After saying this, the Stone of Destiny finally fell silent. Meanwhile, Wang Chong was frozen in shock.
Mind, Body, Energy, Techniques, and Power were the five reward categories of the Stone of Destiny, and Wang Chong knew them by heart. But Wang Chong had never imagined that the Stone of Destiny had been concealing another secret. At the very least, there had never been any sort of clue that this new feature, the Riddle of Destiny, had ever existed.
Wang Chong quickly began to interact with the Stone of Destiny.
Several scarlet-gold words appeared above the five balls representing the categories of rewards: ‘Riddle of Destiny’. The words were simple, but they exuded a mysterious light that completely suppressed the light exuded by the five categories.
Wang Chong reached out to the golden words with his mind in the hopes of learning the secrets of this Riddle of Destiny. But unlike with the other five categories, Wang Chong was not able to obtain any information from this action. Rather, the Stone of Destiny’s cold voice resounded in his mind.
“Warning! User has not met the conditions and cannot activate the Riddle of Destiny!”
Wang Chong became pensive at the sound of these words.
Regardless, at least I’m finally beginning to get close to the truth behind the calamity from back then.
With this thought, Wang Chong quickly came back to his senses, strode into his room, and closed the door with a bang.
……
Night quickly passed, and as dawn arrived, everyone began to slowly peek out from their rooms, all of them stunned by this unprecedented blizzard. But few people knew that while they had been hiding away from the blizzard in their homes, underground caves, and basements last night, a battle that was bound to shake the entire Arabian Empire had taken place.
Chapter 1188 - The Rebel Army's Worries!
Chapter 1188: The Rebel Army’s Worries!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Impossible! This can’t be!”
In the distant Baghdad, the Caliph of Arabia gripped the snow-white letter sent from Shandar, his face just as white and his entire body trembling.
Seven to eight hundred thousand soldiers, ten-some governors, countless generals, and the Three Titans of Black Radiance and Hular to oversee it all—this was a campaign of unprecedented size. The Caliph had been anticipating a clean and swift counterattack that would sweep away all the Tang and Khorasani, but a single blizzard had utterly shattered his dreams.
Five to six hundred thousand soldiers were now buried in the snow, to rest eternally in the region between Khorasan and Shandar, with that place becoming an icy hell. This miserable defeat was like a sharp point stabbing deep into the Caliph’s heart.
From the moment Arabia had gotten the idea of conquering the east until now, it had already buried more than one million soldiers, three powerful governors, and Governor of War Qutaybah. In the face of this defeat, even the Caliph couldn’t help but go pale and find it difficult to breathe.
“I’ll never believe it! Never! We have so many soldiers! We can never lose to these Tang from the east!”
The shuddering of the Caliph’s body intensified, and his expression grew more agitated. By his final words, his eyes had gone completely red and he was practically roaring. Crack! His fingers clenched, pulverizing the arm rest made from ocean steel.
“Your Majesty, calm your anger.”
Everyone in the hall quickly got down on their knees, their expressions alarmed and fearful.
Flap flap!
Just when the Caliph was at his most furious, an Arab messenger rushed into the hall, an Arabian hunting falcon perched on his hand.
“Reporting!”
The messenger lowered his head and kneeled on the ground.
“We have just received a message from the Tang. The Tang accuse us of breaking the treaty and launching an assault, and demand that we pay two billion taels of gold in compensation. Otherwise, they will launch an attack on Arabia in revenge. In addition, they will gather up the bodies of all the soldiers that were killed in last night’s battle and hang them from the walls of Khorasan.”
Buzz!
All the governors and generals raised their heads in alarm. As for the Caliph, he immediately became ghastly pale.
“Bastard!”
The Caliph gave a heaven-shaking roar.
“Wang Chong! We will tear your corpse to shreds!”
For the first time, the strongest sovereign in the history of Arabia, the proud and arrogant Mutasim III, called out the name of a Tang.
