Chapter 155

Now, he had also earned the credit for annihilating the vanguard army, which was no worse than Old Old Dian's.

"Haha! So that's how it is!"

Huang Zhong and the others laughed after hearing this.

Although they sympathized with Xu Chu, they understood the Lord's reason for doing so.

It was to give the Black Tortoise Battalion a chance to earn merit!

Heavy infantry certainly couldn't compare to cavalry in terms of speed.

Of course, they felt the Lord also intended to train the heavy infantry in gaining combat experience.

At the same time,

on Tian Feng's side,

having received Su Xuan's order, he rushed to Dengxian at top speed and met Su Lie, Gao Shun, and the others.

After explaining the situation,

Gao Shun said without hesitation: "Then there is no time to lose. We will lead the army out now, take Gaoyang by surprise, and then come back to take the other cities."

As he spoke, Gao Shun looked at Xia Xia Houlan: "Zijie (Xia Xia Houlan's courtesy name), you lead 500 soldiers to assist the old gentleman in guarding Dengxian. No matter what, do not leave the city to engage the enemy. You must guard Dengxian well, understand?"

"Understood!"

Xia Xia Houlan immediately took the order solemnly.

He also understood that protecting the safety of Dengxian was more important than anything else, so he naturally wouldn't be impulsive.

Besides, he felt that with the Lord and the others in front and Gao Shun in the rear, it was unlikely any enemy troops would come to Dengxian.

Of course, it was better to be safe than sorry, so staying behind was still very necessary.

Anyway, the garrison could also earn merit, so he didn't mind.

"Hmm!"

Gao Shun had spent some time with Xia Xia Houlan and knew he wasn't an impulsive person. He nodded in satisfaction, then cupped his hands to Su Lie: "Old gentleman! I leave this place to you. This general is leaving!"

"Good! Go with peace of mind!"

Su Lie smiled and nodded: "Dengxian will be fine! Helping Su Boyuan pacify Zhao Ci's rebellion this morning is the most important thing."

He estimated that after this, his son would likely be promoted again.

Going to the imperial court was basically impossible.

The Lord Yuan clan and He Jin wouldn't be happy to see it, and the Son of Heaven wouldn't either.

It was highly probable that Su Xuan's title and military rank would be raised.

But that was enough.

His eldest son was already a Marquis of a Township; one more step, and he would be a Marquis of a County.

This was already the highest title for someone not of the Liu clan.

Above that, there were only Dukes and Princes of a Commandery.

That was completely impossible for the time being.

The title of Duke had long been abolished.

The title of Prince was strictly reserved for the Liu clan.

"Understood!"

Gao Shun cupped his hands and looked at Tian Feng: "Mr. Tian, let's set off!"

"Good!"

Tian Feng nodded.

Soon, he followed Gao Shun as he led 2, 00 county soldiers out of the East Gate, accelerating toward Gaoyang.

Several hours later,

Gao Shun took Gaoyang by surprise and captured it without any effort, obtaining a large amount of grain, fodder, and supplies.

After all, this was the transit station where Zhao Ci had stockpiled grain.

Because taking Wancheng had been too smooth, he hadn't had time to transport the grain away.

There were over 200, 00 shi, all plundered from Jiangxia.

It all went to Gao Shun.

Afterward, Gao Shun left hundreds of soldiers to guard the captives and grain, and after sending letters to Dengxian and the Lord, he set off again to kill toward Suixian and then into Jiangxia.

On Su Xuan's side, thanks to the golden eagle message, he received the good news from Gao Shun in just over ten minutes.

"Ho! Boping is fast! He's already taken Gaoyang!"

"He's already set off to attack Suixian and even Jiangxia!"

Su Xuan was delighted after reading the secret letter.

Realizing that Gao Shun lacked troops, he immediately summoned Old Dian Wei and ordered: "Old Dian Wei, have Zhou Cang lead 2, 00 Black Tortoise Battalion soldiers to stay and guard Xinye and watch the captives."

"You immediately lead the remaining 4, 00 Black Tortoise Battalion soldiers to Gaoyang, leave 500 soldiers there to help guard the captives and protect the money and grain."

"Afterward, continue to lead your troops to catch up with Gao Shun's army and work with him to annihilate the remnants of Zhao Ci's army in Jiangxia Commandery and recover the commandery."

"Understood!"

Old Dian Wei immediately cupped his hands and took the order.

"Right!"

At this moment, Su Xuan stopped him, beckoned to Taishi Ci not far away, and ordered: "Ziyi, you go with Old Dian Wei."

"Understood!"

Taishi Ci immediately accepted the order happily.

Recovering Jiangxia was also a great merit!

Not a loss!

Soon, Old Dian Wei hurriedly reorganized his troops, packed up, and set off.

"Lord, how should we deal with these captives?"

Huang Zhong walked over and asked.

Excluding those killed and the small number who escaped, there were over 30, 00 captives from the ambush and over 2, 00 in Xinye City.

If not handled properly, it would cause big problems.

Su Xuan replied immediately: "Send them all to Nanjun, reorganize them into engineering teams; repairing bridges, paving roads, reclaiming wasteland, and even mining are all excellent uses."

"We are currently short of people for construction!"

"Paying people every month is a significant expense; this time, we can just use these people as free labor."

"Of course!"

Su Xuan paused and added: "When they work, they must not be overworked, and three meals a day must be guaranteed. They cannot be treated as consumables; after all, they are Han people."

"If they were Hu Ren, we wouldn't need to care."

"In addition, we must formulate reward and punishment measures to improve their work enthusiasm and give them some hope."

"For example, those who perform well can eat better and have meat."

"Give them a daily performance score; if they accumulate a certain score, they can be pardoned for their crimes and set free... and so on."

"This needs to be carefully thought out and compiled."

Then, Su Xuan looked at Cheng Yu: "Zhongde, I leave this matter to you!"

"Have Zhou Cang assist you!"

"Besides here, there is a batch in Gaoyang, and there are over 200, 00 shi of grain there. You should also inventory them and have them transported back to Nanjun for me!"

"Try to be as fast as possible, don't delay too long, and don't be too blatant, so as not to have our bottom line exposed and cause unnecessary trouble later."

This money and grain were all plundered by Zhao Ci from Jiangxia and other places.

If they were transported blatantly and the amount was found out,

what if they wanted to demand it back?

Su Xuan could certainly refuse, as these were war spoils.

But he feared they would report it to the Son of Heaven.

The Son of Heaven had been so poor that he was going crazy trying to rebuild the Southern Palace over the past two years, collecting money everywhere, only taking in and never paying out.

If he found out, was it possible that Su Xuan wouldn't have to hand over the majority?

— Author's Notes —

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