A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

The five hundred Tartars seemed to know what they were about to face, and they all struggled to their feet. Some even stood up and tried to escape, but were kicked back into the crowd by the surrounding soldiers.

Zhao Daxuan walked up to them, his face grim, and said coldly, "I originally spared your lives and let you do the work to atone for your sins, but you are ungrateful and unrepentant."

As he spoke, Zhao Daxuan's voice suddenly rose, "You still dare to cause trouble and kill my soldiers? Do you think you can bully us just because our main force is not here?"

"Your crimes are unforgivable! Today I will make you pay tenfold with your lives, and if you dare to commit them again, you will pay a hundredfold with your lives!"

After saying that, Zhao Daxuan waved his hand.

"Drag them to the gate and behead them all!"

"Hang his head for three days as a warning to others!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers responded with a roar and dragged five hundred Tartar prisoners to the foot of the pass, where refugees from outside the pass had already surrounded them.

Li Erlong stood in front of the crowd and shouted, "The Tartar prisoners have rioted and killed my soldiers. Today, they will pay with their lives, and I will execute five hundred prisoners as a warning to others."

The refugees had heard the commotion in the pass this afternoon, but they didn't know the details. Now they learned that it was a prisoner riot and that the prisoners had killed the Xia soldiers.

Immediately, the crowd was filled with righteous indignation, shouting, "Kill them! Kill them!"

At Li Erlong's command, the soldiers standing behind the prisoners raised their swords and brought down five hundred Tartar heads with a thud.

Blood splattered out, spraying onto the city wall, and a gust of wind blew by, bringing a stench to the air.

The onlookers were not terrified at all; on the contrary, they applauded and cheered.

"Well done!"

"This is gratifying! The Tartars deserve to die!"

The remaining two thousand-odd Tartar prisoners, seeing the five hundred heads of their fallen comrades, collapsed to the ground, no longer daring to muster even a shred of resistance.

Outside the pass, the captives of the Black Serpent tribe who had just arrived at the Black Mountain Pass felt a sense of sorrow upon seeing the Great Xia soldiers slaughtering their kin so wantonly, but dared not speak out in anger.

Thus, the rebellion of the Manchu prisoners came to an end.

Over the next two days, in addition to ordering stricter martial law, Zhao Daxuan also prohibited the Tartar prisoners from whispering and plotting among themselves.

In addition, the next day, Li Erlong led a thousand soldiers to the Xuan Tie tribe and brought back all the people and wealth of the Xuan Tie tribe in just half a day.

After taking stock, it was discovered that simply selling some of the supplies would easily fill the previous funding gap.

Furthermore, if we include the warhorses and tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, this plunder will leave a surplus of at least 100,000 taels of silver after filling the funding gap!

As the saying goes, wealth is nothing without its possessions; before it is sold off, it is all just paper wealth.

"No wonder so many people love war, it's so profitable! Hahaha..."

Zhao Daxuan looked at the list of supplies in his hand and burst into laughter, sweeping away the gloom that had been hanging over him for the past two days due to the riot by the Tartar prisoners.

Zhao Daxuan put down the list in his hand, picked up a pen and paper and wrote quickly, finishing a battle report in no time.

The battle report detailed the events from the departure of Wangbei Camp to the ambush of the Tartar army, the capture of Heishan Pass, and the annihilation of the Tartar tribes. It even included the Tartar prisoners' uprising.

However, the seized valuables were only mentioned briefly and not listed in detail; what he had taken could not be taken back.

A battle report sealed with bright red wax was quickly completed, and Zhao Daxuan handed it directly to Zhao Fubao.

"The ambush on the Tartars is now over. Today, we will retake the Black Mountain Pass and report on the two tribes as well, so that General Yue can continue to be happy."

Zhao Fubao smiled as he accepted the battle report. "I'll arrange for it to be sent out immediately by express courier!"

…………

Two days later, a fast horse galloped in from outside the north gate of Zhenbei City.

