The dishevelled Right Wise King of the Savage Lands was brought onto the high platform, facing the angry gazes of the soldiers.
It was this man, along with the Left Wise King, who had seized Helan Mountain years ago and later raided Yanzhou, plunging the Great Gan into near collapse!
In the Qilian Mountain region, ten thousand herders were personally ordered by him to be castrated and mute, enslaved, a brutality beyond compare!
"Hand him over to the Deputy Marshal for judgment. I am only here to observe," Lu Yi stated calmly.
"This king wishes to see your Great Gan Emperor!" the Right Wise King, his bravado fading, glared at Liang Xiao.
The soldiers looked at Liang Xiao, hoping he would refuse.
They feared their Emperor's benevolence would spare the Right Wise King, perhaps even making him a surrendered general!
"Do you deserve it?"
Liang Xiao's icy response echoed from the platform.
"Right Wise King! Do you deserve it!"
"The hundreds of thousands of civilians in Yanzhou and Helan Mountain lost to your Savage Lands, and you presume to meet our Emperor!"
The soldiers were enraged.
The Right Wise King’s heart sank. "Marquis An Guo, I concede to you! I can pledge allegiance to the Great Gan Emperor. I will write a letter to the Chieftain and the Left Wise King in the Savage Lands, urging them to surrender, become vassals, pay tribute, and never rebel…"
The soldiers were astonished.
Perhaps the court ministers would be swayed by the Right Wise King's offer!
Liang Xiao merely glanced at him and then chuckled, "Right Wise King of the Savage Lands, Hertiro, you overestimate yourself."
"What do you mean!" the Right Wise King exclaimed in shock and anger.
Liang Xiao gazed north and declared, "This general will soon lead the Great Gan soldiers into the desert, sweeping across the Savage Lands!"
As his voice faded, the soldiers below erupted in thunderous cheers!
"You dare…" The Right Wise King's face was a mask of disbelief, quickly followed by despair.
With such heavy losses, the Savage Lands had little ability to resist, their only hope resting on the harsh desert weather to deter the Great Gan cavalry!
"Therefore, whether your Savage Lands surrender or not is no longer important. But your absence, Right Wise King, is very important to our Great Gan," Liang Xiao said placidly.
"You intend to kill this king?" The Right Wise King was filled with dread, then sighed, "Then grant me a swift death, and let it be by your own hand!"
Liang Xiao finally showed his displeasure, "You wish for a quick death? That would be far too easy for you. After your death, this general will have your body mummified and sealed in bronze, cast into a kneeling statue. From this day forward, in Yanzhou, Helan Mountain, and Yanzhi Mountain, we will rotate its position every year. For all eternity, you will bear the scorn of all!"
"Kneeling in Yanzhou is to confess your crimes to the people of Yanzhou! Kneeling at Helan Mountain is to atone to the people and the ten thousand soldiers there! Kneeling in Yanzhi Mountain is to declare to the world: Those who offend our Great Gan, no matter how distant, will be punished. This hatred shall endure for ten thousand years, and yet only eleven have passed!"
A collective gasp swept through the crowd.
Even Lu Yi was startled.
To be punished even in death? Such a sentence?
This was to condemn him to eternal infamy!
The Right Wise King trembled, finally erupting into a desperate roar, "How can you be so cruel and tyrannical! Are you not afraid this act will tarnish your name in history!"
Liang Xiao's eyes sharpened, "I am cruel and tyrannical? The hundreds of thousands of suffering Great Gan civilians, the infants they impaled and toyed with on their spears, the women they violated and devoured, the men whose skin they flayed alive, where do they seek justice?"
Faced with Liang Xiao's searing question, the Right Wise King’s face turned ashen, leaving him speechless.
The soldiers, initially shocked, were now overcome with sorrow.
They had been so focused on whether Liang Xiao's actions were too harsh, they had nearly forgotten the hundreds of thousands of Yanzhou residents who had met a grim fate!
