Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 471 The End of an Era for a Tycoon (A Long Chapter of 10,000 Words)
"Uh-huh!!"

In the dark and confined space, when light suddenly appeared in front of him, Lu Yan, who had been in darkness for too long, felt that the light in front of him was extremely dazzling.

At that moment, he realized for the first time that light could pierce his brain like a dagger, causing him pain in his eyes.

"Alright, just leave one brick joint."

As the unfamiliar voice rang out, the originally dazzling light suddenly dimmed. It took Lu Yan a long time to adjust before he saw three officials standing in front of him.

"Who are you...?"

Lu Yan questioned the three men, but they pulled out a booklet and threw it in front of him, saying disdainfully, "Lu Yan, your accomplices have all confessed, and all the money in your mansion has been exposed."

"The Emperor is furious when he learns of this. If you can confess to having other money or implicate many people, you may have a chance to live."

In response to these words, Lu Yan sneered, "It was clearly Liu Mu's doing, why involve the Supreme One?"

"I don't believe that Liu Muzhi would let me go out alive."

"Hehe..." Hearing Lu Yan's words, the fifth-rank official who was leading the three scoffed lightly:
"Since Your Highness has spoken, you can live by doing as he says obediently. Do not doubt Your Highness."

"If His Highness hadn't forbidden you from being tortured, do you think you would still be unharmed now?"

These words silenced Lu Yan.

These past few days, he has been locked in this cramped cell where he can only sit, surrounded by darkness and the screams of other officials. His psychological defenses have long since crumbled.

He thought Liu Jilong wouldn't give him a chance to live, but now he heard Liu Jilong say that he could live.

Even if the chance to survive is to give up all his money, as long as he can live, that is more important than anything else.

Thinking about this, Lu Yan's mind raced.

No one wants to die, especially someone who is only forty-four years old.

After a long silence, Lu Yan finally spoke slowly, "Can my relatives and family members be spared?"

Faced with his questions, the leading official said impatiently, "If you hand over all the remaining money, your whole family's lives can be saved, but you will be spared the death penalty, but you will not escape punishment."

"His Highness has already said that if any official surrenders his hidden wealth, his entire family will be spared and his relatives beyond three degrees of kinship will not be implicated, but he will be exiled to places like Kucha and Yanqi."

“Although you people are utterly wicked, you are still quite knowledgeable. His Highness has no need to kill you.”

"That's all I have to say. I hope you'll confess honestly in fifteen minutes..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the leading official turned to leave, but Lu Yan quickly said, "I will speak!"

The three stopped and turned to look at Lu Yan, who said in a deep voice, "Besides my residence, there are three small courtyards in six wards in the city that I have arranged for purchases."

"Besides that, I also own several courtyards outside Chang'an, and all of these courtyards are filled with buried gold and silver..."

Lu Yan honestly confessed all the wealth he had accumulated over the past ten years. Upon hearing this, the three officials immediately arranged for him to be placed in a courtyard of the Censorate.

There are many officials like Lu Yan, and having multiple burrows is a common tactic used by these officials.

In order to survive, they have all confessed, and their confessions have allowed Liu Jilong to obtain one thick book after another.

Inside the Prince of Han's residence, the sound of abacuses clicking could be heard incessantly as more than ten officials continuously tapped on their abacuses.

During this period, the documents sent by the Three Departments were almost continuous, and many courtyards in Luoyang City went from being ownerless to becoming the property of the imperial court.

The gold, silver, and copper coins unearthed almost all required horse-drawn or ox-drawn carts to be transported to the national treasury.

This lively scene lasted from the Lantern Festival until early February. Meanwhile, along the banks of the Yellow River, countless mudflats were thoroughly searched by laborers hired by the government.

To save effort, many government offices simply sprinkled grease all over the mudflats and then set them on fire.

The heat from the fire caused many locusts to hatch prematurely, but because their numbers were small, it did not cause a locust plague.

"Your Highness, the Three Judicial Offices have closed the case. These are the documents of the officials and their relatives involved in this case, and these are the documents of the left and right treasuries of Chang'an and Luoyang and the Taicang that were confiscated and put into storage."

On the fifth day of the second month, as Zhang Yanhui personally went to the Three Departments and brought all the documents of the "Luyan Case", Liu Jilong, who was in the main hall of the Han Prince's Mansion, stopped looking at the sand table, turned around and sat in the main seat, and began to read through all the documents brought by Zhang Yanhui.

Seeing Liu Jilong flipping through the documents, Zhang Yanhui walked over to the sand table to take a look.

This sand table is about ten feet long and wide, and the mountains, rivers and various terrains are roughly the same as those in the world.

As Zhang Yanhui looked around, he suddenly felt puzzled and couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, how come the source of the Yangtze River has become the Min River?"

In modern times, Han Chinese usually regard the upper reaches of the Yangtze River as the Min River, but Liu Jilong is preparing to change this concept.

