fifth form

Chapter 3366 The Long-Awaited Revenge
A thousand miles away, a cavalry regiment of ten thousand men was annihilated, and cheers echoed for miles inside Yanmen Pass.

War is so magical; good and evil coexist without conflict.

Without the victory at Longcheng, the ancestral homeland, the various armies of the Han Dynasty would have been forced to defend their fortresses in the face of the annihilation of Li Guang's cavalry regiments.

But this localized, small-scale war changed everything.

In particular, Wei Qing and his troops, with only eight hundred men, easily captured a key location in the Xiong Kingdom.

When Wei Qing stood on the high platform and recounted the rewards as instructed by the new emperor, the soldiers and officers of the Xiliu Camp and Qiangbing Camp, who had been waiting in Yanmen Pass for many years, exclaimed in waves.

Many officials at Yanmen Pass toiled their entire lives, yet their achievements paled in comparison to the victory won by these eight hundred men in a single battle.

Cheng Bushi and Li Guang guarded the frontier for decades, but their military achievements were few and far between, making it difficult for them to be ennobled. Wei Qing, on the other hand, was very likely to be ennobled in a single battle.

This contrast made it difficult for Cheng Bushi, who was sitting on the high platform, to remain seated. He whispered to someone that he wished he could be born thirty years later.

"The effect is quite good!"

Standing on one side of the city wall, Zhang Xuezhou glanced at the new emperor who was clutching his chest.

"Don't talk!"

Every time Wei Qing loudly proclaimed the reward, the new emperor felt a pang of pain in his heart.

The ten-year tax exemption for the soldiers' families and monetary rewards were just the tip of the iceberg. What truly pained the new emperor was that the value of what he had gained from the Dragon City ancestral land was still unknown. He was already giving rewards based on the approximate estimated value, with many of the rewards involving cultivation pills and cultivation manuals.

These rewards are real funds that the imperial court needs to provide, but whether the rewards obtained from the ancestral land of Longcheng can be converted is unknown.

It is irrational to bestow rewards without understanding the gains of war, but in the face of emotions, nothing else matters.

The reason the new emperor was able to stand firm was simply because he saw too many passionate faces.

Every face screaming at the top of its lungs is a reward for this gesture.

This is the first victory. Once the rewards for war are confirmed, corresponding rules can be established in the future.

With short-term emotional stimuli and the distribution of long-term interests at stake, the new emperor's mind was indeed very complex.

He felt a mix of anxiety and uncertainty, unsure how to respond to Zhang Xuezhou's teasing.

In short, only the future can prove the outcome; at present, he lacks the answer.

“If you’re so worried about losing just one ancestral land, what will happen to the Xiong Kingdom’s five ancestral lands and three holy lands? Won’t you be full of complaints then?” Zhang Xuezhou reminded him.

"I have no gains or losses. What gains or losses could I possibly have? I'm not short of money, I don't lack cultivation resources, and I certainly don't lack cultivation techniques and secret manuals. I..."

"You must be far inferior to be so concerned!"

The new emperor repeatedly denied it, but when Zhang Xuezhou made a sarcastic remark, he felt he had swallowed all his words.

He personally lacked nothing; the top power of the Han Dynasty was enough to grant him the best treatment. However, whenever the new emperor wanted to cultivate talent, he became penniless.

He lacked too much, and he faced too many opponents. Without a million elite soldiers and dozens or even hundreds of good generals, this deficiency would always exist, and the new emperor would always feel that he had too little.

"Do you know any way to get rich quickly?" The new emperor finally sighed and said, "I really want to get rich!"

"Selling animal hides can make you rich quick, so why don't we try selling a different kind of hide next time?"

"This won't do. I don't know which bastard is targeting me, but a lot of White Deer coins have appeared on the market. It's impossible to tell the real ones from the fakes. Even I'm confused. I can't do this business twice!" "Let Master Yan think of a solution. He has a lot of clever ideas!"

