The mighty Qixi Protectorate, which guarded the throat of the Tang Dynasty, had no soldiers to use. This sounded unimaginable, but it truly was the true situation of the Qixi Protectorate.
No one understood this better than Wang Chong.
The Qixi Protectorate guarded the throat of the Tang Dynasty, situated in the crack between the Ouzan Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate. Every year, regardless of what happened elsewhere, the Qixi Protectorate would be embroiled in all sorts of battles. And the soldiers of the Qixi Protectorate had been whittled down by the repeated assaults of the Ouzan Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate.
Although the interior had always been sending soldiers to Qixi, there was a limit to how many soldiers they could send.
Before the Battle of Talas, the cavalry of the Ouzan Empire and the cavalry of the Western Turkic Khaganate had been abnormally fierce, resulting in a vacuum in the Qixi Protectorate's soldiers. And it was this vacuum that ultimately led to the defeat at the Battle of Talas.
Thus, if he wanted to reverse the crushing defeat at the Battle of Talas, he first had to change the fate and situation of the Qixi Protectorate. This was one of the important reasons Wang Chong had given his fief to Wushang. But Wang Chong had never told anyone about this.
And if he wanted to change the fate of Qixi, he had to completely drive out the power of the Ouzan Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate!
Establishing a city of steel in Wushang and gaining a foothold was only the first step. The second step was to begin repelling the Ouzan Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate to the east! Fomonlința would never be able to complete this step.
In Wang Chong's Grand Marshal of the World's General Stars, Fomonlința was only a general who could defend, not some general who could advance. One reason was that he had no such intentions, and the other was that he simply didn't have the talent.
All he could do was get close.
But before that, before embarking on this plan that was destined to shake the entire Empire and the western border, Wang Chong had to complete another task.
Without that item, no matter how powerful Wang Chong was, he could only be like a housewife without rice. In the end, he could only lament his inadequacy!
Di da da!
Without alerting anyone, Wang Chong quietly left the City of Steel in the early morning.
…
If one followed the official road west from Qixi, they would reach the Western Regions after seven to eight hundred li. This place was buffeted by sandstorms and the scenery was rough. Furthermore, there were many Hu living here, including Sindhi, Abbasid Caliphate, Charax Spasinu, Turks, Ouzan, and Han. Furthermore, the number of Hu far outnumbered the Han.
This kind of scene was hard to see anywhere in the Tang dynasty.
"Young Master, this is the place."
In a bustling, colorful brothel decorated with carvings and paintings, a middle-aged Han man in his thirties or forties, wearing a headscarf, respectfully said to a teenager beside him.
"Mm."
The youth looked at the brothel and solemnly nodded.
"Tell Yang Hongchang that I am very satisfied with this matter. Once we succeed, I will not mistreat him. "
"Many thanks, Marquis!"
The middle-aged man was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed.
"Mm? Did you forget what I told you? Don't call me Marquis here. "
The youth frowned.
"Yes, this lowly one was rude. Marquis … Young Master, forgive me."
A hint of fear flashed through the middle-aged man's eyes as he hurriedly lowered his head.
In the entire Western Regions, there was only one person who could strike such fear into this middle-aged man and also be called Marquis: the Young Marquis, Wang Chong. After leaving the City of Steel, Wang Chong disguised himself and circled around the Qixi Protectorate headquarters to reach the Tang Dynasty's Western Regions.
This was already the territory of Anxi Protector-General Gao Xianzhi.
If these Hu Great Generals of the empire knew that he was here, they would probably all swarm toward him. But even so, Wang Chong had a reason to come.
"Let's go."
Without another word, Wang Chong stepped over the threshold and into the brothel.
This was Wang Chong's first time stepping into a brothel of the Western Regions. Countless Hu were jostling against each other, and the sounds of the huqin, the hukonghou, the pipa, the hulei, and the huobusi could be heard.
The sounds of these Hu instruments were completely different from those of the Central Plains, and they had a different flavor to them.
Wang Chong raised his head and glanced over. Amidst the music, he could see the enchanting Hu dancers dancing to the music, making one's blood boil.
"There's even an Arab dancer!"
In a place where the Hu were the most concentrated and the laughter was the loudest, Wang Chong could clearly see a beautiful Arab dancer dressed in red, her belly exposed, her hands and feet adorned with bracelets and bells. Her eyes were blue, her lips red, and her eyes as charming as silk. She was biting on a red ribbon hanging from a roof beam as she danced in circles in the air.
The jingling of the bells and the music of the instruments drew cheers from the spectators.
In the capital, any place with Arab dancers would attract many scholars, nobles, and nobles, becoming a gathering place for scholars and refined scholars.
But the rarer a thing was, the greater its value, and there were not many Arab dancers in the capital. The Western Regions, however, had the advantage of proximity, and the number of bewitching Arab dancers here was far greater than in the capital.
Wang Chong's gaze paused on this Arab dancer for only a few moments before descending the wooden stairs to the second underground floor of the pleasure house.
