Liu Fang escorted Xiao Miao out the door, then sat down on the couch by the window, watching Xiao Miao skipping away as cheerfully as a little bird, and shook his head. He had anticipated that the Emperor would create difficulties for Yun Ye, but he hadn’t expected to assign him such a task.
Attacking the barbarians was easy—Wei Qing and Huo Qubing had both accomplished it. As long as the emperor’s will was firm and the right people were employed, success would always follow. Moreover, the Great Tang was now so prosperous that with a hundred thousand cavalry, they could traverse the desert without worry.
However, that was limited to merely traversing. When dealing with nomadic peoples, offense was the best defense. Yun Ye’s fifty thousand men were too few—insufficient for attacking and inadequate for defending. When the grassland desert became one’s own territory, the entire strategic situation tilted toward the barbarians. The desert grasslands, without the protection of cities, were far too vulnerable to attack.
Now those nomadic tribes had gathered together and sent out roving cavalry that could turn the entire Western Regions into a boiling pot—this was an extremely brilliant strategy that bought them ample time. Whether advancing west or descending east, they could maneuver with ease.
The barbarians on the grasslands and those in the Western Regions were certain to have numerous conflicts. Liu Fang had originally thought to find a pro-Tang faction among the Turkic people to support, taking the lead in advancing west, opening the gates to the west, making those barbarians abandon thoughts of advancing east and instead rush headlong westward following the faction he supported.
This would thoroughly resolve Yun Ye’s predicament in the desert, allowing him to accumulate merit in the desert for a few years before returning to Chang’an to teach properly and live out the rest of his days in happiness. As a family retainer, his own duty would then be fulfilled.
The appearance of the Camel City greatly shocked Liu Fang. This idea of Yun Ye’s almost overturned his impression of his muddleheaded master—a mobile fortress, who would have thought of that!
No matter what, he himself had to make a trip to the Western Regions. Even with the Camel City, Yun Ye could only defend passively; the stalemate still existed. The Great Tang would only launch a major western expedition in three to five years. The various domestic construction projects would absolutely not stop at this time. The main army could not and dared not move. The Emperor and the ministers all said it was due to insufficient national strength, but Liu Fang didn’t see it that way.
When he opened the Yun family’s storerooms searching for treasures to bribe the Turkic people, seeing the Yun family’s fully stocked warehouses, he knew that “insufficient national strength” was a lie. Since even the Yun family’s storerooms could support a war, Liu Fang didn’t believe that Zhangsun’s storerooms would be smaller than Yun Ye’s household.
The state might have no money, but that didn’t mean the imperial family had none. As long as Zhangsun let even a little slip through his fingers, organizing a hundred thousand troops would be as easy as turning one’s hand. The imperial family was being cautious—cautious about domestic affairs. They were observing, preparing to see whether large-scale national development would lead to a repeat of Emperor Yang of Sui’s fate. This time, the scale of national development was even greater than Emperor Yang of Sui’s excavation of the Grand Canal.
They were unwilling to campaign west at this time because they didn’t want to repeat Emperor Yang of Sui’s disastrous eastern campaign against Goguryeo. They believed this was a curse that could destroy a glorious empire—that large-scale warfare should not occur simultaneously with major national development. Whether emperor or ministers, they had reached consensus on this point.
The result of this consensus was that the vast territories of Beiting and Anxi had only a mere fifty thousand men defending them. Then Yun Ye, this jack-of-all-trades, was placed here as Grand Administrator. Success or failure didn’t matter much. Liu Fang even believed that Li Er had already prepared for a decisive battle on the Longxi or Guannei circuits.
Cheng Yaojin, Niu Jinda, and Li Jing had seen this point, which was why they were doing everything in their power to help Yun Ye. Everyone’s heart was anxious. They didn’t believe Yun Ye could win; they only hoped that once the Camel City was built, Yun Ye could flee faster when he failed. The Camel City wasn’t a defensive tool for Yun Ye—it was for his escape. Zhangsun probably had the same idea, which was why he spared no expense in handing over all the imperial household’s camels to Yun Ye’s control.
The Western Regions’ barbarians now had two possibilities: either with burning fury they would form an iron alliance and surge eastward like an overwhelming tide to reclaim their homeland, or with tragic determination they would begin advancing west, starting anew to find land where their people could survive.
After arriving in the Western Regions, the two cities of Talas and Almaty were surrounded so tightly by troops that water couldn’t leak through. No one could know the true thoughts of those rulers inside the cities. Liu Fang had also returned to Suiye City out of helplessness.
When he learned of Xiao Miao’s actions, he discovered that there was no need to expend effort buying off any barbarians—Xiao Miao was the most suitable choice. As long as Xiao Miao could arm a military force, he could accomplish what Liu Fang had dreamed of. Thinking of this, Liu Fang looked at the obedient and well-behaved Xiao Miao in the courtyard and felt that things might not be as bad as he had thought.
As soon as Moas and Xerxes entered the gate, they saw Xiao Miao in splendid attire, wearing an ox-bone headdress, with a pink curved saber hanging at his waist. His straight black hair was braided into countless small plaits, his small leather boots were delicate and exquisite, and he was playing with maidservants. They exchanged a glance and saw endless fervor in each other’s eyes.