……
“Lord Marquis, do you really think that the Arabs will agree to our demand and pay another two billion taels of gold?”
While the Caliph was on the verge of vomiting blood in fury from reading Wang Chong’s letter, Xue Qianjun was cautiously asking this question of Wang Chong. When Wang Chong had been writing the figure of two billion taels on the letter, Xue Qianjun had felt his heart tremble.
In this world, ten million taels of gold was already an astronomical sum. If applying for this sum from the Bureau of Revenue, one would have to discuss the proposal with them several times before it was endorsed, and even then, it would take some time until the money was actually delivered. But Wang Chong on the first negotiation had already demanded one billion taels of gold, and now he was demanding two billion. Xue Qianjun felt like his mind was about to stop working.
“Haha, of course they won’t!”
Wang Chong flipped through a book as he replied.
“Ah?!”
Xue Qianjun was stunned and immediately stopped in his tracks.
“Mutasim III is currently furious. It would be far stranger if he actually agreed to our demands.”
Wang Chong faintly smiled as he continued to read through the book in his hand. This was an ancient book of the Sassanid Dynasty. Yuan Shusong had led his disciples in translating the entire book into the Tang language during the single night of the blizzard, so Wang Chong was able to read through it very smoothly.
“So Milord, this is…”
Xue Qianjun was immediately befuddled. If he knew that the other party would never agree, why had the Lord Marquis still sent the letter demanding two billion taels of gold?
“Hah, there’s no one in the world wealthier than the imperial household of Arabia. The Caliph of Arabia is currently furious, so it’s normal for him to not be willing to give it to us, but in the end, we will make him give it to us.”
Wang Chong chuckled as he finally raised his head from the book.
The Great Tang was wealthy, but this sort of wealth was spread across the entire empire, with the imperial household possessing only a portion of it. Thus, despite the Great Tang’s wealth, the Bureau of Revenue still grumbled about the expenses of the Bureau of Military Personnel every year.
But Arabia was different. The Caliph possessed the entire empire, and his words were absolute; the world was his for the taking. Moreover, the wealth of Arabia was not reflected in the entire empire, but only in the upper ranks of its nobility and the Caliph himself. Moreover, the fortunes that the countries bordering Arabia had built up over the centuries had all been plundered by the Arab armies and offered as tribute to the Caliph, so one could easily imagine how vast his fortune was.
Even for Wang Chong, it would be strange to not be tempted by such wealth.
Wang Chong’s future plans required the support of an enormous amount of capital, and the Caliph would be the best ‘financer’.
Xue Qianjun looked at Wang Chong, pretending to understand.
Thumpthump!
As Wang Chong and Xue Qianjun were conversing, a knock came at his door.
“Enter!” Wang Chong replied with a wave of his hand.
The door opened and a soldier of the Anxi Protectorate army quickly strode in.
“Lord Protector-General, Milord sent me to invite you to the conference hall!”
……
Outside, the blizzard was gradually dying down. While Wang Chong headed for the conference hall to meet Gao Xianzhi, elsewhere in the city, a different conference was being secretly held.
But in this conference, there was not a single Tang in attendance, only Khorasani and other rebels.
“Great General, you have seen the Tang’s strength. The Arabs were so fierce and conquered so many countries, but they have suffered defeat after defeat. In just a few short months, they’ve already lost more than one million soldiers, which is simply absurd. But I worry that the Great Tang will one day withdraw, and once the Arabs return, all of us will be slaughtered and this will all pass,” a rebel leader worriedly said.
The coalition army’s victory in last night’s battle had resulted in the deaths of five to six hundred thousand Arab soldiers, a major victory like never before. But the rebel soldiers were still incredibly worried, even panicked. The easier a victory was, the more one was worried that it could slip away.
