Chapter 2329 Appreciation
When the army returned, General Guo, who had been hiding in the camp's medical tent, was finally brought out. General Ashina took one look and sighed, "Let's bury him."
General Guo was also helped out of the medical tent. Only then did he realize that his father had died in battle.
Although there had always been quarrels between father and son, General Guo was still very sad at this moment, with tears streaming down his face.
Bai Shan and Bai Erlang were standing beside him. Seeing this, they patted his shoulder and said, "Don't be sad. Fortunately, the royal city has been recaptured."
Otherwise it would be a serious sin.
Bai Erlang nodded repeatedly.
Bai Shan saw that he was crying so hard that his face turned pale and he was holding his chest as if in pain. He quickly supported him and said, "Don't be sad. You still have our blood flowing in your body. If the wound opens and bleeds profusely, we will have to give you a blood transfusion."
Bai Erlang shuddered when he thought of the blood that had been drawn from him. "No, I think he's getting much better."
Liu Huan was a little worried. "Let's let Zhou Man take a look at him. If something really happens, wouldn't our blood be wasted?"
General Guo listened to their chattering in his ear, and suddenly he was not so sad anymore. He wiped his tears, looked at his father lying on the wooden board, sniffed and said, "I'm fine."
General Ashina assigned some people to transport General Guo's body back to Xizhou, and at the same time escorted General Guo Xiao and a group of wounded soldiers back first.
He said, "As soon as your wounds have healed, set off. You must stabilize Xizhou."
As for Kucha, General Ashina has selected one of the Kucha king's relatives to inherit the throne.
He was the cousin of the King of Kucha, named Yehu. When he was taken out of prison and General Ashina said he wanted to make him king, he immediately volunteered to join the army and killed the King of Kucha.
So General Ashina gathered all the people in the city of Kucha together, declared his intention to avenge the people and punish the criminals, and directly announced the crimes of the Kucha king to the world.
At the same time, the news that the remnants of the army who had escaped from the south gate and the Turkic army had been ambushed also reached the royal city. More than 800 soldiers were captured. When the army escorted these people into the city, the royal city was shaken.
Yehu, who had just become the King of Kucha, was even more honest. After discussing with the noble officials in the royal city, he simply gathered a batch of food and fodder for them and gave them many valuable gifts.
The two boxes of gold, silver and jewelry that Bai Shan and his men carried into the palace were circulated around and then returned to the hands of General Ashina.
General Ashina collected the gold, silver, and jewelry into the spoils of war and recorded them in a book. When he returned, these things would be handed over to the national treasury.
He did not ask about the spoils that had already been taken by General Li, nor did he comment on Bai Shan and his men distributing most of the spoils to the soldiers.
In his opinion, their distribution of spoils this time was different from the previous hiding of spoils by Hou Ji, Guo Xiao and others. To boost morale, all of this was acceptable.
The Anxi soldiers, who had received a lot of gold and silver, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the general manager had no intention of pursuing the matter, and hid the good things they had received more secretly.
As for those who have died in battle, their belongings will be taken care of by their comrades, and they will find a way to send them back home when they return.
Anyone could die on the battlefield. This was something that everyone had discussed early on. Apart from the above, no one dared to keep private the personal feelings between comrades.
General Li waited for two days, and when he found that General Ashina had no intention of pursuing the matter, he brought five boxes to them. He handed them the boxes and said with a smile, "Master Zhou, Master Bai, this is for you."
The things were distributed after Bai Shan and the others left, after all, it was to boost morale.
At that time, General Li deliberately left some for Bai Shan and his men. It was the most dangerous for them to enter the royal city as an insider. If they died, they would naturally be given some spoils of war, and even more so if they were alive.
They were the first to make contributions in this siege, and each of them has a distinguished identity. They will surely have a bright future after returning to Beijing. No one can afford to miss out on these little things.
When Bai Shan saw these things, he hesitated for a moment and then accepted them.
When everyone opened it, they saw that Manbao and Zhou Liru both had boxes of jewelry, and they were quite beautiful.
Bai Erlang also looked at it happily and took out a jade horse. "Don't tell me, there is nothing bad in the palace."
Bai Shan also took a careful look at it, and after admiring it, he asked Daji to bring a bigger box with a painful look on his face, and then poured the things into it.
He looked at a few people and motioned them to fall in.
Liu Huan poured it in, and Manbao quickly said, "Be gentle, what if it gets broken?"
After saying this, he felt distressed as he put the things in one by one. Bai Erlang was also reluctant to let them go, "I really don't want to take it."
Bai Shan slapped his hand away and put everything in the box into the trunk. He said, "If we want something in the future, we can earn it ourselves. Don't take things that you shouldn't take."
Zhou Liru was the most reluctant to part with the box. He touched it and asked, "Aunt, why can others take it but we can't?"
Manbao said: "We are different from them, they..."
Manbao paused and said, "Their military pay is insufficient, and their rations are occasionally withheld. Because of the unspoken rules in the general environment, the military equipment provided by the Ministry of Revenue is always insufficient. Therefore, their food and clothing basically depend on the ability and conscience of the commander."
"The Anxi Army is quite capable and has spoils of war, but General Guo rarely gives them to his men, so the Anxi Army is very poor. They can take these things without feeling guilty, but we can't."
After hearing this, Manbao no longer felt bad when she put the things in her hands into the box. She said, "Besides, our status doesn't allow us to embezzle the spoils. Look at Hou Ji. He and the Crown Prince had a bitter feud. Wasn't it because he embezzled a lot of gold and silver treasures seized from Gaochang?"
Man Bao said, "Although this is a customary rule, there must be a limit. Guo Xiao lacked a limit, which is why His Majesty dislikes him. Although he has always used him, he has never been granted a title of nobility."
General Meng of Yumen Pass was lower in rank than him, but he had already been granted the title of nobility. Judging from his military achievements alone, Guo Xiao's were not inferior to his. The only difference was the morale of the army.
When something becomes customary and becomes secular, it is actually illegal.
When Zhou Liru thought of Hou Ji's fate, he immediately put the things in and nodded repeatedly, saying, "You are right, little aunt."
Manbao smiled and said, "The Emperor is not a stingy person, and General Ashina is even more humble. When we return to the capital, His Majesty will definitely reward us."
Bai Shan also nodded, "Isn't it more glorious to be given by the emperor?"
So he asked Daji to secretly deliver the things to General Ashina and ask him to record them in the book without announcing them to the army, so as to avoid causing unrest among the Anxi army that had already divided the spoils.
General Ashina also felt sorry for the Anxi Army's poverty. If they were poor and weak, it would be fine, but they were poor and strong, charging into battle without regard for their lives, which made them even more pitiful. So he quietly accepted the gift without announcing it to anyone. He just couldn't help but say to those around him, "He is indeed a young talent with a great reputation in the capital. Your Majesty was right in his choice."
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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