My Imperial Advisor is ChatGPT

Chapter 48 I'm building a service area in the desert, while you're carrying out an embargo

The Hexi Corridor, 300 li west of Yumen Pass.

This place was once a desolate Gobi desert where even ghosts wouldn't set foot, with only tumbleweeds helplessly rolling under the scorching sun. But now, a building stands here, not grand, but certainly eye-catching.

It was a large courtyard enclosed by rammed earth and poplar wood. A tall flagpole stood at the entrance, with an apricot-yellow flag fluttering in the wind. Embroidered on it were four strong and powerful characters, along with a line of crooked phonetic annotations:

【Daqin First Service Area】

At the entrance to the courtyard, Liu Bang was lying on a specially made reclining chair, his face covered with a palm-leaf fan to shield him from the scorching midday sun. On a small table beside him was a pot of cool tea and a plate of sliced ​​cantaloupe (the seeds had been sent back by Zhang Qian by fast horse and had just been successfully cultivated in Guazhou).

"Cheer up, everyone!" Liu Bang grumbled through the gap in his palm-leaf fan. "Fan Kuai, hang that 'Free Hot Water' sign higher! And make sure the red carpet over the 'VIP Members' lane is spotless! Don't let our camel drivers think our Qin Dynasty is uncouth!"

Fan Kuai, shirtless, was directing several men to feed passing camels. He wiped his sweat, looking puzzled. "Brother," he said, "what does 'Wei Ai Pi' even mean? Isn't it just a sign saying 'eat first, no waiting in line'? How can it sell for a thousand dollars apiece?"

"You know nothing." Liu Bang sat up, took a bite of cantaloupe, and said, "This is called 'honor.' This is called 'privilege.' Those merchants from the Western Regions, and those hotheads from our Qin who go out to explore, which one of them doesn't value face more than their life?"

"Think about it, in this vast desert, far from any village or shop, while everyone else is eating dry rations in the wind and sand, you can just hold this little wooden sign and enter our private room, take a hot bath, eat a bowl of hot mutton soup, and even get a full massage from a camel... Is this thousand coins a waste?"

Fan Kuai scratched his head: "It sounds like a good deal. But brother, business seems a bit slow lately. Fewer caravans are heading west, but more are escaping back from the west."

As they were talking, dust billowed in the distance.

A small caravan of only a dozen or so people rushed over in a disheveled state. The camels were wounded, most of their cargo boxes were missing, and the leader, covered in blood, collapsed to the ground and wept as soon as he entered the service area.

"Boss Liu! Magistrate Liu! Help!"

Liu Bang frowned and quickly went over to help the man up.

"What happened? Did we encounter a sandstorm? Or bandits?"

"They're not bandits! They're Huns!" the merchant cried. "It's that Modu Chanyu! He's set up a checkpoint at Xingxing Gorge ahead!"

He said, "This road was opened by me, and these trees were planted by me. If you want to pass through this road, you are not allowed to bring any goods from the Great Qin!"

"He burned all our silk! He smashed all our porcelain! And he even said... anyone who dared to transport horses to the Qin Dynasty would have their legs cut off!"

Liu Bang's face instantly darkened.

He narrowed his shrewd eyes and looked toward the western horizon.

"Well, kid, you've learned how to impose 'trade embargoes' now?"

"This is cutting off my source of income!"

Liu Bang took out the "Xianyang Market Magistrate" waist token from his pocket and weighed it in his hand.

"Fan Kuai".

"exist!"

"Send a telegram to Xianyang. Use that... the most urgent red light."

"Tell His Majesty that someone is trying to extort protection money from him along the Silk Road. We can't do this deal anymore."

……

Xianyang Palace, Imperial Garden.

Ying Zheng was standing under an old locust tree, doing his daily "eye exercises." He closed his eyes, gently massaging his temples with his fingers, and chanting in rhythm, "One, two, three, four, two, two, three, four..."

Since that "light signal tower" was installed, his eyesight has indeed deteriorated a bit, mainly from reading reports at night.

"His Majesty."

Zhao Gao hurried over, holding a newly decoded urgent report in his hands.

"Urgent telegram from Yumen Pass. Sent by Liu Bang."

Ying Zheng stopped what he was doing, opened his eyes, and took the paper.

He glanced at it, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Modu has made progress."

"Knowing they can't win in a direct confrontation, they've started resorting to underhanded tactics. Are they trying to block trade routes? Are they trying to turn the Western Regions into their backyard?"

Ying Zheng crumpled the urgent report into a ball and casually threw it into the nearby fishpond, startling several koi carp.

"Little G".

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"In this situation, sending a large army would probably not be worthwhile. The journey is long, and logistics would be a bottomless pit. Moreover, that kid Modu is as slippery as an eel; he runs away as soon as the army arrives and comes back as soon as the army withdraws."

Yes, Your Majesty. This is a classic example of guerrilla warfare combined with an economic blockade.

Dealing with this kind of manipulative tactic is too costly with conventional warfare.

