After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 849 - 836: Retreat

Xun Xiu was injured. Oh, Zhao Ming was also injured, but he was dragged and fell during the retreat. Compared to Xun Xiu, he was much better off.

As a wise person, he believed that as long as he could move his mouth, he could command the battlefield, so when Xun Xiu got injured, he naturally took over the Xun Family Army, directing troops.

Unfortunately, the ideal was rich, but reality was stark.

He only had one experience in combat, which was the Battle of West Ping Wu Castle, and it was mainly defensive at that time.

Back then, he was one of the most trusted people of the Zhao Family, and everyone united against a common enemy, thus he could command them like an arm directs a hand.

But now, it’s different. Even though his position and authority were higher than before, this army belonged to Xun Xiu.

To be precise, it was the Yu State Army, but it had Xun Xiu’s mark on it.

During this era, most armies were like this. Unless the court’s power was highly centralized, any military general would mark the troops they led with their own label.

Zhao Hanzhang was quite forceful. She had given a lot to the Yu State Army, but it was still marked with Xun Xiu’s insignia; in the army, four out of ten subordinate generals had the surname Xun, and two were relatives by marriage to the Xun Family. When Xun Xiu was injured, Zhao Ming merely hinted at directly commanding them, but Assistant General Xun Sheng led the troops to retreat, citing the main general’s injury as the reason.

Zhao Ming was furious, but amidst the chaos, the Xun Family Army instinctively followed the orders of their own assistant general, and he couldn’t control it for a moment.

Zhao Ming was famously bad-tempered, yet they didn’t know he also had a strong ability to endure.

Xun Sheng and others saw that although his expression was ugly, he followed the main force in retreat, thinking they had convinced him.

The group ran for most of the day and retreated to the center of Sui County, basically in a state of rout. Many soldiers quietly fled along the way. If not for Zhao Ming still having two thousand troops, plus officials from both the Yu State Governor Mansion and the Chen County Governor Mansion providing constraints, the Xun Family Army might have reverted to its old behavior from four years ago—directly plundering villages and towns along the way to supply the army with food.

It wasn’t until dusk that the scattered Xun Family Army finally stopped, and Xun Sheng and others tried their best to gather the troops, knowing that the army couldn’t be in disarray.

But the news of the Great General being injured and unconscious had already spread throughout the army; the morale was unstable, causing not only the soldiers but also Xun Sheng and others to be restless.

Zhao Ming had Changqing apply medicinal wine on him, tied his foot up, and forcefully shoved it into his shoe, enduring the pain as he rose and asked, "Have Pingyi and Ping Zhong arrived?"

Pingyi and Ping Zhong were people Zhao Hanzhang had recruited during the Battle of West Ping. The three brothers initially served as retainers and later followed Zhao Ju and Zhao Hanzhang in campaigns across the land. Now, they had become section leaders.

When Qiu Wu left, he assigned each to lead a thousand men and to stay by Zhao Ming’s side, while their younger brother Pingxin went with Qiu Wu on an ambush.

The two quickly brought their trusted aides, selected according to Zhao Ming’s requirements, skilled, loyal, and each possessing unique abilities.

Either with great strength, or speed, or with a sufficiently hard-hearted and ruthless approach.

Zhao Ming stood up, leading the brothers out.

Outside, officials like Song Zhi and Chen Si Niang were already waiting. Once Zhao Ming emerged, several people bowed in greeting.

Zhao Ming calmly announced, "General Xun is injured; we shall go see him."

The crowd agreed.

Zhao Ming led them to the main tent to visit Xun Xiu. Xun Xiu’s personal soldiers didn’t want to let them see him, but with Xun Xiu injured, Zhao Ming was currently the highest-ranking and most powerful official present.

For a moment, they hesitated to block his way.

Moreover, Zhao Ming stated he had brought along a doctor.

As Zhao Ming advanced, he instructed, "Bring the generals here; today we will hold a discussion in the main tent."

The personal soldiers thought Zhao Ming had a way to revive Xun Xiu immediately and went off to call people at once.

Zhao Ming really did bring a doctor, except the doctor’s assistant had been replaced, along with the officials’ attendants.

Pingyi and Ping Zhong also carried swords, staying close to Zhao Ming.

The doctor examined Xun Xiu’s body and said to Zhao Ming, "General Xun’s wound has stopped bleeding. The reason he hasn’t awoken is due to excessive blood loss. As long as he has plenty of rest combined with blood-restorative prescriptions, he should wake by noon tomorrow at the latest."

Zhao Ming breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "That’s good, that’s good."

The hurried Xun Sheng and others also heard and were equally relieved, seeing Zhao Ming seemingly just bringing officials from the Inspector Mansion and Governor Mansion to visit the Great General. Despite some dissatisfaction with him intruding into the main tent, they held back.

Xun Sheng stepped forward and said, "Governor Zhao, after traveling all night, you must be tired too. Why not rest first? We are here for the Great General. When he wakes up, I’ll send someone to invite you."

Zhao Ming, sitting beside the bed next to Xun Xiu, lightly lifted his gaze to look at him.

Zhao Ming’s expression was stern, and without speaking, the tent fell silent. The rushing assistant generals felt anxious and lowered their heads under his gaze.

Although Zhao Ming was the Governor of Chen County, he couldn’t control them directly, but he handled many affairs for Yu State. Whenever he came to request military funds and supplies from Zhao Hanzhang, he often interacted with him. To be honest, even Xun Xiu sometimes feared him.

Especially because his tongue was so sharp, even Zhao Hanzhang had to show utmost respect in his presence.

Zhao Ming remained silent, his gaze passing over each person one by one. The atmosphere grew tenser, and everyone was careful even with swallowing.

Seeing them all lower their heads, Zhao Ming finally spoke, "In the presence of General Xun, I have three questions to ask you all."

Xun Sheng immediately responded, "Governor Zhao, our General is still unconscious. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until our General wakes up before..."

Zhao Ming barely lifted his eyes, and Chen Si Niang stepped forward and shouted, "Bold! Xun Sheng, even your General would not dare to be so disrespectful in front of the Governor. What, now that General Xun is unconscious, you don’t even understand the most basic rules?"

Xun Sheng’s face instantly darkened, and just as he was about to speak, Xun Ming quickly pulled him back, whispering, "Fourth Brother!"

Due to their sudden retreat, Zhao Ming and the Inspector Mansion’s officials had built up a lot of anger, and now it needed releasing.

Xun Sheng could only temporarily shut his mouth.

Only then did Zhao Ming glare at them and ask forcefully, "When you retreated on your own, did you think of your comrades ordered to go on the ambush?"

Xun Sheng muttered, "They didn’t go out under our General’s orders. We didn’t even know about the ambush when they left."

Zhao Ming coldly asked, "Didn’t I warn General Xun that the Shi Army might conduct a night raid? When the scouts gathered intel, didn’t I immediately notify General Xun?"

The subordinate generals shamefully lowered their heads, and Xun Sheng’s breathing became rapid, yet he couldn’t muster a rebuttal?

"The second question is, when you retreated on your own, did you consider the Yu State citizens behind you? What would happen if the Shi Army infiltrated Sui County and entered Chen County?"

The subordinate generals swallowed hard.

Zhao Ming’s gaze grew sharper, and he interrogated them, word by word, "When you retreated on your own, did you consider the counterattack plan, or how you would explain to Governor Zhao?"