Chapter 761: Maintaining Momentum

The Great King had stayed on Yingtai Island until mid-September; the summer heat was long gone, but Yingtai Island was huge, and this guy was reluctant to leave. Whether it was better to work or to take a vacation, the Great King could still tell the difference. When he heard that the household registries of Monan and Yundu commanderies had finally been established, Zhang Tu, who had been selecting Xiongnu soldiers, also returned to Youzhou, and only then could he no longer sit still.

The Great King is returning to the palace!

He originally hoped to submit the household registry in January, letting him profit from infrastructure to support the Monan garrison, but the nomadic peoples gave him a lesson, and even after three months he still hadn't figured it out.

Seeing that the crucial autumn harvest was also approaching, the Great King finally bore the pain and returned to Youzhou.

Upon returning, he didn't go home first; this guy immediately headed to the cavalry barracks of the Old King's Mansion. Here, five thousand elite troops and ten thousand garrison farmers who went daily to the southern fields to till land were already stationed; when the ten thousand Xiongnu arrived, twenty-five thousand would drill together, filling the barracks completely.

The Great King wore a blackish-dark imperial robe, and as soon as he arrived he was eager to scheme and cause trouble.

When Zhang Tu went out to greet him, this guy was riding a white dragon, striking a pose at the gate. The divine sword Tai'a was sometimes hung on the horse, sometimes at the waist; thinking it improper, he again held it sideways with his claws.

"Cousin, how about it? Does holding the sword like this look more imposing?"

Wei Shen glanced at his delicate, fair little face; this guy had been frolicking in the mountains and lakes all summer, yet came back still fair and delicate. Just looking at his appearance, even holding a giant stone crossbow wouldn't look imposing! But he dared not say so!

Retreating ten thousand steps, his lazy cousin drawled: "... It would still be more imposing to put the Xiongnu chieftain's head up front."

"Why didn't you say so earlier? Now it's all spoiled! It would have been better to handle and preserve it back then!" the Great King snapped.

Zhang Tu: ……

Seeing Zhang Tu, the Great King angrily ordered: "Gather those ten thousand men; I will hold a meeting to feed them hopes… to encourage them. I will give them encouragement!"

"As you command!"

The Great King brought his beloved Owl Riders, marching mightily into the Old King's Mansion.

Waiting for the ten thousand Xiongnu to gather at the Front Drill Ground, they saw the martial arts platform surrounded above and below by soldiers in sinister masks wearing black armor; those who had previously encountered the Owl Riders couldn't help but tremble in their legs.

They had seen them when attacking the Xiongnu royal city.

They had seen them on the walls of Martial Might City.

They had seen them at Jade Gate Pass.

Most of these Xiongnu were prisoners of war, just from different campaigns.

The Owl Riders still shone in their armor, blades exposed. Some wore the work clothes of miners from various Northern Border mines, some wore the uniform work clothes of the great farms, while many more had no fixed occupation and lacked proper clothing.

Times have changed, and people are not as they were.

Originally the tail of the autumn tiger was ravaging Youzhou, but upon arriving at the Front Drill Ground, the earlier dryness had dissipated. The entire drill ground grew quieter and quieter.

The Xiongnu were sizing up those who had brought them to this pass, when they saw these people suddenly, in neat unison, lower their weapons and bow their heads in salute.

The soldiers who had brought them here, not wearing armor, gestured and said: "His Majesty approaches; perform the kowtow." After giving the signal, they themselves led the way, dropping to the ground and touching their foreheads to the earth in obeisance to the emperor. The Xiongnu had no such grand kowtow ritual; although they had been taught Great Jin etiquette beforehand, it was chaotic, neither uniform nor proper.

Subeitai had just knelt when he heard the clopping of hooves approaching from afar. Having been in the Northern Border for so long, he knew it was the sound of iron-shod hooves striking the stone slabs.

Yes, iron.

The steppe's scarce iron had to be used for forging weapons; there was none left to make armor, so only leather or vine armor could be used. But the Northern Border not only armored its warhorses, it also nailed iron to their hooves for protection.

He didn't have time to think much when the horse arrived before him. From his kneeling angle he could only see its four hooves, spotless, not a speck of grass stuck to them; it was strange, and he sensed an air of arrogance.

Subeitai did not secretly lift his head like the man beside him; he felt listless, a bit downcast.

He came from the East Hu tribe of the Xila Mulun River; the East Hu king led them to ally with the Xiongnu royal family. Though one step removed, on the steppe they still could not compare with the many core tribes, let alone the various in-law tribes. Good fortune never came their way; they were first in line to be sent to their deaths.

He ended up in Great Jin's hands because, in winter, he was forcibly conscripted to raid Yunzhong Commandery, and after that there was nothing more. Before being picked for this, he had been weeding in a large farm in Yizhou.

The brother kneeling next to him had a lively temperament; he stole a glance and, for some reason, sucked in a breath of cold air.

Before Subeitai could turn his head, his field of vision was filled with a golden, fuzzy mass.

That golden, plump paw unhesitatingly stepped onto the hand the neighboring brother had placed on the ground.

Because Xiao Jin Da Ren saw that everyone else was kneeling properly, yet this guy seemed to glare at the Great King by lifting his head? That was intolerable! Xiao Jin Da Ren casually lifted his foot and stomped on him—who are you looking at!? Get your paw stomped off!

That man sucked in a breath, swallowing the exclamation that was about to escape. After becoming a captive, the lessons he'd learned told him the world had changed, and his identity had changed.

He had become a slave of the Jin people.

He could be beaten to death at any time, for any reason or none.

"Get up!" a still youthful voice called, not yet having broken.

Subeitai raised his head along with the main force and saw the Great King still seated on his horse. Clad in dark robes, wearing a precious sword, riding a steed of uniform color, he leisurely surveyed them.

It was Baili Jing.

He had seen him before.

On the battlefield outside Yunzhong.

【That thing, our Great King grows old slowly, so he also grows slowly~】