"Incredible! Marquis, do you remember the group of captives we captured yesterday?"
Xu Keyi excitedly said, his face red.
"I do. Did something happen?"
Wang Chong asked in confusion. After yesterday's battle, he remembered that someone had reported to him that they had captured a group of captives, but Wang Chong didn't understand what was so special about this matter.
"Marquis, we really did catch a big fish this time! One of those captives was a prince of the Western Turkic Khaganate, and it was Ishbara Khagan's most beloved Fourth Prince, the son of the Khaganate's Khatun. Agudu Lan had originally planned on bringing him here to earn merit so that Ishbara Khagan could properly confer him an official title. I didn't expect for him to be captured by us. "
Xu Keyi hurriedly said, his voice ragged.
"Ah?!"
Alarmed, Wang Chong abruptly stood up from his seat.
In the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates, the status of princes was even higher than in the Central Plains. The reason was very simple: the two Turkic Khaganates did not have the Three Palaces and Six Courtyards, so the Turkic Khaganate did not have many princes and princesses. A prince born to a Turkic Khatun, and one favored by Ishbara Khagan at that, would have an unimaginable status in the Western Turkic Khaganate.
Wang Chong had not expected that in dealing with Agudu Lan, he would end up capturing a prince of the Western Turkic Khaganate.
"Marquis, in the morning, we took out all the captives from last night and prepared to interrogate them to see if we could dig up anything useful to the Western Turks. But at this time, we noticed that there was one person who didn't seem right. His attire is very luxurious, and he doesn't look like an ordinary soldier. His temperament is also different, and he seems to have a very high status. No matter how you look at it, he doesn't look like someone who would appear in the army. He doesn't fit in with a group of prisoners.
Although it had been Xu Keyi who had informed Wang Chong, it had been Chen Bin who had discovered the Turkic prince. In the City of Steel's underground prison, Li Siye, Huang Botian, Cheng Sanyuan, Su Shixuan, Elder Fang, and Elder Du were all gathered together, listening to Chen Bin's explanation.
"At the time, I also felt that there was something wrong with him, so I found someone who could speak Turkic, but I didn't expect him to be a Turkic prince. I didn't dare to confirm it, so after some thought, I called Hulayeg over. He had connections with the Turks, so he should be familiar with all the members of the Turkic imperial clan. When Hulayeg came, he immediately recognized him as the Turkic Fourth Prince! "
"Yes."
Wang Chong nodded as he peered through a small metal window more than six feet off the ground. The Turkic Fourth Prince was a young man of twenty-one or twenty-two. Although his clothes were filthy from last night's battle, if one looked carefully, one could still see that they were dressed in an extremely ornate Turkic robe.
He truly is a member of the Turkic imperial clan!
As Wang Chong looked at the blazing suns on the Turkic youth's clothes and the image of a lone wolf howling at the sun, a thought flashed through his mind. Although Wang Chong had interacted very little with the Turkic imperial clan, he knew that the sacred mountain of the Turks was Mount Sun. Besides the wolves, they also worshiped the blazing suns in the sky. This was a symbol that only the imperial clan of the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates could use, signifying a noble bloodline.
"Boom!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Chong opened the door and walked in.
"No, don't kill me … I'm a prince of the Turks! I can give you a lot of money! Don't kill me!"
The young Turkic prince seemed to be given a huge fright, his hands and feet curling up into a ball as his body trembled. If one looked carefully, one would realize that this Turkic prince was none other than the young Turkic man who had accompanied the Black Wolf Yabgu Agudu Lan.
"Mm?"
Wang Chong slightly frowned at the Turkic prince's frightened expression, not even daring to raise his head.
"Marquis, this fellow seems like a soft-footed shrimp. Last night's slaughter probably scared him."
Xu Keyi leaned over and whispered into Wang Chong's ear.
Wang Chong fell silent for a few moments, and then he nodded. In last night's battle, the Wushang cavalry had dealt with these Turkic elites as easily as cutting through melons and vegetables. Although the Turks were innately brave and fierce in battle, this Turkic prince had grown up on Mount Sanmi, in the Khagan's court. He had only seen a handful of true battles, and even if he had, it had always been in the rear, when the Turks had the upper hand.
This was probably the first time in his life that four to five thousand Turkic warriors had been slaughtered like sheep. Starting from now, this would become a nightmare for him for a very long time to come.
"Just now, you said that you could give me a lot of money?"
Wang Chong squatted down and suddenly asked.
