novelraw Chapter 83 : The Collapse of Great Jin (7/9)
Chapter 83 : The Collapse of Great Jin (7/9)
Chapter 83: The Collapse of Great Jin (7/9)
When the warm spring sun melted the last trace of chill, the Dragon Ranking, symbolizing the authority and potential of the Great Zhou’s enfeoffed princes, was unveiled once more.
Because of Prince of Huaijiang Jiang Zhaoding’s earth-shaking battle, the ranking list welcomed an unprecedented upheaval.
【1. Jiang Zhaoding — Imperial Destiny Value: 11,972 points (Last month: 8,504 points; slew one million Jin soldiers, reclaimed 17 counties of Great Zhou +3,468 points)
Jiang Zhaohua — Title: Prince of Xuanhai Prefecture, Imperial Destiny Value: 8,762 points (Last month: 8,532 points; buried 500,000 Daying sailors +230 points)
Jiang Zhaoqian — Title: Prince of Great Yan Prefecture, Imperial Destiny Value: 8,567 (Last month: 7,152 points; recaptured 8 lost counties +1,415 points)
Jiang Zhaoming — Title: Prince of Anxi Prefecture, Imperial Destiny Value: 3,797 points (Last month: 3,497 points; broke the Jin army’s defense of Canglong Pass +300 points)
...】
Inside the Anxi Prefecture, Jiang Zhaoming gazed at the ranking list, his fingertip unconsciously brushing across the cold surface of the jade slip.
It finally stopped on that dazzling name at the very top. He gently shook his head.
“11,972 points.”
He murmured softly, his tone complicated.
If Jiang Zhaoding had not appeared at the critical moment to turn the tide, Jiang Zhaoqian would not have increased his Imperial Destiny Value by over four hundred points.
He might not even have been able to maintain eight thousand points, perhaps even seeing his foundation crushed beneath the iron hooves of Great Jin.
However, as Jiang Zhaoming looked at this ranking, the pressure he felt was even heavier than when Jiang Zhaoqian’s Imperial Destiny Value had once reached twelve thousand.
This pressure did not come solely from that astonishing number.
It stemmed from a cold, hard fact—Jiang Zhaoding was a Profound Core Realm powerhouse!
That absolute strength, hidden behind the Imperial Destiny Value, enough to overturn the balance of power, was the true source of suffocating pressure.
Was he envious?
Of course he was.
That kind of might that could repel countless enemies with a wave of the hand, that fame shaking the world—what prince vying for the throne could not yearn for it?
It was no exaggeration to say that if that battle had been fought by him, Jiang Zhaoming,
his reputation and recognition throughout Great Zhou would have soared, at least granting him a strand of red fortune.
But Jiang Zhaoming quickly suppressed that fleeting emotion.
A calm light flickered in his eyes.
Envy was useless, and impatience was a path to death.
He knew better than anyone what he needed most right now.
He needed more time.
Only by quietly accumulating strength on this seemingly remote land of Anxi, building a foundation that was steady and unshakable,
could he seize that fleeting chance in the future struggle for the throne.
As the shocking exploits of the Prince of Huaijiang spread, the princes of Great Zhou seemed to have been injected with a shot of adrenaline.
More and more of them stopped watching from the sidelines, sending forth their most elite forces.
Like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, they surged toward the war-torn northern frontier, joining the battle against Great Jin.
The Jin army, which had barely maintained balance, finally showed signs of collapse under the relentless siege of these reinforcements, retreating again and again.
Driven to desperation, the Jin commanders made the most brutal and abhorrent decision.
Massacres!
Burning cities!
They vented their rage over defeat with the blood of civilians and the ashes of their homes.
At the same time, they frantically consolidated their remaining forces, shrinking back into Shanhai County—
their final fortress.
When battle reports stained with blood and tears, recording horrifying casualties, reached the rear lines,
all of the Great Zhou princes were utterly enraged—especially upon hearing the shocking news of “hundreds of millions of commoners perishing.”
They were not only furious at Great Jin’s atrocities, but also at the imperial court—furious that the court could have sent aid, yet did not.