Although the coalition army had managed to utterly vanquish the Arab assault and successfully establish its own powerbase under the eyes of the Arabs, no one knew how long this peace could last. None of them could accept once more becoming slaves to the Arabs.
“But hasn’t General Wang already agreed to lead our coalition army? And the Tang managed only with great difficulty to get to this point. Do you think that they will really just retreat?”
“That’s wrong!” another rebel leader said. “The Tang have been here for some time now, but they still have shown no signs of taking control over the governor’s mansion and assuming authority over Khorasan. Moreover, in the war with the Arabs, they have lost far too many elites. The Tang soldiers stationed in Khorasan don’t even add up to thirty thousand. This simply isn’t the sign of someone that plans to govern an area.”
“Correct! If the Tang were really planning to take root in Khorasan, there’s no reason for them to have not sent more soldiers by now. Even though Khorasan is very far from Tang territory, if the Tang really wanted to stay here, they would have definitely thought of a way to surmount this difficulty,” a different rebel leader commented.
“Right, right! If the Tang wanted to stay here, they definitely have the means of doing so!”
The others in the hall began to sound off in agreement.
Bahram glanced over and immediately recognized the person who had spoken last, a rebel leader from the northeast region of Arabia called Sanjar. This person had a very composed personality and very high prestige in the rebel army. If even he felt that the Tang might leave, the rest were probably in a complete panic.
Bahram said nothing, but his brow furrowed, and only continued to furrow. He also had this worry, but he had never stated it before the others.
“Great General, you’re the closest to that Tang commander. Can’t you think of a way to get him to stay?”
“We both know of the Arabs’ cruelty and viciousness. And if the Tang leave, we both understand what the consequences will be. Do you really want to see that sort of tragedy?”
“We’ve already had too many people killed by the Arabs. Even if we have to die, we will never be their subjects again. No matter what, we must seize this chance and think of a way to keep the Tang here.”
The others in the hall all chimed in to convince Bahram.
In the coalition army, excluding the Tang, Bahram had the highest cultivation level and had the closest relationship to the Tang. This was also why he had been invited to this secret conference.
After witnessing the power of the Tang and witnessing the young Tang commander’s daring, resolve, intelligence, and stratagems in the blizzard, all of them valued the coalition with the Tang even more, and they hoped even more that the Tang could stay and establish a long-term strategic alliance.
Not even Wang Chong could have expected that his delay in hostilities and expression of ‘peace’ would stir such intense unease in the coalition army.
“But, this matter is not for me to decide. If the Tang want to leave, what can we do about it?” Bahram said, his brow still creased. His words immediately plunged the hall into silence.
Chapter 1189 - Coincidentally Sharing the Same View!
Chapter 1189: Coincidentally Sharing the Same View!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Actually, I have an idea.”
At this moment, a hesitant voice came from the corner of the hall. All the rebel leaders and Bahram turned to the speaker.
Bahram faintly recognized this person to be a rebel leader from Arabia’s southwest region.
This rebel leader, who had a scar across his left brow, explained his idea. “The Tang don’t plan to stay as of now because our languages are different. We don’t understand each other, so we naturally can’t communicate either.
“In this battle, we could only work through Milord to understand each other, but the lower-level soldiers have never communicated with each other, much less understood each other. If we can learn the language of the Great Tang to have them understand us, so that we understand each other a little, everything will be different.”
“This truly is a good idea, but if we want to do this, we need many Tang teachers who can teach their language, and they would need to travel all the way to Khorasan. I’m afraid that the Tang might not agree,” another rebel leader said.
Everyone in the room became hesitant.
With communication and understanding, this coalition would be able to last longer, but the area between Samarkand and Khorasan, as well as the regions the other rebel leaders had come from, required a vast number of language teachers, and learning a language required a very long time. It would clearly be a rather costly endeavor, and the Great Tang was not guaranteed to agree.
