Chapter 233 Aftermath

After a round of emergency treatment, the imperial physicians finally managed to wake Zhao Ji, who had fainted from a surge of blood to his heart. As soon as he opened his eyes, he squeezed a few words through his gritted teeth.

"Where is Meng Zhenshan? I want to tear him into ten thousand pieces!"

No one dared to respond. They first helped Zhao Ji up, but he refused to return to the inner palace and sat back down on the dragon throne.

"The rest of you may withdraw. Beloved Minister Cui, Beloved Minister Yang... you few stay."

Zhao Ji pointed out four or five people, basically all leaders of various Powerful Families families.

Once the others had left, Zhao Ji finally spoke and asked,

"How do you all think I should handle this matter?"

"Your Majesty, I believe the court should quickly select important ministers and capable generals to go to the Jiannan Circuit to clean up the chaos and resist Gao Yuan."

"Your Majesty, I believe the court should immediately send someone to Southern Yue to reprimand Gao Yuan for raising troops without permission, strictly ordering him to release the prisoners and forbid him from setting foot on the land of the Jiannan Circuit."

Zhao Ji frowned.

"Is it useful to send someone to Southern Yue? As far as I know, that Gao Yuan is not a reasonable person."

"Regardless, as long as we can delay Gao Yuan for a few days, we can gain more time for the court to respond."

"Hmm, that makes sense."

Zhao Ji nodded thoughtfully, resting his chin on his hand.

"As for the candidate for the new Jiedushi of Jiannan Circuit, do you have any suggestions?"

Everyone knew that after this defeat, even if The Emperor did not punish Meng Zhenshan, it was impossible for him to be given an important position again.

"Your Majesty, I recommend Commandery Duke Xiao, Song Ren..."

As the former Jiedushi of Jiannan Circuit, and one who had been promoted for achieving great merit, Song Ren was indeed a good candidate. However, Zhao Ji shook his head and rejected the proposal.

He knew his own people best; he was well aware of Song Ren's level—he was merely a mediocre man who was only good at maintaining the status quo.

Before this great war, if the Jiannan Circuit had elite troops, capable generals, a complete defensive line, and at least a superficial peace with Gao Yuan, then sending Song Ren would have been ideal. But now, Song Ren had no way to shoulder this heavy burden.

Soon, the famous generals currently at court were listed one by one, and the group argued incessantly.

After all, no matter who was sent, it represented a huge chunk of interest. Who wouldn't want their own faction or someone close to them to snatch up this piece of fatty meat?

That's right; even though the Jiannan Circuit was in its current state, they still considered it a piece of fatty meat.

Zhao Ji's head was buzzing from the noise, and for a moment, he couldn't make a decision. He waved his hand impatiently.

"I am tired. You all may leave."

Just like that, he left the dumbfounded crowd and returned to the inner palace.

Lying on a soft and comfortable bed, Wu Bengal slowly massaged Zhao Ji's temples.

"Your Majesty is so troubled; why not go to one of the concubines in the inner palace to relax?"

"Forget it. Which of those women doesn't chatter incessantly when they see me? Every single one of them only knows how to fight for favor all day long; it's annoying to death."

Zhao Ji suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Wu She.

"Wu She, you followed my late father for many years. Tell me, who would he have sent to clean up the mess if he encountered such a situation?"

"Your Majesty, this Servant is a Eunuch. According to ancestral rules..."

"I'm not asking you to participate in state affairs, just asking how your late father would have handled this."

Wu She thought for a moment and finally spoke his mind.

"Since Your Majesty does not trust these people, why not let them restrain each other? That way, Your Majesty can balance them from the middle and remain in an invincible position."

"You mean... Hahaha, I understand! Hahaha!"

Zhao Ji sat up excitedly and patted Wu She on the shoulder.

"No wonder Father valued you so much; you are indeed extraordinary! Hahaha!"

No one expected that while Zhao Ji seemed unable to decide yesterday, the imperial decree came down the very next day:

Wang Mian was appointed as the Jiedushi of Jiannan Circuit, with Jiang Huaizhen Jiang Huaizhen and Meng Zhenshan as Deputy Jiedushi, leading the Left Martial Guard to station in the Jiannan Circuit.

Wang Mian was from the Wang family of Langya and was currently the Prefect of Lin'an. This transfer was a promotion, but the key was that he was only a civil Jiang Huaizhen and knew nothing of military affairs.