Seeing his good son-in-law asking, Liu Jilong multitasked with explaining to him:

“In the past, our Han people rarely explored the southwest, so they thought the Min River was the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.”

"Actually, that's not the case. The upper reaches of the Yangtze River are called Yak River, while the source of the Yangtze River goes deep into Tibet and mainly originates in the Qiangtang region."

"I see." Zhang Yanhui suddenly understood, then looked at Liu Jilong's arrangement of the sand table and said:

"Your Highness, Commander Chen has already led his troops into Zhongwu territory. It should take at most half a month to recapture Xuanwu for Your Highness."

"Should the troops in Xuanwu also be reduced in the same way as those in Hezhong?"

“Hmm,” Liu Jilong responded, then explained, “What you said before makes sense. Anxi is not yet developed and cannot support too many people.”

"The more than 30,000 people being exiled to Kucha this time, plus the tens of thousands exiled previously, will keep you, Father, busy for a long time."

After finishing his sentence, Liu Jilong had already glanced through the documents of the three ministries and simply turned to the last page.

Not wanting to completely offend the powerful families, Liu Jilong did not intend to execute Lu Yan and his group. Instead, he chose to exile them and implicate only the relatives of the offending officials.

At his request, the month-long "Lu Yan case" came to an end. Lu Yan and his cronies, a total of 742 officials and more than 3,400 clerks, were all investigated. However, more than 300 of the officials were in other towns, and Liu Jilong could not catch them.

Therefore, upon careful calculation, the number of officials involved in this case is around 3,900, and including their relatives, the total number is no more than 30,000.

"The number is not large. Let the three departments divide them into north and south according to the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River. Those in the south will be exiled to Xizhou and Huichuan, and those in the north will be exiled to Fengzhou and Shengzhou."

"Yes!" Zhang Yanhui noted it down, while Liu Jilong simply flipped directly to the last page of the left and right treasuries of Chang'an and Luoyang, as well as the documents of Taicang.

Liu Jilong was surprised to learn that these officials were truly wealthy.

Seeing Liu Jilong staring at the archives and records in the treasury, Zhang Yanhui also spoke up:
"These officials were truly corrupt. The amount of farmland they confiscated alone was more than 34.4 million mu, ranging from Hezhong to Shaanxi, Luoyang, the three towns of the Central Plains, and their hometowns."

"However, only more than 12 million mu of them are under our control, and the more than 7 million mu in Kansai have long been confiscated by us and distributed equally to the people of Kansai."

"More than 40,000 taels of gold, more than 200,000 taels of silver, and more than 800,000 strings of cash were seized in Chang'an."

"In Luoyang, 90,000 taels of gold, 870,000 taels of silver, 5.7 million strings of cash, more than 500 boxes of rare treasures, antiques and paintings, more than 3,000 shi of precious spices, and more than 270,000 shi of grain were found."

"Your Highness, if these things were converted into money, they would be enough to cover our military pay for two years!"

Zhang Yanhui's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement. Even though he knew that confiscating his property would bring a lot of money, he never imagined there would be this much.

After discounting all these miscellaneous items, the total value would be at least thirteen million strings of cash.

Unfortunately, the rare treasures and antique paintings are difficult to liquidate, and in the end, one would probably only receive about ten million strings of cash.

Even so, it was equivalent to the annual tax revenue of the seven circuits under the Han army's rule.

This was only because Liu Jilong didn't implicate his relatives. If he had, the amount of money and grain would probably have doubled.

However, if he were to actually do that, he would offend all the powerful and influential families in the land.

The Han army's current governance capabilities are insufficient to offend powerful clans and wealthy families across the land; the realm still needs their assistance in governance.

After seven or eight years, Liu Jilong will no longer need to feign politeness towards them.

Has the number of deserters increased recently?

Although Liu Jilong was happy, he suddenly changed the subject.

This question surprised even the quick-witted Zhang Yanhui. After realizing what was happening, he immediately replied, "After the eastward advance, being far from their hometowns, the number of deserters and those applying for discharge began to increase."

"Among the 180,000 troops advancing eastward, more than 2,000 people applied for discharge every month. Many of them were not approved for discharge and secretly thought about deserting."

"In the first month, the army captured more than two hundred deserters, all of whom were stripped of their military status, deprived of their enlistment land and other corresponding benefits, and exiled to Kucha to guard the border for three years."

War is no child's play, especially when it involves being far from home, so naturally many people apply for retirement, and the number of deserters increases daily.

Liu Jilong had anticipated these events; otherwise, there would have been no need to mobilize 180,000 men to march eastward.

So when he saw that Zhang Yanhui looked slightly anxious, he offered words of comfort:
"This is only the second month of our eastward advance. In the future, more soldiers will desert because they have been staying in the Kwantung region for too long and will be homesick."

"After Jing Chong enters Xuanwu, he can recruit 20,000 soldiers in Xuanwu. Those who apply for demobilization can be approved at the discretion of the authorities."

