Ye Feng’s education of the Spirit Emperor was not entirely successful, nor was it a complete failure.
It made no difference whether he listened or not!
Money had to be given, taxes could not be collected, and the common people needed to be protected.
As for how the court would sustain itself?
They had to figure it out themselves!
Otherwise, why would I have gone through all this trouble to bring you here?
To be a freeloader?
Dream on!
If I didn't make you clash with those aristocratic families, it would be troublesome when they eventually united against you.
The principle was actually quite simple!
Taxes could not be levied on the populace within a jurisdiction, and conscripting people required payment.
Where would the money come from?
There were two options!
Either the aristocratic families of Chang'an would be milked dry, or war would be waged to sustain the war effort.
However, Ye Feng would not directly tell him these things.
That would make his intentions too obvious.
Therefore,
These two paths would be gradually revealed to the Spirit Emperor by Chen Gong and Ma Teng.
But Ye Feng didn't need to worry about that!
He had other matters to attend to.
Such as?
Going to Ji Province!
……
Below Luoyang City,
The sounds of battle raged!
While Ye Feng and his companions were enjoying themselves in Chang'an, the flames of war in Luoyang had reached their zenith.
As a formidable general of the Yellow Turbans, Guan Hai once again showcased his bravery.
He led the charge!
With a tiger-head saber clenched in his teeth, he scaled the city walls in a few leaps using the scaling ladders.
The defending soldiers were instantly thrown into a panic!
They shouted and surrounded him, quickly trapping Guan Hai at a corner of the parapet.
“Pah!”
Spitting forcefully, Guan Hai bared his teeth in a sinister grin.
“You mongrels of the Han court, all of you die!”
“Kill!”
With a thunderous roar, Guan Hai, fighting alone, engaged dozens of Imperial Guards.
He even held a slight advantage!
After all,
No matter how many people were surrounding him, only seven or eight could directly engage him.
And most of these were being pushed forward by the crowd, their combat effectiveness diminished.
Under such circumstances,
Guan Hai, as if possessed by a war god, firmly established a foothold on the city wall.
“Excellent!”
Zhang Bao, who was directing the battle from below, heaved a sigh of relief and quickly turned to a messenger.
“Beat the drums quickly!”
“Send reinforcements!”
“Ensure that the city wall taken by General Guan is held!”
“Understood!”
The messenger, having received the order, waved his banner and relayed the command to the frontline commanders.
In reality, this was redundant!
Although Guan Hai had charged ahead bravely, his subordinates were not foolish. Seeing the situation, they had already sent men up.
Soon,
One by one, Yellow Turban rebels swarmed onto the city wall through the breach.
It was only then,
Yuan Wei, the overall commander of the Luoyang defense, realized something was amiss.
“What’s going on?”
“Where are they?!”
“The Yellow Turbans have broken through, why aren’t you sending men to deal with them?!”
“Yes, yes…”
The defending general, jolted by the shouting, fearfully led his men forward.
“Come back!”
Yuan Wei glared disapprovingly at the trembling defending general and then waved his hand behind him.
“Go deal with that barbarian. Afterward, you will be rewarded handsomely!”
“As you command~!”
Heeding Yuan Wei’s orders, a middle-aged man holding a long sword behind him turned and strode to confront Guan Hai.
“Grand Commandant, who is this?”
“Heh heh~!”
Yuan Wei chuckled and stroked his long beard as a colleague beside him inquired curiously.
“This is a swordsman who yearns to be an official. I saw he had decent skills and took him under my wing to train him!”
“A swordsman?”
The old man beside him’s eyes glinted, and he hesitated, saying,
“Could it be Wang Yue, known as the Sword God?”
“Hmm?”
Yuan Wei was taken aback when his colleague immediately identified the man.
What was going on?
Did this fellow have such a great reputation?
That shouldn’t be the case!
If he truly had such a great reputation, why would he have agreed to join so readily?
“Alas~!”
Meeting Yuan Wei’s curious gaze, the speaker shook his head with a wry smile.
“It is indeed the Grand Commandant’s keen eye!”
“To be frank,”
“This fellow wanted to join my ranks a while back, but he knew nothing but how to kill, and he insisted on only killing those who deserved it, so I refused him!”
“This…”
Hearing the old man’s words, Yuan Wei’s mouth twitched, and he inexplicably recalled a past incident.
He seemed to have refused a swordsman’s request to join the officialdom before?
Could it have been this person?
No wonder!
Back then, he hadn't said anything, and this fellow had eagerly rushed over.
It seemed he had come to his senses.
However,
If he was willing to clear out the rabble, could this battle end more quickly?
……
While Yuan Wei and another were discussing, the man known as the Sword God had already arrived at the battlefield.
Looking around,
Seeing corpses strewn everywhere, the man couldn’t help but frown slightly.
“All of you, stand down!”
“This…”
The soldiers, who were already contemplating retreat, instinctively halted at his words.
But they dared not leave!
Who knew if this fellow’s words carried any weight?
What if they retreated now and were beheaded by the disciplinary troops behind them?
