The envoy from the Tianri tribe before him bore an extreme resemblance to Valentin.
The newcomer noticed the unusual reactions of the Xianbei ruler and his officials. He paused in surprise for a moment, then smiled and said, "Valentin is my elder brother. My name is Siren. The King of Xianbei seems so alarmed; has my brother met his end?"
After regaining his composure, the Xianbei ruler feigned sorrow, his voice choked with tears. "He died in the desert, slain by General Tian of the Great Qian! We Xianbei suffered a defeat in the desert, and our hundred thousand men fled back here..."
Siren's expression changed. "How could this be? You are not foolish barbarians fighting in mountains and plains. How could you be defeated in the desert?"
The Xianbei ruler explained, "General Tian and Liang Xiao joined forces to lure and kill our army. It is a long story, but ultimately, we were defeated. Currently, we Xianbei hope to lease weaponry from the Tianri tribe, so that we may rise again. As for Valentin's death, we can compensate with ten thousand taels of silver."
Considering that the Tianri tribe might indeed have cannibalistic tendencies, the Xianbei ruler did not directly mention the casualties. He merely wished to arm new troops with Tianri weaponry before the tribe discovered Xianbei's decline, even if they were just child soldiers or female warriors, to ensure their own safety.
Siren's expression flickered between anger and calculation. After a long period of contemplation, he smiled and said, "I understand. I will return immediately to report to my King and prepare new weaponry!"
The Xianbei ruler wished to detain Siren, but Siren politely declined, offering comfort to the Xianbei ruler before departing with a smile.
After leaving the Xianbei camp, Siren's face turned sinister. He led his retinue and traveled day and night towards their headquarters, a hundred miles to the west.
At this time, the King of Tianri was in council with his ministers. Upon learning of the Xianbei ruler's situation, he too frowned.
"Defeated? What useless fools!"
Just then, a rider on a swift horse arrived with urgent news from the Guishuang Dynasty.
"The Great Qian army claims to have slain one hundred and ninety thousand Xianbei cavalry in the desert, and the nation is celebrating!"
Upon hearing this, the King of Tianri slammed his hand on the table. "Caesar!"
At the King of Tianri's summons, a great general from below stepped forward and knelt on one knee. "I await your royal command!"
"The Xianbei have lost their value. You will immediately march your army to pressure them, force them to hand over their cattle and sheep, crush their morale, and then launch a full-scale charge, sending the Xianbei men to the west as slaves, and their women and children as army provisions! Be mindful not to let the male slaves discover this!"
Caesar readily agreed.
Three days later, Tianri cavalry descended upon Mobei.
The Xianbei ruler, terrified and uneasy, immediately dispatched an envoy to inquire about their intentions.
"It seems they already know our army was almost annihilated in the desert. Using Valentin's tragic death as an excuse, they are demanding three million head of cattle and sheep, and two hundred thousand warhorses. If we refuse, we will face national annihilation..." the military advisor reported dejectedly.
The Xianbei ruler was filled with regret. "We do not have so many cattle and sheep; they were almost all lost at the front lines!"
Ultimately, facing the might of the fifteen thousand Tianri cavalry, the Xianbei pleaded with the Tianri tribe, offering only ten thousand women and one hundred thousand head of cattle and sheep.
Upon receiving the women and livestock, the Tianri cavalry showed no mercy and headed straight for the Xianbei encampment in Mobei.
The Xianbei ruler, surrounded by enemy forces, looked up to the heavens and lamented, "Valentin has betrayed me!! I regret not heeding Mo Hongming's words. We should have befriended the Great Qian..."
At this moment, the only thing the Xianbei ruler did not regret was killing Valentin.
The Tianri tribe intended to take advantage of their weakness. Even without Valentin's death, they would have found other pretexts, or perhaps no pretext at all.
The Xianbei army had fewer than thirty thousand men. Faced with the predatory assault of the Tianri cavalry, they were ultimately annihilated.
The Mobei region became a river of blood!
Young men were driven west as laborers. The old and weak were slaughtered on the spot, and children became the first batch of army provisions, their tender meat used for roast delicacies. Women became playthings and the final provisions.
