City Slaughter

Having learned that they had withstood the massive Song army assault and discovered that Yan Capital, which they had considered decayed, was not quite so vulnerable after all, the officials throughout the court breathed a small sigh of relief.

Some who had endured the entire night and could hold on no longer finally collapsed to rest.

The Song army needed to regroup and paused its attack. People also emerged from the city to take the chance to restore the trenches outside, which had been filled level with corpses.

Inside the city, the disposal of corpses and treatment of the wounded proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Various supplementary defensive installations were hauled onto the walls. Whatever was lacking was taken directly from dismantled civilian homes.

The poor, who normally could scarcely fill their bellies, suddenly discovered that the arrival of this war did not seem entirely bad. All at once, they could eat their fill.

For that, they had Tong Mo to thank. To prevent unrest within the city, Tong Mo forced those great clans and wealthy households to surrender their vast hoarded grain stores. Yan Capital was a place where powerful clans and rich households gathered in droves—the harvest could well be imagined!

Others might not know, but this Grand Secretary knew perfectly well roughly how much grain each household in the city had stockpiled. It was as though he carried an account book in his belly; every grab hit the mark!

Normally, he turned a blind eye. But now his position and power were at stake, and he became ruthless. He directly sent notes ordering them to hand over the specified amounts of grain. Anyone who dared argue had their home searched. Once grain was found, their entire clan was exterminated on charges of harboring treacherous intentions and secretly