Chapter 162: Division

Beneath the city gate, Prince Fu's coffin had already been dragged aside and dumped near the entrance.

The coffin had collapsed.

Inside lay not only a headless corpse, but also a great heap of burial goods.

Naturally, these were not the treasures meant for Prince Fu's actual tomb.

But given his status, even the furnishings placed inside the coffin itself were lavish.

More than a dozen riders remained mounted beside the ruined coffin.

Xue San sat on its edge, his two short legs dangling in the air and swinging back and forth.

Prince Fu's head had once accompanied Xue San through several lonely nights at the bottom of a deep well.

So Xue San had actually developed a fair bit of affection for this plump Prince.

Whether Prince Fu, down in the Nine Springs, would acknowledge that "affection" was another matter entirely.

Earlier, it was precisely because Prince Fu's coffin had become stuck at the city gate that the Yan army had managed to force its way inside.

Put another way—

Prince Fu no.

Prince Fu's corpse had rendered meritorious service to the Great Yan!

When Zheng Fan rode past and glanced at the coffin, he suddenly found the whole thing rather amusing.

This Prince Fu truly had been treasure from head to toe.

His head had been used to claim military merit.

And even his headless corpse had helped break a city.

"Master, what do we do with this lump?"

The "lump" Xue San referred to was naturally Prince Fu's remains.

"Keep an eye on him for now.

"Clean this place up.

"Don't leave the man's corpse lying exposed out here."

"Got it."

Xue San nodded.

Rationally speaking, Zheng Fan did not particularly want to cast himself in the role of executioner.

He believed conquest and occupation conducted with at least some restraint would produce the best long-term results.

Prince Fu had been a Feudal Prince.

And he had already been dead for some time.

Zheng Fan intended to wait until the affairs inside the city had been settled, then arrange a proper funeral for him.

The great affairs of a state lie in sacrifice and war.

Here, "sacrifice" did not refer merely to offerings made to ancestors and gods.

It also encompassed respect for the culture, rites, and customs of the state one had conquered.

Fortunately, Yan and Qian people did not differ much in appearance.

If one insisted on splitting hairs, people from Qian's interior and Jiangnan tended to have slightly softer facial lines, while Yan faces were generally more angular and defined.

That difference did not come from bloodline.

It was simply the result of geography and climate.

So between Yan and Qian, there was no fundamental ethnic contradiction that could never be reconciled.

By properly burying Prince Fu, Yan could send a relatively conciliatory political signal to Qian's people especially to the noble and powerful classes.

If you went around digging up everyone's ancestral graves, wouldn't you simply force them to fight you to the death?

Zheng Fan and the Blind Man had once discussed this matter in considerable depth.

Their conclusion had been simple.

Whether the Yan Emperor ultimately chose conciliation or iron-blooded rule over Qian was not something Zheng Fan and the Demon Kings could influence right now.

But on their own side, they only needed to keep insisting on playing the "good people."

Even if everyone was an invader, being a kind-faced invader might actually trigger some Stockholm syndrome among the Qian population.

That would make it much easier to absorb Qian support in the future.

Look at them.

The war had barely begun.

No one even knew how the campaign would unfold.

Yet Zheng Fan and the Demon Kings under him were already laying groundwork for their future rebellion!

After entering the city, Zheng Fan saw plenty of corpses around the gates and along the streets.

Arrows remained embedded in walls and rooftops, and signs of fighting were everywhere.

But Chuzhou City's defenders clearly possessed extremely weak fighting spirit.

Not that many soldiers had actually died.

In fact, more of the dead came afterward.

When the Zhenbei Army cleared the streets, quite a few civilians who still had no idea what was happening and had tried to come outside to watch the excitement were simply cut down or shot.

As Zheng Fan rode through the city, his heart remained calm.

This was war.

People died in war.

And if one wanted to stabilize a city quickly, doing it without killing anyone was impossible.

But overall—

Chuzhou City had already entered a state of panicked quiet.

The Zhenbei Army's discipline was indeed excellent.

There had been no widespread burning, looting, rape, or slaughter inside the city.

Of course, that was also because the city had fallen too easily.

The soldiers' tempers had never been driven into a murderous frenzy.

If anything, the whole army seemed to feel that the victory was unreal.

When a man finally knocked down a tiger after a desperate struggle, naturally he rushed forward and stabbed it until it stopped moving.

But faced with a weak little white rabbit for a moment, you might genuinely find it difficult to bring the blade down.

So wasn't the current situation already quite good?

What the hell was Li Fusheng going mad about?

