After fleeing all the way, the remaining thousand-plus Xiongnu soldiers finally arrived in central Juyan on the morning of the second day and caught up with the Left Wise King who was escorting supplies.

Seeing the remnants of his army, numbering only a little over a thousand, fleeing back in panic, the Left Wise King was so enraged that he nearly fainted.

Immediately, the Left Wise King grabbed the general by the collar in a fit of rage and roared, "What's going on? How come only so few people have returned?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, we...we have encountered the Han army...! There are more than ten thousand of them!"

The Xiongnu general, whose collar had been grabbed, stammered that he had given the Left Wise King a significantly exaggerated figure for the number of enemy troops.

"Where did these Han soldiers come from? How could they be so powerful?"

The Left Wise King seemed not to believe what the general said. In his mind, even if the Han army had a numerical advantage, it was impossible for them to be killed so badly!

"They are Xiliang cavalry under Duan Jiong's command! And every one of them is equipped with powerful crossbows, wields long spears, and wears iron armor! Our warriors simply cannot cut them down..."

If they hadn't been so slow, all our warriors would have been lost there...!

In the end, the Xiongnu general suddenly burst into tears, his cries filled with resentment!

"Xiliang cavalry... crossbows, spears, iron armor...?"

Upon hearing his subordinates' description, the Left Wise King couldn't help but loosen his grip and swallow hard.

He knew the ferocity of the Xiliang cavalry; they were known as the most elite cavalry in the Han Dynasty. He just hadn't expected their equipment to be so sophisticated.

"Retreat...retreat immediately!"

Thinking it over, the Left Wise King no longer hesitated and hurriedly ordered a retreat.

The fleeing remnants of the Xiongnu army then joined forces with the Left Wise King and others, and retreated rapidly towards Juyan City.

Two days later, the Left Wise King and his men, who had fled all the way back to Juyan City, breathed a sigh of relief when they found that the Han army had not pursued them!

"Quickly! Take all the grain, salt, and supplies with you! Burn down anything you can't take! And burn down this city of Juyan too!"

After everything was tidied up, the Left Wise King immediately ordered the city to be set on fire.

Stepping outside the city, the Left Wise King turned his head to look at Juyan City, which had now turned into a sea of ​​fire, and a cold smile appeared on his lips. He then led his troops deeper into the northern grasslands.

On the other side, Tao Qian, the prefect of Jiuquan, and Zhong Shao, the prefect of Zhangye, also arrived at the border city two days ago with a large number of officials.

At this time, the number of Juyan refugees who had fled to the territory of the Han Dynasty was approaching 150,000.

Tao Qian and Zhong Shao stood on the city wall, their eyes shining as they looked down at the densely packed Juyan people below.

These people are a rare and valuable source of free labor! With the addition of these refugees, the infrastructure under their rule will surely see further development.

The two waited there for two days, but no one else came from within Juyan territory. It seemed that most of them had been killed by the Xiongnu.

Tao Qian then looked at Zhong Shao and said, "Prefect Zhong, I think that's about all the Juyan people left! Let's go down!"

"good!"

Zhong Shao nodded, and then the two of them, along with some officials, walked out of the city under the protection of soldiers.

"Creak!"

Upon hearing the sound of the city gates opening, the Juyan people gathered outside the city turned to look. When they saw Tao Qian, Zhong Shao, and others dressed in official robes walking out, they all surrounded them.

"Please, big man, help us!"

"Yes...! Those Xiongnu people burned, killed, and looted in our Juyan area. My whole family was killed by them!"

"Please, drive the Xiongnu away!"

"......"

The people of Juyan knelt down before Tao Qian and his men, weeping bitterly, hoping that the Han Dynasty would send troops to help them drive out the Xiongnu and restore their homeland.

Tao Qian and Zhong Shao remained unmoved by the requests of these Juyan people.

Tao Qian then sighed and said in a deep voice, "Alas! It's not that our Great Han is unwilling to send troops, but without the request for help from your King of Juyan, our Han army cannot freely enter your Juyan territory!"

"The King of Juyan, along with all the officials, nobles, and people of Juyan City, were all killed by the Xiongnu. How could they possibly ask the Han Dynasty for help?"

"Yes! If the Han Dynasty refuses to send troops, aren't we just going to stay here and wait to die?"

A young man from Juyan raised his head and looked at Tao Qian and the others, his eyes filled with grief and indignation, and the people around him echoed his sentiments.

"That's true, but we Han people follow the rules, and some things must be done according to regulations, unless...!"

Tao Qian showed a helpless expression, and stopped speaking halfway through his sentence, instead quietly looking at the people in front of him.

"Unless...?"

The young man quickly asked, and the others looked at Tao Qian with hopeful expressions.

"unless......!"

Under everyone's gaze, Tao Qian closed his eyes and pretended to be deep in thought, while everyone stared at him without daring to breathe.

Zhong Shao glanced at Tao Qian, then turned his head away, no longer looking at this guy with superb acting skills.

A moment later, Tao Qian opened his eyes, looked at everyone, and said loudly:

"Unless you are willing to be incorporated into the Han Dynasty and serve three years of forced labor, and are formally registered as Han citizens, we will have a reason to send troops to avenge you!"

"Three years of hard labor...?"

Upon hearing that they would have to perform three years of forced labor, the group's faces fell. They knew about forced labor, as the King of Juyan had frequently conscripted them for it before.

Not only did it disrupt their herding production, but it also required them to provide their own food. Those who had no money or food could only die from exhaustion and hunger. Therefore, in their view, it would be better to kill them than to perform forced labor.

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