Chapter Fifteen: The Great Tang Legacy

  At this moment, Huangfu Song was like a sharp sword out of its scabbard, towering and majestic, with an aura that was overwhelming. His eyes shone brightly like the fierce sun in the ninth heaven, staring intently at the knife, full of vigor and spirit.

  Wu Ji had worked with Huang Fu for quite some time and knew what kind of person he was. This man had a very high vision, and few things could enter his eyes. He was so spirited and energetic, Wu Ji had never seen him like this before.

  "This sword is no ordinary product!" Influenced by Huangfu Song, Wu Ji's face turned solemn, his right hand grasping the hilt of the knife.

  The handle of the knife is slightly wider at both ends and narrower in the middle, making it extremely comfortable to hold in one's hand. Wu Ji secretly praised, "Good knife!" Although he hadn't even pulled the knife out of its scabbard yet, relying on intuition alone, a knife with such comfort couldn't be ordinary.

  As expected, Wu Ji drew his sword, the blade out of its scabbard by only three inches, radiating a cold glow, and an icy feeling suddenly arose. Wu Ji felt as if someone was holding a knife to him, slashing down fiercely, with an extraordinary aura.

  "Good!" Just this one stroke was enough to show that he was no ordinary person. Wu Ji couldn't help but loudly praise him.

  "Hsss!" Wu Jie drew his sword from its scabbard, and a clear, crisp sword hum rang out, extremely pleasant to the ear.

  Dazzling knife light, like a bright lamp, made Wu Ji's eyes narrow. Measuring the length of the blade, it was nearly two feet long, plus the handle, it was almost two feet four or five inches. The straight-line shape of the blade gave people a sense of beauty, and it looked very comfortable to look at.

  "This knife looks more and more familiar, where have I seen it before?" Wu Ji looked at it carefully, a sense of familiarity surged up in his heart, although he couldn't think of it for the time being, one thing was certain, he must have seen a similar knife before.

  Huang Fu's eyes widened in awe, his face filled with reverence, as if he had encountered a deity: "Commander Wu, this sword is a horizontal sword from the previous dynasty!"

  "It's a Tang knife!"

  Wu Jie was greatly surprised, having heard of the Tang knife's great name but never having seen one before. He didn't expect to see it here. Suddenly enlightened: "I understand why it seems so familiar - it's similar to the little devil's Japanese sword! Hmm, it should be that the little devils plagiarized the horizontal knife's technique, made some changes and claimed it as their own. Little devils, how shameless!"

  Wu Jie's guess was not wrong at all. The little devil's Japanese sword is indeed derived from the horizontal knife of the Tang Dynasty, but it has changed the straight blade of the horizontal knife into a curved crescent-shaped blade, and the rest has not changed much.

  "The horizontal sword is the most important equipment of the Tang army. It was with this sword that the Tang army swept across the world, conquering all nations, destroying the Eastern Turks and Western Turks, pacifying Liaodong, defeating Goguryeo, and fighting against Dashi, leaving them powerless to counterattack!" Huangfu Song's eyes shone brightly as he spoke in a tone filled with reverence, introducing it to Wu Ji: "Commander Wu, do you know how far the Tang army reached with this sword?"

  The majestic atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty has been passed down for thousands of years, but Wu Ji didn't know where the Tang army went.

  "Wu Zhihui, the Tang army has arrived at Talas! It's Talas, that's a city within the Anxi Protectorate!" Huangfu Song's voice suddenly turned high-pitched and sharp to the ear, extremely excited: "Since Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty opened up the Western Regions, there has never been one as far-reaching as this! That is the greatest achievement of China!"

  Pausing for a moment, his tone turned solemn: "It's just a pity that Gao Xianzhi was defeated at Talas, and the previous dynasty suffered a setback here, leaving us to sigh in regret!"

  The Tang Dynasty and the Arabs fought at Talas, a very famous battle. In this war, although the Tang Dynasty was defeated, the Tang army fought fiercely, showing the great military power of the Tang army.

  After this war, the An Shi Rebellion occurred, and the Tang Dynasty declined from prosperity to decline, eventually withdrawing from the Western Regions. It was precisely because the Tang Dynasty withdrew from the Western Regions that the Great Food Empire, also known as the Arab Empire, had the opportunity to Islamize the conquered lands.

  The Battle of Talas had a significant impact on the course of history in the Middle East.

