Chapter 0104: Stepping Stone

Upon learning that the war was over, Mi Jing walked out of the military camp. He declined the guard's offer to lead his horse. It was a distance of more than five miles, almost six miles, from the Zhenbei Army's station to the north gate of Shengle. Mi Jing walked quietly and firmly. After walking more than a mile, the ground was littered with dead bodies.

There were Xianbei people, the Zhenbei Army, and the reinforcements that the Zhenbei Army had always looked down upon. Mi Jing placed the rosary in front of him, muttering to himself while walking forward at a steady pace.

About a quarter of an hour later, Mi Jing arrived at the place. Not far away was the majestic Shengle North Gate, and the battle here was more brutal than anywhere else. Mi Jing could almost see how desperately and stubbornly these Xianbei people protected their city.

Although people with different ideals cannot work together, warriors are always worthy of respect.

This scene touched certain memories in Mi Jing's heart. The people who died here might be the culprits who massacred monks and civilians in Zunshan Temple nine years ago. They killed everyone in Zunshan Temple, and then rushed to the streets, bloodbathed the entire Chang'an once again. Those people who survived by chance, who thought they could barely survive as long as they were obedient, eventually became victims of the Xianbei people's venting of anger.

Mi Jing should have hated these people, but for some reason, looking at these corpses that were either crawling on the ground or with their eyes half open, he felt nothing at all. He was neither happy about their plight nor felt sympathy for their experiences.

All he could think of were two words: cause and effect.

The cause I sowed back then has now reaped the fruits of retribution, but is there really such a thing as retribution in this world that is accurate to the last digit? Overnight, the cause and effect of ten years ago has been completely ended, so has a new cause and effect been sown?

Mi Jing found himself a little confused again. Eight years ago, because of his confusion, he chose to go west on a pilgrimage to seek the right path. But now he felt that he was already on the right path, so why would he be confused again?

Mi Jing frowned, then took a step forward. He originally wanted to go directly into the city, but a particularly dazzling light suddenly flashed across his field of vision. Mi Jing turned his head and found that it was the king sitting on the ground.

Mi Jing: “…”

This place is the best interpretation of purgatory on earth, and Qu Yunmie actually found a clean place in this sea of ​​corpses and blood. He and Xiao Rong sat side by side on a big rock, and the two were talking in a low voice.

Mi Jing was a little curious, so he walked over there, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly froze in place, because he actually saw Qu Yunmie holding Xiao Rong's hand.

Mi Jing: “…………” Be more restrained.

Please...*

Xiao Rong didn't want to freeze here either, but the army outside the city had been cleared out, but not inside. Shengle was also a large place, and there were small Xianbei troops hiding somewhere. What if Xiao Rong just entered and those people rushed out and decided to die with them? Qu Yunmie didn't care if they were looking for death, but if they hurt Xiao Rong, Qu Yunmie felt that he might not be able to return unscathed. ...

So while they were waiting for Jian Qiao and the others to reply, the two of them sat here, having not slept all night and being extremely nervous. Xiao Rong almost didn't even have the strength to open his eyes at this time. With his eyelids drooping, he asked Qu Yunmie what his next plan was: "What are you going to do with those prisoners of war, Your Majesty?"

Qu Yunmie pinched Xiao Rong's fingers. He didn't understand why a man's fingers were so thin. Xiao Rong frowned instantly and tried to take his hand back.

Qu Yunmie grabbed him reflexively, and then Xiao Rong screamed: "It hurts!"

Qu Yunmie: “…”

He quickly rubbed Xiao Rong's face with a guilty conscience. He did not dare to apologize when Xiao Rong was full of resentment. He could only quickly change the subject: "Prisoners of war... Prisoners of war were of course killed!"

Xiao Rong blinked slowly, then fired at Qu Yunmie: "Two thousand people, all killed?! What are you going to do with the Xianbei people in the city, kill them too?!"

Qu Yunmie: "Common people are different from soldiers."

Xiao Rong: "After you take away the weapons of these prisoners, they are no different from civilians! No, I won't let you kill them no matter what. Killing prisoners is something that only happens in the past. Since the king does not intend to kill all the Xianbei, he cannot treat these prisoners so roughly. However, 20,000 people are indeed too many... Even Pingcheng does not need so many prisoners."

