Taking a Concubine

Taking a Concubine

Jinmen lay more than two hundred li east of the Imperial Capital of the Great Xia Empire and served as the eastern gateway to the capital. Hangu Port under Jinmen faced the sea, and Qin Mo's fleet planned to enter the Gu River from Hangu Port, then sail upstream directly to Tong County.

It was now autumn, and the river ran deep enough for large seagoing ships to pass without obstruction. More than twenty vessels in Qin Mo's fleet were large ships, drawing countless eyes from both banks as they traveled along the river. A yellow banner bearing a qilin rose from Garen's ship, marking it as the conveyance of a royal prince. The other boats on the river hurriedly pulled ashore to let it pass first.

Three days later, Qin Mo arrived at Tong County's docks. A fast rider had already informed the veteran general Wu Shengze, who had arrived ahead of them, and told him to prepare arrangements for these Fusang people.

Rows of short, sturdy Fusang warriors disembarked from the ships, only to topple over in rows, making the onlooking crowd laugh until their backs bent. After nearly a month of life aboard ship, they had grown accustomed to the rocking of the decks. Suddenly stepping onto solid ground without mental preparation, their bodies could not coordinate properly. Falling over was perfectly normal.

Kaihime looked at the sea of people around her and felt an inexplicable fear. She had seen grand occasions and had gone onto battlefields many times, but she had never seen so many people crammed onto such a narrow dock. Just how vast was the Great Xia Empire? How many people did it have?

Qin Mo glanced at the Fusang woman warrior who clung tightly to his side, smiled, and did not stop her. Even the most tomboyish of women would instinctively seek a sturdy shoulder in an unfamiliar environment.

Wu Shengze was the most senior general in this northern expedition. Lin Bo had to stay behind to guard Dayuan, so Wu Shengze, who had likewise fought his way out of battlefields, had been sent to help Qin Mo command the army. Qin Mo had not the slightest experience in leading troops and knew even less about the many unwritten rules of Great Xia's military. Without a veteran general supporting him at his side, who knew how many jokes he would have made of himself.

"Young Master, I have arranged all the marching tents and supplies. The three thousand Fusang people who arrived earlier have already gone to Fengtai in the Imperial Capital to garrison there. We only need to head over afterward. We will not miss the court's deadline."

"Has the Tongzhou outpost I mentioned been built?"

"In reply to Young Master, I rented several courtyards at these docks. I also directly bought a river bend five li from here. Once the cement arrives, we can slowly build it into a private dock. It will be very convenient."

Qin Mo nodded approvingly. Wu Shengze had not led troops for decades in vain. He was seasoned in handling affairs and was a true military talent.

"How are the horses coming along?"

What troubled Qin Mo most now was the horses. Too few would limit their mobility, but too many would be a huge burden simply to feed. Warhorses were not donkeys that could survive on grass alone. Without concentrated feed, they would never put on flesh. And without flesh, did one expect to conduct long-range mobile warfare? Heh... that was a matter of common sense. A horse without flesh was like a car without fuel; it could not travel far before it dropped dead from exhaustion.

"This... may be somewhat troublesome. The horse merchants gathered in the Imperial Capital this time have all been recruited by several great aristocratic families. Not only have horse prices soared outrageously, but it seems they are deliberately targeting several nobles who were summoned for service. We are among them."

"Which families?" Qin Mo had considered this before. His princely title had not been advanced according to custom, so someone must have been throwing a wrench in the works. He simply had not known who it was. Now, it seemed the truth would soon come to light.

"The Wang Family, the Li Family, and Prince Chenliu control the warhorse trade. Marquis Kaiyang, Duke of Liang, Prince of Hejian, and ourselves are being targeted. We can barely buy enough horses, and can only use old connections to order a few, to be handed over after we head north to the grasslands." Wu Shengze's mood sank. It was his first time handling matters for Qin Mo, yet others had blocked him at every turn while he could do nothing to them. He felt deeply frustrated.

"Uncle Wu, there is no need to blame yourself. Since they are not targeting our family alone, we can think of a way once we reach the Imperial Capital. How many warhorses do we have now?"

"Including the warhorses purchased in Jiangnan, we have just over two thousand in total. Draft horses are easier to buy; I purchased seven or eight hundred." Wu Shengze spoke somewhat guiltily. Qin Mo had asked him to buy five thousand warhorses. He had been given all the money he needed, yet still could not buy them. This matter had turned several strands of his hair white.

"Then buy more draft horses. We can only use the heavily armored soldiers as heavy infantry." Qin Mo was helpless as well. He had originally planned to forge two thousand European-style knights, but now it would be good enough to have five hundred. After all, scouts and light cavalry were indispensable. Only after those needs were met could they turn to the luxury of heavily armored knights.

