Chinese New Year

Chapter 1496 Reception and Battle Report

On the day of Laba Festival, a grand exorcism and plague-expelling performance was held in the Bianliang Palace.

Murong Ren's son, Murong Zheng, bypassed the crowd and, guided by the palace servants, arrived at the edge of the desert.

An old man sat by the lake, wearing a large black fur coat, quietly watching the opposite shore.

A group of fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boys, clad in armor and wielding weapons, stood guard beside the old man, watching him intently.

Murong Zheng lowered his head slightly, took two steps forward and bowed, saying in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty."

The old man didn't speak, but simply stroked the memorial in his hand.

Murong Zheng didn't know what to say, but he felt he had to say something. His mind was a little confused for a moment, and he blurted out, "Please Your Majesty issue an edict to withdraw the troops."

The old man seemed completely unaffected by him. After putting down the memorial, he looked at the blue sky and white clouds and said leisurely, "When I first came to the grasslands, many insulted me, slandered me, and refused to submit to me. Later, I cut out the tongues of some people, piled up mounds of skulls of others, and had wives and daughters serve me at my bedside."

At this point, he turned to look at Murong Zheng, as if he were looking at an object.

"The younger generation is truly formidable, unafraid of death, how magnificent!" The old man stood up, walked to Murong Zheng, and quietly looked at him.

Murong Zheng was considered a brave and valiant man on the grasslands, and he had never backed down, but now he felt an immense crisis.

He suddenly realized that he wasn't actually that brave, and that others weren't really afraid of him, but rather of his status and power.

But today he encountered the most powerful person in the world, and suddenly felt short of breath.

The seemingly old man before them gave a single command, and heroes from all directions followed, piling up and killing them.

At the end of September, Murong Han, who was a brother, took the lead and charged ahead, showing the heroic spirit of the number one general under Murong Hui. He defeated them in two consecutive battles, greatly weakening his own side's edge.

The governor of Xuantu, Liu Pei, had a fairly good relationship with the city. However, at the critical moment, he closed the city gates and killed all the envoys who came to persuade him to surrender, hanging their heads on the gate tower.

Three thousand armored cavalry from Liaodong arrived at the city of Xiangping, defeated the southward-bound detachment, and suppressed a riot.

Although the Goguryeo soldiers were a bit cunning, they were still a real threat—since they were on high ground overlooking Xuantu, you had to send troops to keep an eye on them just in case.
The pre-battle plan was excellent: first, defeat one force, turning the Liang Dynasty's so-called pacification army into a rebel army and causing them to revolt. The problem was that the first force was defeated, surprisingly by Murong Han with fewer troops.

Without a doubt, Murong Ren and his son privately cursed Murong Han so badly that his ancestral graves almost collapsed—well, not really, since they shared the same ancestor.

In short, Murong Ren truly hated Murong Han. After the initial defeat, the previously sluggish pack of wolves became much more ruthless, for Murong Ren had shown them their weakness.

Before Murong Zheng left, his father had already led his men into Gaoxian County and put up a stubborn resistance, but he didn't know how things were going now, and he guessed that things weren't looking too good.

So he came to this place and begged to surrender.

Li Chong was unwilling to accept the surrender, but for various reasons, he still sent someone to Bianliang to hand over Murong Zheng to the emperor for disposal.

Of course, the offensive at the front lines did not stop.

Shao Xun vaguely guessed Li Chong's thoughts and sighed inwardly at how a martial artist could have such a sensitive and delicate mind.

After meeting Murong Zheng today, I didn't really like him. The war was progressing much faster than the most conservative Pingzhang Zhengshi in the Zhengshi Hall had predicted, and it was simply overwhelming. This was also beyond the expectations of the Murong family father and son. They did not expect that the morale of their forces, which they had built up over many years, would be so low, even worse than when they fought against Murong Huang.

"Go back now and tell your father." Shao Xun kicked Murong Zheng like a stray dog, and said, "Surrender and you may be spared. If you resist to the end, your whole family will be executed."

Murong Zheng rolled on the ground, then got up and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "This sinful subject obeys."

The boys standing behind Shao Xun all looked at him with disdain.

He's a strong, muscular man, how can he be so servile? If it were him, he wouldn't do it even if it meant death.

Shao Xun turned around, not even glancing at Murong Zheng, and waved for him to get lost.

Murong Ren's tens of thousands of troops had already been defeated and scattered, with countless people surrendering on the spot.

Without a doubt, these people will no longer be able to stay in the area. They will be completely disbanded from their tribes and clans and migrated elsewhere—many of them will be able to benefit from this and receive a share of the population.

As for Murong Ren, Murong Zheng and his son, Shao Xun didn't mention them earlier, but their fate was already sealed: they were exiled to Zhuyai County (Hainan), a newly established county of the Great Liang Dynasty, under the jurisdiction of Jiaozhou.

After dealing with this matter, he lost interest in sightseeing and quietly went to the Japanese-style courtyard to rest.

Of all the matters in the world, few are worthy of being reported to him anymore; he deals with them one by one. His current mindset is extremely dangerous to ambitious individuals, for he is impatiently wielding a hammer, ready to strike anyone who dares to peek out. Sometimes he even feels like kicking someone to make them show themselves, so he can strike them down directly.

Murong Ren and his son clearly lacked political wisdom; they failed to see this, leading to a misjudgment that came at a terrible cost.

******
Inside the courtyard, Zhuge Wenbiao and Wen Bao were playing dice.

The two sisters, dressed in fur coats, one fiery red and the other snow-white, were a striking sight.

Shao Xun sat down behind Wen Biao and gently stroked her belly.

Zhuge Wenbiao rolled his eyes at him, but was somewhat pleased. He said softly, "A quarter of an hour ago, the child turned over and startled me. He should be asleep again now."

