Chapter 102: Envoys from the Southern Kingdom
At the same time, at the border of Da Zhou.
The soldiers are not in the city now, but on the grassland.
"Everyone has worked hard these days to prevent the enemy from discovering our tracks. Let's have a good meal today!" As soon as the words fell, the soldiers cheered, and the shouts broke through the sky.
During the days of pursuing the Turkic army, they rarely lit fires, firstly to avoid leaving any traces, and secondly to avoid raising smoke that would alert the enemy to their unexpected goal. Despite being unable to light a fire, even the lowest-ranking soldier carried enough dry rations to keep them full. How could this be considered hardship? Remember, every winter, scores of soldiers starved to death. Now, when the government recruited, everyone rushed to sign up. They say men don't cry easily, yet some who didn't get in would burst into tears of regret outside the recruitment area.
The Great Zhou government does not recruit soldiers every year. If they cannot recruit soldiers now at such a critical time in the fight against the Turks, it will be even more difficult in the future!
Although they have heard about the current treatment in the military camp more than once, the new recruits always feel at a loss every time they enter the camp.
Now that another victory has been won, it is time to rest. Some soldiers are lying on the ground in groups of three or four, some companions are gathering together to count the things in their bags, and a group of people are jumping into the river to take a bath.
Several lieutenants sat together, looking at the group of soldiers who had just finished fighting with emotion: "That's great."
They won.
A long time ago, the deputy general still remembered what the soldiers looked like: numb eyes and skinny bodies. He also remembered the scene of a "camp roar". No one would be like this now.
Now, one big pot after another began to bubble, the flames shot up high, making the cooks' faces red with excitement.
"Do we still have the coarse salt we brought?" the cook asked his companion beside him.
Another cook quickly went to get a bag, "And these!"
The cook untied the rope, took a peek inside, and said happily, "Great! The general said to kill a few sheep and have broth tonight!"
In the past, soldiers might only eat salt a few times a year, but now salt is one of the supplies they always carry with them on the march.
The cooks worked together to prepare the sheep, chopped it into pieces and put it into several pots to make soup. They poured coarse salt into the pot and added a large bundle of washed wild vegetables. After a while, the aroma of mutton soup filled the air amidst the curling smoke.
There was plenty of soup and meat in everyone's bowl.
The soldiers taught each other how to break up their dry food and soak it in the soup, waiting for it to be soaked through before eating. It was so delicious, the saltiness removed the mutton smell very well, and then drinking a mouthful of hot mutton soup made them feel comfortable all over!
The soldiers, who had eaten and drunk enough and had enough fun, began to move. Those who needed to be on guard kept on guard, those who needed to be replaced did so, and those who were not on duty for night patrol rested on the spot.
Lying on the ground, there was a cotton mat underneath. Although the cotton in the mat was compacted and made thin for easy carrying, in their hearts, lying on it was like lying on the clouds.
One soldier closed his eyes, thinking to himself that when he returned to the city, he would ask someone to send money and things back home, and then find someone to write a letter to his family...
...
Seventeen days later, the Turks were completely conquered by the Great Zhou. The flag of the Great Zhou army was raised in the Turkic territory, and the Turks were completely defeated. This place belonged to the Great Zhou.
The Rongdi tribes had previously been divided into two parts, east and west. The Rongdi tribes that had attacked Huangsha City in the past all defected to the Turks and were now captured together.
From then on, "Rongdi" only referred to another tribe that had not committed any crimes.
How to manage this place is something that other officials have to worry about.
When Yuan Kang returned to the court, he became the most famous person.
In the face of powerful strength, a lot of things can indeed be saved. For example, in the game with Ashina Ziluo, as long as Yan Xuanyu gained time to recuperate, he knew that he would be able to defeat the Turks.
There were different opinions in the court about how to manage the Turks... no, it should now be called Tuhe City in the territory of the Great Zhou.
Some officials believed that troops should be stationed to suppress the rebellion, and these officials believed that they should be on guard against their disloyalty.
Han Yuan pondered for a moment and then walked out slowly, saying that he thought it would be possible to allow the people of Tuhe City to intermarry with the people of the surrounding Great Zhou. Suppression alone was not a long-term solution, and they had to slowly let them identify themselves as people of the Great Zhou.
It is indeed difficult to achieve this.
Yan Xuanyu was also very troubled for a while. Influenced by his previous life, he believed that everyone should be Chinese. Of course, unity should be achieved within the Great Zhou, but it was obvious that this was not an easy thing to achieve.
The people at the bottom of the former Turkic society actually have no awareness, because it is the Turkic princes and nobles who persecute them, and all their sufferings are caused by this group of people. Can we still expect them to be loyal to the so-called Turkic regime?
