"Young Master, is that Hulayeg really trustworthy?"
Solitary Wolf suddenly asked as the Hu jostled against each other on the road. After wandering the world for more than a year, even though Wang Chong had already been made a marquis, Solitary Wolf still used the term 'Young Master'.
"It has nothing to do with trust. It's fine as long as there's profit. Moreover, he has no choice but to believe in this matter. "
Wang Chong smiled, but he was thinking back to the strange expression on Hulayeg's face as he left.
Yalug was Hulayeg's closest and most trusted steward, managing more than seventy percent of his wealth. In Hulayeg's heart, he was absolutely 'loyal and devoted'.
Alas, not even Hulayeg had expected that in three or four days, this loyal and devoted subordinate would escape with his concubine and all the wealth.
Hulayeg's subsequent series of grave mistakes and his execution by the Western Turkic Khagan Ishbara probably had something to do with this.
"In addition, Young Master … one hundred thousand warhorses is no small sum. Can we really afford it with our abilities?"
Solitary Wolf worriedly said.
Based on the price Wang Chong had given, one hundred taels of gold for one horse, one hundred thousand warhorses would be ten million taels of gold. Wang Chong had even borrowed money from the more than one thousand great clans of the capital to construct the City of Steel. The Wang Clan's ability to purchase one hundred thousand warhorses was simply not enough.
"Hahaha, I saw that you were frowning after leaving Hulayeg's residence. You didn't say much, and you had a worried look on your face. So this is what you were worried about. Our Wang Clan naturally doesn't have the ability to purchase one hundred thousand warhorses, and besides, what does our Wang Clan need so many warhorses for? "
Wang Chong chuckled, a look of complete nonchalance on his face. He had never considered how much gold was needed to buy horses, nor did he care.
"Then why does Young Master want to buy so many warhorses …"
Lone Wolf tilted his head and asked in confusion.
He had always thought that Wang Chong had disguised himself and sneaked into the Western Region to buy so many warhorses for him, but now it seemed that this was not the case at all. He couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Even after following Wang Chong for so long, he still felt like he couldn't keep up with Wang Chong's train of thought.
"Haha, of course it is for the Tang dynasty."
Wang Chong said without hesitation.
Of the one hundred thousand warhorses, he would keep ten thousand at most. He would take thirty to forty thousand more and give the rest to the imperial court.
Raising these war horses required a considerable amount of money, and only the imperial court could afford it. Other than that, as for the money needed to buy a horse …
Whether it was ten million taels of silver or tens of millions of taels of silver, it was just a drizzle for the current Tang dynasty. What did it count for?
Although the Tang dynasty had declined militarily, the people yearned for peace and no longer had the bravery and aggressiveness of the past. But after so many years of peace and prosperity, and trading with other countries, they had indeed accumulated a great deal of wealth.
If he didn't use it now, when would he keep it?
Wang Chong quickly left the Western Regions. Just as he had arrived, he didn't alarm anyone. The moment he left, flapflap! A messenger pigeon with golden claws soared into the sky, traveling several times faster than ordinary messenger pigeons as it left the Western Regions and flew toward the capital of the Great Tang.
Several days later, the carrier pigeon descended from the sky. It passed through many windows and landed in King of Song's study.
"This is … a letter from Wang Chong?"
The King of Song took out the letter and immediately began to read it. The more he read, the brighter the eyes of The King of Song became. In the end, he couldn't help but laugh in excitement.
"Hahaha, one hundred thousand high-quality warhorses! Wang Chong, you have rendered a great service to the imperial court! No matter how many tens of thousands of taels of gold you need, this king will submit a memorial to the Imperial Court and do everything in his power to resolve the problem for you. I'd like to see just who would dare to act selfishly and go against the flow on such an important matter that benefits the country and the people?! "
With these last words, The King of Song's face suddenly turned frigid. Matters had their own priorities. He could ignore ordinary matters, but when it came to the warhorses that the Imperial Court urgently needed, if anyone dared to cause trouble on such an important matter, he might have to kill a few imperial censors and officials.
Without the slightest delay, The King of Song took Wang Chong's letter and quickly left the King of Song Residence.
… …
Wang Chong quickly returned to the City of Steel. He had spent ten-some days here, and the current City of Steel was very different from before.
The forty meter tall city wall stood tall on the ground. It was smooth and precipitous, enough to make any kind of scaling ladders or other siege weapons sigh.
After the outer wall was finished, nearly one hundred and fifty thousand craftsmen were already working on the inner wall, as well as the various restaurants, tea houses, and inns in the City of Steel.
The various aristocratic families also began to send people to build their own restaurants and shops. The entire city was under construction, and there were signs of activity in full swing.
At this point, Wang Chong's fief was on the right track. Nothing could stop it.
