Chapter 249

Da Wang's threat left Wan Niuyu and his son somewhat overwhelmed; the elder could still endure, but the younger was utterly overwhelmed.

Bu Meng cursed Da Wang loudly.

Da Wang yawned, "Shut his mouth, he's noisy. I'll find him myself sooner or later, no rush—worst case, I'll raze your royal city."

Wan Niuyu heard this and spoke gloomily, "Don't get too cocky. I don't believe the wilderness has such cavalry—maybe your emperor father is already gone. When the allied forces march south, no matter how strong you are, you'll stand alone, and the entire Central Plains will fall!"

"I envy your mind—this is just saying, though I can't beat you, you'll eventually lose? Making wishes?! At your age, stop dreaming so far ahead—look at the present! Today, I just need to beat you. And I'm sure I'll keep beating the Xianbei in the future. I'm you, so I won't waste time on useless thoughts—think about whether the crown prince will return to save you when he hears the royal city fell! If he delays his return until after you die to reclaim the throne, that would indeed be awkward."

This time Wan Niuyu also fell silent, and the room fell completely quiet.

Da Wang yawned lazily again—fighting is exhausting, especially long-distance raids like this.

He leaned against Bai Ze, dozing off, until Wei Shen rushed in shouting and woke him up.

"Our personnel are accounted for: three severely wounded, but with medicine they should survive. Also, one got a facial slash—eight out of ten he'll survive but be disfigured; the two others had blades slip through the neck armor gaps—luckily not deep, so they can be saved. And good thing our medicine is truly potent! Extremely potent!" Wei Shen said this, his mouth stretching from ear to ear.

Da Wang finally put his mind at ease and hurriedly asked how many had light injuries.

"Hahaha, light injuries are just over two hundred—already beyond my imagination for a chaotic city melee! All light injuries, none fatal—rest easy! Currently, this battle looks perfect, hahahaha~"

"Good!" Da Wang jumped up and laughed loudly.

This time Da Wang was truly happy, though he shouted about regretting the silver—actually, what did he need silver for? Also to preserve lives.

This battle clearly showed that those who didn't spend money weren't the ones who succeeded.

As long as one is willing to spend money, his cavalry, armored to the point of only showing their faces, truly preserved their lives!

Wan Niuyu, hearing this, couldn't hold back—he spat out a mouthful of blood with a "puff."

This person had previously been brutally kicked by Bai Ze without mercy, and this fatal blow successfully made him spit blood.

Da Wang smiled narrowly: "Aiyo, old sir, your temper is huge! Though one shouldn't be too arrogant, your pride in the steppe cavalry seems to have only scratched our Youzhou cavalry's skin? Hahaha~ I, Da Wang, wouldn't be arrogant at all—otherwise it'd be too fake~"

Wan Niuyu visibly collapsed completely, and Da Wang stopped provoking him, energetically following along to attend to matters.

Da Wang had already decided how to handle the Eastern Xianbei, and had discussed it with his white brother.

He currently does not want this land. It's not the time yet.

The northwestern situation is unknown, and Jin Dynasty's southern regions are also chaotic—he has no manpower and no need to meddle in steppe affairs now.

If he were to fully occupy Eastern Xianbei now, he'd inevitably have to constantly deal with all Xianbei tribes.

Youzhou has just escaped the fate of starvation deaths—he doesn't want to bother with these herders.

Da Wang's strategy is—weaken the Xianbei.

"You mean selecting healthy young men and bringing them back to Youzhou?"

"Exactly! As long as they're male, bring them back to Youzhou to mine and reclaim land. No elderly, women, or children—our numbers are limited, bringing too many prisoners would require feeding them and be troublesome; the old and weak would also slow our march."

Wei Shen asked him: "You're not saying you'll take all the nobles? The birth mothers of the crown prince and second prince are still alive—won't you take them?"

Da Wang smiled narrowly: "Nobles don't deserve special treatment—let them ride in carriages so they won't lag behind. You must tell the living Xianbei people that these nobles are worth five hundred thousand taels each; if the crown prince has a conscience, he can use silver to ransom himself from me. Oh, the birth mother of him and the second prince is worth one million taels."

Wei Shen was deeply impressed—this guy has turned copper coins into essence.

Da Wang carefully selected forty thousand uninjured, healthy young male prisoners from the camp, searched them, then grouped them in fifties with ropes, and had them follow the army back to Youzhou.

In a few days, the palace—including buildings in the city worth looking at, and the military camp—were all ransacked, and Da Wang's private treasury had a huge haul.

Commoners' wealth is just cattle and sheep—valuable items are rare, but Wan Niuyu's palace truly yielded no shortage of gold, silver, and jewelry.

