Chapter 166: Admitting Defeat

After chasing for more than half an hour, the Yongwei Camp's cavalry finally returned one after another, dragging back several prisoners with them — and among them, the big catch was Liu Zeqing's Assistant Regional Commander, Yao Wenchang.

Yao Wenchang had been running just fine at first, but because his armor and helmet were too flashy, he stood out glaringly among the ragged Qingzhou soldiers — it was impossible not to notice him.

Only a few trusted personal guards remained by Yao Wenchang's side; everyone else had long since scattered and fled. Huang Degong chased him like a dog for over ten li before knocking him off his horse with an iron whip and capturing him alive on the spot.

"Friend! Friend!" Yao Wenchang shouted eagerly, trying to curry favor even as he was being bound hand and foot.

By now he was covered in mud, his face streaked with several bloody scratches, and the polished copper helmet adorned with peacock feathers had long since been tossed somewhere unknown — his appearance could not have been more pathetic.

Huang Degong couldn't help but roar with laughter: "A coward like you wants to rob my Yongwei Camp? Didn't you check the new calendar before leaving home today?"

"New calendar? You mean the one the Crown Prince promoted? That one's really good! The Crown Prince is so wise!" Yao Wenchang said with a shameless grin.

Seeing Huang Degong staring at him in bewilderment, Yao Wenchang struggled a few times, and finding the bindings wouldn't budge, continued: "General Huang, I've always admired you — especially your feat of burying that Censor alive at the Censorate. We military men revere you as a god! The towering image you hold in my heart is beyond compare! Won't you just let me go?"

Huang Degong gave Yao Wenchang a contemptuous look and said: "You're lucky you're a military officer, boy. If you were a civil official, who knows how badly you'd have corrupted the officialdom. What I hate most is smooth-talkers like you! Someone! Drag him off and behead him to consecrate the banners!"

Yao Wenchang pleaded with a mournful face: "General Huang, I was only following orders! Just treat me like a fart and let me go!"

Huang Degong's face hardened: "Drag him off and behead him!"

Seeing that he was impervious to persuasion, Yao Wenchang panicked and screamed: "Huang Degong, don't get cocky! I'm Commandant Liu's man! Let me go right now, or when Commandant Liu arrives with his main army, none of you will get away!"

Huang Degong leaned in close to Yao Wenchang, gave a cold laugh, and said: "What the hell is Liu Zeqing? He's lucky he didn't come — if he had, I'd have chopped him up just the same!"

At this point, Zhou Yuji stepped forward and said: "General Huang, let me do the chopping on this Yao fellow! I've never beheaded an Assistant Regional Commander before!"

"Suit yourself!" Huang Degong said magnanimously.

Two Yongwei Camp soldiers ignored Yao Wenchang's shouting and pressed him to the ground. With a flash of Zhou Yuji's blade, Assistant Regional Commander Yao's head hit the ground and rolled two meters away.

Huang Degong laughed: "Brother Zhou, an Assistant Regional Commander beheading an Assistant Regional Commander — how does it feel?"

Zhou Yuji sheathed his saber and laughed too: "Not bad, I suppose. Just a bit different from what I imagined — doesn't feel all that thrilling."

The two exchanged smiles, and Zhou Yuji continued: "Let everyone rest up a bit — who knows, maybe a Regional Commander will come deliver his head too!"

Huang Degong nodded, thinking that bastard Liu Zeqing just might actually come looking for payback, so he immediately ordered the whole army to rest while they had the chance. Zhou Yuji, meanwhile, rebuilt a circular defensive formation using the grain carts.

Just as Zhou Yuji had predicted, Liu Zeqing was a man who never let a grievance go. Learning that the force he'd sent out had been nearly wiped out, and that even his trusted general Yao Wenchang had been killed on the spot, he was both shocked and enraged.

Liu Zeqing didn't even bother to think about how Yao Wenchang's men had been defeated — he immediately led his main army out of the Eastern Depot city himself and charged straight at Zhou Yuji's position.

By this time the Yongwei Camp was already fully prepared. The infantry stood within the circular defense holding their muskets, while Huang Degong led five thousand cavalry spread out on both flanks of the circle.

Seeing Liu Zeqing charging in recklessly, once the enemy stepped within a hundred paces, Zhou Yuji's two thousand-plus baggage troops raised their muskets and unleashed a fierce volley head-on, mowing down the front ranks of Liu's army in droves — heavy casualties, endless cries of misery.

