Chapter 33: Chapter 32 Heavy Snow Chapter 33: Chapter 32 Heavy Snow “I cannot give you the horses, although they are also spoils of war, but we urgently need the horses right now and can only temporarily occupy them. When I have time, I will compensate you!”
Zhou Lan said somewhat embarrassedly when she saw Yang Zhenshan’s gaze fall on those dead horses.
In the previous battle, Yang Zhenshan could be said to have saved their lives.
Perhaps they could have escaped to the mountains, but by the time they reached the mountains, there would probably not be many of them left.
So she kept talking about the life-saving grace.
Saving her life and still occupying their spoils of war made Zhou Lan feel very embarrassed.
Yang Zhenshan looked at those items and did not refuse, he bowed his hands very readily and thanked, “Thank you, General, for your consideration!”
Yang Family Village indeed needs these items.
The young villagers who died or were injured in yesterday’s battle all need financial consolation.
Not to mention money can’t replace life, for ordinary people, money is life, food is life.
Although those things looked messy and seemed worthless, actually, they were quite valuable.
For example, those leather armors, even if worn, could be exchanged for more than a dozen Silver, and those dead horses, if sold, could also bring a lot of Silver, even if not sold, could be divided for everyone to eat.
“There are also these!” Zhou Lan brought over a cloth bag from behind.
The cloth bag fell on the ground, making a clear metallic clanging sound.
Yang Zhenshan narrowed his eyes and reached out to take the cloth bag.
The full cloth bag was all Silver Coin!
“Are all these for us?” Yang Zhenshan exclaimed in surprise.
“Yes, we need military achievements more than Silver Coin!” Zhou Lan said.
Yang Zhenshan weighed the cloth bag, which might weigh about seventy or eighty catties!
Seventy to eighty catties of Silver Coin, even if most of it were Copper Coin, that would also have a few hundred taels of Silver.
Good person!
Giving away a few hundred taels of Silver just like that?
Could there be more such good people?
Yang Zhenshan looked at Zhou Lan with a face full of curiosity.
Other items might be explained as being unable to be carried away, thus given as a favor to him, but these Silver Coins proved that the other party really wanted to compensate them.
“Then I cannot refuse this generosity!”
“Um!”
Zhou Lan naturally didn’t know that Yang Zhenshan gave her a badge of a good person; in fact, with her status, she didn’t care about these few hundred taels of Silver at all. If she wasn’t out of Silver Coin on her, she would have liked to give Yang Zhenshan even more.
“I have urgent matters to attend to and shall not stay here any longer. Once we have driven those Hu Zei away, I shall come to visit and express my thanks!”
After speaking, Zhou Lan bowed to Yang Zhenshan.
Then, she turned around and led her soldiers away.
Yang Zhenshan watched their backs, deep in thought.
Drive the Hu Zei away?
Could it be done?
“Dad, are all these ours?”
Just as Yang Zhenshan wondered whether the border army could drive the intruding Hu Clan away, Yang Mingzhi ran over joyfully.
“Yes, all ours.” Yang Zhenshan glanced at the cloth bag in front of him and the objects in the distance, and said indifferently, “Take all these items to the Clan Leader!”
“Okay!” Yang Mingzhi happily arranged for people to start moving the items.
In the afternoon, Yang Zhengxiang finished taking an inventory of these supplies.
There were eighteen dead horses, twelve sets of intact leather armor, thirty-four sets of damaged leather armor, twenty-four longbows, and seventy-two long sabers.
There were four hundred eighty-three taels of Silver Coin.
Additionally, there were some miscellaneous items like daggers, shortswords, saddles, dried meat, and provisions.
Honestly, the border army was very meticulous in cleaning the battlefield, they didn’t even miss the saddles.
Unfortunately, the Hu Clan does not favor spears, and the young men of Yang Family Village are not good at using broadswords.
“How should we distribute these things?” Yang Zhengxiang asked Yang Zhenshan.
Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment and said, “All the dead horses should be slaughtered and distributed according to the population of each household!”
“See if we can piece together a few more complete sets of those damaged leather armors. I’ll handle the distribution then.”
“As for the bows and arrows, I’ll check later if there is anyone who can use them. If there is, we’ll distribute them!”
“Silver!”
He pondered for a while and said, “Two taels for each participant in the battle, four taels for the slightly injured, ten taels for the severely injured, and twenty taels for the deceased.”
“Sell the other items later and buy some clan properties. What do you think?”
Yang Zhengxiang stroked his beard and said, “Whether it’s training or fighting, you’ve put in the most effort. You should take more.”
“No need. We are not an army. In the army, officers naturally take the lion’s share. We are one clan; we should take care of each other and support each other. Compared to me, they need this silver more!” Yang Zhenshan shook his head and said.
He was not in great need of silver now. Though he had spent most of the silver he had earned before, earning silver was easier for him than others, so there was no need to argue with the villagers of Yang Family Village over this little amount of silver.
“Of course, I will also pick a few items as a reward for my efforts!” Yang Zhenshan said with a light laugh.
He had spotted a few nice items among those messy things earlier, nothing valuable, just some more practical items.
For instance, he liked a dagger very much.
Yang Zhengxiang also started laughing, “That’s fine, you decide!”
Afterwards, Yang Zhenshan picked a few nice little items to take with him. As for the rest, Yang Zhengxiang would handle the distribution; there was no need for him to worry.
Now was not the time to relax; although they had repelled an enemy attack yesterday, who knows if there would be more enemies attacking next.
Moreover, Yang Zhenshan was also worried that the Northern barbarian from yesterday might come back for revenge.
So, after discussing with Yang Zhengxiang, he immediately got involved in the defense work of Yang Family Village.
But his worries seemed to be unnecessary, as there were no signs of any Northern barbarian near Yang Family Village in the subsequent days.
It has snowed again in Anning County, a heavy snowfall that overnight changed the landscape.
When Yang Zhenshan got up in the morning and pushed the door, he couldn’t open it. The snow was already up to his calves. With a bit of effort, he managed to push the door open.
“Dad!”
Seeing Yang Zhenshan come out, the people of the Yang family who were clearing the snow greeted him.
Yang Zhenshan’s expression remained calm as he nodded and then turned to look towards the back mountain.
The mountain was draped in a cloak of silver, as if the entire world had transformed into a realm of ice and snow.
Seeing this, Yang Zhenshan’s eyes brightened.
“This war should be over!”
The heavy snowfall would prevent the Northern barbarian from raiding everywhere; at this time, they could only withdraw from Da Rong’s borders.
The snow would restrict their movements, and of course, it would also restrict the border army’s ability to surround them, but this is still Da Rong’s territory, and the Hu Clan cannot afford to rampage in Da Rong for long.
A heavy snowfall could change the course of a war.
And this current heavy snow should shorten the time of Hu Clan’s raids.
“Dad, the snow in the mountains must be very thick!” Yang Mingcheng came to Yang Zhenshan’s side, worried.
Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, “Go into the mountains later and take a look!”
He knew what Yang Mingcheng was worried about.
The Jiang family and Yang Yunyan.
Last year, Jiang family’s Village suffered a severe loss due to bandits, and now they faced the predation of the Northern barbarian, so the villagers of Jiang family’s Village had hidden in the mountains early.
The conditions in the mountains were harsh, and Yang Yunyan was also pregnant.
Counting the days, Yang Yunyan was already seven months pregnant.
Childbirth was not easy in ancient times, and now with Yang Yunyan hiding in the mountains, any small mishap could result in a tragedy.
“Take Ming Hao with you! Be careful!” Yang Zhenshan admonished.
The woods would be even more dangerous after the heavy snow, having Yang Mingcheng and Yang Ming Hao together was better for companionship; in case of any accidents, they could take care of each other.
“I know, Dad!” Yang Mingcheng grinned.