"I'll go back to Chang'an and ask him again!"

After chatting with Zhang Xuezhou for a while, the new emperor felt that his sense of gain and loss had subsided considerably.

His gaze quickly shifted, no longer fixed on the treasures hidden in the ancestral land of Dragon City, but instead turned to other secret locations in the Fiend Kingdom, as well as the alternatives within the Great Han territory.

Wealth and resources do indeed need to be distributed more securely, so that the poor do not die of poverty and the rich do not die of wealth. The imperial court, in particular, needs to increase its revenue significantly so that it can reward people with real money.

This is a game of chess, not just a war or a reward, nor is it about cultivating a few confidants.

Only when the Han Dynasty truly achieved a strong military, a prosperous nation, and a peaceful people could it stand at the pinnacle of victory.

The new emperor needs to promote development from a strategic perspective so that those who make contributions can be rewarded and everyone can strive for advancement.

"Little Lamb seems to be doing quite well at the border trade market!"

Zhang Xuezhou kept pulling the new emperor's mind at ease, and he eventually put his mind at ease. He stopped paying attention to the extraordinary reward and stopped thinking too much about how to reward according to the old rules in the future in order to appease the excessively high expectations of the soldiers.

As long as the imperial court is wealthy enough, even if the Han army does not seize any property during the war, the court can still provide normal rewards.

This requires the imperial court to accumulate enough wealth, and how to acquire wealth has become a pressing issue. He must solve this problem, rather than waiting until the future when he is unable to offer rewards.

"Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute, I remember there's something very important!"

After chatting idly with Zhang Xuezhou for a while, the new emperor's thoughts returned to normal, and he finally remembered something very important.

"It's one thing for us to have lost the battle, but this victory is destined to be met with retaliation. Do you think the Daoist Lord might use incantations, or perhaps he will come to Chang'an City in person?"

The Han Dynasty took the initiative to attack, no longer defending itself as it had in the past. Being defeated and destroyed was one thing, but winning would undoubtedly trigger retaliation.

Although it appears that a 10,000-strong cavalry regiment of the Han Dynasty was wiped out, the ancestral land of Longcheng was of extremely high importance.

Even disregarding the treasure hidden by Chanyu Junchen in the secret place, those who could enter the secret place must be young elites from various tribes, belonging to the direct line of the Xiong Kingdom's nobles. The capture or killing of these people would almost have a generational gap, which would inevitably cause turmoil among the Xiong Kingdom's high-ranking officials.

One side sacrificed ordinary soldiers and cavalry, while the other side sacrificed noble descendants. Although the number of casualties on both sides seemed disproportionate, many people believed that the latter would suffer greater losses.

The new emperor, having calmed down, had to consider the consequences, and he had been waiting for this revenge for far too long.

"How is Nanminghuo's cultivation going?"

"Currently, 244 Confucian scholars have successfully completed their cultivation and have been assigned to guard the vicinity of the Prime Minister's residence. Twelve imperial historians are conducting continuous Yang Soul patrols of the Prime Minister's residence, and will report and warn anyone who discovers any issues!"

"Looks like we can give it a shot!"

The new emperor dealt with Daojun using both soft and hard tactics.

If the Dao Lord comes in his true form, then he will be greeted with a rain of arrows, and he himself will also launch an aggressive attack.

If Daojun comes in his Yang Soul form, these Confucian scholars skilled in Nanming Fire will become ticking time bombs. Casting a wide net may eventually catch some fish. As long as Nanming Fire touches Daojun's Yang Soul form, it might give Daojun an unforgettable lesson.

The battle of Longcheng could very well provoke Daojun to retaliate, which would also be an opportunity for the Han Dynasty to kill Daojun.

The new emperor pondered the matter, and once he calmed down, he felt a surge of urgency to return to Chang'an to see if he could wait for the Daoist Lord to arrive.