"However, once someone applies for discharge, they will not be recruited into the military again."

Liu Jilong announced new military orders. There was no other way; the army had grown too large, making it difficult to manage.

In addition, most of the soldiers recruited in recent years are new recruits born in peaceful times, so it is normal for them to fear war and be homesick.

Even in the early days of a nation's founding, the number of deserters each year was not small, let alone in this era of long journeys and long distances.

"The same applies to the towns in the Guandong region. If there are too many deserters, soldiers can be recruited locally without being bound by any rules."

After giving the instructions, Liu Jilong looked at the documents on the table and said with satisfaction, "With this money and grain, the time for advancing eastward may be brought forward."

"Order that all soldiers advancing eastward shall receive an additional 500 coins per month in military pay."

"Yes!" Zhang Yanhui breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Liu Jilong's words. He had been worried that only punishment without reward would lower the morale of the soldiers.

Now it seems that His Highness has thought of everything. Five hundred coins a month, that's six strings a year, enough to support two people.

As Zhang Yanhui thought this, he saw someone enter the main hall. Looking back, he indeed saw Lu Guimeng and Luo Yin.

"come in."

Seeing that the two were about to bow, Liu Jilong gestured to them that they did not need to.

Upon receiving the signal, the two hurriedly entered the main hall, glancing sideways at the sand table at the same time.

"What's the matter?"

Liu Jilong questioned the two men, and after they looked at each other, Luo Yin stepped forward first, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, the mudflats along the Yellow River have all been searched. Our army should not encounter locust plagues again this year."

"It's not enough to just stay within our own territory," Liu Jilong ordered in a deep voice.
"The Southern Office is ordered to draft an edict instructing all towns along the Yellow River to thoroughly investigate the mudflats on both banks of the Yellow River in order to prevent the locust plague from recurring."

"Yes!" Luo Yin replied, and before Lu Guimeng could speak, he continued:

"Your Highness, Gao Pian has led his troops back to Hunan, but he has not withdrawn his troops from Huainan Road and Shannan East Road. Should we take this opportunity to reprimand him?"

"No need." Liu Jilong already knew Gao Pian's thoughts, but he also had his own.

If Gao Pian wants to unify Jiangnan, then let him unify it. However, to defend the Yangtze River, one must defend the Huai River. If I can annihilate Gao Pian's hard-earned troops in Huainan, it will be more convenient than crossing the Yangtze River and besieging them.

If Gao Pian wants to station troops in Huainan, let him. As for how to attack Jiangnan, Liu Jilong already has a plan.

"Your Highness, the Kyrgyz and Uyghur forces have once again sent envoys south to Fengzhou, hoping to obtain an audience with you."

After seeing Liu Jilong and Luo Yin finish speaking, Lu Guimeng immediately told them about the matter concerning the Ministry of Rites.

Since being rejected last time, the Kyrgyz and Uyghurs have sent envoys to Fengzhou almost every six months, hoping to meet Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilong had already refused twice, but this time he did not intend to refuse again.

"He is permitted to have an audience." Liu Jilong's words surprised even Lu Guimeng, who had been rejected many times.

After realizing what was happening, he calmly replied, "As you command."

"If there is nothing else, then you may leave. Urge the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works to register the water conservancy, population, and land of the towns in Guandong as soon as possible. The land redistribution must begin after the summer harvest."

"Yes!" the two men replied respectfully, and then left the main hall.

After they left, Zhang Yanhui asked Liu Jilong, "Your Highness, why did you suddenly agree to meet with the Kyrgyz and Uyghurs?"

Zhang Yanhui had a bad impression of the Uyghurs, or rather, any general who came from the Guiyi Army would not have a good impression of the Uyghurs.

Historically, the Guiyi Army and the Uyghurs had a good relationship, mainly because they shared a common enemy, the Tibetan Empire.

After the Tibetans were completely driven out of Hexi, the Uyghurs turned against the Guiyi Army.

With the appearance of Liu Jilong, this process was accelerated in this era. Zhang Yanhui, who often followed Zhang Huaishen, was constantly hearing news of the Uyghur invasion.

If he could, he would love to lead his troops to exterminate the Uyghurs.

Now that he heard that Liu Jilong was going to meet with the Uyghur envoy, he was very worried that Liu Jilong would do something that would benefit the Uyghurs, so he asked nervously.

Liu Jilong gave him a reassuring look and said, "Don't worry, I only feel disgust towards the Uyghurs."

"The main reason we agreed to their audience was that we needed their help in dealing with the Karluks in the west, and at the same time, to buy time for the development of Anxi and Beiting."

"The only problems that limit your ability to recover the territory of Anxi and Beiting are population and food."

"With the military strength under your father's command, you are actually capable of annihilating the Uyghurs, but the Uyghurs have gone too far."

“Now that your father has the people I sent over, it’s not enough to just have people. We also need to reclaim the farmland that was abandoned because of the Tibetan massacre.”

