The prince is more stable

Chapter 726: Thousands of People Lined the Road
The three armies cheered, their shouts like thunder.

Zhao Xiaoqian gives off a vague sense of a king returning home.

In fact, literally speaking, he could indeed be described as a king returning.

After all, a prince is still a king.

Hearing the cheers of his soldiers, Zhao Xiaoqian felt incredibly satisfied with his vanity, and his smile deepened.

Zhao Xiaoqian quickly scanned the crowd and spotted several familiar faces, including Zhong Cheng.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled even more broadly, and surrounded by his generals, he greeted his familiar comrades as he walked toward the commander's tent.

There was no need to beat drums to summon the generals; most of them had already arrived, and the command tent was packed with people. Of course, Zhong Cheng and his group did not come in.

The commander was a mid-level general and not qualified to enter the general's tent.

Just like the so-called famous general Yi Sun-sin that the Koreans boast about, who are described as being able to do anything, but in reality, Yi Sun-sin was just a naval commander in the Ming Dynasty's vassal state of Joseon.

When Chen Lin, the then-commander of the Ming Dynasty navy, beat the drum to gather his generals in his command tent, Yi Sun-sin was not qualified to enter the tent to discuss matters with Chen Lin. He could only stand obediently outside the door and listen to his superior convey the spirit of the leadership meeting.

In the historical Imjin War, Yi Sun-sin fought against the Japanese navy, winning seven and losing six, with a win rate of about 53%, which is at most a silver-level victory.

The Japanese might even suspect he's a bot, yet the Koreans are praising him as Asia's number one war god. That's incredibly impressive...

The thirty-odd generals sent from Bianjing today, including Zhong Cheng, are roughly in a similar position to Yi Sun-sin. Despite their apparent prestige in the army, they are actually just minor commanders, at the same level as Chen Shou, who serves Zhao Xiaoqian, and have no right to enter the commander's tent.

The commander's tent was full of familiar faces, from General Xu to Zhong Jianzhong, as well as some senior generals who had been promoted for their military achievements, most of whom were at the level of garrison commander.

The atmosphere inside the tent was festive, with everyone beaming with joy. The generals were genuinely happy about Zhao Xiaoqian's sudden arrival, as if they had suddenly found a pillar of support.

Only Xu Jiang's eyes showed a hint of worry. He looked at Zhao Xiaoqian and hesitated several times, clearly having something to say but finding it inconvenient to say it in front of the other generals.

Zhao Xiaoqian saw everyone's expressions, but he remained calm and entered the command tent, sitting in his familiar seat and chatting and laughing with his generals.

"Is Your Highness feeling any better? I was terrified when Your Highness was seriously injured. You couldn't be hurt. All 100,000 of our soldiers were waiting for Your Highness to recover and return. And today, that's what we've been waiting for!" Zhe Keshi laughed heartily.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled slightly: "I'm feeling a bit better, but I'm not fully recovered yet. I'll probably need to rest for a while longer... Old Zhe, while I was away, did you break any military rules? You must have ruined quite a few innocent girls in Yanyun, right?"

Zhe Keshi's face flushed, and he hurriedly said, "It can't be called harming, it's mutual affection, mutual affection... Moreover, I didn't harm any of our Han people, I only targeted Khitan women."

Zhao Xiaoqian said seriously, "Alright, then let me ask you another way: how many girls have you been mutually attracted to?"

Zhe Keshi grinned: "I can't remember. This humble general is a fickle man, falling in love with every woman he meets. In the past few months, I've probably had at least a hundred..."

Zhao Xiaoqian stared at him in shock, and after a long while, he sighed: "Hundreds... You're amazing. Even the village's breeding pigs wouldn't dare to breed like that. Lao Zhe, you should restrain yourself. The right to use that thing is limited."

"If you use up all your credit when you're young, what will you do when you're old, your beard falls out, your Adam's apple disappears, and people no longer call you 'General Zhe,' but 'Sister Zhe'? You'll probably feel embarrassed then, won't you?"

The generals inside the command tent burst into laughter, and Zhang Rong and the others began calling him "Sister Zhe" with malicious expressions.

Zhe Keshi's face flushed red with anger and shame as he said, "This humble general is full of vigor and vitality, in the prime of his life, how could he possibly be impotent! Your Highness, you..."

In his anger, Zhe Keshi was about to swear, but when he looked up and saw Zhao Xiaoqian's ambiguous smile, he instantly regained his composure. He thought of the familiar feeling of being beaten with military rods, so he could only sullenly hum, "Your Highness said so, this humble general will remember it and will restrain himself in the future."

With a quick glance, Zhao Xiaoqian saw Zhang Rong in the crowd, who still had that sleazy and lewd look on his face.

Smiling, Zhao Xiaoqian looked at him and said, "Zhang Rong..."

Zhang Rong smiled and clasped his hands in greeting: "Your subordinate is here."

"You seem to have gotten uglier. Try putting slices of cucumber on your face every now and then to salvage your precarious appearance. You can just find a blind woman to settle down with in the future."

Zhang Rong's smile froze. He subconsciously touched his face, and said with a somewhat aggrieved expression, "Your Highness, I don't think... I'm that ugly, am I?"

Zhao Xiaoqian pointed at the generals in the tent and said, "Let everyone speak from their conscience, whether they are ugly or not."

Before Zhang Rong could speak, all the generals in the tent shouted in unison, "Ugly!"

Then another burst of laughter erupted inside the command tent.

Zhang Rong was initially embarrassed, but then for some reason, he suddenly burst out laughing.

"A man has no ugly appearance. Although I am a bit ugly, I am still a military officer of the imperial court. Who knows, I might make new contributions in the future and, if I am lucky, I might be awarded a title or something. What kind of woman can't I find then?"