Qu Yunmie: "That's why I said to kill them all. There are too many Xianbei people. If we keep these 20,000 people, if there are Xianbei high-ranking officials who escape, these 20,000 people may be used by him. Even if there are no Xianbei high-ranking officials, do you think Rouran, Gaoche, and Kumo Xi have no ideas? When they unite, who knows if it will be another Xianbei."

Xiao Rong turned his head and looked at Qu Yunmie's serious expression. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "That does make sense."

Qu Yunmie: "What the king says always makes sense."

Xiao Rong chuckled again, then shook his head. "Even so, we have to keep these 20,000 people alive, not only for the sake of the king's reputation, but also to keep a bottom line. I still don't know exactly how many people there are in Xianbei, but judging from their military strength, there are probably less than one million. If we rely purely on force to suppress them, these one million people will cause trouble sooner or later. Either we gradually kill them all, or they suppress us in return. Sparing the lives of the prisoners of war is also a signal to other Xianbei people that they will not be killed if they surrender. Even if there is a deep hatred between the two countries, it will not affect civilians and prisoners of war."

There were only three big cities of Xianbei, Shengle, Shuofang and Xihai. The first two concentrated nearly 70% of the entire Xianbei population, Xihai accounted for 10%, and the rest lived scattered on the grasslands and deserts. In the words of Nan Yong, those people still lived a life of relying on the weather for food and eating raw meat and drinking blood.

If you look at the map, these three cities have something in common. Shengle and Shuofang are both near the Yellow River, while Xihai is close to Juyan Lake, and there is also a Ruoshui River flowing through here. Nomadic people also need water sources. The Xianbei people themselves are too lazy to manage places without water. Xiao Rong even doubts whether those scattered Xianbei people have a strong sense of belonging to the Murong tribe like the residents of Shengle.

After taking Shengle and dealing with things here, Qu Yunmie should go to the neighboring Shuofang. After taking Shuofang, they will head towards the desert, walk along the Great Wall, pass Zhangye to Jiuquan, and then head north following the direction of the Ruoshui River. When they see a large lake, they will have arrived at their last stop, the West Sea.

As for those scattered ones… well, the Xianbei people didn’t care, and Xiao Rong didn’t want to care either. To the people at that time, the desert was a dead land, with no value to use. Even if Xiao Rong knew there were mineral deposits in it, he would not dig. Under such harsh conditions, the input and the return were completely disproportionate, and letting people stay in the desert for a long time was really like being completely exiled. …

The mineral deposits on the grassland can be put to good use, especially those rich in copper and iron, but the mines will be mined out sooner or later, and Xiao Rong does not want all the people on the grassland to become miners, as there will always be people who cannot do this kind of work.

For those who can’t do it, hehe, they can go back to their old profession.

Cattle, sheep and horses, these three things are consumables that have been passed down since ancient times. Qu Yunmie is a general, even if he becomes emperor, he is still a great general. Other dynasties may let the soldiers return to the fields and the demand for horses is not so great, but for Qu Yunmie, this situation will never happen. He will continue to attach importance to the training of the army, which means they need many, many horses.

Not to mention cattle. Nowadays, because of the chaos, there is no rule against slaughtering cattle. However, in a society based on small-scale peasant economy, once peace comes, this rule will definitely reappear. Xiao Rong really doesn't want to go to that point, because he thinks beef is delicious. ...

Therefore, it is necessary to vigorously promote cattle breeding. Xiao Rong even plans to build an official road for this purpose, which is called the Oxen Road. Those oxen with good physical strength will be sent to be oxen for farming, and those that are eliminated will have to wait to be on the table.

However, animal husbandry is not so easy to develop. There are many twists and turns involved, and many accompanying industries have emerged, such as veterinary medicine, forage cultivation, and health and epidemic prevention. Once the planting industry is introduced among the nomadic peoples, allowing these people who are accustomed to grazing to taste the sweetness of planting and feeding, new problems will arise. Landlords will also appear on the grasslands, and when the landlord has a lot of land in his hands, he will become the actual king of that piece of land.

So these problems had to be solved in advance. Xiao Rong blabablabablabablababablababub ...

As Xiao Rong continued to talk, his right hand had already warmed up. Qu Yunmie silently let go of him and then waved at him.