Chapter 7 The General of the Shang Kingdom
The Drill Ground was packed to bursting today.
Inside were nobles, while outside stood scholars and gentlemen. The total crowd numbered at least ten thousand.
This was typical of the city at that time.
Every city resident was either an aristocrat or a scholar.
At the very centre of the Drill Ground sat Zhang Yang and his two companions.
Zhang Yang sat cross-legged, his eyes half-closed, as if feigning sleep.
Heitu and Guan stood on either side of him.
Heitu appeared relatively calm.
But Guan seemed rather uneasy.
When he was in the Yan Kingdom, he had never seen a scene like this—over ten thousand people gathered, scrutinising and commenting.
“Are those the three of them?”
“Yes. The one sitting down should be the cultivator claiming to be at the Blood Horse realm.”
“Impossible!”
“How old does he look?”
“Exactly—he looks no more than about twenty, maybe even younger. How could he possibly be a Blood Horse realm cultivator?”
“Right. Even according to ancient records, the youngest Blood Horse realm cultivator is over thirty, let alone nowadays. A twenty-year-old Blood Horse realm is practically a myth.”
“They’ve got some nerve, daring to con us in the Shang Kingdom.”
“Hmph, once Lady of Shang arrives, those three frauds will get what’s coming to them.”
“Exactly. They’re practically bringing all sorts of riff-raff to scam in our Shang Kingdom.”
“Lady of Shang has arrived~~~”
“The Sovereign has arrived~~~”
Amid the crowd’s chatter, an exquisitely crafted carriage appeared not far off.
Drawn by four horses, it moved steadily forward.
Surrounding the carriage were dozens of guards.
At the sight of the carriage, the crowd quickly parted, clearing the way to allow it to pass unhindered onto the Drill Ground.
The carriage came to a halt right in front of Zhang Yang and his two companions.
As palace maids stepped forward and opened the carriage door, the Lady of Shang emerged before the three men.
A woman of supreme beauty and noble grace emerged.
Her eyebrows arched like distant mountains veiled in blue, yet their tips knit slightly together, resembling the thin ice barely thawed in early spring, lending a hint of shy charm.
Her almond-shaped eyes held a soft haze, the irises like black jade soaked in warm water; when she looked over, it seemed as if she carried unspoken words that stirred the heart with pity.
“Are you the warriors who answered the call?” the Lady of Shang asked in a soft, delicate voice.
Heitu and Guan were taken aback by her beauty, momentarily stunned before they recovered.
They quickly bowed respectfully to her.
“I am Heitu, from the Yan Kingdom,” one said.
“This is our master, Zhang Yang,” added the other.
As they introduced themselves, Zhang Yang slowly opened his eyes, as if rousing from a light sleep.
The moment his eyes opened, a sharp, brilliant light shot out, like a sword piercing directly towards the Lady of Shang.
The fragile woman could hardly withstand such an intense gaze.
Her eyes locked onto Zhang Yang’s, instantly feeling as if pricked by needles. She gasped softly and turned her face aside.
Zhang Yang rose to his feet, his aura surging wildly, carrying the sound of a thousand horses thundering across the ground. His clothes billowed about him as if stirred by a windless breeze.
At that moment, no explanation was needed — waves of astonished voices rose up immediately.
“The Blood Horse realm! He has truly reached the Blood Horse realm!”
“Goodness, could this man be a descendant of the gods? How else could someone so young have mastered such profound cultivation?”
“Incredible! Such divine power is far beyond the reach of ordinary mortals.”
“If it weren’t with my own eyes, it would be unbelievable. Who would have thought the world could harbour such a young grandmaster?”
Zhang Yang clasped his hands and bowed. “A wandering scholar, Zhang Yang, pays his respects to Lady of Shang.”
The Lady of Shang listened to the murmurs of surprise around her, feelings of joy and astonishment mingling in her heart.
If she could win the support of a cultivator at the Blood Horse realm, even if the Shang Kingdom could not reclaim its former glory, it would at least secure its survival.
She turned once more to look at Zhang Yang. Seeing his extraordinary bearing, with rosy lips and white teeth, she felt even more delighted.
