Chapter 844: Vicious

"Hahaha, this general has been worrying for some time, feeling that the battles below were all money-losing ventures. Now, it seems this general was overthinking it." Chang Wei stared at the baggage carts, his mouth splitting to his ears.

To him, Yan Wang still had the most methods.

If it hadn't been for this surprise attack, but rather a normal military march on Changcheng.

The Shizu and Rich Clans of Changcheng would definitely have fled west, and by then, they would have gained nothing at all.

"Actually, if Wu hadn't moved its capital to Ba City, we could have captured even more." Zhao Xu looked toward the west.

This westward migration was the westward migration of the entire wealth of Jiangnan; most of the wealth was still transported to Ba City.

Chang Wei also looked toward the west, and he said, "Hmph, this wealth is all the lifeblood of the people of Da Song. As long as we break Ba City, we can take it back."

Clearing his throat, he continued, "Your Highness, once all the soldiers of the Third Army return and the people of the three prefectures have harvested the rice, it should be the right time to march west and engage the Shizu army in a decisive battle."

Zhao Xu nodded; the soldiers of the Third Army who went to Jiangzhou returned the earliest this time.

But besides those who went to Jiangzhou, the soldiers of the Third Army also went to Xiangzhou and Yuezhou.

If their operations go smoothly, it will still take at least a month or more for them to return to the ranks one after another.

And by then, the summer harvest should also be over.

During this period, the Prince's Personal Army still has to be busy harvesting the rice on the lands of the Shizu and Rich Clans.

"But Jiangzhou also needs to harvest rice, right? We really should have burned the rice in Jiangzhou to the ground this time and see what their Shizu army eats." Guan Tong thought of something and said hatefully.

The Shizu's implementation of "strengthening the walls and clearing the fields" made them very passive.

He really wanted to clear it for them too.

Zhao Xu and Chang Wei shook their heads at the same time.

Zhao Xu said, "The grain in Jiangzhou cannot be burned, otherwise the people of Jiangzhou will hate us for it. By leaving the rice, they will only hate the Shizu."

"Hate the Shizu?" Guan Tong scratched his head.

"That's right. This time, Changcheng and other counties were swept clean by you. They will definitely levy heavy taxes on the people to make up for the deficit. That will be the time when heaven is angry and people are resentful," Zhao Xu said. "Under such circumstances, when the Prince's Personal Army enters Jiangzhou again, the people will surely welcome the royal army with food and drink."

According to intelligence provided by the Four Courts, this time when the people of the three prefectures returned, quite a few refugees and debt-ridden people from Jiangzhou had already followed them over.

They did so just to live the life of Jiangbei.

But most of the people of Jiangzhou did not follow, not because they were loyal to the Shizu.

It was because they could not bear to part with their thatched cottages and thin fields at home; this is the sentiment for one's native land.

Therefore, unless they reach the point of being unable to survive, they will not leave their homes.

But when they reach a difficult point, if they go, they will certainly be welcomed.

"So Your Highness had already thought of this." Guan Tong laughed twice.

After chatting for a few more sentences, the three returned to Jinling City.

Ba City.

The news of the fall of Changcheng and the people fleeing back to the three southeastern prefectures also reached here.

Liang Kai was furious and summoned Luse, Brook, as well as Xie Duan, Han Zheng, and Wang Zi'an.

In the Deliberation Hall of the temporary palace,

Liang Kai pointed at Wang Zi'an and said angrily, "What kind of pride of the Wang Family, he is simply a straw bag. From Jiangbei to Jiangnan, he has come up with many ideas, but each time they have caused even greater disasters. Brother Wang, it is not that I, Liang Kai, do not give you face, but this Wang Xie really should be beheaded and displayed to the public to appease the public's anger."

Wang Zi'an was too ashamed to show his face.

When the news came, he was restless. For a long time, he had been strongly supporting Wang Xie.

He did not expect such a big mess to be made this time.

