Chapter 837: Earthquake! Winds Stir, Clouds Gather! II (1/2)
Chapter 837: Earthquake! Winds Stir, Clouds Gather! (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”Milord, should we continue working against Wang Chong? Qing Ze has already gone to connect with all two hundred and forty thousand bandits and brigands on the Silk Road. In addition, we still have that ban on vegetable, grain, and fruit merchants going to Wushang. Should this ban be continued?” a cautious voice in the room probed, breaking the atmosphere of shock. The speaker was a bearded Hu general of apparently rather high status standing at Geshu Han's side.
When Wang Chong had just arrived at Wushang, Geshu Han had given his subordinate Qing Ze a test by ordering him to deal with Wang Chong and prevent Wushang from establishing any roots. The most obvious and most practical method was to ban any fruits, grains, or vegetables, these necessities of life, from reaching Wushang. After all, the nearest supply point for Wushang in the Central Plains was Longxi.
'The world is rich and prosperous, but nowhere surpasses Longxi' was a saying that referred to the fact that Longxi was the most prosperous region in the Central Plains. The earth there was fertile, the lands spacious, so it was the easiest place to get supplies from. Back in the capital, Wang Chong had promised that he would develop Wushang into a unique commercial and transportation hub of the Silk Road, providing caravans a place to rest, resupply, and seek shelter and protection.
The vast amount needed to supply all these people as well as the garrison could only be obtained from Longxi. As for Qixi, the meaning of the word 'Qi'1 was enough to dispel that idea. That such a barren and near-desert region was able to sustain such a large garrison was already quite impressive.
It was absolutely impossible for Wang Chong to receive sufficient logistical support from Qixi.
Thus, when the time came, Wang Chong would have no other option than to get his supplies from the capital. The road between the capital and Wushang was long, and if one added into the mix the two hundred and forty thousand bandits and brigands on the road… one could easily imagine the result. But now, Wang Chong was Qixi Protector-General, and everything was different.
If Geshu Han dared to continue on this course of action, it would no longer be a test, but a direct confrontation with Wang Chong!
The Protector-Generals and Great Generals of the empire all held influential status and power, and a clash between two such figures was no laughing matter. Even Geshu Han would have to seriously consider the pros and cons.
Geshu Han said nothing, raising his head to look at the slightly blackened roof of the hall that had been repaired several times over the course of Big Dipper City's battles, a complicated look in his eyes.
The Great Tang of the Central Plains had experienced many years of peace, and the upper levels of the power structure had solidified ages ago, with the candidates for high-ranking positions like Protector-General and Great General already set in stone. Wang Chong's appearance and his rapid promotion had broken all the rules.
With a sharpness that left everyone surprised and uncomfortable, he had rapidly left the southwest and entered the northwest, all the way until he was sitting on the post of Qixi Protector-General!
In Geshu Han's life of ups and downs, trials and tribulations, successes and failures, he had never encountered a situation like this.
”Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huicang, Duan Gequan, Dusong Mangpoje, Dayan Mangban, Agudu Lan… Although I still feel the Imperial Court's promoting a seventeen-year-old so quickly to the post of Protector-General is a decision made too hastily, he truly did achieve his current state by proving his strength every step of the way. Tell Qing Ze to return! Have those bandits and brigands disperse, and cancel all the plans we decided on. The times have changed, and we cannot challenge a Protector-General!”
Geshu Han gave a long sigh.
”Yes!”
A Big Dipper commander quickly left with the order.
……
The news of Wang Chong's promotion arrived in Beiting and Andong as well, and the entire political system of the empire was dealt a massive shock. But in the distant Ü-Tsang Empire, the mood was completely different.
In the massive royal capital, all was eerily silent. In the royal palace at its very heart, smoke spiraled out of incense burners, but nobody within the hall spoke. Everyone was focused on a metal fretwork table, around four feet high and covered with mysterious inscriptions.
On the table, a black pigeon with golden eyes was cooing, freely looking around as if unaware of the nervous tension that filled the hall to the bursting. But everyone knew that this hall was weighed down by this strange pressure precisely because of the news this pigeon had delivered.
”Your Majesty, although Fumeng Lingcha is gone, he's been replaced by the even more formidable Wang Chong, with Wang Chong even taking Fumeng Lingcha's former post. This is extremely ill news for our Ü-Tsang Empire!” A worried and anxious voice echoed within the hall.
”The war of the southwest, the destruction of Zhangzhung Training Camp, the grievous losses at the triangular gap… in total, we've already lost more than four hundred thousand elite cavalry to that Great Tang youth, and the plague has still not been brought under complete control—the dead cows and sheep are piling up into mountains! That he's now become Qixi Protector-General is a great disaster for our Ü-Tsang Empire! And besides that, he's also built that fortress on our Tibetan Plateau! This is completely unprecedented!” Another voice rang out in agreement.
In the past, the people the Ü-Tsang Empire feared were Zhangchou Jianqiong, Geshu Han, Fumeng Lingcha, and Gao Xianzhi, these four Imperial Great Generals of the Great Tang, but now, another name had rapidly superseded these names, becoming the most feared existence in the entire Ü-Tsang Empire. This name was 'Wang Chong'. It wasn't like the Tibetans had never lost to the Great Tang before, and the strongest of their Great Generals had even pushed all the way to the royal capital. But those had all been regular wars, where it was easy tell where they had lost, where they were weak.