Chapter 137: An Eye for an Eye

Yuanyang County.

After nearly a day of marching, Zhao Xu and Chang Wei arrived here.

Upon learning the news, Yuanyang County Magistrate Ge Dong immediately came to welcome them.

Seeing Zhao Xu, Ge Dong immediately knelt down, "This subordinate is guilty, I beg Your Highness to punish me."

"Get up first, and tell me exactly how much rice was burned," Zhao Xu said.

"Reporting to Your Highness, three thousand mu of rice paddies have been destroyed." Ge Dong's voice was very soft, fearing that Zhao Xu would fly into a rage.

"Three thousand mu; the harvest of five hundred households is gone." Zhao Xu felt a pang of heartache.

To him, this rice did not count for much, but to the suffering commoners, this was their entire income destroyed.

"Your Highness, please uphold justice for us."

At this moment, a group of commoners in the distance walked toward them, numbering about a thousand.

Some of the commoners were carrying stretchers, on which lay some injured people.

"Your Highness, these are the commoners from the villages to the south," Ge Dong said.

Zhao Xu nodded and walked over to meet them.

Arriving before Zhao Xu, the commoners knelt in a sea, sobbing and wailing.

Seeing this, Chang Wei was even more furious, cursing, "We didn't suffer losses at the hands of the Northern Di this time, yet we suffered at the hands of our own people. I cannot swallow this anger. Your Highness, just give the word, and I will lead men to march on Fanyang and capture that Yuan Li alive."

"And after you capture him? Wouldn't the court officials accuse Your Highness of rebellion? General Chang, do not be rash," Liu Fu advised, then he suddenly raised his voice, "This Yuan Li is truly not a human being; he is worse than a beast."

Zhao Xu listened to their words, helped the elderly man kneeling in front to his feet, and said, "Everyone, please rise. I have come this time to resolve this matter. Rest assured, the Government Office will compensate you in full for the grain that was burned."

"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Highness." The commoners' eyes were filled with gratitude.

The autumn harvest was imminent, and every family was looking forward to the harvest to live a good life.

They had not expected that they would not be plundered by the Northern Di, but instead have their hard-earned gains destroyed by their own fellow Da Song people.

Zhao Xu's gaze shifted to the injured.

The injured commoners shed tears of grievance at this moment.

Ge Dong said, "Those people were discovered as soon as they entered the fields, and those who went to stop them were all beaten and injured."

"I will definitely avenge this for you." A fire of rage burned in his heart.

This matter was a small thing, but it was also not a small thing.

Imagine, these commoners placed all their hopes on him, sending their own children to the battlefield to support him.

Yet at home, their fields were all destroyed.

If he did nothing, would these commoners not be disheartened?

Once this matter spread throughout Yan Commandery, he, this Yan Wang, would no longer be fit to serve.

It was for this reason that he had come to Yuanyang County in person to comfort the commoners.

"Your Highness, tell us what to do. We will definitely listen to you. We are not afraid of a real fight with blades and spears." The young and strong in the crowd were hot-blooded, each like an angry rooster.

They were not afraid of the Yuan Family's soldiers; they were only afraid of having no one to lead them.

Now that the Yan Wang had arrived, their courage was bolstered, and they secretly resolved to make these despicable villains pay the price.

"First,

the Village Soldiers must not be abandoned; they must train diligently and patrol frequently," Zhao Xu said.

To deal with the Northern Di, the Village Soldiers in the countryside north of Yan Commandery were relatively well-organized.

But the south was more lax. Now that the Yuan Family was playing dirty, he had to organize the commoners to deal with the Yuan Family's soldiers just as they dealt with the Northern Di.

Ge Dong nodded, "This subordinate will immediately have the officials from the county office go to the countryside to supervise this matter."

Zhao Xu nodded and said to the commoners, "As for the matter of revenge, leave it to me. I brought so many troops this time not just to scare people. You just wait for my orders."

Hearing this, the commoners laughed one after another.

Some commoners shouted, "Your Highness, you must severely punish that man surnamed Yuan. This Yuan Li is worse than an animal; who knows how many commoners he has killed to claim credit."

"Exactly, in our village, someone was once slandered as a bandit and killed by Yuan Family soldiers while out on the road."

"..."

