Chapter 242: 233 Spoils of War

Chapter 242: Chapter 233 Spoils of War

“Haha, Mr. Yuan, please come in, come in!”

“Ah, you all have had a hard time, haven’t you? The journey must not have been easy!”

“Dashan, Dashan, you take these brothers to have a meal first, and then let them have a good rest!”

Yang Zhenshan extended his warm hospitality.

It wasn’t that he was forcing courtesy, but that Yuan Wanli and the others really looked quite unwell.

He guessed that they must have suffered a lot on their journey over the past four days.

They didn’t come directly from Chongshan Pass, but first went to Jia City. After learning Yang Zhenshan’s whereabouts, they then travelled from Jia City.

The journey from Jia City wasn’t too long, roughly three to four hundred li.

But this is the North, and although the areas they passed through had been patrolled by the garrison, who knew if there might still be Northern barbarian riders around? If they came across Northern barbarians, with their few numbers, they might just end up as fodder.

Therefore, on their journey not only did they have to sleep outdoors, but they also had to cautiously avoid the Hu Zei bandits.

With poor food, poor sleep, plus the rush of the travel, one can imagine how they looked by now.

“It makes me a laughing stock before Master Yang!” Yuan Wanli said somewhat awkwardly.

Yang Zhenshan smiled and said, “What’s there to laugh about? Mr. Yuan went through all this trouble to help us verify our war achievements,

frightened and weary all the way here. I should be thanking Mr. Yuan, how could I laugh?”

“Mr. Yuan, let’s go have our meal.”

Saying this, Yang Zhenshan took Yuan Wanli and two civil servants into his tent.

“Mr. Yuan, drinking is prohibited in the military, so let’s use tea in place of liquor!”

As the food was served, Yang Zhenshan urged the three to start eating.

Yuan Wanli was truly hungry, and after gnawing on dry rations for several meals, he was nearly sick of the tasteless fare. Now, seeing a full table of food, his appetite surged.

“Thank you for the hospitality, Master Yang, then we won’t stand on ceremony!”

“Don’t be polite, eat plenty!”

Yang Zhenshan called out.

Thereupon, Yuan Wanli and the others tucked in heartily.

After they finished eating, Yang Zhenshan didn’t rush them to verify the war achievements but let them rest for a while first.

Only on the next morning, when Yuan Wanli had shaken off his fatigue, did he begin to deal with the proper business.

“Master Yang, are all the heads accounted for?”

“This…” Yang Zhenshan hesitated for a moment, then said, “I’d better take Mr. Yuan to see for himself!”

After speaking, he led Yuan Wanli out of the camp.

When they arrived at the settlement of Zhaerzi, Yuan Wanli was completely stunned.

They hadn’t seen Zhaerzi’s settlement when they arrived yesterday, as they had gone straight to the garrison camp.

Even though the garrison camp was near Zhaerzi’s settlement, it was separated by a small hill.

There was no choice; the smell inside Zhaerzi’s settlement was too foul now, with a thick stench of blood that was especially pungent.

However, in these past few days, Yang Zhenshan hadn’t been completely inactive; they had already gathered up the spoils of war, collected the bodies in a large pit, and piled the heads together.

Looking at the vast settlement, at the bodies in the pit, and the heads stacked up like a small hill.

Yuan Wanli felt so nauseated that he nearly vomited out his breakfast.

“This, this, this~~”

He pointed at the heap of heads, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Yang Zhenshan said calmly, “These are all the heads of the Hu Clan’s able-bodied men; not a single one is from the elderly, weak, women or children!”

To count war achievements by the number of heads, it actually wouldn’t matter if there were some among the elderly and weak—it was all heads of the Northern barbarians, it wasn’t considered claiming undue credit by killing innocents.

If one were less scrupulous, including women and children’s heads to boost the count could also be done.

However, Yang Zhenshan still had some bottom lines; he could sanction slaughter, after all, it was about national hatred and enmity, but to inflate his achievements with the heads of women and children was a face he couldn’t bring himself to lose.

Nevertheless, in Yuan Wanli’s eyes, it was like a scene straight out of hell.

Although he had been to many battlefields before and examined many heads to verify war achievements, this was the first time he had ever seen heads piled up like a small mountain.

He caught sight of Yang Zhenshan beside him, calm as usual, and noticed the depth in Yang Zhenshan’s eyes, suddenly feeling a shiver down his spine.

What ruthless determination Master Yang has!

Was Yang Zhenshan really that ruthless?

Well, how to put it?

As someone who came from a peaceful nation, Yang Zhenshan had his own moral views and attitude towards life.

But after coming to this world, he reminded himself time and again to adapt, to integrate with this world.

Over the years, he had changed a lot, so much that it seemed he was a completely different person.

Correct, he had indeed transformed into a different person.

By now, Yang Zhenshan was no longer the Yang Zhenshan of the past.

Yang Zhenshan felt Yuan Wanli’s gaze, turned his head and gave him a smile, speaking gently, “Next, I’ll have to trouble Mr. Yuan to tally up the military achievements!

I have some matters to attend to and can’t accompany Mr. Yuan. I hope Mr. Yuan will forgive me!”

