That night, Jiang Younan stayed in the training ground all night, taking out his frustration on other soldiers. Now it was the soldiers of the Western Zhou Dynasty who suffered the most.
Rong Chengxuan's army set up camp ten miles outside Shaping City and officially settled there. They also assigned some soldiers to garrison inside Shaping City. Although they had not yet taken over the Shaping government office, the officials in the office had already been replaced by Beichen soldiers.
It can be said that Shaping City, inside and out, has already belonged to Beichen. Rong Chengxuan even promised the people of Shaping that Beichen officials would be stationed here in a month to replace the Beichen household registration of Shaping people. After the replacement, trade exchanges would be officially resumed without any procedures, because Shaping is already Beichen's place, so at that time, there will be no need for any documents or taxes for visits from both sides.
Beichen also welcomes and accepts Shaping people who are interested in living in Beichen, but they need to bear all expenses themselves.
In short, Shaping is no longer a city of the Western Zhou Dynasty, but has been incorporated into the territory of Beichen. However, it has not yet been incorporated into any provincial government. Rong Chengxuan thought that when he conquered the entire Western Zhou Dynasty and returned to the capital, he would slowly think about what name to give the merged province.
Influenced by Yun Wanwan, Rong Chengxuan now feels that he has come to retake the Western Zhou Dynasty. No matter what, the Western Zhou Dynasty is in his pocket.
The 200,000 troops left by General Yun Jinjiang were not transferred to Shaping. They remained on the border, but some were summoned to help repair the city walls. They purchased bricks from Jicheng and transported them to Shaping City by camel.
Those people didn't think much of it at first, but as they worked on the wall, they realized something was wrong! Rong Chengxuan's army was only responsible for supervising the work and providing construction plans, while all the work was done by the frontier army. Why? Why did they have to do the hard labor?
Some people refused to work, simply throwing down their tools and pointing at Rong Chengxuan's army, shouting, "Why aren't you working? Why should we be the ones doing the work?"
Rong Chengxuan's men asked in confusion, "No, we fought the war, we came up with the plan, so why do we have to do the work now? Then what are you doing with all these frontier troops? Are you just here to eat for free? If that's the case, you might as well just go home and farm instead of joining the army."
After being confronted like this, the frontier troops became even more unhappy. "Are we not going to fight? Isn't it because Prince An doesn't want to take us to the battlefield? Otherwise, why would we not fight on the battlefield? If you have the guts, tell your Prince An to take us with him next time he attacks other cities in Western Zhou. We promise to fight harder than you!"
"Bullshit! If I take you to war, won't I lose more than I win? If the prince wants to take you to war, he will only end up losing."
Rong Chengxuan's men finally decided they didn't want to argue with the border troops anymore. The leader gestured with his hands, "You better build the city wall that high before sunset today, or you won't have any food tonight."
"Why?" The frontier army exploded. "We're working in such hot weather and we're not even given food. Why? If this keeps up, we'll quit! Don't think you can tell us what to do just because you've won a few battles. When we were here, you were still little babies nursing at your mother's breast!"
"If you don't want to do it, then don't do it. With your level of fighting skills, quitting will just make room for those talented people, and it will also help Beichen win more times, so that the city we just conquered won't be handed over to you and then taken away again."
"The reason you can stand before us and dictate to us is because you have a good master, isn't it? If it weren't for the title of Prince An, you would be nothing at all. Compared to those high-ranking officials in the capital, you'd be like an ant."
"That's right! We have Prince An behind us! If you have any objections, you can raise them with him. As for whether he will take care of it, and the consequences of raising such opinions, you should think carefully. Don't blame us for not reminding you, these tasks were assigned by the prince himself."
The frontier army immediately shrank. Prince An, isn't that the King of Hell? Who would dare to argue with him? But they couldn't bear to watch Rong Chengxuan's army enjoying the cool breeze and eating something to cool off.
After mocking them, Rong Chengxuan's army presented facts and reasoned with them: "How many years have you been stationed on the border? Has the war with the Western Zhou Dynasty made any progress? Has it played any role in promoting it? Or let me ask you directly, have you ever won a battle in all these years?"
"Since you mentioned Prince An, let's talk about him. We just arrived and recaptured your lost cities. Not only that, we also took Shaping City in one fell swoop. I wonder how many battles you've won in all those years garrisoning the border? How many times have you defeated the Western Zhou Dynasty?"
"So what if I bring you to the battlefield? What else can you do besides give heads to the enemy? If you really want to achieve something, you should have been able to do it long ago after so many years on the frontier."
"Did you put in any effort in these battles? Who said the prince didn't take you to the battlefield? The prince did take you with him, but what about you? You just watched from the back, like a big boss. Didn't you even think of helping?"
"Just take Prince An's achievements as an example. Go out and ask who can stand shoulder to shoulder with our prince? You've seen the power of heavenly thunder, right? Even if you were given ten lifetimes, could you create something like that? With your level of intelligence and cowardice, as soldiers, you're so timid on the battlefield. With your kind of people, what else can you do if not come to repair the city wall?"
These people didn't know whether they were dizzy from being exposed to the sun for so long, or confused by what the leader of Rong Chengxuan's army said.
Anyway, what he said sounded reasonable, so they ignored the man's threat that they would have nothing to eat at night and started laying bricks.
They also have to endure the pointing and criticizing from Rong Chengxuan's army from time to time. They are not even allowed to work in peace, which makes them feel very humiliated.
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