"This process is no less than starting from scratch, and it takes years."

"If you want to have time to develop, you have to guard against the remnants of the Uyghurs in the southern and northern border regions. However, the two invaders always come around the same time, and your father is too busy to deal with them all. I'm sure you know that."

Liu Jilong's words made Zhang Yanhui nod in agreement.

After recovering the towns of Kucha and Yanqi, Zhang Huaishen stationed his troops in Yanqi for many years, while both Kucha and Tingzhou were at risk of being invaded by the Uyghurs.

Zhang Huaishen was located in Yanqi, seemingly between the two places, but due to the vastness of the Western Regions, he was often seven or eight hundred miles away from both.

Therefore, the Guiyi Army could only defend within the city most of the time. Only when Zhang Huaishen led his cavalry deep into the western border could Tingzhou and Kucha produce goods properly.

After all, the Uyghurs weren't stupid. As long as Zhang Huaishen resumed cultivating the land and the farmland produced more grain, Zhang Huaishen would inevitably send more troops to Kucha and Tingzhou.

As Zhang Huaishen increased his troops, he naturally sought to advance westward, which is why the Uyghurs chose to continuously invade.

“The Uyghurs have requested an audience with me several times, all because their situation is far from ideal.”

Seeing that Zhang Yanhui agreed, Liu Jilong continued speaking to him:

“The Uyghurs are now being attacked from both sides by your father and the Karluks to the west. So what they want to do is to keep your father at bay, prevent him from going deeper into Huangcaobo, and then concentrate their efforts on defeating the Karluks before turning their attention back to your father.”

“After they meet with me, they will surely try to sow discord between me and your father, and use me to control your father.”

“In that case, we will play along. We will pretend to be unhappy on the surface, but we can continue to maintain the current situation in private, and continue to send people and transport food to your father.”

"Once these Uyghurs realize what's happening, our army can take advantage of the situation to advance westward, recover Shule and Suyab, and restore the Four Garrisons of Anxi."

"Your Highness's plan is brilliant!" Upon hearing Liu Jilong's words, Zhang Yanhui immediately burst into laughter.

Seeing his reaction, Liu Jilong smiled and said, "This matter still requires your father's cooperation, so you need to write a letter to him and make sure he does all the pretense."

"Furthermore, you should now send the documents from the Three Departments to the palace and inform His Majesty that Gao Jinda has been promoted to the position of Chancellor and will remain in Chang'an."

"Yes!" Seeing that Liu Jilong had no further instructions, Zhang Yanhui immediately withdrew. Before long, he had the Southern Army draft an imperial edict and sent it to all the armies. At the same time, he also wrote a letter and sent it to Anxi.

After completing everything, Zhang Yanhui sent the documents that the Three Departments had uncovered to the palace...

"Don't run, don't run..."

"Hehe, got you!"

When Zhang Yanhui entered the Zhenguan Hall with the document, Emperor Li Yi, the supreme ruler, was playing hide-and-seek with the eunuchs and palace maids inside the hall.

Suddenly he hugged Zhang Yanhui, and when he happily pulled off the blindfold, his excited expression immediately froze.

Zhang Yanhui looked at Li Yi, who was still holding him, and nodded, saying, "Your Majesty, I have been ordered by the Prince of Han to send the case file of the Lu Yan case to the palace for Your Majesty's review."

"Han, King of Han?"

Li Yi hurriedly let go and stepped back, while Zhang Yanhui nodded and ordered the officials on his left and right to place the thick stack of documents on the dragon's desk.

After the documents were put down, Zhang Yanhui simply told Li Yi what had been found during the raid, because he knew that Li Yi would most likely not read them.

Li Yi today can be described as being managed in a laissez-faire manner by Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilong dismissed most of the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace. Now, only more than fifty concubines and a dozen or so underage princes and princesses left behind by Li Yan, Li Chen and Li Cui, as well as more than eight hundred eunuchs and palace maids responsible for taking care of them, remain in Ziwei City.

Even so, the annual consumption within the palace was around 300,000 strings of cash, and this money and grain were transported from the Ministry of Revenue to the Imperial Treasury, which was jointly managed by Zhang Ying and Yang Gongqing.

Zhang Ying was very familiar with the prices in Luoyang, so he could not hide any of the various accounts and expenditures from her.

Therefore, although only 300,000 strings of cash were consumed in the palace, Li Yi's life was much better than before.

Liu Jilong wouldn't interfere with him. As long as he didn't do anything too outrageous, whether he wanted to play polo, watch a play or listen to music, or read a book, Liu Jilong would let him do as he pleased.

Even though Liu Jilong indulged him so much, Li Yi still had an innate fear of Liu Jilong.

Thirteen million strings of cash?!

Upon learning that Lu Yan and his group had managed to seize so much money, Li Yi's jaw dropped.

Not only him, but even the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace who had been carefully selected by Zhang Ying were all shocked.

