The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 171 Eliminating Future Trouble
Jin Yangjun nodded regretfully.

Li Jingxiao cursed a few times in annoyance, then casually tossed him a 5-jin jar of spirit wine. Only then did the tiger demon happily promise that he would not mess things up.

Li Jingxiao flicked his hand, and a bolt of lightning, the size of a pebble, struck Jin Yangjun on the forehead with a hidden weapon technique.

The tiger demon, struck by lightning, clutched its head and howled.

Then Li Jingxiao said with a smile, "You barbarian, you never learn from your mistakes. I warned you last time."

It's only been a short time, and they still dare to try to be clever.

Remember, I, your master, am fair in my rewards and punishments; I will not forget or be reluctant to give you any benefits.

Jin Yangjun kept rubbing the hair on his forehead that had been singed by the electric shock, and he did indeed become a little more obedient.

Moreover, the tiger demon could clearly feel that this electric shock was much more painful than the last one.

The master in the secret passage said that his cultivation had made a breakthrough, which should be in the Thunder Technique.

But if that were the case, then I could forget about escaping a life of enslavement for the rest of my life.

However, it's not just foxes who can use someone else's power to bully others; even a big tiger like him can do it.

He chuckled, cupped his hands in greeting, and watched Li Jingxiao depart on his flying sword. After half an hour, a whooshing sound rang out.

A dozen or so tiger roars immediately echoed from the surrounding area.

In ancient times, when armies were fighting on the frontier, what they feared most at night was the sound of commotion in their camps.

During a major battle, soldiers are under constant tension, and even the slightest incident can cause them to become anxious.

If a loud commotion breaks out in the camp, the soldiers who can't hear what's going on will be unable to understand.

My first reaction was to pick up a weapon.

The clothing worn by soldiers in ancient times was not the same uniform that one could easily identify as one of their own in modern society just by looking at the clothes.

Some people wear armor.

Some people didn't even have time to put on their clothes, rushing out of their tents in tattered clothes.

If someone bumps into another person or falls down, the people behind them could very well think their companion has been killed.

He grabbed the knife and slashed at the person opposite him.

Sometimes, just because of this one thing, the whole camp would fall into chaos.

This is what is known as the 'camp uprising'.

Even in modern times, there have been instances where armies fought at night for half a day only to discover that the enemy was actually their own.

After a dozen or so tiger roars, the horses in the Tatar camp were immediately startled.

A large number of Tatars rushed out of their tents nervously, weapons in hand, as they heard the chaotic sound of hooves and neighing horses from inside the camp.

The shouts of their comrades filled the soldiers, who were unaware of the situation, with fear.

Some people just wanted to escape the camp and avoid what they thought was an enemy night raid.

Some people wanted to gather the surrounding soldiers together to resist the enemy's attack.

Forget about calming the soldiers; by the time the tiger's roar stopped a dozen minutes later, the entire camp was in complete chaos.

When Li Jingxiao arrived with his army, the entire Tatar camp was completely unable to organize any organized or large-scale military formations.

Li Jingxiao immediately led his personal guards, including Erfu, and heavy cavalry in a charge. Seeing their commander leading the charge, the morale of the 900 heavy cavalrymen soared.

He charged straight into the Tatar camp, killing anyone who stood in his way.

When the 2000 Jurchen soldiers and 2000 auxiliary troops charged into the camp alongside the heavy cavalry, the resistance was even weaker.

These four thousand men, ironically, were the ones who inflicted the greatest casualties on the Tatars' fighting force.

Moreover, these four thousand people not only indiscriminately slaughtered people, but also set fire to tents along the way.

The remaining 1600 light cavalrymen circled the camp on both sides, shooting arrows and killing those who tried to escape.

The more than one hundred captains of the Left Garrison Command were specifically responsible for killing valuable targets.

When Li Jingxiao led over 900 cavalrymen through the entire camp and circled back, charging into the camp once more, most of the Tatar camp was already ablaze.

Half an hour later, Li Jingxiao stood on a hillside outside the camp on horseback.

Seeing that everyone in the camp was fighting like crazy, he quickly took out the level 30 guqin that he had just obtained in the game at noon today.

Just by taking this instrument out, anyone who sees it will know that it is extraordinary.

The body of the zither not only shimmered with a lustrous light, but also faintly displayed two red fish-dragons with long whiskers swimming on its surface.

Fish-Dragon Harp - Spell power +30%, spell cost -30%.

It also has the effects of calming the soul and creating a sonic boom.

It was only after playing a piece called "Spring River Flower Moon Night" that the wildly agitated soldiers, who were indiscriminately killing in the camp, gradually regained their senses.

Moreover, upon hearing the music, the soldiers of the Great Zhou quickly guessed that it must have been played by their own lord.

Otherwise, after killing all the Tatars in the camp.

The auxiliary troops, the Jurchens, and the soldiers of the Great Zhou might even start fighting amongst themselves.

Having stabilized the morale of the troops, Li Jingxiao then began to issue orders continuously.

The next morning, when he came out of the Tatars' main tent, the army had already cleaned up most of the battlefield.

