The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  In short, there were many legends about him, each of them extremely mysterious.

  The Gangke King had never imagined that this youngest Protector-General of the Great Tang would appear before him.

  So it was him!

  The Gangke King was finding it hard to suppress his shock. He had waited many years for just one chance. If he could get the help of this Qixi Protector-General and the tens of thousands of Tang soldiers, the Gangke people might be able to break away from the Saka. A centuries-long history of humiliation might finally be changed.

  Rumble!

  While he was thinking, the earth began to quake and a fierce wind began to blow. Wang Chong and the Gangke King turned their heads and saw a sandstorm rising out of the west, and within this sandstorm were thousands upon thousands of people.

  The Saka!

  The Gangke King’s feared predictions had come true. Those fleeing Saka had brought back news and gathered a true Saka army. When he saw this immense force covering the horizon, his heart sank like a stone. He had never been worried about his own safety, but the safety of his people.

  “Xue Qianjun, give them the prepared weapons and armor!”

  The Gangke King heard this order, and with it, Xue Qianjun and several dozen Qixi soldiers strode forward and placed metal crates in front of the Gangke King. Opening the crates, he was greeted by gleaming armor and weapons…

  In the distance, the thousands of Saka were rumbling forward, led by a white Saka steed. Its rider was a man of some thirty years, his body muscular and covered in scars: the leader of this army.

  “People of the Great Tang, we Saka have never had any grudges with you, so why must you help the Gangke kill our people?”

  The Saka leader brought several of his subordinates and rode up to parley. He paid no attention to the Gangke King; his eyes were fixed on Wang Chong, vicious and surging with murderous intent.

  The Saka were the strongest mercenaries, and they did not even fear professional armies.

  “Hah.”

  Wang Chong’s lips formed a smile as he slowly trotted his horse forward. As countless people watched on, he slowly revealed his true goal.

  “Because I want to use the Saka to make an announcement. Only death awaits the fickle mercenary tribes! All of them will end up like the Saka!”

  Wang Chong’s declaration was deafening, dumbfounding. Even the Gangke King was flabbergasted. He had believed that Wang Chong had come specifically for him, but only now did he see that Wang Chong’s true goal was the formidable Saka!

  The surroundings were silent, everyone staring at Wang Chong’s domineering figure. His gaze remained fixed on the sea of Saka, his smile slowly receding, his expression turning cold and callous.

  The Saka!

  This was an extremely formidable mercenary tribe of the Western Regions, but their advantages and disadvantages were obvious. They were fickle and untrustworthy. When they took a mercenary contract, if the opposing side offered a higher price, they might tear up the old contract at any time and begin to attack their former employers.

  Through this constant back and forth, the Saka had managed to accumulate enormous wealth, reaching their current prosperity.

  In the Battle of Talas, Wang Chong would face wave after wave of Arabs, each of them formidable and their numbers far outnumbering the garrisons the Great Tang had in the Western Regions. If Wang Chong wanted to defeat them, he needed to hire many loyal mercenaries, not the Karluks, and certainly not the even more shameless Saka.

  Defection in the midst of battle would strike a fatal blow!

  Wang Chong needed to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys, and the Saka were the target of Wang Chong’s first slash. Only after the mercenary tribes of the Western Regions clearly understood the importance of contracts, and understood the price for betraying the Great Tang army, could defections in the midst of battle like that of the Karluks be avoided.

  ______________1. Apparently, in ancient China, monkeys were very afraid of the sight of blood, so when monkey tamers wanted to capture a monkey, they would kill a chicken in front of them. The chicken’s screams and the sight of blood would make the monkeys lose any strength to resist, allowing the monkey tamers to easily capture them.↩

  Chapter 858 - News on the Hyderabad Ore!

  Chapter 858: News on the Hyderabad Ore!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Bastard! Never have any of the leaders of the Great Tang dared to say such words. You will regret them!”

  The Saka leader was so angry that his entire body was trembling. His face darkened as he spat out these words, and then he immediately turned his horse back around.

