The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

Su Shixuan said nothing more, understanding that Chen Dazhong had still not recovered from the cruel reality. Su Shixuan stood to the side together with the guards, somberly waiting for something.

  At this moment, a handsome and refined figure wearing an azure robe emerged from a nearby restaurant, his hands behind his back.

  “It’s the King of Foreign Lands!” the surrounding crowd called out in surprise.

  This person was none other than that supreme existence of the capital who had triggered this ideological storm, the King of Foreign Lands.

  Wang Chong silently made his way to the stage, and at this moment, he appeared like the dazzling sun, the most striking existence in the world. Countless gazes peered down at him from the surrounding restaurants.

  Whoosh!

  The winds howled, causing the two banners planted next to the stage to snap in the wind, revealing the words ‘King of Foreign Lands’ and ‘Might Makes Right’. The banners were unchanged, but as Wang Chong stepped onto the stage while the aggressive wolf rampaged around the cage, the corpse of the dog still within, these banners gave a completely different feeling.

  “Everyone has seen the result…”

  Wang Chong’s robes flapped in the wind and his voice resounded like thunder, pealing out over the entire world. At this moment, the crowd was somber and silent. In the face of that corpse of the small dog which was still not cold, no one could say a thing.

  “A wolf once tamed can be incredibly docile, can protect your home, play around with your child, coexist with your dog, and even give you the misperception that it is a dog, not a wolf. But at no point can you forget this. That bloodthirsty and savage nature is deeply buried in its blood. Once it has a chance, that nature will erupt in the most fatal fashion, biting through your throat just as it did to that dog. This is the law of the jungle!”

  Wang Chong’s voice clearly delivered itself into everyone’s ears. And on the stage, the dazed hunter paled, his body twitching. He had raised Little Hui for so long, but to his surprise, in the end, Little Hui was still a savage wolf.

  “…Right now, the Great Tang has signed peace treaties with the surrounding countries, coexisting with them just like that wolf and dog did. We can talk peace with them and coexist with them, but do not forget that a wolf is a wolf. At any time, if you are careless for even a moment, it can use the speediest and most savage method to tear open your throat. This is the law of the jungle, the wolfish nature of these foreigners.

  “And if one wants to deal with wolves and tigers, one must be more ferocious than wolves and tigers!”

  Wang Chong gestured at a guard near him. This guard immediately stepped up to the cage. The wolf within, sensing a person approaching, immediately turned its bloodshot eyes on this visitor, baring its sharp teeth. It lowered its body, preparing to strike the moment this guard got too close.

  However…

  Clang!

  There was a metal clang as the muscular guard extended a vigorous hand into the cage, clenched it around the wolf’s neck, and dragged it out.

  The frenzied wolf continued to struggle in the guard’s hand as if trying to escape and strike back. Its ferocious appearance made the crowd yelp in fear. But a moment later, crack! The frenzied wolf only had time to howl before the guard used immense force to twist and shatter its neck. Its limbs and head dropped down to lifelessly hang in the air.

  “Ah!”

  The civilians covered their mouths and gasped once more.

  “Do you see? Even the most ferocious and bloodthirsty wolf, in front of an even more powerful soldier, is no different from the little dog that it just ate.

  “This is the nature of the relationship between countries. In the dark forest, what can protect oneself is not benevolence or righteousness, but immense courage to face difficulties and even greater strength. This is might! Makes! Right!”

  Wang Chong’s words seemed to bang against the floor. After scanning the crowd, he left the stage with a sweep of his sleeves.

  The vast crowd behind him was silent.

  Silence!

  A deathly stillness!

  Even after Wang Chong was gone, everyone who had come to Azure Dragon Street to watch these events, including those within the restaurants and tea houses, and those clan heads who had come after hearing the news, were in a daze, seemingly petrified to the ground.

  Everyone was still immersed in the shock brought about by that scene.

