荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

The wealthy families made up the minority in the Central Plains. The vast majority of families had only a single house, and having them dismantle their homes to use for charcoal would be difficult to accept for most of the people. But now that the cold wave had descended, even if it was difficult to mentally accept, it had to be done.

“In addition, Qiqin, I must trouble you to coordinate with the Bureau of Revenue on this matter. Although the Imperial Court has accumulated a large amount of food, and Wang Chong set up many granaries across the realm, the Central Plains has millions of people, and the amount of food they consume each day is significant. No matter how much food we have, without a source of replenishment, the food will eventually run out,” King Song firmly said.

The arrival of this bitter cold, the Great Ice Age that Wang Chong had spoken of, meant that planting crops was no longer possible. Moreover, nobody knew how long this Great Ice Age would last. But it seemed likely that this bitterly cold weather would last for a very long time.

And if it was really as Wang Chong had said, then they needed to be ready for this Great Ice Age to last for a very, very long time.

Through the reigns of Gaozu, Taizong, and all the way until the ascension of the new Emperor, the Great Tang had prospered and flourished, possessing a stockpile of resources that no other country could match. But in the current circumstances, even the Great Tang would find it hard to last a year.

Even the most prosperous country with a foundation that had been built over many decades could be utterly annihilated in the space of a few years.

King Song had studied history and was keenly aware of this fact.

Xu Qiqin bowed and said, “Your Highness does not need to be concerned. Qiqin will do her utmost.”

“In addition, get in touch with Wang Chong on the front line. If possible, I want to save resources so we can maintain the supply line to the front line. No matter what, we have to win this war!”

King Song looked in the direction of Youzhou, a determined look in his eyes.

Whoosh!

Gallop! A few moments later, a warhorse rode out of the government office and toward another.

Crack! As the warhorse rode out of the office, a cold gust of wind blew past, instantly forming a layer of frost on the horse and its rider, their exhaled breaths becoming flecks of ice. The hairs on the horse and rider rapidly began to freeze together.

But a moment later, thump! Stellar Energy erupted out of the horseman’s body, surging into the warhorse. The stirring of Stellar Energy shattered the just-formed layer of ice.

The frigid weather made it difficult to move even an inch. This was the situation across the entire capital.

None of the officials were able to leave their homes. All of the information was delivered by specially selected elite horsemen.

In order to move around in this cold weather, the cavalry needed to be extremely powerful, at least at the peak of the Profound Martial realm. Moreover, they had to be extremely familiar with the layout of the capital so as to avoid getting lost in the snowstorm.

The number of horsemen that fulfilled these two requirements was seven hundred in total. But even those with cultivation at the peak Profound Martial realm wouldn’t be able to last long in this cold weather. They had to rest after about six hours, so they needed to work this duty in shifts.

This was an expedient measure the Imperial Court had developed to deal with the cold wave.

Gallop! The sound of the thundering hooves traveled only a short distance before it was drowned out by the howling winds. As the largest city on the continent, the capital was home to one million people. In normal times, the city would be bustling, the shouts of hawkers and peddlers resounding through the streets.

Even when winter was at its worst, the morning markets of the capital would be packed with people drinking tea or snacking on pastries. But today, the streets were completely empty, as if the city was dead.

“May the heavens protect the Great Tang! I hope that this disaster will end early!”

The messenger horseman urged his horse into a faster pace, a hint of worry in his eyes.

Everyone was extremely limited in what they could do in this sort of blizzard, but everyone did their best with their meager strength. It had been his choice to join the cavalry force and deliver messages.

......

The days went by. Everyone hoped that this blizzard would, just as the blizzards of the past, persist for a few days before passing, but the reality was exactly the opposite of what they had hoped. After seven days, not only had the cold wave not retreated, it had intensified.

The earth was silent, bleak, and somber.

This was a scene common to the entire human world!

Meanwhile, in another place...

Hwooo! Amidst howling winds, a lone city stood in the lands of the northwest, as if it had been forsaken in that place.

The City of Steel!

This was the first steel fortress Wang Chong had made, erected with steel modules after he was made a Marquis.

While everyone’s attention was drawn to the northeast, watching as Wang Chong led an army of one million against the alliance, few people noticed that there was another war taking place in the northwest by the City of Steel.

“How is it? Has Dalon Trinling made any moves?”