  “Kill!”

  The thousands of Saka cavalry immediately began to roar, their eyes scarlet and the air seething with killing intent as they charged. The times had already changed. In the past, the Saka would have never dared to recklessly attack a Tang army, at least not with such resolve.

  But with the fearsome Anxi Great General Gao Xianzhi besieged in Talas with his thirty thousand elites and forty thousand allied foreign soldiers, the map of the Western Regions had changed. This was a generation of revolution, and a single Qixi Protector-General was not worth the Saka’s fear.

  After all, this was their home.

  Rumble!

  The warhorses got closer and closer, the thundering hooves placing a heavy pressure on every person’s heart. All the Gangke had just about finished putting on the armor that Wang Chong had given them. Taking up the weapons, they gathered behind the Gangke King.

  Nearby, the five thousand soldiers of the Qixi Protectorate army stood on guard, a lofty and immovable mountain.

  Winds would precede a storm, and all of them understood that they were about to confront a foe of unprecedented power, fight a battle in which they were greatly outnumbered!

  Two hundred paces, one hundred paces, fifty paces…

  The distance was growing smaller and smaller.

  “Kill!”

  The thousands upon thousands of Saka all had vicious expressions, all of them roaring, but when they were at the height of their power, Wang Chong faintly smiled and finally took action. Boom! Halos clanged and clattered in the air, and in the blink of an eye, they had burst blazing brightly out of Wang Chong’s body to sweep over the battlefield.

  The Bane of the Battlefield Halo!

  In a flash of light, Wang Chong had unleashed three Bane of the Battlefield Halos, which engulfed the Saka like a storm. As everyone looked on in shock, the Saka cavalry began to deflate like punctured balloons, their cultivation levels plunging at incredible speeds.

  At this moment, the Saka had faces the color of paper, while all the Gangke were invigorated.

  “Kiiill!”

  In a flash, like a mountainside giving way, the Gangke and the Qixi soldiers suddenly surged forward, charging into the Saka ranks. Other than the best cavalry of the world, no one could defend against three Bane of the Battlefield Halos, and the Saka were no exception.

  “Ah!”

  Under the combined assault of the Qixi Protectorate army and the Gangke, the thirty thousand Saka instantly collapsed, blood and screams filling the air as corpses covered the earth.

  ……

  Three days later, a piece of shocking news spread through the Western Regions.

  The infamous Saka, one of the strongest mercenary tribes of the Western Regions, had been defeated by the Great Tang’s Qixi Protectorate army together with the Gangke Tribe. With the Great Tang’s ardent support, the Gangke had swept through the Saka tribes. The men were killed while the women and children were dragged away, and all the cows, sheep and warhorses were taken away by the Gangke.

  The Gangke that the rest of the Western Regions had called filthy pigs had displayed enormous strength in their battles with the Saka. They were fierce, tenacious, and fearless of death, presenting a completely different Gangke from the ones that they knew. A Gangke with a
rmor, weapons, and a horse could even defeat a Saka in a one-on-one battle.

  All the mercenary tribes of the Western Regions were stunned by this news.

  But the most shocking of all was the proclamation made through the death of the Saka by the Qixi Protector-General backing the Gangke.

  The Saka were exterminated because they were fickle and went back on their oaths. In the Western Regions, any mercenary tribe that went back on their mercenary contract and casually betrayed their employer would end up just like the Saka!

  The news left the countless mercenary tribes quivering in fear, with many of them thinking back on their past conduct in panic. The originally chaotic mercenary situation in the Western Regions was given a massive blow by this event. Meanwhile, the rise of the Gangke made some other mercenary tribes see an enormous chance.

  After the Saka were exterminated, their wealth, women, cows, and sheep were not taken by the Tang, but given to the Tang’s helpers, the Gangke!

  Danger and opportunity went hand in hand, and the mercenary tribes of the Western Regions could see that with Wang Chong’s appearance, things were changing.