The Mobei region became a living hell, and the Xianbei nation was annihilated under the iron hooves of the Tianri cavalry, becoming a final echo of the nomadic peoples of the desert.
However, because this region was too far from the Great Qian-controlled Monan, and the Tianri cavalry focused their logistics on the Guishuang and Peacock Dynasties, they were still unable to march south and threaten the Great Qian.
At this time, the Great Qian was still unaware of the situation in Mobei.
Liang Xiao was in the capital's Imperial Academy, inspecting the students' progress and offering guidance.
After several years of promoting inexpensive books, the number of scholars in the Great Qian had increased significantly.
The Imperial Academy alone had expanded its student body to seven thousand.
These students were the relatively outstanding scholars from various regions who, after rigorous examinations, were admitted to the Imperial Academy for further study. They were provided with food, lodging, and stipends by the state, allowing them to focus on their studies and research, or to participate in the imperial examinations to serve the country in the future.
Each student received a sufficient monthly ration of necessities such as white sugar and salt, but students were strictly forbidden from committing any wrongdoing, with offenses carrying double penalties.
In addition, the Imperial Academy had admitted over seven hundred female students, talented women from across the country with prosperous families who aspired to study.
It was already a great achievement for the Great Qian to begin with upper-class women and gradually expand the scope of education, as impoverished girls often lacked the means to study.
The rest would have to be addressed by future developments in productivity; the Great Qian currently lacked the national strength to implement universal free education.
In the Imperial Academy's plaza, Zhuo Zifang's second son, Zhuo Wentao, was lecturing as a Doctor of the Five Classics.
Liang Xiao, Zhuo Zifang, Wang Canghai, and others were observing behind Zhuo Wentao.
However, the students' attention seemed to be elsewhere, not on Zhuo Wentao, but on the group behind him. The young men looked on with reverence and fanaticism, their eyes burning, while the young women were filled with admiration and shyness, their gazes shining.
"Liang Xiao, Liang Xiao!" Zhuo Zifang could no longer stand it and nudged Liang Xiao. "Look at you, you can't even let the students concentrate on the lecture. Hurry and leave!"
Liang Xiao also noticed the problem and took the opportunity to leave under the pretense of inspecting the Armory, leaving behind Wang Canghai, Zhuo Zifang, He Jingyun, and others with smiles on their faces.
As expected, after Liang Xiao's departure, the students, after a brief moment of reluctance and sadness, regained their composure and returned to listening to the lecture.
"From now on, I absolutely will not bring this child to observe again... Wait, perhaps I should still bring him, as these students clearly became more spirited and cheerful."
Inside the Armory, a group of shadow guards were secretly manufacturing gunpowder.
Liang Xiao, accompanied by the Minister of War Zhuo Wulüe and the Vice Minister of War Mu Hong, came to inspect the site. They could smell the pungent scent of sulfur from afar, but felt no displeasure.
"The current amount of sulfur can be used to make about two hundred thousand catties of 'Heavenly Thunder' bombs. If the enemy at the border remains unyielding, it will certainly not be enough," Zhuo Wulüe sighed.
The Great Qian had not yet deployed gunpowder.
The early "Heavenly Thunder Soldiers" were Gongsun Ye's personal guards, and later reinforcements were drawn from the most cautious and prudent of the shadow guards.
"Sulfur is the key; nitre and charcoal are minor issues," Mu Hong also sighed.
"Fuma, sirs!" At this moment, a shadow guard urgently delivered intelligence.
The three of them examined it closely and frowned simultaneously.
The Tianri cavalry were so formidable, and there was a fierce general among them capable of defeating Heraclius within a hundred rounds?
Without waiting for Liang Xiao's response, another shadow guard rushed forward and presented a new piece of intelligence to Liang Xiao.
Liang Xiao glanced at it and handed the intelligence to Zhuo Wulüe and Mu Hong.
"According to the latest discoveries by the Hidden Wolf Guards, there is a super-large sulfur mine in the heartland of the Guishuang Dynasty, but the mined sulfur is being used by the Guishuang nobility for heating, a terrible waste."
"Regarding the Peacock Dynasty, according to the recollections of the elder Mr. Chen Changqiu from his youth, it is said that there are also many sulfur mines there."