Chapter 709: Lingnan in Sight

In the main hall of the command headquarters, Murong Yanzhao buried himself in the documents, his face expressionless, his brush flying as he signed and issued a series of military orders. Taking Changsha was only the beginning of securing Hunan; next came the taking of the various prefectures, the garrison arrangements for the southern expeditionary forces, and even the establishment of temporary order—all of it demanded his attention.

The recorders and clerks accompanying the army came and went, handing dispatches to the courier officers to be sent to the various units in Xiang. Before the hall, the "crack, crack" of whips sounded without pause. Shi Yanchao knelt there, gritting his teeth, not making a single sound, only breathing somewhat rapidly, beads of sweat rolling from his forehead and dripping onto the scorching ground.

Only when the military officer supervising the punishment counted out the full number and waved his hand did the soldiers stop their lashing. The officer turned and went inside, reporting to Murong Yanzhao: "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, the twenty lashes have been completed. Shall I verify the punishment?"

Lifting his head, Murong Yanzhao waved his hand: "Let him come in!"

"Yes!"

His steps slightly heavy, Shi Yanchao entered. Though he had been given twenty lashes, his face wore an expression of satisfaction, as if his thoughts had been cleared. Only when he saw Murong Yanzhao still wearing a grim face did he restrain himself: "Commander-in-Chief!"

"Bearing a grudge?" Murong Yanzhao asked.

Shi Yanchao shook his head directly: "The Commander-in-Chief applied punishment according to military discipline. This general has nothing to say!"

Seeing this, Murong Yanzhao rose and rebuked him directly: "Changsha has just fallen, and Hunan is not yet fully pacified. Military and administrative affairs are numerous. That Li Guanxiang previously managed the military government's civil affairs—no one among the Hunan officials knows the ins and outs of matters better than he does. If we wish to govern and reassure the people, there is much we will need to rely on him for.

You beat him nearly to death, so he cannot even leave his bed, and left a pile of affairs unattended—who am I to find to handle them?

Moreover, he rendered meritorious service in the surrender of the entire city of Changsha. You threw your weight around at him—how are the other surrendered officials and generals supposed to view this, and how are they to feel at ease? Hm?"

Facing Murong Yanzhao's rebuke, Shi Yanchao muttered: "That man provoked me into dealing with a mere household slave of his. If I didn't teach him a lesson, I wouldn't feel right. Besides, Hunan has only this many people—how much business can there be? I'm not afraid we can't find people willing to serve as officials of our Great Han..."

Hearing his grumbling, Murong Yanzhao said: "It seems twenty lashes weren't enough! Do you need an additional punishment?"

"Enough! Enough! This general knows his error!" Shi Yanchao hastily yielded and shook his head, which seemed to pull at the wounds on his back. In the summer heat, sweat touched the injuries, and the pain made him grimace and bare his teeth.

"Can you still ride a horse?" Murong Yanzhao's expression softened slightly as he asked.

"A mere twenty lashes—nothing worth mentioning!" Shi Yanchao perked up, looking at Murong Yanzhao with eager anticipation: "What orders does the Commander-in-Chief have?"

"Pan Mei and Cao Bin are leading troops south to sweep through the prefectures north of the ridges—that should be no problem. But the deeper they go into the southern lands, the longer the supply lines stretch, and the grain route becomes especially important. Tomorrow, a grain fleet of ten thousand shi will arrive from the south, and I intend to send it all southward. You will lead a thousand cavalry south along the Xiang River to patrol and ensure the grain route remains open!" Murong Yanzhao instructed.

"Me, guarding the grain route for Pan Mei and Cao Bin?" Shi Yanchao's enthusiasm was largely dampened.

However, one look from Murong Yanzhao was enough to make him obediently accept the order.

Noticing that Murong Yanzhao's expression was not relaxed, Shi Yanchao couldn't help asking: "The Commander-in-Chief seems to have some concerns? Now that Zhou Xingfeng has been defeated and killed, and the rest have surrendered, the prefectures have all capitulated at the sight of our banners. The Jinghu campaign is about to be fully accomplished—what else is there to worry about?"

At his question, Murong Yanzhao showed rare interest. Walking to the Hunan map, he said: "Hunan is vast but sparsely populated, with Miao and Han living intermingled. Easy to take, hard to govern! Especially the five western prefectures, where the Miao and Yao barbarian forces are widespread and deeply influential!"

As he spoke, Murong Yanzhao laughed at himself and waved his hand: "Enough. How to govern Hunan is not for us to consider—let the court worry about that. What we soldiers can do is plant the war banners of the Great Han in every prefecture and county as quickly as possible!"

