An hour later, the Lanhe Canal construction site.
The construction site is located in the mountains ten miles east of Kunyang City.
In fact, the Lan River is not far from Kunyang. The straight-line distance is only more than ten miles. However, because of the mountains blocking it, the Lan River often floods and disasters occur, while the Kunyang boundary on the other side suffers from drought for a long time, and this year is the most serious.
In the early years, some people in Kunyang had the idea of digging canals, but the previous magistrates did not support it due to the neglect of government affairs, so the idea was dropped in the end.
But this time, it was only because of the support of the new magistrate Su Xun that the canal opening was implemented.
Before arriving at the construction site, Li Ke saw thousands of bare-chested civilians digging into the mountain with hammers and iron pestles, or carrying gravel on their shoulders. The entire construction site was bustling with people and excitement.
But when he got closer, Li Ke discovered that the construction site was bustling, but the progress of digging into the mountain was extremely slow.
"Commander Qi, how is the progress?"
As soon as he got closer, Su Xun directly asked a tall, muscular man with bare upper body.
Li Ke recognized this man, his name was Qi Rusong, he was the commander of the Kunyang Weidu, that is, the highest military officer of Kunyang.
According to the military system of the Wei Dynasty, the commander of the guard capital should be under the jurisdiction of five thousand-household stations. Each thousand-household station has about a thousand troops, and the total strength of the guard station is more than 5,000.
But the paradox is that just five days before Li Ke arrived in Kunyang, most of Kunyang's defenders were suddenly removed by a transfer order, leaving only Qi Rusong, the bare commander, and less than a thousand old and weak soldiers.
Kunyang is a frontier fortress and is often harassed by the Khitans. On weekdays, the guard station is full and insufficient to resist the Khitan invasion. At this time, Li Ke had just taken action, and the imperial court removed most of the Kunyang garrison.
The meaning is self-evident.
Qi Rusong first saluted Li Ke, then wiped the sweat from his forehead, and shook his head sternly: "The progress is slow, the mountain is hard, even though I have people digging around day and night, the daily digging distance is still less than two feet. "
Su Xun sighed and immediately turned to look at Li Ke.
Li Ke smiled knowingly and said to Qi Rusong: "Commander Qi, let everyone stop working now."
Qi Rusong was stunned: "Stop work?"
Immediately, his face turned gloomy, and he even said to Li Ke in a somewhat accusatory tone: "Your Highness, thousands of acres of fields outside Kunyang City are in urgent need of watering. I wish I could have three heads and six arms to quickly dig the canal, but you asked me to stop work. ? Don’t you want tens of thousands of people in Kunyang to have nothing to gain and mourn everywhere?”
Li Ke still just smiled faintly and explained: "Commander Qi may have misunderstood. Your order to stop work is not to stop digging the canal, but because I have other faster ways to dig the canal! "
Hearing this, Qi Rusong couldn't help but look suspicious. He had heard about the former Crown Prince and current His Highness Prince Yong. It was rumored that he was dissolute and did whatever he wanted when he was in the capital. He even wanted to confuse the harem and plot rebellion.
Today, the Holy One is thinking of family ties, so he just takes away the crown prince's position and demotes him to this place far away from Yanyun.
Unexpectedly, Yan Yun still did not want to repent, was still arrogant and extravagant and did not care about government affairs, which made the already difficult life of the people even worse.
Qi Rusong didn't have any good impression of this mediocre king in his heart, let alone any trust at all. He said that he had a faster way to dig the canal, but Qi Rusong didn't believe even a single stroke.
"Ha, His Highness Prince Yong is really good at joking. Did you know that we have tried every possible method, and finally found that there is no other way but to dig in at all costs." Qi Rusong said with a slightly mocking tone, " I wonder what His Highness, King Yong, can do? Could it be that His Highness, King Yong, is proficient in magic and can make this mountain break apart on its own?"
After saying that, Qi Rusong laughed wildly, and several strong men behind him also laughed.
What he said was right. From the time he dug the canal to the present, he, along with his garrison officers and the civilian men recruited, had used all possible and unusable methods. However, facing the mountain in front of him, he couldn't help but wonder. There is still no way.
He, Li Ke, is nothing more than a dissolute prince, what can he do?
Unexpectedly, before Qi Rusong finished speaking, Li Ke smiled resolutely and said, "Then how could Commander Qi know that the lonely king doesn't know magic and can't let the mountain collapse on its own?"
Qi Rusong was startled, and then he heard Li Ke continue: "Okay, let them stop working quickly. I will only leave a dozen soldiers with quick hands and feet on the scene, and the rest will retreat a hundred meters."
Qi Rusong wanted to say something more, but was immediately interrupted by Su Xun on the side, who whispered a few words in a low voice. Qi Rusong was still hesitant, but in the end he waved his hand to signal his subordinates to pass on the order.
A quarter of an hour later, there were only about twenty people left in the entire canal construction site.
Li Ke called over a dozen strong soldiers left by Qi Rusong, and then began to teach them how to lay out fuses and light explosives.
After everything was done, Li Ke walked up to Qi Rusong with a smile and said, "Commander Qi, let's retreat too. Next, you just have to wait and see the good show."
Qi Rusong still glanced at Li Ke suspiciously, but in the end he just sneered, turned around and walked back.
But in his heart, he had already made up his mind to see Li Ke's joke.
Soon, after several people withdrew to a safe area, Qi Rusong ordered the flag bearer to give orders to a dozen strong soldiers who were setting up explosives.
A dozen soldiers immediately took action. Some placed explosives and others arranged fuses.
Another quarter of an hour later, the soldiers on site responded with the signal: Everything is ready.
Qi Rusong glanced at Li Ke and saw a rare look of nervousness on the deposed prince's face, but the nervousness was fleeting and was replaced by determination.
"Light the fire!" As Li Ke gave a firm command, the flag soldiers on the side quickly waved their flags.
After receiving the signal, the soldiers on the other side quickly raised their torches and lit the ground fuses.
In an instant, the fuse burned several meters away at high speed, heading straight for the homemade bomb placed in the rock crevice not far away.