Zheng Fan found him.

At that moment, Li Fusheng was squatting atop the gatehouse over Chuzhou City's southern gate.

The Zhenbei Army had broken in through the north gate.

After a brief charge, it rapidly shattered the defenders.

Then, using the north gate as its starting point, the army spread throughout the city, seized control, and imposed martial law over all four wards.

That naturally caused many routed soldiers and civilians quick enough to understand the situation to instinctively flee toward the southern gate.

Unfortunately for them, three thousand Yan cavalry had already been waiting there.

They drove everyone straight back.

So now a vast black mass of people knelt beneath the southern gate.

Zheng Fan swept his gaze over them and made a rough calculation.

There were perhaps four or five thousand routed soldiers.

The number of civilians was roughly twice that.

Zhenbei Army soldiers had herded them together like sheep.

Inside the encirclement, people were packed shoulder to shoulder.

All around them especially on either side of Li Fusheng rows upon rows of soldiers had already nocked arrows and drawn their bows.

Zheng Fan dismounted immediately and ran up the gatehouse steps.

Fuck.

Li Fusheng had reminded him several times before that he enjoyed killing.

That if the time came, Zheng Fan needed to stop him.

Zheng Fan had assumed the man was making one of those half-serious jokes.

Who the hell knew this bastard was genuinely missing a piece in his head?

The war had barely started.

They had smoothly captured the commandery capital.

And now this lunatic wanted to massacre the city?

Had his head been caught in a door?

Li Fusheng turned and glanced at Zheng Fan as he hurried over.

There was a faint red glow in his eyes.

Zheng Fan had never seen that look during their previous interactions.

It felt almost as though some demon hidden at the bottom of Li Fusheng's heart had awakened.

Of course, there was no actual demon inside Li Fusheng.

According to the Blind Man, Bei who counted as their resident psychologist—

Li Fusheng likely suffered from a severe mental illness.

And it had already reached a very serious level.

In Zheng Fan's previous life, disorders like this sometimes appeared among serial killers.

For such people, killing hunting down and killing their chosen target could become a psychological addiction even harder to quit than drugs.

"My lord!"

Zheng Fan cupped his fists toward Li Fusheng.

"You're here."

Li Fusheng's voice was low.

Suddenly, Zheng Fan had a strange feeling.

Li Fusheng had been waiting for him.

Like a sick man who had called for his doctor.

He was holding himself back.

Waiting for Zheng Fan to arrive.

Zheng Fan swept his gaze behind Li Fusheng.

A row of Assistant Generals and Mobile Generals stood there.

Every one of those men outranked Zheng Fan.

Yet not one dared speak to Li Fusheng at this moment.

Clearly, Li Fusheng's prestige within his own command was overwhelming.

"My lord, what is this...?"

Zheng Fan asked despite already knowing.

Li Fusheng's hands clutched the bricks beneath him.

Zheng Fan saw clear indentations appearing across the masonry under his fingers.

It truly looked like a man suffering an addiction attack.

"How the hell did this city fall so easily?"

Li Fusheng ground out the words between clenched teeth.

The city had fallen too easily.

It had not been satisfying.

Too few people had died.

That had not been satisfying either.

They had ridden hard for so long, expecting a vicious battle waiting at the end.

Instead they had taken the entire city in this absurd, almost ridiculous manner.

Too much foreplay.

Too much anticipation.

The disappointment afterward became even greater.

Zheng Fan was momentarily speechless.

Then his gaze drifted toward the black mass of kneeling people below.

Look at you lot.

Why were you so damned useless?

Why couldn't you have resisted a little longer?

Fought a little harder?

Now look what happened.

You lost too quickly.

Surrendered too quickly.

And now our boss is pissed off.

"My lord.

"This city already belongs to the Great Yan."

Li Fusheng shook his head.

"We won't divide troops to garrison it.

"We'll continue south."

Li Fusheng looked at Zheng Fan and repeated, "We are not holding this city."

The established strategy was indeed to continue south.

They were currently inside Chu Commandery.

If one traveled in a straight line without considering detours, Xishan Commandery and Beihe Commandery still lay farther south.

Beyond those two was Bianzhou Commandery.

Only after reaching Bianzhou Commandery and crossing the Bian River could one say they had truly touched Qian's Upper Capital.

"But this city—still belongs to the Great Yan."

Li Fusheng smiled.

There was a trace of coldness in that smile.

At that moment, Zheng Fan felt his body go cold.

If he ever had the chance, he genuinely wanted to ask the Marquis of Zhenbei:

Mental patients can become Commanders too?

