Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Hulayeg appeared convinced by w.a.n.g Chong"s explanation. The w.a.n.g Clan was one of the great clans of the capital, a clan of ministers and generals. It had spread its roots to all levels of society, and he had also gotten w.a.n.g Chong"s implication.
The Hu didn"t just live in the Western Regions and the Turkic steppe. The capital of the Great Tang also had many Hu, but this was a fact that many people easily forgot.
w.a.n.g Chong"s meaning was that amongst the Hu that he knew in the capital were some of Hulayeg"s Hu friends, and one of these had also been the one to tell w.a.n.g Chong about Yalug.
And these Hu had also told w.a.n.g Chong about Hulayeg"s activities in the Western Regions.
Looking at w.a.n.g Chong now, Hulayeg found this youth mysterious and unfathomable. It was true that the w.a.n.g Clan"s power in the capital was immense, but to be able to know about one of his stewards and his concubine, this power was simply beyond belief.
Hulayeg felt like he was standing in front of a bottomless abyss.
But the Hu and Han had different priorities. Though overcome by this feeling of mystery at first, Hulayeg quickly brightened.
"Hahaha, with a friend like Young Master w.a.n.g, what do I need to worry about? To express my grat.i.tude to Young Master w.a.n.g, I"ve added one thousand extra Turkic warhorses of the best quality.
"Young Master w.a.n.g, I have a feeling that we will be very good friends!"
Hulayeg tapped w.a.n.g Chong"s chest and heartily laughed.
This display truly caught w.a.n.g Chong"s group by surprise. Cheng Sanyuan, Su s.h.i.+xuan, Chen Bin, Guan Yu, and the other officers all brightened up, and even w.a.n.g Chong was caught off-guard.
One thousand warhorses had a value of ten thousand taels of gold, but this wasn"t that important to w.a.n.g Chong right now. The crucial thing was the warhorses themselves.
These Turkic warhorses were of such fine quality that they were essentially priceless.
And they were just what w.a.n.g Chong needed the most.
Hulayeg"s forthrightness was truly unexpected. w.a.n.g Chong suddenly understood how Hulayeg could have so many connections, could have such a thorough understanding of the Western and Eastern Turkic Khaganates and become the number one horse merchant of the steppe.
"Okay! Sir Hulayeg, I won"t waste time on pleasantries. I will take this great gift. In the future, if Sir Hulayeg needs anything, just say the word. As long as it"s within my power, I will do my utmost to satisfy you," w.a.n.g Chong said.
If this Hulayeg continued along his original course, he would die in at most three months. This was why w.a.n.g Chong had been in such a rush to make a deal with him.
But seeing Hulayeg"s straightforward att.i.tude and how he knew to repay kindness, w.a.n.g Chong suddenly had a much better impression of this horse merchant.
Although he didn"t know if he could succeed, he still wanted to try and see if he could save the number one horse merchant from his fate.
In the future, Hulayeg might play a very big role in the Great Tang.
With the greetings exchanged, w.a.n.g Chong quickly went to the main subject. w.a.n.g Chong had Xu Keyi begin handing the payment of nine hundred thousand taels of gold to Hulayeg while sending Cheng Sanyuan and the others to inspect the warhorses. Hulayeg had brought eleven thousand warhorses with him, all of them muscular and with strong bones. Even someone who didn"t understand horses could sense that the quality of these horses was very high, and Hulayeg truly had done his best.
"Oh, that"s right, Sir Hulayeg, I might as well give you a second word of advice."
Right after the transaction was finished and both groups were about to leave, w.a.n.g Chong suddenly stopped and looked at Hulayeg, an enigmatic smile on his face. When Hulayeg saw this smile, his heart immediately began to ominously thump.
This was not Hulayeg"s first time seeing this kind of smile. The last time he saw this smile, his trusted steward Yalug had almost run off with more than half his fortune.
"Whatever Young Master w.a.n.g has to say, Hulayeg will wash his ears and listen."
Hulayeg was showing full respect this time, even following the etiquette of the Central Plains and clasping his hands as he bowed. The Turkic steppe did not have this sort of custom, so one could easily imagine just how much Hulayeg respected w.a.n.g Chong"s advice after the Yalug incident.
"Haha, if Sir Hulayeg believes in me, then for the next seven days, you shouldn"t leave your house. In addition, if you must leave, wear a set of armor under your clothes. Finally… do your utmost to not go to the east."
With these words said, w.a.n.g Chong left. Hulayeg remained where he was, speechless and stunned.
"Hyah!"
Shouts could be heard in the distance as the several hundred elites drove the more than ten thousand horses into the night, stirring up large clouds of dust.
"Boba, could this Tang just be frightening us? No one knows of our movements on the steppe, so how could he know? In addition, we"ve already met with the chiefs in the east, and for the next ten days, we"ll be so busy that we won"t even have the time to go back. In my view, these words aren"t reliable… Perhaps last time was just a coincidence, a guess!" A subordinate who had served Hulayeg for many years could no longer hold back his complaints.