However, everyone soon understood The Emperor's intention. Wang Mian didn't understand military affairs, but as the Jiedushi, he could control the finances and grain of the Jiannan Circuit, thus restraining the two great generals.

Jiang Huaizhen was among the top tier of famous generals in Great Qian; there was absolutely no problem with him leading the military.

What truly made people marvel was the arrangement for Meng Zhenshan. One must know that after such a crushing defeat, even if he wasn't severely punished, he would usually be cold-shouldered and sidelined.

But now, Zhao Ji had given him a chance to get back up from where he fell. Wouldn't this Meng Zhenshan be moved to tears of gratitude and repay him with his life?

Of course, Meng Zhenshan was still in Gao Yuan's hands and had to be ransomed first, along with those captured soldiers of the Jiannan Army.

When Wang Mian and Jiang Huaizhen hurriedly arrived in Chengdu with the vanguard of the Left Martial Guard, they were horrified to find that even though they had rushed as fast as they could, Jia Prefecture and Luzhou were already lost, and Gao Yuan's army had entered Yi Prefecture.

At this time, Gao Yuan's Central Corps was splitting into two routes within Yi Prefecture, sweeping through like autumn leaves in the wind, clearing out the population, government treasuries, and grain of various county seats.

The two didn't have time to rest; they immediately split into two routes. Wang Mian went to seek an audience with Gao Yuan, while Jiang Huaizhen went to organize the local defenses.

On the other side, the court's envoy had also arrived in Panyu to seek an audience with the Prince of Nanyue, Zhao Xiyao.

Upon hearing the visitor's purpose, Xiyao's phoenix eyes widened in anger.

"Do you think we want to fight a war? If it weren't for that Meng Zhenshan raising troops on his own, would my Husband need to lead troops on an expedition during this New Year season?"

The envoy bowed and nodded, repeatedly agreeing, not daring to offer a single word of rebuttal.

Finally, Xiyao waved her hand.

"I cannot make the decision on this matter. If you want to talk, go find my Husband."

The envoy wanted to say more, but seeing that Xiyao had already left in a huff, he could only sigh and leave the palace. Not daring to linger, the group galloped toward the Jiannan Circuit.

On the Jiannan Circuit side, negotiations between the two parties soon began. However, Gao Yuan's subordinates were not idle; while the negotiations were ongoing, they continued to run wild.

In any case, the Left Martial Guard had only brought three thousand vanguard troops, which couldn't stop them at all. They could only watch helplessly as they plundered all the way.

According to later statistics, over 150,000 civilians were relocated from Yi Prefecture, Fu Prefecture, He Prefecture, and other places this time. The loss of grain and fodder exceeded 300,000 dan, with countless other losses in plow oxen and farm tools.

In the main hall of the Jia Prefecture Prefectural Office, Gao Yuan looked with displeasure at Wang Mian, who was smiling apologetically below.

"Heh, you say fight and you fight, you say stop and you stop. What do you take me for? You should know how much I lost in this great war; I didn't even have a good New Year;"

"By the way, those wounded and surrendered soldiers of yours also cost me a large amount of precious medicinal herbs, and they need to be fed with a lot of money and grain every day. What's wrong with me taking a little to make up for the losses?"

Xia Luqi added a timely blow from the side.

"That's right. To save that fellow Meng Zhenshan, my Lord used the last of his life-saving divine medicine. That is a divine medicine unique in the whole world. There were only eight pills left, and now there is one less."

The more the two listed, the more alarmed Wang Mian became. He thought that if these two continued calculating, the entire Jiannan Circuit probably wouldn't be enough to compensate Gao Yuan.

When Gao Yuan's throat went dry from talking and he stopped to drink tea, Wang Mian finally spoke cautiously.

"I understand the Commander's losses. Before I left, His Majesty also instructed me to properly apologize to the Commander and to do our best to compensate for the Commander's losses. It's just that I am dull-witted and hope the Commander can give me a direction."

Gao Yuan was waiting for these words. He finished his cold tea in one gulp and cleared his throat.

"I am not an unreasonable person and won't take more than I should. Bang Jie..."

Xia Luqi understood and took out a booklet, handing it to Wang Mian.

"Commander Wang, please have a look."

Wang Mian opened the booklet and took a sharp breath, causing the temperature in the room to rise slightly.