Chapter 1039

Snake Staff Old Man ran away again.

Although this result made Xu Zengyi somewhat hard to accept, he could only accept it.

He accepted Cao Lin's explanation; perhaps these gutter bugs, having run many times, indeed developed keen intuition. However, he also did not relax his scrutiny of those around him.

This matter will only have these two possibilities, no others.

Either the Snake Staff Old Man's judgment is truly precise, or there are nails buried around him, and how they will fight this battle was already laid out on his desk early on.

But suspicion is suspicion; the latter possibility is not great for Xu Zengyi.

If the Snake Staff Old Man really knew early on that he would flood Yanzhou, as a close aide of the Wise King, he should not fight this way, nor would he likely sacrifice so much to break off and survive.

The strategic stronghold of Yanzhou in Nan Jun was fully incorporated into Chen Wuji's strategic map; over the next two days, Xu Zengyi dispatched various troops and the surrendered soldiers under Cao Lin, moving all townspeople out of the city and registering on the spot those willing to relocate to Qiang Land.

Transfer, resettlement, migration—all done in one go.

This is a massive undertaking, but under Xu Zengyi's internal affairs expertise, there was no chaos; everything proceeded orderly and smoothly.

……

The victory report from Yanzhou reached Chen Wuji's hands; it was already three days later.

This day also happened to be the final deadline Chen Wuji set for the Uyghur King.

Perhaps Li Qichen's arm played a part; the Uyghur King agreed to all conditions and consented to the handover at the place Chen Wuji demanded, exchanging goods for people.

His only point was that the timing was too rushed; they could at earliest deliver everything tomorrow, hoping Chen Wuji would grant a one-day extension.

Chen Wuji agreed!

They readily accepted all conditions, only delaying a day; this face must be given.

Chen Wuji had just sent off the Uyghur envoy when Chen Li entered with the Yanzhou victory report.

"Family Head, great victory at Yanzhou!"

Chen Wuji's eyebrows shot up: "Tell me quickly how it was fought! I already knew we would surely win at Yanzhou, but the feeling of actually hearing the victory is still somewhat different."

Xu Zengyi led multiple troops advancing together, his followers gathering over seventy percent of his commanders; with this scale, if he lost this battle, he would probably have no need to further ponder conquering the world—he could simply hunker down in Nan Jun as a local emperor.

"Mr. Xu feigned dividing troops to suppress the Guiling bandits, secretly sending Chen Wu Yin to draw the Luo River southward to flood Yanzhou. Originally fighting separately, Li Yu and Cao Lin were forced to re-ally, jointly defending Yanzhou; Cao Lin defected, taking the opportunity to annihilate Li Yu's forces and the Uyghur People, then surrendered to our army!" Chen Li said.

Chen Wuji stared, stunned, then after a while digested this repeatedly overturned victory report: "This battle was full of surprises everywhere."

"Indeed." Chen Li smiled.

"The Guiling bandits probably never imagined they'd be given such face, letting our army abandon Cao Lin and Li Yu's two armies to focus on suppressing them."

"Li Yu and Cao Lin allied at the brink of battle; Li Yu probably never imagined they'd come to such a pass, yet Cao Lin still cared about preserving his and the Uyghur People's lives."

"Mr. Xu should be the most surprised. Our supposedly flawless Mr. Xu surely didn't anticipate Cao Lin's surrender—this person… frankly, is rather abnormal."

Chen Wuji took a sip of long-cold tea: "Old Xu, any other instructions?"

"Mr. Xu has no instructions; instead he asked the lord how to place Cao Lin and his troops." Chen Li gave a wry smile, knowing what Chen Wuji meant, and Xu Zengyi knew as well.

Chen Wuji chuckled: "This really has become a problem."

Cao Lin's troops are easy to handle; the difficulty is Cao Lin himself.

Since they surrendered voluntarily, he cannot just toss them into a corner to fend for themselves.

But this person, Chen Wuji feels genuine apprehension using him.

His scheming is too damn deep.

Among the four commanders of the Court Army marching south, this guy remained remarkably calm, laughing to the end.

Many things previously unclear are now completely clear at a glance.

Upon the Court Army's initial entry into Nanyue Jun, Liu Yan, Li Yu, and Gao Yu hastily began their own schemes, only Cao Lin remained motionless, steady as Mount Tai.

Later Liu Yan fell at Shenxian Ling, and Li Yu and Gao Yu then erupted into conflict.

Those two fought to the death; turning around, Yanzhou City belonged to Cao Lin.

He quietly completed all arrangements, sending them all outside the city.

After relying on the city, Cao Lin began his "dog-walking" war, daily sparring with Li Yu but never exerting full force, giving the impression "I know you're angry, so I'll play along, but I actually don't take you seriously."

In fact, it seems he truly didn't regard Li Yu, the Snake Staff Old Man, and the Uyghur People as anything. When the flood came, he cleverly used Li Yu and the Uyghur People's heads to effect his surrender.

What Cao Lin gained, Chen Wuji does not know, nor is he certain.

But after all that going around, he actually suffered no loss.

"Family Head, this person should be used, but we must separate his troops." Chen Li suddenly said, "The Family Head is currently focused on gaining fame; if we neglect those who achieved great merit and surrendered, even… our future battles will likely be hard to fight."

Some things Chen Li didn't say outright, but Chen Wuji understood his meaning.

He leaned back in his chair, lazily saying: "I won't kill him!"

"I still weigh this matter. He didn't just surrender the city; he also annihilated thousands of Li Yu's and the Uyghur People's troops—this is a great merit."

Seeing this, Chen Li finally relaxed a bit and voiced his idea: "Why not give him a small force, but raise his office—title with less authority."

"As for his subordinates, select the elite to send to Hezhou New Soldier Camp for several months of training; the remaining injured, elderly, and weak shall be relocated to Qiang Land to settle and farm. Court soldiers should find it hard to refuse the benefits of our farming."

Chen Wuji nodded: "Shi Yi Shu's suggestion is solid, but Cao Lin's troops likely cannot spare many infirm, elderly, or sick; this man is a famed Court general, renowned for training and nurturing troops."

Chen Li hummed, "I actually forgot that point; I'm getting on in years. Our army has been watching Yanzhou's situation because of him, and I overlooked this."

"It's the age to fight and strive; don't keep labeling yourself old, just overlooking one thing—what's the big deal?" Chen Wuji smiled, then said solemnly, "Cao Lin and his troops need not be settled urgently; let me meet them first before deciding."

"……Good."