Previously, after Li Cui withdrew to Guandong, the amount of money and grain transported by the various circuits in Guandong was only seven or eight million strings of cash. Now, Lu Yan and his group, who were not even involved in the matter, were able to confiscate thirteen million strings of cash. This is truly astonishing. "Your Majesty can discuss this matter with Chancellor Liu and Chancellor Xiao. In addition, the Prince of Han proposes to promote Gao Jinda from Chang'an to the position of Chancellor and send him to the capital to serve as Chancellor."

Zhang Yanhui bowed respectfully, and Li Yi could only realize what was going on and say, "Since the King of Han has made arrangements, then so be it."

"Your subject takes his leave..."

Seeing that the message had been delivered, Zhang Yanhui did not linger and turned to leave Zhenguan Hall.

At the same time, Zhang Yanhui began to spread rumors in Luoyang about the amount of money and grain that Lu Yan and others had embezzled. Everyone in Luoyang, from high-ranking officials to ordinary people, was shocked by the wealth that Lu Yan and others had embezzled.

Among them, Lu Yan's embezzlement of more than three million taels of silver is the most shocking.

Even Liu Zhan and Xiao Gou, who were working in the Southern Office, were shocked when they learned of this.

The two sent people to inquire with the officials of the left and right treasuries and the imperial granary. Only after confirming that the money and silk that had entered the treasury were true did they accept the news.

Although all the officials knew that Lu Yan was involved in selling official positions, they never expected that he could amass so much wealth.

However, after this, the court will not have to worry about money and food for at least a year, even though the court no longer belongs to Xiao Gou and his people.

Just as they were shocked, as time went on, when the money and grain embezzled by Lu Yan and his cronies were transmitted back to the various garrisons through the Jinzouyuan (memorial service offices) of the many garrisons in Luoyang, all the garrisons were shocked.

"Damn it! If I had the money and grain that Lu Yan embezzled, I could have trained an army of 100,000!"

In early March, Zhu Wen, who was training troops in Yanzhou, learned through Xie Tong's spy in Luoyang the amount of money and grain that Lu Yan and his cronies had embezzled, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

Seeing Zhu Wen's pained expression, Xie Tong, inside the Yanzhou government office, frowned and said:

"These funds and provisions were all seized by Liu Jilong, and his general Chen Jingchong took over Xuanwu and the three prefectures of Xuanwu half a month ago."

"Upon hearing that Chen Jingchong led his troops into Xuanwu, he immediately dismissed 15,000 soldiers from Xuanwu Town and recruited another 20,000."

"So, Liu Jilong stationed 50,000 troops in Xuanwu."

As soon as Xie Tong finished speaking, Zhu Wen, who had been cursing, shut his mouth. Xuanwu is adjacent to Yanzhou, which means that if Liu Jilong can rebuild the lives of the people in Xuanwu, he will lead his army eastward in two years at the longest and one year at the shortest.

Thinking this, Zhu Wen couldn't help but regret: "If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have given up those three prefectures."

But Zhu Wen only regretted it for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "No, giving up Puzhou and Caozhou has actually made good friends with Zhang Sitai."

"Right now, all we need to do is train our troops. Then, when the summer harvest comes, we can use the excuse that Pinglu hasn't started transporting money and grain to subdue them. Perhaps then I can even take over the lands of Qi and Lu!"

Zhu Wen reacted quickly, having already ceded the land and population. Moreover, Puyang and Caozhou were devastated, and even if they were brought under his control, he would not have time to restore them.

Instead of dwelling on this, it would be better to take advantage of the good relationship between Zhang Sitai and himself to send troops to seize Pinglu Town.

How many soldiers and armor do we have?

Zhu Wen looked at Xie Tong, who replied without hesitation, "The army numbers 40,000, with seven-tenths in armor."

"It's a bit little, but it's enough." Zhu Wen nodded, then instructed, "Move money and grain north to Mizhou. After the summer harvest, I intend to occupy Pinglu!"

“Yes…” Xie Tong agreed without hesitation, but Zhu Wen continued the conversation without stopping:

"Liu Jilong ordered someone to go south to pursue Huang Chao, but where is Huang Chao now?"

"It is said that Huang Chao is currently engaged in battle with Zeng Yuanyu at Longji Mountain in Xuzhou. Zeng Yuanyu's 20,000 troops have surrounded Huang Chao in Longji Mountain. It seems that Huang Chao will have a hard time surviving, but there is also the possibility of an unexpected event."

Xie Tong wasn't sure, but Zhu Wen grinned and said, "Liu Jilong ordered me to pursue Huang Chao. If I don't, this fellow will definitely use that as an excuse to attack me."

"I originally thought he was far away from me, but now that he has stationed troops in Xuanwu, it seems I have no choice but to accept the challenge."

"Send a message to my second brother, instructing him to lead five hundred elite cavalry south to pursue Huang Chao, and not let that scoundrel escape."

