41. Integrity

Although Wang Bo was displeased, he still held a somber farewell banquet for Zhang Liao. Facing the contemptuous gazes of the generals of Xinghan, Zhang Liao could only smile wryly. After bidding Wang Bo a deep and respectful farewell, he set off on his journey back to Bing Province.

After Zhang Liao’s departure, the Xinghan Army’s routines quickly returned to normal, and Wang Bo devoted his energy wholeheartedly to the grand plan of making Xinghan City self-reliant and prosperous.

Xinghan City already had a number of artisans, all of whom Wang Bo had painstakingly lured here. Most were folk craftsmen, people of humble status who honed their skills only to supplement their families' income during the slack farming season. Their abilities were limited to simple tasks. But those sent by Ding Yuan were different: they had been requisitioned from official workshops or powerful households. In modern terms, they were professional craftsmen.

These skilled workers greatly bolstered the various workshops of Xinghan City. Many projects Wang Bo had long wished to undertake, but could not for lack of expertise, now progressed smoothly with their participation. In fact, it had not been long since their arrival when the craftsmen responsible for mineral exploration discovered a modest iron ore deposit at the site of the former Zhongling County, several dozen miles to the south. The ore was close to the surface and easy to mine.

Upon receiving this good news, Wang Bo immediately ordered the labor battalion to open a road dedicated to transporting iron ore and smelted iron. Once construction was complete, Xinghan City would be capable of forging its own weapons and iron tools. With Wang Bo’s guidance, both quality and efficiency would greatly improve. However, due to limited output, the city’s growing needs could not be fully met; a large quantity of iron ingots still had to be acquired from passing merchant caravans.

After the New Year, as the demands of Xinghan City increased, so did the number of merchant caravans coming and going. Recognizing the vital importance of these caravans and wishing to encourage more trade, Wang Bo convened all major and minor merchant groups for a joyous conference, where he announced new measures favorable to commerce and solemnly promised: Xinghan City would always safeguard the interests of law-abiding traders.

All goods traded with the Xinghan Army would be exempt from any taxes. Caravans passing through Xinghan on their way to Yunzhong or Shuofang would only pay minimal taxes based on the nature of their cargo. Those with close ties to the Xinghan Army would even be provided with armed escorts along the route from Yuhu Pass to Yanmen and Dai Commandery.

At the meeting, Wang Bo also introduced several new transactional policies: first, Xinghan City would accept refugees from anywhere. As long as merchant caravans brought refugees to Xinghan City, all expenses incurred en route would be covered by the city, with payments made per head and additional rewards based on distance and the condition of the refugees.

Additionally, the purchase prices for iron ingots and grain were raised to nearly double the previous rates, with prices increasing further for larger quantities.

Most importantly, restrictions on the trade of warhorses were relaxed. Merchant caravans could now buy warhorses not only from the Hu tribes but also directly from the Xinghan Army, though the number and quality would be regulated.

After the meeting, Wang Bo detained Wang An, head of the Wang family caravan, and handed him a list. He asked him to use the Wang family's influence and shops throughout Bing, Ji, You, and Qing provinces to seek out the people named on the list, including their addresses and current status—the more detailed the better. Other caravans or forces could be enlisted for this task if needed; Wang Bo cared only for the result, not the process. For each person found, Wang Bo promised generous rewards; if any could be recruited to Xinghan City, the reward would be so lavish that even the worldly-wise Wang An could not refuse.

When Wang An shot him a probing look, Wang Bo simply explained: the individuals on the list were all exceptional talents crucial to Xinghan City. In truth, the list was based on Wang Bo’s memories of famous figures from the Three Kingdoms era.

Once Wang An nodded solemnly, Wang Bo discussed another matter with him.

Following the great battle at Yunuguan, Chen Dao’s intelligence work had also begun. From among the slaves returned by the Xianbei, he selected many who had previously worked in various trades. All of them, without exception, were loyal to Xinghan City and quick-witted; they had undergone months of secret training by Chen Dao and were now ready to be deployed.

After a discussion, Wang Bo and Wang An decided to open a series of taverns and furniture shops throughout Bing Province under the Wang family’s name, with funding provided by Xinghan City. The Wang family’s sole responsibility was to act as the public face and provide occasional support. Ten percent of the profits would go each to the Wang family and Wang An, but they were strictly forbidden from interfering in the shops' operations or leaking any information. Wang Bo made it clear: if the Wang family’s actions caused significant losses to Xinghan City, the Xinghan Army would erase the Wang family from Bing Province.

Initially overjoyed, Wang An shrank back in fear after this threat from the usually courteous Wang Bo, and though he wished to back out, Wang Bo’s half-smiling gaze left him no room to refuse. Inwardly, he cursed: So this young master is a smiling tiger! All my caution was for nothing; I’ve boarded a pirate ship! If I say no, I might not even know where I’ll be dead by tomorrow!

A few days after sending off the heads of the merchant caravans, Wang Bo welcomed his first official post—an appointment from Emperor Ling of Han, the supreme ruler of the era.

