Chapter 153
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Even without the armor, Yuan Congyun fought fiercely in this battle.
They remembered the bitter victory from many years ago, the battlefield covered with corpses and their fallen comrades.
From Chu Hechao to the soldiers, everyone held a burning anger inside, wanting to avenge the fallen.
The night before the army set out, Yang Zhongfa had come to drink with Chu Hechao. After a few cups of wine, he cried with tears streaming down his face, choking up as he said to Chu Hechao, “General, I’m getting old. I don’t know if, before I die, I’ll get to see the Wuwan people exterminated and witness the day when our brothers and my sons are avenged…”
Chu Hechao replied, “You will.”
Yang Zhongfa trusted his words.
Once the arrows were released, the intense battle began.
The archers first killed a group of enemies, and then the infantry advanced under the protection of the shield bearers.
Chu Hechao and Gulichi clashed head-on, strength against strength. In this kind of direct confrontation, the strength of the general leading the troops mattered, as well as whose weapons were sharper and sturdier, and whose soldiers were more vigorous and courageous.
People fell continuously in the front lines, and others quickly replaced them from the rear. The dead bodies were moved aside, and the severely wounded soldiers were expertly carried to the rear for medical treatment.
The soldiers of Youzhou had been trained to be well-organized on the battlefield, even amidst combat.
In this campaign against the Wuwan people, they brought more than a hundred medical personnel, a number several times higher than in other armies.
To provide timely treatment to the wounded, they also brought several carts of medicinal herbs on every march.
Knowing that Yuan Li’s medical materials were available, and there were medical personnel, the soldiers were confident that they would receive treatment if they were injured. That’s why they dared to risk their lives and achieve great feats for Yuan Li.
All the soldiers of Youzhou remembered that they were eating Yuan Li’s food and the meat he provided. Their armor and winter clothing and boots were all prepared by Yuan Li.
Because the Governor treated them so well and provided such good conditions, how could they not fight to the death for Yuan Li?
Where else would they find a superior treating lowly soldiers to such an extent?
The soldiers of Youzhou felt gratitude towards Yuan Li that exceeded everyone’s imagination. They were willing to sacrifice their lives and shed blood for Yuan Li’s sake.
Unlike the completely loyal North Frontier Army, this group of soldiers, who had been trained by Yuan Li from scratch, were already more loyal to Yuan Li than to Chu Hechao, even though Chu Hechao was the one who frequently commanded them in battle.
Chu Hechao naturally noticed this, but he didn’t intervene and chose to let things develop naturally.
Yuan Li had such ambitious goals; he needed a completely loyal army.
When the arrow rain from the soldiers of Youzhou shot towards them, Gulichi started sweating.
This arrow rain was too powerful and dense, and its range was far longer than that of Gulichi’s archers! The beginning didn’t go well, and Gulichi gritted his teeth and roared, “Press forward.”
But on the battlefield, one must never retreat; that was a great taboo!
When they got closer to a certain distance, the arrow rain lost its effectiveness. Gulichi sighed in relief and sent his troops to attack without hesitation.
The Wuwan infantry in the front roared and swung their knives at the soldiers of Youzhou, thinking that the soldiers of Youzhou would not be able to withstand their attack. However, to their surprise, the soldiers of Youzhou showed no fear and also held their big knives to meet them. When their knives clashed, the Wuwan soldiers were shocked, as their arms went numb from the impact, and their weapons almost slipped from their hands.
They widened their eyes, unable to believe that when did these Central Plains soldiers become so formidable!
In their moment of hesitation, the soldiers of Youzhou raised their big knives against them.
Jixian.
Yang Zhongfa’s wife was burning incense and praying everywhere, hoping for victory in this battle.
When she returned to her home and saw Yang Zhongfa leading their red-eyed son Xuan Er out of the ancestral hall, his wife had a vague idea in her heart, and her nose couldn’t help but feel sour. She approached and asked, “Why did you set up the ancestral hall?”
Yang Zhongfa’s eyes were also red. He lowered his head and touched Xuan Er’s hair. “I’ll take him in to pay respects to his two older brothers and offer incense to their memorial tablets.”
