webnovelfull Chapter 722: Taking Xiangyang
Chapter 722: Taking Xiangyang
At this time, the Yan army had already begun shouting that they would not be killed if they surrendered. The local Chu army, which had long been defeated, immediately surrendered without hesitation.
Afterwards, Yan Fuyao, Shen Changgong and others rushed towards the City Lord's Mansion together.
At the gate of the City Lord's Mansion, the City Lord knelt on the ground and said loudly,
"I am the city lord. Don't kill me, don't kill me. I am willing to be loyal to Dayan. I am loyal to Dayan."
When Yan Fuyao saw this scene, a smile appeared on his face. He got off his horse and said,
"Get up and come in!"
"Yes, yes, thank you, Your Majesty."
The city lord followed in with great fear and trepidation.
In the lobby of the City Lord's Mansion, Yan Fuyao sat on his official seat. He casually picked up a booklet and glanced at it. Then he looked down and asked,
"What's your name?"
The city lord was startled when he heard this, and quickly knelt down and said,
"Your Majesty, my name is **, and I am the Lord of Xiangyang City."
"Where is the governor of Xiangyang County?"
"He ran away a long time ago. Before he left, he asked me to guard the city."
Hearing this, Yan Fuyao sneered and said,
"This guy runs fast, so why don't you run?"
"I... I dare not run away. Besides, facing the might of Great Yan, what good would it do even if I ran? In the end, Great Yan unified the world, and there would still be no place for me to hide.
It would be better for you to stay and pledge your loyalty to Great Yan, and receive a lighter sentence."
Yan Fuyao nodded and said,
"Okay then, let me test you."
"I'm listening."
"How many people are there in Xiangyang? How many acres of land are there? How many dan of grain are produced annually?"
** said without hesitation,
“Reporting to Your Majesty, the population of Xiangyang City is over 128,300, and the total population of the county is over 453,600.
The total land area in the county is 1.97 million acres, of which 1.1 million acres are arable.
The grain yield per mu of land is between two and a half and three stone.
Every year, it can produce one million shi of millet and about two million shi of rice.
The tax collected is approximately 300,000 dan of grain. This is not fixed. After all, the annual output is also affected by climate and weather. Sometimes, due to natural disasters, it is normal to have no harvest at all, and the court needs to send grain for disaster relief.
Seeing that he spoke in detail without hesitation and the data was similar, Yan Fuyao finally felt relieved and said,
"Master Huang knows Xiangyang very well, so he's probably not someone who just sits there doing nothing.
Since you want to be loyal to Great Yan, then I will let you be the lord of Xiangyang.
In addition, I will send an official from Dayan to serve as the prefect of Xiangyang County. You must assist the new prefect and govern Xiangyang well. Can you do it?"
"Your Majesty, thank you for your grace! Long live Your Majesty!"
Yan Fuyao stood up and said to Shen Changgong,
"Okay, the battle is over, let's withdraw our troops."
"The military supplies haven't been delivered yet..."
"Oh...you can handle this little thing yourself. Do I have to do everything myself?"
Yan Fuyao's big eyes twinkled, and she smiled cunningly to save face.
Shen Changgong also smiled. It was rare to see her so lively.
After settling the situation in Xiangyang, the Yuying army went to the city to collect military supplies, pulling them out in carts. The massive amount of items stockpiled by the Qian-Chu coalition forces all fell into the hands of the Yan army.
Yan Fuyao also ordered a young Jinshi to come quickly and take up the post of prefect of Xiangyang County.
This is the benefit of the civil servants she brought this time. Once she conquers a place, she can directly arrange civil servants to manage it. There is no need to transfer people from the court, saving time on the road.
The army was victorious and returned to the south bank of the Han River and set up camp.
Other armies were also crossing the river one after another.
Yan Fuyao had a great time today and asked the historian to record this battle in great detail in the history books, writing about how the Emperor of Great Yan bravely captured Xiangyang, an important city of the Chu State.
The historian was very upset, but he did not dare to disobey and recorded all the empress's strategies and tactics clearly.
Even this battle was sent to the Imperial College for students to study.
It has been two years since the establishment of the Imperial College, and the first batch of students have graduated. This time they will follow the new recruits south to serve as officers.
In the evening, Gong Yangge and Pang Lei brought a list of supplies needed to equip the legion, including weapons, food, tents, medicines, tools and other supplies, all clearly written down.
After Yan Fuyao read it once, he gave it to Shen Changgong for review again, and then approved it directly, allowing the two legions to go to the quartermaster department to collect supplies.
It took the army two days to completely cross the Han River, and then continued to move south, aiming directly at Jingzhou, 400 miles away.
……
The news of the Qian-Chu coalition's crushing defeat and annihilation quickly spread throughout the three southern kingdoms.
The emperors of Chu, Sichuan and Qian all received this information.
When the King of Chu heard the news, he felt as if he had lost his parents. He remained silent in the hall for a full hour without saying a word.
He knew that after this battle, all the areas north of the Yangtze River in the Chu State would be lost.
His only reliance now is the navy on the natural barrier of the Yangtze River.
Not only him, but also all the civil and military officials in the court thought so.
Now no one dares to think about recovering the territory north of the Yangtze River. Their only idea is to stop the Yan army in the north of the Yangtze River and prevent them from going south of the Yangtze River, so as to preserve half of the Chu State.
As for accountability, the Chu State is no longer in the mood. Let them die. For those who surrender, their families should be arrested first. Maybe there will be a chance to use them in the future.
But when they went to arrest Pang Lei's family, they found that the house was already empty.
Pang Lei's family has been hidden by Yan army's spies.
As for the other generals, the State of Chu didn't even know which one had surrendered and which one had died in battle, and whether to arrest their families or give them pensions.
This matter can only be put on hold for the time being.
Everyone knows that the only hope of the Chu State now is the navy. It is undoubtedly a pipe dream to rely solely on the remaining 300,000 central army infantry to stop the Yan army.
Therefore, the State of Chu invested all its energy and financial resources into its navy.
Large amounts of gold, silver, workers, and corvee laborers went north to the Jinling Shipyard to build ships in large quantities, and then went upstream to the Yangtze River in Jingzhou to strengthen the navy. Various new recruits were also sent to the navy to train on warships.
There are two large shipyards in the State of Chu, namely the Mingxuan Shipyard located in Jingzhou upstream and the Jinling Shipyard located downstream.
However, the shipyard in Jingzhou was located on the north bank, and it was definitely impossible to defend it. The King of Chu directly ordered the navy to demolish the shipyard. All that could be demolished was demolished, and those that could not be demolished were smashed or burned.
Even the dock was destroyed.
The governor of Jingzhou was stunned by this scene.
I haven't gotten on the boat yet, I haven't retreated yet.
But it is obvious that the navy in the south has no intention of taking care of Jingzhou at all. Maybe they want them to fight with their backs to the river.