A coal fire burned in the central hall of the City of Steel. Western Turkic Khagan Barshad, Young Master Qingyang, and long-vanished Confucian Sect Leader Li Junxian were gathered here, their faces grave. The cold wave had descended, but the hostile environment was not their only worry. The army of several hundred thousand Tibetan soldiers outside the City of Steel, led by the legendary Dalon Trinling, eyed the City of Steel like a hungry tiger.

Wang Chong was busy fighting against An Lushan in the northeast, and they had been given the task of intercepting Dalon Trinling and the Ü-Tsang Empire. One of Wang Chong’s important objectives in supporting Fourth Prince Barshad onto the throne of the Western Turkic Khaganate was to use the army of the Western Turkic Khaganate to separate the Ü-Tsang Empire from the rest of the alliance.

This was absolutely necessary against someone like Dalon Trinling. The Imperial Minister of Ü-Tsang was as renowned amongst the countries west of Jade Gate Pass as Great Tang War God Su Zhengchen. Even those in the Arabian Empire regarded him with utmost respect.

Much of the reason the Arabian Empire had tried several times to bring over the Ü-Tsang Empire to its side was Dalon Trinling.

If this ‘War God’ of the western world were allowed to join with An Lushan, no one dared to imagine what the consequences would be.

In short, Wang Chong’s situation would definitely be much worse.

Thus, the trio’s most important mission was to hold down Dalon Trinling and his army.

In this period of time, the three of them had worked together to clash with Dalon Trinling several times, but they had basically lost every clash. Not even Li Junxian was able to match him.

Their sole advantage was that they didn’t need to defeat Dalon Trinling, only hold him down and prevent his army from crossing east and joining with Youzhou.

The three of them doing their utmost were capable of barely pulling this off.

“This situation is still dire,” Western Turkic Khagan Barshad sternly said. “Our scouts say that Dalon Trinling has yet to do anything. It seems that he’s set up a temporary base over there, and the base has a formation that can protect against the cold wave. If my guess is right, he’s obtained some sort of treasure from An Lushan.

“In addition, the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple has always been incredibly mysterious. Many treasures are stored there, and there’s a high chance of there being some special treasure that protects against extreme cold!”

Though it was a war between the Great Tang and Ü-Tsang, the primary force in the City of Steel fighting the Ü-Tsang Empire had long ago become the army of the Western Turkic Khaganate. At least seventy percent of the garrison consisted of Western Turks.

Thus, the task for gathering information in this frigid weather naturally fell on the Western Turkic Khaganate.

Li Junxian looked down at the model that depicted the City of Steel’s surroundings and grimly said, “Dalon Trinling is an extremely difficult man to deal with. Besides the Tibetan soldiers, he also has experts of the Great Snow Mountain assisting him. Our Confucian Sect has already lost many experts to them. In addition, I sense that our stubborn resistance has stirred his ire.

“His assaults have picked up in frequency. We’ve thwarted ten-some Tibetan night raids at this point, and if this continues, we’ll break in another ten-some days at most.”

Only someone who was there could understand the sort of pressure they were enduring. Lasting this long had already been a trying task for the three of them.

If not for the fact that Wang Chong had designed the City of Steel to be difficult to take, the three of them would have been defeated long ago.

The three of them glanced silently at each other.

“There’s no taking back a loosed arrow. We’ve already reached this point, so there’s no going back. Moreover, the Great Tang has no more soldiers to offer. If Dalon Trinling believes that he won’t make it in time for the war in Youzhou, he’ll change directions and head straight for the capital! I’m sure everyone understands the consequences of that!” Young Master Qingyang solemnly said.

Young Master Qingyang wasn’t a military man, but even Wang Chong had praised his talent. Moreover, so that Young Master Qingyang could assist him in military affairs, Wang Chong had taught him almost everything he knew, in addition giving him numerous military texts that he had written himself.

At this point, Young Master Qingyang had a mastery of military strategy that was seventy to eighty percent of Wang Chong’s level. He had been made the strategic commander of this campaign, tasked with coordinating everything in the City of Steel.

The hall fell silent as Young Master Qingyang and Li Junxian turned in unison to Barshad.

The latter was taken aback at first, but he soon understood and bitterly smiled. “It’s already reached this point, and the Western Turkic Khaganate has nowhere else to go. Moreover, in these exchanges, the Ü-Tsang Empire has also taken significant losses. Even if I proposed joining them, Dalon Trinling wouldn’t be willing to take me.

“Whether you believe me or not, I can promise one thing. Even if we have to fight to the last man, the Western Turks will guard this place to the very end!”

Barshad spoke in a solemn and somber tone.