knife

Chapter 519 We need to give them a push from behind.

Iron chains across the river.

Two extremely thick chains stretched from Xiangcheng to Fancheng, connected by a thinner iron chain in the middle. Wooden planks were laid on top, and a suspension bridge connected the two cities separated by the river.

"Brother Feng, what do you think of this idea?" Ke Wuji looked at Feng Kuan and smiled. "A bridge will connect the north and south, and the two cities will be able to support each other. At the same time, the iron chains blocking the river will also neutralize the Chu people's water advantage. Once this bridge is built, the two cities of Xiangfan will be free from worries."

Feng Kuan's single eye gleamed, his face full of excitement, but it ultimately turned into a long sigh: "Old Ke, it's good, but what do you want me to use to build it? How much money would that cost? Moreover, building such a bridge requires specialized construction experts, where would we find them? For me, the simplest thing right now is to find some boats, lay them across the river, and nail them together to build a pontoon bridge, which would be much more useful."

“Floating bridges are easily destroyed!” Ke Wuji shook his head and said, “They are vulnerable to fire attacks and impacts. They are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and cost a lot of money, but the final result is not good. It would be better to grit our teeth and use more money to build this iron chain bridge!”

"Where's the money?"

Ke Wuji chuckled: "Brother Feng, there are dozens of wealthy families in Xiangcheng. Which one of them isn't incredibly rich? During the Battle of Xiangcheng back then, how many of these families actually fought tooth and nail to help us? They all kicked us when we were down. If they had put in even a little more effort back then, Brother Feng, your face wouldn't be so repulsive!"

Touching his bumpy face, which seemed to ache slightly, and with his blind eye also inexplicably feeling sore, Feng Kuan reached out and rubbed it. Instead of being angry, he laughed and looked at Ke Wuji: "Old Ke, you really are still up to no good! You never forget to destroy these powerful families."

"Their money can be used to build this iron chain bridge, their land can be distributed to our believers, their houses can be rewarded to our soldiers, and their women... Heh heh, General Feng, you have a lot of bachelors under your command, don't you? Why is it that our men can't even find wives, and don't even have a family line, while these men have harems of wives and concubines?" Ke Wuji's eyes flashed with a fierce light: "If you can't bring yourself to do it, wait for our men to come, and I'll do it. When the General blames you, you can just push the blame onto me and say that I did it all!"

"Even if I say that, would the General believe me?" Feng Kuan said, "If you come to my territory and kill, burn, and rob, and I say I don't know anything, the General will slap me across the face!"

“Brother Feng, you heard what I said by the river that day!” Ke Wuji said, “Now the General is indecisive and hesitant. We subordinates sometimes have to help him make decisions. We can’t rely on Chen Jianren. He seems like an educated man with ideas, but he just wants to follow the General for wealth and status but doesn’t dare to take any risks. He agrees to whatever the General says and doesn’t have the courage to speak frankly. As for Yang Lixin, he’s just a scoundrel. He’s good at fighting, but if you ask him to use his brain, he won’t utter a word.”

Feng Kuan took a deep breath.

He deeply resented powerful and influential families.

In the Battle of Xiangcheng, the Qin army suffered a major defeat. In order to cover the retreat of his allies, Feng Kuan led his men to hold the line. He went in and out of the raging fire several times, and his face became unrecognizable. Of his three thousand brothers, only a dozen or so escaped with him in the end.

In particular, when the truth was finally revealed, the great defeat at Xiangcheng was actually orchestrated by the powerful clans of Qin in their struggle for power and profit, in order to overthrow Wei Zhengdao and Kou Zhong, using the lives and blood of countless soldiers to pave the way for their own interests.

Knowing all this, Feng Kuan truly gritted his teeth and swallowed his anger.

Finally, Wu De ambushed and killed Liu Chengdong, and then killed Sima Lang in the street. He cheered with joy. Later, he followed He Zudao into Hedong and wiped out the Liu family.

Therefore, he had absolutely no goodwill towards wealthy and powerful families. Those people, who usually act high and mighty, claiming to be upright gentlemen and moral saints, actually had no bottom line. What's even more despicable is that they can use the most beautiful language and illusions to package these ugly things and deceive the world.

Such a person truly deserves to die.

Ke Wuji is right!
We can't rely on these powerful families. Haven't we suffered enough losses and been cheated in the past?

The general is currently undecided, or perhaps he has some other concerns. But what does someone like me, who is willing to die for the general, have to fear about fame or fortune? At most, the general might scold me and ignore me for a while. But if something really happens, won't he still only be able to rely on people like me?
“Old Ke, what you said makes sense!” Feng Kuan lowered his voice and said, “But there’s another issue. The money is easy to get. We can just find some excuse and say they’re colluding with the Chu people. After all, aren’t we about to launch a military campaign against the Chu people? These people have been dealing with the Chu people for a long time. We don’t even need to frame them; a quick search will prove it. But building this iron chain bridge isn’t just about having money. We also need enough high-quality iron, and more importantly, we need the technology! Although I don’t know much about it, I know that this isn’t some small bridge in the village that you can just pull up and put up!”

Ke Wuji smiled smugly: "We can probably get quite a bit of iron by raiding these wealthy families. If we're really short, Brother Feng, don't forget that my current partner is He Yiming from the Canal Gang. He's an expert in smuggling. Getting some iron from Chu or Luoyang is nothing to him!"

Who will build it?

“Brother Feng, our Divine Cult has five flags. Your brother is the Sharp Metal Flag, in charge of fighting and killing, but we also have the Giant Wood Flag, which specializes in manufacturing mechanical devices!” Ke Wuji said.

"That giant wooden flag, didn't you say they were all following the Demon Queen Jiang Qian? Are they here to help us build this bridge to deal with themselves?" Feng Kuan said dismissively.

“Each of the Five Elements Banners has hundreds of thousands to millions of followers. General Feng doesn’t think that everyone under the Giant Wood Banner will follow their banner leader to Jiang Qian, does he?” Ke Wuji said, “Just like under our Sharp Gold Banner, quite a few people have defected!”

"You mean you can find a master craftsman with the skills to build this giant wooden flag?"

"It is precisely because I already have such a master craftsman that I was able to come up with this method!" Ke Wuji pointed to the drawings on the table: "Brother Feng, who do you think drew these drawings?"

"Old Ke, so you came prepared!" Feng Kuan laughed.

"The general is hesitant, but we can't hesitate!" Ke Wuji chuckled. "We have to give him a push!"

"Let's do it!" Feng Kuan said through gritted teeth.

“My troops will arrive in a few days. Let them do it,” Ke Wuji said. “Surprise them.”

(End of this chapter)