The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  “Everyone, hear my order! Move out immediately! Target: Ü-Tsang!”

  Li Siye took out his massive broadsword and aimed it straight at the air, his booming voice brimming with energy and resounding across the skies of Ü-Tsang.

  Roooar!

  The surrounding soldiers thunderously replied, and an immense killing intent and will to fight soared into the air, so dense that space itself twisted and blurred.

  Gallop!

  In a stampede of hooves, a steel flood formed from thousands of cavalry thundered into the heartland of Ü-Tsang. Right behind the cavalry, Tang ballistae clanked and groaned as they moved along on a newly designed carriage.

  After Talas, Su Hanshan had gathered many craftsmen who had remodeled the firing platforms to be more suited for the ballistae, allowing them to move and fire faster while also expanding their firing angles.

  Chapter 1636 - Revenge on the Plateau!

  Chapter 1636: Revenge on the Plateau!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  The soldiers at the triangular gap were far from the only ones being mobilized.

  Longxi, the border, Big Dipper City.

  “Heh, send soldiers to the Ü-Tsang Empire, but they can’t show that they’re soldiers of the Big Dipper Army. Would Ü-Tsang not be able to recognize the traits of the Big Dipper Army? It seems like that man in the capital has begun to fight with Dalon Trinling.”

  Geshu Han put down Wang Chong’s letter and gave an amused smile.

  Even Geshu Han somewhat feared that head minister who resided throughout the year in the royal capital of the Ü-Tsang Empire. After all, this was a man who not even his former superior and current Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian had been able to defeat.

  ‘The thunder peal in the silence, the danger lurking in the placid’ was the style of that minister of the plateau. And one also had to consider that the ‘atmospheric pressure’ of the plateau was not suitable for those who lived on low altitudes.

  ‘Atmospheric pressure’ was the term used by that man in the capital.

  Geshu Han had imagined that these two would eventually conflict, but he hadn’t imagined that it would be so quickly.

  A hesitant voice spoke up. “Milord, the Imperial Court is keeping a close eye on us, and the Confucian Sect won’t be happy if we mobilize at this time. If the Imperial Court finds out…”

  The current Big Dipper Army was not the Big Dipper Army of the past. Not only had their numbers been reduced, there were now many supervisors that made any movement difficult.

  “Heh, we naturally need to respect the laws of the Imperial Court. Who said that the army being mobilized would be our Big Dipper Army?” Geshu Han lightly said.

  “Milord, you mean…”

  The subordinate seemed to realize something.

  “Pass on my order! After two days, dispatch five thousand elites for ‘routine training’!” Geshu Han ordered. His smile slowly faded.

  No matter what plan Wang Chong had, he would always give his full support.

  A false peace was something he had never wanted. Moreover, by deploying soldiers to Ü-Tsang, Wang Chong was actually helping him.

  ……

  The central region of Ü-Tsang was more than three thousand kilometers from the triangular gap. The grass here was lush, and hundreds of thousands of sheep covered the plain like a mantle of snow. Yaks were mixed in with them, and outside of the yak and sheep herds were herds of wild horses.

  These were the highland steeds of the Tibetan Plateau. All of them were muscular and stalwart, and galloped across the plain like dark clouds.

  After the war of the southwest, the battles against the Big Dipper Army, and the Battle of Talas, Ü-Tsang had suffered grievous losses. And in that plague that had swept over the plateau, many of these muscular highland steeds who were resistant to the climate of the plateau had died.

  Ever since then, Ü-Tsang had decided to enter a resting phase, particularly so that they could raise warhorses. Not only that, Ü-Tsang had also bought soybeans from the Central Plains to supplement the wild grasses of the plain.

  Breeding a large number of highland steeds was the number one priority for Ü-Tsang. As long as it had enough wild horses, Ü-Tsang could regain its breath and recover from the wounds inflicted by war.

