The blaze within the valley was not extinguished until the third day.
Yang Zhenshan led his Personal Guard Camp into the valley.
Ashes covered the ground everywhere, the whole land seemed to have turned into a hue of grey and black, while the tops of the surrounding mountains still sported touches of green.
Passing through the valley, Yang Zhenshan arrived at the imperial guard’s encampment.
"Haha, Zhengshan, you’re here!"
Seeing Yang Zhenshan, Liang Chu was exceedingly pleased.
Yang Zhenshan clasped his fists in a salute and said, "Your subordinate pays his respects to the Marquis!"
"Ah, there’s no need for such formalities between us, come on, let’s talk in my tent!" Without further ado, Liang Chu pulled Yang Zhenshan into his tent.
The two families were related by marriage, hence their relationship was naturally extraordinary.
Just as the two sat down inside the tent, and before tea was served, Zhou Lan arrived.
Yang Zhenshan looked at Zhou Lan, his face showing a friendly smile.
Zhou Lan, seeing Yang Zhenshan, was filled with elation.
"Alright, don’t just stand there, take a seat!" Liang Chu beckoned them to sit.
The three seated, they began to chat leisurely.
Although they had corresponded through letters ordinarily, many matters could not be fully expressed in writing.
Their conversation topics were wide-ranging, from family matters to court politics, from young children to the Crown Prince.
"Marquis, what is the current situation in the court, will there be any issues with the imperial guard leaving the Capital City?"
After chatting aimlessly for half an hour, Yang Zhenshan steered the conversation to the issue of the imperial guard’s departure from the capital.
This was no trivial matter, tied to the struggle over imperial power.
The Emperor’s personal army and the Capital City’s imperial guard had always been the two most critical military powers in Emperor Chengping’s hands.
With these two powers, the security of the Imperial City and Capital City could be guaranteed.
But now, six camps of the imperial guard had left the capital, and the condition of the remaining six was unknown!
If the imperial guard became essentially useless in the Capital City, then the problem would be grave.
Speaking of this matter, Liang Chu’s expression turned stern.
"Deploying the imperial guard was a joint decision made by the Crown Prince and the various Cabinet elders, and Duke Ning also agreed to it!"
Liang Chu paused thoughtfully before continuing, "However, this matter was forcefully promoted by the Crown Prince himself!"
"The Crown Prince can now influence the Cabinet?" Yang Zhenshan asked with a furrowed brow.
Liang Chu shook his head slightly, "I don’t know, but there have indeed been many changes in the court’s situation lately."
"Your Majesty has been bedridden for months!"
Yang Zhenshan suddenly understood.
The old Emperor had been bedridden for months, seeming to have little hope of recovery, potentially passing away at any time.
At such a time, the court’s ministers would naturally lean towards the Crown Prince.
Even if the Crown Prince was undesirable, he was still the legitimate heir.
Every era of the Emperor, an era of his ministers.
The ministers, wishing to retain their official caps, naturally had to show their allegiance in advance; otherwise, once the Crown Prince ascended the throne, they would have no opportunity to do so.
At this time, whatever the Crown Prince wished to do, he did not need to act on his own; many ministers would actively serve his interests.
If the Crown Prince wanted the imperial guard to leave the capital, then the imperial guards would have to leave, and even the Cabinet might have to yield to the Crown Prince.
"So you’re suggesting that the court is completely under the Crown Prince’s control?" Yang Zhenshan said.
"That’s not necessarily the case. The Crown Prince is not yet on the throne. How could he possibly have absolute power?" Crown Prince Liang replied indifferently.
Yang Zhenshan nodded. As long as Emperor Chengping was alive, the Crown Prince was just that, a prince. It would be impossible for him to have complete control.
Even if the Crown Prince were to ascend the throne, he would still be unable to control everything on his own.
The Da Rong Court was governed collectively by the Emperor and the scholar-officials. If the Emperor was strong, the court would naturally be supreme in imperial power. If the Emperor was weak or mediocre, then the court would become the domain of civil and military ministers.