  "So that's how it was!" Wu Jie's historical knowledge wasn't good enough, but after hearing this, he couldn't help but feel his blood boiling with excitement, as if the Tang army's bloody battle at Talas was unfolding right before his eyes.

  "Ah! I've gone too far." Huangfu Song pulled back his thoughts and continued, "This horizontal knife originated from the ring-headed knife of the Han Dynasty. The ring-headed knife of the Han Dynasty was also a famous battle knife. It was with this ring-headed knife that the great Han heroes roamed the vast desert, defeated the Xiongnu, subdued all nations, opened up the Western Regions, and made the mighty Han spirit resound beyond the borders! Those who offended the mighty Han would be punished no matter how far away they were. Such heroic words would not have been possible without the ring-headed knife!"

  His voice rose to a high pitch, sharp and piercing, and he sighed regretfully: "The strong Han wind, the prosperous Tang style, what brilliance, what excitement! Alas, the horizontal sword still exists, but the prosperous Tang style is no longer there!"

  The majestic momentum of the Tang Dynasty is inspiring, with the Tang army holding horizontal knives, conquering the world, sweeping across all nations. The countries that were destroyed by the Tang army, big and small, add up to dozens.

  The territory of the Tang Dynasty was vast, not only including the land that existed during the Song Dynasty, but also including Liao, Western Xia, Goryeo, the Great Desert, Nanzhao, Vietnam and the Western Regions. At that time, the orders of the Tang Emperor were obeyed by all nations, and no one dared to disobey!

  Even the Caliph of the Great Food Empire was trembling with fear!

  But how much time has passed? The Tang and Song dynasties are adjacent, not even a generation apart. The Song dynasty is so weak that the country is divided into four parts. The Song dynasty, together with the Khitan and Western Xia, staged another version of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". They did not recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, they did not defeat the Liao State, they did not destroy the Western Xia, they did not recover the Western Regions, and they did not conquer the Gobi Desert. Compared to the Tang dynasty, it is a world of difference, causing countless people to sigh.

  Especially when looking at the horizontal knife of the Tang army, the regret is even stronger.

  "Ring-headed knife? Cross knife? Strong Han Feng? Sheng Tang Qi Xiang?" Wu Ji muttered to himself, his eyes suddenly brightening up, a million times brighter than the scorching sun in the sky: "I must create a battle knife that rivals the ring-headed knife and the cross knife!"

  The voice was not loud, but it made people dare not have the slightest doubt. Huang Fu heard it in his ears and couldn't help but feel very inspired.

  But this enthusiasm did not last long, and he sighed: "Wu Zhihui, even if you have created a sharp weapon like the ring-headed knife or the horizontal knife, but with the current situation of the Song Dynasty, can your prestige be spread to distant lands? The Battle of Talas is likely to become an isolated case!"

  The prosperity of the Song Dynasty, Wu Ji had some understanding of it. If he hadn't come to the Song Dynasty, the Battle of Talas would have been a final farewell. Would Wu Ji's arrival in the Song Dynasty change things?

  "Huangfu, don't worry, it's up to us! As the saying goes, 'the times create heroes!' The more critical the situation, the easier it is for heroes to emerge!" Wu Ji was full of confidence and extremely excited: "A country will never lack talented people, the world will never be without saints. With a vast land and abundant resources, China has always produced outstanding talents, and there will surely be heroic figures who can change the course of events!"

  "Times create heroes? Well said!" Huang Fu gazed at Wu Ji, exceptionally spirited.

  "I'll give it a try with my horizontal knife!" Wu Ji's hand holding the horizontal knife lifted up and chopped down forcefully, entering the wood nearly an inch.

  Wu Jiru's body is now stronger than before, and his strength has increased a lot. However, he still hasn't reached the level of "entering wood one inch", which is due to the sharpness of horizontal knife, and also because the horizontal knife is heavier and more powerful than the hemp knife.

  Wu Jie used the horizontal knife to chop and hack for a while, then switched to the hemp-wrapped knife. After chopping and hacking with the hemp-wrapped knife for a while, he switched back to the horizontal knife, continuously chopping and hacking, sometimes frowning and sometimes nodding.

  As Wu Ji's trial progressed, Wu Ji's eyes grew brighter and more spirited.

  Just as Wu Jie was studying the war knife, Liao Guo was secretly planning a huge conspiracy against the Song Dynasty.