"The Commander-in-Chief speaks truly!" Shi Yanchao nodded in agreement, then seized the opening to make a request: "Patrolling the grain route—any deputy general could handle that. Li Yun is fighting through the western prefectures alone, and progress is probably slow. Commander-in-Chief, would you consider letting me lead troops west to coordinate with Li Yun and take all those prefectures, showing those barbarians the military might of our Great Han?"

After marching south to Langzhou and taking Wuling, Murong Yanzhao had divided his forces, making Li Yun the main commander with three thousand troops to take Chen, Xu, and the other prefectures.

Seeing through Shi Yanchao's intentions at a glance, Murong Yanzhao chuckled lightly: "Word has already come from Xu Prefecture—that barbarian king Fu Yantong has been persuaded by Wang Qianlang to submit to the court and accept its rewards. Once that old barbarian Fu Yantong surrenders, the rest won't dare oppose the court either. Pacification will be complete within these few days!"

"That barbarian chieftain is truly cunning—only now that Zhou Xingfeng is dead and Hunan is nearly pacified does he actively submit..." Seeing that there was no chance of fighting in the west, Shi Yanchao couldn't help cursing.

"You can't say that!" Murong Yanzhao's view was rather fair: "This is their way of survival, after all. Wang Qianlang's mission was useful—it even achieved the best possible result. If he had truly gathered tens of thousands of barbarian troops to fight, whether against us or aiding the court, it would have been a problem..."

As he spoke, Murong Yanzhao's expression turned serious again: "What I'm worried about now is the climate here. Low-lying, hot, and humid—and further south there's even more miasma. Summer is about to set in, and most of our officers and men are northerners. Even in Jingxiang they had trouble adapting to the local conditions—how much worse now that we've penetrated deep into the southern lands!"

"That is indeed a problem!" Shi Yanchao also grew cautious.

"Furthermore, the former territory of Ma Chu is not limited to the prefectures north of the ridges. It seems that Gui, Meng, Yi, Lian, Zhao, Fu, Xiang, Xiang, and other prefectures are occupied by the false dynasty to the south! As of now, the work is not yet fully accomplished!" Murong Yanzhao said: "According to reports from the military intelligence bureau, the false dynasty's troops in Lingui and Lian Prefecture have both shown signs of movement!"

"Excellent!" Shi Yanchao heard this and cheered with delight: "It's been barely a month since the southern expedition began, and we've already swept through Jinghu. Our army's edge is at its sharpest—why not take advantage and march south to destroy the false dynasty! The Great Han stands mighty in the Central Plains, and that false dynasty dares to usurp a state title. Before, Jinghu stood between us and we couldn't reach them, but now our blades have arrived—it's the perfect time to wipe them out!"

Because they shared the surname Liu and both called themselves Han, the rulers and ministers of the Northern Han had always regarded the Southern Han, which occupied Lingnan, as heretical, referring to it in official documents as the false dynasty and false Liu. Thus, Shi Yanchao's sentiment was hardly surprising.

Of course, perhaps the Southern Han might feel wronged—after all, they had established their state in Lingnan and passed it down through three generations, nearly forty years, while the Northern Han had only existed for how many years? But power is the ultimate truth, and weakness is a crime.

Hearing this, Murong Yanzhao chuckled lightly: "The false dynasty wouldn't dare face our army in battle—they're only making defensive adjustments. Otherwise, if they had any intention of moving north, they would have already sent troops to invade Quan, Dao, Chen, and other places!"

He sighed slightly: "This campaign, though short in duration, has been a long expedition—a thousand li of marching. The soldiers' fatigue has not diminished in the least. At Yue Prefecture, we fought for twenty days; the results were rich, but the losses were considerable too.

Now Hunan's livelihood is in ruin and the people's hearts have not yet recovered. Without consolidating our position, it would be unwise to rashly march south. Moreover, without an imperial edict from the court, we cannot initiate hostilities on our own!"

As for Shi Yanchao, he was basically just talking for the sake of talking. He was, after all, a veteran of the battlefield who knew the difference between urgent and trivial matters. However, Murong Yanzhao's words had opened up his thinking.

His two dark eyes rolled around with a cunning glint, and Shi Yanchao chuckled: "We can't attack directly, but if the false dynasty's troops take the initiative to invade our borders and we counterattack in response, that should be no problem, right!"

In such matters, Shi Yanchao seemed to have a natural instinct, extremely sharp, and he looked energized: "We don't know what the false dynasty's troops are like. If we fight a battle first to test their strength, it would also prepare us for a future march south!"

Murong Yanzhao raised an eyebrow, glanced at him sideways, neither approving nor reproaching, and fell into contemplation, as if he were genuinely considering Shi Yanchao's suggestion.

"The first priority is still to bring all the prefectures north of the ridges under the rule of the Great Han!" Murong Yanzhao said this.