NOVEL WEB Chapter 83.1
The total money in the entire capital city added up to less than 10,000 taels of silver.
Ten thousand taels of silver is an unimaginable fortune for common people, but what does it mean to them?
The army of theirs disburses a monthly salary that is several dozen times that amount.
General Zhao of the Great Yue Kingdom was extremely angry: “Where is the money? Where are the gold, silver, and jewels? Where have they all gone?”
“There’s… there’s none left, all gone!” officials from the Shang Kingdom trembled with fear.
“How can there be none?”
General Zhao grew even angrier, pointing to the ground and said: “This is the capital city, the nation’s most crucial place, a gathering place for the wealthy and the Emperor’s residence! Now you tell me there’s no money? How do you normally live?”
“Because… because previously, the Great Xia army had conquered this place! They plundered everything valuable, leaving nothing behind! So, we truly have no money left!” The officials fell to their knees.
General Zhao was also aware of this matter; the foolish Emperor of Great Xia had once led his troops here.
He stormed into the capital city, captured the Emperor of the Shang Kingdom, and plundered the imperial palace.Such actions were quite normal; he would have done the same.
But what he never expected was that they would scour so thoroughly, leaving not a single valuable item behind.
That was no army; they were clearly bandits!
“Really, not a thing left?” General Zhao asked, unwilling to accept it.
“Really, not a thing! They even took away my private savings! I had hidden it so well, yet they still found it, damn them!” the old minister cried out in grief and indignation.
General Zhao was furious. Not a shred of composure left in him!
He had originally planned to embezzle a sum to fatten his own purse.
Well, there was no need for greed now; the entire capital city was cleaner than his own face!
He had to consider how to explain this to His Majesty upon his return.
“Damn Great Xia!”
They had stolen the Emperor, and now they had stolen the wealth as if they were purely out to oppose him.
General Zhao closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and reminded himself not to get angry; he would settle this account later.
He glanced at the time and realized that it was almost time for a meal. He said, “Hand over the food, we of the Great Yue are ready to start cooking!”
“There is no more food!”
The kneeling minister trembled as he spoke: “The Great Xia army took everything, not just the gold, silver, and jewels, but even the food! There was a little left, but now it’s all been eaten!”
General Zhao’s composure exploded again: “What? There’s no food left either?”
In their haste to besiege the capital city day and night, their provisions had failed to keep up.
Originally, he was not worried about this issue. The capital city had granaries with a large amount of food; once they breached the city gates, they could take out the food to fill their bellies.
But who would have thought that Great Xia had beaten them to it!
“Damn it! Are you Great Xia people deliberately opposing me?” The Zhao Family army was seething with rage.
Without food, his army would need to starve for two days!
However, misfortune never comes with an invitation. A soldier rushed in hastily.
“General, we’ve just received a message from a spy that in order to protect himself, the Emperor of the Shang Kingdom has offered a treasure worth 6 million taels that was buried by his own family to the Emperor of Great Xia!”
General Zhao turned pale with shock, reached out to the soldier’s neck, and pulled the soldier close, asking loudly, “Is this true? Are you not deceiving me?”
The soldier’s neck was in great pain from the grip, but facing the grim-faced General Zhao, he could only manage a bitter smile and nod, “General, this is absolutely true. The news has already spread throughout the entire city of Great Xia!”
“Ah! Damn it! All of them deserve to die!!!”
A thunderous roar echoed throughout the room.
General Zhao was so angry that his liver hurt, his face turning green with regret.
If only he had known that the damn Emperor still had 6 million taels on him, he would never have let him escape at any cost!
He had unwittingly given a bargain to Great Xia and that foolish Emperor!
Following that, General Zhao received another bad news.
“General, I have urgent news! The Luohua copper mine has been completely exhausted. When our men went in, there was a collapse, and dozens of people were buried alive!”
“General Zhao, it’s terrible! The coal mine in Hongzhou has been exhausted; not a bit of coal can be mined!”
“General Zhao, the soil fertility in the Shang Kingdom has suffered severe loss, and many rice seedlings have withered. They’re facing a shortfall in this year’s grain harvest!”
“General Zhao, Great Xia is in trouble…”
One piece of bad news followed another.
General Zhao’s face turned very dark.
All the territory he had painstakingly seized, now it felt like there was nothing left.
The treasures of gold and silver were plundered by Great Xia, the grains were taken away, and the mineral resources were completely exhausted. The loss of soil fertility led to a shortfall in this year’s grain harvest.
It seems they have nothing left, and on top of that, there are millions of common people desperately in need of sustenance.
If he had known it would come to this, why exert so much effort?
Now, he has no idea how to report back to His Majesty.
Should he tell him that they paid a huge price and utilized massive manpower and resources, only to end up with nothing but loneliness?
He is certain that if he reports that, His Majesty will definitely execute him!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became!
“It’s all Great Xia’s fault! They are to blame for everything!” General Zhao vented all his resentment on the Great Xia Kingdom.