The thoughts of the common people at the bottom of society are mostly simple. Just like the history Yan Xuanyu is familiar with, although this is a parallel world, it applies to people's hearts as well. Why can dynasties change so smoothly? Because the common people can only see their own lives. Unless they are forced into desperate situations, they are actually very tolerant and forgiving.
What Han Yuan said makes sense. The most important thing now is to make them no longer differentiate between "you" and "them", but to think of them as "us" from the bottom of their hearts.
Yan Xuanyu was not in a hurry, as this was not something that could be achieved overnight.
As for those middle-ranking and royal nobles of the former Turkic people, they were all imprisoned and reformed according to the specific charges.
...
On the tenth day of March, envoys arrived in the capital one after another.
The Great Zhou had just demonstrated how powerful their fighting capacity was. If they now rejected the invitation of the Great Zhou Emperor, they would have no doubt that the Great Zhou would take the opportunity to send troops the next day just as they had done to defeat the Turks.
Yan Xuanyu knew what the people of those small countries and tribes were thinking. How could he be that kind of person? He had always been a legitimate teacher!
In short, envoys from various places arrived in the capital city one after another at about the same time to participate in what the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty called a military parade of the Great Zhou soldiers.
As soon as the envoys arrived in the capital, they were taken to the post station by the reception officials.
The leader of the Southern Kingdom's envoys refused to be accompanied by the reception officials, saying that he wanted to rest on his own.
Only when there was no one else in the house did a hooded man reveal his face.
The leading envoy from the Southern Kingdom was called Wei Yan. He saluted the man and said, "Your Highness, what should we do next?"
The tall woman was called Wu Yiqing, the Second Princess of the Southern Kingdom. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she had sharp eyebrows and eyes like stars. She said, "Everyone, go and rest. You've been exhausted from the long journey. Tomorrow, you need to be well rested before heading to the Great Zhou Palace."
The envoys from the Southern Kingdom said "yes" and withdrew one after another.
Wu Yiqing took off his hood and poured himself a cup of tea.
She asked Wei Yan: "Did you have any thoughts along the way?"
Wei Yan was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "The Great Zhou is truly so prosperous."
Wu Yiqing also laughed.
Her father was getting older, and she had witnessed him change from the monarch who loved his people when she was young to the one who now neglected her mother and favored a young concubine. There had been constant uprisings within the Southern Kingdom, and although they had all been suppressed, the country was already overwhelmed. Wu Yiqing walked out of the palace and saw with her own eyes people collapsed from starvation by the farmland. The farmland was clearly filled with the food they had worked so hard to grow, but the Southern Kingdom guards were watching closely and had the right to beat to death any civilians they found stealing food or wine.
His eldest brother, the next monarch of the Southern Kingdom appointed by his father, was indulging in pleasure all day long, and the sound of stringed instruments could be heard all day long in the mansion.
Wu Yiqing knew that his father had had some thoughts when the Great Zhou and the Turks were at war, but contrary to everyone's expectations, the Great Zhou ended the conflict in a very short time, so his elderly father began to fear. In order to allow himself to continue to enjoy peace of mind, he thought of the idea of marriage.
There are not many princesses of marriageable age in the palace. They are either already married or still young.
So the King of Nan ignored the Queen of Nan's crying and asked Wu Yiqing and the envoys to come to Da Zhou together.
Before entering the Great Zhou, Wu Yiqing had only heard of a few things that happened in the Great Zhou. It was not until she arrived here that she suddenly realized that this place seemed to be two extremes compared to the Southern Kingdom.
Even Wu Yiqing, one of the few knowledgeable women in the South, couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
Wei Yan saw Wu Yiqing fall silent and couldn't help but shout, "Your Highness?"
"Wei Yan, accompany me to visit the capital of the Great Zhou." Wu Yiqing said.
The two men remembered what the envoy had said when they received him: there was no need to bring too many servants when traveling in the capital.
Of course they believed these words, after all, it was where the Emperor of the Great Zhou was.
So they took only a few servants and left the post station in a carriage.
Wu Yiqing went to the prestigious Jixiang Theater, watched a play in the lobby, and then went to the Capital Mall. When they came out of the mall, they were all in a trance. In the South, even people of noble status like them had never tasted these delicacies, but here, they only needed a small amount of silver and ordinary people could buy them by themselves.
Wu Yiqing couldn't deceive herself into thinking that this place was so prosperous just because it was the capital of the Great Zhou. They went all the way north to the capital. Not to mention the comfort of walking on the official road, the crops on the roadside, the pedestrians coming and going, she didn't even see many people with tattered clothes and unkempt hair until they reached the capital. Even if the people wore coarse cloth clothes with many patches, they still tried their best to be clean and tidy.