  Although Wang Chong was gone now, for the people of the capital, this matter was far from concluded. When Chen Dazhong had appeared on the stage with his wolf and dog, everyone believed that they would be watching a play. Many people had forgotten that one of the banners Wang Chong had placed by the stage had declared ‘Might Makes Right’.

  All this was for Wang Chong to prove his theories.

  But when the dog was killed and eaten, when the wolf was butchered, no one could bring themselves to laugh. No one could continue to treat this as some play.

  Facts could overcome any strong argument!

  Wang Chong had used a most blunt and irrefutable method to illustrate this law of survival to the people of the capital and the Great Tang.

  Bang!

  After this brief period of silence, there seemed to be a peal of thunder in the air as the crowd exploded.

  “The King of Foreign Lands was right! We were all wrong!”

  “All of us liked that wolf, but in the end, it still ate that dog. Wolves are wolves, and nothing can change this!”

  “The surrounding countries have always been envious of the Great Tang’s wealth, have always wanted to attack the Great Tang. Alas, we were all fooled. Only the King of Foreign Lands… only he was the most clear-minded. This was why he wrote that book! The King of Foreign Lands is right!”

  The crowd chattered amongst itself. The scenes that had taken place on that stage had been deeply branded into the minds of many, perhaps to remain with them for the rest of their lives.

  “Don’t listen to his nonsense! This was all a coincidence, a coincidence! One incident can’t be used to prove anything! Everyone, you must believe in the Imperial Court!”

  Several Confucians loudly called out in the crowd, but no one paid them any attention or listened to their opinions. All their voices were suppressed by the chatter of the crowd. The dog and wolf had made all of them think like they never had before.

  No! It was not simply the crowd that was beginning to reconsider their ideas, but the entire empire!

  “It’s over!”

  “The situation is bad! The King of Foreign Lands has won! If this continues, our peace with the Great Tang will soon be broken! All the effort from before will have been for nothing!”

  “I must report this to His Majesty!”

  The scouts in the crowd turned ghastly pale. As they looked around at the crowd and the wolf corpse on the stage, they backed out of the crowd and rushed in various directions.

  This event rapidly took hold of the capital, having more influence than anyone could imagine. In only half a day, the entire capital knew of what had transpired, and countless people went to the stage. Meanwhile, according to Wang Chong’s orders, the hunter had been appropriately taken care of and guided away.

  But the corpses of the wolf and dog and all the blood they had spilled were still there.

  Every person of the capital who saw that gory scene was dealt a massive mental blow. This was precisely because all of them had heard about how this wolf and dog had coexisted, and developed a great fondness for this pair. Even children knew a few little rhymes about the friendliness of this dog and wolf. All this maximized the shock they felt from the sight of the blood on the stage.

  As people arrived and saw the dark red bloodstains on the stage and the gaping maw of the deceased wolf, they were rendered speechless.

  The cruelty of reality and the destruction of children’s tales were callously and bluntly displayed before them. The mood in the capital became oppressive, as if a heavy s
tone had been placed over everyone’s heads, so heavy that they could barely breathe.

  A day passed of countless people privately discussing this matter. They spoke about the ‘docile wolf’, the ‘innocent dog’, spoke of ‘the eruption of nature’, the ‘final carnage’, and the words the King of Foreign Lands had said before leaving.

  Chapter 1304 - Ideological Storm!

  Chapter 1304: Ideological Storm!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “You! Outrageous!”

  “Teacher, the Confucian school’s teachings were always meant to create happiness for the people of the world. Right is right and wrong is wrong. The true foundation of these teachings is what can be meaningful to the people of the world. The theories of the King of Foreign Lands are for the sake of the country. Teacher, peace is naturally not bad, but just like the King of Foreign Lands said, peace is won through effort and safeguarded through strength, not through compromise and withdrawal. Teacher, what if Ü-Tsang, the Eastern and Western Turks, Goguryeo, Mengshe Zhao… these countries really are trying to weaken the Great Tang and only feigning peace and disarmament, waiting for the right moment to immediately attack the Great Tang? If that really is the case, Teacher, have you thought about what might happen?”

