Chapter 1927 - Departure! Triumphant

The east and the west were far too distant from each other. Before this, the kingdoms around Arabia had a very limited knowledge of the Great Tang, many of them not even knowing its name. Many of these factions had also followed Arabia into the war of the northwest.

But through this war, these kingdoms had come to keenly understand the power of the Great Tang.

With a much smaller army, the Great Tang had crushed Arabia. The infamously powerful and supreme Arabian Empire had left the corpses of a million soldiers strewn across the eastern world, stunning all the other kingdoms.

And Wang Chong, who was the supreme commander of the eastern army, had killed both Khatabah and the High Priest, making him like the noon sun, an almost mythical existence in the western world.

More importantly, even though the Tang had defeated Arabia and taken Baghdad, their conduct was much less cruel and brutal than the Arabs’.

At least the Tang had not massacred the city!

The other kingdoms were much more willing to follow an empire like the Great Tang, just as powerful but much softer.

Wang Chong greeted the emissaries as the Nine Provinces Protector-General, receiving their letters of credence and then retreating to the inner hall.

“Have the officials from the Imperial Court arrived?”

Wang Chong took off his crimson court robe, exchanging them for casual clothes, as he looked at Zhang Que.

“Your Highness, they’ve arrived! This time, the Bureau of Personnel drew up a list that the Sage Emperor hand-picked from. All of them are the best of the best at governance. Moreover, they all know a little Arabic. In addition, the Imperial Court has also dispatched many translators who know Arabic, including eminent scholars of the Confucian Sect,” Zhang Que said.

Generals were skilled at fighting battles and taking cities, but managing cities and regions required incredible patience and time. Thus, very early on, Wang Chong had requested the Imperial Court to send civil officials to govern the area.

Now, right before Wang Chong was about to return to the capital, the civil officials had all arrived.

“Milord, we will be setting out soon. Should we inform Lord Zhangchou and the others?” Zhang Que said.

“There’s no need. I’ve already met with them,” Wang Chong indifferently said.

Before Wang Chong left for the capital, the six major commanders had already discussed their plans. Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun would remain to preside over Arabia. Tongluo Great General Abusi and his twenty thousand Tongluo would assist, primarily focused on dealing with rebellions and the stubborn Arab militia.

Wang Chong was the first to return to the capital. Once Arabia had been pacified and slowly convinced to yield to the Great Tang, Zhangchou Jianqiong and the others would follow.

But Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun would have to remain in Arabia.

One of Wang Chong’s close guards interrupted the conversation, entering and getting down on one knee. “Reporting! Milord, Secretariat Advisor Li Junxian seeks an audience.”

The two of them turned to look.

“Let him come in!” Wang Chong said.

Ever since the fall of Arabia, Li Junxian and the Confucian Sect had been extremely subdued. Even Wang Chong rarely saw them. Moreover, with so many things to take care of, Wang Chong did not have the time to worry about them.

He had not expected Li Junxian to come and visit right before his departure.

A few moments later, Li Junxian came in, dressed in his Confucian robes.

After all the battles he had been through, Li Junxian no longer possessed the appearance of a handsome and refined scholar. He was much thinner and paler, but he also seemed more energetic.

“Brother Li!” Wang Chong said.

“Your Highness!”

Li Junxian respectfully bowed.

“This one has come to send Your Highness off. Your Highness, thank you for giving Li Junxian and the Confucian Sect a chance to correct their mistake.”

Li Junxian spoke with sincerity, and there seemed to be another meaning to his words.

“What? You don’t plan to return to the capital?”

Wang Chong frowned, immediately sensing something.

Wang Chong had believed that Li Junxian had disappeared because he was preparing to rebuild the schools Arabia had destroyed, but once that was settled, he would return to the capital with him.

But it now seemed that Li Junxian had no intention of returning to the Central Plains.

“No.”

Li Junxian shook his head and gave a rather complicated smile.

“Our Confucian Sect has erred too greatly, almost dragging down all the people of the realm. We no longer have the dignity to return to the Central Plains.”

There was a faint bitterness in his voice.

“A recognized mistake can be reformed, and nothing can be better than that. Brother Li, if it is because of this, there is no need to worry. Life is fickle, and who can say that they have never made a mistake? Moreover, the Confucian Sect has redeemed itself through its own actions. If not for your Confucian Sect’s selfless sacrifice to prevent the center from falling, Khatabah would have succeeded,” Wang Chong said.

