"It seems like quite a few people are paying attention to the construction of our city, huh?"
Wang Chong smirked as he looked at the sky.
"It's not just these scouting birds. Starting from the first day, countless Western Regioners, Turks, Ouzan, Arabs, Charax Spasinu, and Goguryeons have been appearing around our fief every day. They've disguised themselves as jewellers from the Western Regions, horse traders, or even Arab sword merchants. They've been constantly monitoring our surroundings. We've already driven away quite a few groups, but there's still an endless stream of them. "
Zhang Shouzhi said. He glanced worriedly into the distance.
Wang Chong's expression was calm as he followed Zhang Shouzhi's gaze. Sure enough, several li away, he could see tiny black figures standing on a low hill, looking in their direction.
"Marquis, should we form a team to drive away these people?"
Zhang Shouzhi said.
"Haha, there's no need."
Wang Chong waved his hand, a carefree expression on his face.
"If someone is building a city, there will definitely be people paying attention. It's impossible to kill them all. As long as the Ouzan, Turks, Arabs, and Charax Spasinu want to, they'll send out an endless stream of scouts to gather information. Let's keep them. "
Wang Chong's demeanor was relaxed, and his expression exuded an aura of conviction. Whether it was the birds overhead or the scouts around them, they were nothing more than mosquito bites to Wang Chong. Since he dared to build a city here, he wasn't afraid of anyone coming to gather information.
"But Marquis, there's one more piece of news that this old man doesn't know if he should say."
Zhang Shouzhi hesitated, a hint of apprehension and hesitation in his eyes.
"Oh?"
Wang Chong's eyes flashed. He turned his head and looked at Zhang Shouzhi subconsciously. After interacting with Zhang Shouzhi for so long and going through life and death situations together, the impression that Zhang Shouzhi gave him had always been that he was straightforward and straightforward. He would never hesitate or worry so much.
"What's wrong? Is there anything you can't say in front of me? "
"The Ouzan, the Arabs, and the Turks can be ignored. After all, they're all within reason, but our position is far too unique. We're right at the intersection of their factions. But besides them, we've also discovered scouts from Beiting, Anxi, Qixi, and Longxi. Marquis, this isn't good for us! "
Zhang Shouzhi said, and the space between his brows was shrouded in deep worry.
The Beiting Protectorate, the Anxi Protectorate, the Qixi Protectorate, and the Big Dipper Army of Longxi — any member of the Tang dynasty would be keenly aware of the significance of these names.
Wang Chong had made a name for himself in the war of the southwest, so it was within reason that he had attracted the attention of these foreign kingdoms. But if Beiting, Anxi, Qixi, and Longxi had also sent scouts, then the situation was far from good.
Wang Chong's brow creased as he fell silent.
Beiting had An Sishun, Anxi had Gao Xianzhi, Qixi had Fomonlința, and Longxi had Geshu Han. These were all influential Great Generals of the empire, figures of the Big Dipper and the Big Dipper, wielding enormous influence in the military and the Imperial Court.
It was already extremely difficult for an ordinary person to obtain the attention of even one of them, but Wang Chong had received the attention of four Great Generals at the same time.
"The Regional Commanders incident!"
With a flash of understanding in Wang Chong's mind, he understood.
These four Great Generals were usually far apart from each other and rarely interacted with each other in private. In truth, the empire strictly forbade these powerful Great Generals from colluding with each other in private.
But even so, the four of them had one thing in common: in the Regional Commanders incident, Wang Chong's memorial had thoroughly offended them.
All four of them had submitted memorials to the Imperial Court requesting that Wang Chong be executed and that he be imprisoned in the imperial prison.
They're settling accounts after the fall!
Wang Chong quietly said to himself.
During the Regional Commanders incident, he had been in the distant capital and had the protection of his clan. Not even Geshu Han, Fomonlința, and the other Great Generals had been able to do much to him. But the situation was different now. He had come to Wushang and was establishing a fief and a city on the border of the four Great Generals. Given their tempers, it would be truly strange if they allowed him to build a city right under their noses.
Although Wushang was close to the Silk Road, its geographical position was very unique. Several hundred li to its left was the edge of the Ouzan Plateau, where the Ouzan cavalry could descend.
And to the northeast, five-hundred-some li, was the border of the Western Turkic Khaganate, the territory of the Turkic Ishbara Khagan. Although it was five-hundred-some li, this distance was nothing to cavalry.
And if one followed the Silk Road to the northwest, one would reach the end of the road, where the Anxi Protectorate, commanded by Anxi Protector-General Gao Xianzhi, was located.
This road was far too important, so any attempt to build a city on the Silk Road would attract the attention of all sides.
The Imperial Court had originally established the Qixi Protectorate here to fend off the Western Turkic Khaganate to the east and the Ouzan Empire to the west. With the assistance of the Anxi Protector, the Beiting Protectorate, and the Longxi Big Dipper Army, it was completely capable of protecting the merchants traveling the Silk Road.