Last night, more than 6 people were killed and 2 wounded were captured. There are probably two or three thousand Tatars who escaped.

Li Jingxiao ignored the scattered and defeated soldiers, who were virtually impossible to regroup.

After a rough count, the gold, silver and jewelry amounted to approximately tens of thousands of taels of silver.

As agreed with his soldiers, Li Jingxiao distributed 6% of the produce to them.

But in reality, the truly valuable animals were cattle, sheep, and warhorses.

Of the remaining 4%, 1% went to the individual and 3% to the officers.

Even the Jurchens received the same treatment.

However, Li Jingxiao directly handed over the rewards and compensation from the Jurchens to Wang Zhong.

If this guy doesn't distribute it to his subordinates, he'll lose their support.

If the money were distributed, the Jurchen cavalry wouldn't be grateful to him, their leader, but rather to Li Jingxiao, the commander-in-chief who gave them the money.

So some money isn't so easy to get.

However, the biggest gain was that the army spent a whole day finding more than 5,000 warhorses that had scattered and run away the night before.

As for the tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, Li Jingxiao directly ordered 2 auxiliary soldiers to assist 3 logistics soldiers in rushing back to Liaodong.

Previously, they had defeated the enemy twelve times in the heart of the grasslands, capturing even more cattle, sheep, and horses.

But after the horses were left behind by the army, the cattle and sheep, apart from being eaten or made into jerky, were all slaughtered and abandoned if they couldn't be taken with them.

However, this time it was only about 300 li away from Liaodong, and the pursuers had already stopped chasing.

Li Jingxiao naturally wouldn't slaughter all the captured cattle and sheep.

It is foreseeable that the Tatars will have a very difficult winter.

In particular, those herdsmen who followed the Tatar Khan to attack Datong and Xuanfu returned to find that their tribes had been wiped out, and their cattle, sheep, tents, and other necessities were gone.

They would have no choice but to rely on other tribes, which would inevitably lead to food shortages.

in the afternoon.

The soldiers who received the money not only had no objections to building another mound of Jingguan, but were also full of enthusiasm.

It's already early July.

If the body is not handled properly, it will cause a lot of trouble.

Before the army set off the next day, Li Jingxiao had Shi Delong and two others set up an altar to perform a ritual to pray for the souls of the deceased Tatars.

To avoid the resentment becoming too strong, which would eventually turn them into vengeful ghosts.

Although this is a grassland, it is the grassland herders who are suffering.

But Li Jingxiao knew that the soldiers who died on the battlefield not only harbored deep resentment and were prone to turning into vengeful ghosts, but might even give birth to a ghost king in the future. Such a ghost king would naturally be hostile to the Great Zhou, and if things went wrong, it would be the Great Zhou that would suffer.

The three Shi brothers had hosted the event twelve times before, so they were quite adept at it.

Not to mention, with Li Jingxiao's help in drawing the soul-crossing talisman, the effect was much more powerful than that of Shi Delong and the other two.

Numerous soul-saving talismans were affixed to the Jingguan (a mound of corpses), which dispersed any resentment and allowed the souls to be liberated.

Finally, Li Jingxiao carved dozens of characters on a boulder with his longsword.

It was even noted that this was the army's thirteenth victory.

The three Shi brothers shook their heads in disbelief, unable to understand why their master was so enthusiastic about building a mound of skulls.

Although it was meant to commemorate the achievement by erecting a stone monument, the negative impact of casting the Jingguan (a mound of skulls) was also considerable.

Centuries later, while some will sing his praises, others will inevitably condemn him for his cruelty.

But Li Jingxiao knew very well that sometimes the more people criticize you, the more famous you become.

If someone is like the great archmage 'Emperor Guangwu of Han' Liu Xiu, whose achievements are remarkable but whose perfection is excessive, then few people in later generations will know about him.

Even when it comes to filming TV dramas, few people are willing to cast him as the lead.

After doing all this, Li Jingxiao led Erfu and others, along with 1600 light cavalry, to catch up with the main force that had set off that morning.

Li Jingxiao rode his horse and stopped on a hillside, looking at the tens of thousands of cattle and sheep covering the hillside, as well as more than 26,000 warhorses and 4,000 packhorses.

He couldn't help but feel a little smug.

When they set off, they only brought a little over 10,000 horses, and 3,000 of them were cobbled together from various sources.

However, after a few months, the number of horses increased by 2.

The total number of cattle and sheep is at least seventy or eighty thousand.

If it weren't for the fact that most of the auxiliary troops were herdsmen or slaves captured by the Tatars and responsible for raising horses and herding livestock.

Bringing over 100,000 cattle, sheep, and horses back to the Great Zhou Dynasty would certainly not be as easy as it is now.

Fortunately, the grasslands were covered in lush green grass at that time of year.

Li Jingxiao personally led 1600 light cavalry and 2000 Jurchen cavalry to scout ahead of the main army.

They also drove away or guarded against the tribes of the Uriyangkhai Mongols they encountered along the way.

Fortunately, the Uriyangkhai Mongols, although belonging to the same race as the Tatars, had a very tense relationship with each other.

