Chapter 156 The Wealth Is Underground

Autumn had, in fact, already departed, its tail impossible to hold onto;

Winter had, in reality, already arrived, but almost everyone on this land tacitly agreed that it was still autumn. As long as it hadn't snowed, as long as there wasn't a silver-clad landscape, they felt that winter hadn't truly arrived yet.

Because people, in the current situation, could no longer bear the reality of winter's arrival.

Winter is an obstacle for all things.

Passing the winter is also called enduring the winter;

If you endure it, another year passes; if you don't endure it, you no longer need to endure.

Zheng Boye sat on horseback, watching the long procession of prisoners ahead, most of whom were Chu people.

It's hard to imagine just how terrifying the accumulation of those great aristocratic families could be.

Wealthy families, gentry families, frankly speaking, a hundred years of inheritance is already extremely rare; most of them can't escape the saying that wealth doesn't last beyond three generations.

Starting a family, becoming prosperous, maintaining the family, and then losing the family – a cycle that repeats itself, with wealth accumulating and then dissipating.

But these great aristocratic families, almost coexisting with the nation,

They were like leeches parasitic on the state of Chu,

And, like pixiu, they only took in and never gave out.

Over hundreds of years, the wealth they had accumulated was truly astonishing.

Compared to them, the imperial treasury was utterly insignificant.

Because the imperial treasury's money wasn't meant to be stored but to be spent. Although generations of scholars liked to write poems and lyrics to advise the monarch to cherish the people's strength and avoid extravagance, as if the world would be at peace if the ruler lived like an ascetic monk, the officials truly in charge of the Ministry of Revenue knew that stagnant money would also cause harm.

The defense forces of these nobles' fiefs naturally couldn't stop the fierce Yan iron cavalry. In fact, most of their private soldiers had long been contributed to Zhennan Pass.

They were already extremely weak.

And after a thorough search, Zheng Boye discovered that the places with the most real wealth weren't in the vaults of these nobles; many places listed by the Regent on his list directly pointed to these nobles'… ancestral tombs.

Yes,

The real wealth was underground.

Because these Chu nobles were staunchly loyal to the royal family, and their fiefs were inherited from generation to generation, their ancestral tombs were in their own fiefs. Therefore, there wasn't much need to worry about grave robbing.

Therefore, digging the tombs wasn't too difficult, and there weren't any of those mysterious anti-theft mechanisms. Moreover, he hadn't heard his subordinates report seeing any relatives of Liang Cheng.

Immediately, a vigorous grave-robbing campaign was launched among Zheng Boye's troops. To better motivate the soldiers to excavate tombs, competitions were even started in the army.

Who dug the most, who dug the fastest, who dug the most accurately would all be recorded, and Zheng Boye would personally award them medals afterward.

As for any taboos,

That was a joke.

Which of these soldiers hadn't seen blood or killed people on and off the battlefield?

People like that wouldn't care about such taboos.

Moreover,

Digging up graves to replenish military funds,

Borrowing money from the Bank of Heaven and Earth,

Was a common practice for warlords in chaotic times.

Most of these Chu nobles whose ancestral tombs had been dug up chose to dare not speak out in anger. They gathered together, watching their ancestral tombs being dug up, watching the bones of their ancestors being casually thrown onto the ground to be exposed to the sun.

A few families with some guts dared to resist, but they were immediately exterminated, men, women, and children.

Zheng Boye remembered back in Tiger Head City, he had incited his soldiers to rush into a local family's home, and after nightfall, he had gone to those ruins and pondered for a long time.

But now,

Some things really shouldn't be done too much;

Do them too many times,

And you become numb.

As for those Chu nobles who chose to compromise, who chose to swallow their anger, Zheng Boye showed mercy. He didn't kill them, nor did he arrest them.

Frankly speaking,

He and his brother-in-law were indeed using each other,

Zheng Boye also knew that his brother-in-law was using him, this brother-in-law, as a knife to clear away the obstacles for governing Chu in the future.

But,

This knife of his had its own thoughts.

I'll only cut the meat I want; as for the remaining skin and the spoiled parts inside, I won't scrape them clean for you.

The only thing these nobles whose fiefs had been ravaged, whose wealth had been plundered, and whose ancestral tombs had been dug up could do next was to seek out their emperor and kneel down to lament.

Of course, Zheng Fan also knew that his brother-in-law would never allow these nobles to recuperate and make a comeback, but, what about disgusting you a little?

Si Niang had been extremely busy lately.

She had to tally up the wealth that had been plundered,

Because the numbers were enormous, and most importantly, the types were numerous, so the difficulty of tallying them up was really high.

Zheng Boye also made time to ask for a rough estimate,

Asking Si Niang to convert them into silver and gold,

The result,

Made Zheng Boye's mouth hang open for a long time.

However, once he thought about how this had to be divided among hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the campaign against Chu, and among so many commanding officers, the number became acceptable.

At this time, the glorious tradition of the Zheng family army had to be used – skimming from the top – a tradition established earlier in Green Willow Fort, then in Shengle City, and finally in Xuehai Pass.

Those who have worked in logistics or distribution actually know that it's difficult not to be a little corrupt;

Outsiders also know that it's unlikely you're not corrupt.