  “Absurd! If everything is as you think, what hope is there left in this world? Peace should be obtained through teaching, through reforming and civilizing the foreigners. Let them understand that peace and prosperity can be obtained through their own hands, not through war. Are not your current views only encouraging the aggressive nature of the foreigners? If we truly follow this theory, what peace will there be to speak of? To think that a student of mine is actually arguing for such a crooked theory! How disgraceful! I hereby announce that you are now expelled from the school, never again to be a disciple of the Confucian school!”

  With these final and deafening words, the entire school fell silent. After a long while, someone finally spoke.

  “Many thanks, Teacher!”

  A figure emerged from the school, its back relaxed and carefree. Father and son, older and younger brother, neighbor and neighbor, teacher and student… such conflicts were taking place in every part of the capital and all across the realm.

  From the publishing of ‘Might Makes Right’ all the way to the devouring of dog by wolf on the stage, only now did Wang Chong finally complete his plan. And only now did concepts like ‘the law of the jungle’ and ‘the strong eat the weak’ truly penetrate into the minds of the people; only now did the people accept them and not simply treat them as words on a page.

  This was like a storm that was sweeping over the entire empire with incredible speed. Those swelling cries demanding peace and protesting war instantly became much smaller, and one could no longer see crowds marching on the streets. In contrast, the restaurants, tea houses, inns… everyone had gathered in these places to discuss and debate the new ideas proposed in ‘Might Makes Right’.

  The resultant clash of ideals, each person having their own opinions and stubbornly clinging to them, only fueled the chaos and turmoil.

  Like the spring wind, Wang Chong’s book was awakening countless people of the empire from a long slumber and causing them to deeply contemplate their understanding of the world.

  For the countries around the Great Tang observing all this, this was a terrible development. All these empires felt a sense of great concern over the great debate taking place.

  “I underestimated him!”

  On the Tibetan Plateau, outside the royal capital, Dalon Trinling closed his eyes and raised his head, allowing the winds to batter against him and make his robe flutter and snap. At this moment, Dalon Trinling’s mind was awash with countless thoughts.

  The Confucian school had originally held the upper hand in this conflict. Using the general trend of the world and the exhaustion and longing for peace of the people, it had been able to firmly suppress its foe. If this had been allowed to continue, the Great Tang’s decline would have been in the foreseeable future.

  Not even Dalon Trinling would have been able to think of a way to reverse this sort of trend.

  This was a battle of one person against the entire world, one heart against the minds of millions. From the very beginning, there had been no chance of victory, but Wang Chong had actually managed to win, or at the very least, he had showed the ability to change it all. He had started with a book and then used a wolf and dog as a metaphor for the political situation. At the cost of only the lives of a dog and wolf, Wang Chong had forcefully reversed the trend for peace. Even Dalon Trinling had to sigh in admiration at this feat.

  “It was for good reason that this person has been called a major threat to our Ü-Tsang,” Dalon Trinling said to himself. Just through this strategy alone, the King of Foreign Lands had placed himself amongst the finest strategists of the world.

  The Yarlung Royal Lineage’s Great General, Namri Songtian, suddenly spoke, his eyes tinged with deep concern. “Imperial Minister, what do we do now? From the current situation, we won’t be able to alter the state of the Great Tang. Once the Great Tang’s militarists return to power, our Ü-Tsang will be in the first wave of assault. Most importantly, we can’t afford failure.”

  The Ü-Tsang Empire had lost far too many soldiers and officers over the last few wars, and no longer had many soldiers to use. The only factions with any capacity for battle were the Yarlung Royal Lineage and the army of the royal capital. This was also an important reason Ü-Tsang had chosen to compromise with the Confucian Sect.

