The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 195 The End

Next, bad news came one after another, not only on the battlefield, but also in the court.

The civil and military officials in the court were arguing fiercely about the foreign invasion. Several princes also offered strategies and advice at this time in order to perform well in front of their father and the ministers.

Next, news came out that the prince had passed away!

This not only caused an uproar in the court, but also shocked everyone in the world!

The prince was in his prime, not even forty years old this year, and there had been no reports of him being in poor health in the past. How could he suddenly die? Moreover, it happened at a time when foreign enemies were invading and people were unstable.

The cavalry army of the Western Rong people was already outside the city of Chang'an at this time. Wherever they passed, they looted everything they could. All the gold, silver, jewelry, grain, and cloth that they could take away were transported back to their royal court.

Many people have already heard the news and fled inland to seek shelter, but many more do not even have the courage to set out.

They have no food and no money. Once they leave their dilapidated homes, they will not be able to survive for more than a few days. They might even starve to death on the road and die in a foreign land.

Although Wang Hengzhi was somewhat relieved that the Western Rong people did not plunder Longnan, the heaviness in his heart did not ease much.

There are powerful enemies outside, but the court is unstable. The death of the crown prince at this time is a good proof of this.

Although he was not in the capital, he was still aware of the general situation. Moreover, because his wife's family had some relationship with the royal family, he paid more attention to these nobles.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the crown prince did not please the emperor. Although he did not have any outstanding talents, he was still named the crown prince at the beginning of the emperor's reign because of his status as the eldest son, and served as the heir to the throne for twenty years.

Now that the crown prince has died, someone else will have to be chosen for the position of heir, and I'm afraid that a new wave of struggle will break out in the court.

The situation now is different from twenty years ago, when the princes were still young and inexperienced. Now they have all started families and have their own fiefdoms. Once they fight for that position, more innocent people will inevitably be affected.

But now what is more important is to drive out the foreign enemies. I hope those people will not try to "pacify the country before fighting the foreign enemies" and take the overall situation into consideration!

The Western Rong people did not withdraw their troops, and the gates of Longnan Prefecture remained closed and dared not be opened, but this was not a solution.

The city has been sealed off for more than a month, and all supplies in the city are in short supply. Not only food, but also firewood is in short supply. Winter is coming in a few days. If there is no heating, I don’t know how many people will freeze to death!

Wang Hengzhi even began to hope that the Western Rong people had robbed enough wealth and would quickly return to their tribe.

Winter is coming soon. For nomadic people, winter is a difficult time. They have already robbed so many things, why are they still not satisfied? They have been fighting outside all the time, don’t they worry that their own nests will be destroyed?

By the beginning of October, Longnan City was almost unable to hold on. At this time, troops mobilized from all over the country were also engaged in a fierce battle with the Western Rong people near Chang'an.

This time, the Great Zhou finally gained the upper hand in the war because of its numbers, but it was the King of Shu's stroke of genius that truly changed the situation.

It turned out that the King of Shu led his 5,000 personal troops to go around the rear to the base camp of the Western Rong people, and taking advantage of the dry autumn weather, set fires everywhere on the grassland, burning most of the pastures on which they depended for survival.

Many of the Western Rong women, children, cattle and sheep were burned to death or suffocated in the fire. The Western Rong army responsible for guarding the rear would naturally not let them go and sent troops to encircle and suppress them.

Unfortunately, the King of Shu was well prepared and put drugs in their river, causing their men and horses to lose their fighting power, and the original battle became a one-sided massacre.

Those who escaped from the Western Rong army hurried to Chang'an to report the news to the main force.

This expedition was led by the leader of the Western Rong himself, and most of the elite troops were brought out by him. Upon hearing that his lair had been ransacked, he was furious, but he did not dare to fight any longer and prepared to return quickly with the looted spoils.

However, nearly 40% of the Great Zhou's army was assembled here at that time. How could they let him leave easily? In addition, the King of Shu led his men to encircle them from the rear, forming a siege. The Western Rong cavalry also lost their advantage in speed and could no longer escape.

Because of the evil deeds committed by the Western Rong people in the Great Zhou and the plundered wealth in their hands, the Great Zhou army slaughtered most of their manpower without mercy, leaving only a few high-ranking Western Rong leaders and escorting them to the capital.

The Xirong people were badly damaged, and only the old, weak and sick were left in the tribe on the grassland. It would be impossible for them to develop their own power in a short period of time.

At this point, the war that had troubled the Zhou court for more than two months finally ended. Once the news came out, the whole country celebrated!

When Chen Cui and her friends learned the news in the inn, they were ecstatic and wanted to go home immediately to reunite with their families.

However, Guard Zhuang stopped us and said, "Mrs. Chen, the war has just ended and the situation has not yet been completely stabilized. There may be refugees and robbers on the road who will take the opportunity to cause chaos. It is not safe for us to travel like this. It is best to hire a few more escorts or travel with the caravan."

"Okay, as you say, please arrange it."

As long as she could go home quickly, Chen Cui would be willing to do anything.

During the more than two months outside, she lost at least ten pounds. A lot of hair fell out every day when she combed her hair. She also often suffered from insomnia at night. In the end, she had to rely on herbal medicine to fall asleep.

She missed Changping, the Chen family, and the folks in Liujiaping.

Although she knew that Longnan had not encountered any war, it did not mean that they were all safe. She was eager to meet them.

The next day, Guard Zhuang found four more bodyguards to escort them. With so many people, their safety should be guaranteed, and they finally set out on their journey home.

This time we were in a better condition than when we set out, and we were not in such a hurry to travel. It took us four days to reach the provincial capital.

Although they encountered some unexpected roadblocks along the way, since there were many strong men in their group and each of them was armed, they easily scared away those people with bad intentions and escaped safely.

Chen Cui had to admire the foresight of Guard Zhuang. If it weren't for the new escorts, they might have been surrounded by a group of people and robbed.

Although those "robbers" were dressed in rags and not everyone had even a stick, they all had ferocious expressions.

Chen Cui believed that if the escort had not cut a man's arm and the sight of blood had not frightened them, those people might have really rushed forward!