[Overhead + Struggle for Hegemony + Powerful Ministers]
In the seventh year of Jinglong's reign, there was heavy snowfall in Jicheng.
Twenty-one-year-old Shen Mou stood at the top of the city with only 10,000 border troops and less than two months of food and grass.
The court's transfer orders are on the desk, Beidi's cavalry is outside the fortress, and Tian Chong's 30,000 troops are in the south.
Everyone thought he wouldn't make it through the winter.
He said to Zhao Meng: "Fight for the people."
Zhao Meng asked him: "General, what do you want?"
Shen Mou did not answer.
He just looked to the north, where there were grasslands, cities, and a distant place that he didn't know yet whether he could reach.
Many years later, someone asked why the epitaph of this "first wise king throughout the ages" only had seven words.
The gravekeeper said:
"Because when he was alive, he only accomplished these seven words."
"As for what he actually accomplished—you have to start reading about that winter."
