The Human Emperor

Chapter 1293: Shaking the World! (II)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

On the early morning of the same day, there were only a few copies of the book in the marketplace, but in a short time, this number ballooned into the hundreds, then the thousands, continuing to climb with dizzying speed. Around six hours later, it was no longer just a hot commodity in the capital, but throughout the entire realm, setting off an earthquake in the empire. Even many of the people who were marching stopped their protests so they could get their hands on the book and see what it said.

Two days, three days… The storm was intensifying, ultimately transforming into one that engulfed all of the Great Tang. ‘Might makes right’, ‘the strong eat the weak’, ‘survival of the fittest’, ‘law of the jungle’, ‘those who use war to seek peace will create peace, but those who seek peace through compromise will bring about peace’s end’, ‘help oneself and be helped by the heavens’—these new and unprecedented arguments were like a breath of fresh air, and they also delivered an enormous ideological blow to the minds of the people.

Never before in the history of the Central Plains had a book so forcefully exposed the relationships between countries and people. Moreover, it used a blatant method to illustrate the law that governed which people survived in this world. These arguments opened the minds of the populace.

The surging tides in the capital that so ardently opposed war and favored peace were instantly stymied. It was like a bucket of cold water had been poured over the crowd, causing them to calm down.

……

Longxi, Big Dipper City.

Geshu Han stood on the blackened walls, reading the book ‘Might Makes Right’, which his subordinates had delivered as quickly as possible from the capital. He stroked his beard and smiled, his body brimming with excitement. To Geshu Han, this small book was a supreme treasure.

“Hahaha, a good book, a good book! Wang Chong, this general didn’t judge you wrongly! A thousand memorials and ten thousand remonstrations cannot compare to this book of only some tens of thousands of words. The ancients said that a silver tongue can surpass a mighty army of one million. I didn’t believe this in the past, but now, I do!”

Geshu Han’s eyes glowed with a strange light, and the cloud of worries that had covered his brow for many days had been swept away. This was the best news he had heard ever since the Confucian Sect had entered the court and begun to suppress the militarists.

“The heavens are protecting the Great Tang! If the Central Plains has you, the country will be forever blessed and the age will continue unbroken!”

Geshu Han’s loud laughter drifted far into the distance.

……

“Hahaha, good, good, good! You truly are the person that I know! I just knew that you wouldn’t stand by as the hearts of the people developed into this state.”

In the distant Anxi Protectorate headquarters, Gao Xianzhi was looking at his own copy of ‘Might Makes Right’, delivered by an express courier from the capital, his entire body bursting with enthusiasm. The current state of the Great Tang was embodied in the saying ‘when it rains, it pours’, and Gao Xianzhi felt the same way. In this short period of time, it felt like the skies over the Great Tang had fallen, with far too many incidents taking place.

In this situation, even though he was an important subject of the empire, Gao Xianzhi still felt a deep helplessness. Military might was not omnipotent, and there were places that not even martial prowess could help one reach.

Moreover, a commander could not leave his post without orders. This fact alone made Gao Xianzhi incapable of doing anything.

……

“This kid really does dare to say anything!”

In the distant Beiting Protectorate headquarters, An Sishun muttered to himself as he gazed at the message in his hand and the book on his desk.

……

“This kid really does have some guts!”

In Youzhou, after reading the message in his hand, Zhang Shougui sneered, flicked his sleeve, and immediately left.

That boy in the capital truly had caught him by surprise, but this was not Zhang Shougui’s current concern.

“Have you found those two traitors yet?”

“Milord, we discovered them in the land of the Xi and Khitans!”

……

Whoosh!

While Wang Chong was printing and distributing ‘Might Makes Right’ on a large scale, countless messenger birds were flying toward the various countries bordering the Great Tang.

More than four thousand meters above sea level, in the royal capital that was the center of the towering Tibetan Plateau, Dalon Trinling’s brows were tightly furrowed. At his side were two objects: an intelligence report from his spy in the Great Tang’s capital, and Wang Chong’s book, ‘Might Makes Right’. This book had been sent over some time ago, and from the moment it had arrived in his hand, Dalon Trinling had become motionless, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

“Imperial Minister, the suppression of the militarists by the Confucian Sect within the Great Tang is an extremely rare opportunity for us, but the King of Foreign Lands writing this book might pose a severe danger to our plans!”

