Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

When the Prince of Ding'an's men arrived, they realized that capturing the Zhang family was no easy task, especially since the prince had also demanded that they not be harmed, making it even more difficult.

"Boss, this won't work! Their guards are too tight; there's nowhere we can get a chance!"

"Do you even need to tell me? I'm not blind," the man called "boss" said irritably. His eyes, however, remained fixed on the Zhang family's direction, not daring to waver for a moment.

The man who was being scolded pouted defiantly and craned his neck to look in the direction the leader was looking. It was almost two miles away, what could he possibly see by looking so intently? He looked for a long time, but saw nothing but blue smoke coming from the chimney.

"Boss, what are you looking at? We can't see the Zhang family from here. What are you going to see if you keep staring like that?"

"Can you stop talking nonsense? Our brothers can't even get into the village now. If we don't complete the mission, none of us will survive. Instead of wasting time arguing with me, you should use your brain and think about what to do," the leader scolded impatiently.

"Didn't the prince say that relatives are acceptable? Since the Zhang family is under protection, let's arrest their relatives; they might be of some use," the man suggested.

"The princess's uncle's family has already been taken there; what other relatives are there?"

"Boss, do you think it would be helpful if we brought Princess Wenfu's aunt's relatives with us?"

"If you want to die faster, go ahead and try," the boss said coldly, listening to his unreliable idea.

Zhangjia Village is now completely sealed off; not only Zhangjiazi's residence, but the entire village is under lockdown. The village is under lockdown by two thousand soldiers sent by Commander Murong. After thirty guards arrived at Zhangjia, Ding Chengxin increased the guard by another ten percent, but seeing people coming and going in the village, he consulted with Zhang Youtie. He then sent someone with Zhang Youtie's seal to Commander Murong. Upon seeing Zhang Youtie's letter, he immediately mustered two thousand elite soldiers and sent them to Zhangjia Village.

Their arrival initially caused panic among many villagers, but Zhang Youtie sent Uncle Ma to explain that these soldiers were hired by the Duke to protect the villagers of Zhangjia Village. After all, with war and refugees fleeing, the world was far from safe.

After hearing Uncle Ma's explanation, the villagers cooperated and stopped forcing them to go out. They voluntarily kept their doors and windows closed at home to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause trouble in their village.

The situation in Zhangjia Village greatly troubled the men sent by the Prince of Ding'an. Every household in the village kept their doors and windows closed, making their appearance inconspicuous no matter when they entered. Even if they disguised themselves as peddlers, they couldn't get into Zhangjia Village. The only way was to break in.

But what's the point of charging in? Their mission is to bring the Zhang family to the front lines of the battle, not simply to kill them all and consider their task complete.

"Boss, why don't we send a letter to the Prince to inquire, or just kill him directly? It'll save us the trouble," the man who had spoken earlier suggested again.

The eldest brother, who was already troubled, heard his stupid idea, but just let out a sigh of relief without giving any reply, and continued to worry.

That's why they say, if there's really no way out, even a dead end might be a way out.

On the first day after the granary was burned down, Jialing Pass was unusually quiet, with neither side taking any action against the outside world.

The next day, just as dawn broke, the war drums of the Prince of Ding'an sounded, their rhythm inspiring and exhilarating.

This time, the Prince of Ding'an didn't issue any more challenges. Instead, he directly ordered his men to climb the cloud ladders, promising a reward of a thousand households and a thousand taels of gold to the first to reach the top. Spurred by the promise of high rank and generous rewards, everyone fought with extraordinary courage.

As soon as their army assembled, Xia Yu ordered everyone to light all the large pots, pour oil into them, and then heat them over a high flame.

The moment the ladder was placed on the platform, the hot oil in the pot had already begun to boil.

At this point, everyone understood Xia Yu's meaning: this oil was meant to deal with enemies trying to climb up the ladder.

Xia Yu kept a close eye on the situation below. When the enemy soldiers had climbed halfway up the ladder, he ordered his men to pour boiling oil over their heads using wooden buckets.

"Ah..." With the sizzling sound of hot oil burning flesh, chilling screams echoed from below the city wall.

Then Xia Yu had someone throw down the lit torches, and with the oil fueling the fire, the torches blazed up as soon as they were thrown down.

The Prince of Ding'an watched all this unfold, his eyes blazing with hatred.

Zhao Bei knew who came up with such a despicable tactic; it was definitely not something someone with his brain could have come up with.

"Your Highness, this won't do. Their idea is truly insidious. Look, the soldiers behind us are too afraid to advance when they see the situation on the ladder," Mr. Hua said anxiously to Zhou Ji, seeing the situation on the ladder.

"The first to reach the top will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold and enfeoffed as a marquis with ten thousand households. Anyone who retreats will be killed without mercy." Prince Ding'an said through gritted teeth as he looked at the city tower.

His soldiers immediately relayed his words to his men.

As the saying goes, "A great reward will surely bring forth brave men." Spurred by the promise of a high-ranking official and ten thousand taels of gold, everyone recklessly rushed up the cloud ladder.

From the city wall, Xia Yu coldly observed everything below, ordering buckets of hot oil to be poured down and torches to be thrown down repeatedly. Half an hour passed, then an hour, and a high mountain of corpses had piled up below the city wall, but the drums of battle continued to beat, and the soldiers below could not retreat. Like madmen, they climbed up, stepping over the bodies of their comrades.

"Your Highness, this won't do! The casualties are too great." A general under the command of the Prince of Ding'an looked at the casualties and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Your Highness, let's withdraw our troops. Let's go back and discuss this further." Mr. Hua looked at the mountains of corpses and felt a pang of pity. Their fighting style was one of zero casualties on the enemy and eight thousand casualties on their own. Even if they had more men, they shouldn't have used it this way.

"Your Highness, let's withdraw our troops. If we fight them all, we'll have nothing left," another general advised.

After much persuasion, the Prince of Ding'an finally agreed to a ceasefire.

Looking at the mountain of corpses below, Zhao Bei and the others felt an indescribable sorrow. They were originally soldiers of Da Huai, but because of the selfishness of the Prince of Ding'an, they died on the land that they should have been guarding.

The people on the city wall simply watched as the people below cleaned up the battlefield, without making a move; they just watched quietly.

It wasn't until the afternoon that the battlefield was finally cleaned up. The wounded were carried back for treatment, and the dead were burned in a certain place.

"Your Highness, in this battle, our soldiers suffered a total of 2,123 deaths and 1,072 injuries," a general reported to Prince Ding'an with a heavy heart.

The atmosphere in the tent was heavy; no one dared to speak after hearing his words. This was only a little over an hour of fighting, and what was most infuriating was that the enemy had suffered zero casualties. This battle had shattered everyone's morale; the hatred and fighting spirit that had been built up after the burning of their supplies had dissipated. Not only was their morale gone, but they were also afraid.

In all the battles recorded in history, there had never been such a tactic. They knew Zhao Bei well; this method of pouring hot oil on them was definitely not something he could have come up with. They weren't just afraid of the hot oil; they also feared that once they climbed the city walls, another unknown form of death awaited them.

Although no one said it aloud, everyone understood that they had lost this battle, and lost completely. Warfare is about striking while the iron is hot, then weakening, and finally exhausting. At the height of their momentum, when they were unstoppable, the prince chose to besiege them, hoping they would run out of food and surrender out of hunger. But they hadn't anticipated that while the siege didn't diminish their supplies, it also slowly eroded their high morale. Not only were their morale depleted, but their food supplies were also burned, and their courage had been shattered.