  As for the lost manpower…

  Every shepherd of the plain was a potential Tibetan horseman. As long as they were trained, Ü-Tsang could have a massive force of basic cavalry in just three to five years. In five or ten years, they would be completely mature, and in ten to fifteen years, all the traces of war would have been wiped away and Ü-Tsang would once more be an immensely powerful empire.

  This was the source of Ü-Tsang’s long-term sturdiness. No matter what sort of wound it suffered, it could swiftly recover and threaten the Central Plains again and again.

  “Hurry! Focus on your training! There’s no stopping until I give the order!”

  Winds howled out from the north, and on the plain, a hardened Tibetan cavalry officer, his rough face seeming to have been cast from steel, was riding upon a tamed wild horse. The group of new recruits he was roaring at still had lingering signs that they were once shepherds.

  This Tibetan officer did not have any signs that indicated he belonged to Ü-Tsang, but his determined eyes and fierce aura of fire and blood were things that could have only been refined through bloody battles.

  In the militarist-Confucian conflict, the other countries had all signed peace treaties with the Great Tang, and all of them had reduced their armies, with Ü-Tsang being no exception. But these soldiers had not put away their armor and returned to tend to their flocks. Instead, they had used this opportunity to scatter across the plateau so that they could choose the best soldiers from the various tribes and then train them up into veteran soldiers in the hopes of forming a massive army.

  The Tibetan army would not shrink. In the future, it would only get larger.

  Flap flap! The yak war banners of Ü-Tsang snapped in the wind, and with that veteran officer’s orders, the countless Tibetan shepherds wearing basic armor gripped their sabers and spears, and formed and reformed into Echelon Formation.

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  As the horses galloped back and forth, dim halos emerged from the feet of the shepherds. These halos began to connect to each other and resonate, and a faint barrier began to emerge in the air.

  The renowned Fortress Formation of Ü-Tsang had already reached its basic form.

  “Everyone, listen up! The Tang are an enemy that we can never share the same sky with! Just think about how many of our Ü-Tsang Empire died at their hands! Just think about the plague and the deserted plains of the Ngari Royal Lineage that have still yet to recover! One day, we will make them pay a price! Imagine those targets in front of you to be the Tang! For the Tsenpo, for all Tibetans!”

  Underneath a nine-meter-tall banner loomed a Tibetan general. He had a brutal gaze and his voice resounded over the entire region.

  Roooar!

  “Kill, kill, kill!”

  Thunderous roars came in response, and these cavalry in the midst of training waved around their weapons as they charged at the nearby targets.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! One explosion after another could be heard as those round targets as tall as adult men were obliterated by sabers and spears, showering the surrounding area with debris.

  As the training continued, the entire base was enveloped in a somber aura. There were at least six of these bases in the Ü-Tsang Empire, and all of them were set up in sparsely inhabited areas. And there were also many spies and scouts placed along the route to the bases. If there were any strange activity or the base were exposed, these soldiers were to take off their armor and become ordinary shepherds, with the many sheep and cattle serving as proof.

  Thwish!

  Suddenly, an arrow shot down the banner at the very center of the base.

  Swoosh!

  This
sudden mishap had the Tibetan commander standing in a daze, a hint of shock in his eyes. This was clearly not something he had expected. All those Tibetan cavalry who had been vigorously training also instantly fell silent.

  “What’s going on here?”

  A Tibetan horseman subconsciously turned his head, his mind a complete blank. But before he could react, thwish! An arrow plunged into his chest. The man stared in disbelief at the shaft of the arrow, and then dropped from his horse.

  “Enemy!”

  A split-second after this horseman fell, a sharp cry in Tibetan resounded through the air. All the soldiers turned vigilant, but a moment later, they were confronted by a downpour of arrows. Under this dense rain, countless men were shot down from their horses.

  Rumble!

  A force of cavalry suddenly emerged from the distance, their hooves pounding like thunder.

  Most striking of all was the yellow war banner rising from the horizon, the word ‘Tang’ as obvious as could be.

  The Tang!

  As this thought flashed through the minds of all the Tibetans, their hearts sank like stones.