"I'm angry," Li Fusheng said.

"My lord, you are the pillar holding all of us together."

Li Fusheng was simply unused to this kind of battlefield.

Yan and the barbarians had spent centuries drowning each other in blood.

Their hatred had already risen beyond state rivalry and become ethnic hatred.

Destroying barbarian tribes was politically correct in Yan.

Within that political climate, Li Fusheng could live like a fish in water.

In truth, another important reason existed.

Yan lacked the ability to develop and permanently control the desert.

The desert was simply too poor.

Qian was different.

Qian was fat meat the Yan Emperor genuinely wanted to swallow.

Li Fusheng reached out and placed one hand on Zheng Fan's shoulder.

"But I really want to kill people."

"My lord, there will be opportunities.

"Please endure a little longer."

"Then tell me.

"How do you plan to deal with the people below?"

The blood-red tint in Li Fusheng's eyes was gradually fading.

It meant he was slowly recovering from that earlier extreme state.

"My lord, our army rode here at speed and brought very little grain or baggage.

"This subordinate suggests we begin by sorting people and identifying targets.

"Confiscate the estates of wealthy and prominent households.

"Half the grain we seize goes into army stores as provisions for the march south.

"Half the money and valuables are distributed among the soldiers to raise morale."

Li Fusheng narrowed his eyes.

"Continue."

Zheng Fan pointed toward the black mass below.

"Choose several local military officers or officials from Chuzhou City.

"Raise them into authority.

"My lord can act according to emergency powers and appoint a new civil chief and military chief for Chuzhou City.

"Then let those men rebuild their own staffs beneath them.

"At the same time—when we confiscate households, we exterminate the clans.

"We must strike ruthlessly.

"But Yan soldiers should not be the ones doing the killing.

"Make these people do it themselves.

"Our Great Yan soldiers only stand nearby and keep order."

"You said we only take half the seized grain and wealth.

"What happens to the other half?"

"Give part to them.

"And distribute the rest among the common people inside and outside the city."

Li Fusheng pressed both hands against the ground and slowly stood.

Zheng Fan continued, "But the confiscations and clan exterminations should be done by them.

"The distribution of grain and wealth—that should be done personally by us."

"Interesting."

"This is only this subordinate's shallow opinion."

"Not shallow.

"Quite deep."

Li Fusheng reached into his robes and took out a bright-yellow booklet.

He handed it to Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan opened it.

Inside were written instructions for how to deal with cities taken by the army.

The language was concise.

Extremely plain.

Whoever wrote it clearly possessed a very accurate understanding of the literacy level of this era's military officers.

The first article stated that under all circumstances, the army's supply needs came first.

In other words, live off the enemy.

The second article described what to do once the army's supply needs had already been secured.

Its general meaning was almost identical to what Zheng Fan had just proposed.

But it was more detailed and included several additional points.

Whoever had written this booklet had obviously considered the matter more thoroughly and methodically than Zheng Fan had.

At present, the force with Zheng Fan—

Li Fusheng's nearly thirty thousand cavalry had broken into Chuzhou City.

This was one of the richest places in Chu Commandery.

Naturally, they could use the second policy described in the booklet.

At the end were two seals.

One at the top.

One below.

Zheng Fan recognized the upper seal.

It should belong to the Yan Emperor.

The lower seal, however, was unfamiliar.

"Earlier, the Marquis said your eye for things was quite good.

"I didn't entirely believe him.

"Now I do.

"Do you know who wrote this booklet?"

"This subordinate does not."

"The Great Yan's Chief Minister—

"Zhao Jiulang."

Zheng Fan froze briefly.

His first thought was of the grudge between himself and Zhao Jiulang.

After all, Zheng Fan had once led barbarian troops across the man's old academy.

Now, however he gained a deeper understanding of this Chief Minister of the Great Yan.

A Chief Minister personally drafting practical occupation instructions for frontline commanders.

And writing them in this level of detail.

Tch.

"This booklet clearly wasn't something you had already seen.

"Good.

"Very good."

Li Fusheng rubbed between his brows.

Then continued, "I'll leave these matters to you."

He turned and glanced at the officers standing behind him.

They all cupped their fists in acknowledgment.

"If your own troops aren't enough, ask them for manpower."

"This subordinate will not fail your trust!"

"Heh.

"Good."

Li Fusheng patted Zheng Fan's shoulder for the second time.

Then he left.

Zheng Fan drew a deep breath.

Everything sounded easy when spoken aloud.