"Yes!" Xie Tong bowed in agreement, then left the yamen and sent someone to inform Zhu Cun of the matter.

Upon learning the news, Zhu Cun immediately led the few remaining 500 cavalrymen of the Yanhai Army southward, heading straight for Longji Mountain in Xuzhou.

Meanwhile, in Longji Mountain within Xuzhou, Huang Chao, who was attempting to move south, was surrounded by Zeng Yuanyu's army in Longji Mountain and the surrounding hills.

Zeng Yuanyu sent troops to guard various passes, and Huang Chao's army failed to break through the encirclement several times, causing the morale of the army to continue to decline.

"Commander, the Yellow bandits have failed to break through several times. It seems their morale is exhausted and they are doomed to die along the way."

"If the commander can kill the Yellow bandits, the imperial court will surely reward him continuously."

"I have heard that the current ruler of the court is the Prince of Han. If the Prince of Han can promote a military commander, the military commander will surely have a bright future."

Zeng Yuanyu, who had deployed troops for hundreds of miles, was currently commanding his forces at Longji Mountain. When the generals arrived, they all began to celebrate in advance for Zeng Yuanyu.

Zeng Yuanyu did not refute this, but at this moment, one of the generals said, "The General commands the four prefectures of Xu and Si, with a population of hundreds of thousands. Why does he need to ask Liu Jilong for money and provisions?"

"Liu Jilong was previously just a traitorous general identified by the court, but now that he has gained power, he was able to enter Luoyang."

"If the commander-in-chief can muster tens of thousands of troops and defeat them, why can't the commander-in-chief enter Luoyang?"

When this man spoke, all the generals fell silent. It was Zeng Yuanyu who frowned and looked at him, saying, "Shi Pu, don't say such things again."

Shi Pu was a general specially promoted by Zeng Yuanyu after he took command of Xuzhou and became the military governor of Ganhua Army.

During the campaign to suppress Huang Chao, Shi Pu was brave and daring, and his troops were also very valiant. Therefore, he was promoted by Zeng Yuanyu to the position of Commander-in-Chief.

Although Zeng Yuanyu was very confident in himself, he had served as an official in Chang'an for a long time before he followed Kang Chengxun south.

He had personally witnessed the troops that the imperial court had mobilized to suppress Liu Jilong.

It can be said that the reason why the towns in the Central Plains became weak was mainly because the elite troops of these towns died on the battlefields of Longxi and Longdong, which allowed Huang Chao, Wang Xianzhi, and Pang Xun to gain an advantage.

Now Liu Jilong has a strong army and occupies two-fifths of the country, and no one can rival him.

In Zeng Yuanyu's view, surrendering to Liu Jilong was a very good choice, which is why he sent troops to besiege Huang Chao when the various towns were acting independently.

"Why should a general boost the morale of others while diminishing his own?"

Shi Pu was only in his early twenties, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he had lofty ambitions.

In his view, he was just born too late; otherwise, there would be no Liu Jilong, Huang Chao, or anyone else.
Faced with his arrogance, Zeng Yuanyu sneered, "Liu Jilong has tens of thousands of cavalry under his command. Have you ever seen what it's like to have tens of thousands of cavalry?"

"Let alone the fact that I only have 20,000 troops, even if I had 50,000 or 100,000 troops, I would not dare to fight against tens of thousands of cavalry in Xuzhou. Moreover, there are more than 100,000 troops behind tens of thousands of cavalry."

"Half a month ago, Liu Jilong sent tens of thousands of troops to Xuanwu. Xuanwu was pacified without any resistance, which shows his strength."

"You need not worry about your future. I have heard that the King of Han is pacifying the various towns. All officials of the rank of general and above will be granted civil and military ranks and military honors. You will have no worries about wealth and honor."

Zeng Yuanyu never intended to establish a separatist regime. In addition, he was already over forty years old, and his ambitions had been worn away a few years ago. Therefore, he only wanted to return to Luoyang to retire peacefully and did not want to continue fighting.

Not only him, but many generals in Xuzhou thought the same way, so they mostly agreed with Zeng Yuanyu's words.

Although Shi Pu did not disagree, his expression was not pleasant, clearly indicating that he had his own thoughts.

After Zeng Yuanyu finished speaking, seeing his reaction, he couldn't say anything. He could only sigh inwardly, thinking that Shi Pu would naturally understand his words after meeting the Han army.

Just then, the tent flap was suddenly lifted outside the tent, and a colonel walked in and bowed.

"General, the Yellow bandits failed to break through the East Pass half an hour ago and have now retreated into Wolf Tiger Valley. Judging from their troops, they number only four or five thousand."

"Good!" Zeng Yuanyu's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He was prepared to use Huang Chao's head as a pledge of loyalty and take the opportunity to defect to Liu Jilong.

"Order all troops to steadily advance towards Wolf Tiger Valley, and force the Yellow Bandit into the valley, where he will perish!"

