Gao Yuan refused to express his opinion. Quan Huan and Yizhi Wende were indifferent. Obviously, he did not want to ask about the Liaodong Peninsula and let him solve it. However, his current interest target has been changed to Liaodong. Where can he distribute troops to support Beishe City?

The carriage slowly stopped in front of Yuan Taizuo's mansion. The guards helped him out of the carriage. The eldest son Yuan Gaisuwen hurriedly came up. Yuan Taizuo asked, "Is there any news in Beishe City?"

Yuan Gaisuwen shook his head and said, "Father, the child specifically asked the Eagle Slave. He learned that there were only three Eagles in Beishe City. Ning Hanyi has all released the news. The three Eagles are currently in our mansion, which means that there will be no news from Beishe City."

Yuan Taizuo was stunned and immediately said angrily: "Why don't Ning Hanyi, this idiot, let's put it out one by one, and insist on letting it go together."

"Maybe he was worried that we wouldn't receive the news."

Yuan Gaisuwen explained, and asked with concern: "Father, has the lord agreed to send troops to rescue Beishe City?"

"They are all pretending to be deaf and dumb, refusing to take care of the Liaodong Peninsula, and insisting on letting me send troops by myself, but once I send troops to the Liaodong Peninsula, what should I do here in Liaodong?"

Yuan Gai Suwen thought for a while and said, "Father, the child thinks that there is no need to worry about the Liaodong Peninsula for the time being. Just like the Sui army's expedition in the east, the Sui army finally retreated, and the Liaodong Peninsula will naturally fall back to our hands. I think as long as we take Liaodong, the Liaodong Peninsula will come back sooner or later."

Although this explanation is a bit far-fetched, it is also a solution. I won’t consider the matter of the Liaodong Peninsula for the time being. I will concentrate my troops to seize Liaodong first. Anyway, Beishecheng has sufficient food, so I hope Ning Hanyi can stick to it until the end!

Yuan Taizuo thought again and again, perhaps as he said, the Sui army attacking the Liaodong Peninsula went to rescue Liucheng, and the danger on the peninsula would be resolved, and Ning Hanyi would be able to retreat to Wugucheng at that time.

Yuan Taizuo slightly untied the knot in his heart, and his mood suddenly improved. He said to his eldest son Yuan Gaisuwen: "Tomorrow, Yizhi Wende will rush to Liaodong City, and you will also lead 40,000 troops to the new city. Quan Huan has agreed to transfer 100,000 stones of grain from the domestic city to the new city. You are based on the new city and are ready to attack Liaodong."

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At the fifth o'clock in the morning, a young official rushed into the inn and knocked on the closed door, "Shishou!Shishou!"

After a while, the door creaked open, revealing a slightly tired face. It was Li Chun, the Minister of Works. Li Chun, has been in Liucheng for nearly half a year. He has been out early and returned late every day for half a year. He has worked hard to guide the military and civilians in the city to carry out various defensive measures. He even spent the New Year's Eve in the blacksmith's workshop. Over the past six months, he has become darker and thinner, and his beard has grown like weeds, giving people a feeling of undressing. If he hadn't been wearing old and dirty official uniforms, he would have no difference from the old farmer who picked up vegetables to sell.

"What's the matter?" Li Chun asked sleepily.

"Report to the Minister, the iron gate has been poured."

Li Chun was immediately excited, his face was full of sleepiness and asked with a smile, "Isn't there still two days?"

"Last night, Li Jiangtou found a method of pouring and it was completed quickly."

"Let's go! Look."

Li Chun returned to the house and put on a piece of clothing, followed him to the blacksmith's workshop quickly.

The Blacksmith House is located in the west of the city, originally the backyard of the Shem Temple. Li Chun gathered more than 100 blacksmiths in the city to create some large cast iron pieces in this five-acre backyard, mainly trench machines and stone cannon bases. These have been completed.

The most difficult thing for them was to build two cast iron gates. Li Chun had sealed the north city gate with huge stones, leaving only the south city gate. Some people suggested using several layers of huge stones to block the gate, but in this way they could not enter and exit by themselves. When encountering some emergency incidents, they also needed to open the city gate, so everyone reached a consensus to cast the double cast iron gate.

The gate was two feet high, two feet thick, and weighed more than 20,000 kilograms. They melted and poured large pieces such as iron Buddhas, cast iron bells and other items collected from temples in various parts of Liaodong. However, casting such gates was extremely difficult. Nearly a hundred blacksmiths spent more than a month, repeatedly melted and casting, and finally achieved success.

Li Chun hurried to the Blacksmith House and saw two dark cast iron gates placed on the open space, which were huge. When the blacksmith leader Li Jiangtou saw Mr. Li coming, he hurried forward and said happily: "We used plaster as a mold last night. We thought it was difficult to succeed, but we didn't expect it to succeed. It was a lucky thing!"

Li Chun stepped forward and looked at the door, and asked with a smile: "Didn't you fail with plaster last time? Why did you succeed this time?"

"We discussed it last night and thought that the gypsum should have been successful last time, but the mold was too thin and fractured by the weight of the iron juice, so we made another thick mold and the pouring was successful."

“It’s too timely!”

Li Chun turned around and said to the employed person: "Go and invite Prefect Yang!"

Although it was not dawn, Yang Shanhui, the prefect of Liucheng County, had already gotten up early. Yang Shanhui was broken by Yuwen Zhiji a few years ago. Although he recovered slowly later, his left leg became lame. In addition, he was mean and strictly enforced the law. He had a stern face all day long. He didn't like him at the Liaodong official name, so he called him Yang Crooked.

Although Yang Shanhui had a bad reputation, he was very smart and capable. After becoming the prefect of Liucheng, he immediately formed a militia. It stipulated that men over 18 and under 40 must join the militia. The county magistrate Lu Chifeng was also ordered to conduct strict training, and he came to supervise from time to time. It was common for the training until midnight, which made the militia soldiers complain and cursed him behind his back. He was the nickname of Yang Crooked.

As soon as he walked out of the courtyard, he happened to meet Yang Shanhui. Yang Shanhui also heard that the iron gate had been made, so he hurried over to check it out.

"The prefect came so early?" Li Chun smiled and stepped forward and bowed.

"I can't sleep!"

Although Yang Shanhui is mean, he is very polite to Li Chun. After all, Li Chun is the Minister of Works and his official position is on the same level as him. He was sent by the King of Qi to help him strengthen his defense. Yang Shanhui is also very grateful to Li Chun for his hard work in the past six months.

The two walked to the iron gate. Yang Shanhui squatted down and looked at the iron gate carefully, and asked the blacksmith: "How much impact can this iron gate withstand?"

Several blacksmiths couldn't answer tremblingly. They were only responsible for work, but the specific design had nothing to do with them. Li Chun smiled and said, "It is a whole casting. I have calculated that it can withstand a 10,000 kilograms of impact. The maximum attacking ram is only 10,000 kilograms of impact."

The reason why they value gate defense was mainly because the Goguryeo people were good at using attacking rams. In the past six months, Li Chun rebuilt the city walls of Liucheng, which have been thickened more than twice, and even the largest attacking rams could not defeat it.

At this time, Yang Shanhui whispered to Li Chun: "Mr. Li, please borrow a step to speak."
Chapter completed!