[Recommended tactics: proxy warfare or... special operations.]

You don't need to destroy his army; you just need to make him feel the pain, to make him realize that the cost of blocking trade routes far outweighs the benefits.

Alternatively, you could send an elite squad to carry out a "decapitation strike" or a "sabotage operation."

Ying Zheng's eyes lit up.

"Special operations?"

"I like this word."

He turned to look at Xiang Yu, who was feeding the fish with bread crumbs by the fishpond.

Since the Battle of Shoujiang City, Xiang Yu had been idle in Xianyang. Although he held the title of "Chief Instructor of the Qin Royal Military Academy," this fierce tiger was clearly going crazy from boredom. It was said that yesterday, out of sheer boredom, he wrestled with a frightened bull at the city gate, broke its neck, and had to pay the farmer three thousand coins in compensation.

"Xiang Ji," Ying Zheng called out.

Xiang Yu turned around abruptly, his double pupils gleaming with longing.

"Your Majesty! Is it time for war? I need to take the Ironclad Cavalry with me!"

"No." Ying Zheng shook his head. "This time, we won't use the Iron Pagoda."

Xiang Yu's eyes dimmed instantly: "Then why did you call me? If it's about building roads or houses, go find Fusu."

"The Ironclad Cavalry can't go on this mission." Ying Zheng walked up to Xiang Yu and lowered his voice. "I want you to go to the Western Regions. But not as a general, but as... a 'bodyguard'."

"Bodyguard?" Xiang Yu felt insulted. "Me, the mighty Hegemon-King of Western Chu... uh, the Supreme General of Qin, sent to guard someone's house?"

"Not ordinary bodyguards." A sly glint flashed in Ying Zheng's eyes. "They're going to be 'security advisors' for Liu Bang's caravan."

"I grant you permission to lead eight hundred men. No heavy armor, just light cavalry. Each man should have two horses, the best repeating crossbows, and the kind of 'hand grenades' that Zhang Liangzao made."

"You only have one task."

Ying Zheng pointed to the west.

"Go to Xingxingxia, go to Loulan, go to Dayuan."

"Remove all the checkpoints set up by Modu Chan."

"You shall retrieve all the horses that Modu seized for me."

"Any king who dares to follow Modu in blocking the trade routes of the Qin Dynasty..."

Ying Zheng made a throat-slitting gesture.

"You know what I mean."

As Xiang Yu listened, his eyes gradually brightened.

This sounds... more interesting than leading tens of thousands of people in a battle?

"Is this... a wandering knight?" Xiang Yu asked.

"No, this is called 'Special Forces'," Ying Zheng corrected. "Code name: Wolf Pack."

"Go. Let the people of the Western Regions see whether the Xiongnu's scimitars are faster or the Qin's 'security' is stronger."

Xiang Yu grinned, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

"Yes, Your Majesty! Rest assured, I will not be a Xiang Yu if I do not thoroughly punish Modu Chanyu!"

……

Three days later, a strange group quietly left Xianyang.

They did not fly the banner of the Great Qin, nor did they wear standard military uniforms. Instead, they wore various kinds of Hu clothing, making them look like a large mercenary group.

Xiang Yu rode on his prized black horse, wearing a black sheepskin vest that revealed his well-developed muscles. He carried a specially made, detachable and combinable long steel sword on his back, and a string of dark iron lumps hung from his waist.

"Brother, isn't our outfit a bit too... bandit-like?" Long Qie, standing next to him, tugged at his headscarf, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Bandits?" Xiang Yu sneered. "We are bandits now."

"His Majesty said we are employees of the 'Great Qin Security Company.' Our main business is: demolition, debt collection, and providing assistance."

"Let's go! To that First Service Area, to meet up with that old rogue Liu Bang!"

……

Meanwhile, in the Western Regions, at Xingxing Gorge.

This is the only way to enter the Western Regions from the Hexi Corridor. There are steep stone walls on both sides and a narrow passage in the middle.

At this moment, the passage has been blocked by the Xiongnu.

Maodun was not here personally; the one in charge of guarding the area was his trusted general, the Left Grand Commandant.

He was sitting on a large rock in the middle of the road, gnawing on a leg of lamb, with a row of detained merchants from the Western Regions kneeling in front of him.

"Listen up, all of you!" The Left Grand Commandant pointed his sword at the merchants. "The Great Chanyu has ordered that anything from Qin is poison! It's garbage! It's forbidden to transport it!"

"But... Your Majesty, we've already paid! That silk was commissioned by the Queen of Loulan..." a merchant said with a mournful face.

"Enough with the nonsense!" The Left Grand Captain kicked him to the ground. "Burn it! Burn it all!"

Several Hun soldiers, carrying torches, grinned as they approached the camels laden with goods.

Just then.

"Ding ding ding..."

A rapid, crisp sound of horses' hooves came from the mouth of the canyon to the east.

The Left Grand Commandant looked up and saw a troop of cavalry charging out from the swirling yellow sand.

