The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2328: Chapter 2303: Spoils of War

General Li took them to see General Guo’s spoils of war, no, that’s not right, they haven’t been distributed yet, so they still belong to the whole army.

One by one, the boxes were opened, filled with gold, jade, and exquisite porcelain, leaving Bai Shan stunned.

General Li pointed at a box in the corner filled with various gold and silver objects and said, "This box was collected from the general’s main tent. Many soldiers saw it at the time. You know, when the soldiers saw it, their spirits lifted a bit, not as low as before."

Bai Shan casually picked up a gold Buddha, but it was so heavy he couldn’t lift it. He was surprised and had to use both hands, "This..."

General Li glanced at him and said, "It’s solid, made entirely of gold. The bodyguards said it was found in the Kucha queen’s palace."

Bai Shan exclaimed, "You ransacked the Kucha royal palace?"

"Yes."

Bai Shan: "But you haven’t even taken control of the city, and people are still living outside the city."

"The general said the most important thing in war is money. Buying food, clothing, and supplies for the soldiers requires money, and they’re risking their lives to get rich, aren’t they? So each time we capture a city, we take the valuables first." General Li explained, "The Kucha royal city surrendered, so the general couldn’t directly target the nobles and wealthy within the city, so he went straight for the palace."

Even General Ashina and the nobles in Wang City hadn’t considered this, as the Kucha king fled in haste and didn’t take much with him. Though the palace was in disarray and many items were lost, even more treasures remained in the treasury.

Then General Guo confiscated everything.

Had General Ashina not been present, he would have ordered the items sent back to Xizhou, but with General Ashina there, he couldn’t monopolize them as before, so the items were stored with the military logistics, waiting to be distributed after a major victory.

And because the items were in logistics, in the situation where General Guo is "severely injured," General Li, temporarily in charge, could bring Bai Shan to see these treasures.

Bai Shan put down the golden Buddha, feeling a bit of heartache, but when he remembered they came from the Kucha palace, it eased his feelings. He said, "You can’t catch wolves without risking the kids. Select some quality items and have someone keep an eye on Wang City. Whenever there’s a movement on that side, send someone over, first send some gold and silver to talk terms, and if they agree, dispatch an official envoy."

Bai Shan seemed thoughtful, "Come to think of it, they didn’t pursue us after victory yesterday, and they didn’t attack today either. It seems there are indeed issues on their side."

General Li had been anxious all along, but hearing this made him slightly more at ease and confident, "I’ll first select some people within the army, and then discuss it with Young Master Bai."

"Okay."

Bai Shan did not involve himself in the selection of items, nor did he inquire about where they would go.

Although General Li was tempted by the items in the room, he didn’t make a move on them. Instead, he looked around before turning and leaving.

Junior General Meng, who had been silent all along, now also left with Bai Shan.

After walking for a bit, he asked, "How confident are you in fooling the people in Wang City?"

Bai Shan said, "About half sure."

"Only half?"

"Half is already quite a lot," Bai Shan said. "If there’s a 50% chance, they could hesitate for two days, which is enough time for us."

"Once they see through your scheme, won’t the envoys..."

Bai Shan: "They will surely die. Of course, unless they have the ability to escape."

Junior General Meng, "Who can escape from the city?"

"Who knows?" Bai Shan said, "Until it happens, no one knows what will happen."

"And yet you still want to go."

Bai Shan shrugged, "Who said I want to go? It’s just that there’s no one else in the army, so I have to go."

He said, "We are now deep in the heart of Kucha. Even with the roads clear, it takes three days of hard riding, five days of forced marching. Not to mention we have so many wounded. Even if we left them behind, once news of defeat here spreads, do you think the three cities behind us, as well as the cities on both flanks, a total of five cities, would let us leave Kucha safely?"

No, thought Junior General Meng. They would kill them to show their loyalty to the Kucha king and claim military merits.

Junior General Meng did not continue on this topic and instead asked, "How is Junior General Guo?"

"He woke up for a while, but now he’s asleep again. Fortunately, his pulse has strengthened a bit. Manbao said that as long as the wounds don’t worsen, he’ll survive."

Junior General Meng heaved a sigh of relief and asked, "Does he know about General Guo’s situation?"

Bai Shan shook his head.

Although General Guo was lying not far away, when Junior General Guo woke up, he couldn’t even look around before being fed porridge and medicine by his caretaker, and then he fell asleep again.

At this time, a curtain was drawn between them, making it impossible for him to know.

Junior General Meng sighed. He used to be good friends with Guo Zhao, and this campaign only deepened their bond. Though he didn’t particularly like General Guo, now that the man had fallen in battle, he didn’t know how to break the news to Guo Zhao.

Furthermore, this ambush on the army meant General Guo bore some responsibility. Fearing that when the Chief Steward returned, accountability would be demanded.

Junior General Meng felt troubled.

Bai Shan was deep in thought, considering the gold and silver jewels in those boxes. He said to Junior General Meng, "There’s another way to boost morale. Later, bring out all these treasures and tell the soldiers that this time, everything will be distributed according to merit. General Guo won’t keep a penny. After this battle, win or lose, everyone on the roll, regardless of life or death, will get a share. For those killed in battle, send representatives with condolence money and a death notice back to their hometowns. What do you think?"

Junior General Meng was agape, pulling him aside to a secluded spot after looking around, "Do you really believe it when General Li said General Guo collected these treasures for the soldiers’ food, drink, and rewards? Every time they distribute, it only reaches down to the captains, and the things they get aren’t even enough to fill a gap in their teeth, let alone the soldiers below."

Junior General Meng had previously fought with the Anxi army. Make no mistake, the Anxi army is fierce, and General Guo himself is fierce, not only resourceful in command but also leading the charge in battle, killing enemies valiantly.

But after acquiring war spoils, he was indeed stingy. Datou naturally stayed with General Guo, but the portion he took was too large. Once divided up, little was left, so when sub-commanders, vice-commanders, and captains divided again, there was almost nothing left.

To keep the discontent below to a minimum, captains would usually leak a little from their share to the banners, who would then convert it into small coins to distribute. Usually, after a victory, if the soldiers received a string of coins, it was considered generous.

Most of the time, there was no money for distribution, and when there was, half the time it was merely a handful of copper coins.

They also needed to buy medicine and repair weapons, so there was no money left for anything else, let alone savings to bring home.