The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  “To contend against five hundred thousand with one hundred thousand, this Young Marquis is truly the War God of the new generation! Only the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi and the War God from the generation before that, Su Zhengchen, can compare to such accomplishments on the battlefield!”

  “Hahaha, he truly is a descendant of Duke Jiu. The Wang Clan has three generals, a truly loyal and devoted clan. We should request the Sage Emperor and the Imperial Court to grant the Wang Clan a noble title!”

  “That’s right! Let’s go together to request the Sage Emperor to give the Wang Clan a noble title!”

  ……

  Crowds had thronged at the various city gates, gathering together the peddlers, merchants, tycoons, and even the nobles of the capital. Not only that, the tea houses, wine houses, and inns of the capital, or anywhere else where people were gathered, were buzzing with conversation on the gruesome battle that had taken place at Talas.

  As everyone loudly chatted, their faces shone with pride.

  The talk about granting a noble title to the Wang Clan had originally been only discussed by the common people, but later on, even officials of the court became deeply convinced and began to submit memorials, eventually creating a loud voice that could not be ignored. And all these memorials eventually gathered in the depths of the Imperial Palace in the Sage Emperor’s hands.

  Halls loomed within the Imperial Palace, and in the very depths of the Imperial Palace was a golden hall, majestic and solemn. Like a giant bird with unfurled wings, it towered over the Imperial Palace, looking down upon the entire capital.

  The Taiji Palace, the residence of the Great Tang’s Sage Emperor.

  No matter how furious the storms of the outside world, this place would be eternally calm.

  “Your Majesty, there was a major victory at Talas. The child Wang Chong was not unworthy of Your Majesty’s great favor. They have already passed through the Black Forest, occupied Samarkand, and are continuing onward toward Khorasan, the terminus of the Silk Road. A great deal of foreign territory to the west of the Cong Mountains is now becoming a part of the territory of our Great Tang, and the lands under Your Majesty’s command have greatly increased. This is an unprecedentedly grand occasion! At this time, the voices wishing for the Wang Clan to receive a noble title are getting louder and louder. This old slave has already received several hundred letters.”

  Outside the palace, Eunuch Gao stood like the Maitreya Buddha, his hands enclosed in his sleeves as he smiled.

  “Your Majesty, the granting of an additional noble title is no small matter. Starting from His Majesty Gaozong’s era, it has been many decades since the Imperial Court last granted any great clan a noble title. And the granting of a noble title is tantamount to an iron ticket of pardon, and it might cause unrest and calls for a new government!”

  The Imperial Court rarely gave a title or commendation to any particular great clan, and this was not simply out of caution.

  From past dynasties, one could see that all the great clans that had received noble titles would eventually become overly favored and proud, a future problem for the ruling dynasty. Even if the problem was not immediately obvious, their descendants would eventually prove this to be the case.

  The common people had no idea of this, but the imperial household had inherited the records from the past dynasties and was well aware. Moreover, the fact that the previous dynasties had rarely granted titles made the granting of a title even more significant.

  In the minds of the ministers, such an act was a show of exceptional favor from the Emperor, and it would only take a little while for the people gathered around the ennobled clan to create a powerful faction. This would intensify the factional strife in the Imperial Court and shatter the balance of power.

  This was why the Imperial Court was so cautious about granting a noble title to a great clan.

  This did not mean it was impossible. A great clan that the imperial household could wholeheartedly trust could receive this unique honor.

  The palace was silent, as if it resided in another dimension. No one knew what the Sage Emperor was thinking at this moment.

  “Your Majesty, why not have this old slave reject the idea?” Gao Lishi finally said after a few moments of silence.

  Although the common people were currently expressing their full approval for this idea, and many of the officials of the court had voiced their agreement, having the Imperial Court refuse wasn’t too difficult a task, and there were thousands of reasons that could be used. This had always been the nature of politics.

  “There’s no need!”

  After a few moments, that dignified voice spoke from that palace which wielded the greatest authority in the world.