When the fast horse arrived at the city gate, it displayed a token of Zhao Daxuan and a battle report from Wangbei Camp covered with bright red sealing wax.

"Battle report from Wangbei Camp: A great victory!"

"Release them immediately! I need to report to General Yue!"

Today, Zhang Xiaoshan is on duty at the North Gate. Although the Tartar army has retreated, it hasn't been long, and the defenses of Zhenbei City remain tight.

Zhang Xiaoshan dared not be careless and personally went to the city gate every day when he was on duty.

When he heard his men report that a great victory had been achieved at Wangbei Camp and that they were to enter the city to report to General Yue, he was immediately invigorated and ordered the city gates to be opened so that the messenger could enter.

He then personally went down the city wall and waited for the messenger at the city gate. As soon as the messenger entered the city gate, he looked at him intently and asked questions impatiently.

"You've won a great victory? What were the results?"

The messenger had just entered the city gate and was about to ride away when he was stopped by a man dressed in the uniform of a captain. He recognized Zhang Xiaoshan at a glance and, knowing that the man had a good relationship with Zhao Daxuan, smiled and replied.

"A great victory! Our army ambushed the retreating Tartar army, annihilating 1,000 enemies, capturing 3,000, and seizing the Black Mountain Pass!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaoshan's body trembled, and after a moment, a look of joy appeared on his face. Just as he was about to ask further questions, the messenger spoke up.

"Lord Zhao has ordered me to send the news of the victory back to Zhenbei City. I must report to General Yue and Commandant Zhang immediately. Please make way for me."

Zhang Xiaoshan then suppressed the question that was about to come out and stepped aside to make way for him.

The messenger spurred his horse, and it galloped away.

Watching the messenger depart, Zhang Xiaoshan had his soldiers bring his warhorse, mounted it, and followed the messenger toward the core camp.

He wanted to know the details of such important news as soon as possible.

The messenger sped along without hindrance, arriving directly at the general's tent in the core camp, where he met Yue Zhenyuan.

The messenger knelt on the ground, holding up a letter of victory sealed with a large red wax seal.

"General, our army has killed a thousand enemies, captured three thousand, taken the Black Mountain Pass, and wiped out two Tartar tribes! Here is the report; please take a look!"

Yue Zhenyuan was overjoyed upon hearing this. Previously, when Zhao Daxuan said he wanted to ambush the Tartar army, Yue Zhenyuan had agreed mainly out of his trust in Zhao Daxuan and Shen Qingci.

But he didn't have much hope, and was even prepared to suffer heavy losses.

He felt that Zhao Daxuan had been enjoying smooth sailing since his rise to power, and experiencing some setbacks would be beneficial to his growth.

Unexpectedly, such a great victory has occurred. Yue Zhenyuan couldn't help but step down from his seat, personally take the victory report, and carefully examine it.

A moment later, Yue Zhenyuan was so excited that he trembled all over, stood up, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Hahaha... A great victory! An unprecedented victory!!"

Zhang Xiaoshan, who had caught up to the general's tent, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan when he heard the loud laughter coming from inside.

At this moment, he wished he could rush into the tent immediately, snatch the victory report, and examine it carefully.

Inside the tent, Yue Zhenyuan paced back and forth excitedly, holding the victory report, his face showing a delighted surprise.

A few days ago, he sent a battle report to the capital to request credit for Zhao Daxuan. He originally thought that the position of captain was a sure thing, and that the court would even bestow upon him the title of baron.

Unexpectedly, a group of wealthy merchants in Zhenbei City harbored resentment because of Zhao Daxuan's forceful requisition of grain. They collectively used their connections to smear Zhao Daxuan in the imperial court.

The court is in chaos, and nearly ten days have passed without a decision on Zhao Daxuan's reward.

But now that Zhao Daxuan has made such a tremendous contribution, the originally planned titles of captain and baron are simply not enough to match this achievement.

Thinking of this, Yue Zhenyuan immediately turned around, spread out the papers, and began writing a new battle report on the spot.