With Wang Yi’s flight, military morale collapsed. Gan Zhuo wanted to fight to the death, but his deputy general could only offer his neck to Gan Zhuo’s blade and plead bitterly, “It’s not that this subordinate fears death, but I truly don’t know what cause to die for.”
Gan Zhuo said, “When a general fights to the death, this is his proper duty. There’s no need to ask the reason.”
“But General, we are originally Jin citizens!” the deputy general said with grief and indignation. “The one attacking the city outside is also a Jin general, and he also bears the surname Wang.” The deputy general said sorrowfully, “Whether he fights for the nation or to avenge a private grudge, how innocent are the soldiers? If the Wang family children weren’t afraid of death and charged at the very front, that would be acceptable, but he has fled. Why should we still fight to the death?”
“Will this city, defended in such a way, belong to the Jin state, to the Prince of Langya, or to the Wang family?” The deputy general’s tears streamed down his face. “Look at these soldiers injured and killed by the explosions—they all have parents, wives, and children. Why should they fight desperately for the Wang family?”
Gan Zhuo’s reason returned. The bloodlust in his eyes cleared. The people on the city wall had barely repelled one wave of scaling ladder attacks, but because of Wang Yi’s flight, they defended above but not below. Below, the Zhao family army had already pushed siege engines to the base of the city tower and were ramming the city gate.
He lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth. “Open the city. Surrender!”
The deputy general breathed a great sigh of relief and quickly ordered people to raise the white flag in surrender.
Wang Xuan watched in stunned amazement, but quickly recovered his senses. He left a portion of his forces outside the city as support while he led people into the city to receive the surrender.
Could it be that his Second Uncle Yi had finally recognized the situation and betrayed Wang Dun to join their side?
But once inside the city, he learned that the surrendering general was named Gan Zhuo, and his Second Uncle Yi had long since abandoned the city and fled.
Wang Xuan was so angry his chest heaved and he nearly ground his teeth to powder.
Wang Yi’s actions brought shame not only to himself but to the entire Wang clan. Even though they were on opposite sides, Wang Xuan felt deeply embarrassed.
Wang Yi could have fought to the death, or even surrendered—how could he abandon the city and flee?
Since the end of the Han dynasty through the Three Kingdoms battles, surrendering and changing masters was very normal. Though there might be contempt, it wasn’t excessive. But deserting in the face of battle was a grave taboo.
Wang Xuan forced a smile to face Gan Zhuo, while in his heart he trampled his cousin up and down seven or eight times, and gave Wang Dun a few stamps while he was at it. What kind of judgment was this?
Promoting clan members out of private sentiment without regard for whether their abilities were suitable for the position—this not only harmed soldiers and common people, but harmed oneself.
Wang Xuan took this as a warning, resolving firmly in his heart that in the future, unless clan members truly possessed exceptional talent, he would absolutely not recommend them carelessly.
The Zhao family army confiscated the Yangzhou army’s weapons and began counting heads. Because of the commander’s incompetence, their battles these past two weeks hadn’t been very intense. Since this was a surrender, the Zhao family army was very friendly to the Yangzhou soldiers.
When the Yangzhou army heard that after the headcount they would be assigned to farming, and those with injuries or of advanced age could even take money and return home, they all obediently reported their names and ages.
Most people reported their ages several years higher. Seventeen or eighteen-year-old young men wished they could report themselves as thirty-seven.
Half of this division of Yangzhou army came from Qingzhou and Xuzhou—they were brought south by Wang Dun when he moved south. The other half were recruited from various refugee groups and conscripted from the common people in Yangzhou.
Because they lived within the military, apart from some slight discomfort with the climate, they didn’t feel deeply the changes in customs. However, being far from their homeland, they couldn’t help but think of home.
Especially since, apart from some officers who could bring their families when they moved south, the vast majority of soldiers followed south alone. Their families were all in the north.
They had heard that Zhao Hanzhang treated the common people very well and had exempted many taxes this year. They didn’t know whether their families had survived last year’s warfare. If they had survived, they should also have been allocated farmland. This year they should have grain to get through winter, right?