"Your subordinates obey!" All the generals responded, and then the Xuzhou army began to approach from various passes, constantly shrinking the encirclement.

As the encirclement continued to shrink, Huang Chao, who had retreated to Wolf Tiger Valley, seemed to sense something and looked towards Wolf Tiger Valley in the twilight.

What's this place called?

"Your Majesty, this place is called Wolf and Tiger Valley."

At this moment, Huang Chao was completely devoid of the high spirits he had displayed when he ascended the throne. His yellow robe was tattered, revealing the armor underneath.

His headdress had disappeared somewhere, revealing the hair ornament that held his hair in place.

His otherwise unremarkable face now showed signs of numbness and exhaustion, and only Huang Cun, Huang Ye, Shang Rang, Lin Yan, Bi Shiduo, and others remained by his side.

Huang Kui was killed by an arrow to the face during the previous breakout, and many of his troops also deserted on the way south.

Over the course of two months, he attempted to break out several times but failed, remaining completely surrounded by Zeng Yuanyu in the hills of Xuzhou.

He looked around in the twilight and saw that the army was exhausted and many soldiers were fighting with wounds.

The number of soldiers who could gather around him was less than five thousand, and although the Wolf Tiger Valley was spacious, firewood was extremely limited.

"This time, I'm afraid we really won't be able to break through..."

Huang Chao uttered a rare, discouraging remark, which shocked Shang Rang and the others, who vehemently denied it, saying, "Your Majesty, you mustn't say that!"

"Your Majesty, our army still has nearly five thousand soldiers. We have killed and wounded many enemy soldiers in the past two months, and we still have a chance to break through the encirclement."

"Your Majesty, let's charge forward a little longer; perhaps we can break through!"

Everyone tried to dissuade him, but Huang Chao seemed to have come to terms with it, and for some reason, he felt particularly peaceful.

Faced with the crowd's persuasion, Huang Chao opened his cracked lips and couldn't help but say:

"Our army was able to succeed before because of the court's mismanagement, which led to widespread refugees in the Hehuai region. Therefore, we raised our arms and shouted, and the people all followed us."

"Now, a million starving people in the He and Huai regions have either died in battle or starved to death."

Even if we manage to break through, where can we go?

"Nowadays, Huainan has Kang Chengxun, Henan has Liu Jilong, Shandong has Zhu Sanlang, and Jiangnan has Song Wei."

"Hahahahaha..."

Huang Chao couldn't help but burst into laughter, his laughter tinged with madness and helplessness: "The world is so vast, where can I go?"

"I...I can surrender to Liu Jilong." Huang Ye still wanted to surrender to Liu Jilong, but Huang Chao still shook his head.

"Not to mention that Liu Jilong supports the court and would certainly not accept me, even if he could accept me, I would never surrender to anyone else!"

Even when all hope seemed lost, Huang Chao still refused to be inferior to others, which made Huang Ye and the others close their eyes in despair.

"Let's try to break through again, Your Majesty..."

Shang Rang took the initiative to persuade him, and the generals and officers around him couldn't help but echo Huang Chao's words.

"Your Majesty, let's charge one more time! This time we'll surely break through the encirclement!"

The sounds of the soldiers around him roused Huang Chao slightly. He pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "If that's the case, then let's charge again."

As soon as he finished speaking, he looked up at the dim sky and said, "Damn you, Heaven, could you help me one more time?"

Closing his eyes, Huang Chao seemed lost in thought, but after a long pause, he asked, "How much grain is left..."

"Less than ten bushels." Shang Rang's words brought a bitter feeling to the hearts of those around him.

Huang Chao fell silent upon hearing this, but Shang Rang gritted his teeth and said, "If we cannot break through tonight, we will either die or be defeated."

"There are many enemy corpses at the valley entrance. Why don't we cook them into meat and make porridge?"

Shang Rang's words drew fearful glances from those around him, but Shang Rang remained unaffected and continued:

"If we can break through, what does eating human flesh matter? If we can't break through, at least we'll have meat in our bellies and won't starve to death!"

Faced with his explanation, many soldiers who had been struggling to break through the siege for a day and were already starving gradually let go of their fear.

The scene suddenly fell silent. After a long while, Huang Cun cursed, "Damn it! So what if we eat human flesh? We've eaten rat meat before, what's the big deal?"

"Five hundred brothers, come with Aja!"

Huang Cun summoned five hundred men to go with him to the valley entrance, and soon they dragged over a hundred corpses of the reformed soldiers back.

Faced with the group of corpses, they felt their hands were heavy, but feeling the hunger in their stomachs and their hands growing weaker, they still reached out and stripped the armor off the corpses.

As they stripped the corpses of their armor, Zeng Yuanyu directed his troops to relentlessly advance towards Wolf Tiger Valley, surrounding it before nightfall.

"I'd like to see how this yellow traitor tries to break through the inescapable net laid by 15,000 soldiers!"