  “Relax! This war is far from reaching that stage. As they say in the Great Tang, only when the coffin is sealed can one make a conclusion. Although the Confucian Sect has suffered a wave of losses, this is a faction that has been able to persist in the Central Plains for one thousand years and possesses its own incredible traits. I am confident that the Confucian Sect has other moves to make. In addition…”

  Dalon Trinling suddenly opened his eyes, his right hand extended out of his sleeve to reveal a letter.

  “That old friend of mine in the Central Plains who I became acquainted with long ago should be about to make his move. Send off this letter. Once he receives it, he should know what to do.”

  Namri Songtian couldn’t help but be taken aback by this letter. Just like all the other Great Ministers throughout the generations of Ü-Tsang, whether they were of the Four Royal Lineages or the Imperial Minister, they would almost always spend some time traveling in the Central Plains before ascending to the post. But since they had not made their name at the time, very few people paid them any attention.

  “Yes, your subordinate will do so.”

  Namri Songtian quickly took the letter and left.

  ……

  “Pass on my order. Have all three armies ready for deployment.”

  On the distant Mount Sanmi of the Western Turks, the reaction was much simpler. The moment this shift began to occur in the Great Tang, Wunu Shibi instinctively felt threatened and ordered his armies to be on their guard.

  “Have our spies in the capital sent any new reports?”

  On Mount Sanmi, Wunu Shibi had both hands placed on his sword as he stood straight like a spear. In front of him was a Western Turkic spy who had gotten down on one knee.

  “Milord, almost all of our spies have converged on the capital, all of them observing this shift. If there is any new information, they will immediately report it to Milord,” the spy chief respectfully said, after which he quickly took his leave.

  The skies of the Western Turkic Khaganate, the Goguryeo Empire, and Mengshe Zhao were filled with the sounds of flapping wings as numerous birds flew toward the capital of the Great Tang, more frequently and in greater numbers than ever before.

  ……

  While all the foreign countries were readying their armies, the Anxi Protectorate headquarters was immersed in an entirely different mood.

  “Good!”

  Gao Xian
zhi slowly put down the letter in his hand, his eyes twinkling as he felt a great burden lifted off his mind.

  “Wang Chong, good job! I can finally breathe easy!

  “Changqing, have the spies we sent to the foreign countries reported back?”

  Gao Xianzhi turned to Feng Changqing.

  Feng Changqing smiled and said, “Heh, the King of Foreign Lands is dragging along the countries by the nose. They probably can’t even escape worrying about this matter in their dreams. From the reports of our spies, the matter in the capital has made them restless and uneasy.”

  Feng Changqing felt sincere admiration for Wang Chong. He and Gao Xianzhi were known as the Twin Walls of Empire because one was skilled in civil duties while the other was skilled in martial duties, the two of them perfectly complementing each other. But not even the two of them could create such schemes and strategies as Wang Chong.

  This was no longer something as simple as creating a strategy or planning a logistics train. He had read the copy of ‘Might Makes Right’ sent over from the capital multiple times, savoring every sentence.

  Feng Changqing had always believed himself to be incredibly talented, or else he would have never recommended himself to Gao Xianzhi when he was just a lowly soldier. But now that Wang Chong had even written such a book, Feng Changqing could only sigh at his inferiority to Wang Chong.

  “Pass on my order! Keep a close watch on the surrounding countries! Be ready to move out at the slightest sign of activity!”

  “Yes!”

  An Anxi Protectorate army general immediately left with this order.

  A single book and the events around it could cause the situation of the entire world to change. Only Wang Chong could be capable of this!

  ……

  As all this was going on, every piece of information was being collected in the Secretariat Advisor Residence. Similarly, all the pressure had gathered on this place as well.

  “Young Master, what do we do? The entire realm is chattering about the book written by the King of Foreign Lands. There are even students arguing with teachers in the Confucian schools. The actions of the King of Foreign Lands have already begun to shake the foundation of the Confucian school. Since the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, when Confucianism was revered above all the other one hundred schools of thought, this sort of thing has never happened. If we don’t stop this now, and allow this matter to continue, the thousand-year fame of the Confucian school will be finished!”