The Three Spirit Stones

In the Battle of Sandu Valley in history, the Song army was also the winner.

The battle report submitted by Cao Wei reads:

[More than a thousand heads were beheaded, seven people were captured alive, and a total of 33,000 horses, cattle, clothes, and weapons were seized. Ma Bo Chi La and others escaped. 160 officers and soldiers of the government army were injured, and 67 were killed in battle. There were 139 officers and envoys who made contributions, and they hope to be rewarded.]

That is to say, in that battle, 20,000 Tibetan soldiers were defeated, and the result was that more than 1,000 heads were beheaded.

The Song army still won this battle, but the outcome was very different. It is roughly estimated that about 10,000 Tubo soldiers were killed and 1,000 were captured alive, while no one on the Song side died, and only a few were slightly injured during the pursuit.

After the victory news was reported back to the Song Dynasty, the entire court was shocked!

In the Zichen Palace, the court officials were arguing loudly!

At first, several imperial censors wanted to impeach Cao Wei for lying about the results of the battle, exaggerating his achievements, deceiving the emperor and deceiving his superiors. His crimes were unforgivable and he should be summoned to the capital to be punished immediately!

The other faction came out to refute and asked, what evidence do you have to prove that others lied about the results of the battle?

They say isn't this obvious?

Nearly 10,000 foreign soldiers were killed, while only a few of our own were slightly injured. How could they tell such a huge lie? Do they think we are all fools?

This was indeed against common sense, and some generals who were on good terms with Cao Wei could not help but blame him in their hearts.

Cao Cao is really going backwards as he gets older. It's understandable that he exaggerates his military achievements in order to gain more benefits from the court. Almost all generals have done these things. But you can't go too far!

Nearly 10,000 enemy soldiers were killed, and how many of our own were slightly injured?

If the word "death" is replaced with "defeat", it won't be so easy to be exposed.

I really don't know which stupid staff wrote this?

He really should be dragged out and killed.

Later, some ministers came out and said that although Cao Wei had a high probability of exaggerating his military achievements, he did win the battle, and winning the battle was better than anything else. As long as the truth was found out and the result was not too outrageous, he would only need to be reprimanded slightly to avoid discouraging the heroes.

The other side said, if the results of the war can be exaggerated like this, how good do you think the truth can be?

This group of ministers were arguing with each other, turning the court into a vegetable market. In the end, Kou Zhun stopped everyone and said that he would make a decision after the spoils were sent back to the Song Dynasty.

In the following month, more detailed reports about the battle were sent to the capital, and countless facts pointed out that Cao Wei's report seemed to be true.

Everyone found it incredible. There were 30,000 enemy troops and our side was 5,000, but we were able to kill 10,000 of them while only a few of our side were injured. This war could be regarded as a legend!

Two months later, Cao Wei led his army to escort the spoils to Beijing. Emperor Zhenzong of Song issued an order that all officials below the third rank should go ten miles outside the city to welcome them.

On that day, a long and mighty dragon appeared outside the city, led by a team of cavalry, followed by carts full of Tibetan soldiers' heads, and then the two thousand prisoners of war, as well as more than a dozen carts full of clothes, weapons and other sundries.

Human heads cannot be forged, although in wars there are often cases of killing innocent people to gain military merit, that is, killing ordinary people and pretending to be enemies in exchange for military merit.

But this time it couldn't be faked, as the appearance of the Tibetans was different from that of the Song people. Even if these heads were pickled in lime, their facial features could still be seen.

Everyone believed it completely!

This battle in Sandu Valley is truly legendary!

The entire city of Bianjing was in an uproar!

Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, it has been surrounded by powerful enemies such as the Liao Kingdom and Western Xia. It has lost more wars than it has won. It is so frustrating, and everyone has become accustomed to it!

Even this time, many people were not optimistic. Some ministers even suggested that in order to avoid the outbreak of war, they should simply agree to Li Lizun's request. It was Cao Wei who strongly opposed it and the court refused.

Now the ironclad results are before our eyes.

The Song Dynasty is capable of winning battles, and not just any victory, but a crushing victory!

As the team marched along, the residents of Bianjing City applauded and cheered to welcome the triumphant return of the border guarding heroes!

……

……

On a hillside somewhere outside Bianjing, a large group of imperial guards were on guard.

The heads of the Privy Council, the Three Yamen and Five Wings, the Ministry of War, the Secretariat and more than a dozen other first-rank officials were squatting in a deep pit. Tang Youfu and Sun Bin were demonstrating the action of holding their heads and covering their ears, and Cao Wei was squatting beside them to accompany them.

This time Cao Wei made outstanding military achievements and was promoted from the Envoy of Introduction and the Commander of the Yingzhou Tuanlian to the Envoy of the Guest Province and the Commander of the Kangzhou Defense, and was also appointed as the Signatory of the Privy Council.

In this war, the story of victory was vaguely described using the Yin-Yang method.

Ordinary officials only knew how the Qinfenglu soldiers fought bravely under Cao Wei's wise leadership, but the real reason was not made public.

However, these dozen high-ranking officials of the dynasty knew very well that the core reason was a new type of explosive.

So they petitioned Emperor Zhenzong of Song to let them see a live test explosion to see just how powerful this explosive was.

These people were in charge of the military affairs of the Song Dynasty, so it was indeed necessary for them to understand this kind of explosives, so Zhao Heng ordered Cao Wei to take them to conduct a test explosion.

In fact, the day after the victory report came, Zhao Heng summoned Cheng Yu to the palace for questioning.

When he transported explosives to Qinzhou, he was informed in advance. Like Cao Wei, Zhao Heng was a little dismissive at first, thinking that it was just used for arson like usual gunpowder. It was not until he received the battle report that he remembered this.

Later, he took Chen Lin out of the palace secretly to watch a test explosion, which frightened him so much that he took a day to recover.

He was very glad that he did not hastily grant Cheng Yu the marriage. If he had forced Ah Cai, the little ancestor, to lose his temper, he would have given him this thing...

I feel a chill down my spine just thinking about it. We really can’t offend the descendants of the immortals!

……

"My Lords, I am starting to light the fire. We will squat down when we count to ten."

Tang Youfu advised,

This time the two men made great contributions and were promoted to fifth-rank officials, in charge of the explosives workshop.

After that, Sun Bin lit the fuse and counted, "One, two, ... ten, everyone squat down."

Rumble…

Suddenly, there was a loud noise that shook the earth not far away. Countless birds and beasts appeared from nowhere and fled for their lives.

After a while, the dust settled, and these people let go of their ears, stood up, and walked out of the pit to take a look.

A large pit of more than ten feet was blown out where the explosives were buried, and all the trees around were blown to pieces. Everyone couldn't help but gasp.

It looks like an inconspicuous piece of dynamite, only as big as a fist, so how can it be so powerful?

Just one of them exploded like this. I heard that a hundred of them were dropped in this battle. I feel a chill in my back just thinking about it. No wonder they could achieve such brilliant results!

It’s really a killer weapon!

This group of adults immediately decided that the explosives factory should be separated and re-planned and built at an independent location. It should be heavily guarded and all employees inside should be strictly screened before being hired. As for the two master craftsmen who could make explosives, they should be heavily protected and given treatment as national treasures!