After Ding Feiyong finished speaking, he did not return to the ranks. Straightening, he took something from his sleeve: a long scroll wrapped in bright yellow brocade. He raised it above his head with both hands and bowed. "Your Majesty, please look."
His voice was steady, yet carried a peculiar note. "This is called the All-Under-Heaven Water and Land Metropolises Map."
Silence fell over the hall again.
"I traveled throughout the mountains and rivers, consulted ancient works such as the Water Classic, and studied the geography and waterways of the realm in depth. It took me years to complete this map-not merely to depict their forms, but also their strategic disposition."
He raised his head and looked straight at the Son of Heaven on the imperial throne. "This map marks not only mountains, rivers, and strategic passes, but also traces in cinnabar the vital arteries of transport by land and water throughout the realm... With this map, Your Majesty can hold the world in the palm of your hand."
Emperor Chen's eyes lit up.
"If it were used to plan a campaign against the Eastern Yang Kingdom..."
Ding Feiyong's voice grew increasingly impassioned. "Its capital, Yangzhou, may be wealthy and prosperous, but it depends entirely on Jiangnan's network of waterways. This map marks every tributary, branching channel, and critical point in the tidal cycle in detail.
"Our armies could follow the map, advancing by land and water, striking along multiple routes and securing every junction of its waterways. Even if they had a million men, once divided and surrounded amid those water towns and marshlands, with their supply lines severed and their heads unable to aid their tails, they would swiftly collapse. Yangzhou would fall within days!"
Emperor Chen leaned forward slightly.
"As for the Han Kingdom, its capital, Wuwei