  No one had expected the Tang army to make a long-distance raid and appear in a place like this.

  ……

  Half a day later, a messenger bird flew into Ü-Tsang’s royal capital.

  “Reporting! Imperial Minister, the Yarlung Royal Lineage’s training base and garrison in the eastern region of the plateau were both attacked. Both bases were almost completely wiped out. Judging by the traces left behind, it was probably the Tang!”

  “What?!”

  Dalon Trinling was studying a document when he heard the news, and raised his head in shock.

  “Let me see!”

  The intelligence report was quickly handed over.

  Crack! After looking it over, Dalon Trinling clenched his fists as he crunched the report into a ball.

  “Bastard!”

  Dalon Trinling had a nasty scowl on his face.

  Dalon Trinling knew what was going on without needing to ask any further questions. He had not taken Wang Chong’s earlier warning to heart, but to his surprise, Wang Chong had really carried it out.

  “So, this is revenge for the operation in the capital?”

  Dalon Trinling raised his head, a cold light in his eyes.

  “Reporting!”

  A few moments later, there was another flurry of footsteps. A royal capital guard came inside and immediately got down on his knees.

  “Imperial Minister, we’ve received a letter from the Great Tang, from the King of Foreign Lands!”

  The guard’s report caused the mood in the entire palace to shift.

  Chapter 1637 - The Unseen Opponent!

  Chapter 1637: The Unseen Opponent!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Putting aside the developments in Ü-Tsang, more than seven thousand li away in the capital of the Great Tang, a Golden Guard strode into a hall.

  “Your Highness, we have delivered the letter.”

  “Your Highness, will this operation against Dalon Trinling truly be effective?” Xu Keyi asked, his expression apprehensive. “Dalon Trinling is known as the wisest sage of the Tibetan Plateau, and our operation might incite his revenge!”

  Dalon Trinling was no ordinary person. In the Ü-Tsang Empire, not even the much-admired Dalun Ruozan had been able to compare to this man. And Wang Chong had always been cautious. Even when threatening Ishbara, he had only sent a letter and not actually attacked.

  But Wang Chong had an entirely different attitude toward Dalon Trinling. Not long after notifying him, he had begun the assault.

  This was completely different from the matter with Ishbara Khagan.

  “Relax! Dalon Trinling won’t take any action!” Wang Chong firmly proclaimed, his eyes gleaming as he got to his feet. Wang Chong seemed to understand that distant Imperial Minister of Ü-Tsang far more than expected.

  “Whether or not this incident had taken place, the Tibetans would think of every way to try and attack. As soon as the Great Tang showed weakness, Ü-Tsang would seize the moment. The Tibetans are still restraining themselves, as while they want to, they don’t have the ability to!”

  Wang Chong’s eyes seemed to be able to see into the heart of the matter. Suddenly, Xu Keyi had a flash of insight.

  Wang Chong slowly said, “The Tibetans’ ambitions are far greater than ours. In the war of the southwest, the Ngari Royal Lineage was basically turned into a wasteland. Only three of the Four Royal Lineages remain. As for the eastern region, Geshu Han’s constant attacks have prevented it from being able to rest and recover. In the north, I destroyed it when I began setting up the steel fortresses. The only one left is the Yarlung Royal Lineage. While it seems to have been safe all this time, in reality, it has gotten into no small number of conflicts with Greater and Lesser Balur, the kingdoms of the Western Regions, Gao Xianzhi’s Anxi Protectorate army, and the Arabs. Even before we got there, the Tibetans had fought several wars with the Arabs. If the Great Tang hadn’t advanced into the Western Regions, Ü-Tsang and Arabia would have been mortal foes.

  “The Yarlung Royal Lineage is in far worse condition than all of you can imagine. The only fighting force left is the protectors of the royal capital, the Lhasa Royal Lineage. He has far fewer soldiers available than you might think!”

  Wang Chong had been studying the intelligence reports from Ü-Tsang this entire time, and understood far more than was publicly known.