The Great General of the Yarlung Royal Lineage, Namri Songtian, was standing behind Dalon Trinling, his eyes brimming with concern. There was no doubt at this time that the Great Tang was the center of the world. The slightest movement from its lands would immediately be reported to the surrounding countries, even the most ordinary and everyday decisions made by the Imperial Court.

“Imperial Minister, nothing good can happen if the King of Foreign Lands is allowed to succeed. Not only will our attempt to use the Confucian Sect to utterly suppress the Tang army have failed, if the Great Tang begins to do as this book says, a sheep will become a wolf and will truly begin to pose a threat to us!” Namri Songtian said.

Ü-Tsang and the Great Tang had spent several centuries battling against each other, winning some and losing some. For Namri Songtian, this was the normal routine. A few decades later, regardless of whether it had won or lost, Ü-Tsang would have recovered its energy. As long as they waited, all the defeats and humiliations Ü-Tsang had suffered from the hands of the Great Tang would be returned a hundredfold. But with this book… the situation was entirely different.

If Wang Chong were truly allowed to succeed, then given the enormous influence he held in the Great Tang, that empire would become an empire of wolves and tigers, and that day would truly be the end for Ü-Tsang.

“What effects has this matter had on the Great Tang so far?” Dalon Trinling suddenly asked.

“People are fighting each other to get a copy!” Namri Songtian replied. Wang Chong’s book had far greater influence than he had expected, which was one of the reasons for his great concern.

“This book is already out there, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. Our only option is to try and minimize its effects.”

Dalon Trinling’s expression was calm, but deep within his eyes was a rare tinge of worry. Although he had still yet to meet Wang Chong, in this first exchange, Dalon Trinling had already sensed the threat this King of Foreign Lands posed. There was no question that this was a monstrously powerful foe.

“…Inform our men in the Central Plains to think of every way possible to purchase these books. It’s impossible to destroy every copy, but we can still try our best to reduce the number of people able to read it. In addition, tell Li Junxian that the actions of the King of Foreign Lands have made us extremely uneasy, and that this is not the conduct of a country that longs for peace. Have their Confucian Sect think of a way to resolve this matter,” Dalon Trinling said.

The King of Foreign Lands was definitely not an easy character to deal with. He could only drive the tiger to swallow the wolf.

……

Flapflap! As eagles and hawks took off, in distant Mount Sanmi, the name of the book ‘Might Makes Right’ had the entire mountain quaking.

“Bastard! How could this sort of thing happen!?”

A furious roar came from the massive golden tent at the summit. In a great clamor, countless tables and chairs were overturned as Ishbara Khagan raged.

Ishbara Khagan’s eyes were open wide and his chest was heaving. At the Battle of Talas, the Great Tang had used an army of one hundred thousand to defeat a foe ten times its number, and in the following Battle of Khorasan, the Arabs had suffered so many losses that the number exceeded one million. Even the Arab War God, Qutaybah, had died to Wang Chong.

Ishbara Khagan had always believed that the Western Turkic Khaganate was incredibly powerful, but it had not reached a level where it could contend against the Arabian Empire. If not even Arabia could deal with the Great Tang, just which country could?

It was precisely this string of battles that had broken all of Ishbara Khagan’s confidence, and he was now extremely apprehensive of the Great Tang’s King of Foreign Lands. No, this was no longer apprehension, but fear. And this fear had played no small part in the Western Turkic Khaganate’s swift agreement with the other countries to reduce its army.

“Just what is that Confucian Sect in the Great Tang doing? Do they not know what will happen if this book is completely distributed throughout the Great Tang and everyone accepts its ideas?!”

Ishbara Khagan found it impossible to remain calm. This book scared him more than an army of one million men. No one understood more than him just how terrifying this book was.

Whether it was the Western Turkic Khaganate or the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, they had been able to suppress the various dynasties of the Central Plains, which often had ten times their population, constantly forcing them into a passive defense while they launched attack after attack, because the Turks had wolfish natures while the Tang and all those other dynasties were like sheep, or perhaps one could call them scholars.

For the strongmen of the steppe, scholars were cowards.

It was a principle of the world that wolves ate sheep, but if the Tang of the Central Plains accepted the ideas of the King of Foreign Lands, the Western Turks would no longer be facing a sheep, but a wolf that was just as vicious as they were, perhaps even more!

This was Ishbara Khagan’s deep fear.

All the maids in the tent trembled in fear. The only people able to maintain their composure were the Blackwater Shaman and Wunu Shibi. But when they gazed at that book, the two of them also had exceptionally grave expressions.