Zeng Yuanyu looked at the flickering flames in Wolf Tiger Valley, then turned to Shi Pu beside him: "Shi Lang, you will personally lead three hundred elite cavalry as a surprise attack. If the enemy tries to break out tonight, you will lead the elite cavalry to reinforce the various units."

"Your subordinate obeys!" Shi Pu bowed deeply, and then began to deploy cavalry to patrol the outer perimeter of Wolf Tiger Valley.

Time passed slowly, from nightfall to the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), and with only two hours left until dawn, each department couldn't help but relax a little.

Before they could relax, Zeng Yuanyu began to personally inspect the camps of various tribes outside Wolf Tiger Valley, forcing them to stay alert.

An hour passed, and finally, unable to bear the loneliness any longer, the Qi army took the lead in making their move.

"kill!!"

"Uuuuuu——"

The hour before dawn is undoubtedly the last moment of daylight.

Qi Jun broke out from the southwest of Langhu Valley. However, as soon as they launched their breakout, they were immediately discovered by the Ganhuai Army, who had been up all night. The two sides sounded the bugle and fought fiercely under the cover of night.

Many soldiers suffering from night blindness were unable to locate their own positions and were thus entangled and fell to the enemy.

But as time went by, the sky, which was originally pitch black, gradually brightened up.

Half an hour later, as the sky brightened, Huang Chao began to command his troops to form ranks and break out of the encirclement. At the same time, the reformed troops around Wolf Tiger Valley also gathered here.

Among them, the three hundred cavalrymen personally led by Shi Pu undoubtedly became the most eye-catching presence on the battlefield.

"kill!!"

"Buzzing, rumbling..."

The dull thud of hooves and shouts of battle filled the air as Shi Pu led his troops around into Wolf Tiger Valley, launching a surprise attack from behind the Qi army.

The Qi army's rear guard, caught off guard, was pierced through like paper by three hundred cavalrymen.

Shi Pu wielded a horse spear. Although he did not have the physique of those brave generals, he was indeed very brave. He wielded the spear on horseback and killed many Qi soldiers.

"The entire army must launch an attack and give the enemy no chance to regroup!"

Seeing that Shi Pu had disrupted the Qi army's deployment, Zeng Yuanyu quickly began to send his three armies forward.

Under his command, three armies of more than 5,000 men each began to attack the Qi army from three different directions.

At the same time, Zeng Yuanyu personally led 500 of his personal guards to bypass the Qi army's rear, blocking the Qi army's possibility of retreating to Langhu Valley.

The fighting on the battlefield continued. Huang Chao was in the center of the army, constantly shooting arrows from horseback. However, as soon as the Ganhua Army discovered his presence, they would immediately draw their bows and rain down arrows.

Huang Chao was riddled with arrows, and his horse was also killed by a hail of arrows.

Fortunately, the armor was thick, and although it looked terrifying, Huang Chao was not injured.

"uncle!"

Huang Cun helped Huang Chao up. Huang Chao lowered his head and broke off the arrows in his body, while looking at the military horse that had been with him for seven or eight years.

The warhorse was dead, its eyes lifeless. Huang Chao reached out to close its eyes, while looking around.

The Qi army was already at its wits' end; no matter how they tried to break out, they could not escape the encirclement of the Ganhua Army.

Shi Pu's cavalry launched repeated attacks, and the Qi army showed signs of collapse.

Huang Chao knew that if the Qi army collapsed, he would have no chance to negotiate.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but touch his neck, a bitter smile on his face: "Such a big head, I wonder who it belongs to..."

"Uncle, if we abandon our main force, we can definitely break through!"

Lin Yan, Huang Cun, and others gathered around him. Among them, Bi Shiduo was extremely nervous, while Shang Rang stood between Huang Chao and Bi Shiduo, glaring fiercely at Bi Shiduo.

"You killed the King in the past, do you now intend to kill His Majesty?!"

"You...you scoundrel!" Bi Shiduo was somewhat embarrassed, after all, that was really what he originally thought, but he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and angry after being exposed.

"All right……"

As soon as Huang Chao finished speaking, the two men fell silent. Huang Chao then pushed Shang Rang aside and walked up to Bi Shiduo.

He didn't say anything, but just stared at Bi Shiduo for a few breaths until Bi Shiduo lowered his head. Only then did he turn around and walk to Huang Ye, Huang Cun, and Lin Yan.

“I am offering this large head to Zeng Yuanyu. I have a past relationship with Chen Ying, a minister under Liu Jilong. I hope he will treat you well.”

"Sanlang!" Huang Ye couldn't bear to speak, and Huang Cun, Lin Yan, Shang Rang, and the others all lowered their heads.

They wanted to live, but they were reluctant to sacrifice Huang Chao.

Huang Chao looked at Bi Shiduo, then raised his head to look at the sky and couldn't help but laugh.

"My ambition has failed; it is the will of Heaven..."

(End of this chapter)