Chapter 17: Striking It Rich

A muddled victory left Chen Ying feeling somewhat baffled. Had the Turks not mistakenly believed that the Tang army wielded sorcery, Chen Ying would never have captured Bogu Lü City. Seizing Bogu Lü City with ease, however, the moment Chen Ying entered, his mood instantly soured.

The Turks, who had taken over the city, were utterly squandering this military garrison.

Bogu Lü City was originally built during the Northern Wei period as a military town. As such, it was equipped with wells, granaries, armories, workshops, stables, barracks, and training grounds—all the necessary facilities. But time had passed, and most of it was in ruins. The majority of buildings had lost their roofs, and some walls bore cracks larger than a fist.

The vast garrison was now crowded with all manner of tents lining the streets. The roofless frames of buildings had uniformly been converted into sheepfolds and stables. The Turks, utterly oblivious to any sense of urban life, had turned the entire city into a chaotic mess.

What infuriated Chen Ying even more was that both Turks and animals alike defecated and urinated anywhere they pleased, leaving the city covered in filth. Fortunately, it was the dead of winter; otherwise, the city would have been uninhabitable. The stench alone could have knocked a person unconscious.

Seeing Chen Ying’s face darken instantly, Yuguni’s heart leapt into his throat. He was genuinely terrified that, in a bad mood, Chen Ying might unleash magic and wipe them all out.

“Do you know the greatest difference between humans and others?” Chen Ying asked.

Yuguni, who did not understand Tang language, looked at Chen Ying in confusion. Chen Ying himself did not speak Turkic, but the military secretary Du Shanguo did. Without a dedicated interpreter, Du Shanguo acted as translator.

Finally grasping Chen Ying’s meaning, Yuguni’s face displayed a hint of bewilderment. He shook his head repeatedly. Suddenly, his expression turned ashen with fear. Thinking Chen Ying was displeased with their cruelty and bloodthirstiness, he hurriedly began explaining in a flurry.

Du Shanguo translated, “He says, General Chen, we have not killed any Tang people. Our Shibi Khan has repeatedly ordered all troops not to start hostilities without authorization. Since we marched south, we have not attacked a single Tang city!”

Chen Ying’s face darkened. “Nonsense! To lie to me, the commanding general, right before my eyes—do you know what crime that is?”

With a thud, Yuguni immediately knelt down. Unfortunately, he knelt right on a pile of excrement. “General, please see clearly, every word I say is true. Not even a hint of falsehood!”

Chen Ying, now puzzled, said, “Could it be that the Turks only cheered from the sidelines and did not take part in direct combat?”

“That should be the case,” Gao Yunquan said. “If the Turks had engaged in the attack, Lingzhou City would have fallen long ago.”

Chen Ying truly did not understand why Li Jiancheng had told him to avoid fighting the Turks if possible. Now it seemed the Turks shared the same restraint. Both sides had exercised great caution.

Chen Ying instructed Du Shanguo to question the other defectors repeatedly. Eventually, he learned a truth that left him baffled. Since September, the Battle of Lingzhou had been led entirely by Liang Shidu. The Turks had not directly attacked; at most, they had offered symbolic logistical support. But the Turks were even poorer than Liang Shidu’s forces, providing only some warhorses—and even these were not free, but exchanged for real gold and silver.

Now Chen Ying was even more confused about the nature of Liang Shidu’s alliance with the Turks, and why Shibi Khan forbade the Turks from attacking the Tang dynasty.

After much thought, Chen Ying could not solve the riddle and resolved to ask Li Jiancheng for clarification upon returning to Chang’an.

Still unwilling to live in such a filthy city, Chen Ying ordered, “Yuguni, I tell you: the greatest difference between humans and beasts is that humans understand shame and manners, but beasts do not. Only beasts defecate and urinate anywhere; humans do not!”

Though Chen Ying had insulted all the Turks collectively, some of them chose a selective hearing upon hearing this.

“I will have the entire city cleaned immediately!”

“Promising pupil!” they said.

The Turks began to work. Men, women, and children all joined in, clearing the human and animal filth from the streets. This was no task for a moment’s work.

Confident the Turks would not resist, Chen Ying assigned several hundred laborers armed only with hand warmers to supervise and guide the cleanup. The thirteen thousand-plus Turkic defectors were nervous, but none dared to act rashly. Though only laborers without weapons, each held a hand warmer—an object the Turks believed to be a magical talisman wielded by Tang sorcerers.

Having hundreds of laborers guard Turkic prisoners with mere hand warmers struck the commanders as incredible.

Yet Chen Ying confidently told them, “Once people concede even once, it becomes a habit. Even if they know these hand warmers have no real harm, they will pretend not to know!”

Wei Wenzhong said, “That’s impossible!”

“Want to bet?”

Just as Wei Wenzhong was about to wager, Gao Yunquan repeatedly shook his head. Wei Wenzhong asked, “What’s going on?”

Gao Yunquan explained, “The Turkic military law is brutal. Anyone who surrenders is either killed or enslaved. Rest assured, these Turks have no way out!”

As Chen Ying predicted, the Turks behaved obediently. Under the laborers’ guidance, some began cleaning the streets, while others used oxhide and straw to urgently repair the roofless building frames of Bogu Lü City.

Within just half an hour, the city was transformed. Not only was the feces gone from the streets, but Chen Ying’s simple method—filling large cracks in walls with hot water and mud—made the walls whole again once the cold wind dried the mixture. Roofs were easier: Turkic tents served as coverings, which were far warmer than mere tents.

Inside Bogu Lü City, the large tent once belonging to Silifu She had become Chen Ying’s command tent. Several dozen candles burned brightly, illuminating the hall like daylight. Chen Ying sipped a cup of horse milk wine brewed by the Turks with great satisfaction.

When the quartermaster Lu Deco presented the list of captured supplies, Chen Ying’s eyes widened at the numbers.

“Are you sure there are no mistakes?”

Lu Deco replied, “I have double-checked. Absolutely no mistakes.”

The list read: over eleven thousand curved swords, more than two thousand five hundred spears, over ten thousand cavalry bows and arrows, three thousand shields, and more than twenty-seven thousand quivers of feathers. Also, over eight hundred sets of fine steel scale armor, more than thirteen hundred light mountain-patterned armors, and over seven thousand sets of leather armor.

Though these supplies were considerable, compared to Silifu She’s force of over twenty thousand men, they were not overwhelming. Yet to Chen Ying, they were more than sufficient.

Most important among the captured goods were thousands upon thousands of sheepskins, cowhides, and ox sinews. Over ten thousand gaunt, bony warhorses and more than four thousand packhorses were also seized.

This meant Chen Ying’s almost exclusively infantry force could instantly transform into mounted infantry.

“Fortune smiles upon us,” Chen Ying thought quietly.