Frost for a Thousand Years

When Song Shi'an went, he and Ran Jinbing split into two groups, bringing a total of 30,000 imperial guards.

When they returned, 20,000 of the 30,000 Imperial Guards remained, because several thousand more had been allocated to the Duke of Zhangping and Song Ce.

However, in addition to the 20,000 Imperial Guards, he also brought back 15,000 border troops and 30,000 barbarian soldiers.

The procession was twice as large as before.

Wherever the army carrying the Song Dynasty flag went, they were greeted with enthusiastic cheers and feasts.

This left the barbarians dumbfounded.

Not only them, but also the border troops of the former Duke of Zhangping had never seen such a charismatic commander.

Having always stayed in the South, they finally realized the true meaning of the saying that after resolving the issue of the old emperor, the Great Yu world would completely enter the Song Shi'an era.

This is our young Grand Secretary.

Finally, after two months of marching, in June, they arrived at Sheng'an.

When Song Tu finally saw the capital city, which was located more than two miles away from the city, he was dumbfounded.

Stunned and frozen on his horse, he had imagined what Sheng'an City must be like.

It was several times larger than the largest city he had ever seen, Shiting, and its city walls were much higher. But after seeing it in person, he realized what a true 'metropolis' really was.

Looking at it at first glance, Sheng'an seems to have no boundaries, extending beyond the horizon.

The city gate tower stood majestically, like a celestial palace, over ten zhang high.

This single city gate is more luxurious than the royal palace of the Southern Yue royal family.

Previously, he had always thought that Song Shi'an came to their Nanyue because he coveted this land, which had abundant resources and the bravest warriors. Shiting City was also magnificent. But after actually seeing it, he realized how foolish and ridiculous his idea was.

Song Shi'an beat them for only one reason: they were disobedient.

They influenced their crucial duel with Ji Yuan.

"How many stones would it take to build such a large city..."

"Do all the people of Dayu live here?"

"Who could possibly conquer a city like this?"

As a king, Song Tu showed some restraint. But his generals, like country bumpkins entering the city, stared wide-eyed at Sheng An with their mouths agape.

They were incredibly curious about what was inside.

Is there gold everywhere?
"Quiet down, don't embarrass yourself."

Song Tu turned around and glared at his subordinates, giving them a severe scolding.

Even those words were his true feelings.

And so, he followed the army forward.

By this time, the emperor and his officials had already lined up to welcome Song Shi'an.

With only a few hundred steps left, Song Shi'an raised his hand, and the army halted its advance.

Then, he dismounted.

Song Tu looked around and, seeing that the others had also dismounted, immediately followed suit.

"Shi An, I have finally seen you!"

The emperor quickly stepped forward to greet him.

Song Shi'an bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.

At this moment, all the soldiers behind him knelt on one knee and clenched their fists.

The barbarians did as instructed, but lacking discipline, the scene became quite chaotic.

This amused the officials.

The emperor was also very pleased.

But he ignored it and instead held Song Shi'an's elbows with both hands, comforting him with great concern: "You've suffered a lot on your journey to the South, where the mountains and rivers are rugged and the Lingnan region is hot and barren."

"Being able to gain another province for His Majesty makes me feel no hardship," Song Shi'an said with a smile.

"Not only have we gained a province, but we've also gained these 30,000 warriors." The emperor looked at the barbarians behind him.

These people were all dressed in rough clothes, with large areas of their bodies exposed, and their skin was mostly dark or tanned. You could smell them from a great distance.

He must have really disliked it.

But the emperor knew better than anyone how hard these men fought.

Without even shoes, shirtless, holding a splinter and clinging to vines, they floated out of the forest making "whoosh whoosh whoosh" noises. Tell me, wouldn't you be scared?

"Your Majesty, this is the first warrior of our army to break through Shiting. I have bestowed upon him the surname Song." The first thing Song Shi'an did was to introduce Song Tu directly to the emperor, "Song Tu, Prince of Jiaozhou."

Song Tu, who was kneeling on one knee behind, raised his head and looked at the man in the dragon robe, who was much more luxurious than Sun Tuo and seemed to be shining with gold. He swallowed nervously.

But soon, he straightened up, took the initiative to stand up, walked to the emperor who was looking at him, knelt down on both knees, prostrated himself and kowtowed, and said loudly: "Your subject Song Tu pays respects to the Great Emperor!"

The words "Great Emperor" warmed the emperor's heart; he was truly delighted.

He will be unhappy if you call him "Emperor" directly.

But if you add a big word in front of it, the meaning becomes completely different.

