Chapter 86: The King Loves His People Like His Own Children, Like a Saint in the World...
Because of the nightmare that night, Shen Zhiwei's mental state was not very good the next day.
Well, it's not much better than usual.
After the snow, it was extremely cold outside. Shen Zhiwei asked Yanxia what the situation was like outside. Yanxia said that there was heavy snow near Jingchang, but people outside didn't know about it yet, and there was no news of the disaster yet.
Shen Zhiwei breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that at least the area near Jingchang was safe and the people would not suffer because of the heavy snow.
Then she began to worry about the North. Last year and the year before, many places in the North were affected by disasters. However, at that time, the North was still in the hands of the King of the North, and the disasters were not her responsibility. Now most of the North has belonged to Jingchang. If something really happens, she must step in to take care of it.
"By the way, are the coalition forces of all those countries, big and small, all in the north? Last year, they didn't have enough winter supplies, so Jingchang even sent them some medicinal herbs. I don't know if they've made any preparations this year. They should be, because we can't just let those soldiers freeze."
Last year, Shen Zhiwei was an ally of those small countries, so when he saw that the people were freezing, he relented and gave them some material aid. This year, without Jingchang's help, Shen Zhiwei hoped that the princes could behave themselves and not force their people to fight on the battlefield while being stingy and not even giving them a set of warm clothes.
Yanxia really didn't know about these things happening on the battlefield, but she had lived in the palace for many years and had served the previous king before, so she knew very well what kind of moral character the ordinary nobles had.
So after hearing the king's words, Yanxia lowered her head with disgust in her eyes.
Those princes would just freeze their soldiers. In the eyes of the princes, soldiers were consumables, just like the common people, they were what they called "untouchables", so they didn't care.
In the whole world, only the king truly loves his people like his own children. The princes only care about their own wealth and glory, and only want to ensure that they can enjoy wealth and glory forever.
Yanxia hated those princes from the bottom of her heart. She wished that all the princes would disappear and that tomorrow the Great Zhou would recover its lost territory and unify the world again.
Shen Zhiwei could feel Yanxia's disgust for the princes, or rather, her disgust for the incompetent ruling class. If she grew up in such an environment like Yanxia, she would not only hate them, but she would also try her best to send those guys to hell. If one died, it would be enough, and if two died, it would be a profit.
Shen Zhiwei likes this kind of disgust. It is the bloodiness of daring to resist, and it is also the reason why Shen Zhiwei is willing to keep Yanxia by his side.
If she always had a slave who was domesticated to the core around her, Shen Zhiwei would have a headache, and she didn't want to be assimilated by this era.
The coalition soldiers that Shen Zhiwei was worried about were now huddled together in the cold wind, shivering. Their lips were frozen purple, and their hands were wrapped in layers of rags to prevent their flesh from sticking to the weapons in their hands, and to prevent blood from splashing and slipping.
The clothes they wore were very thin, some were even wrapped in layers of thin clothes. The clothes did not fit them well and had many holes and blood stains on them, and one could tell where they came from at a glance.
They all knew that it was not yet the coldest time in the north.
Because they were once soldiers from the north and knew the northern climate best.
They wanted to retreat. They didn't want to fight anymore, especially against well-equipped opponents wearing leather jackets. Last year, they were beaten by that group of people without any chance to fight back. Fighting again this year would be humiliating.
But they couldn't retreat. If they retreated, death would be waiting for them, and it would be a burden to their surviving relatives.
Chiwei knew that the soldiers at the bottom of the society had a hard life. Although Jingchang was rich now, the life of the people at the bottom was not much better.
But on the battlefield, the soldiers are still suffering so much, isn't it a bit too much? Chiwei really wants to ask King An, they are fighting for you, you give them something to keep warm and let them have a full meal, is it so difficult?
In fact, it is really difficult, because after years of war, the treasury of any country is empty. If you win, you can get compensation from another country, which is fine, but you are afraid that the new territory you conquer will also be poor.
This situation was relatively rare in the past, but it has become more common in the past two days, and everyone has become much poorer.
Chiwei turned his head away with some reluctance, not wanting to stare at the tragic scene in the enemy camp any longer.
At this moment, she was wearing a snow-white leather coat and standing in the snow-covered woods with her guards.
Her personal guards were also dressed in snow-white clothes, trying their best to blend in with the color of the snow so as not to reveal their whereabouts.
They are all outside now, which is part of the reconnaissance. The reason why Chiwei came out in person is because she received news from Jingchang that Hu Youan will lead the students to the border to fight soon.
Knowing yourself and your enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without defeat. Chiwei felt uneasy at the thought of a large number of students who had never been to the battlefield coming here, so he simply ran out to see the future enemies.
Then she saw a tragic scene. Her future enemies were living a miserable life now. Just think about last year, when the Northern Kingdom was about to perish, these former soldiers of the Northern Kingdom had never experienced such a miserable life now.
Prince An and other princes are truly guilty of grave sins.