Fortunately,
The disciplinary troops behind them were from the Yuan family and knew the middle-aged man’s prowess. They waved to the hesitant soldiers.
“If you don’t want to die, quickly retreat and don’t delay the lord’s business!”
“Yes!”
The soldiers, relieved, quickly backed away, clearing a small section of the battlefield.
Seeing this,
A hint of solemnity flashed in Guan Hai’s eyes, and he raised his tiger-head saber slightly.
“Who approaches?”
“The one who will kill you!”
“???”
Guan Hai’s lips curled, and a wave of shame and anger surged through him.
“Then speak with your sword, and don’t… *slash*~!”
As a flash of bright sword light disappeared, snowflakes seemed to drift in the air.
Immediately after,
Guan Hai, who was about to retort, felt a burning sensation in his throat.
“Er, er…”
“How, how is this possible…”
As Guan Hai’s broken words faded, a froth of blood appeared in his mouth.
Then,
His voice grew fainter and fainter, until…
“Thud!”
To the incredulous gazes of all present, Guan Hai, who had been like a god of war moments ago, collapsed in a pool of blood, his eyes wide open.
He was unwilling!
Extremely unwilling!
He hadn't even seen how Wang Yue had attacked from start to finish, and he was already finished.
But no matter how unwilling he was, it was useless!
The Sword God was still the Sword God!
If one were to solely compare foot combat techniques and killing skills, he was even more terrifying than Dian Wei and Lu Bu.
After all,
A sniper constantly targeting you was far more threatening than a tank.
“That’s enough!”
Wang Yue sheathed his sword and beckoned to the stunned soldiers.
“The rest is up to you now!”
“If any insurmountable opponents appear, come find me again!”
Saying this, and without waiting for anyone to recover, Wang Yue returned to Yuan Wei’s side.
He was the Sword God!
He had his pride!
If these were not Yellow Turbans, he might not have even bothered to draw his sword!
After all,
A Sword God’s sword would lose its value if it were drawn too often!
……
“How is this possible?”
“This is impossible!”
Although he had not witnessed it firsthand, Zhang Bao, upon receiving a report from his personal guards, kicked one of them away.
“We’ve fought this hard, where are there any masters within Luoyang?!”
“…”
The personal guard, knowing the inevitable outcome, lowered his head and dared not speak.
He understood his leader’s fondness for Guan Hai.
And he was bringing terrible news.
If he had a knife on him, it would have been more than just a kick just now.
“Damn it!”
“Why are these hounds of the court inexhaustible?!”
Zhang Bao, who was being inwardly cursed by his guard, now glared with bloodshot eyes at the walls of Luoyang.
He was regretting his decision!
If he had known that Guan Hai would meet such an end on the battlefield, why hadn’t he insisted on stopping him?
And now?
Some master had suddenly appeared from nowhere and taken away their strongest fighter.
This was a huge loss!
No!
Even if he couldn’t capture Luoyang today, he wouldn’t let those bastards have it easy.
“Guards!”
“Relay my order: Attack the city with full force, without a moment’s pause!”
“Yes!”
The guards who received the order were secretly pleased and quickly hurried off to relay the command.
Soon,
The Yellow Turban rebels, who had been resting, joined the battle amidst the rousing war drums.
And it wasn't just on one section of the wall!
This time, Zhang Bao was truly determined, ordering a full-scale assault from all sides.
At all costs!
Because he knew!
If they hadn’t captured Luoyang by the time the Imperial Reinforcements arrived…
“This is impossible!”
“Absolutely impossible!”
Thinking of that terrible outcome sent a shiver down Zhang Bao’s spine.
That outcome would be utterly devastating!
It was true that they had hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans, giving the impression of an immense force.
But they knew their own capabilities!
Fewer than two hundred thousand of them were truly capable of fighting. The rest were all cannon fodder.
And among those capable fighters, most of them only knew how to fight when the wind was in their sails.
What did fighting with the wind mean?
It meant shouting and killing, and perhaps looting some goods, which they were very good at!
But when it came to a real fight?
They might not betray on the spot, but they would likely run faster than anyone else.
Therefore,
The Yellow Turban army could not afford to lose this battle for Luoyang, and they could not afford to lose it! m..oΓg
Fortunately,
Although the citizens of Luoyang were numerous, years of peace had robbed them of their resilience.
They had not experienced war for too long!
How long?
At least for two generations, perhaps?
This was Luoyang!
The capital!
Except for invasions in certain eras of history, it had been the safest place.
And now?
War was breaking out?
How could this be!
The common people, who had never experienced such a shock, lacked the courage to fight the rebels to the death.
They preferred to hide!
In this regard,
Even though Yuan Wei was short of soldiers, he still couldn't conscript many able-bodied men.
Or rather, the conscripts he managed to grab always seemed to disappear mysteriously!
This was truly frustrating!
Yuan Wei was now at his wit's end, his scalp tingling from the Yellow Turbans' relentless, all-out assault.
He was even contemplating.
Perhaps it would be best to find an escape route and break through while he still had some soldiers left!