But it just so happened that all these Protector-Generals had been offended by Wang Chong.
Now that Wang Chong was building a city in Wushang, it was hard to say if these Protector-Generals would play any tricks!
If the Ouzan or Western Turks really did charge over, it was hard to say if these Protector-Generals or Great Generals would help. It was even possible that these Protector-Generals and Great Generals would intentionally let the Ouzan and Turks pass.
After all, no one could blame them for having such a long defensive line!
These were all problems that Wang Chong had to consider.
"Relax, it won't be a big problem!"
To his surprise, Wang Chong grinned and quickly regained his composure.
"Since I dared to build a city in Wushang, I've made thorough preparations. In addition, the City of Steel has only just been established and I've only just been made a marquis, so everyone is paying attention to this matter. Even if Geshu Han, Gao Xianzhi, Fomonlința, and An Sishun have any ideas, they wouldn't dare to make any careless mistakes at a time like this. Otherwise, it would be too obvious. They're all Great Generals of the empire, powerhouses of the major powers. They wouldn't do something so childish.
"In this period of time, no matter how uncomfortable they are with us, no matter how dissatisfied they are with us, they have no choice but to help us guard the border!"
High status had its benefits, but it also had its restrictions. Gao Xianzhi, Geshu Han, Fomonlința, and An Sishun were all Great Generals of the empire, but this also meant that their every action was being watched by everyone in the court. Thus, there were many things that could not be done, or at least, they could not be too obvious.
"This … truly is the case!"
Zhang Shouzhi nodded. After all, he was a master architect of the Imperial Palace and had interacted with many high officials and nobles, so he had a rough understanding of the politics of the court. He knew that what Wang Chong said was the truth.
No matter how much the Great Generals and Protector-Generals disliked and loathed Wang Chong, they had no choice but to endure for the time being. Not only did they have to endure, they also had to think of a way to protect him. Otherwise, if something happened, even the Holy Emperor would place the blame on them.
After all, there were so many people who were watching over Wang Chong's fief.
"But even so, this is only the beginning. After we build a city in Wushang, it's still their territory. After this period of time, what should we do? "
Zhang Shouzhi said.
The Silk Road was very long, very long. Wang Chong's decision to build a city here seemed very casual, but this was actually not the case. This was because the merchants of the Silk Road would only find a place to rest when they had a very long journey ahead of them, and when the road was barren and they couldn't find a place to rest.
Thus, if Wang Chong's city wanted to gain the favor of these merchants, it could not be too close to a city or village.
And there were not many places that satisfied this condition.
And Wushang was the best of them all!
First of all, it was very far from the capital, and the merchants would be very tired from the journey. Qixi was not far from Wushang, and not far from it was a vast desert.
Qi was a desert, and this was where the name Qixi came from.
The influence of the desert meant that the weather here was extremely dry, and it was easy for people to get tired. The most obvious of these was the need to replenish their water. This was the most essential requirement.
If there was a city where one could rest and replenish their food and water, this was the dream of all merchants.
On the other hand, even the merchants from the Abbasid Caliphate, Charax Spasinu, and the Western Regions would want to rest and replenish their energy. This was because it was a very long journey from here all the way to the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and there was no place to replenish one's water.
And the existence of Ouzan and the Western Turkic Khaganate made Wang Chong's City of Steel even more precious, as it provided a place of refuge for travelers.
Thus, Wang Chong didn't have many choices about where he could establish his fief.
Zhang Shouzhi knew of Wang Chong's ambitions, and he also knew that he wasn't building a city here just to make some money. Lion City in the southwest had already proved this.
Anyone who believed that Wang Chong was only doing this to make money was truly a fool. Mengshe Zhao had clearly been one such fool.
But everything had a price.
Since Wang Chong had decided to build a city here, he had no choice but to consider the dangers involved.
"Haha, relax. We'll deal with soldiers with arms and flood with earth. I've already taken care of everything. As long as we can endure the first stage, I'll give them a great surprise. "
Wang Chong patted Zhang Shouzhi on the shoulder, unconcerned.
In Wushang Village, Li Siye had already begun to recruit soldiers. Wang Chong had already taught him all the training methods for the Wushang Cavalry. He would remain in Wushang Village for a very long time. Only when he had completed the most basic training would he leave Wushang Village and come to the City of Steel.
In truth, Wang Chong was already beginning to look forward to the first cry of the Wushang Cavalry in this world!
Zhang Shouzhi was perplexed. Wang Chong's plans were always far in advance. Even though he had followed Wang Chong for so long, he still couldn't understand what Wang Chong was relying on. But despite his doubts, there was one thing that Zhang Shouzhi could be sure of.
Wang Chong had already taken care of everything. This was the most important thing!
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