  “Dalon Trinling has only one opportunity, and if it results in defeat, Ü-Tsang will be unable to recover. I trust that he already knows about the roseroot!”

  With these words, Wang Chong revealed the object that was at the core of their tenuous relationship.

  The crux of his relationship with Dalon Trinling was not the force at the triangular gap, nor was it Wang Chong’s grasp of strategy. It was none other than the flower that abounded on the plateau, roseroot.

  Dalon Trinling was one of the leading figures of this world, and not even Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi had been able to do anything to him, so how could anyone else?

  No one could have imagined that the object that had completely altered the relationship between the War Saint and the Imperial Minister was a little red flower.

  The reason the Tibetans had always been so fearless in their raids of the east was the altitude sickness that all those of lower altitudes were afflicted by upon stepping onto the plateau, even the Arabs.

  But with Wang Chong’s intervention, all of this had changed.

  Right now, even Geshu Han’s Big Dipper Army was regularly consuming roseroot, treating it as an ordinary part of their daily meals.

  The discovery of roseroot had caused this empire to lose the source of its pride. Now, if they were defeated, Wang Chong’s armies would be able to penetrate into the plateau, take the royal capital, and garrison it.

  This was why Dalon Trinling was so restrained toward Wang Chong.

  According to the news from Ü-Tsang, roseroot was now a scarce commodity on the marketplace. It seemed as if the Tibetans were even beginning to eradicate the small red flowers from the plateau. Alas, roseroot was essentially a weed and was found throughout the plateau. The smallest amount of rain would cause them to bud and bloom once more. It was an arduous task to completely eliminate them.

  Moreover, Wang Chong and Geshu Han had already begun to cultivate roseroot en masse.

  “Dalon Trinling is too cautious. As a wise minister, he plans first and moves second. The more aggressive we are, the less likely he will be to recklessly take action. I’m more worried about the incident in the capital.”

  Wang Chong had been devoting almost all his time recently to using Stellar Energy to treat Old Eagle’s injuries. With the power of his two supreme techniques and the medicines from the palace, Old Eagle’s injuries had finally been stabilized. However, he was still unconscious and would probably need a long ti
me to recover.

  Even so, this matter was far from over.

  What Wang Chong was concerned about was that the First Prince had actually used Tibetans so that he left behind no trace of his involvement. This was completely unlike his normal style.

  Wang Chong was almost sure now that there was an extremely powerful expert at the First Prince’s side who was helping him strategize and plan.

  What Wang Chong needed to do right now was draw that person out of hiding.

  “Is there any news?”

  Wang Chong turned his sharp eyes to Cheng Sanyuan.

  “The Eastern Palace is as normal. Even now, we haven’t been able to see any difference in its activities or identify anyone new.”

  Cheng Sanyuan shook his head. After all, the Eastern Palace wasn’t within their ability to watch. On this aspect, they had to rely on the Fifth Prince and Li Jingzhong.

  Wang Chong fell silent. Cheng Sanyuan’s reply was not surprising. If his foe was really as he expected, he was an extremely shrewd and calculating expert that would make sure that no clues were left behind. But Wang Chong firmly believed that nothing could be done flawlessly. If his intuition was right, there were clues in the Eastern Palace.

  “Tell Li Jingzhong that the Fifth Prince should keep out of this matter for now. In addition, have Li Jingzhong record everyone who goes in and out of the Eastern Palace every day. It doesn’t need to be very detailed and he doesn’t need to get that close. As long as we look at how the Eastern Palace has changed from the past, we will be able to find some clues,” Wang Chong sternly said.

  Once this was settled, Wang Chong deeply frowned.

  What sort of person is hiding behind the curtain and making all these plans?

  Wang Chong muttered to himself. Wang Chong had encountered his fair share of formidable foes, but this time was different.

  This mysterious figure had gotten ahead of him in the palace and wiped out any trace of Eunuch Gao, and then they had used the Tibetans against him, choosing none other than Old Eagle as the target. Wang Chong felt a frightening sharpness from his foe’s assaults.