Chapter Fifty-Four: Top Quality Treasured Horse

  In his usual archery training, Liu Ze's requirements were not too strict, especially for the bow and horseback riding training. He only required that the target be roughly hit, without pursuing precision. This was mainly determined by the characteristics of the bow and horseback riding. In the high-speed galloping process, the bow and horseback riding formation adopted a simultaneous shooting method, instantly forming a death fan-shaped area for the enemy. At this time, the requirement for the archer was not to accurately hit each target, but to require consistency in strength and direction.

  But Liu Ze specially selected some knights with archery talent, and conducted special strengthening training for them. They used a custom-made iron bow with aiming function, which had a range one-third farther than ordinary longbows. The arrowheads were also specially designed with three vanes (ordinary arrowheads had two vanes). The biggest advantage of the three-vane design was that it greatly increased the stability of the arrows in flight, making them much more accurate. Liu Ze's goal was to cultivate some sharpshooters similar to modern snipers, who would specialize in executing sniper missions on the battlefield.

  Those divine archers indeed lived up to their reputation, "whoosh whoosh whoosh" several arrows shot and killed several Xiongnu soldiers and hundred officials, either hitting the throat or the heart, all died with one arrow. With Yu Xian's death and the fall of several hundred officials, the situation immediately reversed, the Xiongnu army completely lost its command, became chaotic like a pot of porridge, many Xiongnu soldiers had already begun to flee.

  Liu Ze's cavalry took advantage of the momentum to launch a surprise attack, and the Xiongnu army was completely defeated. The battle ended quickly, as the narrow road out of the valley made it difficult for the Xiongnu soldiers to escape, causing them to trample each other in their haste. They became easy targets for the arrows, which killed them mercilessly. In the end, only a small number of Xiongnu soldiers managed to escape, while most were either killed or taken prisoner.

  The captured Xiongnu soldiers were rounded up, totaling five or six hundred people, all of whom had been disarmed and were squatting on the ground with their hands clasped behind their heads. They were surrounded by Liu Ze's troops holding gleaming sabers. Wu Anguo asked Liu Ze for instructions: "Reporting to Your Excellency, the prisoners have all been brought here; how should they be dealt with?"

  Liu Ze coldly glanced around on horseback and made a beheading gesture: "Kill them all!"

  Wu An Guo was taken aback. In his impression, the lord was kind and gentle, but at this moment, he seemed heartless.

  Liu Ze said coldly, "Do I need to repeat it again?"

  Wu An's heart skipped a beat, and he respectfully said: "Yes!" He turned around and immediately gave the order to kill.

  These warriors were only fifteen or sixteen years old, with vigorous blood and no distinction between right and wrong, nor good and evil. In their hearts, the lord's command was greater than heaven. At one order, they would slash down together, beheading these hundreds of Xiongnu prisoners of war. Although the Xiongnu people had fiercely resisted when death loomed over them, they were as helpless as sheep to be slaughtered, just like the Western Regions people and Great Han people they had once massacred, being killed off cleanly.

  Looking at the corpses of the Xiongnu soldiers all over the ground, Jia Xu couldn't help but re-examine this enigmatic young man. If the ambush in the Baihe River Valley was somewhat undeserved, then the battle in this Shanghe River Valley was a complete and utter victory won through sheer force. In an absolute disadvantage of one against five, they were able to annihilate the enemy completely - if that's not a miracle, what is?

  Watching him lead the charge into enemy lines, watching him bravely and fearlessly rush forward, watching him coldly and unemotionally execute prisoners of war, his movements are so agile, his gaze is so firm, is this a self-interested, cunning businessman?

  Liu Ze looked at Jia Xun's gaze and said, "Mr. Wenhe seems to have some objections to the execution of prisoners?"

  Jia Yu shook his head and said: "I'm just an interpreter, how Liu Zhuanggui handles things is none of Jia's business."

  But Wen and Mr. heart must be greatly disagree. Liu Ze understood that these so-called scholars, who had read a few years of sacred books, often hung righteousness and morality on their lips, and made a gesture of sympathizing with the heavens and pitying the people, completely unaware of the cruelty of reality, and Jia Xiang was no exception. Although in history he had advised Li to kill back to Chang'an, his starting point was only for personal consideration, doing his duty as an strategist, and the consequences that followed were probably also unexpected by him.

  Jia Xu was called the "Poisonous Strategist" among the Three Kingdoms strategists, probably because of this incident, because apart from this, Jia Xu seemed to have no other vicious plans, and in his later years he retreated from politics, not meddling in state affairs. The term "Poisonous Strategist" is actually an exaggeration.

  Liu Ze said, "These Xiongnu people, which one of them does not have their hands stained with the blood of my Han people and the Western Regions' civilians? If we hadn't arrived in time, the ones lying dead all over the valley would be these innocent and unarmed Dayuan civilians. When they were slaughtering others, did they ever think of the words 'pity' and 'mercy'? Those who kill will always be killed, now I am the one holding the knife, and they are the fish on the chopping board, don't even think about getting pity from me."

  Jia Xu sighed and said: "To stop violence with violence is not a proper way."

  At this time, those people who seemed to have woken up from a dream came to Liu Ze's horse in groups, knocking their heads and thanking him. The leader was the weak young man that Liu Ze had just rescued, as well as an old man with white temples. The old man bowed down and said: "Respected Sun God messenger, thank you for your selfless rescue. All the people of Dayuan are bowing their heads in gratitude to you."

