The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  "To think that Fumeng Lingcha still has the face to flaunt and threaten Lord Marquis."

  "In my view, Lord Marquis is the best candidate for Protector-General!"

  The officers voiced their opinions.

  Chapter 742: The Return of the Wushang Cavalry!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "Enough!"

  Wang Chong waved his hand.

  He was not planning to impeach Fumeng Lingcha for his personal grudges, but because the Qixi Protectorate army would suffer even greater casualties if Fumeng Lingcha continued to command it.

  Qixi would be facing many dangers in the future, threats from all sides. Fumeng Lingcha's abilities were barely enough for him to hold the fort, let alone proactively attack. He was utterly incapable of handling these threats, so it was better if he were switched out.

  But Wang Chong did not say any of this to Cheng Sanyuan, Su Shixuan, or the other officers.

  It's fine to let them misunderstand, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  Putting aside the matter of Fumeng Lingcha, the attack of Dayan Mangban and his White Braves had been a warning to Wang Chong. The defenses of the City of Steel and its guards would not be enough to deal with more serious incidents.

  …It's about time for Li Siye to arrive with the Wushang soldiers.

  Given how much time had passed, Li Siye should have just about finished the training in Wushang Village, and the first batch of Wushang soldiers should be about to make their debut. The White Braves were a force slightly weaker than the Mamelukes, but their bravery and ferocity were unequaled. If there was one force that could surpass them in the Central Plains, it could only be the 'Wushang Cavalry' that once served him.

  Flapflap!

  A few moments later, a messenger bird took off into the sky, flying toward Wushang Village.

  ……

  "Listen up! The duty of a soldier is to follow orders. Starting from now, you are no longer villagers of Wushang, but soldiers of the Great Tang. Your duty is to protect the country, to protect the ordinary people who do not have the ability to protect themselves!

  "The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. This is the obligation of the strong! So it is for you, and so it is for me!

  "To march as swiftly as the wind, to slow as neatly as the breeze blowing through a forest, to be as unmoving as a mountain on the defense, and to strike as aggressively as fire on the offense—these are the ultimate goals of every proper soldier, of every proper army! And it is also the goal that all of you need to reach. Soldiers are not warriors, and a large-scale battle between armies is not a one-on-one duel between warriors. Do you understand?"

  In the valley of Wushang Village, Li Siye had his hands behind his back, his two-meter-figure straight and erect, exuding the weighty pressure of a mountain. The Wushang were powerful, and only a man who was both unyielding and bursting with charisma like Li Siye, the Invincible Great General, could subdue them.

  In truth, Wang Chong's judgment had been correct. In a short month, Li Siye's forthright and upright personality had won the respect of the Wushang.

  "Understood!"

  The moment Li Siye finished speaking, the more than five thousand neatly arrayed Wushang recruits replied in unison, their shout ringing out like a bell.

  In just a month, the difference between these Wushang recruits and the other villagers was like night and day. They were more energetic, their postures more erect, and they paid more attention to teamwork and following orders.

  "Very good!"

  Li Siye's gaze swept through the ranks, his expression stern.

  "Now, the first signal flag on the cliff to the right. You have only seven seconds. Even a second over will result in failure. During the drill, if your ranks show the slightest sign of disorder, you will immediately fail. Understood?"

  "Understood!" the recruits once more replied in unison.

  "Failure will result in punishment. Do you see those staff holders by the side of plaza? All of you should know what will happen!"

  Li Siye jabbed out a finger as he harshly spoke.

  Boom!

  From the distance came a burst of laughter, and the energetic recruits suddenly lowered their heads or covered their faces, all of them having embarrassed and unnatural expressions.

  Each of the Wushang was exceptionally powerful. Any child would possess astonishing strength, and an ordinary villager was capable of easily lifting two thousand jin. Using ordinary punishments against the Wushang, including the standard military punishments, was simply pointless, so Li Siye had taken a different route.

  A failure to complete a training mission would still result in a beating by staves, but the ones giving the punishment were women rather than soldiers. These Wushang wouldn't even frown if they were stabbed in the stomach or bled out half their blood, but even they couldn't help but pale when they saw those women holding staves.

  For a stalwart man to be beaten in broad daylight by a woman was a humiliation. This had also been Li Siye's first lesson for them: a soldier's sense of honor!

  Only if one had any sense of honor as a man would they have a sense of honor as a soldier.

  "Si-er, don't let me down!"

  "Zhao Jue, if you dare let yourself get beaten up by another woman, when you get back, I'll pull off your skin!"

  The valley was edged by the women of Wushang Village, all of them shouting harsh warnings. Some of them were mothers, and some of them were childhood sweethearts. Li Siye's disciplinary measures called for one to take off their pants to be beaten, and how could they watch as their sons or lovers were being beaten with their pants off by other women?

  What Li Siye's five thousand recruits feared the most was this pressure from both sides. If they had a choice between death and having themselves beaten with their pants down by a woman, they would rather choose death.

  "Ready, begin!"

  Without the slightest hesitation, Li Siye grimly pointed to a small red signal flag on a mountain nearly one hundred zhang to his right and gave the order.

