Chapter 843: Glorious Return

"General, the Yan Wang army heading for Xiangzhou has crossed the river at Jiangling in Jingzhou."

Just as Wang Xie and Xie An were grinding their teeth in hatred, a cavalry unit responsible for scouting hurried over, bringing back important intelligence.

"We've been tricked, we've been tricked; this was a conspiracy from the very beginning," Xie An shouted, immediately collapsing into his chair.

They had originally assumed that the Yan Wang ordering soldiers to infiltrate Jiangzhou to rescue the commoners had no connection to the main army's westward advance.

It was merely a separate surprise attack.

Yet they never expected that the Yan Wang had anticipated their anticipation.

They were simply being led by the nose by the Yan Wang.

Now in Jingzhou, the Yan Wang's troops were crossing the river using civilian boats from Jiangbei.

Not to mention that they could not attack Jinling due to grain supply issues, they could not even perform a pincer attack from both sides with the army in the west against the westward-advancing Yan Wang army.

"Eh!" Hearing this, Wang Xie slammed his fist hard onto the table.

But he was merely a scholar with delicate skin and tender hands, and he couldn't help but feel the pain, letting out an "Ouch."

His heart filled with ferocity, and he thought of how he was outstanding among the Wang Family descendants, a heaven-sent talent.

Yet ever since he began contending with the Yan Wang, how many of his strategies had been dissolved into nothingness?

This current strategy to attack Jinling was one he had personally advised.

Now, not only was he unable to take Jinling, but he had instead caused the "strengthen the walls and clear the fields" strategy to fail completely.

The situation of the Rich Clan was going from bad to worse.

More importantly, how was he to answer to Wang Zi'an, Xie Duan, and Han Zheng, who were far away in Ba City, and how was he to answer to Liang Kai?

With all these thoughts, the more he thought, the angrier he became, until he suddenly felt a fishy taste in his throat and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

"General!" The other generals were shocked to see this.

Xie An hurriedly stood up to support Wang Xie, "Brother Wang, you must not get so angry. The six-hundred-thousand-strong army stationed at Anqing cannot afford any mistakes; otherwise, neither you nor I will be able to shirk the blame, and by then, I fear our families in Ba City will also suffer."

Wang Xie swayed, but finally steadied himself, "Withdraw from Anqing and return to Changcheng; otherwise, once the Yan Wang army surrounds the city and the grain supply is cut off, the army will collapse without a fight."

Xie An said, "But there is no grain left if we return to Changcheng."

"Only the commoners from coastal prefectures like Zhezhou and Haizhou left with the Yan Wang army; the commoners of Jiangzhou did not follow them. The rice in the East has been harvested, and the rice in Jiangzhou has also been harvested..." Wang Xie wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Xie An nodded, frowning slightly, and said, "Why didn't the Yan Wang order his army to burn the rice fields in Jiangzhou? Wouldn't that be even more disadvantageous for us?"

"Hmph, the Yan Wang is very shrewd, but even a tiger has moments when it dozes off; it is impossible to be thorough in every detail." Wang Xie's eyes narrowed.

Having decided on this matter, he immediately ordered the army to set out for Changcheng.

Five days later, they arrived at Changcheng.

Just as they had anticipated, Changcheng had already become an empty city; the Yan Wang had left them nothing.

Jinling.

At the same time the Rich Clan army returned to Changcheng, the soldiers of the Third Army arrived here.

Because they needed to escort the commoners along the way, they moved very slowly, which delayed them quite a bit of time.

Only after the commoners had all returned to their respective homes did they feel at ease withdrawing back to Jinling.

"Your Highness, this general has not failed the mission." Pang San led the army to the Nanmen and saw the Yan Wang and General Chang Wei welcoming them.

He immediately broke away from the ranks, trotted over to Zhao Xu, and gave a military salute to Zhao Xu.

Looking at the Yan Wang, his eyes were full of reverence, and his heart was stirred.

"This King is proud of you all." Zhao Xu returned the military salute to Pang San with a smile on his face.

Several days ago, the Four Courts had already reported the intelligence to him that Pang San had captured Changcheng and returned to Zhezhou with the commoners.

