Chapter 540: For the Sake of Dried Fish

Wei Shen's long saber turned in an arc, the blade directly chopping at Yu Kuang's spear; Yu Kuang's tiger mouth went numb from the shock, with a "Crack!", the spear snapped.

Having already known the Northern Border's weapon-forging level, Yu Kuang's hand was already numb. He immediately discarded the spear and drew the saber at his waist.

Saber to saber, this time Wei Shen didn't simply cut him down with one strike.

He still had the leisure to chuckle, "Let you see the power of our Northern Border, don't dream, you Jiangxia folks, you'll never have a chance in this lifetime! Oh right, I'm Wei Shen, the young lord of Changzhou! If you're still alive after today, remember to detour when you meet our Northern Border cavalry in the future~"

Yu Kuang: "Heh, turns out you're from the Southwest Wei Clan."

His cousin thought, besides the Northern Border's good weapons and superb body-tempering technique, their swordsmanship is also quite impressive. Being able to command 300,000 troops already makes him a general; he planned to show off a move for the old man to see. Who knew his two moves didn't stab Yu Kuang to death; Xiao Jin tacitly accepted him, not, okay?

Looks like the opponent is a strong enemy, ah, so it's up to little golden to make a move?

The battle was one-sided; Wei Shen was fiercely fighting the old man when the golden mythical beast suddenly leapt up from beside him! This leap was really high, a mass of golden light like a weight smashing toward Yu Kuang's warhorse!

This time it wasn't a playful smash with Wei Shen; everyone saw that this fight had blood and deaths, it was real—this smash directly knocked over the tall warhorse, the horse convulsed once and then died……

Yu Kuang rolled to the ground; before he could get up, he was stepped on by a warhorse of his own guards……

Wei Shen: ……

Xiao Jin saw the horse was dead but the person wasn't, and immediately went over to finish him off; Wei Shen hurriedly shouted to stop this ancestor: "…Xiao Jin, rest a moment! Such a high official, keeping his breath is useful!"

Only then did Xiao Jin stop; this guy looked at Wei Shen with his nose in the air, full of contempt. Look, it's still me!

Wei Shen: "……What to do, he seems to have understood this rice bucket's gaze?"

Angry.

Dusk clouds pressed down, the weather hot, the blood on the Five Passes Plain grassland dried quickly.

The Northern Border army quickly roughly settled the battlefield, the living in piles, the dead in piles, weapons tossed in a pile. The king was fairly satisfied with this battle's losses, the opposing main force surrendered quite quickly, casualty numbers were under control.

You should know that these days he keeps dreaming of the eight big characters flashing back and forth: "Internal consumption, population halved."

The Northern Border's old rule is to bury and burn all battle dead in pits to prevent plague. This time it's different: those who died on the Five Passes Plain are not foreign tribes, nor the bandit scoundrels of Pengcheng, but subjects of the Bai Li Clan, people of Jin forcibly conscripted. In this day and age, cremating corpses is an atrocity hard to describe; the Jin people value after‑death affairs greatly.

The king sighed, "Do our best to treat the wounded; see if anyone claims the dead, if not, bury them uniformly, dig the pits deeper, bury deep."

The king thought it over and decided not to rush to Chang'an; after settling things here, attacking Chang'an would not be without advantage.

"Hmph! Let the good royal uncle prepare a couple more days!"

Most of the 300,000 people on the Five Passes Plain are still alive; the king said returning to their native lands isn't happening now. Now we disperse them; the neighboring Chang'an can pick them up in minutes to defend Chang'an—this isn't aiding the enemy, right?

Asked, they all turned out to be from villages, towns, districts and counties around Chang'an; not dispersing them still means feeding them, and the king, poor as he is, began to feel gloomy. He gazed up at a forty‑five degree angle, heartbroken: "Deceiving Bai Li Jun over that bit of grain, the destination was found so quickly……"

Lowering his head to look at the collected broken copper and rotten iron weapons: "The iron is thin, the copper impure, it probably isn't worth any money, ah!"

The spoils aren't worth money, but he still has to manage the meals. This time's captives are all Jin people; the king can't just wash his hands of them. Though human joy and sorrow aren't shared, the captives nevertheless think today is a good day, ah!

To them, it doesn't matter which Bai Li lord rules the world—winning or losing is irrelevant; as long as they can survive and go home. They originally thought they'd have to bury their bones on the Five Passes Plain today, but who knew that by evening things would take a turn—the Northern Border king actually is a meticulous person; he doesn't abuse prisoners, he even feeds them!

In this day and age, how long has it been since they last ate such thick porridge, and there's even dried fish to go with it—can you believe it?!

The Northern Border cavalry are also too happy, hearing that the combat units eat even better!

What is dried fish? Seafood delicacy! In the Chang'an area, only the rich can afford to eat it!

Wu San received a bowl of thick porridge and two pieces of baked, crispy fish strips; one bite was salty and fragrant, with oil added, he ate until tears streamed down his face: "I don't want to leave; I want to fight for the Northern Border king!"

"If I could eat dried fish every day, I'd also be willing to follow him!"

The king who inspected the prisoner camp: ……

Good news, the people's hearts are with me.

Bad news, for the sake of dried fish.