  Buzz!

  A transformation swept through the recruits. Whether they had lowered their heads or covered their faces, the recruits instantly straightened up, their eyes glowing brightly with vim and vigor. Boom! Almost the moment Li Siye swung down his arm, the first row of forty recruits shot forward. Stretching out their hands and lunging forward, they all mounted the cliff and began to climb up in an orderly row.

  These forty Wushang all climbed at the same pace, leaving not a single gap. If one looked from the side, one would also notice that all the Wushang were even at the same height, perfectly aligned. Buzz! A moment after the first row mounted the cliff, the second, fourth, fifth… all five thousand soldiers came to life, climbing up the steep cliff face like a living carpet, rapidly 'floating' to the top.

  Yes! Floating!

  When these five thousand worked in unison, traveling at the same speed, this was exactly the feeling they gave. If one looked carefully, one would also discover that this 'carpet' was made of countless columns and rows, maintaining the neat ranks of a marching army.

  The steep cliff was fraught with danger, and just climbing it was difficult enough, much less maintaining orderly ranks! But these five thousand well-trained Wushang recruits had done it.

  "Ah!!"

  All the watching Wushang villagers couldn't help but cry out in alarm.

  Even though these were Wushang villagers who climbed mountains as easily as walking on ground, this was still an extremely difficult feat. One person climbing was very easy, but two people climbing in unison was much more difficult, and adding three was simply unthinkable.

  But now, these five thousand people were climbing while maintaining their ranks, working like a single person. To the Wushang, this was simply inconceivable.

  At this moment, all the villagers felt a deep respect for that two-meter-tall soldier at the bottom of the valley.


  Whoosh!

  A rapid stream of air rushed up the side of the cliff and into the sky.

  One second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds, five seconds, six seconds, seven seconds!

  In seven seconds, the five thousand Wushang recruits had reached the top of the cliff while maintaining their orderly ranks.

  The clouds had parted! The rain had ceased!

  When the last row of Wushang soldiers reached the top, everything fell silent. No one made a noise, and the Wushang recruits seemed to have become one with the mountain.

  Strike like fire! Unmoving as a mountain!

  The five thousand Wushang recruits had succeeded in this task.

  Upon seeing this, even Li Siye couldn't help but give a slight nod. After almost a month of training, they were finally showing results. Just like the Lord Marquis had said, these Wushang were truly natural and ideal warriors.

  Flap flap!

  As he was thinking, he heard the flapping of wings at his ear. He raised his head and saw that a messenger bird was descending.

  "Mm?"

  Li Siye's eyes widened as he suddenly realized something. He stretched out an arm for the bird to land on, and then took the letter and began to read through it.

  'Treat these words as orders! Quickly return!'

  The letter contained these few words, but Li Siye instantly understood what they meant.

  "It's about time…"

  Li Siye looked at the five thousand recruits on the cliff. Soldiers were trained for a thousand days so that they could be used in a single moment. Li Siye well understood that it was time for these soldiers to make their debut.

  "Return!"

  A thunderous voice echoed through the mountains.

  An hour later, while the rest of the Wushang watched, an army of five thousand set off from Wushang Village. At this moment, no one knew what changes these Wushang would work on the Central Plains and the rest of the world.

  ……

  A few hours later, Wang Chong received news that Li Siye was on the way back. Standing on the high walls of the City of Steel, he could see a fully-armored train of soldiers stirring up a cloud of dust. Although this was only a force of around five thousand soldiers, it exuded the same aura as fifty thousand, or even one hundred thousand, a momentum that could sunder mountains.

  Most astonishing of all was the speed of these five thousand soldiers. Although they were infantry, they were traveling at speeds comparable to a galloping horse.

  All the people on the walls could only sigh in wonder at this sight.

  Chapter 743: News from Hulayeg

  Translated b: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  The army could have its soldiers make a rapid advance, and for special missions, it wasn't unusual for an army to march a hundred li in a single day. But not even an army at its most rapid advance would be able to reach even half the speed of this approaching force, much less maintain such tidy ranks.

  The shock and impact that came from thousands of soldiers marching in unison was truly difficult to describe!

  "Impossible!"

  "These soldiers are so powerful! And they're so disciplined as well. There's no sign of disorder in their ranks. Where did Lord Marquis get such impressive troops!"

  "What an impressive aura. They're even more formidable than the White Braves who attacked last night!"

  "Are these the helpers that Lord Marquis found?"

  The many workmen and guards inside and outside the walls were gasping in amazement.

  "Are these the Wushang soldiers Lord Marquis found?"

  On the southwestern wall, Zhang Shouzhi was supervising the construction, but when he saw the Wushang soldiers approaching from the east, he couldn't help but mentally sigh. He was one of the few people to know of the existence of Wushang Village, but this was also his first time seeing the Wushang soldiers.

  Truly formidable! This aura… No wonder Lord Marquis sent General Li! Zhang Shouzhi quietly said to himself.

  He had experienced the gruesome battlefield before. Any soldier who had been able to survive the assault of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army in the war of the southwest was an elite amongst elites.

