The blood-colored earth trembled slightly, and Shen Wei sat in the camp with his brows furrowed tightly, the generals on both sides also had sullen faces and did not speak.

Suddenly, a rush of footsteps came from outside the tent: "Report, General, Jixue City has been lost and is now occupied by the Jin army. There are more than 20,000 casualties on our army's side, and we have retreated south."

To retreat sounded better but it was the same as to escape in the end. The low air pressure in the tent made people breathless. A bearded general glared fiercely and said coarsely: "Isn't there news from the imperial city that Wu and Yang have promised to form an alliance with our Qing Kingdom to jointly deal with the Jin Kingdom? Why is there still no movement now?"

Shen Wei stood up and looked at the simple map hung behind him and said solemnly: "I'm afraid that their goal is not only Jin Kingdom, but also have their sights on our Qing Kingdom."

"What does General mean?" A slightly younger general asked in confusion.

Shen Wei said: "If the war between the Qing Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom lasted for half a year, then none of us would be able to resist the invasion of other countries."

The bearded general glared with his fierce big eyes and scolded viciously, "Those sons of bitches."

The young general worried: "General, Jixue City has fallen, should we send troops?"

Shen Wei shook his head and said: "Jixue City is surrounded by mountains on three sides, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. We should not move rashly."

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The bearded general said loudly: "So what should we do? If His Highness knew that Jixue City was lost, would our heads still remain?"

A cold light flashed in Shen Wei's eyes and he said to the people in the tent: "This matter is my negligence. I will report to His Highness that the blame for this matter will be borne by me, so you can withdraw first."

Several generals took their leave anxiously. They wanted to share the worry for Shen Wei but there was no other way.

At night, Shen Wei called over the soldiers with the best martial arts, and taking advantage of the darkness they entered the snowy mountains around Jixue City. Suddenly, the roar of giant beasts sounded in the middle of the night, shaking the whole earth, and everyone was instantly woken up, getting ip from their beds in a panic.

Three days later, Su Mu received the report from Jixue City and furiously slapped the letter on the table with a "bang", the hard table shattering once again.

"That idiot." Su Mu paced back and forth, wishing to go to the front and beat him up in person.

Liu Xi carefully picked up the broken pieces of paper, put them together and looked at Su Mu and said, "Your Highness, isn't Jixue City taken back?"

"What use is an empty city covered by heavy snow!" Su Mu took a few vicious gulps of the tea that Liu Xi had handed over but he still didn't calm down: "What use is a land with no people! So what if Jixue City is taken back? Shall the troops stationed there eat snow? Shi Nuo....."

A handsome and tall man walked in and bowed his head to Su Mu: "Paying respects to Your Highness."

Su Mu said: "Relay Ben Gong's orders, withdraw the post of General Shen Wei, whenever Jin is defeated he will regain his original post. In addition, have him listen carefully, during the war he must ensure to the greatest extent that the civilians of the Qing Kingdom will not be harmed."

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"Yes, Your Highness."

Su Mu stood up, frowning slightly and said: "Qingye Villa has a number of secret weapons, you go and escort them to the front line. The master artisan who made the weapons will tell you the matters to pay attention to when escorting the weapons, and you must strictly observe them."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Su Mu nodded and said: "Retreat."

"Shi Yan....."

A tall and thin man suddenly appeared in front of Su Mu: "Paying respects to Your Highness."

"Send Shi Ran and Shi Qingshuang back to the Shi Kingdom, and have him send the rest of the grain." Su Mu said.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Liu Xi stepped forward and rubbed Su Mu's shoulders for him, and softly comforted him: "Your Highness, please calm down, in any case, the army of the Jin Kingdom has been half destroyed, and the rest should not be much of a problem."

In truth, he didn't understand what Su Mu was so angry at. It was just a group of commoners. In the eyes of him and the world, the lives of these commoners were as insignificant as grass. It was precisely because Liu Xi realized that he and his family were as inferior as bugs in the eyes of others, that he tried his best to climb up. Even if he was bruised and tormented by the Crown Prince's abuse, he never revealed the slightest bit of weakness.

Thinking about his past, Liu Xi couldn't help feeling a little sad, and he asked Su Mu in a hoarse voice: "Your Highness, why do you care about the commoners so much? Using them to exchange for the lives of Jin Kingdom's fifty thousand army and the return of Jixue City, it is also considered a worthy death. "

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Su Mu shook his head and said: "First, the population of the Qing Kingdom is not that large. Second, the foundation of a country is land and population, and both are indispensable. If today we abandon the people of Jixue City, and then abandon another city of people, it won't be long before our Qing Kingdom will no longer have any people left when the world is completely thrown into upheaval. Others don't even need to fight us, they just need to pick up the cities we serve up to them on a platter."

Liu Xi nodded in half-understanding, and said: "Your Highness is compassionate, and is really the most wise monarch in the world."

"It has nothing to do with mercy." Su Mu turned his head slightly and said, "How is the matter I asked of you?"

Liu Xi said: "Answering Your Highness. At present, only eight individuals have been found. Two masters of arithmetic, one in Wei Kingdom and one in Wu Kingdom. Three master craftsmen are from Shi Kingdom and two are from Wei Kingdom. The remaining three are in the Qing Kingdom, lne master of arithmetic and two master craftsmen."

Su Mu nodded: "Quality is more important than quantity. It's fine if there are not many. When these eight people arrive, bring them to me for a look. In addition, gather together the orphans in the Qing Kingdom and teach them survival skills. Select those that are particularly clever, and send them to the imperial city."

"Yes."

Many orphans whose parents had died or had been abandoned could only beg on the streets. In Su Mu's view, this was not only a waste but also a burden for society. The things others gave to them were also produced by labor. These people who reach out and beg and those people who were raised in the boudoirs eating free meals were the same kind of people and consumed society's resources. Of course, this was not their fault, but the fault of those in power who did not use social resources rationally.

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After the completion of the three academies, the Imperial Classical Academy, which opened first, opened classes in language, arithmetic, and martial arts, all using simplified Chinese textbooks. Of course, this met with opposition from all scholars. However, Su Mu did not step back and issued a clear notice that those who did not know simplified Chinese should not bother participating in the imperial examinations.

As a result, a group of scholars went up Bailu Mountain to worship the heavens and ancestors, accusing Su Mu for his tyranny, and threatened that if Su Mu did not revoke the use of simplified characters, then he was a wicked person who did not respect the heavens, deceiving the teacher and destroying the ancestors. They vowed to defend the righteousness of the heavens and the ancestors with their deaths.

Su Mu just sneered coldly and said to the messenger: "Then tell them to go down quickly and ask the ancestors to come to me to settle accounts."