Chapter 9: This dung is truly poisonous! A double torture to the mind and body!
Li Yifu’s reaction immediately caught everyone’s attention. The officials were all stunned.
What on earth was in that barrel?
How could opening it hurt Li Yifu?
The next moment, a wave of intensely foul-smelling hot air began to spread. An elderly official with gray hair, who was standing closest to the barrel, started choking and covered his mouth in agony.
“It’s manure…” he exclaimed.
As soon as he said this, everyone around him immediately stepped back, creating a large empty space around the barrels.
The officials all covered their noses and stared in shock at the steaming manure inside the barrels. Many of them began to gag, wishing they could completely empty their stomachs.
Shangguan Wan’er, her face pale, quickly moved closer to Wu Zhao’s carriage, where the stench was less intense.
Wu Zhao’s cold and noble face showed a rare expression of speechlessness.
What on earth is this guy up to?
Yang Yi covered his nose and waved to the workers nearby.
They quickly replaced the lids on the barrels, greatly reducing the stench. Yang Yi looked at the officials who were still gagging and couldn’t help but smile.
These people have such a low tolerance.
After a moment, Li Yifu, clutching his still burning face, roared,
“Yang Yi, is this your brilliant strategy to defend against the Turks? Using a barrel of manure?”
That damned Yang Yi actually forced me to open the lid! The hot fumes from the dung almost blinded me! That kid must have done it on purpose!
The other officials also covered their noses and shook their heads.
“Is this nonsense?” said one.
“How can manure stop the Turks’ cavalry?” questioned another.
“Ah, young people and their wild ideas,” a third remarked.
“I knew he was talking nonsense. Good thing I was standing far away,” added a fourth.
“This is ridiculous. The entire court gathered here to look at manure?” scoffed a fifth.
“Too young and naive,” concluded another.
Yang Yi seemed oblivious to the complaints around him. He smiled slightly, revealing his white teeth.
“That’s right, it’s fertilizer, or more precisely, boiled fertilizer.”
Wu Zhao’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, a hint of contemplation in her eyes.
She noticed Yang Yi’s choice of words—boiled manure? Shangguan Wan’er blinked, her cold gaze turning curious.
Li Yifu, on the other hand, was already furious. This young man had forced him to open the lid and humiliated him! How dare he, the Minister of Finance, be toyed with by this young man?
“Yang Yi, stop talking nonsense. This is a matter of national importance, not a game!” Li Yifu snapped.
Yang Yi met the skeptical eyes of the officials and clapped his hands.
“Minister Li, you misunderstand. When I say this has miraculous effects in defending against the enemy, I mean it. Dung is dirty, but when it is boiled, it becomes scalding hot. When the enemy attacks the city, we can pour this boiling manure from the city walls. The enemy will be scalded and lose their ability to fight.”
As soon as Yang Yi finished speaking, Li Yifu sneered.
“Ridiculous… If you want to scald the enemy, why not just use boiling water? Why go to such lengths? And even if you scald the enemy, what good will it do? It will just burn their skin. Can it kill them?”
The other officials nodded in agreement.
“Yes, what good is just scalding them?” said one.
“Exactly, on the battlefield, a burn is just a minor injury,” added another.
“Indeed, Yang Yi’s idea is too naive,” remarked a third.
Shangguan Wan’er frowned. She felt that things were not as simple as Li Yifu made them out to be.
Yang Yi was no simple person. She glanced at the Empress and noticed that Her Majesty was also deep in thought, seemingly pondering the purpose of Yang Yi’s actions.
Yang Yi, unfazed by the skepticism, smiled.
“Minister Li, you are mistaken. This is not just about scalding. This substance can kill!”
The scene fell silent. Many people looked at Yang Yi in confusion.
Li Yifu continued to sneer, thinking that Yang Yi was just being stubborn.
At that moment, the cold voice of the Empress rang out.
“Yang Yi, what do you mean?”
With a serious expression, Yang Yi held out his hands to the Empress.
“Your Majesty, as we all know, dung is a dirty substance. I had it mixed with oil and boiled over a fierce fire, resulting in an extremely high temperature. When it comes in contact with a person, it can immediately scald the skin. But the real effect begins after the scalding. The filth in the fertilizer enters the body through the burns, causing the wounds to fester, leading to severe illness and eventually death.”
It was essentially a biological weapon.