Lu Yi finally stood up, gritting his teeth, "After the decisive battle at Yanzhou, the people of the Savage Lands were driven from the northern border, but they left behind devastation. In the spring, the swallows returning from the south to the northern Yanzhou found no living households, only nests built in trees! Right Wise King, Hertiro, you deserve ten thousand deaths!"
The Right Wise King was utterly crushed and fainted on the spot, only to be revived by a splash of cold water.
Under the reverent gaze of the soldiers, Liang Xiao personally executed the Right Wise King by hanging at Yanzhi Mountain, offering a sacrifice to the heavens for the fallen Great Gan soldiers and civilians, before ordering the prepared bronze plates to be brought forth to dry and seal the body into a kneeling statue.
From that day on, in three locations within the Great Gan empire – by the Tianjiang tributary in northern Yanzhou, at the Helan Mountain battlefield, and to the northwest of Yanzhi Mountain – a bronze statue of a kneeling figure and an explanatory stone tablet would be moved annually.
Upon learning the history of the statue, the soldiers and civilians of Great Gan cursed incessantly.
Following the execution of the Right Wise King, Liang Xiao also began preparations for his northward campaign.
Inside the military tent were only Liang Xiao and a few individuals who knew the truth about General Tian.
Lu Yi’s face was etched with worry, "Let your uncle go instead. The desert is far too perilous! If anything were to happen to you, uncle would take his own life as penance…"
Few understood better than Lu Yi how crucial Liang Xiao was to Xiao Qing.
It was only as Liang Xiao prepared to depart that Lu Yi's fear finally erupted.
If Liang Xiao were to perish in the desert, the Great Gan imperial family would be finished!
The Great Gan empire could not afford to lose either Liang Xiao or Xiao Qing!
Liang Xiao shook his head, "I must go. I also aim to personally slay the Left Wise King. Uncle, you will guard the northern border and provide support to the western and southwestern fronts at all times, to guard against unforeseen events. The mere desert cannot hold back our soldiers! If necessary, I can also act as General Tian."
His eyesight was excellent, allowing him to survey the distance and provide timely warnings.
Lu Yi sighed at length, finally nodding, and said, "Let's agree on this: for the sake of your wife and children, you must return!"
That treasure was far too important, so important that even his own son was not privy to its existence, and therefore, it must not fall into foreign hands!
With Liang Xiao's current prestige and ability, he was indeed more suited for this mission than Lu Yi, who, along with the Shadow Guards, needed to search for the East Ye Clan’s treasure in Helan Mountain, which was also crucial.
The Great Gan empire could not solely rely on wealth and provisions; it needed extensive improvements to its military equipment, to be distributed nationwide.
The devastating defeat at Helan Mountain and the shame of Yanzhou in the past, and Liang Xiao’s iron resolve today, were enough to tell the world that without strengthening their military, even the wealthiest nation would be at the mercy of others. Without a strong military, how could there be a strong nation? It would only become the enemy’s granary!
The great victory at Yanzhou and the recapture of Helan Mountain, though seemingly achieved with significant losses, no one knew better than Lu Yi that it was inseparable from Liang Xiao’s masterful planning and brilliant strategies.
In a head-on confrontation, the Great Gan would have suffered several times the casualties and would have struggled to annihilate so many enemy forces!
What about other regions without Liang Xiao?
What if enemy nations were to replicate the Great Gan's military equipment in the future?
Nan Jiyun said solemnly, "We swear to protect the Deputy Marshal with our lives!"
Lu Yi finally relaxed and sighed, "An Guo, your son is a born god of war!"
Everyone then chuckled with relief.
Liang Xiao, of course, found it inconvenient to explain his supposed "military genius." The reputation of being from a military family served as an excellent cover.
For this campaign, Lu Yi had also sent out Lu Changhe, partly to avoid suspicion and partly to set an example.
Even the Marshal's eldest son was accompanying Liang Xiao into the desert, which would also serve to boost morale to a certain extent.
Liang Xiao then discussed routes with the others, while also awaiting the arrival of Ding Wuyi, Zuo Wushang, Hong Qu, and others.