Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 816: Chapter 611: King Da Liang and Prince Dai (Part 2)

”Hmm!”

Niu Zhuang nodded and said.

After finalizing their plan, the two immediately arranged for soldiers to transport provisions to Beiyuan Town.

Three hundred thousand shí of provisions was a lot, enough to feed a hundred thousand troops for a year, but placed in Long Yuan, this amount of food was merely a drop in the bucket.

How many starving people are there in Long Yuan?

It’s estimated to be two to three million!

Although many have starved to death in Long Yuan over the past two years, Long Yuan is a province, and during peaceful times, its population reached over eight million.

Now the population of Long Yuan is reduced to only twenty to thirty percent of that, yet it is still a very large number.

With reinforcements from Chongshan Town, Zhou Lan has taken control of the two prefectures, but from now on she can no longer advance.

It’s not just that the provisions are insufficient; the troops she leads are also inadequate, as she needs to split forces to settle the refugees everywhere.

Compared to her, Suzhou Town and Longbei Town progressed much faster; in just three months, the forces of these towns rounded up hundreds of thousands of bandits like sweeping leaves from courtyards, chasing the bandits everywhere.

As for whether they killed bandits or refugees, at this moment, no one really cared.

...

Longnan Dai State.

Outside, more than two hundred thousand bandits besieged Dai State City, with their encampment stretching over ten miles.

This group of bandits is probably the largest in the Long Yuan Three Provinces. Compared to those mobs, these bandits not only have orderly camps but also a lot of armored soldiers.

And the leader of this group is none other than the infamous King Da Liang.

King Da Liang is not referring to the King of Da Liang, but rather because this band’s leader was originally the bandit leader of Da Liang Mountain.

When bandit leaders rise up, they give themselves intimidating nicknames—Black Tiger King, Nine Heavens King, King Da Liang, and so on—and these nicknames become formidable names.

When they grow strong, as long as they reveal their name, many woodland bandits come to join them.

Generally, bandits do not use their real names to avoid implicating family and friends.

King Da Liang is a knowledgeable man; he was born into a military household, his ancestors even served as a Guerrilla General. However, the family estate was long squandered by his ancestors, leaving him merely an ordinary military household.

When young, he was a horse trader, selling horses from Longbei Town in the south and traveling across regions for years, accruing some wealth. But later, his wealth was taken by his superior household.

On that day, he happened to be out trading horses, and the superior household brought a few servants to his home, accused him of a random crime, and began to confiscate his property.

His elderly mother tried to intervene but was severely beaten, and his wife tried to protect his mother and was beaten as well.

By the time he returned home, his mother had already died, and his wife was barely alive.

In a fit of rage, he broke into the household of the superior and killed all thirteen members.

Since then, he turned to banditry.

Initially, he was merely a small-time bandit, but after wandering across regions for years, not only was he resourceful and experienced, he also achieved cultivation and became a Martial Artist.

The leader saw promise in him and married his daughter to him.

Later, when his father-in-law was killed by guards during a robbery, he naturally became the mountain king of Da Liang Mountain.

He entrenched himself on Da Liang Mountain, acting as a bandit for ten years, nurtured hundreds of veteran bandits, and gained significant notoriety in the Green Forest Circuit of Longnan.

Then the drought came.

Chaos ensued in the Long Yuan Three Provinces, and he led his old brothers down the mountain to pillage.

Initially, he only planned to loot some money and food to keep his brothers fed.

But unexpectedly, more and more people came to seek refuge, and in just half a year, the number of his followers grew from a few hundred to over twenty thousand.

With more followers, the food became insufficient.

Moreover, he couldn’t send people away, or else his prestige would sharply decline.

With no options, he continued to lead his followers in raiding.

Previously, he targeted wealthy households, but now they couldn’t satisfy his needs, so he chose to attack cities.

After capturing the first county city, the number of his bandits reached fifty thousand. The first prefecture capital captured, his bandits reached one hundred thousand.

Like a snowball, the number of bandits under his command grew larger, now totaling over two hundred thousand.