  “Pass on Our decree. The memorial is granted!”

  Gao Lishi’s body shuddered, and he suddenly raised his head, his eyes brimming with disbelief.

  This was the first ennobled clan in the Sage Emperor’s generation. Not even Old Master Yao had ever received such favor from the Sage Emperor, nor had the highly influential Yao Clan been graced with such an honor.

  The ennoblement of the Wang Clan would probably unleash shockwaves that would resonate through the Imperial Court for a long time, perhaps even affect the future structure of the Great Tang.

  “Yes! This old slave will carry out the decree!”

  Gao Lishi lowered his head and quickly took his leave.

  ……

  Rumble!

  The Sage Emperor had decreed that the Six Bureaus should work to ennoble the Wang Clan, and this decree instantly sent great waves through the Great Tang.

  “Such favor! What level of favor is this! Yes, the people are abuzz, and those who wish for the Wang Clan to be ennobled are particularly elated, but the reaction in the court is entirely different. I didn’t think that the Sage Emperor would so highly regard Wang Chong and the Wang Clan.”

  An old imperial censor was in shock at the news, his eyes going round with disbelief.

  ……

  Deep within the Imperial Palace, the Yuzhen Palace…

  “Hahaha, Little Sister, you see? See how your adopted brother has done! How great of an honor is this, to be acknowledged as a fiercely loyal clan! You and I might not have any roots in the palace, but as long as we have the support of my sworn brother and the Wang Clan, our position in society will be as firm as rock. We might even be able to sit on the same level as King Song and King Qi, becoming the third major faction!”

  Yang Zhao, dressed in his white Confucian robes and wearing a black hat, strode into the palace with a scholar’s bearing. But even though he did his best to mimic the manners of a scholar, he was still rather lacking. After taking only a few paces, he returned to his original demeanor. His head held high, he bounded happily into the hall toward Consort Taizhen.

  “Big Brother, you’ve truly done something of great advantage to us this time!”

  The jade curtains rippled as a foot that seemed to be carved of white jade extended outward. Consort Taizhen, supported by a gorgeous maid, rose and slowly walked out.

  Consort Taizhen was also joyous at this moment. Her brother was lazy and an unrepentant gambler, and in the several months after coming to the capital, he had gambled away all his traveling expenses. He had spent day after day in the gambling dens, even begging on the streets for money—a truly disappointing brother.

  But he had his good points along with his shortcomings. After spending so much time in the capital, he had at least managed to accomplish one good thing.

  Just as he had said, Wang Chong had gifted her two poems, so Consort Taizhen had let King Song go, and Yang Zhao was able to become sworn brothers with Wang Chong. The two parties were so closely related that outsiders had long ago begun to regard them as being of the same faction. With the support of Wang Chong and the Wang Clan, she would no longer be bereft of any backers in the court or palace.

  “Come; take me to see His Majesty. I wish to personally
leave the palace to visit the Wang Clan and see this Madam Zhao!”

  ______________1.The Heavenly Mandate, or Mandate of Heaven, was the belief that Heaven bestowed the right to rule onto the Emperors of China, and Heaven’s approval was witnessed through prosperity while natural disasters and incompetence were signs that the Mandate of Heaven had been withdrawn.↩

  Chapter 1160 - Forgetting Each Other Amongst the Lakes and Rivers1!

  Chapter 1160: Forgetting Each Other Amongst the Lakes and Rivers1!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  While the entire Great Tang was celebrating, immersed in the joy of victory, far away, in the northeast corner of Ü-Tsang, a lonely horse bell rang out through the air.

  Several thousand defeated soldiers, their armor cast away and their moods downcast, were currently traversing this winding and rugged path toward Ü-Tsang. In the center of this army was a banner depicting a white yak. These soldiers were none other than the remnants of the army that Huoba Sangye had led in retreat from Talas.

  In retreating from the stone bridge, Huoba Sangye and his men had taken more than double the time that they had needed to reach it when the Tibetans had come the first time around.

