The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  Upon careful inspection, there were sixty or seventy different birds looking down from the air. With just a rough glance, Wang Chong was able to distinguish the rock eagle of the Western Regions, the Turkic hunting hawk, the Goguryeon gyrfalcon, the Tibetan vulture, and even the Mengshe Zhao stork.

  Chapter 714: The City of Steel I

  Chapter 714: The City of Steel (I)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "It seems like quite a few people are watching the construction of our city, huh?"

  Wang Chong looked up at the sky with a smirk.

  "It's not just these spying birds. From the very first day, the number of Western Regioners, Turks, Tibetans, Arabians, Characenians, and Goguryeons that appear each day around the fief have been uncountable. They might disguise themselves as jewel merchants from the Western Regions, horse bandits, or Arabian weapon merchants, and they constantly watch and investigate. We've already driven away many batches, but they just keep on coming."

  As Zhang Shouzhi spoke, he glanced worriedly into the distance.

  Wang Chong's expression was calm as he followed Zhang Shouzhi's glance. As expected, several li from here, a few small figures were standing on a hill, watching.

  "Lord Marquis, why don't we gather the troops and drive these people away?" Zhang Shouzhi said.

  "Haha, there's no need," Wang Chong lightly said with a careless expression, waving his hand.

  "When someone builds a city, people will always be watching. You can never kill them all. As long as the Tibetans, Turks, Arabians, and Characenians are intent on it, they'll send an endless stream of scouts to bring information. Let them be."

  Wang Chong's demeanor was relaxed, and his expression inspired confidence in others. Both the birds overhead and the scouts in the surrounding area were at best vexing mosquitoes. Since he had dared to build a city here, he wasn't afraid of anyone coming to gather intelligence.

  "But, Lord Marquis, there is another piece of news that this old man doesn't know if he should speak about?"

  Zhang Shouzhi hesitated, a look of apprehension in his eyes.

  "Oh?"

  With a flash of his eyes, Wang Chong turned around toward Zhang Shouzhi. After spending so much time with Zhang Shouzhi, experiencing life and death with him, he had developed the impression of Zhang Shouzhi as a straightforward and forthright man. He would never hesitate or be so filled with worries.

  "What's wrong? What can't you say in front of me?"

  "We can put aside the Tibetans, Arabians, and Turks. After all, those can all be expected, as our location is too special, wedged right in between all of them. But in this period of time, we've also discovered scouts from Beiting, Anxi, Qixi, and Longxi. Lord Marquis, this isn't good for us!" Zhang Shouzhi said, a deep worry shrouding his face.

  The Beiting Protectorate, Anxi Protectorate, Qixi Protectorate, and Longxi's Big Dipper Army—only those of the Great Tang understood the meaning of these names.

  Wang Chong's rise in the war of the southwest had earned him the attention of all the foreign countries, but if Beiting, Anxi, Qixi, and Longxi were also sending people over, then this was an ill omen.

  Wang Chong's brow slightly furrowed and he instantly fell quiet.

  Beiting was An Sishun, Anxi was Gao Xianzhi, Qixi was Fumeng Lingcha, and Longxi was Geshu Han. These people were all influential Great Generals of the empire who wielded considerable authority and status in both the military and the Imperial Court.

  For an ordinary person to obtain the attention of just one of these people was extremely difficult, but Wang Chong had earned the attention of four at the same time.

  The Regional Commanders incident!

  With this thought, Wang Chong understood.

  The four Great Generals usually kept to their own areas, rarely dealing with each other in private. In truth, the empire harshly forbade these powerful Great Generals from privately colluding.

  But even so, these four all shared a common trait. In the Regional Commanders incident, Wang Chong had submitted a memorial that had thoroughly offended all of them.

  In turn, these four had all submitted memorials to the court requesting Wang Chong's execution and causing him to be jailed in the imperial prison.

