After Zhang Lin reported the situation, the messenger pigeon arrived swiftly. Roughly four hours later, they received a reply from the Bureau of Military Personnel.
The royal court wasn't aware of the situation with the Iron Cloak Highwaymen. Even the royal court was shocked by the number of bandits and highwaymen that numbered six to seven hundred.
On top of that, the death toll of forty men also left the royal court silent for a very long time.
To deal with seven hundred bandits and highwaymen with eighty men, not to mention that there were quite a number of True Martial realm highwaymen and highwaymen among them, not to mention, there was also a highwayman like Iron Cloak Li.
Under normal circumstances, these eighty people would basically be completely annihilated. They would definitely die.
Without a doubt, there was a huge problem with the situation at the Bureau of Military Personnel.
Yet, despite the faulty intelligence, Wang Chong and the others had only paid the price of forty men to kill nearly three hundred bandits, including Iron Cloak Li and Zhou An, as well as the entire Iron Cloak Highwaymen. This was a feat that even the Bureau of Military Personnel was shocked by.
For this mission, the Bureau of Military Personnel had stipulated that each party couldn't lose more than six men. Forty deaths was already far beyond this standard.
However, this number of deaths occurred in the second phase of the mission, and it was due to the faulty intelligence of the Bureau of Military Personnel. At the same time, Iron Cloak Li and Zhou An had been killed as well.
Thus, the Bureau of Military Personnel decided to disregard the deaths in the second phase of the mission. Everyone who participated in the mission would be given a basic contribution, and once Wang Chong and the others entered the military, they would be promoted through the accumulation of nobility.
On top of that, the Bureau of Military Personnel had dispatched men to collect the corpses of the fallen soldiers as quickly as possible. Everyone would be buried according to the standards of a soldier who had died on the battlefield.
"Great!"
Seeing the reply from the royal court, Xu Gan, Huang Yongtu, and Zhang Lin were delighted.
In this mission, Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu had been ambushed by the Iron Cloak Highwaymen, and they had lost more than twenty men. This was a grave violation of the rules of the mission.
Along the way, everyone's hearts had been hanging by a thread since yesterday.
Now that the royal court had decided not to pursue the matter, the duo could finally heave a sigh of relief.
Furthermore, the reward that the royal court was going to give them was something that even Xu Gan found hard to contain.
How many scions of the prestigious clans had ever earned any contribution?
Among the Four Nine Sects, at least ninety-nine percent of the disciples of the aristocratic families were destined to have no fate with battle merits. The two of them hadn't even entered the battlefield yet, but they had already accumulated a battle achievement. This was extremely worthy of celebration.
Just this point alone was enough for the two of them to have a much higher starting point than the other scions of the capital.
Don't underestimate this little bit. When accumulated, it would be very shocking.
The simplest example would be a major victory. One of them was a squad leader, and the other was a squad leader. Both of them had participated in the battle. When the battle ended, who would have contributed more?
A little advantage would snowball in the future.
In Shangjing, there was no one who did not understand this point.
As for Zhang San …
He was most gratified and happy that all the brothers who died in battle could receive the same treatment and pension as regular soldiers who died on the battlefield.
In this aspect, he was different from Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu.
"This can be considered an explanation!"
Wang Chong was gratified to see this. He was still thinking that if the Bureau of Military Personnel didn't agree to it, he could make use of the relationship between The King of Song and Big Uncle to facilitate this matter. However, from the looks of it now, there was no need for that.
Even though the Tang dynasty was on the decline, the military still maintained a clear and bright demeanor.
"Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu, where do you intend to go next? Are you returning to the capital or continuing on? "
Wang Chong suddenly asked as he took two steps forward.
There was a moment of silence on the hill.
The letter from the Bureau of Military Personnel had provided them with two options.
First, they had completed the first two phases of the mission, and Iron Cloak Li had already been killed. On top of that, they had suffered heavy casualties, so the Bureau of Military Personnel suggested that they could return to the capital immediately if they were willing to.
Second, due to the severe situation the royal court was in, they were unable to spare any manpower for the time being. As such, they were in dire need of reinforcements in Longxi.
If they were willing to, they could continue on with the third phase of the mission, which was to assist the royal court in defeating an army of the Ouzan.
Due to the fact that they were fighting against a regular army, there was a certain degree of danger to them. In fact, the danger level was even higher than that of Iron Cloak Li, whom Wang Chong had killed.
Thus, the suggestion from the Bureau of Military Personnel was that the four of them shouldn't participate in the mission.
However, if the four of them were to participate in the mission, the royal court would reward them with the chance to graduate from the training camps and officially enter the army.
"Wang Chong, what about you? Will you return to the capital, or will you continue on with the third phase of the mission? "
Instead of revealing his choice, Xu Gan asked Wang Chong.
As soon as Xu Gan said those words, Huang Yongtu and Bai Siling immediately turned their gazes to Wang Chong.
Ever since the incident with the Iron Cloak Highwaymen, even though no one had spoken of it on the surface, they had formed a tacit agreement to follow Wang Chong's lead.
