But now that he carefully thought about it, the Tang Dynasty had once had a chance. As long as he seized that chance, the Tang Dynasty would have had a chance to obtain a large number of high-quality warhorses and prepare for future battles.
And that chance was this Turkic horse merchant called 'Hulayeg'.
However, finding Hulayeg was not easy, as his movements were erratic. He could be in the steppe of the north, the Anxi Protectorate, Talas, the Abbasid Caliphate, or even the Ouzan Plateau.
Wang Chong had only found Yang Hongchang, an 'old horse' who knew the Western Regions like the back of his hand. Coupled with the few bits and pieces of information he had gathered, as well as all sorts of legends, Yang Hongchang had begun to search for him more than a month in advance. This was how he had been able to track him down.
Even more frightening was that Wang Chong was well aware that, starting from now, in at most three months, everyone would lose this chance. This was because 'Hulayeg' would quickly offend Ishbara Khagan through his pride and be completely exterminated.
And without Hulayeg, no one else would be able to obtain a large number of high-quality warhorses from the Turkic steppe. No one else would be able to act like Hulayeg and open up a channel for the horse trade between the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates.
From then on, the name 'Hulayeg' became extinct in the Western Regions and the steppe.
And not long after his death, the two Khaganates completely cut off the trade in warhorses. The Tang Dynasty thus lost its last chance, and from then on, it was plunged into a crisis of lacking warhorses!
Thus, when Wang Chong heard that Hulayeg was in the Western Regions, he immediately rushed over. There were some things that had to be done sooner rather than later. If he missed it, it would be gone forever!
"Who are you? Don't you know that this is my territory? Hurry up and get out! "
An angry rebuke in Turkic interrupted Wang Chong's thoughts. In the room, 'Hulayeg' had an angry expression on his face, his right hand already pressed against the scimitar at his waist. It seemed like he was ready to strike at any moment.
"Hulayeg?"
Wang Chong chuckled.
"Who are you? How do you know my name? "
Hulayeg's expression froze, and then he paled. He had always used an alias in the Western Region, so only a few people knew his real name. Most of them were his acquaintances.
But he didn't remember knowing the young man in front of him.
"Hehe, don't panic. I was introduced here. "
Chuckling, Wang Chong took out an item from his waist. This was a black metal token. It was pitch-black like ink, and there were monsters carved on it. It was completely different from the style of the Central Plains.
Obviously, this wasn't something from the Central Plains.
"Oh, so you're from the Yang family of the Tang dynasty that Tamuge introduced."
Hulayeg raised his sword-like brows and instantly relaxed. His right hand released the hilt of the scimitar at his waist, but a look of contempt appeared on his face.
"Tamuge is really interesting. Doesn't he know that I've never had any dealings with Han people? The Turks and the Han are natural enemies, so he actually wants me to sell a horse to a Han? How laughable! Hahaha, alright, I don't care where you came from or what you want to do here. While I'm still in a good mood, hurry up and get out of here! … Beauty, come, let's keep drinking, hahaha! "
Hulayeg hugged women to his left and right as he drank to his heart's content, the red wine dripping down his beard. He had completely forgotten about Wang Chong.
"Hahaha!"
Wang Chong couldn't help but laugh at these words. Not getting angry, he sat down across from Hulayeg.
"In the past, when Maodun surrounded Gaoting, Emperor Gaozu of the Great Han was trapped and had no choice but to deliver ten thousand ingots of gold. In the end, Maodun retreated and Bai Deng collapsed. Even the Chief and the Khagan were like this, but I didn't think that Hulayeg would have such strength of character. He's even more upright than the Khagan and doesn't love money. This one admires you. "
"Hahaha, interesting, interesting, interesting! It seems I've underestimated you! "
Hulayeg had been sitting on the ground, drinking wine, when he heard Wang Chong's words. His eyes brightened and he suddenly raised his head, as if he had just noticed Wang Chong's existence.
"All of you, get out of here!"
Hulayeg's eyes widened, and the beautiful Hu girls in his arms paled in fright. Screaming in fear, they scrambled out of the room.
"So you've come to deliver ten thousand ingots of gold to me?"
Hulayeg stared at Wang Chong said.
'Maodun besieged Gaoting' was an event that both the Central Plains and the Turks knew of one thousand years ago.
At the time, Emperor Gaozu of the Great Han, Liu Bang, had just begun his conquest of the world, commanding an army of one million and commanding as many officers as there were clouds in the sky. He was feeling very pleased with himself when he happened to run into the Turks invading his borders. In the end, he led his army forward, and after encountering Maodun's two hundred thousand cavalry, he was trapped at Bai Deng.
This was the first time in the history of the continent that a large-scale force of pure infantry had encountered a force of pure cavalry!
Although there seemed to be more infantrymen, everyone knew what it meant to have 200,000 cavalrymen. In the wilderness, it wouldn't be difficult to wipe out a million infantrymen.
This was the power of a cavalry charge!
It was also from that moment that the Central Plains began to truly understand the power of a large-scale cavalry force, and they began to buy horses, herd them, and raise them on a large scale. Everyone knew the final result.
