At this moment, the Subduing Tiger Array had genuinely turned into a "Tiger-Subduing Array," taming Li Yuanhu, this ferocious tiger of a man.
God only knows how frustrated Li Yuanhu is right now, entangled by this array and unable to break free. He doesn’t dare use all his strength to break it, fearing he might kill all the immortal master’s disciples maintaining it. That would land him in real trouble.
Once the immortal master personally withdrew the array, Li Yuanhu let out an incomparably wild roar. He then hastily picked up the twin hammers he had previously thrown to the ground and, without even time to mount his horse, dashed south.
"TSK TSK, he actually got away." The Sixth Prince remarked, appearing as if he was enjoying the show.
"Yeah, he actually got away," Zheng Fan replied, sounding much more relaxed.
Regardless, he was delighted that Shatuo Queshi had managed to escape.
Right now, his lord, Zheng Fan, was unaware of the role his two troublemaking subordinates had played in the whole affair. He also didn’t realize that the sudden change in the direction of Shatuo Queshi’s corpse actually had a great deal to do with him personally.
That night, he’d adopted the later-era mentality: worship any deity he came across, just in case. And unbelievably, he’d actually managed to pray himself a godfather!
"Oh, the day is almost breaking." The Sixth Prince stretched lazily before continuing, "Zheng Colonel, let’s not rush back to sleep. Shall we go out and have another look?"
The actions of the North Border Army tonight were not limited to this scene. Comparatively speaking, this was just a sideshow; the real drama was not taking place here.
"Sounds good. By the time we get back from our round, the market shops should be opening again."
The most awkward thing about four or five in the morning wasn’t sleep deprivation, but being hungry and unable to find an open eatery.
"Yeah, we can go out for a walk, come back for a bowl of mutton soup, take a bath, and then have a good sleep," the Sixth Prince added.
Zheng Fan went to fetch their horses. The Sixth Prince took his reins and mounted.
"Zheng Colonel, let’s take a stroll up north."
The Sixth Prince’s horsemanship was excellent, much more skilled than Zheng Fan’s. Of course, this was also because Yan nobles disliked palanquins; everyone rode horses when traveling.
In their words, why were Qian State and Jin State so weak? It was because they had all softened their knees by sitting in palanquins.
Exiting through the archway gate and heading north, they soon saw small contingents of North Border Army cavalry. Zheng Fan and the Sixth Prince were also stopped for questioning several times; this was likely a search for fugitives in the aftermath of the major battle.
Upon traveling a bit further north, a scene of living hell appeared before their eyes.
The Nadu Department had been wiped out completely. No prisoners were taken; it was all slaughter.
Even though this annihilation had already ended, the blood on the ground had not yet had time to dry.
"This is genocide," Zheng Fan lamented.
Thinking back to when he was in Hutou City, he had hesitated to order the extermination of the Chen Mansion.
But here, these real big shots casually ordered the extermination of entire clans, making it seem as normal as drinking water when thirsty. The Prefectress was like that, Hui Wenzu was like that, the Old Madam even more so; all those in power were like that.
Up ahead, a cavalry unit appeared. Each horse had a member of the Nadu tribe tied to it. These were the tribesmen who had fled with Naduo Jiayang, the young chief, last night. They had been captured, and Naduo Jiayang himself was among them. Of course, capturing them wasn’t to keep them alive, but purely to squeeze out their last bit of usefulness.
Shortly after, the chiefs of the other three major tribes slowly approached, accompanied by the male members of their own clans.
This was a bloody lesson in ideological education—crude and gory, but exceptionally effective.
Upon seeing this, the Sixth Prince calmly commented from atop his horse, "Barbarians are no more than beasts; they fear power but are not won over by virtue."
Clearly, the Sixth Prince agreed with this approach; when dealing with barbarians, one had to be ruthless. This was the overall strategy of Yan State, even its national policy! When dealing with the northern barbarians, there would be no compromise, especially with the Earl of North Border’s estate standing in Beifeng Prefecture.
In contrast, during interactions with Jin State and Qian State, things seemed a bit more civilized; massacres very rarely occurred during their conflicts. Even when the first Earl of North Border led 30,000 cavalry to defeat Qian State’s 500,000-strong army, he then proceeded to ravage the Northern Three Prefectures of Qian State. However, his actions were largely limited to executing the wealthy to seize their grain and riches, and relocating any commoners he could back to Yan State. While it did cause "nine out of ten homes to be empty," it was not the kind of "nine out of ten homes empty" that often occurred in history.
"But slaughter doesn’t solve the root problem," Zheng Fan said.
The Sixth Prince looked at Zheng Fan in astonishment, asking, "Do you have a different opinion?" For original chapters go to novel⁂fire.net
Because Zheng Fan’s statement was practically refuting the politically correct stance of Yan State.
"Unless the desert can turn into an oasis overnight, mere slaughter can only give rise to more slaughter."
The Sixth Prince furrowed his brows slightly at Zheng Fan’s words, responding, "Go on."
"Yan can’t completely control the desert because the cost is too high."
The desert was vast beyond measure. The territory Yan actually controlled was minuscule in comparison, like the difference between Hutou City and Tuman City. The living conditions there were extremely harsh. To completely occupy it and exterminate all the desert barbarians was nearly impossible; Yan simply could not bear such a cost.