But once you truly had to do it matters instantly became complicated.

Still—

Garrison Commander Zheng felt no panic at all.

He had a group of helpers.

In his previous life, Zheng Fan had certainly fantasized about transmigrating.

He had imagined how he might develop himself.

What road he would walk.

How he would rise.

All sorts of imagined peaks in life.

But after actually arriving in this world—

Zheng Fan had gradually come to understand one truth more and more clearly.

Without the Seven Demon Kings beside him he probably would have died in some ditch long ago.

Zheng Fan reached out and beckoned a nearby soldier.

The man came over and cupped his fists.

"My lord."

Zheng Fan pointed below the wall toward where the Blind Man and Fan Li stood.

"Trouble yourself to call those two up."

"Yes!"

Immediately afterward, a thick-browed, broad-eyed officer in his early thirties approached Zheng Fan with obvious warmth.

"Garrison Commander Zheng, my five thousand men currently have no city-defense or outer-patrol duties.

"You may use them as needed."

Zheng Fan knew the man.

His name was Sun Guyi.

He was one of the Mobile Generals beneath Li Fusheng.

Li Fusheng had indeed given orders before leaving.

But for Sun Guyi to come over on his own initiative and say this his intention to build a personal relationship with Zheng Fan could not have been more obvious.

"Many thanks, General Sun."

"You're too courteous, Garrison Commander Zheng.

"You came from the north too.

"We're family in the first place.

"All these circles and winding relationships aren't worth as much as being fellow northerners.

"Life hasn't been easy for us northerners.

"We've fought the barbarians for generations.

"What did we rely on?

"Wasn't it simply watching one another's backs?

"Garrison Commander Zheng—tell me that isn't the truth."

"General Sun speaks truly."

"All right.

"Get on with your work.

"If you need troops, send word to my side and I'll support you.

"Also—move quickly.

"We can only remain here one more day."

"I understand.

"Many thanks, General Sun."

"Aiya, you're still being too courteous.

"Once an army breaks camp, we can't drink.

"But if there's free time later, come to my tent.

"I'll call the others too.

"We'll all eat something good together."

"Then when the time comes, this subordinate will shamelessly bring nothing but an empty mouth."

"Hahahaha!"

Sun Guyi left.

The other Mobile Generals and Assistant Generals had already begun leaving the gatehouse one after another.

Before long, the Blind Man, Bei, and Fan Li came up.

Zheng Fan told the Blind Man what he had said to Li Fusheng earlier.

In truth, to the soldiers standing nearby, Zheng Fan simply appeared to be standing silently, deep in thought.

But the Blind Man had already opened the "guild channel" with Zheng Fan and the two were privately communicating through mental power.

"This Zhao Jiulang really is somebody."

The Blind Man's tone contained a little displeasure.

And... helplessness.

It felt as though every random person one pulled out of Yan happened to be some extraordinary figure.

If that was true what were they supposed to do in the future?

But once Zheng Fan told him what Sun Guyi had just said the Blind Man fell silent for a moment.

Then said, "Master.

"It's begun."

Zheng Fan nodded.

He understood the same thing.

"Earlier, the Marquis of Zhenbei wanted to poach Master.

"That came from public spirit.

"He values talent.

"At the Marquis of Zhenbei's level, most of what he does comes from genuine temperament and instinct.

"But Sun Guyi is different.

"Armies are usually extremely exclusionary.

"Master may have come from the north, but you built your career in the south.

"And you're already considered one of the Marquis of Jingnan's people.

"On top of that, you've now been placed in charge of distributing seized wealth.

"An outsider temporarily inserted into this army—while also controlling the division of spoils—should logically be resented and excluded."

"Correct."

"Sun Guyi is probably acting on Li Fusheng's wishes.

"Master, based on this subordinate's previous experience—mentally ill people aren't necessarily stupid.

"Many are actually more intelligent than ordinary people.

"And although Li Fusheng is a Commander under the Marquis of Zhenbei—what Li Fusheng wants may not be the same thing the Marquis of Zhenbei wants."

Zheng Fan nodded.

"Exactly.

"Even if the two Marquises and the Yan Emperor stand on the same side—the people beneath them have already begun forming factions."

"Master can rest easy.

"This is only a first sign.

"For now, it won't affect the campaign."

"I know."

"Also—from a long-term perspective, Master—this was inevitable anyway.

"And one day, it may become our opportunity."

"Forget that for now.

"Let's handle what's in front of us first."

The Blind Man smiled.

Full of confidence.

"Small matter."

(End of Chapter)