Given the medical conditions on the battlefield, even the imperial doctors might have trouble saving lives. However, since the ancients didn’t understand bacteria, Yang Yi could only explain it based on observable effects.
His words shocked everyone.
“Can it really be used like that?” one official wondered aloud.
“Is it true or false?” asked another.
“Does manure really have such miraculous effects?” another questioned.
“Can manure really cause serious illness? Is it poisonous?” yet another queried.
Shangguan Wan’er’s eyes widened in surprise. She couldn’t believe that such a method existed.
If what Yang Yi said was true, then this strategy was indeed extremely ruthless. Wu Zhao was stunned, her heart filled with shock. If Yang Yi’s claims were true, this could indeed become a powerful tool for defending the city.
Li Yifu’s face turned dark. He said coldly, “Yang Yi, these are just your words. Do you have any proof?”
He couldn’t believe it. He had lived longer and experienced more than Yang Yi. He had heard of people drowning in dung, but he had never heard of dung being poisonous enough to kill. All eyes were on Yang Yi.
“Of course I have proof. Yesterday, I went to the prison and poured boiling manure on a death row inmate. Today, he is already on the verge of death…”
After Yang Yi finished speaking, he clapped his hands, and several soldiers brought in a prisoner dressed in rags, his body covered with severe burns and festering wounds.
The officials took one look and instinctively stepped back. The sight was horrifying. The prisoner’s skin was so badly damaged that it was hard to tell that he was still alive, except for the faint rise and fall of his chest.
Yang Yi then addressed the Empress,
“Your Majesty, please call the Imperial Doctors to examine this man.”
Wu Zhao nodded slightly. Shangguan Wan’er quickly gave the order.
Moments later, an elderly Imperial Doctor with white hair approached and bowed to the Empress.
“Greetings, Your Majesty!”
Wu Zhao nodded and said, “Examine this man. Can he be saved?”
The Imperial Doctor nodded respectfully and proceeded to examine the prisoner. Everyone held their breath, watching the doctor intently.
After a moment, the doctor stood up and shook his head.
“This man’s wounds are festering, apparently caused by a scalding substance. Despite the application of external medicine, it has been ineffective. His pulse is irregular, indicating that he has contracted a serious illness. My limited knowledge prevents me from determining the exact cause of his grave condition, but it is unlikely that he will survive more than a few days…”
The officials gasped in unison, their faces filled with shock as they looked at Yang Yi.
If even the Imperial Doctor couldn’t diagnose it immediately, how could the battlefield doctors with their limited resources manage?
Being splashed with this boiling manure was essentially a death sentence!
Suddenly, the officials’ glances at the barrels turned from contempt to fear. This fertilizer was truly deadly.
Li Yifu’s face turned from green to red and finally to a pale white.
He had never expected that the boiling fertilizer could actually be deadly to the enemy!
Li Yifu felt a wave of humiliation wash over him.
That kid wasn’t talking nonsense.
He reflected bitterly on how Yang Yi had manipulated him into lifting the lid and getting a whiff of the hot, foul air. Panic began to set in.
As he contemplated the possibility, Li Yifu began to shake uncontrollably, feeling uncomfortable all over.
Shangguan Wan’er’s usually cold eyes were now filled with shock.
The fecal juice really does have a miraculous effect!
Wu Zhao clenched her fists, her face a mask of astonishment.
This stuff can really kill!
Her mind raced. If this was true, then the Turks would indeed suffer greatly when faced with the defensive stance of Great Zhou. No wonder Yang Yi had been so confident about making the Turks suffer.
The entire gathering fell into an uneasy silence. Everyone stared at Yang Yi with expressions of disbelief.
Yang Yi met their astonished gazes with a calm, slight smile. “This fecal juice not only kills invisibly but also causes the body to fester in its final stages, making one appear like a ghoul, dying in pain and struggle.”
He continued, “Under the torment of this disease, they may even beg their former comrades to end their lives. Moreover, the filthy and stinking feces cause immense mental anguish and humiliation.”
“Soldiers hope to die honourably in battle, but if their bodies are covered in fecal juice, they will die in despair, their dignity stripped away!”
“This substance not only takes lives but also intimidates the enemy, making them tremble in fear!”
The gravity of Yang Yi’s words hit everyone like a physical blow. The strategy was not only vicious but also exceedingly treacherous. The officials were left in stunned silence.
No, you’re a top scholar, not a living Yama.
The strategy was undeniably cruel, a dark testament to Yang Yi’s ruthlessness.