It's as if he's not just the emperor of the Great Yu, but the emperor of the entire world.

His rule encompassed the entire land.

"Rise," the emperor said to Song Tu.

Song Tu stood up.

Then, the emperor walked to his side, put his hand on his shoulder, squeezed the oily shoulder muscle, and then squeezed his biceps. He said with great pleasure, "With such a fierce general, how can Ji Yuan possibly contend with me? How can he contend with me!"

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

All the officials simultaneously prostrated themselves in worship.

At this moment, Song Tu, who seemed to have become the focus of the world, suddenly felt his mind go blank. He solemnly promised, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will definitely lead these hundred... brothers from Jiaozhou to the forefront and fight Ji Ze to the death!"

Why did Song Shi'an conduct those obedience tests?

Tell me, wasn't the strategy of throwing four knives at four kings the essence of the game?
With just a simple game, a dog was tamed that is so loyal and goes crazy when it bites.

"Very well, very well." The emperor nodded and said, "You are a Prince Lang, and you are still a Prince Lang, which is equivalent to a prince of the Great Yu royal family. Therefore, I bestow upon you a princely mansion in Sheng'an. Enjoy this wealth and honor."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Song Tu gratefully accepted the reward.

"It was Grand Secretary Song who recommended you to me, and he praised you lavishly in his letter," the emperor said, giving Song Shi'an considerable face.

"Thank you, Young Master Xie!"

Song Tu kowtowed vigorously to Song Shi'an once again.

The king of Nanyue had no airs of a monarch from a friendly nation. In front of his brothers, subordinates, and officials of Dayu, he acted like a loyal dog.

The officials of Dayu were extremely arrogant.

If they were to destroy the Northern Qi and unify the world, they would become the bureaucrats of a great empire.

Although the barbarian tribes' pride was disregarded, their king still possessed a grand palace in the largest city of the Great Yu.

Because of his licking, his hard work, and his fierce killing of the enemy.

Lang Wang has already demonstrated the process of ascending to power.

Just follow along!

"Get up."

Song Shi'an smiled slightly at him.

Song Tu stood up and returned to the ranks. Then, the emperor took Song Shi'an's hand and led him directly onto the imperial carriage.

And so, they returned to the palace in glory.

The soldiers behind them also entered the city one after another.

The people lining both sides of the road were shoulder to shoulder, a vast and bustling crowd, welcoming the royal army.

At the same time, I'm also just watching the spectacle.

"So these are the 30,000 barbarian soldiers that the young Grand Secretary brought back?"

"They're not very tall, but they're all very strong."

"Will one be able to fight and kill enemies while wearing such rattan armor?"

"If I were to equip myself with the armor of my Great Yu and the sharp bow of Great Yu, I would be incredibly powerful in a battle against Ji Yuan."

"Yes, these people, when they start fighting, they're the type to fight relentlessly until one of them is dead."

At this moment, inside the imperial carriage, Song Shi'an was also discussing the matter of the barbarian soldiers with the emperor.

“These 30,000 barbarians are all handpicked by me; they are all strong and fierce warriors,” Song Shi’an said. “Your Majesty, I need you to forge 30,000 suits of armor for them.”

"Thirty thousand pieces of armor?" The emperor was somewhat stunned. "The total number of armors in our Great Yu is only a little over one hundred thousand, and that's not even full armor."

Only the Imperial Guards, the Imperial Household Army, and some elite border troops were allowed to wear armor.

Most of them are half-body armor.

Because this thing is just too expensive.

Song Shi'an had previously assembled seventy-two elite warriors, all fully armored, wearing chainmail and iron masks, which cost him almost half of his savings.

Producing 30,000 sets would require mobilizing the entire nation.

“Your Majesty, I will take all 30,000 men to Beiliang,” Song Shi’an said. “At the time of the decisive battle, our army may not have 300,000 or 400,000 combat troops, but at least 150,000 armored soldiers.”

"150,000 armored soldiers, which means more than 500,000 auxiliary troops and able-bodied laborers." The emperor looked at Song Shi'an, knowing that he was about to speed things up.

However, he didn't quite understand why the speed had been increased so much.

"Your Majesty, I made many plans for this southern expedition, based on the results of this battle," Song Shi'an said to him. "And now, this is the best outcome. The Duke of Zhangping has submitted, the border troops are at our disposal, the Nanyue vassal kings are fighting amongst themselves and suffering heavy casualties, and no one can challenge the authority of my Great Yu anymore. Finally, the 30,000 elite barbarian soldiers have greatly expanded our army's combat strength."

To put it simply, there were some special soldiers during the Three Kingdoms period who were quite remarkable, and they all had certain characteristics.