Shao Xun dared not disturb the child's sleep, so he could only move his hand upwards, gently gathering, twisting, stroking, and picking.

Zhuge Wenbiao glared at her, seemingly with a hint of anger. Sitting opposite her, Zhuge Wenbao was somewhat displeased; her belly was also quite protruding, and having lost a child three years ago, she was more prone to anxiety and insecurity.

Shao Xun noticed it quickly, and after pulling his hand away, he sniffed it lightly and thought it smelled like milk.

Zhuge Wenbiao was both ashamed and annoyed.

I don't know when it started, but her standards have been getting lower and lower. A few years ago, she would never have acted so absurdly.

But she was slowly coaxed and lured down, her standards lowered little by little. In a daze, she discovered that her younger sister had also been brought in. At first, she quickly covered herself with the blanket, secretly angry. But gradually, she seemed to accept it calmly. A few months ago, she woke up in the morning to find herself and her sister naked, embracing each other, while His Majesty was fast asleep on the other side.

Shao Xun sat down behind Zhuge Wenbao and helped her roll the dice a few times, getting two horses in a row.

The young girl, oblivious to her large pregnant belly, almost jumped up and cheered.

Zhuge Wenbiao was so angry that he simply stopped playing.

Shao Xun laughed heartily, got up and went behind the desk.

Just now, without anyone noticing, the newly appointed female official Zhuge Wenxiong brought in a stack of memorials and then disappeared again, faster than a rabbit.

Shao Xun lazily opened the first book.

Yang Qin, the Grand Protector of the Western Regions, requested that the garrison remain for another two years to help stabilize the situation in the Western Regions. Moreover, he did not require too many people; a few thousand would suffice. The necessary provisions would be provided by tribute from the various kingdoms of the Western Regions, and the imperial court would issue ten or twenty thousand bolts of silk as a reward. There was no need to even transport them to the Western Regions; they could simply collect them upon their return.

This was a reasonable request, and the cost was indeed not high. Shao Xun readily agreed and instructed the Imperial Guards and the various military garrisons to handle it as appropriate.

After reviewing the document, he focused on the Crown Prince's opinion: He suggested that fifteen separate commanders be selected, totaling four thousand five hundred soldiers, to march west. Before departure, each soldier should be given two bolts of silk, and upon returning, two bolts of silk should be given again.

Shao Xun picked up his pen again and wrote "OK" at the end.

After reviewing one book, he casually put it aside.

Zhuge Wenxiong appeared out of nowhere again, reaching out to put away the memorial, but Shao Xun grabbed her small hand and scratched her palm. Startled, she glanced furtively at her two older sisters.

Wenbiao and Wenbao were engrossed in playing dice again, completely oblivious to what was happening here.

Zhuge Wenxiong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, stood aside, and moved a little further away.

Shao Xun picked up the second book and looked at it. It turned out to be from Hezhou. It mentioned that the Tuyuhun Xianbei were very frightened and were already hunting down Shi Hu everywhere. They had even clashed with the Qiang tribes.

The direct reason for their hard work was the growing prestige of the Great Liang Dynasty in the Hexi Corridor and the joint annihilation of the Tuoba Xianbei who disobeyed orders—things they might not know about in the distant past, but they could still find out about things happening right in their own backyard.

Shao Xun chuckled and wrote a note on it: "Capture the stone bandits quickly, don't say you weren't warned."

After writing it and letting the ink dry, it was handed to Zhuge Wenxiong.

Wenxiong carefully accepted it and found that His Majesty was very serious this time and did not take liberties with her. Her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was relieved, but she also had some indescribable feelings.

She glanced at her eldest and second eldest sisters with her almond-shaped eyes and saw that they were still engrossed in playing dice. She felt a mess in her heart and was filled with shame.

Shao Xun quickly opened the third memorial.

Very good, it concerns the battle of Jiaozhou.

He habitually glanced at the date at the end: November 8th.

So I started reading from the beginning, reviewing each sentence carefully.

Just before Crown Prince Shao Jin received the second battle report, all the armies gathered, crossed the Shouling River, and challenged the Linyi rebels.

King Fan Wen of Linyi dispatched 10,000 elite troops to meet the enemy, with his two thousand most valiant men in the vanguard. At first, they were able to hold their own, but they were soon harassed by cavalry rushing from the flanks, and their formation was thrown into chaos.

Taking advantage of the situation, the Liang army launched a fierce attack, and the Lin-yi army suffered a great defeat, with sixteen or seventeen out of ten dead.

Fan Wen fled back to his camp in a panic, daring not to fight again.

That night, Sun He selected elite soldiers from the government troops and the imperial guards to break into the enemy camp. The troops advanced with great fanfare and broke through more than ten of the Linyi camps.

By daybreak, thirty miles south of Lu Rong, weapons, armor, and corpses lay scattered about, a horrifying sight.

Fan Wen himself was wounded and fled south with his remaining troops. The once formidable 30,000-strong Linyi army collapsed.

This is the legendary battle that decides the outcome!

Sun He didn't even have time to use the naval surprise attack tactic. He only fought a field battle with that fool Fan Wen, and the situation was settled. Fan Wen had always been facing Jiaozhou native soldiers. He never expected that the intensity of the battle would suddenly increase, and he suffered a crushing defeat.

"Jiaozhou is secured!" Shao Xun closed the memorial and laughed, "The next step is to invade the enemy country and pursue the fleeing enemy. Although Fan Wen still has more than 20,000 troops, the defeat is inevitable and there is no chance of turning the tide."

After saying that, he thought for a moment and decided to see what the Crown Prince would do.

The ability to reward and punish appropriately is a crucial skill for those in positions of authority and should not be underestimated.

(End of this chapter)