Da Wang discovered many Jin Dynasty-style valuable ornaments, instantly recognizable as such.

It makes one angry to see them, always drinking Jin Dynasty's blood.

Thinking how they relied on a few hundred torn sheepskins to swindle a sum in Chang'an last year made Da Wang even angrier.

He scraped the palace clean—even the tiger skins he disliked were pulled away.

For things inconvenient to carry, he hid some in the warehouse; he sees no use in giving them to Youzhou commoners—it's also fine that way.

Wherever Da Wang went, he scraped off a layer of topsoil—imaginable that Eastern Xianbei won't recover for many years.

All preparations complete, as they were about to leave, Da Wang pulled off another sneaky move.

He released a batch of city civilians and the remaining unwanted wounded soldiers, driving them to the open space before the palace.

When the crowd gathered, Wei Shen pushed the second prince forward, and Da Wang announced: "Need I introduce myself? Surely everyone knows—I am your neighbor—the Lord of Youzhou. Previously you frequently raided southward; this time I returned northward, and of course I hope for future peaceful coexistence. So, after much thought, I won't this time request all the royal clan to come to Youzhou as guests—after all, Eastern Xianbei cannot be without a lord. Today, I declare here that from now on, the second prince Bu Meng shall officially become the king of Liaodong Xianbei!"

Upon saying this, his own people were shocked, while the Xianbei people were numb.

Wei Shen: ……Another such wicked idea? How did you come up with this! ？

Seeing everyone had little reaction, Da Wang himself led the applause: "King Bu Meng, you must work hard from now on!"

Bu Meng was also dazed.

Hearing Da Wang call his name, he instinctively felt this was a trap—this guy could do nothing good!

But……being king really is a good thing.

Da Wang's shadow over him was so great that he couldn't even think of what trap might be here.

Still, he habitually opened his mouth to curse Da Wang for ill intentions—just then Ling Yin looked at him expressionlessly, then switched her sword to one hand……Bu Meng suddenly woke up!

If he speaks wrongly again, besides being beaten again, it serves no practical purpose.

……He might even lose the chance to be king.

Become like his father—captured and sent south as a prisoner.

Having realized this, he calmed down.

Seeing Bu Meng choose silence and obedience, Da Wang was very pleased.

"Better to choose the day than to wait for it—I declare today an auspicious day. Cousin, you hand over the military seal of Liaodong Xianbei to Bu Meng—from this moment on, Bu Meng is the new king of Liaodong Xianbei."

Wei Shen: ……

He wore a resentful expression as he flung the seal at Bu Meng. Truly annoying—I had originally planned to keep it as a war trophy.

When Bu Meng received it, Wei Shen actually saw a hint……of joy? on his face.

At that moment, Wei Shen knew Da Wang's little trick had succeeded.

………………New Chapter………………

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On the day Da Wang withdrew his troops, the royal capital was extremely quiet; one could say it was filled with a deathly stillness.

After seeing the decisive battlefield west of the city, even the commoners who still had their freedom lost the will to resist. The once-arrogant steppe cavalry, facing the Youzhou cavalry, completely lost their sense of superiority; they even feared to meet their gaze, let alone attempt to rescue the captives.

The news that the Youzhou cavalry had taken the city in one assault with zero casualties had already spread within the city, and their morale was gone. This kind of battle cannot be fought—it's not just about not fearing death, but merely a matter of how many more will die.

No one is unafraid of death; now they are terrified that a poor attitude will give the Youwang an opportunity to slaughter them.

After all, when they invaded southward, they killed no few commoners.

Forty thousand captives walked in the front, with cavalry driving them from behind and cavalry on both sides pinning them in the middle; the cavalry formed a concave shape, enclosing them in the center.

They walked quickly, after all, moving slower might mean being trampled under the warhorses' hooves directly.

Da Wang and the Eagle Riders were in the middle; the supply train behind had an important task, and a temporary cavalry unit was dispatched to help.

Not only were they dragging supplies, but also tens of thousands of all living warhorses, and furthermore, countless cattle and sheep. At the very rear was another cavalry unit bringing up the rear, responsible for driving them forward.

When Da Wang came, he had ten thousand light cavalry; returning, the troop numbers had increased four or five times over, and they also brought along a herd of live livestock.

Wei Shen thought of the Second Prince's pitiful state as he left the city still laughing, "How dare he bring it up? Exchanging a million taels in IOUs for his mother and maternal family? He was even given the tiger tally, yet he never dared dream of doing something big, like snatching people back?"

Da Wang, however, thought it might not be unwillingness: "Besides the dead, the remaining decent troops in the royal capital's garrison were all picked out by us; what's left are the old, weak, and disabled—what waves could they possibly make? Perhaps they've already decided to lie low and bide their time, planning to seek revenge later. After all, there are still many people outside the royal capital."

