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Seeing Xiao Pengthian’s information, Lu Chen was momentarily stunned, having not expected the existence of a Grandmaster Realm within the Barbarian Army.

Thinking back on it, the tens of thousands of people following the Barbarian Army must have been under Xiao Pengthian’s command.

Wenren Lie saw that Lu Chen did not speak and took the opportunity to ask, “Prince, what do you plan to do with him? He’s still alive but severely injured and currently unconscious.”

Lu Chen said, “Have someone treat his injuries immediately and save him. Once he wakes up, this prince has some matters to inquire about with him.”

“Yes, my Prince.”

The soldiers then led the horse carrying Xiao Pengthian away for treatment.

At that moment, Mu Changtian glanced at the one hundred thousand kneeling Barbarian captives and whispered to Lu Chen, “Prince, how do you plan to handle these captives? There are quite a lot of them, and Yan County doesn’t have enough food to sustain them. Perhaps we should just…”

Mu Changtian stopped there, not finishing his sentence.

Lu Chen understood Mu Changtian’s meaning; Mu Changtian felt that the one hundred thousand Barbarian captives were a burden and should all be killed.

Hearing this, Lu Chen said with a smile, “If we were not in North City, this prince might indeed have buried them all.”

This…

Mu Changtian, hearing Lu Chen’s apparent lack of intention to kill them, continued, “Prince, are you thinking of subjugating them?”

Such practices were quite common. Despite the Barbarian Tribe being a different race, the Imperial Army of the Great Xia Dynasty still incorporated many Barbarian soldiers.

Back when Mu Changtian went north to battle the Barbarian Army, he captured many Barbarian soldiers, and after re-educating these Barbarian soldiers, he had them lead the way northward in search of the Barbarian royal courts.

Although there were often cases of one race exterminating another, more often than not, deterrence and subjugation were employed. In this era, population was precious, and unless they truly couldn’t sustain so many people, they wouldn’t just kill them off.

Lu Chen said, “After the war is over, this prince will need a large workforce to build up North City. These one hundred thousand Barbarian captives have just solved the problem of an insufficient workforce.”

Lu Chen had already acquired cement, and he had long planned to rebuild North City. However, as he had been conserving his strength, he had not taken any action yet.

But after this war was over, he could no longer hide. Everyone would know that he commanded an extremely powerful army.

Since he could no longer keep it a secret, there was no point in trying to. As North City was his fiefdom, it was time to properly develop it.

As for the succession struggles in the Capital City, Lu Chen had no intention of meddling at all. As long as the Great Xia was not in chaos, he planned not to return to the Capital City and stay in North City instead, which was quite preferable.

Hearing Lu Chen’s plan, Mu Changtian immediately understood and said, “My Prince, that is a brilliant move! If these one hundred thousand Barbarian soldiers can be re-educated in time, we will have gained one hundred thousand more Slave Soldiers. No one will dare covet North City in the future!”

Mu Changtian’s thoughts were clearly different from Lu Chen’s. Lu Chen intended to use these one hundred thousand Barbarian slaves to build up North City, while Mu Changtian thought Lu Chen wanted to keep these Barbarian soldiers for their strong combat capabilities, with the intention of using these one hundred thousand Barbarian Slave Soldiers to deter other forces.

Lu Chen already had fifty thousand Heavy Cavalry at his command, and with his Military Expansion Order, the soldiers of North City would soon reach one hundred and fifty thousand.

If the Barbarian Slave Soldiers were added, that would make two hundred and fifty thousand troops!

With these two hundred thousand troops, not to mention attacking a small country, even directly assaulting the Great Xia Dynasty would not be out of the question.

Of course, to win a war of conquest, it was not just about having more soldiers; logistics were also crucial.

So, Mu Changtian believed that Lu Chen was planning to continue conserving his strength, waiting for the right moment.

Just then, Mu Changtian suddenly thought of something and immediately said to Lu Chen, “My Prince, the war has ended. If the Imperial Court becomes aware that you command tens of thousands of Heavy Cavalry, some might harbor designs on your wife and children. The most urgent task is to immediately send someone to bring the Princess and the others back to North City, or to send someone to Anping City to protect them.”

Lu Chen immediately understood what Mu Changtian meant.

Heavy Cavalry in this era not only symbolized combat power but also represented a strong comprehensive strength, because creating a Heavy Cavalry required many resources, and maintaining one also cost a great deal of money.

The entire Great Xia did not have fifty thousand Heavy Cavalry, yet just North City alone had so many, which would inevitably arouse the Imperial Court’s fear.

At that time, the Imperial Court might suggest that the Sum Emperor bring Lu Chen’s wife or children to the Capital city as hostages to prevent Lu Chen from rebelling.

Using a Seignior’s children as hostages was the most common approach by the Imperial Court.

Previously, the Sum Emperor would not do so because Lu Chen seemed inept, and there was no need to take his children as hostages.

Now things were different, as the troops of North City, led by Lu Chen, not only killed two hundred thousand Barbarian soldiers but also captured another hundred thousand from the Barbarian Army.

This had reached the point where one’s merits could overshadow their master.

Even if Lu Chen was the Sum Emperor’s son, the Sum Emperor would now be wary, and he might, taking advantage of Lu Chen being caught off guard, directly bring Lu Chen’s wife and children from Anping City to the Capital city as hostages.

Lu Chen then said to Xuanyuan Chen, “General Xuanyuan, you immediately lead five thousand Black Cavalry, together with Captain Mu, and head south to bring back all members of my family to Yan County.”

People in Anping City were still unaware that he possessed Heavy Cavalry, so they would likely be vigilant about Xuanyuan Chen’s identity, thus Lu Chen planned to have Mu Jingwu also go south to bring back Mu Zixuan and the others, to prevent the Imperial Court from targeting his children later on.

Upon hearing Lu Chen’s order, Xuanyuan Chen and Mu Jingwu immediately responded, “Yes, Prince!”

They then mounted their horses and rode away.

At the same time.

Lin Xiuming and his troops, numbering seventy thousand, were fast approaching Wanning Valley.

In order to arrive at Yan County before the Barbarian Army did, they were traveling day and night, hardly resting at all.

The soldiers were now beginning to doze off even as they marched.

At that moment, a soldier spotting the city gates in the distance, immediately shouted, “We’ve arrived! We have finally reached Yan County!”

Lin Xiuming’s expression was stern as he frowned deeply; he did not relax despite having reached Yan County.

Entering Yan County was the most crucial step, as no one knew if the city was already occupied by the Barbarian Tribe at this time.

Lin Xiuming immediately shouted, “Stay vigilant! Scouts, go scout ahead!”

As his words echoed, several dozen Cavalry headed toward the south gate of Yan County.

To defend against the Barbarians, most of Yan County’s soldiers were at the north gate, leaving only a few at the south gate.

When the soldiers guarding the southern gate saw the Imperial Army approaching, they were immediately alarmed.

The soldiers of Yan County were not foolish; they knew very well that some things about the North Prince should not be displayed, as it could lead to serious trouble with the Imperial Court if it found out.

The squad leader guarding the gate immediately said to his men, “Quick! Go inform the Prince that the Imperial Army has arrived!”

The guard did not hesitate to mount a fast horse and rode toward the north gate.