"Let's go back. There's nothing to see here. No wonder the general said this was just military training." Chiwei took one last look at the soldiers who were frozen to the point of being unable to move, then turned and left with his bodyguards.
After returning, Chiwei felt very heavy-hearted. She didn't understand. Soldiers who fought for their country should not be treated like this even if they could not enjoy a life as luxurious as nobles. Is it because these people were once soldiers of the Northern Kingdom that the kings of the vassal states such as Anguo completely disregarded their lives?
Chiwei couldn't help but think of the king. The king's methods of treating prisoners, the people and soldiers of the defeated country were not gentle, but the king never treated these people as unhuman beings.
The people of the defeated country are also the people of the king. Once the soldiers of the defeated country rejoin the army, they will enjoy the same treatment as other soldiers. Faced with bad weather, the king chooses to provide the soldiers with as much cold-resistant supplies as possible, and also provides a lot of food and fodder, regardless of cost.
In contrast, the king's methods of treating the nobles, especially the royal family, were almost all based on the intention of annihilating them all.
None of the royal family members of the defeated country survived, and those nobles who were loyal to their former masters could not escape the fate of having their families destroyed and their lives broken.
Chiwei seemed to have sensed something from the king's actions, but because he had never encountered anything like this, he was very dull. Even though he had a hint of feeling now, he still couldn't believe that his judgment was reality.
Maybe it's just her wishful thinking.
How could there be a king who truly loves his people like his own children and regards his people as the most important existence?
Such kings have only ever existed in the writings of saints and in the fantasies of the people.
On the coldest day of winter, Hu Youan took her students to the frontier. Although it was called the frontier, it was actually a city in the north. The city opposite was also an original city in the north, and there was no natural barrier between the two cities.
Moreover, the transportation between the two countries is very convenient, the roads are wide, and both countries are located in plains. Looking around, you can see endless fields, and you can ride your horses freely with your iron hooves stepping on the fields.
Hu Youan defined this war as a military training. At the beginning, few people cared about it. Even the princes who ordered the soldiers to attack did not take it seriously. They just wanted to consume as many enemies as possible.
The north was cold and they were not wealthy, so they thought that they could use the war to consume Jingchang's soldiers while also consuming those northern soldiers who should have died long ago.
In this way, they won't have to keep these soldiers next year. After all, they were originally soldiers from the Northern Kingdom. They were not confident in using them, but it would be a pity to kill them. So they let these soldiers contribute their last bit of strength to the princes before they died, which would be a worthy death for them.
Chiwei really couldn't bear it. Although it is said that a kind person cannot command an army, seeing the miserable plight of those soldiers, he couldn't help but think of himself and felt a sense of grief for the others, which made him feel sad and unbearable.
Therefore, after each battle, Chiwei would try his best to collect some prisoners. Jingchang was short of people everywhere, including the battlefield. Even if these prisoners could not go to the battlefield directly, they could do something within their ability, such as repairing the city walls. These veterans who had been tempered on the battlefield were stronger and more experienced than ordinary people.
Chiwei thought that she was increasing the population for the king, but she was also worried that if this situation happened too often and there were too many captives, the king would be under great pressure to maintain the army, so she asked Hu Youan privately, and Hu Youan gave her a one-word answer - yes.
Hu Youan knows Shen Zhiwei better than Chiwei. Shen Zhiwei has a kind heart in his bones, kindness towards his people. Those captives were enemies on the battlefield, but after becoming captives, they became part of the prince's people. The king would not think that the increase in the number of people was a bad thing. Jingchang's current strength was enough to support more people.
With Hu Youan's affirmation, Chiwei immediately worked harder. She was like a "garbage collector" on the battlefield. Those garbage were garbage in the eyes of the princes, but resources in the eyes of Shen Zhiwei.
Modern people are very clear about how important population resources are, especially since Shen Zhiwei is now urging Baigongfang to carry out technological reforms. If they want to achieve Shen Zhiwei's goals, the current number of people is far from enough.
She needs more people to cultivate the fields, more people to mine and smelt iron, open mountains and build roads, more people to run shops and learn knowledge. Manpower is needed everywhere.
Not only did Chiwei's behavior of "collecting garbage" not receive criticism from the king, but it was actually approved by the king. Seeing the king's support, she became even more motivated to do it.
As a result, the few soldiers on the battlefield are not enough.
Chiwei began to think about how to get the princes to deploy more soldiers to the battlefield. If they still treated this war with the same mentality as before for training troops, then the number of soldiers on the battlefield would never increase.
Shen Zhiwei originally thought that this war would end before the arrival of spring. After all, no country would ignore the importance of spring plowing and insist on going to war.
Who knew that as the ice and snow melted, the war not only did not cool down, but instead began to heat up like the weather. The vassal states seemed to be fighting too hard, and after the spring, they really began to send more troops to attack the north.
He looked as if he was determined to take back the territory that had been taken away by Jingchang.
That territory was not originally theirs, and Shen Zhiwei really didn't know where these guys got their possessiveness from.
If they wanted to fight, Shen Zhiwei would of course fight to the end.
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