Suddenly, the phrase "to achieve new merits" was mentioned, and the previously festive command tent fell silent as everyone's eyes turned to Zhao Xiaoqian.

Zhao Xiaoqian saw anticipation in their eyes, a yearning for glory. After a long silence, Zhong Jianzhong cautiously asked, "Your Highness's sudden return to camp, has the court issued an edict? Could it be that we are about to launch a northern expedition against the Liao Kingdom?"

Zhao Xiaoqian shook his head: "You're overthinking it. The army will rest and reorganize in place, and it's unlikely that we'll start a war against Liao for at least a year or two... After all, we just signed an alliance with them. Even if we want to renege on our promise, we can't do it too quickly, can we? That would be too shameless."

The generals chuckled softly in agreement, but their expressions betrayed their disappointment.

"First, we need to maintain control of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. The Song Dynasty has just taken over Yan and Yun, and there are definitely many clan landlords on the ground who are not convinced."

"With a change of court and a change of master, it is inevitable that the interests of many people will be affected. We should not be polite to those clan landlords who are outwardly obedient but secretly hate the Song Dynasty. We should kill them one by one and take advantage of the chaos before and after the handover to remove those disobedient thorns."

Zhao Xiaoqian looked around at everyone and said slowly, "In this regard, I will send the Imperial City Guard to assist you. The Imperial City Guard will set up a network in various parts of Yanyun as soon as possible. Once they discover any clans or landlords who hate the Song Dynasty, they will report to my camp. Then you can lead your troops to wipe them out."

The generals responded in unison.

Zhao Xiaoqian laughed again, "Isn't my return to camp today a great occasion? Zhong Jianzhong, I'll personally pay to buy some pigs and sheep near Xijin Prefecture. Tonight, I'll treat 100,000 soldiers to a meat feast, all they can eat!"

"A banquet has been set up in the commander's tent. Everyone come, let's drink until we're drunk!"

…………

Laughter and cheers filled the Song army's main camp. Meanwhile, not far from the main camp, Zhong Cheng and several generals strolled side by side through the camp.

Zhong Cheng's face was gloomy, and he kept turning his head to look in the direction of the commander's tent, his eyes filled with surprise and coldness.

"Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly returned to camp. What's the reason? Could it be that the Emperor has issued an order to mobilize troops to start a war against the Liao Kingdom?" Zhong Cheng murmured.

A general beside him said in a deep voice, "Logically speaking, it shouldn't be like that. The Emperor is very wary of Zhao Xiaoqian now. Even if he mobilizes troops to start a war, he will definitely not appoint Zhao Xiaoqian as commander again. His return to camp today is really suspicious."

“Wasn’t he still recovering from serious injuries? I heard it would take at least six months to fully recover. How could he be fully recovered in such a short time? He must have a purpose for traveling all the way from Zhen Ding City to Xi Jin Prefecture.”

Zhong Cheng stared coldly in the direction of the commander's tent with a sinister look in his eyes, and said coldly, "His sudden return to the main camp probably has only one purpose, which is to hold on to military power."

Looking around at the generals beside him, Zhong Cheng slowly said, "This army is Zhao Xiaoqian's biggest bargaining chip, and it is well-equipped. He also enjoys extremely high prestige in the army. If Zhao Xiaoqian wants to contend for the world..."

The expressions of the surrounding generals immediately changed.

Suddenly, a deafening cheer erupted from all around the camp. Zhong Cheng and the others were startled and hurriedly looked around.

Then they heard a passing soldier excitedly say that His Highness the Prince had returned to camp today and was giving his comrades a gift. Tonight, His Highness was treating all the soldiers in the camp to meat, and they could eat their fill.

For the Song soldiers who ate very little and only two meals a day, having meat to eat was definitely a generous gift.

Upon hearing this, Zhong Cheng and the others' expressions grew even more grim.

Upon returning to the main camp, he immediately spent a large sum of money to win over and win over the soldiers. As expected of Zhao Xiaoqian, he truly has excellent skills!

Besides feeling jealous and resentful, Zhong Cheng and the others actually wanted to cry.

Don't they understand such a simple and direct way of winning people's hearts? Don't they want to do it?

The problem is, I don't have the money!

They were merely military officers receiving salaries from the imperial court. Even if the thirty-odd men pooled all their wealth, they probably couldn't afford to treat 100,000 soldiers to a meal of meat.

Therefore, winning people's hearts also requires strength.

Zhao Xiaoqian is so lucky. He was born in Rome, a member of the royal family, the heir to a prince. Not to mention his personal abilities, he has lived a life of luxury and wealth since childhood.

Moreover, he was also good at trading, dealing in things like snow salt and tea. To him, money was just a string of cold, ruthless, and meaningless numbers. He probably had never touched money in his life, and it was money he hated the most. What he missed and envied the most was probably the days when Zhong Cheng and his group of poor losers ate cornbread...

The current situation is like a group of poor thugs ganging up on a wealthy second-generation heir. They seem aggressive, but in reality, the poor thugs are doomed.

"One hundred thousand soldiers can eat their fill of meat, what a grand gesture!" Zhong Cheng sneered with a gloomy expression.

The people around him were dejected. After Zhao Xiaoqian returned to camp, they had not seen each other for a while, and they had been caught off guard and lost to Zhao Xiaoqian.

The brainwashing and division efforts, which had been progressing very slowly, immediately failed after Zhao Xiaoqian returned to the camp.

In the future, probably even fewer people will listen to them.

Unless Zhong Cheng submits a memorial to Bianjing requesting the court to allocate special funds for him and his associates to win over the hearts and minds of the army.

If Zhao Xu were to approve, that would truly mean... a serious illness.

(End of this chapter)