The middle-aged emperor flew into a rage and immediately ordered, "Surround the city tightly! I want every one of these troublesome commoners killed!"
"Anyone who dares threaten my realm, not one of them will be allowed to live!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The emperor then had the curtains drawn, out of sight and out of mind.
The middle-aged Ministry of Revenue Official let out a breath of relief.
Fortunately, those three commoners had interrupted and drawn the emperor's attention away, allowing him to escape death.
When he got home, he would burn incense for those three commoners.
The middle-aged emperor's army of 120,000 then sent out 50,000 men to surround the city on all sides.
The other 70,000 were stationed at different strategic points.
An army could not be stationed all in one place.
First, there were issues with water sources and campsites.
Second, if they were ambushed and chaos broke out, gathering together would trigger a chain reaction of disorder, with no troops available to rescue them.
This was the most basic military common sense.
Though dividing one's forces was a military taboo, armies often had no choice but to divide them. Concentrating them together carried even greater risks.
Looking at the city in the distance, the emperor had no intention of sending anyone to urge surrender. He directly ordered an attack.
Yet to his surprise, the city he had expected to break in one charge made his Capital Garrison suffer greatly.
All kinds of defenses had been set up atop the walls. Golden Broth stank for miles, and traps covered the ground.
They wanted to cut down trees to make siege equipment, but the nearby drylands had long since lost their trees. They had been chopped down for fuel, leaving even the mountains bare.
They could only attack the