Chapter 30: Disaster Victims

Chapter 30: Disaster Victims

Bao An’s face looked very unpleasant as he said, “This is probably not appropriate!”

A burly Khan with a fleshy face, Gesa, said, “Why is it not appropriate? You keep saying that the Four Northern Desert Prefectures are home to us Turks. Now that we want to go home, won’t you let us?”

“That’s right! Do your words and actions not match up? Let me tell you, the Great Khan said it was for military training. But we don’t see it that way. If it weren’t for the Great Khan holding us back, we would have flattened your lands long ago. Those pathetic soldiers of yours are just like ripe melons waiting to be chopped in front of our Turkic warriors!”

“If you agree, go back obediently and withdraw your troops! If you disagree, we will flatten your city tomorrow.”

As soon as Bao An said that, the whole place erupted.

Bao An, his face grim, cupped his hands and said, “Gentlemen, you have misunderstood! That is not what I meant. If you Khans want it, not just two prefectures, I can give you all four prefectures!”

“However, the reason I said it’s not appropriate is entirely for your consideration. As long as I am here, I can give you anything you want! But if you come and take these two prefectures, the Emperor will surely send troops.”

“I know any troops that come will definitely not be a match for the Turkic divine soldiers! But as the saying goes, enough ants can kill an elephant! Our Great Xiao Kingdom has plenty of lowly commoners; human life is cheap here. But the warriors of the Turkic Kingdom are precious. So, I think unless the Turkic Kingdom is prepared to attack the Central Plains, then not just two prefectures, I would gladly hand over all four!”

“Not only that, I could even act as your vanguard for you Khans!”

“However, I do not recommend you attack the Central Plains. Because there are many rioters causing trouble in the Central Lands. If the Turks attack, it might instead unite the people of the Great Xiao Kingdom against the Turks! If you Khans just wait patiently, within three years, the Great Xiao Kingdom will surely be in great chaos! At that time, the Turkic Kingdom’s army will be strong, and the Great Xiao Kingdom will be engulfed in war everywhere. A single strike would allow you to enter and rule the Central Plains!”

“So, I am truly thinking of the Turkic Kingdom’s benefit. If you want anything, just name it, and I can give it to you!”

Bao An bowed, speaking with extreme humility. All of this was what his Military Advisor had taught him.

For him, selling out his country once was selling out; selling it out ten times was still selling out.

He didn’t mind selling out the Great Xiao Kingdom completely, as long as it didn’t harm his own interests.

Ashina listened to Bao An’s words and still thought he made a lot of sense.

“You speak well… However, since General Bao has said so, we won’t stand on ceremony. We need five million taels of silver. Go and prepare it!”

Bao An listened, his face turning ugly, and said, “Great Khan, this… our Four Northern Desert Prefectures are just too poor… Moreover, we already gave you plenty of money and grain before the new year. The common people are eating dirt!”

Ashina’s face darkened, then he said, “So you can’t do it? If you can’t do it, we’ll go collect it ourselves… I’ll give you three months! If you can’t gather enough, we’ll come collect it ourselves! Your Four Northern Desert Prefectures don’t only have commoners; there are also many wealthy families. Think of a way!”

Bao An smiled awkwardly and said, “Yes… yes… I will think of a way!”

Ashina said, “Alright, then. Within seven days, first gather one million taels of silver to reimburse our training expenses. You have three months to raise the remaining five million taels. No difficulties, right?”

“Great Khan, didn’t you just say five million taels?”

Ashina smiled and said, “That’s right. As for our training expenses, surely you don’t expect us to pay for it ourselves! General Bao, your words sound nice. Why is it so difficult to get a little money from you? If it’s this hard, maybe we should just…”

Bao An smiled and nodded, saying, “Yes… yes… yes! Khan Ashina, you can rest assured. I will send people to raise the money immediately!”

Ashina smiled and said, “Good, then hurry up and go.”

Ashina smiled and waved his hand, signaling for them to leave.

After Bao An bowed and left,

the Khans looked at Bao An’s retreating figure and laughed loudly. “Hahaha, Ashina, you were absolutely right. The people of the Great Xiao Kingdom are all sheep… and they are big, fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered… We just came here for a stroll and managed to get six million taels of silver. That’s more than our income for a whole year…”

Ashina smiled and said, “Indeed, these people of the Great Xiao Kingdom have no backbone… Let’s not rush. First, use their money to strengthen our forces. When their internal chaos breaks out, we’ll directly enter and rule the Central Plains. We’ll make all the Han people of the Great Xiao Kingdom become slaves for us Turks… Hahaha!”

Bao An left the tent. Hearing the laughter of these Turks, his face looked unpleasant as he spoke to his Military Advisor. “Military Advisor, after we return, quickly summon all the wealthy families from the four prefectures.”

The Military Advisor said, “General, asking the wealthy families to provide this money, I’m afraid they won’t agree. Moreover, if we push them too hard, they might turn against you.”

Bao An said, “I don’t intend for them to pay. They have commoners beneath them! Demand it from those commoners!”

The Military Advisor said, “General, the entire population of the Four Northern Desert Prefectures is barely over a hundred thousand people. Six million taels means an average of sixty taels per person… They could be killed, and they still couldn’t come up with that much.”

Bao An said, “Then make the commoners go borrow from those wealthy families, sign loan notes. Then use their labor to repay the debt! Otherwise, if the Turks come, they will have to become slaves, slaves worse than dogs! Let them choose! Anyway, the court has rules; those lowly commoners can’t run away. What can they do besides endure it!”

The Military Advisor cupped his hands and said, “The General is wise. Then I will go and handle this!”

Bao An said, “It must be fast. We can’t let these Turkic Khans think I’m incompetent!”

…

Outside Anhua City.

Xiao Ce and his group rode on horseback for two full days, finally arriving outside the city in the afternoon of the second day.

However, when they arrived outside the city,

Xiao Ce frowned deeply, and for no other reason.

Anhua City truly lived up to being one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the Central Plains Hinterland.

The city tower was built very grandly. The city walls were over ten meters tall and over ten meters wide. The main south gate had troops stationed to guard it.

Above the city gate hung dozens of corpses. All these hanged people shared a characteristic: they wore tattered, ragged clothes.

It seemed to be a warning to prevent disaster victims from outside from flooding into the city.

Outside the city walls, there was a dark mass of disaster victims, spreading out for hundreds of meters from the city walls.

Xiao Ce estimated there were tens of thousands of them.

These disaster victims were all skin and bones, dressed in rags, covered in dust and dirt, with empty, numb expressions in their eyes.

Xiao Ce approached, dismounted, and led his horse towards the city gate. Looking at the commoners along the way, his heart felt heavy.

Wherever there were disaster victims, not a single blade of grass remained. Trees had their bark stripped off, and leaves were completely picked clean.

As a person from modern times, he had actually seen some related films and documents.

But witnessing these scenes firsthand made Xiao Ce feel as if a huge rock were pressing on his heart!

Seeing Xiao Ce’s expression was not good,

Nie Bing, who had appeared behind him at some point, spoke in a cold voice. “Can’t even handle this? At least they still have tree bark to eat! The commoners of the Northern Desert suffer ten times, a hundred times more! Do you know what the commoners of the Northern Desert use to fill their stomachs?”

Xiao Ce turned his head to look at Nie Bing.

Nie Bing said, “They use yellow mud to fill their stomachs.”

Xiao Ce, from his modern times, had heard of a kind of soil called Guanyin clay…

which was eaten in some extremely poor foreign places.

Seeing Xiao Ce’s unpleasant expression, Nie Bing said, “Now you understand how laughable your ‘three-year promise’ was, right?”