It was ever since their encounter that his fortunes turned for the worse.
He wanted to send troops to attack right now, to release the fury in his heart, but he restrained himself.
For one thing, Great Xia was also a great kingdom with formidable strength; a war with them would inevitably lead to heavy losses.
For another, he couldn’t mobilize the troops without the Emperor’s permission.
“If I can’t do it openly, I’ll do it in secret!”
……
Two days later, General Zhao’s staff brought a shifty-looking individual to see him.
“General Zhao, let me introduce someone to you! This man here is the local snakehead, his surname is Xu. Everyone calls him ‘Old Freak Xu’. He’s not that old, but he’s got some real skills. He can help you solve your problems!”
“Hehe! Little Xu at your service, General Zhao!” Old Xu said with a sycophantic smile.
General Zhao got straight to the point: “I hear you have a way to bypass the Great Xia border defenses and smuggle my people into Great Xia?”
“Indeed, I have my methods!”
Old Xu boasted, thumping his chest proudly. “Around here, I’m the only one daring enough to engage in this business because I’ve got backing! As long as the money is right, there’s no problem with the number of people you want to send over!”
“Good! Let’s talk price!” General Zhao said.
Old Xu raised a finger: “One person, 1,000 taels of silver!”
General Zhao was furious and blurted out: “1,000 taels of silver for one person, why don’t you go rob me instead?”
“Don’t be angry, General Zhao!”
Old Xu chuckled: “Now, with the Great Xia’s heavy troops on guard, sending someone over is harder than reaching the heavens! Especially since this matter involves General Zhao, it’s even more difficult! I’m literally risking my life here, so 1,000 taels of silver per person is actually not too much!”
General Zhao narrowed his eyes, a hint of murderous intent as he stared at Old Xu.
Old Xu nodded and bowed with a smile, yet his gaze didn’t waver.
General Zhao said loudly: “Fine! 1,000 taels of silver, then 1,000 taels it is! But if you dare deceive me, I will take your dog’s head!”
“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare…”
General Zhao painfully took out 50,000 taels of silver.
“I need to send 50 people over. Here is 50,000 taels of silver, please arrange it as soon as possible!”
Old Xu the Odd laughed loudly: “General Zhao is truly decisive! However, this business is too dangerous, and we must set three rules. If you don’t agree, I dare not take on this deal!”
“What are the conditions? Let’s hear them!” General Zhao asked.
“First, I will send your people over, but you must not cause trouble or be active in the northern territory!”
“Second, whatever you do, we will not interfere! But you must never reveal your identities, no matter what!”
“Thirdly, we can transport you there and also pick you up, but that will cost extra!”
General Zhao narrowed his eyes, pondering over the three conditions.
The first condition, not to cause trouble in the northern border, indicated that any disturbance there would definitely bring significant trouble to the other party.
The second condition, not to reveal one’s identity, suggested that doing so would likewise bring considerable trouble to the other party.
With this in mind, the situation became quite clear.
The person behind Old Freak Xu was very likely a high-ranking official of the Great Xia’s Northern Army.
Therefore, should they cause trouble in the northern border or reveal their identities, the Great Xia’s Northern Army could not escape involvement, and the charge of dereliction of duty would be unavoidable.
General Zhao couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh, having not expected that a traitor would emerge within the ranks of the Great Xia army.
For the sake of a little profit, they actually let the enemy forces in!
On second thought, he felt it was all too normal.
As the saying goes, “If the upper beam is not straight, the lower beams will be crooked.” With the current Emperor being a foolish one, how could his subordinates be any better?
So, who could this traitor be?
Images of the various generals of the Great Xia’s Northern Army fleetingly crossed his mind.
Finally, a character emerged before my eyes.
An Lushan, a massive fellow weighing over 300 jins, was a recently risen general of Great Xia. He had a decent knack for leading troops, but his abilities were rather ordinary. He had climbed to a high position by means of flattery and sycophantic behavior. (TLN: 1 jin=0.6 kg)
For such an unprincipled person, it was quite normal to engage in such acts.
General Zhao had a strong premonition that the person behind this was very likely him.
But no matter who it was, the presence of a rotten element within the Great Xia army was good news for him.
“Good! I agree to these terms,” declared the General.
“Thank you, General Zhao!”
Old Xu gleefully accepted the 50,000 taels of silver with a smile that spread across his face.
……
The following evening, General Zhao received a notification that arrangements could be made for passage at midnight; the Great Xia army would certainly allow them through.
Consequently, General Zhao immediately selected 50 experts from the main army.
Among them, half were first-rate masters. (TLN: Acquired Realm: Third-rate, Second-rate, First-rate)
The other half, even the least skilled, were second-rate masters.
This force was formidable and could not be ignored, no matter where it was deployed.
…….
TLN: Just saw there were more reviews for this series. Thank you, I’ll try to post a lot today.
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