Chapter 1167: Wrathful Arabia! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”Ah?!”
Even someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Bahram was momentarily taken aback by Wang Chong's words, unclear as to why he was so confident.
Wang Chong grinned, and shot an imperceptible glance at the sky. His face was enigmatic.
”In addition, if Great General is still worried, I can reveal a certain matter to Great General. I have already had a large number of ballista and heavy ballista bolts sent over, and the Great Tang's capital is also beginning to send reinforcements. The first group should already be en route and should arrive at Khorasan in just a few months. There should be no harm if General divulges this matter to the leaders of the rebel armies. This can at least help them dispel their worries and believe in the Great Tang's resolve!” Wang Chong sternly said.
Bahram was taken aback by Wang Chong's words, and then he sighed in relief.
”General's words are enough! I will personally allay their worries.”
Bahram quickly left.
Winds howled over the high walls of Khorasan, like the wailing of ghosts. The weather was clearly much colder than it had been in the past. No one except Wang Chong knew that a crisis without precedent in history was silently approaching, and it would be far more savage and ferocious than anyone could imagine.
”Heh.”
With a soft chuckle, Wang Chong departed the walls.
……
Upon learning that the Great Tang was sending more soldiers, the rebel soldiers in Khorasan quickly ceased to worry. Half a day later, a brief and fierce conflict broke out in Shandar, the city across the Tigris River closest to Khorasan. Cheng Qianli's army occupied Shandar, vanquished its Arab garrison, and destroyed several dozen buildings before withdrawing to Khorasan.
This was an expression of might to Arabia, an expression of the Great Tang's will. If Arabia did not accede to the Great Tang's request, this probing attack would become a complete sacking.
Several days later, when the news reached Baghdad, just as expected, it unleashed a storm of fury in all levels of Arab society.
”Bastard!”
Within his palace, the Caliph was so furious that he even accidentally throttled his favorite hunting falcon to death. But even so, Wang Chong's plan had proved effective. Arabian gold was shipped out from Baghdad overnight, carried to Khorasan on the backs of more than one thousand horses. A letter of much softer tone was swiftly dispatched to Khorasan.
But at the same time, the speed at which the Arab army mobilized also increased. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were marching from the various war zones of Arabia, converging like thousands of streams on Khorasan. Nearly half of the Arab governors, driven on by the wrathful Caliph, were surging to Khorasan. This was an unprecedented mobilization. The Great Tang's actions had fully provoked the supreme ruler of Arabia.
……
The Arabian gold arrived much faster than expected. The sight of thousands of horses with small mountains of gold crossing the Tigris River and entering Khorasan had an immense mental impact on the army, causing the soldiers to buzz with chatter.
On the same day, Cheng Qianli composed a memorial in the names of Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi, reporting this matter to the Imperial Court.
Seven or eight days later, the news arrived at the capital of the Great Tang. As expected, it set off great waves.
”This, how?! The Qixi Protector-General and Anxi Protector-General managed to get one billion taels of gold from Arabia?!”
Upon hearing the news, even Wang Chong's most ardent opponent, the Grand Preceptor, could not sit still in his chair. War was a burden on the people, and each one would result in terrible losses and consume the country's resources. But he had never imagined that at the final moment of this war, Wang Chong and the others would send back one billion taels of gold to the Imperial Court.
Even someone as composed and steady as the Grand Preceptor, who rarely showed a happy expression, couldn't help but drop his jaw in astonishment.
”One billion taels! And in gold! How could this be! Not even ten years of my Great Tang's tax revenue could reach this sum!”
All levels of the Bureau of Revenue were in a similar state of shock; from the Minister to the lowest secretary, all of them were dumbfounded when they heard the news. Every war had the Bureau of Revenue scratching its head and racking its brains for ways to scrape up enough money. For this reason, of the Six Bureaus, the Bureau of Revenue opposed the military the most.
But one billion taels of gold…
Heavens!
This was an astronomical number. With this sum, the Bureau of Revenue wouldn't have to complain about wars for a very long time.
”This puny country was actually this wealthy?!”
When King Qi heard about the news from Khorasan, he was completely dumbfounded. In his mind, Arabia was still an insignificant country that wasn't even worth mentioning. The news that Wang Chong had extracted one billion taels of gold from this country left him in a daze.
As a member of the imperial household, King Qi had never lacked for money, and he would often expend great sums of gold and silver to recruit powerful officials of the court. But no matter how self-assured he was in his wealth, not even he could produce one billion taels of gold.
Even King Qi appeared dim and tiny before such a massive pile of gold.