Late Ming Dynasty: Summoning players from Liaodong to support the Ming Dynasty

The old Taoist priest, who had fainted, was roughly dragged away by two guards like a lump of mud.

Chu Ze didn't look at him again.

The stunning reversal brought about by that gyrfalcon plunged all the players present into a strange state of excitement.

They witnessed firsthand a spectacular spy drama, the protagonist of which was none other than the main antagonist they were following.

That's fucking handsome!

This is the real mastermind, strategizing and using the world as their chessboard!

……

The next day, at the first light of dawn.

A high platform was erected overnight in the central square of Guangning City.

Below the stage, a dense crowd filled the entire square, each person's face bearing a deep sense of fear and unease.

The shadow of the "food conservation order" still looms over everyone's mind.

Li Xunyi walked shakily up to the platform. He hadn't slept all night and looked as if he had aged ten years.

He held a roll of burlap covered with charges of crimes in his hands, and his withered hands trembled violently as he unfolded it.

"Fellow villagers, we are the elders of Guangning!"

Li Xunyi's voice, carried by a simple tin loudspeaker (made by the Gongshu Ban), resounded throughout the square, filled with endless sorrow and anger.

"The Tartars are brutal, besieging our isolated city; it is a time of life and death! Yet, within the city, there are wolves and jackals, devouring the flesh of our people and drinking the blood of our soldiers, intending to sell Guangning to the barbarians!"

With tears streaming down his face, he publicly revealed how the fur merchant Zhang San, the clerk Li Si, and the old Taoist priest who swept the floor had passed on intelligence and how they had almost caused the fall of Ximen.

The people in the audience were terrified, and anger spread rapidly through the crowd.

"Kill them! Kill these traitorous dogs!"

"You traitor! You deserve to be torn to pieces!"

Just as the crowd was filled with indignation, Su Qingying, dressed in green, slowly walked up to the high platform.

She held a thick ledger in her arms, showing no signs of stage fright.

"Gentlemen, this is Zhang San's grain consumption record, and this is Li Si's application for kerosene..."

She presented the irrefutable evidence clearly to the audience.

Those cold, hard numbers were more powerful than any accusation, shattering the last shred of hope held by the traitors.

When the two ashen-faced traitors were led onto the platform, the anger of the entire audience reached its peak.

However, Chu Ze did not immediately order the execution.

Dressed in black armor, he strode up to the high platform and stood at the very front.

He said nothing, but simply looked quietly at the faces below the stage, some angry, some desperate.

The clamor in the square eerily subsided the moment he appeared.

Everyone was watching him, awaiting his verdict.

"Gentlemen, do you know why you've been drinking thin porridge these past few days?" Chu Ze finally spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.

The people were stunned.

"Do you know why even the heavenly soldiers are going hungry?"

The players also perked up their ears and made "aggrieved" expressions.

Chu Ze slowly scanned the entire room, and then he said something that made everyone's brains freeze instantly.

"Because I orchestrated that famine."

silence.

A deathly silence.

The entire square, filled with 100,000 soldiers and civilians, seemed to hold its breath at that moment.

The famine... was it arranged by the general?

What does this mean?

The people couldn't understand it; their minds, tormented by hunger for days, were completely unable to process this message.

"If you don't stir up the water, how will the fish jump out on their own?"

Chu Ze pointed at the two traitors lying limp as mud at his feet, and his voice suddenly rose.

"If we don't let you experience the taste of starvation, how will you know how deserving these traitors are of death!"

"I don't just want their lives, I want to destroy their spirits! I want them to feed poison to their masters while they're basking in the euphoria of their own clever scheme!"

boom!

It was like a thunderclap from the heavens, exploding in everyone's minds!

understood!

Everyone understands!

The despair that lasted for days, the thin porridge that was so clear you could see the bottom, the compassion of Mr. Li emptying his pockets, the listless resentment of the "heavenly soldiers"...

It was all a lie!

It was all part of a grand scheme devised by the general to expose the traitor!

A mysterious and unpredictable scheme that kept everyone in the dark, yet ultimately saved everyone!

After the oppressive silence came a frenzy like a tsunami!

"General... General, you are truly a divine being!" An old soldier knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down his face.

"We were blind to your greatness! We wronged the general!"

"We are willing to die for the general!!"

"I will die for the general!!"

A deafening roar erupted from every corner of the square, converging into a torrent powerful enough to shake the heavens and earth, soaring straight into the sky.

The people went wild, expressing their elation at surviving the disaster and their almost godlike worship of Chu Ze in the most primal way.

The players have gone crazy.

Holy crap! I'm blown away! This plot, this twist! This boss! I'm fucking blown away!

[It's one thing to put on a show for the traitor, but to deceive even our own people and all the NPCs in the city! What audacity! This is true political scheming!]

My mom asked me why I was kneeling while playing games, and I said I was kowtowing to the gods!