At the most intense moment of the war of the northwest, when Wang Chong was imprisoned by the High Priest’s Forbidden Art Sea, the battle had reached an extremely dangerous moment. The Nine Dragon Army had been on the verge of being enclosed on both flanks and defeated. If Li Junxian and the members of the Confucian Sect had not thrown themselves fearlessly into the fray, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

“And most importantly, we won. I am confident that everyone who knows the details of that battle will welcome the Confucian Sect as heroes,” Wang Chong said.

“Heh, there is no need for Your Highness to comfort me. Even if our Confucian Sect returned as heroes, even if we obtained everyone’s reverence and respect, deep down, I still cannot forgive myself.

“A mistake is a mistake. This cannot be changed. Those innocents slain in the border incident and the teachers killed by the Arabs were all because of my mistake. This cannot be forgiven.

“As for the war, we were ultimately able to win not because of the Confucian Sect, but because of you, Your Highness! If not for Your Highness, we would have never been able to salvage our mistake.

“For me and the Confucian Sect, from the moment we left the capital, we were prepared to never return. This is our journey of atonement, and it is only beginning.

“Your Highness also need not worry. If the Great Tang is in trouble, the Confucian Sect will appear again. if Your Highness is in peril, I, Li Junxian, will return!” Li Junxian solemnly said.

Wang Chong saw the resolve in Li Junxian’s eyes and knew that he and the Confucian Sect were determined in their ways. He could only sigh at the fact that he could not change their minds.

“Brother Li, take care of yourself!”

He had thousands of things he wanted to say, but he left it at that.

Li Junxian quickly departed.

Wang Chong saw him off and slowly looked into the distance, watching this strange world and empire in a daze.

But soon…

“Return to the capital!”

Wang Chong gave the order, and the entire city of Baghdad began to turn.

A few moments later, Wang Chong boarded his carriage and left Arabia, accompanied by an army of a hundred-thousand-some soldiers.

……

Half a month later, in the capital of the Great Tang…

Boom!

There was a great metal rumbling as the city gates opened. At the same time, a loud cry rang out over the capital.

“King of Foreign Lands!”

“The King of Foreign Lands returns triumphant!”

This excited cry unleashed a great stir in the capital.

Countless people surged out of restaurants, tea houses, and homes into the streets, all of them converging on the western gate.

The area around the gate was a sea of people, their shoulders rubbing against each other.

“Where’s the King of Foreign Lands? Where?”

“The hero of the Great Tang has finally returned!”

“After so long, he’s finally back! Son, let your father show you a real hero!”

“Haha, King of Foreign Lands, this old man knew that you would win! And what do you know—this old man was right! Everyone, take out the fireworks! Be ready to ignite them on my orders!”

“Hahaha, stand aside a bit! Don’t block my view of the King of Foreign Lands!”

The crowd was even more excited than during the festival season, and all of them had beaming expressions that came from their hearts. And there were also many unmarried young women in the crowd.

“Where’s the King of Foreign Lands? Let me see!”

These women at the prime of their youth were both bashful and elated.

Everyone knew that the King of Foreign Lands was still a bachelor. Despite being a mighty hero, he was also young and handsome. What young woman wouldn’t like him?

Bong!

At the same time, bells began to ring within the capital, and numerous civil officials and military generals also began to make their way to the western part of the city.

“Hurry! Go! The King of Foreign Lands is almost here!”

“What? Wait for me! My shoe fell off! We’ll go together!”

“He’s finally here, but so fast! Haha, the heroes of the Great Tang have finally returned!”

The officials boarded their carriage and sped off.

The war of the northwest had long ago extinguished the fires of conflict between the civil and military officials. Everyone who came back from the lands west of the Cong Mountains was a hero of the Great Tang, and Wang Chong held the highest status of all.

He had once more led the army of the Great Tang and saved the empire.

After considering all the humiliation he had suffered during the militarist-Confucian conflict, the people felt only greater respect for him.

It was truly a blessing that they had been born in the same era as this man, a man who would always come forward whenever the empire was in danger, the first to charge into the fray and resolve the crisis.

Moreover, this man had succeeded in rewriting the concept of war in their minds.

For dynasty after dynasty, no matter how wise the sovereign was, war would always be a disaster for the people. The wars would not only devastate the land and populace, they would also force the common people into corvée labor and burden them with heavy taxes.

But Wang Chong’s wars were different.

Five billion taels of gold had already been sent back to the capital, and their arrival had caused a stir in the entire realm.