Chapter One Hundred and Twelve

  "Get up, no need for formalities." Tang Yin said with a raised head.

  "Yes! Sir!" A middle-aged man who called himself Zhang Xuan stood up trembling.

  Tang Yin picked up the map and asked: "Is this your translation?"

  "Yes!"

  "Do you speak barbarian?"

  "Yes." Zhang Xuan dared not look at Tang Yin, and responded in a low voice. In Pingyuan County, there were not many people who spoke the language of Besa, and it was not something to be proud of either. On the contrary, they would be ridiculed and teased by others, and even be labeled as traitors to Fengguo who surrendered to the barbarian state.

  Tang Yin looked at Zhang Xuan deeply and asked: "Why can you speak the barbarian language?"

  "Because... because Xiaoren used to live in a barbarian country for ten years."

  "Oh?" Tang Yin raised an eyebrow.

  "Don't get me wrong, adults. The little ones didn't run away to the barbarian state, but were caught by the barbarians and made into slaves." As he spoke, Zhang Xuan stuck out his tongue.

  Tang Yin took a closer look and saw that on Zhang Xuan's tongue, there was a large ring-shaped scorch mark. It was clear that it had been branded on with a red-hot iron stamp. Even after a long time, the scorch mark was still distinct.

  For a person: This is a lifelong shame that cannot be washed away.

  He frowned and asked: "Are many of our people captured by the barbarians and made slaves?"

  Zhang Xuan swallowed his saliva and nodded in response: "Many! The barbarians don't consider us human at all, many of our people were captured and tortured to death soon after, there are hardly a few like me who managed to escape alive and return home."

  "So that's how it is!" Tang Yin sighed in his heart, and at the same time, his hatred for the barbarian country deepened. He put down the map and asked: "Where were you caught? Point it out to me!"

  "This is it!" Zhang Xuan pointed at the map and said: "It's called Beast King Town."

  Tang Yin looked at where he was pointing, this place is not too far from the border of Feng Guo, it should be the town closest to Feng Di within the Besa City-State.

  Zhang Xuan said, "This is a military stronghold of the barbarian state, where large quantities of military supplies and grain are stored. It is also a springboard for the barbarian army to invade our country. Every time a large group of barbarians attacks our country, they will depart from Beisa City, pass through Shouwang Town for replenishment, and then turn into our territory from Shouwang Town."

  "Ah!" Tang Yin's eyes gleamed with insight, and he responded in a low voice. It turned out that the Barbarian State still had such an important military stronghold hidden near Fengguo. Thinking about it, he raised his head and looked straight at Zhang Xuan, asking: "How many barbarian soldiers are garrisoned in Beast King Town?"

  "There are probably around five to ten thousand people..." Zhang Xuan was startled by the sudden chill in Tang Yin's eyes, and he was already nervous in front of him, now he was so scared that he couldn't even speak clearly.

  Seeing this, Tang Yin withdrew the chill from his eyes and smiled slightly, speaking in a gentle tone: "You don't have to be afraid, as long as the information you provide is accurate, I will heavily reward you!"

  "Yes, yes, yes!" Zhang Xuan repeatedly replied, "Sir, even if I were to borrow a few more guts from someone else, I wouldn't dare deceive you. What I've said is what I saw with my own eyes, absolutely true. However... it's been some time since I escaped from Beast King Town, and as for how many guards are there now, I'm not clear about that either."

  "It doesn't matter." Tang Yin's eyes rolled, and he waved his hand absent-mindedly, the plan to sneak attack Beast King Town had already been brewing in his mind. After a while, he lowered his head again, pointed at the map, and asked: "Is this the capital of Besa City-State?"

  "Yes, sir, this is Besa City."

  "How many countries of this scale are there in the Federation of Mofis, like the city-state of Besa?"

  "This..." Zhang Xuan smacked his lips, and as for how many city-states made up the Mofen Federation, he wasn't very clear about it either. He scratched his hair and said: "I don't know exactly how many city-states there are, but I do know that Besa City-State is the largest and strongest among all the city-states, playing a crucial role within the Mofen Federation."

  "So, conquering Bessa is equivalent to conquering Monfis?" Tang Yin asked curiously.

  "This... should be about right!" Zhang Xuan replied ambiguously.

  Since nothing valuable could be extracted from him anymore, Tang Yin smiled and said: "Zhang Xuan, do you have a place to stay now?"

  The little man lives in the west of the city.

  "Good!" Tang Yin nodded and said: "I think you don't need to go back, just stay in the county government office from now on!"

  "Ah?" Zhang Xuan was startled and suspected that Tang Yin's implicit meaning was to kill himself.

  Even Le Tian and Ai Jia next to him furrowed their brows, unable to understand what Tang Yin was getting at.

  "Spare my life!" Zhang Xuan was so frightened that he fell to his knees with a thud, saying repeatedly: "Your humble servant's words are all true, not a single one is false. You are wise and discerning, you are wise and discerning!"

  Tang Yin snorted and said discontentedly, "I didn't want to kill you, what are you apologizing for? Get up!" After a pause, he continued, "I let you stay in the county guard's mansion because I wanted you to teach me the Besa language. As for your wages, it will be ten taels of silver per month, are you satisfied?"

  "What? Ah, ah! Is that so!"

  Zhang Xuan suddenly understood Tang Yin's meaning, and at the same time, he let out a sigh of relief in his heart. He wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead, quickly scrambled to his feet, and repeatedly said: "Satisfied, satisfied! As long as the master lets this humble person do things, this humble person will definitely have no complaints."

  "Haha!" Tang Yin laughed.

  At this time, A Jia asked: "Sir, why do you want to learn the barbarian language?"