Lady of Shang smiled and said, “It is truly fortunate for the Shang Kingdom to have the assistance of Mr Zhang.”
“Your talents are evident for all to see; there is no need for further testing.”
“Please, sir, accompany me back to the palace.”
“I will summon the High Ministers to welcome and entertain you.”
Zhang Yang, having achieved his goal, naturally had no reason to refuse.
He readily agreed, “I dare not decline Lady’s kind invitation.”
“Please, my lady.”
Lady of Shang nodded gently, her gaze warm and kind.
That day, Lady of Shang invited the High Ministers of the Shang Kingdom to the royal palace for a banquet, and the atmosphere was notably harmonious. In just over a decade, the Shang Kingdom had lost three-quarters of its territory, and countless noble High Ministers had fallen into decline.
With the Marquis of Shang now deceased, it was clear to almost everyone that a crisis was looming for the Shang Kingdom.
The Jing Kingdom would never let such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by.
Could the Shang Kingdom, in its current weakened state, hold back the Jing Kingdom?
Even the most optimistic dared not give a definitive answer.
At such a time, the arrival of a powerful figure seeking refuge was considered a blessing for the Shang Kingdom.
Therefore, everyone treated Zhang Yang with considerable friendliness.
After the banquet, it became known that Zhang Yang had recently arrived and had no place to live.
The Lady of Shang granted him a house, along with six beauties, a hundred slaves, provisions, and a quantity of fine silks and brocades.
Three days later, after consulting with the court’s High Ministers, the Lady of Shang granted Zhang Yang the military title of General, appointing him to train the army and lead it in battle. At this point, Zhang Yang truly became a part of the Shang Kingdom.
Time flew by, and before long, six months had passed.
During this half-year, Zhang Yang focused on two things.
First: training the army.
Second: developing his system of martial arts.
Yes, martial arts.
After six months of exploration and reflection, Zhang Yang finally reached a conclusion.
The so-called Prayer Dance was by no means the source of a shaman’s power.
Compared to the effects of the Prayer Dance, the martial arts of his previous life were far more effective, boosting cultivation efficiency by roughly two to five times.
The exact improvement varied from person to person. In less than a year following him, Heitu had already advanced from having skin as tough as leather to reaching the realm where tendons and bones are like bronze.
Guan’s cultivation was originally not as strong as Heitu’s, but he had also reached the threshold of this bronze-like tendon and bone stage.
This made the two of them revere Zhang Yang as a god.
Besides Heitu and Guan, the number of Zhang Yang’s disciples had grown significantly.
In total, there were five hundred!
This was another of his remarkable achievements.
Professional soldiers!
In this era, there were no professional soldiers.
So-called soldiers were farmers in peacetime, only taking up arms for war.
Zhang Yang rejected the old convention of being a farmer in times of peace and a soldier in times of war, instead assembling a professional army of five hundred men. These five hundred men had only one task to perform.
Train.
Train.
And train some more!
However, their training was unlike that of ordinary states.
In this age, war chariots were the rulers of the battlefield.
The strength of a nation was judged primarily by how many war chariots it possessed.
A country with a hundred chariots.
A country with a thousand chariots.
That was how such titles came about. The Shang Kingdom once boasted seven hundred war chariots, earning the title of a kingdom with a thousand chariots—one of the great feudal powers in the land. Now, only two hundred war chariots remained, a severe decline in strength.
Zhang Yang, armed with knowledge from a past life, keenly understood which military units truly dominated the era of cold weapons.
Cavalry!
He abandoned the current mainstream force—the war chariot—and invented the stirrup and saddle, training five hundred disciples to specialise in mounted archery, with long spears as a secondary weapon, under rigorous discipline.
With the enhancement of their martial arts, these five hundred men made rapid progress.
In just half a year, they had become competent cavalry, with the top two hundred showing exceptional skill in mounted archery.
However, Zhang Yang's decision was not universally welcomed.
Doubts and criticisms filled the Shang Kingdom’s ranks.
Yet, Lady of Shang quashed all these objections. Because war was imminent!
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