There was silence in the Taixi camp, with only the sound of Joseph's heavy breathing echoing in the tent.
"How powerful is the crossbow?"
General Schloter, the general of the Thai-Western Army, asked calmly, with an uncontrollable tremor in his tone.
The crossbow is a powerful weapon in national warfare, but it is also a killing weapon.
As far as he knew, there were six types of strong crossbows developed by the Taixi Academy of Sciences. The weakest one was the one that destroyed Jiameng Pass with one blow, and the most powerful one was the recently improved Strong Crossbow Type 6.
With one blow, everything within a radius of thirteen miles can be destroyed without leaving an inch of land.
The messenger raised his head and his voice was hoarse:
"According to the spies, the crossbow was so powerful that all the camps within five miles of the camp where the Xiaolun Gongbu clan chief was located were wiped out."
Joseph didn't know how he got out of the general's camp.
Walking in the camp with one foot deep and one foot shallow, Joseph felt that there was no light in front of his eyes.
There seemed to be mocking eyes all around, mocking him for speaking out loudly, contacting the barbarians, wanting to destroy the small wheel of Gongbu, and clearing away Han's power among the barbarians in one fell swoop.
Returning to his tent, Joseph collapsed immediately, his face turned pale, and he walked around the tent uneasily.
It's all my fault. Once the scar heals, I forget the pain in the past.
How could he have swore in his heart when the crossbow was approaching? Now, even if he is surrounded by a large army, can he treat the Han army as if it were nothing?
Thinking like this, Joseph became even more scared.
"Sir, someone wants to see you."
The guard's announcement sounded at the door.
Joseph wiped his face with his sleeve, suppressed the trembling in his chest and said:
"please come in."
After a while, the curtain was opened, and a man wearing a felt hat got into the tent.
"General Pingqi!"
Joseph looked at the people in front of him and was so shocked that he was almost speechless.
Who is Ping Qi? The southern governor of the Dingxiang Guards of the Han Kingdom, the commander in charge of intelligence and spying affairs, the king of the Han Kingdom in the dark night, and the most loyal and fierce minion of Prince An Guo.
When he came to see him, the Han army had already detected his betrayal.
Thinking of this, beads of sweat broke out on Joseph's forehead. He felt that although he was in the camp, his own safety was completely under the control of others.
He patted Joseph on the shoulder and said with a smile:
"Joseph, my friend from Han, sit down."
"Can I still call you my friend of Han now?"
Ping Qi sneered and looked at Joseph with a mocking smile on his face.
When he received the news from the prince, he was reading the intelligence from the Western Region. Joseph colluded with the barbarians everywhere in an attempt to integrate the divided barbarian tribes and destroy the small Lun Gongbu group that relied on the Han Dynasty.
The Ordnance Department selected the barbarian tribe as the testing center for the new type of crossbow, and prepared to use the powerful crossbow to kill all the barbarian elders, including the barbarian patriarch, and completely eradicate the largest barbarian force that was full of evil.
Wang Fang, the deputy general of Jiamengguan, took bribes and violated the law. He confiscated the stolen goods and did not turn them over, but distributed them to his generals.
Lieutenant Qingfeng of the Flying Bird Division of the Ordnance Mansion made sarcastic comments to General Wang, and he had the potential to deceive his master.
Ping Qi suddenly thought of a way to completely conquer Joseph. Although the choice of the Ordnance Mansion to defeat the barbarians was unintentional, it just created a good opportunity for himself. He rode a wooden wheel cart on the stone track line for several days and finally arrived at the right time.
Taixi camp.
He sat down in the tent and looked at Joseph with a friendly expression:
"Sit down, Joseph, we are old friends. I have received a lot of help from you in the past, but I never had the chance to thank you. This time, while you were causing trouble, I brought the crossbow over."
"Come, let's test-fire our new Han Dynasty crossbow to see how powerful it is."
"Furthermore, I just want to remind you Joseph, since you are our internal correspondent of the Han Kingdom, don't think of making any more troubles, otherwise don't blame the Han Kingdom for not talking about the past."
"thump"
Joseph knelt on the ground.
Ever since his encounter with the crossbow that day, Joseph was extremely afraid of death, otherwise he would not have been coerced by the Han army to deliver intelligence to Dingxiang Guards.
Now that he heard Ping Qi's words and those thoughts were confirmed, Joseph immediately collapsed, with runny nose and tears.
"Sir, spare my life, I did not intend to betray you."
"My lord, please forgive me this time. I will be absolutely loyal and serve the prince and your lord with the same intention."
Ping Qi scolded Joseph a few words, then helped him up and said pleasantly:
"This time it didn't have much impact on our country of Han. Let's leave it at that. If you are really allowed to destroy Xiaolun Gongbu, a barbarian of great use to our country of Han, let's see how I deal with you."
Joseph waved his hands hurriedly:
"Don't worry, sir, this kind of thing will never happen again in the future."
"By the way, sir, I have a message here, have you received it?"
Joseph said suddenly, with a flattering expression on his face.
Ping Qi's face turned cold, and he scolded Joseph and said:
"Don't think that this matter is over. Let me tell you the truth, death penalty can be avoided, but living crime cannot be forgiven."
"Starting from today, you are limited to one year to cooperate with me in Ding Xiangwei and develop several Thai and Western officials to become our internal intelligence in Han Dynasty."
Joseph's face immediately turned bitter when he heard this. If this was the case, it would be really difficult to handle.
Ping Qi continued:
"Don't worry, I won't put you in trouble. I will cooperate with you and choose the most suitable person to take action at the most appropriate time."
Joseph felt relieved and said flatteringly:
"Your Excellency has no plans left, so the general can rest assured. However, I know that this news is extremely important."
Ping Qi was slightly confused. Joseph said it was extremely important news. Could it be that the Taixi people were up to something else?
"tell me the story."
Joseph lowered his voice and said:
"I came across this secretly. General Schlott recently received a letter from the Secretary of War, mentioning that the Mali people have settled the domestic disputes and are about to send their troops eastward. Their first goal is to defeat the enemy in special situations.
Jin here, take a share of the pie."
Ping Qi's face straightened when he heard this, he stood up, walked a few steps inside the tent, and asked:
"How does this quick guy's strength compare to yours, Taixi?"
"Only strong, not weak."
Joseph said it carefully, with some doubts in his tone:
"I don't know why it is strong or not. It's just that General Schlott said that this agile man attaches great importance to research. He has a lot of research on flying birds, warships, ballistas, and powerful crossbows. I, Taixi, am not an Intelligent at sea.
The opponent is not the opponent of Mali Ren."
"On land, I, Taixi, am not your country's opponent, but I don't take the Yingte people seriously yet, but the Mali people's army can completely suppress our Taixi army."
Ping Qi's face became more solemn when he heard this, and he ordered:
"Okay, this news is very important. I will go back and inform the prince of this news."
As he said that, he put down a money bag and turned around to walk out of the camp.
Joseph held the money bag in his hand, a smile appeared on his face, and he suddenly said:
"Commander Commander, I have another piece of news, also about the Mali people."
"The Mali people got my Taixi credentials from somewhere, and they know that the origin of this special gold is in the western border of your country. For these special gold, the Mali people want to intervene in the battlefield between your country and the Tang Dynasty."
"If possible, please ask the commander-in-chief Jinyan to end the war in Tang as soon as possible."
"It would not be good for your country if you give people like Muri an excuse to intervene."