At night, a long and lancholy tune of the bamboo flute echoed from the west of Anle County, accompanied by the low singing of the Xiongnu, chanting the most common ballad of the grasslands.
Leaning on the city wall, looking at the soldiers below, in this familiar song, it seed as if they saw themselves walking farther and farther on the grassland. Their mother was calling from behind to drive the cattle and sheep back for a al, with delicious lamb and vegetable dumplings prepared for tonight...
Or seeing themselves lying on horseback, swaying into a dream as the horse moved, and upon opening their eyes, their cattle and sheep surrounded them...
The young soldiers shed tears, quietly sobbing, "I want to go ho..."
The older soldiers said nothing, only patted them on the shoulder with reddened eyes.
This battle was exhausting, and the soldiers’ longing for ho reached its peak amid the song and music, the entire army grew weary of war!
Even Liu Yan couldn’t help but recall the harmonious tis with the late emperor. In reality, Chen Yuanda and Your Majesty genuinely appreciated each other, but unfortunately, he...
Liu Yan’s thoughts drifted far with the music, and after reflecting on the past, he couldn’t help but doubt the future. Could they really break through Zhao Hanzhang’s siege and establish a foothold in Youzhou?
Perhaps the King of Beihai was right. It might be better to surrender and wait for the future.
The late emperor could rise after a century of silence, so could their descendants, as long as they waited patiently for the right opportunity...
Liu Yan thought that Liu Cong was too impatient, and a little too arbitrary.
The thought flashed by, and Liu Yan was suddenly startled. Unconsciously, he too was being influenced by the music. If he was like this, what about the other soldiers?
Liu Yan grew anxious, turned to find Liu Jie for a solution, but after just a few steps, his legs beca heavy. What could be done? The sound was difficult to block out, even covering their ears with hands allowed them to faintly hear, making the soldiers listen more intently...
His Majesty couldn’t bear to hear a second voice right now. Reporting this would only add to the troubles, and who knows how many would die.
Liu Yan stopped walking, leaned against the city wall and stayed still.
That night, Liu Kun fully demonstrated his musical talents. The band he brought also made significant contributions. Before dawn, the Zhao Family Army surrounding the city had received over twenty Xiongnu soldiers who ca out to surrender.
Zhao Hanzhang smiled slightly and ordered them to be treated generously, handing them over to Liu Yi for managent.
Liu Yi, being gentle and compliant by nature, did not mind that they surrendered later. He was glad to accept anyone who ca.
The Xiongnu soldiers in Anle City listened to the music for most of the night, cried for part of the night, and spent the entire night thinking about their holand, parents, siblings, and wife and children, hardly any could close their eyes for sleep.
At this ti, the Zhao Family Army, who had conserved their strength, attacked the city, captured the city gate twice only to be repelled, and on the last attempt, Zhao Hanzhang personally advanced to the front line for encouragent, bringing along Liu Yi and the Xiongnu warriors.
In their shouts and cries of battle, one hundred mbers of the suicide squad, over seventy climbed the city wall, encountered little resistance and secured the ladders, paving a path of life for their comrades and then fought their way down the tower.
Under the city gate, without the arrow formation and the stones and other defensive instrunts from the city wall, the Zhao Family Army assault team also arrived, launching a direct strike.
With the cooperation inside and outside, the city gate was opened swiftly, and the Zhao Family Army charged into the city.
Liu Yan knew the situation was hopeless and could only go to push Liu Jie, "Your Highness, quickly go, quickly!"
Liu Jie pushed Liu Yan aside, cut down a soldier trying to escape with one slash, and shouted loudly, "Fight your way out, those who fear the battle will be killed without rcy—"
The Xiongnu soldiers trying to run could only turn back and attack outward.
Liu Jie even wanted to personally lead the trusted aides out, but Liu Yan, who was pushed to the ground, grabbed his leg and shouted, "Your Highness, Anyang City can’t be defended anymore, you must hurry back to inform His Majesty, quickly break out of the siege, otherwise once Zhao Hanzhang passes Anyang City, Hunlu County will beco an isolated city!"
Although Hunlu County also has mountains and rivers as barriers, it’s much less than Jinyang, and the most critical issue is, they have stockpiled eighty thousand soldiers in the county, plus the Xiongnu people, nearly 150,000, a single Hunlu County cannot be self-sufficient, which ans Zhao Hanzhang could surround them to death.
Liu Yan said, "Tell His Majesty to leave quickly, before Zhao Hanzhang completes the encirclent!"
Liu Jie, frustrated, swung his knife once and had to give up, "Leave this place to Liu Qing."
With that, he turned and led the trusted aides, to take the remaining soldiers and run.
However, so soldiers didn’t want to leave, so they quietly slowed down and fell behind, and when the Zhao Family Army arrived, they decisively dropped their weapons and surrendered.
As expected, the Zhao Family Army did not kill the captives, but instead reorganized all of them into the Prisoner Camp, with rumors saying they would be enlisted, then handed over to their King of Beihai.
Being handed over to the King of Beihai was favorable, after all, they were their own people.
The surrendered Xiongnu soldiers sighed in relief, and cooperated fully when asked their nas, ages, skills, and even about the strengths of their parents and siblings by soldiers holding pens and notebooks.
Liu Kun watched as the notebooks filled up one after another, sealed into boxes, and couldn’t help squinting, "Why record so detailed? How much paper does this consu?"
Zhao Hanzhang was looking at a separate notebook with records of special talents, different from those sealed in boxes.
Upon hearing Liu Kun’s question, she rely lifted her eyelids to glance at those piles of books, "Compared to the value of talents and information, the value of paper is negligible."
Many talents under Zhao Hanzhang’s command were selected from captives and refugees, all relying on children cultivated from the school, which still takes many years to wait.
How did she acquire these talents? Beyond self-recomndations and referrals from others, most were acquired through this kind of information collection.
After reviewing the small booklet, Zhao Hanzhang handed it to Fu Tinghan, "Talk to them, take away all that can be taken."
Liu Kun showed great interest in her small booklet and hurriedly leaned over, "Let see."
Fu Tinghan looked at Zhao Hanzhang, and Zhao Hanzhang nodded slightly, so he gave the small booklet to Liu Kun. Previously, such matters were handed over to Fan Ying.
With Fan Ying out on patrol, Fu Tinghan had to take over these core matters, and it now appeared she didn’t mind employing Liu Kun for this purpose.
Liu Kun casually flipped through it, at first not paying attention, but upon reaching the second page, he imdiately reacted and his body straightened, gripping the booklet tightly.
He quickly glanced up at Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhao Hanzhang gave him a slight smile.
Liu Kun felt a chill in his heart, and his flipping slowed subconsciously. He turned page by page, as the booklet was not very thick, it recorded about two hundred and thirty people, with their nas, place of origin, age, and current physical conditions, among other details.
The special skills entry seed inconspicuous at first glance in the booklet, but once a page was turned, no one’s eyes could move away from it.
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