As long as the issue of nocking the eight-bull crossbow could be resolved, it seemed that there was no need to be overly fearful of this kind of trebuchet.
Compared to the speed of these craftsmen, the progress on the blacksmith's side was not as smooth.
However, Han Mo understood that such things were not achieved overnight. Fortunately, the soldiers on the city walls had performed commendably so far.
"My Lord! Pu Kaishan has escaped..."
"What did you say?"
Hearing this news, Han Mo's face immediately turned grim.
The rebel army was now outside the city. Given the Pu family's influence in Mingzhou, letting Pu Kaishan escape was essentially a ticking time bomb!
"Your subordinate only discovered that the person had been switched when I went for an inspection just now..."
Seeing the killing intent on Han Mo's face, Li Yueyang's voice became even smaller.
"What were those jailers eating? Guards, hold my token and throw all the jailers into the Death Camp!"
Under Han Mo's fierce gaze, Li Yueyang shivered all over and involuntarily lowered his head.
Even though he was the Spider, at this moment, standing in front of Han Mo, he didn't even have the courage to speak loudly.
"My Lord, rest assured, I have already sent people to search for him comprehensively..."
"Search the entire city? Lord Li, are you joking with me?"
Han Mo was almost amused to anger by this fellow. The entire military and civilian population of Mingzhou City, totaling nearly 400,000 people, were currently here.
Moreover, a large number of them could only set up temporary shelters on the streets at this time.
Under these circumstances, what use would a city-wide search be!
"Lord Li, I'll give you one last task. I don't care what method you use to gather manpower, but from now on, you must guard the city's granaries. If there is any mishap with the granaries, you will go on the road with your nine generations of relatives!"
Han Mo, in his fury, was already on the verge of losing control. If it weren't for the last shred of rationality he had, he would have really wanted to chop Li Yueyang to death right then and there.
"Yes!"
Hearing Han Mo's words, Li Yueyang felt as if he had been granted a great pardon. He responded and quickly turned to leave.
After Li Yueyang left, Han Mo sat down on the ground with a pained expression.
His mind began to quickly calculate various possible situations and countermeasures.
With the army besieging the city, the city's grain supply was beginning to become tight at this time.
If there was an issue with the granaries at this time, it would be extremely difficult to hold Mingzhou City.
Han Mo could foresee this, and the Pu family must be able to as well.
Having been tricked by Han Mo in such a manner, if the Pu family wanted revenge, wouldn't this be their best opportunity?
"My Lord is just a small merchant. Even if he escapes, can he really dare to do anything that angers heaven and people?"
Seeing Han Mo's distressed appearance, Jiang Yan quickly tried to console him in a low voice.
"You still haven't understood. With their Pu family's influence, if they didn't harbor intentions of revenge, would he have to break out of prison at this time? You don't actually think that the mighty Pu family doesn't even have the ability to get someone out of prison, do you?"
Although Han Mo wanted to believe what Jiang Yan said, his reason told him that this was simply impossible.
"You mean, he might gather people to seek revenge?"
Hearing Han Mo's words, Jiang Yan quickly asked in a low voice.
"It's not possible, it's certain! It's just that I haven't figured out how they will retaliate..."
The simplest way, of course, would be to set fire to the city. To ensure the safety of the grain, Han Mo and his men had already dispatched nearly 1,000 able-bodied men to guard the granaries.
Theoretically, as long as they themselves didn't make any mistakes, Pu Kaishan and his group would have no opportunity. However, even with a one-in-ten-thousand chance, Han Mo dared not be negligent, after all, he couldn't afford to lose.
"You go to the Mingzhou Prefecture Office for me now. They should have a blueprint of the entire Mingzhou City..."
After a moment of hesitation, Han Mo suddenly spoke.
"Yes!"
Although he didn't know Han Mo's intention for doing so, Jiang Yan quickly responded, directly turned to get a horse, and headed straight for the Prefectural Office.
Half an hour later, amidst Han Mo's anxiety, Jiang Yan finally brought back the blueprint.
"Open it!"
Returning to his tent, Han Mo then ordered the enormous blueprint to be fully unfolded.
As the blueprint was opened, the entire Mingzhou City seemed to shrink onto this map.
And Han Mo, barefoot, walked back and forth on the map.
However, as he walked, Han Mo suddenly stopped.
Jiang Yan, who was serving nearby, handed over the lantern he was holding.
"My Lord, is something wrong?"
Seeing Han Mo suddenly crouch over the map, Jiang Yan asked with some confusion.
"When you went to get this, was there any dust on the seal outside?"
Han Mo asked casually while examining the map.
"It seemed to have some, but..."
Reminded by Han Mo, Jiang Yan seemed to have discovered the problem.
"But what?"
Seeing his thoughtful expression, Han Mo's heart stirred.
"The dust on it seemed to have been deliberately sprinkled..."
Jiang Yan scratched his head and said somewhat uncertainly.
"Take a few soldiers, find all the clerks, grain officers, and storekeepers responsible for the maps. Tell them that there are some annotations on the map that are not detailed enough and need their on-site explanation!"
After careful consideration, Han Mo suddenly made up his mind.
"Yes!"
"My Lord, have you found something?"
Seeing Han Mo so nervous, Shao Bowen suddenly asked.
"Teacher, look here..."
Han Mo spoke while pointing to a corner of the map.
Following the direction of Han Mo's finger and after a careful look, Shao Bowen finally discovered the problem.
On the blueprint, on the city wall icon near the water gate of Mingzhou, there was indeed a fingernail-sized area where the ink was significantly darker, and if observed closely, the ink seemed to have a faint feather-like pattern.
"Is this someone copying it, and the ink seeped through the seam of the Xuan paper?"
Shao Bowen himself was an expert in calligraphy and painting, so he was naturally familiar with such a situation.
After all, in this era, maps were true controlled resources.
This was not something one could casually buy with a little money. Especially a blueprint of the entire city. To copy it privately without official permission was a crime punishable by exile to three thousand miles!