Capítulo 2: Towards the mountains
Unknown PoV
Shin screamed with tears running his face as he saw the man he admired and aspired to be pierced by an arrow and Houken's blade.
The entire Qin army was devastated and shocked by the defeat of Ou Ki, the last of the 6 greats of Qin.
Riboku sighed as he was prepared to give the order to all trops to disengage, suddenly he heard the thundering sound of thousands of cavalries approaching their location.
His face became tense as he looked towards the west. There was a storm of sands approaching and within it, he could feel about 40-50,000 soldiers rushing at him as if the devil was chasing them.
The Qin and Zhao soldiers both could feel the approaching army. Qin soldiers were hoping they would be reinforcement and the Zhao soldiers were dreading who it might be.
Everyone stopped fighting as they looked towards west. Soon they could see a Red and Golden Banner proudly flying with the gust. The words described in them spoke "Tian" and "Long" or Tenryu, proclaiming the arrival of the Heavenly Dragon.
The Qin and Zhao soldiers were both a little confused but only about half them. Mainly the veterans who knew that flag, and the Ouki army, they all forgot their sadness momentarily and shouted with cheers as the famous banner of invincibility returned to battlefield once again.
It was once one of the symbols of Qin's might. A general who's meteoric rise was so quick and faded away so soon due to his apparent disinterest in war and thought to be assasinated. Much like Zhao's Rinshoujo? he was called "Phantasmal" as his existence was like a fleeting dream and his legends began to be counted as myth..
Bananji muttered softly, "this is very bad". He looked towards Riboku, whom seeing that banner could only utter one word "Impossible".
Present Day , 260 BCE
My army marched continiously towards Taigen, mostly during night as we could be seen as enemies with our large numbers. It took us 3 days to reach the slope of the mountains. (near The area where Ei Sei went before going to Yotanwa).
I got to know my 3 generals as I wanted to know what was their background here since all of them are at their best days despite their age. Zhao Yun was 19 years old and Zhang Liao was 22. Zhuge Liang was about to turn 21. They had similar background to their three Kingdom versions.
There was a small castle called Shangjun just bellow the Taigen pass which would be perfect for me. According to my memory, King Zhao of Qin will die within a few years and Ryofui will begin his plot to put Zhuang Xiangin power.
I'll take the chance to buy a position in nobility and hopefully Take over Shangjun like Shibashou took Seika. I have taken a look at the castle already and it was quite good. It can house about 50,000 troops and more than 100,000 civilians or so.
To utilize my plan, I'll have to enlarge it so it can at least hold 100,000 soldiers and 300,000 civilians. Although my sight is further north, to Changan. I plan to make a fortress there and develop secretly in North till the plot begins.
It might be boring but I don't want to interfere too much so that my knowledge is more effective later. Also, I can't afford to go into battles without proper training and skills as I don't have plot armour like Shin . I need to raise a great army like Riboku did in Northern Shao.
I have already sent out bribes to some ministers ib capital in order to gain the lordship of Shangjun and surrounding areas. I also got in touch with Ryoufui, the future short lived chancellor of Qin. I didn't have to spend much though. It should be cheap as this area isn't wanted by most nobles due to terrain and lack of population. Not to mention in winter it gets very cold.
I settled my troops in a small town called Junko. There were about 20,000 people there. They were wary about us but soon got over it as we gave them some food and help with building their houses. It took us a week to buid the housing for my troops.
People were curious why a 12 year old is leading an army, they just assumed I was nobility. I started laying the ground work immediately as I planned to include this town in my future territory. There was also the reason that this area would be famous later for producing silk during latter Han era.
The people here had some idea about refining silk which I put to good use. I started making some luxury stuff like silk handkerchief and feather fans along with some luxury clothes to generate money and get some connections. Luxury is the privilege of nobles, and they would spend stupidly just to show off their peers. Introducing custom silk clothes, some even even with the owners name to make it exclusive works wonders in ancient times.
These things were easy to make and I added some unique designs which would make it more popular. Not to mention that stuff is expensive and would be given as rewards to generals and ministers.
Just as I expected, these products were a great hit due to their unique designs. It took me 6 months to properly set up the silk refiners but within one year, the business started booming. I was making some good money after that and used most of it to train soldiers, or used to improve the infrastructure.
I met with a lot of merchants and Ryofui also sent a representative to co operate with us. He was suspicious of us in the beginning but I managed to make a deal with him.
I would provide the goods and he would sell them for 35% commission. Also, He would petition to the king to grant me all the territories near here for a sum of 20,000 gold. It was a daylight robbery but I plan to extract the money with interest.
I spread some lies like I was the only survior from a noble family which died during an invasion last year which was believed by people as there were very few proper records. Also, my father was indeed the 5th son of a minor noble family, although it counts as nothing.
In the meantime, my soldiers were training regularly and fought a lot of bandits and outlaws to clean up the area. I rotated the soldiers for both fighting and farming so that nobody gets suspicious about so many soldiers popping up.
Ryofui also managed to make his friend, the prince,as the next king candidate in this time. I sent an hefty gift to flatter him and maintain good relations which further helped me get close to many other nobles and information.
