Generous rewards

Apart from being a bit messy, everything in Toungoo City seemed to remain largely unchanged.

At first, the common people kept their doors shut and trembled in their homes, until they realized that this army seemed to have no intention of plundering.

Some bolder individuals opened a crack in their doors to secretly observe, only to find that apart from the guards and patrols on the streets being Han people, nothing else had changed. Only then did they completely relax.

Soon, people who understood Toungoo language began to beat gongs and shout out propaganda everywhere.

"From today onwards, all toungoo people are subjects of our Great Qian. As long as you do not cause trouble or break the law, your safety will be guaranteed. We hope everyone can return to normal life as soon as possible."

On the other side, after a morning of pursuit, Gao Yuan finally spotted the big fish.

"What a big fish! Look at those carriages, they definitely don't belong to ordinary ministers. Men, chase them! We must intercept this convoy!"

The convoy also discovered the pursuing Cavalry, and someone immediately shouted, causing the convoy's speed to increase again.

More than a thousand Toungoo Imperial Guards also stopped, quickly forming a defensive line, blocking Gao Yuan's path on the narrow official road.

"Iron-Armored Army, it seems these are Toungoo's Imperial Guards. Watch them closely, I want all of these Iron-Armored Army!"

Against heavily armored soldiers, the less powerful repeating crossbows were useless, and even lances would be greatly reduced in power. At such times, the Golden Gourd Mace proved its worth.

Leveraging the momentum of his warhorse, Gao Yuan raised his right hand and brought the hammer down. A Toungoo soldier immediately fell to the ground, struggling in pain.

The toungoo people were dumbfounded. They never expected their most elite Iron-Armored Army to be so vulnerable. They even suspected if they were wearing fakes.

With just one charge, the toungoo people's defense line collapsed. Gao Yuan's side also suffered considerable losses, with over a dozen killed and dozens wounded.

Without much delay, Gao Yuan took the wounded and continued to pursue the convoy. As for the remaining scattered soldiers, others would naturally deal with them.

Before the Toungoo Imperial Guards could react, the Beiwei Army arrived. They quickly donned their armor, each holding a Golden Gourd Mace, and charged forward. It was another one-sided slaughter.

At the cost of less than a hundred killed and over two hundred wounded, the Beiwei Army annihilated this Toungoo Imperial Guard detachment that was covering the retreat, capturing over a thousand sets of damaged Iron-Armored armor.

These Iron-Armored armors, once taken back and repaired by craftsmen, would be good as new.

While the battlefield was being cleaned up here, not far to the north, Gao Yuan led his Cavalry, raging like a tiger among a flock of sheep.

Screams, shrieks, and pleas for mercy intertwined on the battlefield. Without the protection of the army, these pampered princes and nobles were like lambs to the slaughter.

The Cavalry no longer maintained any formation, with two or three men focusing on the carriages and the young women.

This led to quite a few getting away, but Gao Yuan didn't care. There was no use taking those old geezers back; if they were made to farm or mine, they'd probably die of exhaustion in less than two days.

The truly valuable things were the treasures they carried, as well as the young servants and women.

These young servants were strong laborers, and as for the women, they would naturally be given as rewards to the soldiers, adding to the population of Great Qian.

However, looking at the group of elegantly dressed women before him, Gao Yuan had a bit of a headache.

"The Toungoo Queen Mother and Royal Consorts, these are all women in their thirties and forties. Why did you capture them?"

"If the Lord doesn't like them, then bestow them upon the brothers. These women, don't even mention it, they're quite…moist…"

Gao Yuan rolled his eyes at Zhao Meng, not expecting this fellow to possess the remnants of Wei Wu's style and Jian'an's spirit. He immediately waved his hand.

"You can all take them back, but be careful. Don't just shove your bull in anywhere; be careful of encountering a fierce one who might bite it right off."

Thinking of the tragedy of Genghis Khan in the original timeline, Gao Yuan couldn't help but remind these fellows, lest his generals all turn into eunuchs.

After dealing with the older women, the soldiers brought up a group of younger women, all around twenty years old, the oldest being twenty-five or twenty-six, and the youngest probably only fourteen or fifteen.

Zhao Meng introduced them to Gao Yuan as if presenting a treasure.

"Lord, I've asked around. These are all concubines of Bayinnaung and Maha Bandula, and they're all very young! Do you want to pick two to warm your bed?"

Gao Yuan slapped the back of this fellow's head.

"Are you tired of living? Trying to force women on me? Go back and see if your Lady will skin you alive!"

Only then did Zhao Meng remember that Mu Qing had also come. He immediately shivered, all the hairs on his body standing on end. He quickly moved closer to Gao Yuan and asked in a low voice.

"Lord, how should these women be dealt with?"

"Take them all back. Let the generals who don't have families or heirs pick first, and then everyone else can divide the rest."

Zhao Meng grinned, his mouth stretching to his ears, and repeatedly bowed and nodded.

"Thank you for the Lord's reward, thank you for the Lord's reward."

"Oh, and don't forget, make sure all the captured women are properly distributed. Don't break the rules."

"Lord, rest assured, I will ensure the well-being of the fallen and wounded brothers. I will not let our brothers feel disheartened."

According to Gao Yuan's rules, captured women and infants who couldn't remember anything would be prioritized for the families of fallen soldiers, followed by severely wounded and retired soldiers, and finally, everyone else would be allocated according to their merits.

All the soldiers strongly supported this rule. Such assurance gave the soldiers confidence and greatly improved their combat effectiveness.

Hearing that the Queen Mother, Royal Consorts, and all those concubines had become Gao Yuan's spoils of war, Bayinnaung, who had just arrived in Sagaing, immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.

Everyone frantically pinched his philtrum and wiped his face with handkerchiefs, finally managing to wake him up.

Upon waking, Bayinnaung cursed at the south.

"Gao Yuan, you scoundrel, you shameless wretch, I will never live under the same sky as you!"

Gao Yuan sneezed, rubbed his nose, and continued to happily look at the system's newly appeared prompt.

"S-rank series event 'Struggle for Hegemony' final stage event 'Transfer of the Scepter' has been completed;"

"Congratulations to the Host for receiving one A-rank lottery card and one Advanced Popular Support Card;"

"The S-rank series event 'Struggle for Hegemony' has been fully completed, entering comprehensive evaluation."

Ignoring the running system, Gao Yuan looked at the Advanced Popular Support Card.

As expected, it had the same effect as the Popular Support Card he had used before, but its scope of action had expanded.

Fifteen prefectures could be designated by himself. Although it didn't cover everything, it was still quite good.

After reviewing the new rewards, the system's prompt arrived.

"S-rank system event 'Struggle for Hegemony' comprehensive evaluation S. Congratulations to the Host for receiving rewards:"

"One S-rank Designated Type Talent Summoning Card, one S-rank lottery card, and one S-rank Martial Soul Experience Card."

It wasn't over yet; another prompt appeared on the transparent screen before Gao Yuan's eyes.

"Host has completed a series event with an S-rank evaluation for the first time, achieving: Event Terminator, receiving reward: one Random Elite Legion Summoning Card."

Gao Yuan wanted to do a celebratory knee slide. What was an 'Ouhuang'? This was an 'Ouhuang'.

If Bayinnaung were here, Gao Yuan would definitely give him a big hug and say,

"Brother, you are the biggest Wealth-Distributing Child in this world, I love you to death."

Since he was so happy, a celebration was naturally in order. That evening, Gao Yuan pulled Mu Qing along for a good celebration.

Mu Qing didn't understand why her husband was so excited and was tormented all night, repeatedly begging for mercy.