Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 75 Song Qingtian Arrives

The whip struck Zhao Xiang's face, but it also struck all the officials and generals who had accompanied him.

The soldiers were all stunned.

Although they knew that the princes were second only to His Majesty in the world, the Sixth Prince was different; he was a 'disobedient son'!

And this Zhao Xiang was no ordinary general.

As the original shareholders who helped establish the empire, as long as the Zhao family of Qinzhou did not rebel, they could enjoy wealth and status forever.

Marquis Xun, Zhao Lun, was already old, and Zhao Xiang was promoted to Left General, a position equivalent to one of the Nine Ministers, and whose actual power exceeded that of most of the weaker Nine Ministers.

How could someone like that get slapped in the face in front of his soldiers?

This is ridiculous!

The burning sensation of being whipped is nothing compared to the shame of having one's dignity trampled upon.

How dare you!

Wei Wusheng, how dare you!

Your Highness is amazing!

Song Shi'an, who was standing to the side, had told him that he was going to give this young master a hard time and teach him a lesson, but he didn't expect it to be this big.

You can demote a nobleman, strip him of his title, punish him with military flogging, or even kill him, but you absolutely cannot slap him in the face.

That's a slap in the face, it's too hurtful to my self-esteem.

Seeing Zhao Xiang's fists clenched slightly and his whole body trembling, Song Shi'an sensed that the guy was about to breathe out.

However, Wei Wusheng's eyes remained cold, like an abyss.

Anyone who dares to look him in the eye will be killed.

"..." Biting his lip, Zhao Xiang slowly raised his head. But just as his gaze was about to meet His Highness's, he stopped. His head then lowered again. "Yes."

"Zhao Xiang, a centurion, was demoted to a soldier and made to participate in digging trenches and live with the soldiers."

With a single sentence, Wei Wusheng reduced Zhao Xiang to a common soldier who could be counted as a number and die in the war at any time.

Unlike the centurion, who was a proper junior officer and rarely engaged in close combat, the centurion's death meant his hundred soldiers were without command, which was detrimental to their fighting.

“If any of you fail to admonish Zhao Xiang and instead engage in this sycophantic and obsequious behavior, you will all be demoted two ranks.”

Then, Wei Wusheng addressed the officials who were greeting him in the first row.

"The official is guilty."

In unison, all the generals and officials in the back row knelt down and admitted their mistakes.

"Where is General Ran Jin?" Wei Wusheng asked again.

At this moment, a lieutenant general spoke up: "General Ran is overseeing the construction of the city's defenses and has not come here."

"it is good."

Wei Wusheng responded casually, and then said, "There is a lot of supplies on the ship. Now that you are here, you are responsible for supervising the transportation and escorting it back to the city."

Everyone: "Yes!"

After making the arrangements, Wei Wusheng lashed the horse's rump with his whip and drove towards the city.

Song Shi'an, Xin Yue, and some of his personal guards and cavalry quickly followed.

As he rode, Wei Wusheng called out to Song Shi'an, "How about this?"

Song Shi'an smiled and said loudly into the wind, "Now that the north wind is blowing, Your Highness, whatever you say is law."

He was very pleased with Xiao Wei's performance.

He could only do his best and couldn't make demands on the prince. Even if he failed miserably, he could only offer suggestions at most.

And this partner is so ruthless, starting by whipping you in the face, that's just too good.

While others might kill the chicken to scare the monkey, he directly targets the kingpin first.

That would naturally lead to an extreme improvement in leadership.

Last night, I felt very lost.

However, Wei Wusheng was not at all smug about the praise. Instead, he said very seriously, "From now on, I will not hold you back."

Having said that, he spurred his horse on and overtook Song Shi'an.

Ah! Your Highness, I've noticed that you're incredibly meticulous!

Song Shi'an wasn't particularly alarmed, since Xiao Wei didn't dare breathe on him now. However, he could truly sense the strong sense of pride emanating from the other person.

Perhaps the scene where Xin Yue subconsciously followed him was quite a shock to him...

Garlic bird garlic bird~

The most important thing was to succeed to power. After obtaining the tiger tally and the seal, Wei Wusheng and the others rode their horses directly to the city gate, a journey of less than ten miles.

At this moment, they saw a rather serious-looking general personally directing the construction of the city moat.

Upon seeing the Sixth Prince's banner arrive, he hurried to greet him, then knelt on one knee before the prince dismounted, and proclaimed in a high-pitched voice, "This sinful general, Ran Jin, pays his respects to Your Highness!"

Wei Wusheng immediately reined in his horse, then smoothly dismounted and personally helped Ran Jin up: "General Ran, please rise."

Give both grace and power.

It doesn't just mean slapping someone and then giving them a treat.

It could also mean slapping one person and giving another a treat.

This Ran Jin was also a descendant of a noble family, from the Ran clan of Qinzhou. His great-aunt (his grandfather's sister) was the previous empress, the deceased Empress Dowager Ran.

In this campaign against Ji Yuan, Zhao Xiang personally led an army of 50,000, with dozens of generals of the rank of lieutenant general or higher under his command. Ran Jin was his deputy general, or rather, his colleague.

General who crossed the Liao River, Marquis of Chenxiang.

"General, you tried to dissuade Zhao Xiang from his reckless advance. After the defeat, you also protected your own troops and personally covered the rear, preventing the complete annihilation of our army. The fault does not lie with you," Wei Wusheng reassured him.

"All the generals bear responsibility for this crushing defeat, and the guilty generals petition to be stripped of their posts and titles."

“Since the court has not issued an imperial edict, it must have its own reasons,” Wei Wusheng said quite amiably. “The best course of action now is to hold off the north wind.”

