Chapter 293: Stopping Night Cries

After capturing Wuwei and beheading the chief commander, they took over ten thousand prisoners; the corpses of the dead Xiongnu piled up the streets near the city gate.

The Great King ordered that the bodies be uniformly transported outside the city to dig pits, burn and bury them. While the soldiers were moving the corpses, the surviving residents of Wuwei finally poked their heads out to see what was happening outside. Seeing this, the soldiers amiably told them, 'Wuwei has been taken back by the You King; from now on it will be incorporated into his domain together with Bingzhou.'

The You King said, 'I don't care how Chang'an is, but here in my territory Liangzhou and Youzhou are the same—both are land of the Great Jin, and there is absolutely no justification for ceding it to the Xiongnu.'

The You King said, 'The people of the Great Jin's land will not become slaves of the Xiongnu; only the Xiongnu will be our slaves!'

Yes, from now on Liangzhou will follow Youzhou's rules. As long as everyone works hard, they won't starve, and they can still restore their previous way of life.

Tang Qian is now extremely interested in the Great King; he's been following him step by step, right behind his back, and he heard the whole thing. He couldn't help but ask, 'Can saying it so directly actually work?'

The Great King, hands behind his back, took small steps with an air of full confidence, looking very experienced: 'We cannot keep the people ignorant; we must explain things clearly to them, and over time they will be able to tell right from wrong.'

As soon as the Great King finished speaking, a Wuwei resident asked the soldiers, 'Now that we belong to Youzhou, will taxes be increased?' That's what the people care about most.

What if the nobles of Youzhou turn out to be even more ruthless than Chang'an and the Xiongnu? That would be jumping out of the wolf's den straight into the tiger's mouth!

No, no, the You King is the best person in the world! Don't look at how he spent a lot of silver marching all the way from Youzhou—he won't put this bill on the people's heads; he'll charge it to the Xiongnu, so everyone can relax. Upon hearing this, Wei Shen immediately interjected.

Once our Youzhou officials formally take over all of Liangzhou, we will issue new policies. For example, since this year's farming season has been delayed, His Highness will issue a pardon policy according to the actual situation.

The defenders of Yumen Pass were mostly Liangzhou people; hearing the familiar accent of the busy soldiers, the residents thought that being under the You King was far better than being slaves of the Xiongnu.

As for how the You King and Chang'an will get along in the future, or whether it's legitimate, they currently have no mind to worry about it.

An old man heard that, aside from following the You King on a long march from Youzhou, the rest were the garrison of Yumen Pass; they had defied the court's orders and followed the You King to rescue the people of the northern lands, voluntarily coming out to help the soldiers with work. Once someone took the lead, other men also followed to help.

The Xiongnu who had enslaved them turned into corpses, and they were happier than anyone.

The Great King ordered people to dig a huge pit in a wasteland outside the city, then dump all the Xiongnu corpses into it and set them on fire.

Outside, the area was filled with bold civilians who had come to watch; the Great King specially had people leave them an open space.

Soon the whole city's upper air was filled with the foul smell of burning protein, and the onlookers had varied expressions. But there was one consensus: the You King is a ruthless person.

In the Great Jin, posthumous cremation can be ranked alongside digging up ancestral graves and whipping corpses.

Cremation is a rather extreme means of revenge and punishment.

Now the You King burned thirty thousand Xiongnu in broad daylight; black smoke shot up to the sky, and the Wuwei residents felt both delighted and terrified, trembling with fear.

This You King is a ruthless fellow!

The ruthless Great King still held up his little face together with the Owl Cavalry in the crowd; having been educated under the white poplar, he felt that his actions were full of humanitarian concern and environmental responsibility.

It not only lets the enemies rest in peace underground, but also avoids the environmental pollution caused by openly dumping corpses. With so many dead at once, and the weather now so hot, causing an epidemic would be more trouble than it's worth.

The Great King thought this move was quite particular, completely unaware that, as the story spreads, he will later have the power to stop children's night crying in Liangzhou.

The Great King had no time to linger in Wuwei; he sent troops to sweep the city clean, confirming that the Xiongnu had been thoroughly cleared out, and the interior was now under martial law awaiting military administration, just like Bingzhou.

That same day they took over the prefect's office, and the Great King seized the Xiongnu's property.

Once the supply battalion and the infantry of Yumen Pass arrived and someone had taken charge of Wuwei, the cavalry packed up camp and left Wuwei to continue westward.

Tang Qian is now firmly sticking with the Great King; Wei Shen always feels his attitude has changed a bit.

He whispered this to the Great King, who didn't mind, saying, 'He's actually not the sort of careless general like my third uncle; outwardly he looks tough and stubborn, but inside he's meticulous and good at weighing pros and cons. When we attacked Wuwei together, for the sake of Xue San and Xue Si, he would also join us. I am his best choice.'

Yo~ so confident, Wei Taiping~

That's right!

Wei Shen pondered a moment and suddenly realized, 'Could it be that he's not leaving Hanyang because he's picking out wood to perch on?!'

The Great King didn't understand, 'What wood to choose?'

That's it—'A wise bird chooses the right branch to perch on!'

The Great King was shocked··JPG

He ran into a bigger underachiever than the Great King himself!

'……A good bird chooses a tree to roost in. Cousin, your teacher should have changed pretty quickly too, right?'

'Hahaha~ No! I've let you down. Just because I'm surnamed Wei, the Changzhou Academy wouldn't dare not want me; I'm just too lazy to go.'

Great King: ……

Tang Qian's staying in Hanyang surely has its reasons; he has objections to the court, or rather to the peace talks led by Bai Li Jin. That actually doesn't matter—now that Tang Qian has chosen him, it's fine as long as he doesn't waver among the various factions; the Great King doesn't mind treating him as one of his own.

The main force left Wuwei, and the Great King left behind here two hundred men of the supply battalion and Tang Qian's five thousand infantry.

Wuwei's martial law also needs people to guard it, doesn't it!

Setting out westward again, the Great King kept the route as close as possible to the border between Liangzhou and the Baiqiang, and along the way they would inquire about news of the Wei family's southwestern army. That day, upon reaching a strategic mountain pass, the Great King personally went to inquire of the nearby herdsmen while resting.

Seeing a unit of armored cavalry galloping toward them, the herdsman tending sheep turned his head and drove the flock away to avoid them.

'Huh? Looks like they don't want to deal with us.' Wei Shen sighed.

'Cousin, do you want to eat mutton?'

'Yes. Although this place is near the border, seeing his attire he's a Jin person from Liangzhou; have you finally become so hungry you'd lay hands on the civilians?'

The Great King spoke solemnly and righteously, 'Nonsense! I'm not that kind of person!'

Though he said that, the Great King had already set up the Sun‑shooting Bow; an arrow flew out and successfully pierced a fat sheep on it.

The burly herdsman uncle who was grazing livestock in the lawless borderlands grabbed his whip and turned back, saying, 'Don't think that just because you're wearing official uniforms you can scare me! No matter who you are, you must compensate me for my sheep today!'

The Great King blinked his eyes, looking utterly innocent and pure, and said loudly, 'Alright! I'll buy that one—name your price!'

Then he lowered his voice and gestured to Wei Shen, 'How's it going? Did the person come back?'

Wei Shen: ……

'Remember, don't use this trick in our Changzhou, or you'll easily get beaten.'