  "It's not just me who needs to learn, all of you need to learn too!" Tang Yin said seriously: "In the future, we don't know how long our battles with the barbarian states will last. If we don't understand their language, how can we understand our opponents? How can we grasp the enemy's important information? Remember, knowing ourselves and knowing our enemies is the key to winning every battle!"

  So it is! Rakuten and Aika looked at each other, nodded in unison and replied: "Understood."

  Tang Yin said: "Especially you two, should learn the barbarian language and urge your subordinates to master the barbarian language in the shortest time. You two are responsible for spying on the barbarian country. If you don't know the barbarian language, it's hard to judge the accuracy of the intelligence."

  "What a grown-up lesson!" Lü Tian and Ai Jia secretly stuck out their tongues, while also remembering Tang Yin's words. What Tang Yin said wasn't wrong, wanting to spy on the barbarian state's intelligence, if you don't know the barbarian language it would be too troublesome.

  Tang Yin beckoned to Tang Zhong and then turned to Zhang Xuan, saying: "Take him down first, and then help him find a guest room!"

  "Yes! Sir!" Tang Zhong didn't say much, after being found by Tang Yan to be the manager of the county government office, he remembered Tang Yan's kindness in his heart and followed him unconditionally.

  Tang Zhong was an old hand in the army, good at observing expressions and tone. He felt that Tang Yin still had something to say, so he didn't walk ahead, but instead let Zhang Xuan go first. After Zhang Xuan left, he leaned in close to Tang Yin.

  He whispered a clever remark, and Tang Yin's mouth curled up slightly as he said in a low voice: "Tang Zhong, keep a close eye on this person, don't let him take half a step out of the county government for the time being!"

  "Understood!" Tang Zhong responded with a single word and then quickly walked out.

  As soon as Zhang Xuan left, Tang Yin immediately bowed his head and carefully examined the map. After a while, he pointed to the Beast King Town on the map and said: "This is the key to the barbarian's fortress, we must destroy it! Le Tian, Ai Jia, I give you two the first task, which is to investigate all the information about the Beast King Town, including the number of barbarian soldiers stationed inside, the city defense situation, and the surrounding terrain, as well as the distance from Wind City, in short, the more detailed the better, can you do it?"

  Before Le Tian could respond, Ai Jia had already answered: "No problem, sir, I'll personally go and investigate!"

  Aika said so, and Ryota couldn't refuse anymore. Originally, the training of his subordinates was not yet complete, and he shouldn't have taken on such an important task, but Aika's consent left him no choice but to accept it with a bitter smile: "Subordinate obeys!"

  Tang Yin nodded in satisfaction and said: "After the matter is settled, there will be a heavy reward for you two. You can go now!"

  "We take our leave!" Le Tian and Ai Jia both bowed their hands and turned to depart.

  After they left, Tang Yin remained staring at the map, lost in thought.

  If we really want to launch a surprise attack on the barbarian state's stronghold, the first thing to prepare is the military horse. Marching on foot and traveling long distances is unrealistic and easy to be discovered by the enemy. Only by relying on the speed of cavalry can we launch a lightning-fast surprise attack with the momentum of thunder and have a chance of success.

  But where are our own troops and horses?

  Tang Yin was worried about the military horses, but in just two days, good news arrived. The Ningguo horse merchant had arrived at Heng City, bringing with him one hundred Ningguo warhorses.

  Upon hearing this news, Tang Yin was overjoyed and quickly left the mansion with Shangguan Yuange.

  Outside the official gate, there were over a hundred tall horses with shiny red coats, without a single strand of mixed hair on their bodies.

  Just as Tang Yin was looking around, a middle-aged man with a smile on his face walked over. Under the indication of Shangguan Yuange's eyes, he quickly came to Tang Yin and bowed down to the ground, saying humbly: "Is your honor Tang Yin, sir? I am Zhao Jue, a merchant from Mo country, here to pay my respects!"

  Tang Yin first sized up Zhao Ju for a moment, then turned his head to look at Shangguan Yuange.

  Shangguan Yuanji said in a low voice: "This is the Mo national friend I mentioned to you, sir. We have been in contact for three years and he is honest and reliable."

  "Ah!" Tang Yin smiled at Zhao Zhuo and said: "Brother Zhao has come from afar, the journey is tiring, please enter the house!"

  "Ah! After you, sir!"

  Zhao Zhuobian followed Tang Yan into the government office, directing his subordinates to lead all the horses inside.

  Entering the main hall, everyone took their seats as host and guest.

  After the servant presented tea and water, Tang Yin smiled and asked: "Brother Zhao, was your journey here peaceful?"

  "Haha!" Zhao Ju chuckled and said, "Thanks to you, sir, I had a safe journey." As he spoke, he bowed his hands again to Shangguan Yuanyi and continued, "Brother Yuanyi arranged for me to have some attendants with official documents from the Wind Country, so we didn't encounter too many checkpoints on the way."

  "Oh!" Tang Yin secretly praised Shang Guan Yuanji for being meticulous and considering everything. He asked, "How many horses did you bring this time?"

  "Exactly one hundred horses."

  "So what about the price..."

  "As for the price, Yuanji has already discussed it with me. In my opinion, 120 taels of silver per good horse is a fair price. What do you think, sir?"

  Tang Yin had no idea how much Mo Guo's horses cost, but he knew that the horse merchant's profit was very high. If he could lower the price, he should try his best to do so. Moreover, they were currently expanding their army and urgently needed money, so it would be better to save as much as possible!

  He smiled slightly, picked up the tea cup, and said with a pretended air of seniority and a hint of probing: "I've been old friends with General Ying Bu, the lord of Ba Guan, for many years. As far as I know, Ma Guo's horses aren't that expensive."