"Miss...I heard there will be fireworks in Jingcheng Park tonight. Why don't we go and see it?" Wei Yan whispered from the side.
Wu Yiqing glanced at him and asked, "Master Wei, did you come to the capital just to visit this place?"
Wei Yan shook his head: "It's just that the young lady's brows are furrowed too tightly."
Wu Yiqing was stunned for a moment, but finally agreed.
The two of them walked around in the park for a long time. Compared to the first day the park was open to the public, there were a lot fewer people now, but it was still an incredible scene for Wu Yiqing and the others.
"Are these all common people?" Wu Yiqing murmured.
In the South, no one has the leisure time or extra energy to do anything, because as soon as they open their eyes they have to go to work in the fields, and a day's work has drained all their energy.
Wei Yan wanted to book the pleasure boat for an hour to let Wu Yiqing forget about her worries temporarily. He felt sorry for the princess in her current state, but the boatman said the pleasure boat was full tonight - in fact, it was the ticket seller of the pleasure boat, but Wei Yan did not know him.
As they were about to leave, and seeing that there were only a few of them, the ticket seller on the pleasure boat stopped them and said, "Sir, if you really want to board the pleasure boat tonight, I can ask if there are any other passengers willing to share the boat with you."
Wei Yan said politely, "Please ask the guest on the pleasure boat. We are willing to pay double the price to compensate this guest."
The man called two people to row the boat towards the pleasure boat on the lake.
Wu Yiqing looked at the luxurious houseboat with bright lights, wondering what he was thinking.
...
It is such a coincidence that today is Yuan Kang's birthday.
As soon as Yuan Kang returned to Beijing, he went to the camp on the outskirts of the city to prepare for the Great Zhou Military Review. It was only after Yan Xuanyu heard Li Zhongxian mention it that he thought of asking Yuan Kang to relax and let him go out to relax.
There is no need to call too many people, just people Yuan Kang is familiar with will be enough.
In addition to Yuan Kang's deputy general and personal soldiers, Yan Xuanyu also called Su An and a few others, and together they had just enough people to fill a table.
It was said that Yan Xuanyu was celebrating Yuan Kang's birthday, but in fact, after it started, Yan Xuanyu found out that everyone was just teasing him!
Yuan Kang had been staying at the border for more than ten years, so he had no time to celebrate his birthday.
But he was not disappointed. This was a good time for the monarch and his subjects to enhance their relationship, wasn't it?
Just as everyone was drinking on the pleasure boat, a servant suddenly came over in a small boat, and the servant on the pleasure boat ran over.
As soon as the servant left, a dark shadow boarded the boat from somewhere. The others were not surprised. This was the secret guard beside His Majesty. The secret guard leaned close to Yan Xuanyu's ear and spoke.
Everyone saw Yan Xuanyu's brows relax for a while and then frown, and they couldn't help but wonder what happened.
The servant came back with an apologetic look on his face. Before he could say anything, Yan Xuanyu said, "It's okay. We've finished eating too. Let them come up and enjoy the moon together."
He said to Yuan Kang and the others, "They are envoys from the Southern Kingdom."
There is another one, a princess that her father wants to sell to the Great Zhou?
Everyone was stunned. What a coincidence! How could they meet the envoy from the Southern Kingdom when they came out for a drink?
Yan Xuanyu didn't think it was strange, it was the crowd gathering effect!
....
As soon as Wei Yan and Wu Yiqing boarded the pleasure boat, they saw several ferocious-looking men looking at them.
There's no way around it. These people followed Yuan Kang to fight outside, and it's inevitable that they are tainted with the aura of murderous intent. It's normal that they are a little scary.
Just when the two of them wondered if they had provoked someone, a handsome young man walked out of the pleasure boat and looked towards them with a gentle smile on his face.
The two men felt a little relieved and did not bring any servants with them when they went out.
"My name is Yu Xuan. Are you two also here to enjoy the moon on the pleasure boat?" Yan Xuanyu greeted them with a smile.
Wei Yan said, "That's right. My lady and I just arrived in the capital. We heard that the park is a great place to visit, so we wanted to come and take a look."
What soon reassured the two was that this Mr. Yu was a very easy-going person, and he was a know-it-all in the capital. His words were very pleasant, and soon the group was sitting at the same table.
Only then did Wei Yan and Wu Yiqing realize that the ferocious-looking men they saw when they first boarded the pleasure boat were actually servants sent by the Yu family to protect Master Yu.
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