Chapter Fifteen Reflections
The German king, King Yang Zhong, was comfortably lying on a recliner, with two beautiful maidens gently massaging his legs.
"Your Highness, Mr. Li and Magistrate Shang have arrived." A maid came over to Yang Jun's side and said.
"Oh, let them come in." Yang Jun sat up straight and waved his hand for the two maids to withdraw.
Two guests walked in, "Greetings, Your Highness." Both of them bowed at the same time.
"Never mind, never mind, what's the point of exchanging formalities among us three?" He warmly greeted the two.
The two men sat down at the invitation of Yang Jun, with an old man in his fifties on the left, whose body was thin and bony, but his spirit was very sharp. A pair of half-closed eyes occasionally revealed a hint of sharpness, while the other person formed a stark contrast with him, being robust and having a large face and ears, with a spirited and majestic appearance. The old man was Li Liejun, the first strategist of Crown Prince Yang Jun, and the middle-aged man was Shangguan Jundong, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, who was also Yang Jun's confidant.
"You both know the situation with the Imperial Army's military might this time, and I don't want to say more. You must also be aware of the news from the Grand Temple this morning that Father Emperor has approved Fourth Brother's formation of the Heavenly Wolf Legion. At that time, Father Emperor was in high spirits, and no one dared to raise a dissenting opinion; even if someone did, they would only bring trouble upon themselves. The situation has changed rapidly over the past few days, and I am extremely worried. I came today to hear your views on the current situation and what countermeasures we should take." Yang Jun's expression seemed somewhat unpleasant.
Li Liejun hesitated for a moment, then said: "Your Highness doesn't have to worry too much. This time the Mongols invaded, Lanzhou fell, and the Blue Feather Army and the Northwestern Border Army were defeated, which shocked Guanzhong. If we capture Wuwei this time, all of Guanzhong will be under the Mongols' attack. At that time, our interests in Guanzhong will suffer losses. However, it was unexpected that Prince Liao could defeat Helian Tieshu this time. I had someone investigate yesterday and some intelligence has come back today. I was just about to report to Your Highness."
"Oh? Then let Old Li speak up." Yang Zun's spirits lifted immediately.
The Liao King's victory this time can be said to be extremely lucky. He led the Imperial Forest Army, 10,000 iron cavalry, to Wuwei. In the court, everyone thought that the Liao King was going without return, but he first ambushed the Mongols' 10,000 iron cavalry in Lingyuan City and Wuwei with the garrison of 10,000 soldiers. At the same time, he also gathered the Blue Feather Army and the Northwest Border Army's 20,000 remaining soldiers to defend the city. The Mongolian army was all cavalry, which was at a disadvantage in attacking the city. After abandoning their war horses, they engaged in a siege battle with the Wuwei garrison. In the several days of fighting, the Mongols were exhausted. The Liao King seized the opportunity and led his cavalry to launch a counterattack, killing Helian Tiashu and winning the war.
"Unexpectedly, the Liao king is a great general, and he can actually defeat Helian Tiashu and eliminate the Mongols' 80,000 iron cavalry." Shangguan Jun-de was deeply impressed by Yang Chengfeng's military talent.
"Don't bother with him, the main thing is that Fourth Brother is now the Grand Marshal of Wuwei's expeditionary force, and he has also established the Tianlang Army. According to the empire's military system, the Tianlang Army can reach a strength of 100,000 men. If he cannot be used by me, he must be eliminated." A cold and gloomy expression appeared on Yang Jun's face.
"Everyone has weaknesses, it's just a matter of which aspect." Li Liejun also showed a cold smile on his face.
"Oh, so you're saying Old Li is already confident?" He raised his spirits with a jolt.
"Isn't the Liao king's fiancée in Luoyang?" Li Liejun said.
"Are you referring to Zhou Xīnwén?" Yang Zun's face turned cold, "No way, Zhou Xīnwén is mine, she is mine."
"Your Highness, Zhou Xīnwén is just a woman. As long as she can make the King of Liao work for us, the great future belongs to you. At that time, what kind of woman won't be available?" Li Liejun was taken aback, not expecting Yang Zun to react this way.
"No way is no way, Li Lao you think of another solution." Yang Jun waved his hand and interrupted Li Liejun's words.
"Yes."
……
Xuanwang Mansion
Xuan Wang Yang Yu asked his female official Ma Xiao Yan: "What is my fourth brother doing in Wuwei now?"
Ma Xiao Yan, to outsiders, was just a maid in the Xuan Wang Fu, but in reality she controlled the secret intelligence agency of the Xuan King. Upon hearing the Xuan King's question, Ma Xiao Yan smiled and said: "Currently, Liao Wang is training troops in Wuwei, seemingly preparing for the Mongolians' next attack."
"Training soldiers? It seems that the fourth brother is a man of great talent, isn't he? You say how should I treat him?" Yang Yu smiled and said.
"Pull him over." Ma Xiao Yan said.