  ……

  Time slowly passed. Wang Chong, Li Siye, Chen Bin, Cheng Sanyuan, Su Shixuan, Zhao Jingdian, Xu Qiqin… everyone worked together like parts of a machine, all of them madly whirring and revolving in preparation for the upcoming war against the Arabs.

  The entire world was silent, but in the deepest depths of this silence, thunder was rumbling.

  In the distant northwest, west of the northern Tibetan Plateau, lay Greater and Lesser Balur.

  Rumble!

  A black fortress stood here, with a massive chasm before it and a steep cliff behind it. There was a boom as this city on the easternmost border of Lesser Balur suddenly opened its gate and let down the drawbridge. This bridge was more than one zhang wide and ten-some zhang long, long enough to span the gap between the cliffs and allow passage over the chasm.

  At this moment, the rolling of wheels could be heard, and black carriages trundled out of the gate, loaded with Hyderabad ore. Around these carriages were Sindhi monks, their skin pitch-black and caked with dirt. Behind them were Kong Zi-an and his one thousand Wushang Cavalry.

  Their armor was covered in deep and hair-raising gashes, and peppered with gaps and chinks. Through these chinks, one could see that the skin underneath was black, as if the owner had fallen into a mine full of sludge. Compared to when they had set off, Kong Zi-an and his men seemed like they had been through a battle which they had barely managed to escape alive.

  Each of them had haggard expressions and bodies covered in wounds, but their eyes remained bright and energetic, blazing with a flame that would never extinguish.

  “We’ve finally returned!”

  Upon seeing the faint silhouette of the Tibetan Plateau, Kong Zi-an gave a long sigh. In these twenty-some days, only he understood what had happened in that journey deep into Sindhu. As he watched the sun slowly rise from the east, Kong Zi-an felt like he was seeing the daylight for the first time in a while.

  “Let’s go. General is still waiting for us on the plateau.”

  Kong Zi-an pointed his sword forward as he spoke to his troops. With a shout, he galloped off, the one thousand Wushang Cavalry following close behind. These men together with the eighty-some Sindhi monks continued their journey to the plateau.

  Behind them, within the black fortress, countless people silently watched as they left, their expressions full of respect.

  In these twenty-some days, they had seen the legends these Tang soldiers had carved out for themselves in northern Sindhu and Greater and Lesser Balur, what miracles they had wrought.

  “These are true heroes!”

  The muscular lord of the city took off his helmet and gave a respectful bow to their retreating backs.

  This was the respect afforded to the truly brave!

  ……

  On the northern Tibetan Plateau, banners snapped in the wind. Li Siye, mounted on his Ferghana steed, was still waiting on the plateau like an immovable mountain. Over these twenty-some days, Li Siye and his one thousand soldiers had silently waited for the return of their comrades.

  “Milord, they’re coming!” an ecstatic voice declared.

  Li Siye followed the scout’s finger and saw that a long convoy was slowly approaching. He could tell at a glance who was leading it.

  “It’s Kong Zi-an!”

  During this period, Li Siye’s face had been as unchanging as a rock, the same no matter what the weather was, but when he saw Kong Zi-an’s convoy, he broke into a beaming smile.

  The Hyderabad ore!

  Only Li Siye and Kong Zi-an knew the true significance of this special ore to Wang Chong’s five thousand Wushang Cavalry. Without Wootz Steel weapons, the Wushang Cavalry could not be considered the best in the world. Without these unstoppable and peerlessly sharp weapons, the Wushang Cavalry could not display their maximum power, and without that, there would be no way of salvaging that battle on the other side of the Cong Mountains, no way of defeating that powerful foe.

  Amongst all things, this Hyderabad ore that could be forged into Wootz Steel weapons was a true strategic resource, the thing which Wang Chong placed the most importance on. Li Siye had stood sentinel here for so many days precisely so that he could see this sight.

  “Kong Zi-an, I’ve troubled you. When Lord Marquis sees this, he will definitely be ecstatic!”

  Li Siye rushed over and patted Kong Zi-an on the shoulder.