Some of Liu's soldiers were equipped with bird-gun muskets. They raised their muskets and laboriously loaded powder and shot, firing wildly and chaotically at the Yongwei Camp's position. After firing, they scattered in a panic. Only a small portion of their shots struck the grain sacks on the carts; the rest flew off who knows where.

Liu's army launched three consecutive assaults on the Yongwei Camp's position, and each time they were driven back with countless men and horses dead or wounded. There was simply no way they could break through the Yongwei Camp's formation.

Facing the fierce firepower of the Yongwei Camp's musketeers, the soldiers in the front of Liu's army were shaken and began retreating. Their attitude influenced the other soldiers, who also followed the example of those in front and started pulling back. If Liu Zeqing hadn't been personally overseeing the battle, everyone probably would have fled long ago.

Seeing the enemy lose their nerve, Huang Degong couldn't wait any longer and ordered all cavalry to charge — break through Liu's formation and chop down Liu Zeqing!

The Yongwei Camp's cavalry surged forward with tremendous momentum. The thunderous rumbling of the earth threw Liu's entire army into panic, and they began fleeing in terror.

Seeing the situation was hopeless, Liu Zeqing panicked as well. If he didn't run now, he'd likely be captured alive by the Yongwei Camp — and then he'd be done for.

Liu Zeqing didn't hesitate. Under the protection of his personal guards, he turned and fled, defending his reputation as the "Running General" with actual action.

Fortunately for Liu Zeqing, he ran in time and ran fast, which was how he escaped this disaster. After fleeing into the Eastern Depot city, he shut the gates tight and dared not come out no matter how Huang Degong taunted him.

Only now did Liu Zeqing understand that the Yongwei Camp was not a force to be trifled with. But thinking about it, it made sense — if even the Tartars had been beaten to such a state by the Yongwei Camp, that was proof enough of their real strength.

Unfortunately, he usually looked down on everyone and was used to being arrogant. Today he'd kicked a steel plate. Liu Zeqing was now deeply regretful — he'd lost several thousand men, and even his fierce general Yao Wenchang had been chopped down by the enemy.

Now he couldn't beat them in a fight, and he couldn't hide from them either. Even if he appealed to the capital, he might well be charged with attacking an imperial envoy's procession. What on earth was he to do?

Just as Liu Zeqing was agonizing over this, his personal guard came to report that the Crown Prince's procession had already entered the Eastern Depot Prefecture and had sent word summoning him, the Regional Commander of Shandong.

Liu Zeqing's face went pale at the news. If he went to see the Crown Prince, wasn't that just delivering his head on a platter? There was no way he dared go meet the Crown Prince.

In the end, Liu Zeqing wrote a letter and sent someone to deliver it to Zhu Cilang. His tone in the letter was extremely servile — half the text was admissions of fault and deep self-reflection, and the other half was about compensation. He was willing to offer one hundred thousand taels of silver and two thousand dan of grain to settle the matter, begging His Highness the Crown Prince to grant him face.

After receiving the letter, Zhu Cilang felt Liu Zeqing was being quite sensible. He didn't want to waste time in the Eastern Depot Prefecture — the army's grain was nearly depleted anyway, and they needed resupply. Therefore, Zhu Cilang decided to accept Liu Zeqing's terms.

Zhu Cilang wrote back, quintupling the original compensation: five hundred thousand taels of silver and ten thousand dan of grain — not a single coin less — with delivery required within one day, or the Yongwei Camp would enter the Eastern Depot city the next day.

After receiving the reply, Liu Zeqing inwardly cursed the Crown Prince's shameless extortion, but at the same time the weight lifted from his anxious heart. Problems that could be solved with money weren't problems at all.

Compared to his own life, what was a little wealth? Liu Zeqing immediately complied obediently, delivering five hundred thousand taels of silver and ten thousand dan of grain that very evening.

After receiving the goods, Zhu Cilang was very satisfied. He had the portion of Liu Zeqing's letter admitting fault entered into the court's Capital Gazette and distributed to all prefectures across the nation, then led the Yongwei Camp happily onward to the south.

Thanks to several readers for their tips: Qi 1 Dian Honorary Member, Fan Ren Yi Ke Hui Dan Qing, BUCK, Reader 20190223084746416