  They're waiting for the opportunity to settle their grudges! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  In the Regional Commanders incident, he had been in the distant capital, protected by his clan. Not even Great Generals like Geshu Han or Fumeng Lingcha had many means of seizing him. But now was different. He was now in Wushang, establishing his fief and placing a city at the intersection of their four factions. With the temper of these four, it would be stranger if they simply allowed him to construct a city right under their eyes.

  Although Wushang was close to the Silk Road, it also occupied a unique geographic position. Several hundred li to its left was the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, where the Tibetan armored cavalry could descend.

  Five hundred li to the northeast was the border of the Western Turkic Khaganate, the territory of the Ishbara Khagan1. Although it was around five hundred li away, this distance was nothing for cavalry.

  If one followed the Silk Road to the northwest for about one thousand li, one would find the Anxi Protectorate, ruled by Anxi Protector-General Gao Xianzhi.

  This road was truly too important, so any movement to build a city on the Silk Road would receive the attention of all factions.

  The Imperial Court had established the Qixi Protectorate in this area to fend off the Western Turkic Khaganate to the east and the Ü-Tsang Empire to the west. With the additional protection of the Anxi and Beiting Protectorates and the assistance of Longxi's Big Dipper Army, the Qixi Protectorate was completely capable of protecting the trade on the Silk Road.

  But Wang Chong just so happened to have offended the Protector-Generals of these protectorates.

  It was hard to say if these people might play some tricks while Wang Chong was constructing his city!

  If any Tibetans or Turks came to attack, it was difficult to say if they would help. To put it more plainly, there was a high possibility that these Protector-Generals would allow the Tibetans and Turks through.

  After all, the defensive line was very long, so they couldn't be criticized for letting a force slip by!

  These were problems that Wang Chong had to consider.

  "Relax. There won't be too big of a problem!"

  To Zhang Shouzhi's surprise, Wang Chong only smiled and quickly returned to normal.

  "Since we dared to build a city at Wushang, we have to be completely prepared. Right now, the City of Steel is still in its early stages and I was only recently made a marquis, so everyone is paying attention to this matter. Even if Geshu Han, Gao Xianzhi, Fumeng Lingcha, or An Sishun had any ideas, they wouldn't dare show their hands now. It would be too obvious. They're all Great Generals, hegemons of their respective areas, so they would never make such a childish mistake.

  "No matter how uncomfortable or discontent they are, they will be forced to protect our surrounding borders for now!"

  High status had its advantages, but also its problems. Gao Xianzhi, Geshu Han, Fumeng Lingcha, and An Sishun were Imperial Great Generals of noble status, but this also meant that their every action was watched by society. There were many things that they could never do, at least not too obviously.

  "This… really is the case!"

  Zhang Shouzhi nodded. As the master architect of the Imperial Palace, he had interacted with many officials and nobles, so he had a little inkling of court politics. Thus, he knew what Wang Chong said was a fact.

  No matter how these Great Generals loathed Wang Chong, they had to stomach it for now. Not only that, they had to think of a way to protect him. Otherwise, if something were to happen to him, even the Sage Emperor would blame them.

  There was no getting around the fact that Wang Chong's fief was being watched by countless people.

  "But even
if this is the case, this is only for the beginning. Our city in Wushang is still their territory. After this period of time passes, what should we do?" Zhang Shouzhi said.

  The Silk Road was long, very, very long. Although Wang Chong seemed to have randomly picked this location, that was absolutely not the case. The caravans of the Silk Road would only think about resting at this place if they had both traversed a long distance and were also facing a long journey over barren deserts with no other places to rest.

  Consequently, if Wang Chong's city wanted to obtain the favor of those caravans, he couldn't be too close to other cities or villages.

  There weren't many locations fulfilling these criteria.

  And of these places, Wushang was the best!

  First was that it was very far from the capital, meaning that caravans would be very tired when they arrived. Upon passing Wushang, they would arrive at the nearby Qixi, and near that was a vast desert.

  'Qi' meant desert, which was where the name 'Qixi' came from.

  The influence of the desert meant that the weather was arid and hot, easily provoking fatigue. It was obvious that the greatest product for resupply in this city would be water, that most essential of substances.