A clever person can ensure that even though others know you're probably corrupt, the accounts still look good and clean;

That way, outsiders won't think you haven't been corrupt, but they'll definitely think you've only been corrupt a little.

Given Zheng Boye's current position, no one would dare to object to him taking a larger share;

With this thought, Zheng Boye couldn't help but tell Si Niang to make the accounts even more ruthless.

The future development of the people's livelihood in Jindong would depend entirely on it.

Of course, a sudden influx of too much gold and silver would inevitably lead to a decline in purchasing power, but these financial problems weren't things that Jindong would need to consider now or in the next few years; the more, the better.

If it really came down to it, Zheng Boye would just have to suffer a bit and build a few more golden toilets in his mansion.

The labor of the civilians was a big problem. The soldiers themselves could carry some, and Zheng Boye turned a blind eye to this.

The military discipline officers would only arrest those who were smuggling too much. Two horses, good heavens, even taking a step was difficult for the horses. What were you trying to do?

You had to know that they were still in Chu territory. The peace talks were peace talks, but who knew if the Chu people would turn hostile at any moment?

Didn't they have a good understanding of how they themselves had treated the Chu people?

If a war suddenly broke out, could your warhorse still charge?

Soldiers definitely had to participate in the escort, but the numbers couldn't be too high. So, they tried to capture as many Chu people as possible to use as laborers, which were basically slaves. After transporting them back to Shanggu County or Jindi, these Chu people were, in themselves, "population wealth" and would definitely be kept.

Zheng Boye had originally wanted to learn from the first-generation Zhenbei Marquis a hundred years ago and carry out a large-scale plundering of people like he had done on the three borders of Qian, but after Nian Yao's army crossed the Wei River, they immediately set up camp.

That wasn't a needle anymore, but a huge iron pestle standing there.

Making it impossible for the Yan army to let go and act recklessly, and requiring them to maintain the greatest level of combat readiness.

But,

It was actually enough.

The army's withdrawal was orderly. Zheng Boye looked at the list. He had plundered about 75% of the targets. Some that were too far away, he didn't go to; some that were too remote, he didn't go to; some that were too lucky, being blocked by Nian Yao's army, he naturally didn't go to.

Above all else, safety first, not giving the Chu army any chance to launch a military attack.

The army returned fully loaded, crossing the Wei River in batches and returning to Shanggu County.

On the day that Zheng Boye crossed the Wei River and returned to Jingcheng, large snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

The Yan and Chu armies, with the Wei River as the boundary, both set up camps and began a new round of confrontation.

The Yan army had extricated itself,

The Chu people were able to tighten their doors again.

Although Zhennan Pass was gone, when the Chu navy stood horizontally on the Wei River, the Chu soldiers breathed a sigh of relief.

No one could say for sure whether there would be another war in the future, but at least for now, it wouldn't happen in the short term.

A year-long Yan-Chu war,

Finally came to an end.

There was a small interlude when the curtain fell.

Zheng Boye wrote a letter to Nian Yao,

Saying he wanted to meet him on a small boat on Wangjiang River, with one bodyguard each.

Nian Yao refused.

…

"Here, eat."

Guo Dong handed a piece of jerky to Xu An.

Xu An was now Jin Shuke's personal guard, always by Jin Shuke's side. It could be said that he had a boundless future.

Guo Dong wasn't bad either.

He had now changed into a new set of armor, and the saber at his waist was also standard issue, clearly showing the airs of a captain.

That's right,

He had even managed to get some jerky to give to his good brother.

Xu An wasn't polite, taking the jerky and starting to gnaw on it.

In fact, he admired working with Jin Shuke, because Xu An could feel the energy and spirit contained within this barbarian general.

He was someone who got things done, someone who knew how to get things done, someone who could get things done.

However, this barbarian general was very strict with himself in life, firmly refusing to be treated differently. Therefore, as his personal guard, his daily meals were actually about the same as the common soldiers.

"Now, that Ashui girl from your hometown won't be able to escape. You're a captain now."

A captain was already considered to have entered the ranks of officers.

"Whether or not I'm an officer actually doesn't matter. The key is that this is an official position personally appointed by the Boye, hehehe."

Guo Dong smiled as he stroked the captain's waist badge on his body.

He still remembered the scene from the other day when the Boye had them come on stage to receive their awards, and the Boye had personally patted him on the shoulder.

Although there was a layer of armor in between, he could still feel the Boye's palm, which was very broad and warm.

"What kind of designation is your captaincy?"

The lower-level military system of Yan was actually very chaotic. The title of captain was fine in the regular army, but in the local areas, it was like a jack-of-all-trades.

Back in Beifeng County, most of the walled village lords had hereditary captaincies. The "Merchant Escort Captain" that Zheng Boye had first held was also a designation that the Princess Consort had casually created on the spot. On the other hand, designations like Garrison Captain and Patrol Captain were relatively more formal.

"Here, take a look."

Guo Dong proudly took off his waist badge and handed it to Xu An with both hands.

Xu An bit the jerky in his mouth,

Took the waist badge, and looked at it,

And saw two large characters engraved on it:

Tomb Raider! (mojin)