  The Battle of Talas was over and the news had been spread to all the kingdoms of the Western Regions. At this time, all the countries, big and small, along the route had shut their gates to these soldiers, displaying a clear hostility.

  If the army had just set out and were still at its full strength, Huoba Sangye would have long ago led his troops in taking these cities and destroying these kingdoms for daring to treat Ü-Tsang in this way.

  But with the Great Generals and the wise minister dead, and the remaining several thousand men on their last gasps of breath, they represented no threat to these kingdoms.

  There were many times when Huoba Sangye had been forced to lead his army on a long detour to avoid any conflicts with these factions. Such an act was an unprecedented humiliation.

  But Huoba Sangye no longer cared about such things.

  “Great Minister, generals! Soon, you will be able to return to Ü-Tsang!”

  The Tibetan Plateau was close at hand. Huoba Sangye turned his head to see the bodies of Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huicang, and Dusong Mangpoje being carried on the backs of horses, and his expression became extremely downcast.

  When they had set off, they had been happily smiling, and their bold declarations were still ringing in his ears. It seemed like only yesterday that their grandiose army was one hundred thousand strong, vast and unstoppable. But in the blink of an eye, all this had gone up in smoke, and now he was alone, a defeated general with just several thousand soldiers at his command.

  When he thought of this, Huoba Sangye couldn’t help but reveal an expression of extreme sorrow. But he quickly composed himself. None of this mattered anymore. His only thought was to bring the bodies of the Great Minister and the others back to the plateau.

  “General! Look ahead of us!”

  While he had been losing himself in sorrow, a Tibetan soldier cried out in alarm and pointed ahead.

  Huoba Sangye raised his head in shock, but he quickly saw that an army was encamped on the distant Tibetan Plateau, appearing from this distance like so many ants.

  “It’s the Western Turks!”

  Huoba Sangye’s eyes widened as if he had been stabbed, and his mind seemed to be much clearer now.

  At this time, the army resting on the plateau also noticed these newcomers. Beneath the banner of a golden wolf on a blue backing, a muscular figure on his warhorse took several paces forward and then stopped.

  “Milord! It’s the Tibetans! They’ve also retreated!”

  Chekun Benba rode out from the rear and gazed down at Huoba Sangye.

  Duwu Sili was pale and his aura was extremely weak. His gaze passed through space to meet with Huoba Sangye’s. In that moment, Huoba Sangye’s eyes were brimming with rage while Duwu Sili’s showed a hint of embarrassment.

  At the most crucial moment of the Battle of Talas, Duwu Sili had taken a blow from Wang Chong’s palm and been immediately scared out of his wits, throwing his allies aside and withdrawing. For the Celestial Wolf Great General to do such a thing was extremely shameful.

  Now that he had encountered Huoba Sangye and the Tibetans once more, how could Duwu Sili not feel embarrassed?

  But a moment later, Duwu Sili turned his gaze to Huoba Sangye’s side, where he saw the bodies of Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huicang, and Dusong Mangpoje.

  His expression became complicated, a hint of sorrow in his eyes.

  Although his time as an ally of Ü-Tsang had been short, and there were many times when they had schemed against each other, the fox would mourn for the hare, having lost an ally against the hunter. Wang Chong and the Tang had killed Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huicang, and Dusong Mangpoje, and Duwu Sili and his Western Turks had fared little better.

  Duwu Sili could not help but be emotionally moved at this time.

  “Great General, should we meet with them before we go?” Chekun Benba asked.

  “There’s no need!”

  Duwu Sili shook his head and quickly regained his composure.

  “The Battle of Talas is over, so the alliance between us and the Tibetans no longer exists. Starting from now, we will have to fight our own battles, confront an even more powerful Great Tang that might come for vengeance at any time. There is no need for our two sides to meet each other.”

  Similar words were being spoken down below amongst the remnants of the Tibetan army.

  Duwu Sili turned his horse around and led his remaining soldiers away.

  Huoba Sangye also mobilized his army. Although he was also headed for the plateau, he was headed in a different direction. The armies acted if they didn’t know each other, forgetting each other amongst the rivers and lakes.