"Me?"
Sensing the gazes of the crowd, Wang Chong pointed a finger at himself, chuckled, and immediately said:
"Is there a need to ask? Of course I'll continue on with the third phase of the mission."
His words were resolute, and there was an air of domineeringness and incomparable confidence in him that made those around him subconsciously trust him.
Even though the letter from the Bureau of Military Personnel stated that the third phase of the mission was above the second phase, it was actually the easiest for Wang Chong.
Eighty versus seven hundred!
Even if the third phase was the most difficult, there wouldn't be such a disparity of nearly ten times. Furthermore, there wouldn't be a freak like Iron Cloak Li, who possessed the Iron Cloak Technique and was invulnerable to swords and spears, turning the tides of battle around singlehandedly.
As long as these two situations didn't occur …
In terms of military strength, even if the Ouzan outnumbered them, Wang Chong wouldn't be too concerned about it.
In terms of strategy and tactics, it was simply too easy for Wang Chong.
This was completely different from what the Bureau of Military Personnel knew of.
Not to mention, the letter from the Bureau of Military Personnel also mentioned a reward that caught Wang Chong's interest.
Once the mission was completed, the four of them would be able to command an army several times stronger than them after they graduate from the training camp.
There weren't many people who knew of this reward yet, and most of them found it to be a fresh experience. However, Wang Chong couldn't be more familiar with it.
This was a special reward for the scions of the prestigious clans!
In the future, there would be a large number of such rewards. This was a shortcut for the scions of the prestigious clans to swiftly rise in ranks.
The royal court wouldn't allocate any additional manpower to them. Only the scions of the prestigious clans would be able to choose from their own clans.
The purpose of this was to save manpower from the royal court. At the same time, they could make use of the capability of the prestigious clans to recruit top-notch experts to strengthen the military.
This was killing two birds with one stone!
On the other hand, while the scions of the prestigious clans would have to deploy their own experts to guard the army, it wasn't a problem for the prestigious clans to do so.
On the other hand, if the scions of the prestigious clans were allowed to deploy their own experts into the military, their safety would be further guaranteed. At the same time, the contributions of the experts of the prestigious clans would go to them.
This way, the number of nobles they could be promoted would increase significantly.
This was something that they could only dream of.
This was much better than having the royal court assign soldiers to them!
In the future, this would be a policy that both the prestigious clans and the royal court would be satisfied with, and it would be beneficial to the nation. However, it wasn't easy to obtain such a privilege.
In order to vie for this opportunity to increase the strength of the prestigious clans by an order of magnitude, countless prestigious clans had been vying with one another. This was an opportunity that had been delivered to them.
If there were no surprises, this was the first batch!
How could Wang Chong let go of such an opportunity?
"Hahaha, that makes things simple. Since you're participating, I'll be participating as well. "
Xu Gan chuckled heartily as he made up his mind.
"Hehe, of course I'll be joining in as well."
Huang Yongtu chuckled dryly as he made his stand clear.
Wang Chong, Xu Gan, and Huang Yongtu turned their gazes toward Bai Siling. At this point, the only one who had yet to express his stand was Bai Siling.
"Hmph, of course I'll be following you!"
Bai Siling reached out her hand and gracefully brushed aside a strand of her hair.
"Ever since I started following you, I've never suffered a loss. I'm afraid that even my uncles in the clan will be envious of this sum of several million gold taels. There must be a reason why you're so eager to carry out the third mission. It can't be that you're thinking of getting rid of me, right? "
As she spoke, she shot an unfriendly glance at Wang Chong.
"How would I dare?"
With a bitter smile, Wang Chong hurriedly shrugged. Bai Siling's thoughts sure were simple, crude, and direct. But then again, she was right on this point.
One wouldn't wake up early without benefits!
It wasn't as if he had nothing better to do. It was only because there was something to be gained that he was willing to carry out the third mission. From this point of view …
The intuition of a woman sure was fearsome!
"Hehe, don't look at me like that. Wherever you go, we'll follow. As soldiers, there's no such thing as rest before we officially retire. It's the duty of a soldier to follow orders. Even if you go back, we'll still be transferred there. "
Seeing that everyone was looking at their own people, Zhang San immediately waved his hand and helped them speak up in advance.
The reply from the royal court didn't mention anything about their choice at all. Without a doubt, this was a clear indication of the problem.
Hearing those words, Wang Chong remained impassive. To him, Zhang Lin's reply was as natural as it could be. Since he already knew the answer, he didn't bother asking.
Only Bai Siling's eyes flashed with a hint of pity.
They had gone through thick and thin together, and they had nearly died in the hands of the Iron Cloak Highwaymen. Bai Siling hated the idea of them risking their lives. It would be a good thing if even one of them could leave.
But Zhang Lin's words had already revealed the problem.
Thus, Bai Siling could only sigh deeply in her heart.
Soon, they came to a consensus!
Wang Chong, Xu Gan, Huang Yongtu, Bai Siling, Zhang Lin, and the forty or so surviving Tang dynasty cavalrymen hurriedly set off for Longxi.
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