And unlike other bandits who drag along a crowd of displaced civilians, he only accepted young and strong men, not the elderly, women, and children. It’s not that he was heartless, but he truly couldn’t support so many people.

He ravaged almost half of the cities in western Longnan, and now he arrived outside Dai State City.

Standing before the tent, King Da Liang gazed at the sturdy walls of Dai State City, his rugged face filled with solemnity.

This is already the twentieth day of the siege of Dai State City; the corpses piled outside the walls are three feet high, yet they still haven’t captured this fortified city.

”Report, King! Thirty catapults are ready, General Su asks whether to launch the assault now?”

A bandit came to report.

Though they are bandits, they have an organized structure.

Calling them bandits now seems a bit inappropriate; they’ve already evolved into an army.

King Da Liang not only reorganized the bandits under his command but also trained over forty thousand elite forces, including leaders, armored soldiers, archers, and even three thousand cavalry, training them in Military Array.

This rebel army might not compare to the border army, but they certainly far outmatch the garrison soldiers.

They’ve even learned to make catapults, and they can likewise manufacture other siege machinery.

”Troops, march out, prepare to assault!”

With a command from King Da Liang, horns blared and drums sounded over the ten miles around.

Tens of thousands of troops moved toward Dai State City, surrounding it tightly.

On the city walls, Prince Dai, Chen Zhaoxuan, dirt-faced, gazed at the assembling rebel army outside, his eyes filled with fatigued that could not be hidden.

Yes, this Dai State is Chen Zhaoxuan’s domain.

After Chen Zhaojun ascended the throne, he came to this Dai State City for his duties.

Being a Prince of Da Rong is frankly insubstantial, devoid of any real power.

However, Chen Zhaoxuan did not care about such things, as long as no one disturbed his cultivation—he could remain in the Royal Mansion day in and day out without leaving.

Matters of the court were none of his concerns; the chaos caused by bandits was not his responsibility.

Thus, over these two years, he has steadily cultivated within Dai State City.

Yet he never thought bandits would attack Dai State City.

And then he was besieged within Dai State City.

Dai State City did not have many soldiers, only thirty thousand civilians, two thousand garrison soldiers that are of little use, and a few hundred Royal Mansion guards.

Facing two hundred thousand bandits besieging the city, Chen Zhaoxuan could only rally the city’s civilians to defend.

The battle has lasted twenty days, and the soldiers and civilians within the city have reached the end of their resources.

If it weren’t for Prince Dai himself taking to the trenches to defend, Dai State City might not have held out till now.

”Prince, we fear we cannot hold for a few more days!” Deputy Magistrate Liang Zhiman approached Chen Zhaoxuan and spoke in a low voice.

The highest official present is Liang Zhiman, as for the Prefect—well, before bandits arrived at Dai State City, the Prefect had already fled upon receiving news.

By the time Chen Zhaoxuan got word, the rebel army was already at the city’s doorstep.

”Do we have any reinforcements?” Chen Zhaoxuan asked somewhat pitifully.

Honestly, he didn’t quite understand why it turned out like this.

Although now over thirty, he never cared about politics, nor about public welfare. He only cared about his cultivation.

Would you say he was at fault?

Perhaps, or perhaps not.

In Da Rong, for a Prince to interfere in court or local administrations is taboo—someone like him might be the easiest Prince for everyone else.

He’s merely a martial enthusiast, a simple martial enthusiast.

”No reinforcements!” Liang Zhiman replied with a bitter tone.

Where would reinforcements come from in Longnan?

The forces of Beiyuan Town are still in Long Yuan, those of Suzhou Town and Longbei Town are still in Longxi, and fundamentally, there’s not a single reliable official troop in Longnan.

Chen Zhaoxuan silently gazed at the rebel army preparing to assault from outside the city.

Liang Zhiman whispered: ”Prince, your cultivation is great; you can break out from the north gate!”

”And what of you?” Chen Zhaoxuan’s voice was a bit husky.

His personal escape wouldn’t be too difficult; now he had attained Postnatal Seventh Layer cultivation, and while the rebel army also had Martial Artists, none were very strong.