“If, at the beginning of this war, the imperial army had marched out to resist the enemy, keeping these wolves beyond our borders, how could the people have suffered such devastation?”
“Father Emperor—how can he be so indifferent!”
Yet Jiang Xuanhao, seated high upon the dragon throne,
even as he heard his sons’ furious questioning with his own ears, remained expressionless and calm.
As if that flood of blood and grief, those cries of the people, were but the distant chirps of insects.
Only when no one was around did he sometimes turn his gaze in a certain direction and let out a long sigh.
The deaths of his people were indeed sorrowful—but before certain matters, choices had to be made.
Who could ever truly understand his predicament?
In the end, under the combined assault of the allied forces of all the princes, the armies of Great Jin were completely expelled from Great Zhou’s passes.
The two sides once again fell into the same standoff as before, separated by a few passes, each probing and harassing the other.
Though the Great Zhou army had won a decisive victory, no one dared to march beyond the passes to extinguish the banners of Great Jin.
After all, once they crossed the border, offense and defense would reverse.
On that land the enemy had long prepared, victory would no longer be certain.
The war had temporarily come to an end, but a more delicate and troublesome issue now lay before them—
how were these blood-soaked reclaimed lands to be divided?
The atmosphere in the grand hall instantly grew tense and heavy.
Those princes who had completely lost their fiefs during the war now lowered their heads in silence.
In their eyes flickered a mixture of yearning, unease, and helplessness.
According to cruel reality, their fiefs had long since changed hands—
now recaptured inch by inch by other, stronger princes leading their armies.
Naturally, those lands had become the spoils of the victors.
Jiang Zhaoqian made his stance clear through action.
While reclaiming the northern part of Great Yan, he seized three neighboring counties as well.
Almost at the same time that the good news reached the capital, his elite legions had already marched into those counties, firmly occupying every key location.
Those armored soldiers and the fluttering banners bearing the character “Yan” silently proclaimed ownership.
Those few counties—from this day forth—belonged to Jiang Zhaoqian!
Yet, the most eye-catching of them all, the Prince of Huaijiang, Jiang Zhaoding, made a move that shocked everyone.
He did not expand his own territory. Instead, with a single grand gesture, he returned all the counties and lands his soldiers had fought and bled to reclaim—
including the strategically vital Shanhai County, a crucial chokepoint in warfare—
back to their original princes.
This action was like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, sending waves across the empire.
Upon learning of Jiang Zhaoding’s decision, the Prince of Shanhai secretly pledged allegiance to him.
Since then, deep within Shanhai County, the banners of the Huaijiang Army quietly rose.
Thus ended this overwhelming tempest that had swept across the northern frontiers and shaken the entire Great Zhou realm.
The wartime alert that had hung over Anxi Prefecture for so long was finally lifted.
Trade routes reopened, markets regained their bustle, and the frontier beacons ceased their constant smoke.
Anxi Prefecture once again embraced peaceful tranquility.
Yet beneath that calm, as Jiang Zhaoming looked at his still-humble rank on the Dragon Ranking and gazed northward—toward that land which had just settled but was already stirring anew—
the heavy pressure in his heart and his longing for time turned into a long sigh.
Then, he cast aside the matter and turned his attention to what lay before him.
“The Jin traitors shouldn’t be able to march south again any time soon... then it’s about time I clean up certain people.”
During the period when Great Jin invaded Great Zhou, a few incidents had occurred in Anxi Prefecture as well.
The forces entrenched to the west of the prefecture had taken advantage of Jiang Zhaoming’s defense against Great Jin to launch surprise attacks.
Several times, they assaulted the Anxi Army stationed near the Sea of Death.
Although their assaults were easily repelled, they had already stirred Jiang Zhaoming’s resolve to annihilate them.
In previous years, the Anxi Prefecture had hidden its strength and focused on developing the people’s livelihood, ignoring the western rebels.
But now, ten years had passed—Great Jin’s invasion was one thing, yet those western rebels dared to ride on his head?
Did they really think Jiang Zhaoming was some soft persimmon?