In order to settle their three families, Liang Kai had handed over Changcheng to their army to garrison.

Now, Changcheng had become like this.

He was just a bit unconvinced, because in this matter, Wang Xie only offered advice, and in the end, even the British agreed.

Han Zheng had always been extremely protective of Wang Zi'an, so he said bluntly, "Your Majesty, at that time, everyone unanimously decided on this matter. It can only be said that this was a 'bright scheme' of Yan Wang. At that time, we had to send troops even if we didn't want to, otherwise, if the 90,000-strong army marching west had really started fighting, I'm afraid this Ba City would not have been able to be held."

Since the fall of Jinling, Liang Kai had become increasingly dismissive of the three families.

Hearing this, he did not want to give Han Zheng any face at all and opened his mouth to mock him.

At this moment, Brook coughed, "Have you forgotten the oath to deal with Yan Wang together? If you blame each other over such a small setback, how can you cooperate?"

After a pause, he added, "Victory and defeat in war are very common, and misjudgment is also very normal. Just as Head of the Family Han said, this 'luring the tiger away from the mountain' by Yan Wang—whoever it was, they would have fallen for it."

With Brook saying this, Liang Kai had nothing more to say.

After a moment of silence, he said, "It's just that Wang Xie has committed a fault after all and can no longer be the main general. Let Xie An replace Wang Xie."

Han Zheng, Xie Duan, and Wang Zi'an all dared not object again.

Moreover, Xie An was also one of their three families, so they could accept it.

Seeing that the three did not object, Liang Kai sighed, "Three brothers, do not blame me for being harsh, because it is not just Changcheng; the grain and fodder in other counties of Jiangzhou have also been robbed. Besides that, the southern part of Xiangzhou and Yuezhou have also been attacked, suffering heavy losses."

"Next, the grain and fodder for our Wu army will have a problem. This is the matter that is truly urgent."

Although Southern Liang promised to sell them grain and fodder.

But Southern Liang also has its own troops to feed.

Besides that, they have to pay annual tribute to the Northern Di every year.

It would be good if the grain and fodder provided to them could feed 400,000 soldiers.

Most of the grain and fodder still has to rely on the collection of agricultural taxes.

But the stockpiled grain and fodder were robbed, and places like Jiangzhou, Xiangzhou, and Yuezhou have many mountains and few fields, producing little grain to begin with. One can imagine the predicament they are facing now.

If the situation continues to deteriorate, they will not be able to support this million-strong army.

"The only plan now is to levy heavy taxes on the people. Better that the people starve to death than let the soldiers starve to death," Xie Duan said, pondering.

Han Zheng echoed, "To survive this disaster, this is the only way."

"Even so, I worry this is one link in Yan Wang's chain of stratagems; if we levy heavy taxes, the common people will yearn for Jiangbei even more, which is disadvantageous to Wu." Wang Zi'an hesitated for a moment and said.

Liang Kai said: "I naturally thought of that, but even if it is drinking poison to quench thirst, we must drink this cup of poisoned Wine; if we do not levy them, we must immediately reduce the number of soldiers, but if we do levy them, we can barely maintain."

Brook and Luse looked at each other and nodded.

They agreed with Liang Kai doing this.

Because they only wanted to drag Yan Wang into the quagmire of war as much as possible to win time for Britain to react, whether it was to imitate Yan Wang's muskets or to recall the Reserve Service and send reinforcements to Dongtu.

Furthermore, they did not think highly of the Shizu Army to begin with.

They valued the Ross nation and the Northern Di people more.

Therefore, they did not care at all how the Shizu treated the common people under their command.

They only hoped they could live a little longer.

Whether to die now or die tomorrow, they naturally chose tomorrow.

Even if this price was feeding on the flesh and blood of the Great Song common people.

They even hoped the Shizu would do so.

It would be best if the common people of Great Song all died out; by then, even if Yan Wang unified Jiangnan, he would only be receiving a mess.

It would require manpower and material resources to restore.

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