Scouts were needed for reconnaissance and vigilance, an indispensable priority component of any army. Light cavalry were the unrivaled choice for protecting supply lines and throwing enemy formations into disorder. Heavily armored knights were indeed terrifyingly powerful, but with rider and armor together weighing over two hundred jin, plus primary weapons, secondary weapons, supplies, and so on, each man required two horses. Moreover, one of those horses had to be an exceptionally fine steed.

Before the new emperor ascended the throne, Great Xia had mainly adopted a defensive posture toward the Orc Tribe. The empire built the Long Wall in the northern grasslands, confining the orcs to the bitterly cold northern lands. But since the new emperor took the throne three years ago, Great Xia's strategy had changed fundamentally. Every autumn, new troops were sent to guard the Long Wall; when spring arrived, they immediately entered the Northern Wasteland to campaign against the Orc Tribe, even at the cost of mutual destruction.

After two consecutive years, Great Xia had indeed achieved dazzling victories, with several great cities of the Orc Tribe destroyed. Since the war was fought within orc territory, the Orc Tribe's ability to thrive and multiply had been severely affected. Great Xia had shifted from strategic defense to strategic offense, and for a time, both court and populace praised the new emperor's farsighted vision. His prestige reached its peak.

Yet many perceptive people, including Qin Mo, knew that these achievements were all an illusion. The Northern Wasteland was little better than a barren land. Seizing a city or a patch of ground was barely worth mentioning to Great Xia, yet the price paid was beyond calculation.

When the great army marched north, all logistical supplies had to come from within Great Xia. Noble families had to prepare their own armor, weapons, horses, and daily necessities, but grain and fodder had to be provided by Great Xia's government. Not to mention the Imperial Guards, who served as the main force. Each expedition squandered untold wealth, but that was not even the most important part.

Over two consecutive years of expeditions, more people had died in battle than in the previous twenty years combined. Who knew how many sons of Great Xia now slept forever in the north, never again able to set foot upon their homeland? And how many loving mothers and frail wives leaned against their doors in hope, only to receive a thin sheet of grief?

The common soldiers had no power to resist the emperor's orders and were forced north time and again to gamble with their lives. If luck favored them, they might win a splendid future. If not, they could only throw away their lives for nothing.

What the nobles sacrificed, meanwhile, were the foundations their families had accumulated over generations. If they were merely guarding the frontier, they would not need so many horses, so much armor, or even such elite soldiers. Pulling up several thousand commoners and spending them away would have been enough to hold the line.

But riding beyond the passes to invade the Orc Realm was entirely different. Soldiers who had not undergone training would quickly collapse, and without enough horses, they could not achieve the required victories. The empire's military merits had to be verified by battle results. There had never been few unlucky fools who lost men and money only to gain nothing at all.

Even crueler was this... according to ancestral law, if a noble was summoned, he himself or his heir apparent—the successor to his title—had to personally lead the private army. No outsider could replace him on the expedition. Over the past three years, countless nobles had died beyond the passes. Last year, nobles even jointly submitted a memorial opposing the campaigns beyond the frontier, but their opposition was ineffective. Every one of those who objected was mercilessly sent to the border battlefield, forbidden from ever returning to Great Xia's heartland without an imperial decree.

If every heir in a noble household died out, heh... its fief would be returned to the state. If this continued, Great Xia would no longer have deeply rooted, intricately entangled great families within a century. On one side, titles were granted through military merit; on the other, heirs died out because of those titles. After all that maneuvering, the nobles were nothing more than donkeys turning a millstone.

After testing the emperor's bottom line, the nobles could only seek another path. They took wives and concubines in great numbers, frantically producing children. Over these two years, who knew how many lovely young maidens had fallen prey to a gang of old noble brutes.

As for Qin Mo's branch of Prince Heng's line, there was only his elder brother. If anything happened to him, then Dayuan would return to the royal family's embrace!

Qin Mo, his troops, and his household retainers had lived in one corner of the world. Over the years, everyone's thoughts had been focused on overseas exploration, and they had reacted sluggishly to the developments in Great Xia's central government during the last two years. Wu Shengze had only learned of these matters over the past few months after arriving in the Imperial Capital. Prince Heng had fought for Great Xia for many years and had quite a few comrades in the army and families close to him. With everyone gathering in the Imperial Capital this time, they had begun contacting one another, preparing to join forces and weather the crisis together.

"Young Master... well... this subordinate is relying on his age to speak boldly... May I offer a suggestion? Your Highness... should you take a concubine first?"