The Tatars, who were once the most powerful force on the steppe, inevitably had to compete with the Uriyangkhai and the Oirats for pasture.

The Oirat people were also driven to the western edge of the steppe by the Tatars.

The Uriyangkhads were driven to the east.

Therefore, as long as Li Jingxiao is polite to these Uriyangha tribes, he can easily receive warm hospitality from each tribe.

If you encounter a tribe with good horses, just spend money or trade them cattle or sheep.

Horses on the grasslands are at least three or four times cheaper than those in the capital's horse market.

A fine military horse in the capital would cost at least several dozen taels of silver, or even more than a hundred taels.

On the grasslands, you can buy it for 10 or 20 taels.

Ordinary nags are even cheaper, costing only a few taels of silver.

Four days later, the army arrived at the territory of Wang Zhong's eldest son, Wang Tai.

To be honest, Wang Tai is much more capable than his father.

He fled with the remnants of his troops back then, but now he has at least four thousand cavalrymen under his command.

Li Jingxiao not only forced Wang Tai to pledge allegiance to his father Wang Zhong again, but also gave Wang Zhong thousands of sets of Tatar armor and weapons.

It was used to strengthen Wang Zhong's power.

Otherwise, Wang Zhong, who only had 2 cavalry, would be destroyed by his son Wang Tai after he left.

Wang Tai had considered resisting, but seeing the 900 menacing heavy cavalrymen, he ultimately knew when to back down.

But Li Jingxiao was certain that once he led his troops away, the father and son would definitely fight.

Wang Zhong naturally understood this principle, which is why he was very enthusiastic about the official position of Deputy Commander of Tashan Guard promised by Li Jingxiao.

In addition to the thousand suits of armor and weapons that Li Jingxiao had given him, Wang Zhong gritted his teeth and secretly gave Li Jingxiao 50,000 taels of silver.

They also gave all the furs, ginseng, and other medicinal materials from the Wangtai tribe to Li Jingxiao.

They also promised to send people to Beijing every year to deliver furs and medicinal herbs.

Li Jingxiao doesn't value money as much anymore, but he hopes Wang Zhong will lead his men back to Tashan to reclaim the ranch.

This will inevitably lead to a major war.

Therefore, he not only promised that the official position of "Commander of Tashan Guard" would definitely be granted to him.

Using the pretext of needing someone familiar with the roads to act as a guide, he forced Wang Tai to take a dozen or so close followers and continue south with the army.

Once this kid leaves, it will be much easier for Wang Zhong to annex Wang Tai's tribe.

This old fellow is obsessed with reclaiming his ancestral land, and he will surely lead all his people north.

Three days later, the army successfully arrived at Tuchangwei, the northernmost town in Liaodong.

Li Jingxiao also used the 'Mysterious Light Technique' to witness Wang Zhong massacring Wang Tai's confidants over the past three days, and to see the merged tribe heading north.

Before entering Tuchangwei, Li Jingxiao looked at Wangtai from his horse.

Seeing his eagerness to return home, he smiled and asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

Wang Tai wasn't stupid; he knew that even if he went back, he would most likely lose control of the tribe.

But he is indeed Wang Zhong's biological son. As the heir, as long as he behaves himself, he can wait until his father dies.

The tribe naturally returned to his control.

Therefore, Wang Tai has been very well-behaved and obedient while staying by Li Jingxiao's side these past few days.

When Li Jingxiao inquired about the spheres of influence and strength of various forces north of Liaodong, Li Jingxiao answered all his questions without reservation.

He told Li Jingxiao everything at once.

Hearing Li Jingxiao ask him.

Without a second thought, Wang Tai said he was going back to find his father.

He thought this answer would satisfy Li Jingxiao, but Li Jingxiao just smiled and nodded.

He nodded to Erfu and the others.

As soon as Li Jingxiao rode into Tuchangwei, Erfu and the others immediately took action.

They killed Wang Tai and his dozen or so close associates.

Although when Wang Tai returns, the father and son will indeed be wary of each other, and given the right opportunity, Wang Tai will definitely kill his father.

But Li Jingxiao thought that Wang Zhong was old and only wanted to reclaim the ancestral land of Tashan.

Even if Wang Zhong's strength increases in the future, a leader without ambition cannot lead the tribe to continue to grow stronger.

Perhaps in the future, Wang Zhong will focus all his efforts on having more sons.

But Wang Tai is young and vigorous, and such a person naturally poses a greater threat.

Not to mention, he was one of his enemies, so letting him go back would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains.

Therefore, the more honest and harmless Wang Tai appeared, the less likely Li Jingxiao would let him go.

Erfu and his companions are now roughly equivalent to third-rate or even second-rate masters in the world of martial arts.

Without even needing all twelve guards to act, Erfu and Zhao Junheng alone easily killed all of Wang Tai's dozen or so personal attendants.

By the time it was Wang Tai's turn, he probably understood that Li Jingxiao had never intended for him to return alive from the beginning.

Having prepared myself mentally, I didn't struggle too much; I just hoped to leave behind a complete corpse.

(End of this chapter)