Because of this, he had been so excited he hadn't slept all night.

After all, this plan was of great importance.

The return of the commoners from eastern prefectures like Zhezhou, Haizhou, and Jinzhou would allow the production of the three southeastern prefectures to recover rapidly.

From now on, their grain supply problem in Jiangnan was solved.

Henceforth, the Prince's Personal Army could rely on the three southeastern prefectures to advance westward.

At the same time, the issue of supply points needed by the navy was also solved.

Zhou Yi's navy would be able to sail down the coast of Great Song to Luzon, arrive at Qiongzhou—which is the modern-day South Island—and then use that as a base to continue south, reaching the nations of the Nanyang in the East.

"This is our honor!" Pang San gave another heavy military salute.

Guan Tong, standing to the right of Zhao Xu, looked at the excited Pang San and laughed, "Your Highness, Pang San has a heart of pure loyalty toward Your Highness..."

He recounted Pang San's past to Zhao Xu.

Pang San nodded, "If it weren't for Your Highness, I would not be where I am today. I have always wanted to thank Your Highness in person, but being of low rank and little influence, I never had the opportunity to meet Your Highness."

Having said this, he prepared to kneel.

Zhao Xu hurriedly supported Pang San, preventing him from kneeling, and said, "This King stands against the Rich Clans and the powerful clans of the world precisely to let you stand tall, not to have you kneel again. A man has gold under his knees; he kneels only to the heavens above and his parents below. There is no need to kneel to this King."

Chang Wei said, "That is correct. Your Highness reformed the military salute with this very meaning in mind. If you were to kneel today, would the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the army all have to kneel? If you are grateful, just keep it in your heart and remain loyal to His Highness."

"Yes." Hearing this, Pang San immediately straightened his back.

Zhao Xu nodded. Although Pang San's kneeling was out of gratitude, he still did not want him to do so.

He would not only abolish the kneeling ritual in the army but would also abolish the kneeling ritual in the officialdom and all other trades.

He wanted the commoners of Great Song to stand up and hold their heads high.

Because only in this way could Great Song truly stand up and look down upon the world with pride.

How could the people of a King's nation need to kneel to everyone they meet like slaves?

"Your Highness, this time I have seized a great deal. The wealth the Rich Clans and powerful clans transferred to Changcheng is countless; added together, it is even more than what was seized from the Jinling national treasury," Pang San said excitedly.

Pausing for a moment, he continued, "Also, this time I have brought back the grain from Changcheng as well. I fear the Rich Clan army is about to run out of food, hahaha..."

Zhao Xu had long since noticed the endless line of baggage carts.

Revealing a satisfied expression, he said, "You have performed a great service this time. Chang Wei, I permit you to take ten percent of the spoils to reward the entire army; naturally, the Third Army shall be rewarded heavily."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Chang Wei was overjoyed.

Last time the navy raided Dongying and divided the spoils, it had made them green with envy.

This time, they had finally gotten their wish.

Zhao Xu then said to Pang San, "Enter the city. Order the soldiers to wash up, eat a good meal, and get a good night's sleep."

Pang San replied in the affirmative and led the soldiers into Jinling City.

Zhao Xu, Chang Wei, and the other generals did not return, but instead watched as the soldiers and commoners escorting the baggage train entered the city.

Originally, he thought Pang San was just exaggerating, but it was not until about an hour later, when the baggage carts still had not finished passing, that he realized Pang San had not exaggerated.

The spoils they had captured this time were truly not just an ordinary amount.

However, he immediately understood why.

The three southeastern prefectures were the wealthiest three prefectures in the Great Song.

The powerful clans and Rich Clan of these three prefectures were naturally the most affluent in the Great Song.

Moreover, they were numerous, unlike the national treasury in Jinling City, which consisted mostly of the wealth of the Xie Family, Wang Family, and Han Family.

There was also another point.

Because the Xie Family, Han Family, and Wang Family had opposed him and recruited soldiers and bought horses, they had already exhausted a vast amount of wealth.

But those in these three prefectures had only just moved west not long ago, so they naturally retained more wealth.

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