Tianliangyuan

Chapter 263 Trophies

"Reporting to the general, Erden says he wants to see you."

Xie Zheng raised an eyebrow; he really wanted to know what Erden could say.

After all, Suhar is now practically his prisoner.

“Yes, Brother Xu, select fifty men from each of our sides to escort some of the spoils back here.”

"Huh?" Xu Junfeng was a little confused: "Weren't we all supposed to be escorted back together?"

“Some of them will be escorted to Zhaozhao, whose fief is not even enough. Fortunately, there are some Han Chinese among them, regardless of age or gender. Let them quickly get married and report the number of households, and then send them all to Lantian County. They will need some food along the way, right? Let’s get a few hundred cattle and sheep for them to eat.”

Xu Junfeng glared at him: "Are you serious?"

"if not?"

"Tsk, isn't this a little too obvious?"

They don't even know how to avoid people!

If the censor were to impeach me, wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?

"The main responsibility lies with me, so you can just focus on doing it."

Doesn't Xie Zheng realize he's asking for trouble?

Of course he knew.

However, he made the most contributions in this attack on the Turks, but he is the heir of the Duke's mansion and holds an important position. How will the emperor reward him after he returns to the capital?

Could you perhaps bestow another title upon him?

Inappropriate!

Moreover, his birth mother had passed away and received great honors, and he was not married, so at most he would just reward himself with some money.

Therefore, making a small mistake appropriately can please the emperor.

And so, Xie Zheng's men brazenly led their people and livestock back home.

Of course, Xie Zheng wasn't really making such a blatant mistake. He still needed to consult the Grand Commander of the Army and then arranged for Cui Xuanming to escort some of the spoils back first.

The people Xie Zheng arranged followed behind.

It is undeniable that military officers would hide some spoils of war when they went to the battlefield. This is an unspoken rule that everyone in the court understands, and no one would be so foolish as to actually stand up and criticize Xie Zheng.

But in the past, it was just some valuables, so it wasn't so bad.

This time there are so many cattle and sheep!

Fortunately, there were no horses; otherwise, the Grand Steward would have surely punished Xie Zheng for disrespect.

The claim was that they were escorting those Han Chinese back to their homeland, but it was impossible for them to actually return to their original places. It was obvious that everyone would talk about what they had experienced. So why not change their environment to a new one? It was a new place, and no one would point fingers at them. Why not?

Therefore, Xie Zheng's arrangement is flawless.

The only problem was that they took away a large number of cattle and sheep.

The cattle on the grasslands are not the old, yellow oxen used for plowing fields; in fact, these cattle are quite robust.

Cattle on the grasslands can plow fields, but they need to be tamed.

Grassland cattle are a breed of cattle adapted to grassland environments. They have strong physical strength and endurance, are large in size and muscular, and are suitable for plowing.

Grassland cattle possess strength and endurance that enable them to perform tasks such as plowing and pulling carts. They also have a strong ability to digest forage, allowing them to obtain sufficient energy from the grassland to support farming.

Xu Zhaozhao told him all of this in her letter, and she also specifically stated that if possible and without violating military regulations, she hoped he could help her obtain some cattle and sheep.

No, the opportunity has come.

If Xu Zhaozhao knew that Xie Zheng could bring back hundreds of cattle and sheep for her, she would probably be laughing in her sleep.

With so much land, she is indeed in dire need of livestock.

In some places, she arranged for people to sow alfalfa seeds, which would grow into fodder, essentially creating an artificial pasture.

no way.

Reclaiming wasteland is extremely costly in terms of manpower and financial resources. It's not something that can be done overnight. It takes two or three years to transform inferior land into superior land, let alone wasteland!

Now, Xu Zhaozhao is thinking about how to make use of these fields more quickly and efficiently.

She needed to ensure that her subordinates were well-fed, but at the same time, she couldn't keep spending money on herself.

So one of these areas was designated as a pasture. Now, the alfalfa has grown several inches tall, and it's unknown when her cattle and sheep will arrive.

After being domesticated, grassland cattle are excellent at both driving carts and plowing fields.

Xie Zheng had originally arranged for two hundred cattle and three hundred sheep, but when the chief steward found out, he summoned Xie Zheng and berated him.

In the end, he was given fifty cows, four hundred sheep, and two ponies as well, which was considered a special favor from the head steward.

Xie Zheng pursed his lips. If Xu Junfeng hadn't let it slip, he wouldn't have agreed to the exchange.

He lost a lot of money.

What good is that sheep!

Of course, cattle are more useful.

But since the chief steward didn't give the order, he had no choice but to agree outwardly.

However, when he left the Suhar tribe, his men took fifty cows, four hundred sheep, and two ponies. But after leaving the grassland and entering the Daxing territory, his men had grown to eighty cows, four hundred sheep, two ponies, and two large horses.

What could Cui Xuanming, who was at the very front, say?

He can't afford to offend Xie Zheng either.

Moreover, when they came out of the Suhar tribe, they did not violate any rules and were carrying things normally, so it cannot be said that they disobeyed orders.

However, as they traveled, they not only did not consume these cattle and sheep, but also plundered other small tribes. Even if Cui Xuanming saw them, he could not see them.

After all, it was the Turks who were robbed, not him.

He was even happy to see the Turks suffer.

Both cattle and horses were used to transport people or various supplies.

For example, hides, grains, and so on.

Naturally, no one dared to stop or rob the imperial army; anyone who did would surely be courting death.

And so, their journey was relatively peaceful, except for a few times when the weather turned bad and they got caught in the rain; otherwise, everything went quite smoothly.

The men Xie Zheng sent were Xie family's personal guards; they didn't go to the capital, but went directly to Lantian County.

Seeing that these people had all headed to Yunqi Manor with their belongings, Cui Xuanming finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Anyway, he had the Grand Eunuch's approval, so whether His Majesty would punish him or whether the Censor would impeach him was not his concern.

Emperor Yong'an looked at the report brought back by Cui Xuanming, and then at the spoils of war listed on it, nodding repeatedly.

"Your Majesty, here is also a letter that the Grand Steward ordered me to bring back."

It's a letter, not a memorial to the throne.

Emperor Yong'an understood that there was no need to circulate it to other officials.

The report stated that Xie Zheng and Xu Junfeng directly defeated the Suhar tribe, captured the entire tribe, and successfully rescued more than 50 Han households, who have now been settled in Lantian County by Xie Zheng's men.

Upon seeing this, Emperor Yong'an understood Xie Zheng's intention.

"He's quite the devoted one."