Translated by: Hypersheep325 Edited by: Michyrr On the other side, Wang Chong's big uncle, Wang Gen, was flabbergasted. He had only wanted to find a fief for Wang Chong, but he had never imagined that Wang Chong was thinking of building a city for himself.
And what shocked Wang Gen the most was Wang Chong's final words. There truly was a great business opportunity on the road to the west. If Wang Chong succeeded, it would truly be a one-of-a-kind business.
On the entire Silk Road, that would be the only city, as well as the largest relay station. All merchants, be they from the Western Regions, Charax Spasinu, or the Abbasid Caliphate, would be unable to avoid Wang Chong's city if they wanted to do business.
In the entire Tang dynasty, there were countless noble clans, nobles, and aristocrats who had wanted to have a hand in the road to the west, but none had ever succeeded. The reason was very simple. The first was that no one had ever thought of what Wang Chong had just said.
The other reason was that it had been many years since the Tang Dynasty had opened up a fief. And without a fief, no one could build a city on the Silk Road.
Given the importance that the Holy Emperor placed on the Silk Road, the Imperial Court would have been the first to fail.
But now, Wang Chong had truly obtained the right to do so. Wang Gen had to admit that he had truly underestimated this nephew of his. What Wang Chong wanted was far greater than what he wanted.
And if he succeeded, there was a high chance that the Wang Clan's harvest would be even greater than that of a wealthy land like the Zhao Clan.
In the hall, Wang Chong inwardly smiled as he looked at his big uncle, who had clearly been stunned by his words and was deep in thought. In the world he had come from, the concept of 'managing a city' wasn't that big of a deal.
But in this world, it was clearly a novel concept that no one had ever set foot on.
"I only have one last question. Building a city is no small matter. This was especially so for something that came from nothing. It was even more costly. Even the imperial court did not dare to say that they would build a city on the road to the west. Moreover, in order to reinforce the southwest, you've already spent all your gold and silver. With just the three million taels of gold bestowed by the Holy Emperor, how will you build a city? "
Wang Gen asked.
Lion City in the southwest wasn't very big, but it had already cost several million. Furthermore, it was an empty city. The difficulty and cost of building a city in the barren, barren land of the west was definitely far greater than Lion City in the southwest.
Moreover, considering that Wang Chong might want to build some inns or something like that, the cost would be even greater. This was not something that a single Wang Clan could support.
To construct a fief like this from scratch would require a cost that would make the vast majority of the ancient, wealthy, and powerful clans of the capital shrink back in fear.
"Hehe, this is even easier. There are so many great clans and nobles in the capital. Does Big Uncle still have to worry about money? "
Wang Chong gave a carefree smile. The world was bustling for profit, and the world was bustling for profit. Wang Chong had fully experienced this point in the war of the southwest.
He was just playing the same old trick again.
In truth, he didn't even need to say anything. Countless people in the capital were eagerly waiting to work with him.
"Okay!"
Upon hearing Wang Chong's words, Wang Gen suddenly slapped the table and stood up from his armchair. When Wang Chong said that he wanted to build a fief in Wushang, he had been rather angry at the start, but now, all his anger had been swept away, and his eyes were bright and spirited.
"Chong-er, I've never doubted your talent in the art of war. In the field of trade … there is no one in the Wang Clan with a better mind for business than you. I was originally most worried about your mind for politics. Since ancient times, countless great generals have brought disaster upon themselves and their clans because they didn't understand the politics of the court. The greater one's talent in the art of war, the higher one climbs, the greater the disaster they will bring upon themselves.
"I was originally worried about this. After all, you're still too young. But now … I'm completely at ease. "
Wang Gen's face was ruddy, and he appeared to be overjoyed. 'A man's wealth is his own ruin.' The exclusive business on the road to the west truly was excellent, but it could also easily bring about a massive disaster.
But if Wang Chong were to bring in all the other nobles and great clans of the capital, everything would be completely different. It would be equivalent to all the nobles and great clans of the capital standing together with the Wang Clan.
This alone would allow the Wang Clan to establish itself in an invincible position in the court. This was truly an 'unshakable cause for all ages'!
In the future, even if Wang Chong were to truly step into the court and become a member of the faction that wielded real power, his current connections would definitely allow him to become an important figure in the court.
Wang Gen could faintly see traces of the Old Master on Wang Chong's body!
Wang Gen quickly left the Wang Clan, and he left with satisfaction. This nephew of his was always so outstanding, always so proud. In fact, when Wang Gen left, his footsteps were much firmer, and his head was raised even higher.
With a nephew like this, what more could he ask for?
What need would the Wang Clan have to worry about not being able to prosper in the future?
But Wang Gen had no idea that after he left, Wang Chong quickly fell silent. His gaze fell on the table, on the map of the Tang Dynasty that his big uncle had placed on the table. His gaze paused on the famous' Silk Road 'for only a few moments before Wang Chong's gaze quickly moved west, falling on the northwest of the Tang Dynasty.
The Western Regions!
Wang Gen had no idea that Wang Chong's insistence on establishing his fief in Wushang was not because of the famous Silk Road, but because of the distant Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty's Annan Protectorate!
The 'Silk Road' was a famed road of wealth, a road of gold, but it was also the lifeline of the Tang Dynasty's Annan Protectorate! Every year, countless weapons and supplies of the Tang Dynasty would pass through this road.