  If a city were to appear here where people could rest and obtain more food and water, this would be every merchant's dream.

  From the other side, even the merchants from the Abbasid Caliphate, Charax Spasinu, and the Western Regions would want to rest here, taking in more supplies and resting their minds. Because upon leaving this place, it would be a long journey to the Great Tang capital, with very few places to take on supplies.

  Moreover, the existences of the Ü-Tsang Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate made Wang Chong's City of Steel even more precious, as it could provide a safe harbor in times of difficulty.

  Thus, Wang Chong truly did not have many choices for the location of his fief.

  Zhang Shouzhi knew of Wang Chong's ambitions, and he also knew that the construction of this city was not solely for making a little money. Lion City in the southwest was already enough proof of that.

  Anyone who had believed that Wang Chong was building that city only for money was a fool, and Mengshe Zhao had clearly been exactly that kind of fool.

  But everything had its price.

  Since Wang Chong had made his decision to build a city here, the dangers present were the price that he had to consider.

  "Haha, relax. There's a solution for every problem. I've already planned for everything. As long as we can get through this initial phase, I'll have a big surprise waiting for them."

  Wang Chong patted Zhang Shouzhi on the shoulder, utterly unconcerned.

  In Wushang Village, Li Siye was already beginning to recruit soldiers. Wang Chong had already taught him the methods to train the 'Wushang Cavalry'. Li Siye would be spending a long period of time in the village, and only when the basic training was complete would he leave Wushang Village for the City of Steel.

  To tell the truth, Wang Chong found himself rather anticipating the first performance of the 'Wushang Cavalry' in this world!

  Zhang Shouzhi was left perplexed. Wang Chong's plans were always so farsighted that even though he had spent so long with him, he could never tell what made Wang Chong so confident. But even in his doubt, there was one thing that Zhang Shouzhi could be sure of.

  Wang Chong had already planned for everything. This was the crux!

  Although Zhang Shouzhi wasn't a military man, just like the soldiers, his long time with Wang Chong had made him develop an extremely deep trust in Wang Chong.

  ______________

  1. The Ishbara Khagan, whose personal name was Ashina Helu, was historically the last Khagan of the Western Turkic Khaganate. During the era of Emperor Gaozong, in 658, the Tang general Su Dingfeng defeated him at the Battle of Irtysh River and brought him back to the Tang capital, bringing an end to the khaganate.

  Chapter 715: The City of Steel II

  Chapter 715: The City of Steel (II)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "Understood. Leave the city to me," Zhang Shouzhi deferentially said.

  "Mm."

  Wang Chong nodded and smiled. As he looked up to the sky, yet another set of blue-green birds unfurled their wings and flew into the air over the City of Steel.

  With Wang Chong's appearance, more and more birds had begun to appear in the skies.

  Wang Chong shook his head and put the matter aside. With a smile, he set off for his next destination.

  Gallop!

  However, not even Wang Chong noticed that as he turned his head and walked away, five or six li to the north of the City of Steel, a fully-armored horseman glanced in Wang Chong's direction and turned to the northwest.

  "It's about time to report to Milord!"

  The warhorse set off, and that horseman who had the clear traits of a Hu vanished into a cloud of dust. After following the official road to the Western Regions for several hundred li, the horseman left the path and entered a gorgeous and magnificent palace of a dark golden hue.

  A black nameboard had been placed above the gate to the palace, two words clearly written upon it.

  'Qixi Protectorate'!

  This was the famous protectorate guarding against Ü-Tsang to the west and the Western Turkic Khaganate to the east, the Great Tang's crucial fortification on the road to the Western Regions, the Qixi Protectorate.

  Wang Chong's fief of Wushang and the city he was building were closest to the Qixi Protectorate.

  "Hmph, clearly knowing that Qixi is my territory yet still daring to place his fief here, his boldness is truly even greater than the heavens. Only a year has passed. Does he really think I've forgotten the Regional Commanders incident so quickly?"

  In the vast palace, a figure loomed like a lurking dragon, sitting upon a throne of metal fretwork. His body exuded a powerful aura as vast as the seas.

