Chapter 103: Keep Up the Hustle

Again by the Red River, and this time it was General Hassan's turn to feel the world spin. He glanced to his left — a great flock of eagles that should have been galloping on horseback were being cut down one after another on the sandy riverbank.

Especially that iron-armored warrior, towering like a mountain and wielding a giant axe — he alone had slain four of General Hassan's personal guards.

"Yugha! Those Basmyls have vanished — this is a trap! They were sent to lure us in!"

The last remaining personal guard beside him wailed. Yugha was a rank of honor in the Kara-Khanid state, below the Khagan and the Emir.

"These damned traitors! The Governor will slaughter them all!" Hassan roared, his eyes splitting with rage, as a sense of utter desperation swept over him.

Just yesterday, he had received a secret report from Zhimishi, chief of the Basmyl tribe in Jiashi, saying that traces of a Gaochang force had been discovered — around fifty men.

Three thousand strings of goods and wealth! Hassan had set out in a frenzy before dawn with his men, terrified that someone else would get ahead of them and seize the prize first.

What had he, Hassan, come all the way from Isfahan to Shule for? Wasn't it all for money?

But when they followed the Red River upstream and neared Jiashi, they were suddenly ambushed.

And before the ambush, their warhorses and the pack horses carrying their armor had all been led away by the Basmyl guides to be washed, fed, and watered.

This was utterly fatal. A body of cavalry with no armor and no bows, only the curved sabers in their hands — how could they possibly withstand a sudden assault by armored soldiers?

"Chief Commander Ashina, how is it? Doesn't this feel wonderful? The Karluks not only betrayed you, they won't even allow you to use the Ashina family name.

How can a mongrel Zhimishi replace the inheritance of your ancestors? How can it replace Ashina, that surname full of glory?

Look — those men all came from the Arab lands. Even these outsiders have climbed up over your heads!"

On a small hill by the bank of the Red River, Zhang Zhao and Ashina Chuo stood with hands clasped behind their backs, one in front of the other.

They watched as the hundred cavalry led by Hassan, trusted general of Ittihad from Shule, were mowed down like wheat by the Red River. Zhang Zhao did not forget to keep provoking Ashina Chuo's heart, already worn down by Karluk oppression, while he watched.

"Wonderful!" Ashina Chuo shouted out that strange word, imitating Zhang Zhao.

"Truly satisfying! These Arabs, and that Karluk Saktu, should long ago have paid the price for their betrayal — not only their betrayal of us Basmyls, but their betrayal of the Buddha!"

"However...!" Seeing that the slaughter by the Red River was nearly over, Ashina Chuo cupped his hands toward Zhang Zhao.

"Dagan, now that we have killed the Yugha from Shule, shouldn't we prepare to withdraw to Gaochang? If Shule sends a large army to hunt us down, I fear none of us will get away."

"Then how many households are willing to go with you?" Zhang Zhao turned his head and gave Ashina Chuo a faint smile.

A few traces of embarrassment appeared on Ashina Chuo's face. "Apart from the two hundred households of my own division, there are six hundred and fifty households willing to follow me. They have all assembled near Jiashi."

Six hundred and fifty households — that was fewer than four thousand people. But the Basmyl tribe's total population was three thousand households, some seventeen or eighteen thousand people.

The Ashina family, which had ruled the Basmyl tribe for generations, could now not even command the allegiance of a quarter of the population.

Ashina Chuo felt deeply ashamed, but Zhang Zhao already thought it was quite good. Excluding the fifty palace guards Li Shengtian had planted, his own total population was not even five hundred.

Now with four thousand more people at once, he had gone straight from a fowling piece to a cannon! But to truly win them over, he would have to trap them hard one more time!

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao gave a dry cough to cover the slight guilt on his face. Luring people away in spring, when their cattle and sheep had not yet been fattened, making them abandon home and livelihood to follow him to Gaochang for a better life — and yet, he was not Pugu Feng'en at all.

