"I know you all are unwilling to go to Taiyuan now," the Prince spoke, "because the great battles along the way have completely worn out your patience, making you feel that this battle is unwinnable, and even if won, the credit has nothing to do with you.
"But!
"Please think about it, our brothers, dear friends, and relatives, who are within Taiyuan City right now, are all our fellow citizens of Great Qi!
"I promise you, after saving Taiyuan, all soldiers will be rewarded, and for those who fall in battle, triple compensation will be sent to their families!
"I also promise you, from today onwards, our military n of our dynasty will no longer be the soft persimmons that anyone can squeeze; you all are the sharp blades of the Qi Dynasty, not only must you protect our country and hos, but also expand our borders!
"From this day forth, there will never again be any incompetent official who can ride atop our heads!
"If there is any incompetent official who dares to say a word of refusal...
"Then I will have his entire family executed, to serve as a sacrifice to our military spirit!"
Prince Yun’s generous speech lacked flowery rhetoric, which seed sowhat inconsistent with his identity as a top scholar.
But these straightforward, and even sowhat crude, words were better at stirring the resonance of the soldiers in all three armies.
Soon, the battlefield erupted with cheers as loud as the roaring sea!
Although Prince Yun was not the Emperor, but only a Prince, by rely uttering these words, he had already won the hearts of the people.
Moreover, he had gained the respect of everyone in the Western Army from top to bottom, with his consecutive rescues of the famous generals Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan.
At this mont, with the esteed identity of the Third Prince, the prestigious position of the Grand Marshal of the Northwest forces, and the legendary experience of having topped the imperial examination, Prince Yun indeed gave the impression of soone destined for greatness.
In this way, the strongest Western Army of the Qi Dynasty, under the charismatic influence of Prince Yun, once again unified as one.
...
Under Taiyuan City, the anticipated great battle did not erupt.
Under Prince Yun’s leadership, the two famous generals of the Western Army, Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan, began to advance steadily and cautiously.
Seeing that the weather was gradually getting hotter, and after several probing attacks that yielded no good results, the Jin eventually knew difficulties and retreated.
The siege of Taiyuan was lifted, though without a significant battle or many Jin heads taken as trophies.
But this was exactly what Fan Cun wanted.
Because Emperor Taizu of Sheng had told him that it was not wise to fight to the death with the Jin at this ti.
These Jin soldiers could still be of use.
So, after the Jin retreated, Fan Cun only symbolically pursued with the Western Army, obtaining certain military achievents, which he reported as a great victory.
Then followed the entry into Taiyuan City, where they were welcod by the public lining the streets.
However, what Prince Yun did next left everyone utterly shocked.
He, along with Taiyuan’s defending general Wang Bing, almost extorted the wealth of the rich in Taiyuan City, such as landlords, large landowners, and rich rchants, demanding almost a third of their property for military provisions.
This move naturally sparked fierce resistance from these people, but in the face of the Western Army’s threatening swords, they ultimately compromised.
The money, for the most part, was used to reward the soldiers.
A few exceptionally stubborn landlords and gentry, relying on their family’s influence at court, wanted to revolt against the orders.
Following the advice of Emperor Taizu of Sheng, Fan Cun had only one answer for these people.
To execute them!
There was no room for bargaining.
Of course, executions had to be justifiable. Gathering evidence of these landlords’ and gentry’s illegal activities was remarkably simple, whether it be through the influence of officials like Wang Bing of Taiyuan, or reports from civilians within the city, paired with the harsh judgnts used in troubled tis; executing these people was not a problematic matter.
As a result, the civilians within the city applauded.
Though this course of action did stirred so opposing voices, within Taiyuan City, the supportive ones prevailed. In fact, many citizens voluntarily offered so of their wealth to reward the army, which Fan Cun refused.
Clearly, there were sensible people within the city.
Taiyuan City had been besieged for a long ti, and if not for Prince Yun leading the Western Army to its rescue, relying on the imperial court to send reinforcents, it was likely that Taiyuan City would eventually have fallen.
And once the city was breached, the Jin would massacre its inhabitants, and then not just wealth, but lives and families would be lost as well.
Therefore, these Western Army soldiers had never really counted on rewards from the imperial court; the Taiyuan citizens giving up so wealth to reward the army was much preferable to it all being plundered by the Jin.
For those who didn’t understand this...
Fan Cun couldn’t bother reasoning with them—after all, his off-stage benefactor was none other than Emperor Taizu of Sheng.
...
The news of the lifting of Taiyuan’s siege soon made its way back to the capital.
The capital’s citizens naturally spread the word that Prince Yun had once again achieved such great rit.
But for the two Emperors engaged in a struggle for power, the news poured fuel on the fire.
Emperor Qihui had returned to the capital, but soon, he discovered that things after his return were completely different from what he had expected.
Emperor Yingzong of Qi had virtually put his Supre Emperor father under house arrest, switched out Emperor Qihui’s attendants with his own loyalists, monitored him, and even required reports for all gifts given to attendants and etings with ministers.
Though Prince Yun’s recovery of Taiyuan displeased Emperor Yingzong, it ultimately diluted the negative impacts of his cession of the Three Towns and strengthened the legitimacy of his rule, so the grand rewards and recognitions had to be perford outwardly.
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