Wei Shen pondered, then chuckled, "I truly hope that the Crown Prince can survive and lead the remnants back to Dongxianbei—then it'll be lively. The Second Prince first took that position, but he's a bare king. No soldiers, no supporters—the nobles who backed the royal family were all wiped out, leaving him with only the tiger tally and the throne. The most infuriating part is, this king was put on the throne by you, the invader! When the eldest returns and takes charge, with even a little military power in hand, these two brothers will have to fight it out without anything else. Oh, and his mother was also taken away! Hahaha, Da Wang, your little brain works quite well!"

Da Wang also felt his sudden inspiration was excellent, and that little neck of his perked up again.

"That's not it!... If I were Bu Meng, I'd seize the time to go to other unaffected tribes to conscript troops; otherwise, when the eldest returns, he's done. If conscription is swift enough, it could prolong things a bit—this kind of plot is exactly what I love to watch."

Wei Shen thought it over, and this really is a good idea.

When there's no time to attend to Dongxianbei, letting them stir up trouble on their own would be great.

The return speed couldn't pick up; with forty thousand captives, the Black Wind Horses couldn't run.

Da Wang felt much more at ease; he only needed to guard against the Xixianbei or other Dongxianbei tribes raiding? Though the possibility isn't high.

His attention returned to Youzhou; when idle, he'd pull out the full terrain map to study.

When there was nothing else, he'd slip out of the ranks to hunt game; not counting the heavenly hunter this one, on the steppe, Da Wang could personally chase down several rabbits each day, also counting as a change of pace.

Driving the captives southward from the royal capital all the way, it was indeed quite high-profile; those who should know, did know, and Da Wang, idling, just hoped someone would come to rob him and snatch the captives.

Unfortunately, whether it was the neighboring Xixianbei or other tribes within Dongxianbei territory, not a single one made a move; Da Wang just swaggered all the way back to Youzhou smoothly.

That day, just a glimmer of light appeared on the horizon, and they finally saw Zhi Yan Mountain in the distance; Da Wang hurriedly sent someone back to report.

He and Wei Shen shared a tent every day, yet he hadn't really gone to see Zhuti.

Although he knew Zhuti would proactively seek him out if there were important news from the northwest, Da Wang still felt uneasy; fortunately, he had finally made it home.

Thus, he finally believed the Dongxianbei Crown Prince hadn't heard of his northern expedition. Otherwise, it would be hard to understand why Dongxianbei, in this situation, would still follow the allied army to snatch heads—after all, their homes had been stolen. The northwest battlefield truly had its rewards, but it wasn't Dongxianbei's turn to be the first to reap them.

The bald-haired Xianbei and Xiongnu who occupied the city...

Da Wang thought about this mess and got a headache; these people had no news at all—could it be they're still in a standoff?

Obviously, Da Wang, who loves to say nothing and just start fighting, couldn't understand how a war could drag on this long without a result.

Early that morning, several black-armored cavalry charged into Youzhou City; passersby on the road stopped to recognize them.

That cavalry unit shouted: "Great victory in the northern campaign! His Highness the Youwang has won great victory in the northern campaign!"

"Great victory in the northern campaign! The main army returns to the city this afternoon!"

They shouted all the way, charging into the northern gate of the Youwang's mansion; the city's commoners were dazed for a moment before finally reacting—had the northern campaign against the Xianbei won?

Not long after, the entire city came alive!

Some Youzhou commoners who had previously been taken away escaped back, saying the Youwang had killed into their settlement without much effort, and everyone had been happy for a few days, but after all, that was merely a tribe, not a royal capital claiming hundreds of thousands of troops.

Recently, it's been a long time since any Jin people returned southward; the hearts of Youzhou commoners have risen again.

Da Wang just brought ten thousand cavalry; at best, could they fight against hundreds of thousands?

At least half of the ten thousand cavalry were Youzhou natives; recently, the entire Youzhou atmosphere had been very low.

Now it's good—great victory!

Everyone spread the news; fortunately, there was plenty of time, still more than half a day left, and those who had heard put down their tasks and rushed toward the north gate.

They should go greet the triumphant army!

Going early, perhaps they could snag a good spot.

The cavalry charged into the Youwang's mansion to report; the master had returned, and the entire mansion sprang into action; the messenger brought out a handwritten letter from Da Wang and gave it to Zhuti.

Have her release the forced laborers from the two mines to send to Liaodong Commandery to join the army—he had captured them for free.

The remaining several ten thousand can only reclaim wasteland; let her first think about food and shelter.

Da Wang had no idea of the capacity of the refugee village, so he directly dumped this mess onto the Omnipotent Grand Steward.