Moreover, the rebel leaders had begun to vaguely understand a little about the Great Tang. This was a strong and prosperous country with a powerful army. In terms of living a comfortable life, Khorasan simply could not be compared to the Great Tang. Those Tang language teachers would probably not be willing to travel so far.
All the people in the hall once more revealed worried expressions.
Bahram spoke once more. “Leave this matter to me. The problem of teachers is easy to solve. We can offer money to pay the expenses, and I’m sure that with sufficient reward, some Tang would still be willing to come. As long as we take on the burden of the expenses, the Great Tang will not obstruct us. But this matter will still require the agreement of the Tang.”
Under expectant and worried gazes, Bahram stood up and walked out of the hall.
Not even Bahram was sure if he would succeed. After all, this was a war between the Arabs and the rebels!
……
As Bahram and the rebel leaders worried and fretted, Wang Chong pushed open the door to the conference, bringing with him a gust of icy wind. Raising his head, Wang Chong immediately spotted Gao Xianzhi seated at the conference table, his head lowered and his brow furrowed as if he had encountered some impossible problem.
“Lord Protector-General, you were looking for me?”
Wang Chong strode in and got straight to the point.
Gao Xianzhi’s body trembled as he shook himself from his pensive mood and raised his head.
“Wang Chong, you’re here. Sit.”
“Milord, what’s happened? Is there something that not even someone as capable as Milord can address?” Wang Chong said, sitting next to Gao Xianzhi. “Does it have to do with the Arabs?”
“After this defeat, the Arabs won’t be able to launch an attack for the next few months. What is there to worry about?”
Gao Xianzhi poured Wang Chong a cup of tea, but the clouds of worry on his brow had still not dispersed.
“You know that military affairs don’t trouble me, but anything outside military affairs is not my expertise. I invited you over to discuss state affairs.”
“State affairs?”
Wang Chong’s brow rose in concern, but h
e quickly thought of something and smiled.
“Milord is worried about the matter of Khorasan?”
“Correct!”
Gao Xianzhi nodded and proceeded to explain.
“Attacking a city is easy while holding it is difficult. For us to have campaigned all the way here from Talas is far beyond our initial expectations. But you also know that the situation at Talas was complicated. Here, we are unfamiliar with both the people and the land, and we are severely lacking in manpower. No matter what, managing this place is a major problem.”
Gao Xianzhi’s eyes revealed deep concern. This problem had circled around his mind for some time, but with a powerful enemy before him, he had had no time to carefully ponder it. But now that the Arabs had been defeated, he had no other choice than to ponder it.
“What does Milord mean?” Wang Chong asked, his expression serious.
“I still haven’t thought about the exact details, but we essentially have two choices, leave or stay,” Gao Xianzhi said heavily. “We’ve already reached our goal in this war. The spirit of the Arabs has been severely wounded and they have lost countless experts. It will be a very long time until they can finally start thinking about the east again. And in this war, we’ve obtained more than one billion taels of gold from the Arabs, and the entire Imperial Court is reeling in shock from the magnitude of these spoils. With this gold, we can return to the capital in triumph and be cheered on by all. At the same time, we can pay out a rich compensation for those soldiers who died in battle. In all my years in the military, this is undoubtedly the finest conclusion to a war I have ever experienced.”
“But Milord is not prepared to retreat, right?” Wang Chong said.
“Heh!”
Gao Xianzhi faintly smiled, but did not deny it.
“But if we don’t want to retreat, we will have to take on many risks. The first is that we might be threatened by the Arabs at any time. An army of ten thousand is far from enough. The second is that we don’t speak the same language as the locals, which will always be a major problem.
“Right now, with the Arabs threatening us, both parties will naturally cooperate in good faith. But there are too many people and the composition of the coalition army is too complicated. The moment a misunderstanding causes a conflict between the soldiers or somebody intentionally tries to stir discord, our alliance will immediately fall apart. If that happens, not only will we lose Khorasan, but we will also find it very hard to get out alive.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 749