"Marquis, we've used up all the steel and city wall modules in the early stage. I'm afraid that the speed of construction won't be as fast. We still need the sword shops and sword towers to build the subsequent city wall modules and send them to Wushang. I'm afraid it won't be delivered in a short time. "
Standing on the tall city wall, Zhang Shouzhi faced the fierce winds and said, "Let's go.
"In addition, besides simple defense, the city also needs to have a few layers of walls, as well as a few arrow buttresses and other places for soldiers to hide from enemy attacks. I'm afraid that it won't be as fast as it was at the beginning. "
"It doesn't matter. At this stage of the City of Steel, we already have a foothold. This was my goal from the very beginning. We've already achieved it! "
Wang Chong's long hair and robes fluttered in the wind.
There was urgency and slowness, and the modular construction of the city seemed incredibly fast. To many people, Wang Chong's City of Steel was a miracle. But many people had overlooked how much manpower, resources, and time had been spent to prepare the modules of the City of Steel.
If not for the resources and wealth of the great clans of the capital, as well as the forging ability of the entire Central Plains, the astonishing feat of building a city in a single night would have been impossible. This was an enormous and unimaginable undertaking, and for many factions and many people, it was nothing more than an extravagant hope!
But even though it had all sorts of shocking aspects, behind the astonishing speed of the modular construction, there was still a massive flaw.
All of its shocking aspects were based on the ample preparations made in the beginning. Once the modules were used up, they would have to wait for the later stages of construction, which would greatly slow it down. This was also the current situation of the City of Steel.
This period of frenzied construction had already used up all of the surrounding city wall modules, so the speed of construction would naturally slow down.
But for Wang Chong, he had already achieved his goal.
"Rumble!"
As he was speaking with Zhang Shouzhi, the earth suddenly quaked, and a roar like that of a tidal wave came from the north. In shock, Wang Chong turned his head and saw that on the horizon, thick plumes of smoke were rising into the sky. Countless black dots were galloping through the smoke, exuding an intimidating aura.
"Enemy attack!"
A howl tore through the sky. Around the City of Steel, the several thousand elite cavalry that Wang Chong had brought from the southwest, as well as the city guards that the great clans had brought, immediately responded. In a flash, all the nearby guards had gathered, and in a few short moments, they had taken up battle formations, ready to charge at any moment and attack the enemy.
"Buzz!"
Not far away, the sound of metal clanging could be heard as two huge steel gates opened. Not only could they welcome their own knights into the city, but they could also keep the enemies outside the city at all times, relying on the thick and sturdy defense of the city.
Creakcreak! At Wang Chong's ears, the master archers that the great clans had brought charged onto the walls, nocked their arrows, and aimed to the north.
In just a few seconds, the City of Steel, which had been bustling with activity and lax just a moment ago, was now fully armed and on guard, as if it was made of steel.
"Buzz!"
The 'enemy' was getting closer and closer, and the dust was getting thicker and thicker. Just when it seemed like an intense battle was about to begin, Wang Chong's eyes widened and he sneered.
"Stop! Pass on my order! All soldiers are to stand by and maintain a defensive posture. Archers, put away their bowstrings! Without my order, no one is to act rashly! "
Wang Chong raised an arm and ordered.
This abrupt order left everyone dumbfounded.
"Old Mister Zhang, please wait here. I'll leave for a while. I'll handle this matter! "
Standing on the walls, Wang Chong looked into the distance at the dust and sneered.
"It seems like a good friend has come!"
After saying this, Wang Chong turned around and quickly left the walls along the stairs. Behind him, Zhang Shouzhi was still dumbfounded, not understanding what was going on.
But as he faced the blazing sun, he narrowed his eyes. A moment later, Zhang Shouzhi's expression shook as he suddenly understood something.
"So it's him!!"
Zhang Shouzhi blurted out in shock. As he looked at the fluttering war banner that had suddenly emerged from the dust, a hint of deep concern appeared in his eyes.
"Bai Siling, Zhao Yatong, stand guard in the city. Don't come over!
"Cheng Sanyuan, Su Shixuan, follow me!"
"Yes, Marquis!"
… …
Warhorses galloped out of the city, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.
Cheng Sanyuan and Su Shixuan were both elites who had followed Wang Chong through life and death in the southwest. They were among the several thousand experts Wang Chong had recruited from the great clans.
These two were very powerful, far surpassing the experts of the other clans, and they were extremely loyal.
The clans they had served, in order to curry favor with Wang Chong and at the same time improve their relationship with the Wang Clan so that they could climb onto the massive war chariot that was the King of Song and the Wang Clan, had simply gifted these two to Wang Chong as his personal attendants.
But what Wang Chong valued was not just their martial arts, but also their courage, their ability to adapt to the situation, and their decision-making abilities. In the war of the southwest, when Li Siye was leading them back, the Ouzan had attempted a counterattack, hoping to break Li Siye's charging formation by attacking from the side.
But these two had sensed the danger ahead of time and led a small group to break away from the Ouzan cavalry before they could form a formation and take the initiative to charge.
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