Chu Ze stood quietly on the high platform, feeling the wave of fervor that rushed towards him.

From his GM's perspective, the golden dots representing "the will and power of the people" on the map of mountains and rivers are converging and surging at an unprecedented speed.

In a short moment, the area representing Guangning City on the scroll shone brightly, almost coalescing into a dazzling miniature sun.

[A massive influx of 'public will power' detected, Spiritual Energy +300000!]

Three hundred thousand!

This immense, unimaginable spiritual energy made Chu Ze feel an unprecedentedly close connection between himself and the city.

He could almost hear the heartbeats of the 100,000 soldiers and civilians in the city, and feel their purest beliefs.

This is his strongest foundation for carrying out his next plan!

……

Meanwhile, at the Later Jin camp.

Inside the commander's tent, the air reeked of alcohol.

Amin, shirtless, held a roasted lamb leg in his hand and laughed loudly, his face trembling with fat.

Kneeling at his feet was a distraught Hu Yongqiang.

"Hahahaha! Hu Yongqiang, open your damn eyes and take a look!"

Amin threw a strip of cloth covered in writing hard at Hu Yongqiang's face.

"Look at this! Is this the cunning Chu Ze you were talking about? A coward who was scared into hiding through a dog hole after being surrounded by me for days!"

Hu Yongqiang picked up the strip of cloth with trembling hands. The words on it struck him like a thunderbolt.

"The siege has dragged on for too long, and our food supplies are running low... We estimate that our reserves will last at most half a month..."

The intelligence was exactly as Amin had predicted, and even better than he had expected!

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!" Amin kicked over the table in front of him and laughed wildly, "I thought he had some extraordinary abilities, but he's just a show-off!"

"Pass on my orders!"

Amin shouted at the outside of the tent.

"All banners, fortify your camps! Make Guangning City completely impenetrable! Not even a bird is allowed to fly in!"

"Half a month! I'll wait half a month! When that time comes, I want to see Chu Ze kneeling on the ground, gnawing on his own boots!"

Upon receiving the order, the entire Later Jin camp not only failed to strengthen its defenses, but instead fell into a strange state of relaxation and revelry.

Amin has already started a large banquet in the camp to celebrate the upcoming victory.

He was going to wait, to wait to receive a dead city littered with the corpses of the starving.

……

On the city tower of Guangning, Chu Ze stood facing the wind.

The enemy camp outside the city was completely exposed to their laxity.

Behind him stood all the excited players.

Having gained this valuable strategic buffer period, Chu Ze immediately began his real plan.

With a wave of his hand, the phantom of the Mountain and River Map unfolded once more, and a brand new event announcement, radiating golden light, appeared before all players.

[Version Event: Guangning Survival - 15-Day Extreme Challenge!]

Chu Ze turned around and announced in a deep voice to all the players.

"According to the most reliable intelligence, the Tartars believe we will run out of food in half a month!"

"They're drinking and eating outside the city, waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves!"

"Now, I command you to use these fifteen days to create a miracle!"

His voice was highly inflammatory.

"I want those Tartars to see that in fifteen days, the walls of Guangning will be higher than they are now! Our grain will be more plentiful! Our weapons will be sharper!"

These words instantly ignited the enthusiasm of all players, especially the "lifestyle" players who joined in the second closed beta!

Challenge! Miracle!

This is the essence of the game!

Chu Ze waved his hand again, and a massive number of high-value merit missions, radiating an alluring glow, appeared on the event panel like a waterfall.

[Task Chain: Shennong Project]

[Mission Objective: Within ten days, cultivate all usable land within the city and plant it with potatoes and sweet potatoes! The total merit reward will double for each day completed ahead of schedule!]

[Task Chain: Steel Torrent]

[Mission Objective: Build the first blast furnace using a water-powered bellows! Produce the first batch of qualified molten iron! Participants will receive the exclusive title of 'Steel Pioneer'!]

[Quest Chain: Project Fortress]

[Mission Objective: Raise and reinforce all city walls! Design and construct at least three new defensive structures! The lead designer will receive the unique title of 'Infrastructure Master'!]

"Charge!"

"For the glory of Shennong! Potatoes! My potatoes!" Tian Qianhe was the first to scream as she rushed down the city wall.

"Blast furnace! Steam! Molten iron! My steel army is coming!" Gongshu Ban, as if possessed, dragged Cheng Huaxue and ran towards the workshop.

"Cement! Concrete! No! I'm going to build the General a reinforced concrete turtle shell!" Zhou Keke's eyes lit up.

At this moment, the entire city of Guangning was completely transformed into a huge construction site bustling with activity.

Chu Ze stood on the city wall, looking at the frenzied construction boom inside the city, and then at the relaxed enemy camp outside the city.

A cold smile curved at the corners of his lips.

The game is only just beginning.

He already had a preliminary idea of ​​what kind of "grand gift" he should give to repay Amin's "patience" fifteen days later.