  Fumeng Lingcha, the rearmost of the Great Tang's Protector-Generals in the northwest, yet also the most powerful of them all!

  Qixi Protectorate was not the foremost of the protectorates, but whether it was Anxi Protectorate, Beiting Protectorate, or Longxi's Big Dipper Army, the moment they found themselves unable to handle the situation, the most reliable and most prompt reinforcements would be from the Qixi Protectorate.

  And the existence of Fumeng Lingcha also meant that the areas around him did not need to fight a multi-front battle where they were being attacked from both the front and back.

  Put simply, Fumeng Lingcha controlled the 'throat'.

  This unique power meant that Gao Xianzhi, Geshu Han, and An Sishun dared not offend him.

  In addition, Fumeng Lingcha was very old, and he had made his name far earlier than the younger three Great Generals. He had a prestigious reputation amongst the Hu, similar to that of Zhang Shougui or Wang Zhongsi amongst the Han.

  It was precisely because Fumeng Lingcha gave the signal that so many Hu generals sent memorials during the Regional Commanders incident requesting Wang Chong's execution.

  But Fumeng Lingcha had never expected that after only a year, not only had the 'archcriminal' not kept his distance, but had run straight into the spear, building a city right before his eyes. This was no longer simple daring or boldness. This was a challenge, a humiliation.

  Not even Geshu Han or An Sishun dared to act so brashly, but this was what the youngest son of the Wang Clan was doing.

  "Milord, the youngest son of the Wang Clan was just made a marquis and was also bestowed a courtesy name by the Son of Heaven. He is currently at the height of his influence, and the matter of his fief obtained the confirmation of both the Sage Emperor and the Imperial Court. With these two granting their permission, it will be very difficult for us to do anything against him!"

  To Fumeng Lingcha's left was a strong and imposing general, clearly of Hu stock.

  The city that Wang Chong was building in Wushang was only several hundred li
from Qixi. If one had to point to the group most unhappy about this, it would not be the Protector-Generals like Fumeng Lingcha, but the Hu generals along the border.

  Although the Sage Emperor had passed the proposal for the Regional Commanders, the time period over which the proposal would be carried out had been greatly prolonged, and compared to the original proposal, the status and authority of the Regional Commanders had been greatly downgraded.

  This matter made all the Hu border generals clench their teeth and curse Wang Chong's name. Wang Chong had not only harmed the Hu Protector-Generals like Fumeng Lingcha, he had hampered the advancement opportunities of all the Hu.

  After all, Imperial Great Generals like Fumeng Lingcha would eventually retire, and all the Hu generals had a chance of taking these spots.

  Wang Chong's appearance in Qixi made all the Hu generals anxious to kill him. The only problem was that none of them could cross the threshold that was the Imperial Court.

  "Hmph, I wasn't even afraid of the White-Robed Arab1 Mahad, so why would I be afraid of some immature brat? So what if he has a fief bestowed by the Imperial Court? So what if Wang Jiuling was a Prime Minister of the Great Tang? Qixi is my land! Do you think I can't deal with him?!"

  Fumeng Lingcha sat imposingly upon his throne, his eyes exuding a chill so cold that it cut to the bone.

  A general widened his eyes and hurriedly asked, "Then Milord means…"

  Fumeng Lingcha glared at the general and said, "Hmph, building a city is exhausting and time-consuming. Even two or three years might not be enough for such a task. No matter how fast he is at building his city of steel, it would require at least seven months. The wind is currently blowing in his direction, so I'll give him two months to build his city in peace and quiet. After two months, even the greatest of winds will have died away. That will be the time for me to strike!

  "In addition, send letters to notify Geshu Han and An Sishun. Presumably, those two are also interested in that brat."

  Fumeng Lingcha's gaze suddenly turned extremely profound.

  Flap flap!

  A messenger bird flew down from the skies and through the open window, landing in a refined study within Big Dipper City. The study was full of bookshelves brimming with classics, histories, anthologies, and a few ancient texts.