  "Sun God's messenger?" Liu Ze was taken aback, but soon came to his senses. He realized that the position where he had launched the first attack happened to be from the east, just as the sun was rising. In the eyes of the Dayuan people, it was indeed the Sun God who sent a messenger to save the suffering Dayuan tribe.

  The old man's words were not in the Western Regions dialect, but in the Great Han language, which saved Jia Yu from translating. He reached out to help him up, smiled slightly and said: "I am not a messenger of the Sun God, I'm just a merchant passing by, seeing injustice on the road, I lent my knife to assist, sir please get up, no need for courtesy."

  "The divine envoy came from the East, this is the heavenly blessing of our great Yan. If it were not for the divine envoy's salvation, our small king would have died at the hands of the Xiongnu people long ago, and all the people in my clan would have been difficult to escape the disaster of extinction. This great kindness and virtue, all the people of the Yan tribe must always remember in their hearts, dare not forget. If the divine envoy has any instructions, we will certainly rush to the fire to repay even a little bit." The old man's eyes were full of grateful expression.

  Liu Ze heard that the weak youth was actually the Prince of Dayuan, and only just escaped with his life under the knife, it was indeed extremely perilous.

  Liu Ze asked: "It is said that the Great Yan country was destroyed by the Xiongnu ten years ago, why would you and the young prince's clansmen end up in this place?"

  The old man said respectfully: "I am the former king of Dayuan, Wang Gong, who was in charge of the palace during the reign of King Xiongnu. When Guishan City was destroyed by the Xiongnu, I escorted the young prince out of the city under the order of the late king. For ten years, we wandered between Congling and Nan Mountain, without a fixed residence, fleeing from the pursuit of the Xiongnu. We never expected that even in this remote White Deer Valley, we would still be tracked down by the Xiongnu. If it weren't for the timely rescue by the gods, I fear that after today, there would be no more Dayuan tribe left in the world."

  "Why are the Xiongnu so cruel and evil? They have already occupied your country's territory, why do they still want to exterminate you all?"

  "Actually, all the troubles originated from our country's sweat-blood horse. The Xiongnu have been eyeing the sweat-blood horse for a long time. As early as the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, several Chanyu of the Xiongnu had repeatedly and rudely demanded that our king offer them sweat-blood horses as tribute. Sweat-blood horses are considered divine horses in our country. Even Emperor Wu wanted to exchange gold horses for one sweat-blood horse but was unsuccessful. Our king naturally ignored their demands. Since our country is separated from the Xiongnu by thousands of miles, and the Xiongnu have been constantly at war with the Han Dynasty, they harbored resentment but were powerless. Ten years ago, the Xiongnu split into two branches, and the Northern Xiongnu was defeated by the Han Dynasty and the Xianbei, forcing them to abandon their centuries-long occupation of the Hexi Corridor and the Gobi Desert, and migrate westward. As a result, they brought disaster to the Western Regions, and the numerous countries in the Western Regions that had been peaceful for hundreds of years were one by one destroyed by the Xiongnu. The kingdom of Dayuan was naturally not spared from this fate. Ten years ago, before the Xiongnu invaded the city of Guishan, I followed the king's orders to take away the young prince and tens of thousands of women and children, as well as several thousand sweat-blood horses. To avoid being pursued by the Xiongnu, we have been migrating for ten years, fleeing from place to place in the mountains south of the Congling Mountains. I have never dared to forget the king's last order: under no circumstances can the sweat-blood horse fall into the hands of the Xiongnu. Even if it means killing all the sweat-blood horses, they cannot be allowed to get them. With the ferocity of the Xiongnu combined with the divine speed of the sweat-blood horse, there will be no more peaceful days in the world."

  Ling Xian raised his hand, and the people under him immediately led over two horses, saying: "In order to thank the divine envoy for saving my life, these two top-quality Akhal-Teke horses are offered to the divine envoy with a smile."

  Liu Ze didn't answer, he stared at the two horses, stunned - completely shocked. Too beautiful, there are actually such beautiful horses in the world, from head to tail about one zhang long, and from hoof to neck about eight chi high, compared to the Huns and Xianbei horses of the north, they were a whole horse's head taller, with sturdy hooves and robust muscles, outlining an almost perfect curve. What was even more astonishing was that the two horses were one white and one black. The white horse had a warm and smooth coat like jade, clean as sheep fat, except for its four black hooves, there wasn't a single stray hair on its body. And the black horse was exactly the opposite, with four white hooves and a coat as shiny as black satin.

  "The two horses are the finest in the land, with coats as white as jade and as black as coal. The white horse is named 'Moonlight Jade Lion' and the black horse is named 'Snow-kicking Black Whirlwind'. They can run a thousand miles by day and eight hundred at night, traversing mountains and rivers with ease, as if walking on flat ground."

  "Such precious things, how could I dare to accept them?" Liu Ze exclaimed at the two horses' divine quality, but he still politely declined.

  "The divine messenger has bestowed great kindness, and I have no way to repay it. Now I offer a precious horse to express gratitude for your benevolence. Please, divine messenger, do not decline."

  Liu Ze was really fond of these two horses and said: "It's better to obey than to show respect, I humbly accept them."

  He walked up to the two horses, wanting to take a closer look. The white horse seemed to have a spiritual connection, stretching its nose towards Liu Ze to sniff him. Liu Ze was overjoyed and took the reins, mounted the horse, and galloped away.