A storm was brewing, but no one besides Wang Chong knew that the empire's next crisis would come from the northwest of the Tang Dynasty. In a place that no one was paying attention to, another empire as powerful as the Tang Dynasty was extending its tentacles toward the Tang Dynasty's Western Regions.
This was a war between two great empires of the east and west.
Unlike the war of the southwest, only the thirty thousand warriors of the Tang Dynasty took part in this war, far fewer than the 180,000 soldiers of the Annam Protectorate. The number of casualties in this war and the number of civilians of the Tang Dynasty affected did not reach nearly one million.
In truth, the only ones affected were the Hu of the Western Regions.
But the far-reaching effects it would bring would far surpass the southwestern war, because this campaign would affect the entire Central Plains!
Gao Xianzhi, although we stand on different sides, I will do all I can to help you in this matter! I hope that you won't disappoint me!
Wang Chong quietly said to himself.
Although the Anxi Protectorate only had thirty thousand soldiers, they were more than thirty thousand of the Great Tang's most elite soldiers. In terms of martial arts, training, and teamwork, they were the best in the Great Tang Empire.
The soldiers sent over were all the strongest soldiers of the various prefectures, prefectures, and border defenses of the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, they were equipped with all sorts of weapons, all of them of excellent quality. Just the ballistae alone numbered in the tens of thousands, enough for every soldier to have one. Moreover, there were many more in the storehouses.
Almost all the best weapons of the Bureau of Military Personnel of the Tang Dynasty had been sent there.
In addition, from when Emperor Wu of Han first opened the Western Regions to when the Tang Dynasty was established, the Central Plains had a powerful influence in the Western Regions. Moreover, Gao Xianzhi was a foreigner, so he knew many languages of the Western Regions and was skilled in handling disputes between foreigners and Han. Thus, he was able to wield power in the Western Regions. Although the Tang only had thirty-thousand-some soldiers, the army of foreigners numbered 170,000 to 180,000, and they were extremely skilled in commanding their troops.
Thus, although the Tang soldiers of the Anxi Protectorate were few, they were extremely powerful. Together with the foreign and Han duo of Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing, they became the strongest protectors of the Western Regions' border.
The only thing holding them back was the long supply line and the supply line.
If war broke out, the Anxi Protectorate could only rely on the foreign and Han army of more than two hundred thousand soldiers. And the most reliable force in this army was the thirty thousand elite soldiers of the Tang Dynasty.
It was almost impossible to obtain supplies or reinforcements!
This was the innate flaw that the Tang Dynasty's' Two Walls of the Empire 'could not make up for! At the same time, it was also the greatest weakness of the Tang Dynasty and the rapidly rising Arabian Empire in the far west.
And this fief on the Silk Road was the greatest effort that Wang Chong had made for this upcoming war in the Western Regions. Once he had a massive city to serve as the economic, military, and logistical hub for the road to the west, as well as a storage area, if anything happened in the Western Regions, the soldiers in the city could quickly travel west to replenish the Western Regions. This would become the Anxi Protectorate's greatest source of logistical support and the fastest source of reinforcements.
This was the true reason why Wang Chong had chosen to build his fief on the barren and desolate Silk Road instead of the rich and populous land of Longxi. As for why he had chosen 'Wushang' on the Silk Road instead of any other place, the reason was extremely simple.
Because that was where the Tang Dynasty's most valiant and most excellent source of soldiers was located!
In the Central Plains, when that calamity had descended, the Tang Dynasty's Imperial Court had made a massive misjudgment. They had mistakenly believed that the otherworldly invaders were not as strong as the legends made them out to be.
The reason was that the otherworldly invaders had encountered a powerful resistance at a place called Wushang. Moreover, when they first set foot in the world of the Tang Dynasty, they had suffered significant casualties.
Thus, the Tang Dynasty of that time did not pay much attention to these legendary otherworldly invaders. Their attention was still focused on the foreign countries like Goguryeo, the Turks, Mengshe Zhao, and Ouzan.
It was only when the armies of the Tang Dynasty truly clashed with these otherworldly invaders and were routed like clay chickens and pottery dogs did they realize what it meant to be utterly defeated. Only then did they realize how powerful and terrifying these otherworldly invaders were.
Later on, when Wang Chong became the Grand Marshal of the Central Plains, he gathered all of the remnants of Wushang's army, forming a total of six thousand men. After further training, they became the most elite, powerful, ferocious, and loyal troops under Wang Chong's command. They were known as the strongest Wushang Steel Cavalry of the Central Plains!
Regardless of whether they were mounted or dismounted, these Wushang Steel Cavalry possessed extremely powerful fighting prowess. Moreover, the meridians of the Wushang Steel Cavalry were unique. They were born to cultivate martial arts. Even the renowned Tongluo Tribe couldn't compare to them in this aspect.
It was a pity that by the time Wang Chong noticed, there were only six thousand Wushang Steel Cavalry left. Wang Chong had asked around. At the peak of Wushang Steel Cavalry, it was said that there were fifty thousand people in the village.
Even after deducting the women, the elderly, and the children, there were still over thirty thousand able-bodied men.
It was a pity that these people had all died in battle when the otherworldly invaders invaded the south!
This was the deepest regret in Wang Chong's heart back then!
Six thousand Wushang Steel Cavalry had already propped up the war in the later stages of the great calamity. If there were over thirty thousand Wushang Steel Cavalry, perhaps everything would be completely different.
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