The commoners spoke one after another, becoming more and more agitated as they talked.

Liu Fu sighed, "If the Zhang Family is unpopular in Yan Commandery, then the Yuan Family is unpopular throughout the entire Yan Commandery."

Zhao Xu was naturally clear about this.

His decision to have a falling out with the Yuan Family was not just because of the assassination attempt.

One of the reasons was to let the commoners of the seven commanderies see that he and the Yuan Family were like fire and water.

In this way, the commoners who hated the Yuan Family would gather around him.

And just as he had expected, after winning against the Northern Di this time and drawing a clear line with the Yuan Family, commoners had been continuously entering Yan Commandery from other commanderies during this period.

Of course, his land policy and tax policy also played a part in this.

"Everyone, please return for now. Within these few days, I will give you an answer." The commoners became agitated again, and Zhao Xu comforted them.

With the Yan Wang's guarantee, the commoners felt at ease.

They bowed to Zhao Xu in a disorderly fashion and gradually left, carrying the injured.

After the commoners left, Chang Wei asked, "Your Highness, what should we do?"

"Naturally, an eye for an eye," Zhao Xu said, "but we won't burn the rice; we will harvest it."

Hearing this, Ge Dong pointed to the south and said, "Your Highness, the fields adjacent to Yuanyang County belong to the Yuan Family."

Chang Wei suddenly realized; he had almost forgotten.

Fanyang Commandery, like the former Yan Commandery, had most of its land under the names of the Rich Clan.

The Yuan Family was the sole power in Fanyang, and their landholdings spanned all of Fanyang.

Since the Yuan Family dared to destroy the fields of Yan Commandery, he would make the Yuan Family feel the pain as well.

"County Magistrate Ge, go collect sickles and organize the young and able-bodied to act under the cover of a dark and windy night," Zhao Xu said. This time he had brought five thousand troops, and with the young and able-bodied of Yuanyang, it would be enough.

"Yes, Your Highness." Ge Dong smiled quite wickedly.

……

The following evening.

Fanyang City.

Yuan Li looked at the wine jars piled up like a small mountain before him, a smug smile appearing on his face.

These wine jars were exquisitely crafted, and each one was engraved with the character "Yan," as they were goods seized from the hands of merchants from Yan Commandery.

Ever since he returned from Yancheng that day, he had made up his mind to deal with Zhao Xu.

Yan Commandery was barren, so he had not paid much attention to Yan Wang after he recovered from his illness, because he believed that in such a place, an Imperial Prince would never be able to accomplish anything.

But he had not expected that Yan Wang would be able to earn a massive amount of silver through trade.

Now he wanted to cut off this lifeline of Yan Commandery; in this way, Yan Wang would find it difficult to accumulate wealth again.

"I would very much like to see Yan Wang's expression; it must be very spectacular right now." Yuan Li laughed heartily, and beside him, the strategist Guo Tu looked slightly smug.

This poisonous scheme was one he had devised: having the Yuan Family's soldiers dress up as bandits to specifically target and rob merchants traveling to Yan Commandery.

In the past, no one in Yanzhou could restrain the Yuan Family, and Yuan Li was accustomed to a life of tyranny, so when dealing with Yan Wang, he simply used force.

It was only after suffering a secret loss at the hands of Yan Wang that he thought of him, and his simple scheme was enough to make Yan Wang suffer.

Besides this, he also ordered soldiers to sneak into the southern border of the neighboring Yuanyang County and burn the rice of the people of Yan Commandery.

"This is called the 'flesh-slicing strategy'—slicing off the flesh bit by bit. Since Yan Wang has become a threat and cannot be openly wiped out with troops, we will slowly wear him to death," Guo Tu laughed sinisterly.

"Mm, not bad." Yuan Li felt much more at ease.

Upon learning that Yan Wang had killed his son-in-law Zhang Kang in public, he had been so angry he nearly vomited blood.

Now the two families had completely torn off the mask of civility.

Since that was the case, whether covert or overt, as long as it could be used to deal with Yan Wang, he would use it.

Just as he was feeling smug, a servant hurried in.

"My Lord, it's bad! Our rice in Yuanyang has all been harvested by someone overnight."

"What!"

Yuan Li and Guo Tu both changed color.