573 Return of the Victors (1/2)
It was not apparent who the heavens had favoured in the Battle of Dongyi.
According to what Fang Yuan knew about the general trend, the Shang Dynasty had exhausted all of its brilliance and luck to secure in this battle what would be the regime's final victory.
When the Western Zhou state begins its assault on the Shang Dynasty, the fall of the Shang would become irreversible.
Fang Yuan and the War God Chi has planned to weaken the strength of the other party while it was not yet clear who the heavenly mandate was with. They had wanted to trick Nuwa into altering the course of nature personally, which would have resulted in divine retribution for Nuwa and increased their chances of victory in the future.
However, Nuwa had only made a small move to test the firmness of heavenly will and did not act at all after that. Fang Yuan and the War God Chi felt like their efforts had all been for nothing.
At the same time, they felt the chills.
An enemy that practised self-restraint was formidable indeed!
Nuwa's inaction now meant that they would have to deal with Nuwa in her peak condition during the final battles between Zhou and Shang!
”Of course...things don't have to be this way. We should continue being passive observers no matter what. Let the mortals struggle for power and go along with the general trend. We'll only intervene as a last resort and even so, we might not have to do it ourselves…”
Fang Yuan pondered silently. He was beginning to come to a realisation about this sort of conflicts.
”Conflicts between deities are but extensions of the conflicts between mortals...what I should be doing now is to rush Prince Pan into returning to the capital and strengthen Shang's energy of destiny such the heavenly will might be changed!”
Ever since Fang Yuan had begun to plot, although the general trend remained the same, many of the little details had undergone large changes.
For example, not only had the Battle of Dongyi been a glorious victory for the Shang army, but the victors also did not suffer huge losses.
If this large number of elite soldiers could make it back to the Shang capital in time and reinforce the strength of the Shang army involved in the coming war between the Shang and the Zhou, there was no saying what the result might be.
Fang Yuan turned his gaze to the battlefield.
...
The setting sun bathed the plains in a golden light. Corpses and other remains littered the battlefield.
The Shang soldiers cheered their hearts out as they bundled their captives with rope.
These captured soldiers were now their slaves, their loot, their personal property!
The Shang army camp revelled in song and dance as a large amount of food and wine were being served to the tables. Prince Pan and his officials offered toasts to each other in the commander's tent and made merry together.
Suddenly, Ge Nie stepped forward on the pretext of offering Prince Pan a toast and whispered into his ear.
”Prince Pan, according to my teacher, the Western Zhou state has already become a fully developed threat and is marching on the Shang Dynasty as we speak. He advises you to return to the Shang capital immediately or there will be dire consequences!”
”What?'
Prince Pan did a double take.
”My lords!”
He slammed a fist on the table and put down his wine vessel before turning to the officials present.
”I propose...that we pack up and make our way back to the capital immediately!”
”What?”
The announcement caught everyone in the tent by surprise and they quietened down.
”Pardon me for being rude!”
A gentleman-minister frowned as he stood up to speak.
”Why the sudden proposal, my Prince?”
”I have information that the Western Zhou state has dishonourable intentions and has already launched an invasion on the Shang Dynasty!”
Prince Pan gritted his teeth and shared the news with everyone present.
”Impossible!”
”No such news has arrived from Shangyi!”
The officials were all engaged in frenzied discussions among themselves.
”If these are Ge Nie's words alone, we seriously doubt the credibility of this message!”
Prince Pan could feel a rising anger as he observed the scene.
He was more than aware of why these people were so unwilling to leave immediately for the capital.
After all, the spoils of this victory included the lands surrounding the battlefield, the nearby city as well as the slaves.
Prince Pan might be the commander-in-chief, but if he forced the army to give up their loot and rush back to the Shang capital, there was bound to be disobedience or even defection on a large scale!
However, Prince Pan's eyelids had twitched upon hearing Ge Nie's warning. His sixth sense told him that Ge Nie's information was reliable.
'Damn it... a bunch of fools! If Shangyi falls into trouble, of what use would all the gold and slaves in the world be?'
Prince Pan was seething with rage but he knew that he could not fall out with his subordinates.
If Fang Yuan had been present at that moment, he would have understood that the heavenly will had begun to take effect.
The Battle of Dongyi was supposed to be the Shang Dynasty's last victory. After this battle, they would immediately lose the heavenly mandate.
The five aggregates of the nobles had been placed under a spell. They were all no longer able to make rational decisions in the face of greed.
”The Prince has spoken and we will obey his orders!”
A gentleman-bureaucrat slammed his table with a hand and shouted.
”So many excuses. Are you people going to rebel?”
It was Gentleman Lian who had spoken. Er stood behind him silently. He was holding a halberd and glared at everyone else in the tent.
Although Lian was only a gentleman m-bureaucrat of the first class, he had contributed much to the Shang victory over the Dongyi tribes and would definitely receive a promotion to gentleman-minister upon his return. Additionally, his son Er had demonstrated tremendous courage in battle and had even killed the King of Dongyi personally.
After Gentleman Lian had spoken, the selfish tendencies of the other officials somewhat cooled down.
It was indeed a tough choice between the acquisition of wealth and avoiding potential dangers.
”How about this?”
Prince Pan had considered his options for a moment and arrived at a decision.
”I will take 50000 men along with me. The remaining soldiers will focus on guarding the captives and reclaiming the lost lands. However, there will be no more advancement into the lands of the Dongyi. What do you all think of this!”
Practically speaking, given the scale of defeat suffered by the Dongyi army, they were in no shape to resist a Shang invasion into their lands.