Chapter 2317: Trophies
General Li took them to see General Guo’s spoils of war. No, that’s not right. They had not been divided yet, so they still belonged to the entire army.
Boxes were opened one after another, and they were all filled with various gold, jade and exquisite porcelains. Bai Shan was stunned.
General Li pointed to a box in the corner filled with various gold and silver items and said, "This box was taken from the general's tent. Many soldiers saw it at the time. You know what, it calmed the soldiers down a bit and they weren't as depressed as before."
Bai Shan casually picked up a golden Buddha, but couldn't move it. Slightly surprised, he used both hands to hold it up, "This..."
General Li took a look and said, "It's solid, made entirely of melted gold. I heard from the guards that they dug it out from the Queen of Kucha's bedroom."
Bai Shan exclaimed, "You have looted the entire Kucha Palace?"
"good."
Bai Shan: "But you haven't even conquered the city yet, and people are still living outside the city."
"The general said that the most important thing in war is money. Not only do soldiers need money to buy food, drink, and even go to the bathroom, but everyone fights through life and death just to get rich, right? So every time they enter a city, they grab things first." General Li said, "The King of Kucha surrendered, so the general couldn't attack the powerful and wealthy in the city, so he raided the palace directly."
In fact, even General Ashina and the dignitaries in the royal city did not think of this at the time. The King of Kucha fled in a hurry and did not take much with him. Although the palace was in chaos for a while and many things were lost, there were still more treasures in the warehouse.
Then General Guo copied all those things.
If General Ashina had not been there, he could have directly ordered people to take the things back to Xizhou first. However, because General Ashina was there, he could not monopolize most of the things as he did before, so the things were kept in the military logistics department and would be distributed only after he returned from a great victory.
Also because the things were all in the logistics department, when General Guo was "seriously injured", General Li, who was temporarily acting as the commander of the army, was able to bring Bai Shan to see these treasures.
Bai Shan put down the golden Buddha in his hand, feeling a little distressed. However, as soon as he remembered that this was something he had obtained from the Kucha Palace, his heart ached. He said, "You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child. Pick out some good things and have someone keep an eye on the royal city. If there's any movement over there, we'll send someone over. We'll first deliver some gold and silver and pass on the message. If they agree, we'll send the official envoy."
Bai Shan was thoughtful. "Come to think of it, they didn't pursue our victory yesterday, and they didn't attack us today. It seems like there's something really wrong with them."
General Li had been feeling anxious, but after hearing what he said, he felt a little more at ease and more confident. "I will first select some people from the army, and then discuss it with Master Bai."
"good."
Bai Shan did not interfere with the selection of items, and did not even ask where these items went.
Although General Li was very interested in the things in the room, he did not touch them. Instead, he took a look and turned away.
General Meng had been silent the entire time, and now he followed Bai Shan.
After walking for a while, he asked, "How confident are you that you can deceive the people in the royal city?"
Bai Shan said: "Half."
"Only half?"
"Half is more than enough," Bai Shan said. "Half will delay them for two days, which is more than enough time for us."
"Once they see through your plan, the messenger..."
Bai Shan: "They will definitely die. Of course, those who are able to escape will not be counted."
General Meng asked, "Who can escape from the city?"
"Who knows?" Bai Shan said, "No one knows what will happen until now."
"Then you still want to go."
Bai Shan spread his hands and said, "Who said I wanted to go? Isn't it that I have to go when there is no one in the army?"
He said, "We are now trapped deep inside the Kingdom of Kucha. Even if the roads are clear, it would take three days to reach Kucha by galloping. A forced march would take five days. Not to mention the many wounded we have with us, even if we abandon them all, once news of our defeat spreads, do you think the three cities behind us, and the cities on our left and right wings, a total of five cities, will allow us to leave Kucha safely?"
No, General Meng thought, they would kill them all to show their loyalty to the King of Kucha, and then present their military achievements to the King of Kucha.
General Meng stopped talking about this topic and asked, "How is General Guo?"
"He was awake for a while, but now he's asleep again. Fortunately, his pulse is stronger now. Manbao said that as long as his wound doesn't get worse, he'll be alive."
General Meng breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Does he know about General Guo's situation?"
Bai Shan shook his head.
Although General Guo was lying not far away, he didn't have time to look around when he woke up. After the guards who took care of him fed him a bowl of porridge and a bowl of medicine, he fell asleep again.
At this time, they had even drawn a curtain between them, making it even more impossible for him to know.
General Meng sighed. He and Guo Zhao had always been good friends, and their relationship had become even stronger than before during the expeditions together. Although he didn't like General Guo very much, he didn't know how to tell Guo Zhao since he had already died in the battle.
Moreover, General Guo is responsible for the army being ambushed this time. I am afraid that he will be held accountable when the general manager returns.
General Meng had a headache.
Bai Shanze was already lost in thought as he unpacked the gold, silver, and jewels from the boxes. He spoke to General Meng, "There's another way to boost morale. We'll take all these treasures and tell the soldiers to divide up all the gains according to merit. General Guo won't keep a penny. After this battle, everyone on the roster will receive a share, regardless of life or death. Those who died in battle will be sent back to their hometowns along with their pensions and death certificates. What do you think?"
General Meng's mouth dropped open. He glanced around before pulling him to a secluded spot. "General Li said General Guo copied these things for food and rewards for the soldiers. Do you really believe that? Every time these things are distributed, only the small flags get a tiny bit, not even enough to fill a gap in their stomachs, let alone the soldiers under his command."
General Meng had fought with the Anxi Army before. Not to mention, the Anxi Army was very powerful, and General Guo himself was also very powerful. Not only was he good at using troops strategically, but he was also always at the forefront in battle and killed the enemy bravely.
But he was really stingy after getting the spoils. The biggest share naturally went to General Guo, but the share he took was too big, so the shares he shared out were small. After the lieutenant generals, deputy generals, and general flags under him divided it up, there was basically nothing left.
In order to make his subordinates less resentful, the general flagman would usually give a little from his own hands to the small flagmen, who would then exchange the things for copper coins to distribute. Generally, after a victory, it would be considered very generous if the soldiers could get a hundred coins.
Most of the time, there was no money to share, and sometimes half of the people only had a handful of copper coins.
They also have to prepare some medicine for injuries, repair weapons, etc., so this money cannot be used for other purposes, let alone saved and taken home.
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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