Chapter 710
Main text.
Xie Yuan was fiercely stimulated by the king's letter, only reacting half a beat later—what? They captured the Xiongnu royal city?!
The biggest threat on the northern grasslands, and they just took it down?!
Wasn't the plan just to drive the enemy away? This is chasing them back to their home?
He read those few short lines back and forth twice before handing them to Xu Taifu.
The two big shots tacitly turned around and headed back—what's with clocking out? They've already got half of the Xiongnu in hand!
Excitement flowed between them; Xie Yuan stayed silent for a long time, then upon entering he suddenly said, "As long as one doesn't study, it seems anything can be done well…"
Xu Taifu: ……
Who says it isn't!
Upon receiving the news, Shuofang Pass hurriedly sent people following the cavalry's traces to the Xiongnu royal city; they set out half a month after the king, and when they arrived, the king had already put the city in order.
The people were divided into piles, pile after pile.
One small pile stayed to develop the grasslands, a large pile was taken back to Yunzhong to open up wasteland; the nobles' property that couldn't be taken was confiscated outright, and portable goods were divided cleanly as spoils.
The king even plowed the Gudulun Mountain behind the royal city once over. He's not just plucking feathers from a passing goose—he's digging three feet into the earth.
The deputy commander of Shuofang Pass brought a full ten thousand troops; any fewer and they'd risk loss. This is why the king previously had no mind to campaign on the grasslands.
Poor and hard to govern.
Bland to eat, a pity to discard.
The king now also dislikes them, but the other side provoked him again, and he's too lazy to constantly play defensive games with the grasslands. He once complained to Wei Shen: "……When I liked fighting them! Who let them be unruly, their eyes fell into the Central Plains and couldn't be pulled back! Whenever there's a rustle in the wind in the Great Jin, they reach out; at the slightest difficulty they reach out too—having to guard against them all the time is really annoying!"
Wei Shen: "Who to blame? Your father spoiled them. In disaster years we give relief, at the slightest border disturbance we send them silver, and the army isn't up to snuff—people have grown accustomed to treating the Great Jin like a bank."
The king heartily agreed, loudly repeating: "It's all my father's fault!"
Wei Shen: ……
You're passing the buck to your father, so practiced you don't even hesitate!
Shuofang Pass's deputy commander Shi Cheng arrived dusty and weary; even before entering the Xiongnu royal city he smelled the blood-soaked air. Relying on the cold weather, the king simply left the corpses lying there, determined to leave a deep impression in the Xiongnu's hearts.
He feared the survivors would soon forget this scene; best to have it lodge deep in their souls so they'd never dare harbor other thoughts for the rest of their lives.
In the survivors' hearts, the king is no longer some little emperor of the southern Jin court; once the mask is on, he's a demonic rakshasa straight from hell.
When Shi Cheng saw the king, even if the king smiled warmly, what flashed in his mind was the outside mountain of corpses and sea of blood. This man is truly formidable, mismatched with his age.
This is the Xiongnu, possessing brave grassland cavalry, the greatest threat on the northern frontier—yet it took not three or five years, but merely a little over a month… and they just took it down like that?!
The king had him rise and offered a seat; he hesitated a bit, wondering, "He… he… he dares to sit?"
Or perhaps it was Wei Shen giving him a strange look that finally brought him back to himself.
Baili Hu beside them rolled his eyes—this guy isn't too bright either; the three fat ones pick generals based solely on martial skill, right?
As soon as the person in charge arrived, the king issued the
It was clearly stated that everything south of the Gudulun Mountains now belongs to the Great Jin, and any herdsmen living on this land must obey Great Jin law and come under its administration; at the same time they also receive protection from the Great Jin army. The promise was that as long as they honestly herd horses and sheep and live well, things would remain as they were before.
Previously the Xiongnu might not have thought much of being protected by the Great Jin army, but from now on they'll have to weigh it seriously.
The king named this Xiongnu territory Mònán Commandery; Shi Cheng's first task was a household registration census. The city's population was quickly replaced with people from Shuofang Pass; the king showed no intention of leaving, a move that Wei Shen and Baili Hu didn't understand, only Bai Ze knew what he was waiting for.
On the third day after Shi Cheng's arrival, the city had fully taken over, and people had already been sent to survey household registration in the surrounding tribes; the king finally saw a new update on the panel.
He rubbed his palms together, extremely excited: "Finally here! As I said, with the precedent of Qingyu Commandery, Mengmeng wouldn't be completely inactive. I've already expanded the territory—hahaha!" He began to smugly gloat belatedly.
【Confetti! Congratulations, my lord, on occupying the new territory—confirm whether to claim it as your new territory? Yes/No】
The king eagerly clicked 'Yes'.
【Please, my lord, give the new territory a name: －－－】
The king filled in the three characters "Mònán Commandery" he had lazily come up with; as soon as he put pen to paper, those three characters turned into shining gold clerical script, slightly better than his own chicken scratch… just a bit.
He added that the king doesn't admit it.
【Congratulations, my lord, on conquering the new territory—Mònán Commandery. Now issuing main quest four: Obtain as soon as possible the new territory's Mònán Commandery map, terrain, population, etc. data.
Note: The area within a hundred li around the lord is the effective range for automatic data collection. (Progress: 81%)
Quest reward: Mònán Commandery 3D full terrain map ×1; Mònán Commandery basic city construction ×1;
Quest penalty: none.
Quest time limit: 60 days.】
The king saw that it was already eighty percent complete; he was very pleased with the leisurely route they'd taken all along, strolling around. "If we head back and loop eastward before going to the Tufa Xianbei, maybe this map will be fully gathered!"
The corners of his mouth cranked up wildly; he's practiced at grinding side quests, indeed;
【Side quest three: Upload the Mònán Commandery household register.
Quest reward: B‑level spin‑draw ×3;
Quest penalty: none.
Quest time limit: 60 days.】
The king was displeased: "Qingyu Commandery gave two spin‑draws back then; Mònán Commandery is such a tough bone, such a huge territory, and you only added one? Mengmeng, do you not love me anymore?"
He had actually drawn the Grand Marshal Dong Fu back then!
Grand Marshal Dong is so useful—versed in both civil and military affairs!
Too bad he just sits there complaining about the panel, unmoving; the king's anger is wasted. Now the territory is vast, with scattered nomadic tribes everywhere, he still needs time to do the household registration, and he can't get any of the rewards right now—this guy can only feast his eyes on them.
But this doesn't stop him from feeding Shi Cheng empty promises.
"You just do a good job here; in a month I'll send Envoy Zhetian to collect the household register. The court will also promptly discuss policies for Mònán; until then you'll oversee all Mònán affairs. I know being stationed here is tougher than at Shuofang Pass, but it's only temporary—hold on, hold on, and I'll go back to raise some funds to find you work."
The king, merely delegating authority without worrying about provisions, thought it over and then mysteriously whispered: "……Just build works on the scale of Shuofang Pass, provide rations, and then you'll lead these brothers to do it—got it?"
Stationed in the wasteland that the Great King had scraped clean, Shi Cheng, whose face was full of worry, immediately had his eyes light up!
Seeing him like that, the Great King rubbed his conscience… Hmm, where is it?
Wuwu, the poor don't deserve to have a conscience!
End of Chapter