Thinking this way, one soldier waiting in line near the front covered his chest. When he reached the table, he leaned weakly against it and said, “I was struck in my heart and lungs by that thunderclap. I feel terrible—I’m afraid I can’t serve as a soldier anymore.”
The Zhao family soldier taking their statistics immediately dropped his brush and stepped forward to support him. “Did you cough up blood? Do you have abdominal bloating? Where does it hurt?”
He quickly called for people to bring a stretcher. “Hurry, take him to the medical tent!”
Thunderclaps could cause internal injuries. They had discovered this when fighting the Xiongnu. Some people weren’t hit by the blast at all and showed no visible wounds, yet they had fallen to the ground. But the impact was so great it could make their internal organs bleed. The soldiers had privately discussed this, believing it was related to the pressure from the explosion.
The young soldier saw them actually bring over a stretcher to carry him away. He froze, then quickly grabbed the soldier’s sleeve, his face pained and conflicted. “I feel I’m no good anymore. Don’t waste medicine on me. I just want to see my family once more while I’m still alive. Why don’t you just register me as released?”
The soldier looked him up and down, then reached out to press his chest. “Where does it hurt? Here, or here?”
Seeing that while he cried out “ow ow,” he didn’t show much pain, the soldier smacked him on the head. “You little brat, your abacus beads are hitting me in the face! Released my foot! Look at you with all your limbs intact, young and healthy—you’re going to the training camp. Where are you from?”
The young soldier was dumbfounded. He said anxiously, “Don’t do that, big brother! I can farm! I want to go to the farming corps. I can really farm well. Please don’t put me in the training camp.”
The Zhao family army would select soldiers with complete limbs, relatively robust bodies, and youth for the training camp. The rest would go to farm or be released. Apart from some who wanted to establish achievements and accomplish great deeds, the vast majority only wanted to live peacefully.
The soldier distinguished his accent and raised an eyebrow. “You’re from Qingzhou?”
Seeing he had already dipped his brush in ink, the young soldier could only nod silently. The soldier patted his shoulder. “Alright, into the training camp. When the time comes you can use military post to write letters home. If you’re lucky, you might even be transferred back to Qingzhou—better chances than the farming corps anyway.”
After counting the surrendered soldiers, Wang Xuan also led people to quickly take over the Wangcai County government office. The county magistrate hadn’t fled; every single official inside was accounted for.
Wang Xuan adhered to Zhao Hanzhang’s consistent approach: unless officials had committed wrongdoing and had extremely poor reputations among the people, they would all continue in their positions for the sake of stability.
After investigation, he learned this Wangcai County magistrate was neither outstanding nor terrible, with an acceptable reputation. He allowed him to continue as county magistrate and had him dispatch bailiffs in two shifts for patrol. “Prevent hooligans and bandits from harassing the common people. If any rogue soldiers disturb the people, immediately send someone to the government office for help. I will leave two squads of soldiers here to help maintain order.”
Two squads meant two hundred people—very sufficient for this small county town with only eighteen bailiffs.
To avoid causing panic among the people, he didn’t have soldiers directly patrol the streets. He only had them remove the remaining “Wang” character flags from the city tower and replace them with “Zhao” character flags. The Jin state flags beside them had been flying all along, saving the trouble of replacement.
By evening, the streets that had been quiet all day began to see people. The common folk gradually emerged from their homes, curiously watching the occasional passing Zhao family soldiers.
The passing soldiers occasionally glanced over curiously as well, then straightened their gaze, their expressions stern, even making their marching steps more standard.
The common people whispered among themselves, “It’s really like the rumors say—they didn’t enter homes to loot.”
“Even when meeting on the road, they don’t beat or seize people.”
After watching the excitement for a while and discovering the Zhao family army truly didn’t harm the people, they happily went about their business—carrying water, cooking meals. Some went to their vegetable plots to harvest vegetables, only to discover their greens had been pecked at and half-eaten by the neighbor’s chickens again. They immediately stood with hands on hips at the edge of their garden, shouting curses at the neighbor’s house.
Gan Zhuo was passing by. He couldn’t help but stop and listen for a while, then turned to his deputy general and said, “If she truly has ambitions for the throne, the nation should change heaven and earth.”
—