"Right, right, right. No matter how much you want, I'll give it to you. Pearls, agate, gold … My royal father and mother will definitely agree. "
The young Turkic prince was at first dazed, but he quickly reacted and anxiously said. He had realized that this young Han leader was not speaking the Han language, but the Turkic language that he was most familiar with.
"Hahaha, I don't need pearls or agate. As for gold, how much can you Turks have? Will your royal father and mother be willing to give it to you?"
Wang Chong chuckled.
The young Turkic prince was dumbfounded. The Turks were different from the people of the other empires. Their commerce was not as developed, and they did not have as many resources. This meant that even if the Turks had a great deal of wealth, they would find it very difficult to buy as many things as they could in the Central Plains.
In other words, the wealth of the Turks would only be of value when trading with the other empires. Thus, the Turks were not very interested in amassing wealth. People like Hulayeg were very rare in both the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates. In addition, the Turkic steppe did not produce gold. Even if one gathered all the gold from both Turkic Khaganates, there wouldn't be much left.
From this perspective, it was truly difficult to say just how much gold Ishbara Khagan was willing to pay for a single prince. After all, the gold of the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates was used to buy luxurious objects for the enjoyment of the nobles and imperial household.
"Hahaha …"
Wang Chong laughed as he saw the dazed expression on the Turkic prince's face. The Turkic prince was terrified by this laughter, and his entire body began to tremble.
"Wait a moment! Wait a moment … I know you need warhorses. I can give you a large number of warhorses! Our Western Turkic Khaganate has the best warhorses on the steppe. I can give you as many as you want … "
The Turkic prince suddenly shouted.
But this time, Wang Chong pretended not to hear. Shaking his head and smiling, he turned around and left the prison under the terrified gaze of the prince. Behind him, the prison door slammed shut. The Turkic prince seemed like he had been struck by lightning, his face pale as he slumped to the ground.
… …
"Hey, Milord, why didn't you agree to his request just now? The Fourth Prince has a very high status in the Western Turkic Khaganate. Although the Western Turkic Khaganate doesn't have much gold, Ishbara Khagan would definitely agree if he wanted warhorses. According to the rules of the steppe, if a noble is captured, they will definitely pay a large sum of money to ransom them. And he's a prince! "
Just as Wang Chong walked out of the prison, a slightly plump figure suddenly appeared around the corner. This figure was like a cat and was rushing toward him, as if trying to hide from something.
"I know."
Wang Chong indifferently said, not even glancing at Hulayeg.
"You know?"
Hulayeg's face froze in shock. Based on his understanding of Wang Chong, he was in dire need of warhorses. Moreover, Wang Chong had most likely agreed to help him because of those three hundred thousand warhorses. But he hadn't expected that Wang Chong would give up such an excellent opportunity. This left him extremely confused.
"But why?"
"Because I've already thought it over. I'll leave this matter to you."
Under Hulayeg's dumbfounded gaze, Wang Chong patted him on the shoulder and quickly left. Hulayeg was left standing, his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something, but his mind was blank and he hesitated. After some time, Hulayeg seemed to understand something, and his eyes shone with delight. With a shout, he jumped up and down in excitement.
"Wonderful!"
… …
Putting aside the activity on Wang Chong's end, from the northeastern part of Qixi, across the vast and overgrown Turkic steppe, several thousand li to the extreme north of Qixi, there was a massive and majestic mountain range that seemed like some prehistoric beast. Anyone who saw it would sigh in admiration and feel insignificant.
Mount Sanmi!
If one looked carefully at the Western Turkic Khagan's Court of Khagan, one would realize that this majestic mountain range was actually composed of three mountains, two low and one high. The highest peak was where the current Great Khan of the Western Turks, Ishbara Khagan, resided.
The Turkic steppe had always been a vast expanse of flat land, never a place with many mountains or rivers.
From Qixi to the north, there wasn't even a single protruding hill in the Western Turkic steppe, much less a large mountain. Thus, one could imagine the significance that Mount Sanmi represented to all the Turks when it appeared on the steppe like a massive beast.
Every year, the Turkic Khagans would go to various places to inspect the various tribes, so the ivory tent representing the Khagan was always moving around. But of the Western Turkic Khagans, there was only one place that was recognized: Mount Sanmi.
"What?! Agudu Lan was killed and the Fourth Prince was captured? A Qixi without Fomonlința actually managed to defeat you and even capture the Fourth Prince!! "
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