  ……

  Meanwhile, a vast distance from the capital of the Great Tang, the north winds swept over Khorasan. The grass growing around this western terminus of the Silk Road was withered and covered in frost, and the temperature was chilly.

  Arrayed on the withered fields of grass outside Khorasan was an army of tens of thousands, a vast sea of soldiers. The massive banner of a five-clawed dragon snapped in the wind, and around the dragon banner of the Great Tang were countless other war banners, reaching into the sky. Twenty-thousand-some Tang soldiers had combined with one hundred and eighty thousand rebels to form a grandiose army of two hundred thousand, all of them somberly standing before the gates of Khorasan.

  Great General Bahram rode up on his monstrous horse and whispered into Wang Chong’s ear, “General, it’s about time. Everything is ready.”

  “Mm!”

  Wang Chong nodded. He then turned to the vast and steely walls of Khorasan.

  The black banners of Arabia could be seen all across the high walls, and the walls were manned by countless Arab soldiers. In the center of the army stood Abu Muslim and Ziyad. The two exuded storms of energy that soared into the skies as they maintained a distant standoff with the coalition army of two hundred thousand men.

  “Abu Muslim, Ziyad, have you finished thinking!?”

  Wang Chong’s voice resounded over the army.

  Even though Wang Chong had been pursuing Abu Muslim from Samarkand to Khorasan day and night, hoping to not give Abu Muslim any time to catch his breath, he had still made a misstep. Abu Muslim had fled to Khorasan and had had seven or eight days to recover his strength. And through his authority as the Governor of Iron and Blood, the ruler of Arabia’s eastern war zone, he had managed to gather no small number of militia. Now, with the backing of the thick walls of Khorasan, he stood in a stalemate with the Great Tang.

  But no matter how tenaciously Abu Muslim resisted, it was already too late. The coalition army, with the Tang elite soldiers at its core and the one hundred and eighty thousand rebels as the main force, could not be stopped, no matter how reluctant Abu Muslim was to accept t
his fact.

  The momentum was on Wang Chong’s side, and no one in Arabia’s eastern region could contend against him.

  “Wang Chong, any further talk is meaningless. Arabia does not have any surrendering generals, nor does it have soldiers that would surrender without a fight. Send out your soldiers!”

  Abu Muslim stood on the walls like an imposing mountain, his expression hard and firm.

  Ziyad also spoke from the high walls. “Wang Chong, don’t get any silly ideas! We’ve changed up all the men at every gate of Khorasan. Samarkand will not repeat itself! What does it matter if you have two hundred thousand men? Khorasan is an impregnable fortress that will never be taken!”

  Khorasan had been the capital of the Sassanid Dynasty, and back then, an army of hundreds of thousands of Arabs had tried for several years but had failed to break the Sassanid capital, all because of its sturdy defenses. In the end, three governors and the Behemoth Army had been needed to finally break the walls and end the Sassanid Dynasty.

  But after the war, all the walls had been repaired, and the Arabs had even strengthened the walls. Although Wang Chong had two hundred thousand soldiers, this was far from enough to break the defenses of the city.

  Back in Talas, Abu Muslim had an army of more than four hundred thousand, but after two months, he had still failed to take Talas, which was being held by only the thirty thousand soldiers of the Anxi Protectorate army. And Wang Chong had far fewer soldiers than Abu Muslim had had.

  “Haha, it seems like you’re ready to fight to the death!”

  Wang Chong faintly smiled, utterly unsurprised by the attitudes of Abu Muslim and Ziyad.

  “Since that’s the case, I’ll fulfill your wish!”

  Abu Muslim and Ziyad widened their eyes at Wang Chong’s words. Khorasan’s walls were extremely smooth and tough, and the two didn’t believe that Wang Chong’s forces could overcome them. Yet his confidence made them extremely uneasy.

  “Wang Chong, what do you mean!” Ziyad couldn’t help but bellow.