The White Horse Cavalry was the best light cavalry in the land, and most of them were non-Han people.

The White Feather Soldiers were the elite troops of Shu Han, and were called "the best troops in the west" by Zhuge Liang.

The Xiliang Iron Cavalry, Dong Zhuo's trusted elite troops, had Qin Hu as their core force, with Qiang people making up a significant portion of the force.

The Wudang Flying Army was the elite force of the Shu Han state in its later period, and its members were mostly selected from warriors of the southern tribes.

That's right, these multi-ethnic armies, with their unique totems and symbols, are the most damn fierce in battle.

From the perspective of soldiers in the Central Plains, if they could farm peacefully and have enough to eat, who would want to go to war?

But the soldiers from other tribes basically shared a consensus—if they didn't fight, they wouldn't have anything to eat.

Making meritorious contributions is their only way to survive.

"Alright." The emperor agreed to Song Shi'an's request, but said, "But you need to get this approved by the cabinet and have Grand Secretary Ouyang and others backing you before I can cooperate with you."

"With Your Majesty's words, I am relieved," Song Shi'an said.

"You've probably heard that Wusheng did a great job with land reclamation in Huai County," the emperor said jokingly.

"Your Highness is truly a genius. You have never engaged in farming before, yet you have been able to complete the large-scale agricultural settlement project so smoothly." Song Shi'an was also pleasantly surprised.

He sent Wei Wusheng over purely because this valuable asset could only be controlled by him and Wei Wusheng, and could not be given to anyone else.

Unexpectedly, this young man, along with his sister, actually became farmers there. And it wasn't just for show; he worked the land alongside millions of other laborers every day.

This year's per capita harvest is estimated to be even greater than last year's.

“Because Wusheng has a sincere heart,” the emperor said. “With this sincere heart, he will succeed in whatever he does.”

"What Your Majesty said is truly insightful."

Upon reflection, Song Shi'an realized that it was indeed true.

Was Wei Wusheng a good fighter?
No, but at the time he dared to charge up the city wall with a shield to boost morale.

Did Wei Wusheng understand the lives of people living at the bottom of society?
He didn't have that opportunity, but in Beiliang, he simply cut off his own hand and said that he was one of the three hundred soldiers.

Finally, did he ever become emperor?

No, but his sexual relations with his partner were so harmonious.

It's true, a sincere heart can overcome any difficulty.

"Hahaha," the emperor laughed heartily.

"Your Majesty, I believe we should hold the morning court session as soon as possible to establish..."

"Shi'an, don't rush," the emperor interrupted him, saying, "Although you haven't been able to see the person you've been longing for in Huai County lately, you must be eager to go to the other person you've been longing for, right?"

Song Shi'an nodded and smiled slightly, feeling a bit awkward about what was being said.

Then, the emperor directly ordered: "Send the young Grand Secretary back to his residence first."

"Your Majesty, this is improper..."

"Go ahead, your family matters are also matters of great importance to the world."

With such a grand triumphant ceremony, the emperor skipped many procedures and sent Song Shi'an home.

He returned home quite happily.

The first thing to do was to visit my parents.

However, Song Shi'an completed the task very easily, as if it were a simple check-in.

Then, he couldn't wait to go to his bedroom.

However, as soon as the door was opened, they saw Xinyue sitting on the bed with her large pregnant belly. Opposite her sat a girl, whose abdomen was being gently stroked by Xinyue.

This is Sun Jinhua.

They both looked at Song Shi'an, and Sun Jinhua's cheeks were completely flushed.

"Xinyue..."

Before Song Shi'an could finish speaking, Xin Yue calmly interrupted, "Young Grand Secretary, you are truly remarkable; your aim is flawless."

That's right, Sun Jinhua is pregnant too.

But there's really no other way; he's been away for too long.

"Madam, is our son about to be born?" Song Shi'an asked with a smile as he sat down beside her.

"And what about the other lady?" Xin Yue persisted, "The one who's a little darker-skinned."

“That was a gift I was going to give to the emperor.”

"So you admit you're the lady?"

"Hey you!"

After Song Shi'an was pushed to his limit, Xin Yue finally smiled. She looked at Song Shi'an with affection, not at all like he had imagined, and not at all like someone who would be jealous and angry for a long time.

"Finally, I've met you."

Song Shi'an gently embraced Xin Yue, resting her head on his shoulder, feeling incredibly happy.

This scene also warmed the heart of Sun Jinhua, who was standing in front of her.

Xin Yue closed her eyes and said warmly, "Welcome home." (End of Chapter)