  Kong Zi-an half-kneeled and respectfully said, “This subordinate completed his mission!”

  “Mm!”

  Li Siye’s eyes were bright as he carefully examined the one thousand Wushang Cavalry behind Kong Zi-an. They had all gotten much thinner and much tanner, but they were also more vigorous, powerful and determined. Li Siye mentally gave an approving nod. He had been looking for an opportunity this entire time to train Kong Zi-an and temper his strength so that he could become an outstanding general who could take care of himself in battle.

  From what he could see, this objective had been achieved.

  Chapter 859 - Ü-Tsang, the Royal Capital's Prison!

  Chapter 859: Ü-Tsang, the Royal Capital’s Prison!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Let’s go! Lord Marquis must be getting nervous. He’ll definitely be delighted to hear this news!” Li Siye said.

  Six thousand jun of Hyderabad ore was equivalent to six thousand sharp and unstoppable Wootz Steel swords, more than enough to equip the five thousand Wushang Cavalry. This meant that Qixi now had a truly terrifying force that could decide the outcome of a battle. No normal person could imagine this kind of power.

  Rumble!

  The two thousand-man units of Wushang Cavalry combined and escorted the Hyderabad ore onto the plateau, traveling through the northern regions of the Tibetan Plateau to return to their own territory… not the Qixi Protectorate, but the City of Steel. There, many craftsmen, smiths, and furnaces had been prepared, Zhang Shouzhi having already readied a large workhouse and many pine logs shipped from the capital. Only there could the Hyderabad ore be forged into the famous Wootz Steel swords!

  Caw!

  As the large convoy and the two thousand Wushang Cavalry crossed through the northern region of Ü-Tsang, countless Tibetan vultures appeared in the sky, along with countless Tibetan scouts in the distance. These people constantly came and went, but Li Siye and the others treated them as if they didn’t exist. The Tibetan scouts only ever dared to observe from a distance, not ever daring to approach.

  After the battle of the triangular gap, the soldiers of the City of Steel and Qixi made all the Tibetans in the north pale in fear. Moreover, the northern region of Ü-Tsang no longer had the soldiers to deal with them.

  Bang!

  Several hours later, when Li Siye and the convoy of six thousand jun of Hyderabad ore arrived at Wushang’s City of Steel, the entire c
ity exploded with cheers for the returning heroes. Zhang Shouzhi, Zhao Jingdian, and even Cheng Sanyuan, Su Shixuan, and Xu Qiqin rushed back to welcome him.

  The most important object in Wang Chong’s plan had finally arrived, firming up everyone’s resolve.

  “What!”

  Wang Chong was recruiting mercenary tribes en masse in the Western Regions when he got the news. He immediately left the mercenaries to the Gangke King and Xue Qianjun, and galloped back to the City of Steel. Upon his return, he immediately went to the large smithy made from steel modules set up in the western part of the city and gathered more than one hundred elite smiths to begin work on forging the Wootz Steel swords.

  Six thousand jun of Hyderabad ore!

  This was probably the largest Hyderabad ore deal in the Central Plains since Wang Chong’s reincarnation, perhaps in the entire world!

  This was not the only piece of news to galvanize the crowd. On the Western Turkic Khaganate’s side, once the three thousand Wushang Cavalry had finished sweeping through the nearby water sources and crushing the thirty thousand soldiers the Turks had in the Qixi area, it had even begun to threaten the Turkic tribes and shepherds even deeper into the steppe. In the face of Wang Chong and Qixi’s edge, the Khagan’s court in Mount Sanmi finally responded.

  The Western Turks were willing to offer two hundred thousand high-quality Turkic warhorses in exchange for the Fourth Prince and the withdrawal of the Qixi Protectorate army from Western Turkic territory! All the warhorses would be delivered as quickly as possible to Qixi, but Wang Chong’s soldiers also had to first withdraw from the Turkic steppe and no longer attack any of the Turkic shepherds!

  When this news arrived at the City of Steel, everyone was left stunned.