Chapter 109: Owl Cavalry Reserve

……Please believe me, Your Majesty, that You King absolutely cannot be allowed to grow up! Once his wings are full, he will be a grave danger to our Eastern Xianbei—no, to the entire steppe!

Seeing Wanniuyu's uncertain expression, Qiumuling knelt again and pleaded guilty: 'This time is my fault; I rashly went south unprepared, but everything I said is true, not to shirk responsibility—that You King must be eliminated as soon as possible!'

Wanniuyu snorted derisively, 'Didn't you hear he's only six or seven?' Defeated by a child, yet still running around praising and deifying a child—how promising! Anyway, Wanniuyu doesn't really believe it, instead thinking Qiumuling is undeserving of his reputation, just evading responsibility.

Finally, Qiumuling was scolded by the Great King of Liaodong Xianbei for his rashness and greed for merit, and for poor command of the troops.

However, Wanniuyu was the one who overthrew his elder brother to seize power; this person is also deep‑minded, and after driving Qiumuling away, he harbored a hidden grudge.

Thinking it over, Qiumuling led two thousand cavalry in a skirmish with the You King, who had already appeared in person, yet they not only failed to harm him but suffered a crushing defeat—this shows the You King has become a tough opponent. With an unparalleled expert at his side, one cannot rely solely on battlefield kills to take his life.

Even those two thousand gained no advantage; sending more… would alert Shanggu Pass.

This calls for long‑term planning.

Leaving aside the Xianbei, the Great King is organizing a grand martial tournament for the entire army.

Previously, the three thousand from Shanggu Pass and the newly recruited over two thousand were mixed together; this time's grand martial tournament covers not only these five thousand newcomers but also the official Personal Guard Battalion.

These people are now distributed in the city's old palace, the east and west camps of the new palace—three locations—and the Chancellor has already demarcated the northern wasteland as a military colony, awaiting completion so that after the tournament they can be assigned there.

The preliminaries are held at their garrisons, with the outstanding contestants then gathering for a grand final. The top prize is a white gold wild horse.

Then, the top three thousand in the combined horsemanship and martial ability trial are formed into cavalry, issued horses and a curved blade.

That curved blade is renowned in the camp, its edge unsurpassed and hailed as a treasure blade; even after the Great King's campaign against the northern barbarians he reclaimed it, and the current rule is that only cavalry may be issued a curved blade. It also shows that future new weapons will be allocated according to personal merit.

Before the spring planting began, the Great King, relying on his own ability, mustered eight thousand soldiers for a grand martial tournament, dividing the competition area into six sectors.

It began with mass eliminations by squads of five, then each sector was down to five hundred individuals. Clatter and bang—three days of matches. At first the Great King was eager to watch, but later he saw the horseback fights kicking up dust and slipped away. What else could he do with that time?

When the numbers were reduced to fifteen hundred, the Great King went to see them—these were his Owl Cavalry reserves.

This time he and Weishen went to watch the finals; Weishen even went down to try it out, and the Great King guessed that if he took it seriously he could make the Owl Cavalry.

First place was quite unexpected—the best at horseback archery was neither a veteran of the Personal Guard Battalion nor one of the three thousand newly arrived border troops, but a local recruited under the banner of the Youzhou Guard.

Although the Commander and several Colonels did not take the field, the Great King felt that Zhao Chuan might not be able to beat him.

The Great King personally announced that the prize white gold wild horse would be awarded to him.

"Good! Excellent performance! What is your name?"

"Commoner Niu Tie Zhu."

"Great King: Cough cough cough!"

Several nearby subordinates looked at him; Bai Ze had said just a few days ago that he would see the live Tie Zhu, and the Great King almost choked on his saliva. Tie Zhu is tall and big, his face dark as ink—indeed, only such a look fits the name 'Tie Zhu'.

"Cough… why do you still call yourself a commoner? As the champion of the army's martial tournament, you will now be a member of my Personal Guard Battalion's elite cavalry, the Owl Cavalry! You are Soldier Class A Number One. As first place, I promise you will become an official member directly."

"May I ask what you did before? How are you better at mounted archery than the regular troops, and have you trained previously?"

"... Subordinate, I am a mountain hunter; my father once hunted a tiger, earned money to buy a mule and horse, so I have ridden since childhood. Seeing the Great King smiling at him, expecting him to continue, he suddenly relaxed. The Great King's lovable, childlike demeanor reminded him of the village children."

"Our battalion's horses have stirrups and saddles, easier to ride than my family's mule and horse, so… my performance is even better than at home."

The Great King, like a little seal, clapped: 'Good! I hope you train hard in the Owl Cavalry and advance soon.'

After Niu Tie Zhu returned to his place, flushed with excitement, the Great King also stood up and moved closer to the front, striving to stand tall with hands behind his back, adopting an adult's demeanor to give his talk.

"You being able to stand here means you are the elite of our army. I directly announce that you will become reserves of the Owl Cavalry. Do you know what the Owl Cavalry is? It is my elite force. In war it plays the role of a bayonet—able to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy—and this requires arduous training to sustain. Here we have the border troops from Shanggu Pass; you surely know why they came. The situation in Youzhou is more dangerous than you imagine; we must constantly guard against Xianbei retaliation and invasion. Only by becoming strong ourselves can we protect our homes and country behind us. I won't belabor the big principles. The Owl Cavalry needs only a thousand people; from among you we will still eliminate five hundred. As a soldier, if you do not aspire to be a general, you are not a good soldier. Likewise, as soldiers you should strive to be top‑rank troops. The Owl Cavalry may be arduous and perilous, but I will reward you commensurate with your efforts—do you understand? You will have the finest warhorses, finest weapons, finest armor, most powerful cultivation arts, and highest military stipend. Surely you have heard the rumors: Youzhou is barren and grain‑short, and we are about to implement the military colony system; the Personal Guard Battalion personnel will be switched to military registers and sent to reclaim the northern wasteland for farming. But the Owl Cavalry need not—your sole duty is to become better soldiers, and even if I go hungry I will feed you. Do you have the confidence to stay?"

"Yes!" Those few outstanding successes dazzled everyone's eyes—who would want to be low‑rank when they could be the best?

The Great King nodded inscrutably, then departed amidst everyone's respectful see‑offs.

Just after turning out of the drill ground, he immediately leapt onto his cousin's back, asking, 'How was that? Did I just appear mature and steady?'

Weishen: 'Commander Zhang?'

The Great King swooped down, then continued walking on his own with steady small steps……

Weishen: 'Hahaha~ I mean, just now Commander Zhang took a sheet of paper—does it list all the Owl Cavalry's benefits?'

"Great King: ……"

"Great King's Diary:"

【April 20, You King's Residence.

Today the Owl Cavalry selected its official reserves; it will be formally established in a month, and the Great King is truly happy～ But thinking that it's almost May, his cousin has been here half a year and will likely return to Changzhou soon…… the Great King is unhappy again, the Great King truly is a conflicted man, sigh!

But thinking about it, it's almost May, my older cousin has been here for half a year, he'll probably be returning to Prosperous Prefecture soon... I, the king, am unhappy again, I, the king, truly am a contradictory man, sigh!】