  But Zhang Shouzhi felt that even the Annan Protectorate army at its finest could not compare to the Wushang troops being led by Li Siye.

  The Wushang troops approached quickly, and in only a few moments, they were several hundred zhang from the City of Steel. At this time, the gate rumbled open and Wang Chong rode out, accompanied by Cheng Sanyuan and the others.

  "Lord Marquis!"

  Upon seeing Wang Chong, Li Siye dismounted and strode forward to bow in front of him.

  "This general completed his mission. The first phase of training for the Wushang soldiers has been completed. Lord Marquis, please inspect the troops."

  "Mm."

  Wang Chong nodded, his gaze moving from Li Siye to the five thousand Wushang soldiers. These Wushang were completely different from the ones Wang Chong had first met. They were fully equipped in armor and were already taking shape into the 'Wushang Cavalry' of his last life.

  "Not bad. I've troubled you," Wang Chong said, patting Li Siye on the shoulder.

  Li Siye was truly very capable. Very few people in the army would be capable of training the five thousand Wushang into a force like this, so disciplined and well-trained that they could be as immovable as a mountain at one moment and then as aggressive as fire in the next. He was truly worthy of his future status as the Invincible Great General.

  "Go and rest first. Leave the soldiers to me!" Wang Chong said.

  Making these isolated villagers into the renowned Wushang Cavalry wasn't something that could be done in a single night. They had still not cultivated that martial art that had been created just for them, nor had they cultivated the Wushang Halo that was their village's namesake. Most importantly…

  They had not obtained the most important thing for cavalry: their warhorses.

  Everything else is ready. The only thing missing is Hulayeg's warhorses, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  Five thousand Wushang Cavalry needed five thousand warhorses, and if he wanted the superb Turkic warhorses, he would need to get them from Hulayeg.

  It should be about time. I wonder how his preparations are going?

  Qixi shared a long border with the Turkic steppe, a border which was garrisoned by the forces of the Qixi Protectorate army, the Beiting Protectorate army, and the Western Turkic Khaganate. Normally, these forces mutually constrained each other, maintaining peace and quiet on both sides.

  But at a time like this, this situation became the biggest obstacle to Wang Chong's ability to obtain warhorses. Five thousand warhorses was not a small number, and it was not possible to hide such a large herd from the eyes and ears of the three armies.

  Given Wang Chong's current relationship with the two Protector-Generals, if this transaction were discovered, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance that all his effort would go to help someone else. Moreover, such a large warhorse transaction would never have the permission of the Western Turkic Khaganate. After all, the Turkic Khaganate was currently enemies with the Great Tang.

  I'll just have to see what sort of tricks he has, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  The rumors said that Hulayeg, as the number one horse merchant of the Turkic steppe, had many secret channels which could allow him to evade the eyes of the border armies.

  It was now time to determine the veracity of those rumors.

  "Everyone, follow me!"

  Wang Chong quickly turned back to the matter at hand. Waving the soldiers over, he led them into the City of Steel.

  ……

  On the boundless Turkic steppe, vast fields of grass stretched to the horizon. Here, time seemed to be at a standstill, trapped in a cycle of wilting and thriving that would repeat until the end of time.

  "Hyah!"

  A shout suddenly shattered the serenity of the steppe, and
the earth began to quake with the thundering of hooves. Thousands of tall and handsome horses with glossy coats began to approach from the southeast.

  "Hyah!"

  In the blink of an eye and a shout, another herd of Turkic warhorses galloped out of the southwest. And then from the northwest, the northeast… Herds of warhorses from various directions gathered in this area.

  In a few moments, all the warhorses had gathered into a massive herd of more than ten thousand horses.

  Breeee!

  Herdsmen rode around the horses, constantly driving them back and making sure that they didn't run off.

  While they did so, a bearded Turk with sideburns dismounted in the blustery winds and began to make his way through the herd. He eventually reached a middle-aged Turk of somewhat portly constitution wearing two skulls of bronze on his shoulders.

  "Boba, all ten thousand horses from the various tribes have arrived. They are all the highest quality of warhorses. They do not require any training and only need a saddle to be ridden."

  'Boba' was a form of address. In the Turkic language, it was used to refer to a respected elder or most welcome guest. In all of the Turkic steppe, there was only one man who could be addressed like this while also being welcomed by the various tribes, and that was the number one Turkic horse merchant, Hulayeg.

  "Hahaha, good! Tell the chiefs that if they follow Hulayeg, they'll be able to feast and drink as they please, and that I, Hulayeg, will never treat them poorly! We can now inform that Young Marquis and conduct the first transaction!"

  Hulayeg was seated on a red Ferghana horse, and he exuded a lofty air as he looked upon the vast horse herd, his laughter echoing across the steppe.

  ……

  Flap flap!

  Two days later, a messenger bird flew into Wang Chong's residence in the City of Steel. In the residence, Wang Chong was seated cross-legged in front of a desk, perusing the 'Travel Log of the Western Regions' that Yang Hongchang had sent over.

  This was a handwritten account introducing the various kingdoms of the Western Regions that Wang Chong had personally requested Yang Hongchang to find for him.