Year 258 bce, King Zhao died and the Prince Zhangxuang was made the king of Qin after escaping from Zhao. but he left his wife and young child there as a hostage, who became the subject of humiliation and torture there.
On the bright side, I finally got the lands I wanted permanently along with the castle and the land north of the pass. I immediately started enlarging it by making 2 more outer walls like Constantinople. I spent a lot on this project and I couldn't even recruit more soldiers due to this. But it was worth it as I built a secondary line of defense to fall back to if Changan ever gets breached . I still didn't touch my reserve of 10,000 gold in inventory.
The reason I want Changan is because that area is pretty damn hard to break through. It has two passes to the east which blocks both Zhao and Wei from entering Qin. If the passes are well garrisoned, the northern. Qin is almost impregnable. The Xiongnu in the north are the main concern but even they can be stopped if there is a proper defensive line. Not to mention this place has horse pastures , iron and copper mines as well as fertile lands that can sustain a million people. But I have to take care of the Xiongnu barbarians first to utilize that potential.
I had recruited about 1000 guards for the merchant carravans and that was it. I built a nice and small palace for my living at the very center. There was very little movement from the other 6 states during this time so I took full advantage to put all hands to finish my castle as soon as possible.
Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao were in charge of the security and border patrols while Zhuge Liang made sure everything went smoothly. It was due to him that everything was going very well. He was great at governing stuff and he mostly dealt with the business and governance side. Most importantly I found information about Yotanwa and Kanki.
Kanki was a famous bandit located south near Shu while Yotanwa was close to us but she just took over as her tribes chieftain. It would probably take her till 250 or 249 bce to unite all the mountain tribes. Which is great as helping someone when they are in need is a great way to earn their respect.
I sent a congratulations letter to her coronation ceremony along with two modern Swords I got from the system to build some good connections. Afterall, she was the number 1 waifu in Kingdom. She has the brains along with strength, and a rulers mindset. She wrote back thanking me for the kindness and spoke about meeting up in the near future.
We talked about trade between our people and settling them in some town as I knew about her dream to co exist together with others. There was a lot of racism against mountain folk which I managed to curb out from my people by spreading liflets about them and the importance of co operation between us. It took a while but the people eventually warmed up to the idea
She actually decided to send a few families from her clan to live in my city who were well taken care of. Kanki on the other hand was terrorizing Shu and it seems Mougou hasn't yet beat some sense into him.
I could take him down and make him join me but he really isn't interested in following someone loyally forever. Not to mention his psychopathic tendencies.
Even the system deduced that he would betray me if he gets enough benefits or just feels it would be amusing. Speaking of which, the system was pretty useful for a management system. It can also show who is my friend and who's my enemy marked in the map as red, green and gray for neutral.
I really wished I could have Ousen under me but he is too ambitious. I prefer loyal generals as they have honour and will follow their lord with all their strength. I have sent out people everywhere to look for talents that are well versed in war and governing which yielded some good results.
Finally, at the end of Year 258 BCE, I managed to finish my castle and the first layer of wall around it . It wasn't too grand or extravagant but it was solid as iron for defence. I placed the soldiers in only the key positions as I had a lack of them.
The new recruits were being trained by Gao Shun and it would take till next year to properly train them. I have about 20,000 Recruits training currently in batches. It has been almost 3 years since I arrived here and at long last, I have managed to establish a strong base finally, along with a good economy system and solid cash flow.
Now it was time to focus on warfare and gain as much achievements possible so in future I don't have to fight for ranks. Chaotic times are easiest for warriors to climb through ranks fast enough. My first target was Wan castle of Wei . I decided to start with Wei after all to take my revenge.
I sent a letter to Ryofui where I urged him to make the king send an army there and I will take 1000 of my men there to join them. Since I was nobility, I became a 1000 man commander directly.
I actually told Ryofui that once I become a general, I'll just take rest and focus on my business rather than getting involved in the political mess which further helped me build a better standing with him. He was sceptical at first but I managed to convince him that it's more of a personal wish for me.
I also promised that all my future business will go through him as I needed his support to be safe. There were other people who did this before so It wasn't that suspicious.
No matter the era, money will alway be a valuable tool. I explained that my goal was to make a name from the wars to further advertise myself and to have a good amount safety. Shangjun was only annexed in 272 bce and Zhao had eyes on the area but couldn't do anything due to lacking manpower after battle of Changping .
So in the beginning of summer 257 bce, I marched towards Wan castle with Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao while Zhuge Liang stayed behind to manage the territories. I took 1000 cavalry which was quite a force considering 500 of them were wolf cavalry and 500 white horse archers.
The commander for this battle will be General ChouTou which was good because I prefer orthodox generals, as they are more predictable. The army was 50,000 strong as The king didn't think Wei would let us capture such a crucial castle so he decided send less men and the main purpose was to chip away at the Wei forces for future invasion.
Well, I'll just have to surprise him and take this castle successfully. It will be very hard with 1000 troops only but Its possible if a quick surprise attack. Sadly I was proven wrong as I had come face to face with one of the great generals of Wei, Sima Yi, the shield of Wei.
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