Tian Chang was executed, and the vassals and private soldiers who followed him all had to die. Only those on the fringes and the most ordinary farmers could survive.
Several thousand soldiers capable of bearing armor died in this internal struggle. Although the three-state allied army suffered far fewer losses in killing them than the already routed Tian Clan army, its casualties were still considerable.
And this was only the beginning. After executing Tian Chang, Lü Jing declared in high spirits, "Marquis of Yan, Crown Prince, Tian Chang has been executed, but his accomplices are still alive, along with the treacherous ministers who cooperated with him. Only by executing them as soon as possible can we return home to handle the aftermath."
Handle the aftermath? It was nothing more than returning home for another round of killing.
After this battle, Qi State was certain to suffer a severe loss of strength, and that was with an ambush in Yan State and a slaughter in the open field. Had they truly fought a civil war from fortified cities within Qi State, it would probably have dragged on for ages and reduced Qi State to a barren wasteland.
This was already the method that depleted the state's strength the least.
Something this momentous could not possibly be concealed, and word soon spread throughout the All Xia states.
This was a time of fierce competition between the power of rulers and ministers. Such things happened not only in Qi State, but in the other states as well.
Nothing in this world ever happened in isolation. Any small event could ultimately have an immense impact somewhere else.
The magnitude of the reaction this affair provoked went far beyond a ruler executing an overmighty minister. When word reached Zheng State, its High Minister Clans were