In the decades-long battles between Dayuan and the Northern Barbarians, this battle can definitely be considered the one in which the enemy was repelled the fastest, the losses on our side were the fewest, and the enemy suffered the most casualties.

The Northern Barbarians not only failed to breach a single pass, but also lost at least half of their men.

Xie Shaoling and Marquis Wu'an immediately wrote a report of victory, showed it to Ye Jingchen, and then sent it to the capital.

As if they had planned it together, they tacitly attributed all the credit for the victory to Ye Jingchen.

Ye Jingchen didn't say much, after all, if it really came down to rewarding merit, the ones who should be rewarded the most were Xie Shaoling and his son.

If the truth is reported, even if it is a great victory, the emperor will still be unhappy.

It would be better to let him take the credit and then let him distribute the rewards sent by the emperor; that way, everyone would be happy.

As for how Marquis Wu'an might secretly report to the emperor, he couldn't stop him.

I just hope the emperor can be more magnanimous. After all, if he gets so angry that he can't sleep at night and can't eat well during the day, he might get sick.

He also hopes his elderly father will live to be a hundred years old!

After the war ended, Ye Jingchen fulfilled his promise. All the border guards who performed outstandingly in the pursuit of the Northern Barbarian cavalry were promoted from ordinary soldiers to centurions. Those who were centurions or above were promoted one rank and each was rewarded with one hundred taels of silver.

Ye Jingchen announced these rewards in front of all the border guards. The others looked at the dozens of soldiers who received the rewards and the piles of silver, their eyes red with envy.

This is exactly the effect Ye Jingchen wanted.

A generous reward will surely attract brave men. If killing the enemy is directly linked to power and money, then the northern barbarians will no longer be frightening in their eyes, but rather stepping stones for them to climb the social ladder.

After the list of fallen soldiers was compiled, Ye Jingchen personally wrote a letter urging the Ministry of War to issue pensions to the families of the fallen soldiers as soon as possible.

In addition to the pensions issued by the imperial court, he would also take out an equal amount of pensions from his private treasury and distribute them to the families of the fallen soldiers.

Over the years, Ye Jingchen has bought some shops in the capital, but the one that has made the most money is still the Golden Branch and Jade Leaf.

Because of some of his suggestions and novel sales ideas, Ye Jingshu insisted on giving him half a share of the technology stock. Combined with his 10% investment, he alone owned 15% of Golden Branches and Jade Leaf, or 15 percent of the shares.

It was this 15% stake that more than doubled the size of his private coffers.

Two years ago, he suggested that Ye Jingshu find two business-savvy advisors to manage her business.

He gave a portion of his profits to Ye Jingshu, Ye Jingyan, and Ye Jingyu as capital to start a business with them.

He also advised them that no matter what business they did, they should bring the emperor on board and give him a 10% share.

In recent years, under the emperor's protection, the three sisters' businesses have grown to a considerable scale. Other friends in the Wenhua Hall, besides Xie Chang'an and Ye Jinghe, even Wu Zemin who is far away in the northern frontier, have invested in some businesses that they are optimistic about.

When he returns to the capital, their business will surely be quite successful. At that time, he will suggest that they establish a chamber of commerce to control the prices of most commodities in the capital, and then gradually expand the chamber of commerce from the capital to the entire Dayuan.

The establishment of the Chamber of Commerce has brought many benefits to Dayuan, but for Ye Jingchen at present, the biggest benefit is that he is not short of money.

Therefore, he can reward soldiers who perform outstandingly on the battlefield, and also provide the most basic living security for the families of fallen soldiers, so that they have no worries.

Ye Jingchen's status as crown prince, and his mission in the northern frontier, allowed him to do these things openly to win over the army without worrying about arousing the emperor's suspicion.

After Ye Jingchen returned to the Shenwei Army's garrison from Tianxuan Pass with Xie Chang'an, he clearly felt that the Shenwei Army soldiers treated him with much more respect than before.

Furthermore, Xie Shaoling, Xu Jingjing, and Xie Chang'an's uncles all looked at him with eyes full of gratitude.

Ye Jingchen knew the reason, because he did what they had always wanted to do but couldn't.

The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion has the ability to do something for the families of the fallen soldiers, but they cannot do so, as doing so would be suspected of trying to win people's hearts.

Ye Jingchen felt he didn't deserve the Xie family's gratitude.

These soldiers sacrificed themselves for the peace of Dayuan and are heroes of Dayuan. Their families deserve to be treated well. As the crown prince of Dayuan, he was just doing what he was supposed to do.

Moreover, he did this with a purpose, unlike the Xie family who were selfless.

The Xie family knew perfectly well why he had come to the northern frontier, yet they were still willing to cooperate with him. The better the Xie family treated him, the more guilty he felt when he was in their presence.

Because in addition to trying to seize the position of commander of the Divine Might Army, he also led their family's most outstanding junior astray.

Although Xie Chang'an was the one who fell in love with him first, Xie Chang'an in her previous life didn't like men.

He relentlessly tried to gain Xie Chang'an's favor in order to make Xie Chang'an work for him, and accidentally went too far.

He led Xie Chang'an down a wrong path!

Instead of getting Xie Chang'an back on track, he decided to stick with him to the end!

He was too greedy, wanting both.

Regular training resumed in the Shenwei Army, and Ye Jingchen, in addition to his daily training and evening tactical studies, inexplicably added one more thing: learning the Xie family's spear technique.

It was Xie Shaoheng who first offered to teach him.

Ye Jingchen didn't really want to learn because he knew learning to shoot would be very hard, and he didn't want to suffer.

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