All sorts of Hu languages could be heard here, and shouts, laughter, and curses could be heard. Many Hu had gathered here, throwing dice, guessing numbers, fighting cocks, dogs, and crickets, creating a foul atmosphere.
It was clear that this was a gambling den.
Wang Chong had never been one to gamble, but Wang Chong had a reason why he couldn't not come.
"Are you sure that he's here?"
Wang Chong turned his head and asked.
"Marquis can't be wrong. He likes to come here to play the most, and even Patriarch doesn't know why. I only heard that he has some sort of relationship with the mistress of this pleasure house. "
The middle-aged man sent by Yang Hongchang bowed and said, "In addition, we asked around before coming.
"Also, we've already asked around before we came. He happens to be in this brothel, on the third floor underground. Only a small number of people can enter, and the threshold is very high. All of them are either rich or noble. Patriarch has spent a great deal of money to prepare an identity for Young Master. Young Master can enter at any time, and no one will stop him.
"Young Master will see him once you enter."
Wang Chong nodded at these words. The Yang Clan had operated in the Western Regions for many years and knew this place like the back of its hand. If he wanted to find a single Hu in this crowd, Yang Hongchang was the best choice.
Without alerting anyone, Wang Chong quickly descended the stairs to the third underground floor of the pleasure house.
Yang Hongchang had taken care of everything along the way. Whenever someone appeared to berate or inspect someone, the Yang Clan steward would immediately step forward and negotiate with them, avoiding a lot of trouble.
The floor of the third underground floor was covered in red Arabian carpets, and the walls were carved with jade and inlaid with pearls, agates, emeralds, and corals. The decorations were opulent, but they did not lack for elegance.
"Marquis, it's inside."
The butler of the Yang Family led the way. When they reached the innermost and largest room, the butler of the Yang Family stopped. Through the door, Wang Chong could hear the coarse laughter of a Turkic-accented man, accompanied by the cheerful laughter of a woman.
"Wait for me outside."
Wang Chong's eyes flashed as he pushed open the door and strode in with his head held high. In a flash, the laughter in the room came to an abrupt halt.
Wang Chong's expression was relaxed as he swept his gaze around the room, quickly settling on a Turkic man with an unbuttoned shirt, a mustache, hawk-like eyes, and a deep nose.
"I've finally found him!"
When he saw the two fist-sized skulls on the Turkic man's shoulders, Wang Chong nodded, a hint of joy in his eyes. These were not real skulls, but skeletons forged from bronze.
In Wang Chong's memories, there was only one person who could play with two bronze skulls on his shoulders: the Turkic merchant, Hulayeg.
He had another identity. He was the most famous Turkic horse merchant of the Western Regions, perhaps even the steppe!
If Wang Chong wanted to realize his grand plan of repelling the Ouzan to the west and the Western Turks to the east, completely changing the situation in Qixi and driving out all the foreign powers, he first needed to have enough warhorses.
Wang Chong's first batch of Wushang soldiers were almost done training, but without warhorses, he could not speak of the 'Wushang Cavalry' that dominated the world!
Thus, even if he had to risk being discovered by Gao Xianzhi and Fomonlința, Wang Chong had still come to the Western Regions for the sake of this number one Turkic horse merchant, Hulayeg.
Everyone knew that the best warhorses in the world were not the highland steeds of the Ouzan, nor were they the warhorses of the Tang dynasty. In truth, the terrain of the Central Plains was not suited to raising warhorses.
All the excellent warhorses of the Tang dynasty had come from the Turkic steppe.
The warhorses of the Turks just so happened to be the best source of warhorses in the world.
The only warhorses that could surpass the Turkic horses were the Arabian warhorses, but Arabia was ten thousand li from the Central Plains. Moreover, the Arabian warhorses were extremely troublesome to raise, and they would not be able to acclimatize to the Central Plains. In comparison, Turkic horses were easier to obtain and easier to produce, making them suitable for raising cavalry.
In addition, the best Turkic warhorses were not one bit inferior to the Arabian warhorses.
And if Wang Chong wanted to buy the best Turkic warhorses, he couldn't avoid this' Hulayeg '. Whether he had warhorses from the Eastern Turkic Khaganate to the Western Turkic Khaganate, or even Charax Spasinu, this' Hulayeg 'had a way to obtain them.
There was no better horse merchant in the Western Regions.
Wang Chong's Wushang Army was about to finish its training, but if he wanted to become that unstoppable and awe-inspiring 'Wushang Cavalry', he still needed a large number of warhorses.
However, this was not the main reason why Wang Chong had disguised himself and stealthily arrived here.
More importantly, Wang Chong was well aware that the future Tang dynasty was fraught with calamities and was already in troubled times. One war after another was about to break out.
In every war, a large number of warhorses would die.
In the future, the greatest problem of the Central Plains would not be a lack of soldiers, but a lack of warhorses that would make it impossible to form a cavalry army. And without a cavalry army, there would be no mobility, and they would only be defeated one by one.
And the Central Plains could not breed warhorses. One death meant one less, and there was no way to replenish them.
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