There were only a few hundred people. And judging from their attire, they were flashy and didn't look like a regular army; they looked more like bandits from somewhere.

"Who are they? Don't they want to live?" the Left Grand Commandant roared. "Go, stop them! Kill the men, leave the horses!"

A troop of Xiongnu cavalry charged forward.

The distance between the two sides quickly closed.

Five hundred steps. Three hundred steps.

"Fire!" The Xiongnu cavalrymen habitually drew their bows and nocked arrows.

However, the "bandits" opposite them neither slowed down nor dodged. They simply raised a strange object from their horses in unison.

It was a short and powerful crossbow.

"Boom boom boom—!"

A barrage of crossbow bolts rained down like a storm.

This crossbow had an extremely high rate of fire and terrifying power. The Huns' leather armor was like paper in front of it.

The Xiongnu cavalry at the forefront fell in droves in an instant.

"These are... Qin crossbows?!" The Left Grand Commandant exclaimed in shock, "The Qin army is here?"

But it's not over yet.

When the band of "bandits" had charged within a hundred paces, the burly man leading them, who was as tall as an iron tower, suddenly took a dark object from his waist, bit off the fuse with his teeth, wiped it on the saddle, and then threw it over violently.

"What's that? A stone?" The Left Grand Commandant was taken aback.

The black lump traced an arc in the air and landed precisely in the group of Huns.

"boom--!!!"

A loud bang.

Flames shot into the sky, and rubble flew everywhere.

The Left Grand Commandant felt a wave of heat hit him, and his warhorse reared up in shock, throwing him hard to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, more explosions rang out.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Within the narrow Xingxing Gorge, it seemed to instantly transform into a thunder pool.

The Hun warhorses, who had never seen gunpowder before, went completely mad, scattering and trampling each other.

Amidst the smoke and fire, the towering, muscular man had already charged towards them.

Xiang Yu held a long sword, as tall as a man, in one hand, and with the speed of his horse, he cleaved the Xiongnu soldiers blocking his way as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

"Those who block my way shall die!!"

Xiang Yu's roar echoed through the canyon, even more chilling than the sound of the explosion.

As soon as the Left Grand Commandant got up from the ground, he saw a huge black horse rushing towards him, its long sword raised high, blocking out the sunlight.

"Who...who are you?" the Left Grand Commandant asked, trembling.

Xiang Yu pulled on the reins, and the warhorse reared up, letting out a neigh.

"I've got it."

Xiang Yu looked down from his high vantage point, his eyes like knives.

"I am a salesperson from Daqin Security Company..."

"I'm here... for demolition!"

Knife up and down.

……

Half an hour later.

The checkpoint at Xingxingxia was completely dismantled. The detained merchants stared in disbelief as these "security guards," who seemed like gods descending from heaven, helped them reload their goods onto camels.

Xiang Yu sat on the large rock where the Left Grand Commandant had just sat, wiping the blood off his sword.

Liu Bang suddenly appeared from behind.

"Wow! Brother Xiang! Amazing! Absolutely amazing!" Liu Bang gave a thumbs up. "Your professional skills are impeccable! Five stars!"

"Enough nonsense." Xiang Yu glared at him. "The men are dead, the road is clear. Where to next?"

Liu Bang chuckled and took out a map.

"Don't rush. This is just the beginning."

"Look here, Loulan. I heard that the King of Loulan is a bit wavering lately, trying to flirt with Maodun."

"We need to do some 'ideological work' on him."

"How do I do it?"

"Simple." Liu Bang pointed to the remaining grenades at Xiang Yu's waist.

"Let's go and renovate the walls of his palace."

"Let him know that sometimes walls can't stop 'truth'."

……

Meanwhile, further west, there was the kingdom of Dayuan.

Maodun is selecting the best stallions at the horse farm.

Suddenly, he felt his eyelid twitch.

"What's going on? Why do I have a bad feeling?"

Just then, a scout covered in blood rushed in.

"Great Chanyu! It's terrible! Xingxing Gorge has fallen!"

"What? The Qin army is coming in a large force?" Maodun exclaimed in surprise.

"No...it wasn't a large force," the scout cried, "just a few hundred! But...but that leader was terrifying! He chased after hundreds of us and hacked them to pieces! And they could throw 'palm grenades'!"

Maodun's face instantly darkened.

"Several hundred people?"

"An elite squad?"

Maodun clenched his fist.

"Ying Zheng... are you playing Assassin's Creed with me?"

"Okay. Since you want to play, I'll play with you."

Maodun turned to look at Zhao Cheng beside him.

"Mr. Zhao, how's the improvement of your landmines coming along?"

Zhao Cheng smiled sinisterly: "Great Chanyu, rest assured. This time I've added iron nails and poison. I guarantee those so-called 'security guards' won't return alive."

Amidst the sandstorms of the Western Regions, a battle between special forces and terrorists has officially begun.

The outcome of this contest will determine who is the true master of the Silk Road.