"Chief Commander Ashina, we cannot simply go to Gaochang like this. Nearly half of your people are the old, the weak, women, and children. If we head into Gaochang territory this way, it is a full seven hundred li or more. If Shule sends elite cavalry after us along the Red River, we will very likely be overtaken."

"Then what does the Dagan think we should do?" Ashina Chuo reflected that it was true — seven or eight hundred li, driving cattle and sheep and carrying all their belongings, they could not travel fast. They might well be captured before even reaching Gaochang territory.

"We go here!" Zhang Zhao arranged a few small stones, then tapped a spot southeast of the stone representing Jiashi.

"This was once the Great Tang's Weitou Prefecture. After the Great Tang withdrew, Anxi fell into chaos and the population plummeted; the old Weitou Prefecture gradually fell into ruin.

Now only a force of fewer than fifty men and a hundred or so Karluks of the Chiyi tribe live here. We can go and take it. I also have old ties with the Son of Heaven of the Golden Kingdom. Once we hold Weitou Prefecture, we can advance to Gaochang or fall back to the Golden Kingdom — either way, no loss."

In fact, the place Zhang Zhao was pointing to was not the seat of Weitou Prefecture — the later Bachu County — but rather the area near the later Maigaiti County, by the Xituo River (the Yarkand River).

This place was already very close to Shache, and was a Kara-Khanid strongpoint for defending against a Khotanese push northward. Bringing the Basmyls here would make them easy to control.

"The Dagan speaks reason. Then let us first head for Weitou Prefecture!" Ashina Chuo pondered for a while, felt he could not think of any better plan himself, and could only agree to Zhang Zhao's proposal.

Outside Shule, Wu Yuan'er, Ma Yaozi, and five attendants disguised as armored soldiers of the Hanshan Capital, together with a gaunt, frail, emaciated monk, were heading east.

Besides the eight of them, there was also a squad of ten cavalrymen and a man who looked like a civil official accompanying them, ostensibly to escort them out of the city, but in reality waiting to receive the goods and money before letting them leave.

"Commissioner Zhai, why not sit over there for a while? Jiashi is not far from here — a day will be enough to reach it. Your mission is now complete, and the Governor has already agreed: once the ransom is received, you may take the master back to Gaochang!"

A faint smile lifted the corner of the civil official's mouth. He was the secretary to the Governor of Shule. Ittihad had sent Hassan to search for Zhang Zhao, and would certainly not tell him.

But Ittihad had instructed him to wait for orders from the Governor's residence before releasing the Gaochang envoys. The ten knights behind him were there to keep watch over Ma Yaozi and the others.

Wu Yuan'er and Ma Yaozi exchanged a glance. Although they did not know it was Hassan who had gone to search for Zhang Zhao, they knew someone would certainly have gone. From the secretary's dawdling manner, it was obvious he was waiting for some kind of news.

The dozen or so people followed the secretary to the left side of the road, where there was a small patch of shade. Although it was spring, the sun blazed today and it was still quite hot. The cavalry "escorting" them behind, in full armor, were drenched in sweat.

A mischievous grin flashed across Ma Yaozi's face. He strode quickly to the shade, undid his trousers, and took a piss right there.

"Ah! That feels good — I was about to burst!"

The civil official glanced with disgust at Ma Yaozi's back. Wu Yuan'er beside him put on a helpless expression, then lowered his voice.

"Forgive him, Secretary. Some people are just crude — but what can one do? He has won our Dagan's trust!"

"Understood! Understood!" The secretary wore an expression of complete sympathy.

"Then let us rest here by the roadside for a while. I have some Taohuashi pastries bestowed by our Dagan, and some fine grape wine. Please, Secretary, and all you brave warriors, share them with us!" Wu Yuan'er called out cheerfully, having someone open a bundle on one of the camels.

The cavalrymen, already drenched in sweat from the heat, looked at one another. Finally the junior officer nodded.

It should be fine — this was their own khanate, only a dozen or so li from Shule. He simply could not imagine what kind of person would dare attack soldiers of the khanate here.

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