After a brief discussion about the situation at court, the three of them shifted the conversation to the main topic at hand.
Following the battle in the valley, nearly all of the seventy thousand strong Wuliang Hu Clan army was annihilated. After this, the threat from Wuliang in the west of Liaoxi Province and Chongshan Town was essentially rooted out. This military campaign would most likely come to an end as a result.
The Wuliang Hu Clan suffered a crippling blow this time. Eighty thousand Northern barbarian riders were not a small number, and even with the Wuliang Hu Clan’s strength, it could not bear such losses.
In the short term, the Wuliang Hu Clan would certainly not attack Da Rong again.
As for Da Rong, the situation on the court was somewhat complicated and is definitely not going to launch a counter-offensive against the Wuliang Hu Clan.
Thus, the turmoil caused by Prince Qing will most likely come to an end here.
After meeting with Crown Prince Liang, Yang Zhenshan ordered his soldiers to clean up the ashes in the valley.
Of course, he hadn’t them clean up the ashes out of concern for sanitation, but because there were many valuables hidden amongst those ashes.
For instance, the damaged armaments—leather and cloth armors were useless, but iron armor and weapons could be melted down and reforged.
Furthermore, the gold and silver looted by the Northern barbarians—Wuliang’s forces had plundered the entire Liaoxi Province, amassing millions of taels of silver and gold.
Fire could melt gold and silver, but it would not turn them into ashes.
With so much gold and silver, Yang Zhenshan naturally planned to collect it all.
A few days later, when the soldiers of Chongshan Town had searched through the valley’s ashes, Yang Zhenshan gave one-third of the collected gold and silver to the imperial guard.
The treasure originally belonged to the people of Liaoxi, but now it was the spoils of war for Chongshan Town and the imperial guard.
Since it was spoils of war, everything had to be done according to the rules.
One-third went to the imperial guard, another third to his own soldiers, and the remaining third to be handed over as seized goods.
Such practices had rules in the border towns. Although sometimes the allocations would be adjusted according to specific circumstances, it was standard that those who led the charge in battle should receive a share of the spoils first.
The imperial guard transferred over eighteen thousand prisoners to Chongshan Town.
With the conflict concluded, it was not appropriate for them to stay at Chongshan Town for an extended period.
Thus, after transferring the prisoners, Crown Prince Liang ordered a return to the Capital City.
Yang Zhenshan, having taken over the prisoners, found himself immersed in a hectic schedule.
Dealing with so many captives wasn’t straightforward—executing them all was out of the question, even severe punishment was unacceptable.
Because most of the captives were military households from the west of Chongshan Town, punishing them harshly would definitely cause dissatisfaction among the military households.
To pacify the public and stabilize the west of Chongshan Town quickly, Yang Zhenshan only punished a few Military Officers of rank, while the ordinary soldiers, after being reorganized, still belonged to the troops of the Rescue Camp in the west of Chongshan Town.
Meanwhile, as Yang Zhenshan busied himself with reorganizing the Rescue Camp, the victorious report of the Nameless Valley battle also reached the Capital City.
The annihilation of seventy thousand troops of the Wuliang Hu Clan was a major victory.
Its significance was no less than the earlier capture of Fushan City.
For decades, the Wuliang Hu Clan had been a formidable enemy to the north of Da Rong, and the conflict between Da Rong and the Wuliang Hu Clan had never ceased.
Every year, Beiyuan Town faced several small-scale battles with the Wuliang Hu Clan, and occasionally battles involving tens of thousands would erupt, though engagements reaching over a hundred thousand were rare.
An outright defeat of seventy thousand Wuliang Hu Clan riders was unprecedented.
Naturally, the victory caused quite a stir when the news reached the Capital City.
With the annihilation of the Wuliang forces, the entire court, both civil and military, breathed a sigh of relief.
During this period, they had been anxious facing the formidable Wuliang forces, fearing that the situation would continue to worsen.
Now that the tide had turned, everyone could finally relax.
However, the issue of royal rewards became a new point of contention in court.