“Moas, Xerxes, my grand retainer has arrived. You go see him and have him record your names in the family register. From now on, you’ll be able to receive your stipend.”
Xiao Miao’s understanding of family retainers was that they could collect money from Xinyue’s hands. He clearly remembered how happy he was the first time he received his stipend—he still kept that snow-white linen bag to this day.
Now hearing Liu Fang say he would record Moas and Xerxes’ names in the register too, his first reaction was that they could collect money now.
Moas and Xerxes crossed their hands over their chests and bowed to thank Xiao Miao, then saw a white-bearded old man standing at the door with his hands behind his back watching them, with a fierce man like a lion beside him.
Liu Fang didn’t need to pretend—the dignified aura about him commanded submission. His falcon-like eyes observed Moas and Xerxes for a while, then he said regretfully to Xiao Miao: “Loyal enough, but insufficient in martial prowess.”
Moas couldn’t understand Liu Fang’s words. Xiao Miao explained to them with a smile: “The elder says you’re very loyal, but your martial skills are too poor. It doesn’t matter—many people in the household don’t know martial arts.”
The two men blushed red with shame and followed behind Xiao Miao into the room. They heard Xiao Miao constantly speaking to the elder in strange words they had never heard before. They could only hear Xiao Miao repeatedly mentioning their names.
The elder seemed helpless with Xiao Miao. The burly man like a lion brought over an antique, fragrant, exquisite wooden box. The elder opened the box, took out a sky-blue册 booklet from inside, and nodded reluctantly.
Using a writing brush, he wrote down several characters. Then the burly man grabbed Moas’s arm and made a small cut on his wrist with a silver knife, indicating he should write his name with his own blood.
Xerxes couldn’t write, so he pressed down a blood-red handprint. Two wooden plaques were hung around the two men’s necks by Xiao Miao. There were no oaths, no threats, no warnings. Xiao Miao just said one sentence: “We’re family now. You can collect money now.”
Moas touched the wooden plaque hanging around his neck and asked Xiao Miao doubtfully: “We’re family now?”
“That’s right! Once you’re wearing the plaques, we’re family. But mine is made of jade.” After speaking, he pulled out a small jade pendant from his collar to show Moas.
The elder sternly refused Xiao Miao’s request to record his maidservants and other war slaves in the booklet. He closed the册 booklet and returned to his own room.
“We’re Xiongnu now. The elder said so—this is our identity.”
In his agitated state, Moas didn’t notice the error in Xiao Miao’s words. He only knew he had now become a Xiongnu.
The Xiongnu should become that terrifying whip lashing the entire world. The Xiongnu were born to lead great armies campaigning everywhere until death, reveling when alive and dying gloriously, enjoying all worldly riches and enduring all earthly suffering, roaring in the blazing fires of war, celebrating wildly in cities strewn with corpses.
This was Moas and Xerxes’ dream. Now, he had the fortune to join an even more frenzied tribe. Perhaps his dream would soon be realized. Moas lowered his head and kissed the wooden plaque, then bowed and saluted Xiao Miao: “My lord, your servant will now go prepare an army to traverse the earth for you.”
Xiao Miao rubbed his nose, completely unable to understand these people’s thoughts. He was just playing a very interesting game. Grandfather Liu Fang had said that in the future he would become a great general commanding thousands of troops.
Xinyue was now commanding thousands of troops. Last year on Jade Mountain, pine caterpillars had overrun the area, so this year the household needed to raise many chickens and ducks. No matter what, the newly turned soil needed these chickens and ducks to clear the insect eggs from the fields once. Today was the first day. Seeing the newly turned land covered with foraging chickens and ducks, she felt this year should bring a good harvest.
This method was devised by the teachers from the Agricultural Academy at the school. Since there were insects, they needed to be caught. Having people catch them was too troublesome; raising more chickens and ducks could solve the problem.
Now it was time for the soil to thaw again. The insects were still in their cocoons. As long as they turned the soil over several times and had the chickens and ducks walk through several times, not only would the insects be completely eaten, but the chicken droppings could also fertilize the crops—killing two birds with one stone. The only issue was that ducks always laid their eggs in the fields, requiring maidservants to follow behind picking them up.
There were many duck eggs, piled in white heaps along the field ridges. They couldn’t all be eaten and could only be preserved as salted duck eggs. Her husband was far away in the north. Only things like salted duck eggs could be transported there without spoiling.
Many people had gone north. She had heard some news from Madam Cheng. She hadn’t told anyone and only cried into her quilt for several nights. When dawn came, she resumed being that formidable Yun family matron.
Master Wu She had gone with her husband, Na Rimu had gone with her husband—things in the north must not be very good. Master Liu Fang had taken many treasures from the household and also left. Some of them were precious items she particularly liked. It didn’t matter—she wouldn’t be petty. As long as her husband could return, even if the couple had to sleep in a thatched cottage and gnaw on pickled vegetables, it would be more comfortable than this heart-wrenching anxiety.