Madam Yang couldn’t hold back her tears.
Their ancestral home was not in Youzhou, and there were no ancestral tablets of their ancestors in the ancestral hall. There were only empty memorial tablets for their two sons.
The death of these two sons was an everlasting pain in the hearts of the couple, something they didn’t even dare to touch. Except on special memorial days, they never set foot in the ancestral hall because they couldn’t bear it.
When Xuan Er was young, the couple never took him in either. Now, at the age of nine, he finally knew that he had two elder brothers and where they had gone.
Seeing his wife crying, Yang Zhongfa felt a bitter and sour emotion rising in his heart. He gritted his teeth and said, “It’s a pity that I’m old and useless; otherwise, I would personally go to the battlefield and behead the Wuwan chieftain!”
“It’s better if you don’t go!” Madam Yang said with a tearful voice, giving him a firm pat. “I despise and fear those Wuwan people deeply. Both of our sons were killed by them. With your old arms and legs, how could I let you go to their battlefield?”
Xuan Er looked at his mother’s distressed appearance and couldn’t help but cry as well. However, he was a well-behaved child, so he wiped his tears and went forward, holding Madam Yang’s hand. “Mother, don’t be afraid. When I grow up, I’ll avenge my brothers on behalf of father.”
Madam Yang turned pale and quickly embraced him, repeatedly saying, “No! You must not go to the battlefield!”
Xuan Er was frightened and wide-eyed, not daring to say another word.
Yang Zhongfa wiped his face and said, “Wife, you’ve scared Xuan Er.”
Madam Yang let go of her younger son, her face full of tears. She forced a smile and said, “Xuan Er, promise me that you will never go to the battlefield and never have any contact with the Wuwan people, alright?”
Xuan Er remembered these words and nodded seriously, reaching out to touch Madam Yang’s cheek. “Mother, I promise you. Don’t be sad.”
Madam Yang looked at her son’s sincere expression, slightly stunned for a moment, but her tears flowed even more intensely. She hugged her son again, patting his back repeatedly, and kept repeating, “Good Xuan Er, good Xuan Er, my good son…”
As the battle raged on the front lines, Dadan and Puyan had each taken over the troops of the two Wuwan leaders they attacked.
Yuan Li watched them leave Liaoxi Commandery and You Beiping Commandery, then immediately assigned people to clean up the traces left by the Wuwan people in these two commanderies, firmly grasping control over them.
Wang Er expressed some worries, “My lord, letting Dadan and Puyan take over the remaining two Wuwan leaders’ forces, wouldn’t that be raising a tiger for trouble?”
“I don’t think so,” Guo Mao stroked his beard and had a different opinion. “In my view, this is actually a good thing. The reason our lord wants to subdue Dadan and Puyan is probably to have them balance each other.”
Everyone looked at Yuan Li, and he smiled and nodded. “Splitting one Wuwan into two, making them vigilant and hostile towards each other, is this not a good thing?”
Indeed!
Wang Er’s eyes lit up, and his mind started working. “Dadan and Puyan are located in the north and south, becoming the leaders of the North and South Wuwan respectively. We didn’t even need to do much; they split themselves in half. This is a great opportunity!”
Zhou Gongdan thoughtfully said, “As they say, two tigers cannot share one mountain. Dadan and Puyan will definitely be dissatisfied with the situation of having two leaders, and they will be full of hostility towards each other. In this situation, they will do their best to please our lord. Whoever can win our lord’s favor will suppress the other.”
Liu Jixin also smiled and added, “From now on, they will listen to our lord’s words a thousand times more than before. If we let them deal with the Xiongnu, they will compete to give their all.”
Exactly.
Yuan Li nodded slightly, got up, and walked outside, looking towards the northeast.
The warm sunset glow fell on his white jade-like face, giving his eyes a golden shimmer.
He murmured, “I hope they come back victorious soon.”
While the war was raging in Liaoxi Commandery, the other counties were not affected by the conflict and were busy with the autumn harvest.
As people across Jixian were busy drying wheat, the long-awaited victory news of Chu Hechao finally arrived. He had taken Gulichi’s head!