However, his smile made Yuan Wanli tremble again, and Yuan Wanli quickly averted his gaze, stuttering, “Ma-Master Yang, please do as you please!”

“Dashan, accompany Mr. Yuan in tallying the military achievements!”

Yang Zhenshan instructed Song Dashan beside him and then returned to the camp.

Upon his return to the camp, Zhou Ren came to find him. “Master, all resources have been tallied!”

“How much?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

“We have one thousand three hundred adult war horses, another seven hundred and twenty inferior horses, foals and the like, nine hundred twenty-eight oxen, and three thousand two hundred eighty sheep.”

“Additionally, there are seven hundred sixty-eight various furs, eight thousand seven hundred ironware items, eight hundred sixty bushels of grain, and twelve bushels of coarse salt.”

“Gold three hundred thirty-two taels, silver four thousand three hundred twenty-four taels, and over four hundred various types of jewelry and accessories!”

Zhou Ren’s face bore an indelible joy.

Rich!

We’ve really struck it rich!

Yang Zhenshan simply nodded indifferently as this was within his expectations.

The wealth of a clan with close to ten thousand people was naturally not a trivial amount.

Horses, oxen, sheep, all kinds of furs, and a mixture of various ironware, etc.

They struck unexpectedly in this battle; Zhaerzi was virtually unguarded. Zhaerzi’s wealth was left entirely at their dwelling, all becoming their spoils of war.

However, two problems now arose; first, how to transport so many items back, and second, the issue of who owns the spoils.

To transport all these items back would certainly take a lot of time, and although the Tumoge Clan had moved for several days, they were still under the watchful eye of Yang Zhenshan.

As for the ownership of the spoils, different items belonged to different parties. For example, the war horses would be directly enlisted into service. If the amount was small, they could be directly taken into the garrison; if large, they had to be handed over.

For instance, the oxen—the demand for cattle in farming goes without saying, and cattle captured on the battlefield must be delivered to the court.

As for the gold, silver, and valuables, well, have any been captured? Yes, there is a little bit.

“Master, what should we do with these items next?” Zhou Ren asked eagerly.

Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment and said, “Two horses per man; next, we will engage in mobile warfare, and we must have enough warhorses!”

“As for gold and silver, hmm, keep thirty percent as an account, and the rest is all distributed among the soldiers!”

“Grain, coarse salt, etc., anything we can use, we’ll keep; the rest, we’ll find a place to store temporarily. I will report to the Assistant General Mansion, and they’ll arrange civilians to transport it back!”

He certainly couldn’t swallow all these items. What needed to be handed over, should be handed over.

Of course, retaining a part for oneself is also permissible.

“Master, shall we not transport some back first?” Zhou Ren felt somewhat disappointed.

The most valuable items were the horses and livestock, not to mention the war horses, which were surely kept for the soldiers’ use. But what about those oxen and sheep?

“Heh, you, even if the Assistant General Mansion transports them back, we still have our share!” Yang Zhenshan was not worried about losing his share once they were handed over.

Taking some first, then getting another share later; in fact, that’s quite enough.

If he were greedy and kept everything, he would not only attract resentment but also hatred.

Zhou Ren thought about it and agreed; one can’t be too greedy.

Originally a good thing, being too greedy could turn it into a bad thing.

Spoils of war also count as military achievements; handing them over doesn’t mean there are no benefits—all would be recorded on the service list.

“I will write a battle report; later, you arrange someone to send it back to the Assistant General Mansion!” Yang Zhenshan said.

“Yes!” Zhou Ren joyfully responded.

Regardless, he would definitely have his share, so he was still very happy in his heart.

Of course, he was not the only happy one, as soon the entire garrison felt this happiness.

Yang Zhenshan generously distributed most of the gold and silver.

The soldiers looked at the gold and silver in their hands, and their morale immediately soared.

Of course, Yang Zhenshan didn’t forget to give Yuan Wanli his share.

“Mr. Yuan, share and share alike!”

Inside the tent, Yang Zhenshan passed two ten-tael gold ingots in front of Yuan Wanli.

“This, this isn’t right!” Yuan Wanli was inclined to refuse.

He was a bit scared to take anything from Yang Zhenshan.

“What’s wrong with it? I don’t like fuss, if I tell you to take it, just take it!” Yang Zhenshan didn’t give him the chance to refuse, forcibly stuffing it into his chest.

In terms of official rank, he was higher than Yuan Wanli, in age, he was older, and in terms of connections, he was the Marquis Mansion’s future in-law; therefore, he did not need to be too courteous with Yuan Wanli.

“Master Yang, this military achievement!” Yuan Wanli spoke with trepidation.

“What are you thinking about?” Yang Zhenshan was annoyed as he pointed to the item in his chest, saying, “This is just a token of appreciation for hard work; it has nothing to do with military achievements. Does Mr. Yuan think we need to exaggerate our military exploits?”

“…” Yuan Wanli thought of the pile of heads, “No need!”

Nearly four thousand heads!

What’s there to exaggerate!

Even if the truth is reported, some might suspect exaggeration; if we were to exaggerate a little more, perhaps…

Yuan Wanli felt a headache coming on; he needed to consider how to convince his superiors and colleagues that these military achievements were real.