In truth, none of the Turks liked the Tang very much, and not even business could change that. They were particularly dissatisfied by w.a.n.g Chong"s lofty demeanor that seemed to have everything under control. In addition, their master was being far too friendly to this Han. Even though he had served his master for many years and through many business deals, this was the first time he had seen his master treat a Han so warmly, even gifting him one thousand of the highest quality Turkic warhorses.
"No. Wuduchi, you are wrong!"
Hulayeg"s reaction was completely unexpected. Gazing in the direction w.a.n.g Chong had left, he began to furrow his brow.
"The east he"s talking about isn"t the eastern steppe of our Western Turkic Khaganate, but the Eastern Turkic Khaganate!"
Hulayeg"s words left his subordinate dumbfounded. Hulayeg"s connections were so extensive that they were not only restricted to the Western Turkic Khaganate. Hulayeg also had many deep connections with the tribal chiefs of the steppe ruled by Ozmish Khagan.
Not long ago, Hulayeg had made an appointment with several powerful chiefs who he had very close relations.h.i.+ps with. But very few people knew about this matter, and Hulayeg had only made the appointment not too long ago. How had w.a.n.g Chong known?
If he even knew of a secret like this, then his abilities were simply inconceivable!
"…Could it be that he"s saying that someone will try to harm me during that meeting?" Hulayeg muttered to himself.
He truly wanted to treat w.a.n.g Chong"s warning as a joke, but with the precedent of Yalug, Hulayeg did not dare to treat w.a.n.g Chong"s words lightly. Turning around, Hulayeg left, many thoughts on his mind.
……
Putting aside Hulayeg and the activities on the Tibetan border, the sun rose from the east, shattering the darkness. In a single night, the dark herd of eleven thousand Turkic warhorses appeared outside the City of Steel, startling everyone.
w.a.n.g Chong"s one-night construction project was astonis.h.i.+ng enough, and the additional appearance of all these warhorses truly gave everyone a ma.s.sive shock. The scouts and spies were particularly panicked, and messenger birds were hurriedly dispatched.
"What? More than ten thousand warhorses? Are you crazy? How could there be this many warhorses?"
Even Fumeng Lingcha, who was currently dealing with the aftermath of Pulan He"s death and the Imperial Court"s questions, was given a scare upon hearing this news. His first reaction was that this was impossible. Qixi sat on a critical path between the Western Regions and the heart of the Great Tang, and guarded three borders: the Ü-Tsang border, the Western Turkic Khaganate border, and the Western Regions border. These three borders were all guarded by his soldiers.
This wasn"t just one or two horses, but more than ten thousand. It was impossible for them to escape his notice. If w.a.n.g Chong had managed to get so many warhorses, why hadn"t he heard anything about it beforehand? Were all his well-trained subordinates being paid and fed to do nothing?
And while he could somewhat understand how a city could be built in a night, how could so many warhorses get through the border without any soldier noticing?
Was it really a miracle? Had they come out of thin air?
He would never believe such absurd news.
A subordinate general kneeled and hurriedly said, "Milord, this general has already sent three groups to check, and this information has been confirmed beyond doubt. This general is willing to stake his life on it."
All the enemies around Qixi and the Western Regions relied on cavalry. The Tibetans did, the Turks did, the kingdoms of the Western Regions did, and even the distant Abbasid Caliphate and Charax Spasinu relied on primarily cavalry armies.
In this complicated environment, one could easily imagine how important warhorses were. But in his tiny fief, w.a.n.g Chong suddenly had more than ten thousand warhorses.
Even though he was the mighty Protector-General who oversaw all of Qixi, he only had a few more horses than w.a.n.g Chong, so how could he accept such a result?
Fumeng Lingcha stood in the hall, staring in a daze at his nervous subordinate.
……
At this moment, Fumeng Lingcha was not the only one to be shocked at w.a.n.g Chong"s ten thousand Turkic warhorses.
"That boy even has this sort of ability?
In the distant Big Dipper City of Longxi, Geshu Han"s eyes were twinkling. Placing his hands on his sandalwood desk, he slowly stood.
He had to admit that the youngest son of the w.a.n.g Clan had truly given him a big surprise.
He suddenly began to feel that things were beginning to fall out of line with his predictions.
"What is Fumeng Lingcha"s reaction?" Geshu Han asked.
"Fumeng Lingcha"s side is still busy answering the questions from the imperial censors of the court. He probably doesn"t have much energy to pay attention to that area, but based on what we"ve heard, Fumeng Lingcha seems to have been in a fuming rage after learning of the matter," a Big Dipper Army officer next to Geshu Han said.
"That"s within my expectations. Given his relations.h.i.+p with that scion of the w.a.n.g Clan, he would never be happy over this."
Geshu Han"s right hand began to subconsciously tap against his desk as he indifferently spoke.