By the time of Emperor Wu of Han, for the sake of resolving the 'Siege of Bai Deng', he had established a massive army of cavalry of the Great Han. Fighting north and south, he had swept through the Turks and utterly routed them to the north of the Heavenly Mountains, where they were unable to recover for several hundred years!
They had even changed the name of Maodun's massive steppe tribe from Xiongnu to Turk, so as to show that they had nothing to do with that humiliation. This greatly increased the might of the Han clan, and everyone knew this.
Thus, even though there was the 'Siege of Bai Deng', neither the Central Plains nor the Turks feared it. In fact, from a certain perspective, the Turks were even more apprehensive.
However, this was clearly not what Wang Chong was trying to express.
The Central Plains had always believed in the concept of family, country, and world, but the steppe was different. Even a legendary ruler of the steppe like Maodun Chanyu had been bribed by ten thousand taels of gold. Wasn't it laughable for Hulayeg to say that the Turks were at war with the Tang dynasty and thus wouldn't sell horses to the Han?
Business was business, and regardless of the relationship between the Tang dynasty and the Turks, Hulayeg was a Turkic horse merchant who could roam the Western Regions like a fish in water. He would never care about any standpoint, nor would he care about patriotism.
What he cared about was only one thing, and that was "benefits".
As long as there were enough benefits, he would probably be able to sell out Ishbara Khagan!
"What is ten thousand taels of gold to you? The mighty Hulayeg, the largest horse merchant of the steppe, the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates have so many high-quality warhorses. Surely you don't just want to earn ten thousand taels of gold? "
Wang Chong indifferently said, a pleased expression on his face.
"Buzz!"
A bright light flashed through Hulayeg's eyes as he stared at Wang Chong for three seconds. Suddenly, he put on his open robe, a serious expression finally appearing on his face.
"It seems like I underestimated you. Your ambitions are truly not small! "
Hulayeg's tone suddenly changed, completely different from before.
"Speak. How many warhorses do you want? Three thousand? Five thousand? Eight thousand? Ten thousand? "
Wang Chong broke into laughter, but he only shook his head.
"Twenty thousand?"
Hulayeg's face flickered. The people who came here to buy warhorses usually bought one thousand, two thousand, three thousand, or five thousand. Anyone who could buy five thousand at once was a major client.
After all, five thousand high-quality Turkic warhorses was enough to form a cavalry army of five thousand, a considerable number. As for twenty thousand taels of gold, he had yet to sell them.
If this Han youth could buy twenty thousand warhorses, Hulayeg would have to admit that he had greatly underestimated him.
"Haha, twenty thousand? Sir Hulayeg, aren't you looking down on me too much? Could it be that Sir, the number one horse merchant of the Turks, is only able to buy so few warhorses? "
Wang Chong faintly smiled.
The first batch of Wushang soldiers he had trained numbered five thousand, and these were the best cavalry. The nimbleness they had trained in the mountains and the extreme speed of their warhorses allowed them to maximize their advantage.
A qualified Wushang horseman could make sixteen turns in a second, slash eleven times, and even duck through a horse's belly three times to get to the other side.
These abilities were not something that could be described with the words' riding a horse ',' sitting steadily ', or' cavalry '. Not even the Turkic elites, who were hailed as the elites of horseback, were capable of such feats.
They were the best cavalrymen, and also the strongest cavalrymen!
Wang Chong had to equip all five thousand Wushang soldiers with warhorses. And Wushang Village still had fifty to sixty thousand people. From this aspect, Wang Chong needed at least fifty to sixty thousand warhorses.
And in the future wars, the Tang Dynasty would lose a large number of warhorses. For the sake of reserves, a conservative estimate suggested that he would need at least three to four hundred thousand.
In truth, Wang Chong estimated that if it was for the sake of the Tang Dynasty, it would be best if he could get seven to eight hundred thousand. The more the better!
"As long as it's on the steppe, there's no warhorse that I, Hulayeg, can't get my hands on. Sir, hurry up and tell me, just how many warhorses do you want! "
Hulayeg's face instantly turned red from Wang Chong's provocation. As a horse merchant, he could say anything, but his ability to sell horses could not be underestimated.
This was also Hulayeg's Achilles' heel.
"At least this number!"
Wang Chong faintly smiled, and to Hulayeg's shock, he raised three fingers.
"Three hundred thousand!"
"Three hundred thousand? Are you kidding?! "
Hulayeg blurted out in alarm. Even if he was experienced and had interacted with various factions, he would not be able to match up to Hulayeg. He had never sold so many warhorses before. Moreover, three hundred thousand was not a small number.
In the past, Hulayeg had only been able to freely buy and sell warhorses because he didn't have a lot of them. Throwing them onto the steeds of the steppe didn't mean much.
Moreover, the warhorses would breed every day, so no one would notice if some of them disappeared.
But three hundred thousand?!
Only a blind man wouldn't be able to see this number. Even the Khan would probably notice him.
"Heh! So that's how it is. It seems like I've misjudged you. So Sir Hulayeg wasn't the person I was looking for! "
Seeing this, Wang Chong suddenly sneered. He had originally intended to stay here, but now, as soon as he finished speaking, he stood up and, under Hulayeg's dumbfounded gaze, turned and left.
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