Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chapter 569 Triumphant Song
Longxi County.

The seat of the Qiang ethnic group’s Shaodang tribe.

General Gan Ning, the auxiliary Han general, rode on a horse with hair as white as black silk, its hooves as big as basins, and its tail sweeping the remaining clouds. His face showed the solemnity and awe required of a general, and his eyes were hesitant, scanning the ending of the current battle.

In March of this year, Gan Ning was ordered by the King of Qin to be the commander-in-chief of the expedition against the Shaodang tribe in Longxi County. He did not dare to slack off for a moment. He led his elite soldiers from Chang'an to Longxi.

After arriving in Longxi, Gan Ning took no time to rest and launched a fierce attack on the Shaodang tribe. After just one battle, the Shaodang tribe, a long-standing tribe in Longxi County, was destroyed.

At that moment, when Gan Ning's eyes wandered, the half-man-high wheels of the cart caught his eye. He immediately had an idea and pointed at the wheels.

"Ajiu, Shisan, according to the wheel of this cart, any man taller than the wheel will be killed, and those shorter than the wheel will be sold as slaves."

"Yes." Upon hearing the order, Gan Jiu and Gan Shisan immediately bowed and responded.

Then Gan Jiu ordered the soldiers to let the captives of Shaodang's unit pass under the wheels of the baggage cart one by one. Those who were taller than the wheels would be placed in one team, and those who were shorter than the wheels would be placed in another team.

After the animals were clearly classified, Gan Jiu led his soldiers to detain those who were taller than the wheels and left, while those who were shorter than the wheels were continued to be guarded by Gan Shisan's troops.

Gan Shisan glanced at the trembling Qiang women and children, and asked Gan Ning in confusion: "Captain Qu, the barbarians are beasts. Kill all the big beasts. Why keep these small beasts? It would be more satisfying to kill them all at once."

Listening to Gan Shisan's anti-human speech, Gan Ning did not criticize or scold Gan Shisan. He just replied in boredom: "If it is up to me, then women and children should be killed together. It will be a clean slate and both you and I will be happy."

At this point, Gan Ning looked a little helpless. "Before the expedition, the king told me that the strong men of the Qiang tribe can be killed, but the women and children cannot be killed. These women and children should be kept as slaves to atone for the crime of burning the tribe."

"Your Majesty is so kind." The confusion on Gan Shisan's face suddenly disappeared. Since it was Liu Zhang's order, he had no intention of disobeying it and could only obey.

At the same time, Gan Shisan was impressed by Liu Zhang's character. He spared the lives of the women and children of the tribe and only made them slaves. In his eyes, it was indeed a benevolent act that could not be more benevolent.

Although for the women and children of the Shaodang tribe, death might be easier than being slaves, the opinions of the women and children of the Shaodang tribe were not important. What was important was how Gan Shisan viewed it.

"Yes, the king is as benevolent as the sky, and his virtue benefits all directions." Gan Ning sighed. He agreed with Gan Shisan's opinion.

After saying this, Gan Ning moved his horse and prepared to leave the battlefield that was almost cleaned up. "The battle has been decided. The next step is to report the victory to the king. This way, the king will stop thinking about Longxi County sooner."

Since following Liu Zhang in the first year of Xingping, Gan Ning, who has been extremely grateful to Liu Zhang, has always been most concerned about solving the issues that Liu Zhang is worried about. This will give him a sense of accomplishment and make him feel that he has been able to repay Liu Zhang's kindness.

The good news, posted on an urgent letterhead, was delivered to Chang'an at the speed of a galloping horse within a few days. It passed through the hands of the chief clerk Xun You and finally landed on Liu Zhang's desk.

"Good job, very spirited." This was Liu Zhang's first words after reading the victory report.

Liu Zhang had no doubts about whether Gan Ning could defeat Shaodang's tribe. After all, with the bravery of Gan Ning's troops, Shaodang's tribe would be destroyed unless they were blessed by the gods.

However, Gan Ning was able to defeat Ding Shao's army in a few months, completing this task quickly and elegantly. Liu Zhang couldn't help but boast a little, and was pleased and happy that Gan Ning could sweep Ding Shao's army so quickly and fiercely. "Xun Qing, according to the victory report, you go down and draw up a list of rewards. When Xingba returns triumphantly, I will reward the meritorious officials in this battle." Liu Zhang instructed Xun You. He would naturally find helpers for such details, and he would do the final review.

"Yes." Xun You responded respectfully.

After this battle, the Shaodang tribe was removed from Liangzhou, and the large Qiang tribes in Liangzhou disappeared from the stage of history. What remained were only the small Qiang tribes with a few thousand people, whose every move was closely monitored by spies planted by Liu Zhang and the caravans coming and going.

From now on, Liangzhou can be a little more stable. The Qiang tribe will no longer rebel from time to time as in the past, causing the prefectures and counties to be harmed by them and the people to suffer from war.

Good days have arrived for the people of Liangzhou.

Liu Zhang no longer had to pay attention to Liangzhou all the time and worry about the rebellion of the Qiang tribe. When there was a storm in Liangzhou, he could focus more on the Guandong region and head east to fight for the world.

The time came to May of the fifth year of Jian'an.

As the saying goes, farmers have few idle months and people are doubly busy in May. The wheat in Guanzhong turned from green to yellow after a night of south wind, which means the wheat is ripe and time to harvest.

'It's time to harvest.'

'It's time to harvest.'

Loud calls echoed across the Guanzhong land. The people who were harvesting wheat looked at the drooping wheat ears, each with a smile on their face. The drooping and full wheat ears meant that they could have a full meal this year.

This is all thanks to the King of Qin! Even the illiterate people know that the reason they can have such a good life is due to the merits of King Qin Liu Zhang.

It was the King of Qin who swept away Li Jue and Guo Si and brought peace to the people of Guanzhong.

It was the King of Qin who ordered people to dredge the ditches in the fields and build water conservancy facilities, so that the land would be free from floods and droughts and no longer had to act at the mercy of God.

It was the King of Qin who reduced taxes and levies, gave the people a rest, and gave the people of Guanzhong a chance to breathe and survive.

With gratitude to the King of Qin, the first stone of wheat harvested from all over Guanzhong was sent to the King of Qin's Palace in Chang'an.

"Your Majesty, the people's hearts are with me." Prime Minister Wang Shang smiled and pointed to the baskets of wheat in the courtyard and said to Liu Zhang. As a typical Confucian scholar, Wang Shang attached great importance to the people's hearts, and therefore, this "the people's hearts are with me" was a sincere admiration and respect for Liu Zhang.

"Yeah." Liu Zhang also had a smile on his face. On the one hand, he was happy that he had such a high prestige in the eyes of the people in Guanzhong. On the other hand, he was happy that this year was a good year. A good year meant that there were enough food and supplies to support his ambition to conquer all directions.

Liu Zhang, who had been hiding his minions and resting with the people for two years, had not made any major moves in the past two years. He only captured Hedong County and defended Hedong against Yuan Shao's invasion. When Yuan Shao retreated, he did not take any decent counterattack measures.

Liu Zhang did all this just to wait until today. He had accumulated a lot in order to make a big splash, and now was the time to make a big splash.

(End of this chapter)