Upon receiving this news, the entire Jixian was overjoyed, eagerly anticipating the return of the victorious army.
However, before Chu Hechao returned, another group of people arrived from Yangzhou.
— It was the delegation sent by the Emperor to bestow rewards upon Yuan Li.
This delegation of envoys brought with them gold, silver, jewels, and the Emperor’s decree, along with the duke’s ceremonial dress specially tailored for Yuan Li. They were elated to see Yuan Li and were full of gratitude for his actions in eliminating Wu Shanshi.
Yuan Li had indeed dealt with Wu Shanshi and his accomplices perfectly.
The Emperor was overjoyed to see this self-proclaimed emperor and personally witnessed Wu Shanshi’s beheading. He was delighted and immediately sent a group of courtiers carrying the decree and rewards to Youzhou, to bestow the title of duke upon his beloved loyal minister, Yuan Li.
The Emperor loved Yuan Li so much that he believed no one treated him better except for Chen Wang. To give his loyal subject a grand and dignified ceremony, the Emperor generously sent various treasures, gold, silver, jewels, silks, and fabrics to the north.
However, the Emperor forgot that he was out of money and had been living on loans in Yangzhou. So, the rewards he gave to Yuan Li were essentially from Chen Wang’s treasury.
Chen Wang was naturally unhappy, but this was something the Emperor had already declared. Even if he didn’t want to, he had no choice but to put on a smiling face and spend his own money to preserve the Emperor’s face.
Upon seeing the decree and the elaborate and magnificent ceremonial dress for the duke, Yuan Li’s subordinates were ecstatic. They exchanged glances, unable to contain their excitement and joy.
They had finally waited for this day.
Finally, their lord was to be enfeoffed as a duke!
The title of duke was vastly different from other noble titles. Apart from the kings and dukes of different surnames bestowed by the Northern Zhou since its founding, there were very few dukes enfeoffed during the past three hundred years.
The reason was that Emperor Taizu of the Northern Zhou had noticed the drawbacks of enfeoffing kings and dukes to people and was unwilling to divide the land with others. As a result, several generations of emperors were cautious about bestowing the title of duke.
Dukes were ranked higher than marquises, just below Wangs. After becoming a duke, Yuan Li could have his own fiefdom, enjoying absolute ruling power within it, like a small court.
Now, among all the people in the world, except for the Emperor and Chen Wang and Chu Hechao, Yuan Li would rank next in terms of status.
He would have a country of his own, becoming a monarch within his own fiefdom, and could even call himself “Gu.”
Although Chen Wang and Chu Wang also had these powers, the former Chu Wang had struggled for survival in the eyes of the Emperor and never exercised the powers of the Wangs of a different surname. Chu Hechao grew up in the military camp and didn’t have this awareness either. Chen Wang was gentle and humble before the Emperor, so he naturally wouldn’t assert himself. Yuan Li had never seen them truly exhibit their magnificence.
The Emperor’s sincerity was abundant, or perhaps it was Chen Wang’s sincerity that was abundant. Whether intentional or not, the imperial decree completely ignored Chu Hechao’s achievements, giving both Bingzhou and Youzhou to Yuan Li as his fiefdom.
This was a familiar attempt to sow discord.
Yuan Li’s smile remained unchanged as he stood and listened to the envoy recite the imperial decree.
At this moment, he took a big step toward his goal. However, Yuan Li’s mood remained calm and composed. Although he felt joy, he was not blinded by power.
After the envoy finished reading the decree, he respectfully held it up with both hands and said, “Please receive the decree, Your Grace.”
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Yuan Li, wanting to witness this historic moment with their own eyes. Liu Jixin, Guo Mao, and a few others had already imagined this scene many times, and their excitement caused their faces to redden and their eyes to moisten.
However, Yuan Li surprised them all. He smiled faintly, clasped his hands together, and slightly bowed, exuding an elegant and graceful demeanor. He gracefully said, “I thank His Majesty for the favor, but I truly cannot bear such a reward. Please take the decree and rewards back to Yangzhou.”
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Oh my sh:t! What is he scheming!?!