"Oh, isn't this giving me one more competitor?" Yang Yu smiled and said.
"Your Highness, don't forget that Guan Zhong is the eldest prince of the Great Han. Just because Liao Wang is in Wuwei doesn't mean he can restrain the eldest prince of Guan Zhong. And with Liao Wang's power in the imperial court, is he a match for Your Highness?" Ma Xiao Yan said.
"Haha, you're right. Fourth brother has no power in the imperial court except for his future father-in-law. How can he be a match for me? Now, fourth brother is building the Tianlang Army in Wuwei. It must be lacking in military expenses. Xiang Yan, go and arrange it, think of a way to get fourth brother's Tianlang Army built up as soon as possible. I wonder what kind of expression big brother will have when he finds out that fourth brother's Tianlang Army is eyeing the northwest and Guanzhong." Yang Yu instructed.
"Yes, Your Highness."
……
Wu Wei, after defeating the Mongols, Yang Chengfeng devoted himself to training his Tianglang Army Corps. Since the predecessors of the Tianglang Army Corps were all seasoned elite soldiers, their training was relatively easy.
That day, Yang Chengfeng had just returned from the military camp when Lei Meng came knocking on his door.
"Lord Lei, is there something on your mind?" Yang Chengfeng waved his hand for a maid to serve tea to Lei Meng.
"Your Highness, it's been several days since the Mongols have made a move. Should we evacuate the civilians from the city?" asked Lei Meng.
Yang Chengfeng was taken aback, "Oh, what's wrong? What happened?"
"Your Highness, in order to resist the Mongols, we have relocated all the people within a hundred miles of Wuwei into the city. Now the population of Wuwei has reached one million, but the food supply is far from enough for one million people. If this continues, I don't know if we can get through this winter. Moreover, in just a few days it will be autumn harvest season, and if these people are not released back to their homes, they will miss the harvest."
Yang Chengfeng thought for a moment and said, "Alright! According to the scouts' reports, there's no movement from the hundreds of thousands of Mongolian cavalry in Lanzhou. Let's evacuate the civilians in the city! By the way, are there many craftsmen in this Wuwei City?"
"Your Highness, there are many craftsmen in Wuwei City, I wonder what you want to do?" asked Lei Meng.
"I have something I want them to do, Lord Lei. You can gather the craftsmen in Wuwei City for me in a few days." Yang Chengfeng said.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Three days later, Lei Meng gathered more than a hundred craftsmen for Yang Chengfeng, and Yang Chengfeng wanted these craftsmen because he wanted to equip his Tianlang Army with a foot soldier weapon called Mo Dao.
Facing the Mongols' powerful cavalry corps, it was impossible to establish a cavalry force to counter them, so Yang Chengfeng thought of using pikes. In the history of the Great Qin Empire, when dealing with the nomadic cavalry of the northern tribes, they generally relied on archers and long spear soldiers, as well as heavy infantry.
However, in Yang Chengfeng's view, these were clearly insufficient and could not withstand the cavalry of nomadic nations. The long spears of the Qin Empire's long spear soldiers were only iron-made at the spearhead, which reduced weight but also greatly weakened their lethality. Therefore, he wanted to manufacture broadswords to use broadsword tactics to counter the Mongolian cavalry.
"Your Highness." Shi Zhiwei was a blacksmith in Wuwei City, who was already sixty years old this year. Due to being born into a family of blacksmiths, he had been helping his father forge iron since the age of ten, and it had been fifty years now. He was very famous in Wuwei, so naturally, he was also among those summoned by Yang Chengfeng to gather the craftsmen of Wuwei.
"No need to be polite, you are Master Shi, aren't you? Lord Lei said you're a famous blacksmith from Wuwei." Yang Chengfeng waved his hand for them to get up, and smiled at Shi Zhiwei.
"I don't dare, I don't dare," said Shi Zhiwei.
"Master Shi, I have something that I'd like you to make for me. Can you take a look and see if you can do it well?" Yang Chengfeng handed over the drawings he had made to Shi Zhiwei.
Shi Zhiwei took over Yang Chengfeng's drawings and looked at them seriously, his expression becoming more and more excited, finally exclaiming: "Your Highness, who invented this thing? Good, good, it's really great!"
"Who invented it is beside the point, what matters is whether it can be made or not?" Yang Chengfeng asked.
"Can, can."
"Alright, as long as it can be forged, Master Shi, I want you to lead the ironworkers of Wuwei to forge this weapon. I wonder how many can be made in a day?" Yang Chengfeng said.
"Your Highness, it takes me five days to forge a sword like this." said Shi Zhiwei.
Five days is a bit long, but there's no other way now. Yang Chengfeng nodded and said: "Alright, Master Shi, I have set up an ironworkshop for you in a mountain valley outside the city. You can go there to forge the weapons I need!"
"Yes." Shi Zhiwei was completely absorbed in the joy of the knife, and didn't have time to think about Yang Chengfeng's words.