"Yes, Your Highness!" After responding, Ran Jin asked with some doubt, "Does a thousand Imperial Guards really need to be in this position?"

The crowd was enormous, and on the distant Chishui River, there were still more than fifty warships.

Normally, five large ships would be enough for a thousand Imperial Guards light soldiers.

"I have transferred the troops and supplies from Langya."

Wei Wusheng solemnly informed him of this matter.

"?"

Ran Jin was stunned, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"I'll handle everything; it won't implicate anyone. Now, all I need is for the general to help me hold off the north wind," Wei Wusheng said with a resolute look in his eyes.

"This humble general is willing to do his utmost."

Ran Jin clasped his hands in a fist salute and responded firmly.

Just as Zhao Xiang was too impulsive and could only be advised against, Ran Jin, as the second-in-command, had to completely obey and assist in the execution of his ideas after he had expressed them.

At this moment, Song Shi'an finally caught up on horseback. But without stopping, he headed straight for the city gate and greeted, "Your Highness, I'll go first!"

"Shi'an, just go for it."

Wei Wusheng nodded with a smile.

"Is this the top scholar?" Ran Jin asked curiously, watching Song Shi'an's retreating figure.

“Yes, he is the scholar who could become a marquis.” After saying this, Wei Wusheng jokingly asked, “What does the general think?”

After thinking for a moment, Ran Jin commented, "He is very handsome."

.........

Wei Wusheng and Song Shi'an had already clearly divided their tasks.

His Highness is in charge of the army, while Song Shi'an is in charge of domestic affairs.

So he went straight to the county government office.

At this moment, a thin, middle-aged man dressed in blue was already waiting at the entrance of the yamen.

After he dismounted, the other party took the initiative to greet him, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellency."

"Magistrate Jiang?" Song Shi'an asked.

“I am Jiang Cong,” Magistrate Jiang replied.

“Lord Jiang has done nothing wrong, and the court has not demoted me. They just sent me here for another purpose, so there’s no need for such formalities.” Song Shi’an held his hand and said with a smile, “I’m young, so Lord Jiang can just call me Shi’an. In Shuofeng, we are both county magistrates.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Cong smiled and said quite amiably, "How can a county have two magistrates? Shi An, there's no need to hold a grudge. Coming to Shuofeng at a time like this, how could you possibly be vying with me for this mere position? Rest assured, I will do my utmost to assist you."

"Thank you very much."

"please--"

Jiang extended his hand in invitation and led Song Shi'an to the prison next to the county government office.

As they walked, he said, "The county government office has been converted into a general's residence, and the county magistrate is now performing his duties in the prison. Although it's simple and damp, it has all the necessary facilities."

"What about the original prisoners?"

"They've all gone to dig trenches. If we can hold the city this time, they'll be granted a pardon," Jiang Cong joked. "They might be the only people Ji Yuanlai is happy about."

Song Shi'an quite liked this kind of dark humor in the military or in the lower ranks of officialdom.

It always felt like a small, comforting embellishment in a dull and tasteless life.

The two quickly arrived at the prison, the office of the former ninth-rank 'clerk'.

It was truly dark; even during the day, candlelight was needed for illumination.

It's too pure prison style.

"Household registrations, case files, and maps are all here." As he spoke, Jiang Cong took a huge volume down from the shelf. "The household registrations of the city are basically all here. Excluding military personnel, there are a total of 11,243 people."

As he was introducing the book, Song Shi'an flipped through it.

Seeing some red characters, someone asked curiously, "Are these red characters dead?"

“They’re from a powerful family.” Jiang Cong chuckled.

"The powerful families are specially highlighted in red? Even the Sheng'an household registration office doesn't do that," Song Shi'an said in surprise.

“Different places are like the capital, especially in the county. The temple is small but the wind is strong,” Jiang Cong explained. “This was requested by the previous magistrate, because he was afraid of offending some important person during ‘routine business.’ After all, he was just a county magistrate, a mere seventh-rank official. If he accidentally offended someone, he might not even be able to keep his official hat.”

"There are many powerful clans in the north," Song Shi'an remarked.

“The Zhang family in that city is the uncle of the current governor of Liangzhou.”

"We certainly wouldn't dare offend a mere seventh-rank county magistrate," Song Shi'an said curiously. "Since they're so distinguished, how come they haven't moved out of the city?"

“In the past, before a battle, they would withdraw individually, but when General Zhao came, he said that the troops would withdraw in unison, so they were not allowed to leave in small groups. Later, he said that they would not withdraw, so he said that the military discipline was strict and everyone had the responsibility to defend the territory, so no powerful family was allowed to leave the city.”

"Was he upright and incorruptible?" Song Shi'an laughed. "He just knew he couldn't escape, so he decided to take everyone down with him."

Zhao Xiang: I'm going to die anyway, what are you to run away from me? Die with me!

"Haha." Jiang Cong also liked Song Shi'an's humor and praised him, "Shi'an's understanding of issues is quite insightful."

"So these powerful families are exempt from corvée labor, right?" Song Shi'an suddenly looked up and asked.

Jiang Cong nodded slowly and said, "Even at this time, the county government cannot summon them."

The reason is actually very simple.

Even if we send them, they won't be of much help. But if the city is successfully defended, they will definitely hold a grudge against us afterwards.

Even if the city falls and these county officials die, they still have families. If they are targeted by the powerful clans' relatives outside the city, they will have no choice but to live their lives with all their might.

Therefore, let's just pretend it doesn't exist.

"Yes."

Casually flipping through the household registration records, Song Shi'an said nonchalantly, "They're all respectable people, how could they do dirty things?"

(End of this chapter)