Ding Yuan had kept his promise. As early as the previous year, he had joined with Wang Yun, then the Inspector of Yuzhou, to recommend Wang Bo to Emperor Ling as Governor of Dingxiang Commandery. However, eunuchs who had not received their bribes blocked the appointment. Although Emperor Ling was delighted to hear of Wang Bo’s two victories over the Hu, which resulted in tens of thousands of enemy killed or captured—the greatest feat against the Hu since Emperor Ming—he was swayed by Zhang Rang and other sycophants. In the end, Wang Bo was only hastily appointed as the minor magistrate of Xinghan County, with the honorary title of “Marquis Who Repels the Hu.” No court envoy was dispatched to deliver the edict, nor was there any mention of the customary reward of several hundred taels of silver.

When the imperial edict reached the provincial governor’s office in Bing Province, Ding Yuan, known for his uprightness, did not hold a grudge against Wang Bo for having previously intercepted his cavalry; instead, he added several hundred taels of his own silver to ensure the imperial order reached Xinghan City, giving Wang Bo a firsthand experience of Han dynasty loyalty.

The bloody battle at Yunuguan, after months of ferment and deliberate exaggeration by merchant caravans, had spread throughout the northern provinces of the Han by the new year. It greatly inspired the people of Bing, You, and Ji, long tormented by raids from the steppe nomads, as well as the Han officials of various counties and enlightened noble families, who discussed it with relish.

In the folk tales and storytelling of the common people, the Xinghan Army was transformed into fearsome heavenly warriors, and Wang Bo himself was said to have three heads and six arms, drinking Hu blood and using their heads as drinking bowls. Although the listeners knew these were fabrications, they enjoyed the tales and were greatly uplifted.

Of course, some decried Wang Bo as a reincarnated demon, claiming that to pile tens of thousands of skulls into a grisly mound was the height of cruelty, a wicked act that violated the natural order and could only be the work of a barbaric brute. But such critics were mostly frail scholars and idle philosophers.

Meanwhile, wandering knights and hot-blooded men from all over regarded Wang Bo as an idol, flocking to Xinghan City to join his army. The turmoil caused by the Black Mountain Army in Ji and Bing provinces had created a great number of refugees who, having heard that life was peaceful and prosperous in Xinghan City—and with many of its people formerly labeled as rebels—now made their way there in a steady stream.

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Wang immediately tossed the imperial edict, bearing the emperor’s jade seal, to the curious generals and ordered crack troops to go forth under the guise of merchants, establishing refugee shelters in Dai Commandery and within Yanmen Pass to receive the constant flow of people. Notices were posted in every county: anyone who aided passing refugees would be richly rewarded by Xinghan City.

The great merchant families of the north had long coveted Xinghan wine, and the noble clans were intrigued by the city’s new-style furniture. As a result, they were willing to offer some convenience to the refugees and did not obstruct or mistreat them. Wang Bo also instructed the Wang family caravans to express his thanks. Wealthy merchants from all over, eager to establish ties, sent trusted agents to Xinghan City to meet Wang Bo, including members of the famous Zhen family of Zhongshan Wujie from his previous life. Wang Bo received them all courteously and agreed to trade his wine.

The weather soon turned warm, and the farming season approached. Wang Bo had already arranged for the laborers he had supported through the winter to begin reclaiming land under the supervision of the logistics corps, preparing for organized farming. The two rivers running through Xinghan territory were a godsend for irrigation, and the lands along their banks, once left dry, were transformed into fertile fields by the cheerful turning of waterwheels.

The waterwheel and the curved-beam plow were Wang Bo’s great contributions to this era—marvels that others could not even conceive. Yet all Wang Bo had done was spend a few hours with the artisans, and then, to the stunned admiration of the people, he left quietly, taking with him countless looks of awe and a deep sense of satisfaction as a once-insignificant man from another world.

In the first days of agricultural labor, Wang Bo, as the supreme leader of Xinghan City, personally led his generals in the fields to show his respect for farming, allowing the common people to witness his closeness to them.

Thus, on those bright spring fields, the citizens of Xinghan, their faces alight with happiness and hope, could be seen digging canals, building waterwheels, and driving oxen to plow the land. The rushing river mirrored their energetic forms.

With the extensive use of animal power, tens of thousands of Xinghan citizens reclaimed thousands of acres of land along the river in a matter of days. Even the banks outside Yunuguan and Yuhu Pass were turned into fields suitable for growing grain. Ashes and animal and human manure were added as fertilizer, and the new fields were irrigated by channels and waterwheels—everything ready for spring sowing.

As soon as these labors eased, the people set their sights on the lands around Xinghan. In a few days, the once-desolate areas of Zhongling and Wujin had become a network of fertile fields. In particular, Zhongling County—despite being near the upper reaches of the Hun River—had such a large difference in elevation between the water and the banks that irrigation seemed impossible. Yet the people, longing for good farmland, pressed the craftsmen to use vast amounts of timber and iron to build a giant waterwheel several times larger than usual.

The people, buoyed by enthusiasm, wanted to reclaim even more land in areas such as Wucheng, Luo County, and Jiling, which the Xianbei had abandoned. But Wang Bo stopped them, knowing that these places, though once part of Dingxiang Commandery and near rivers, lay at the southeastern edge of the steppe: flat, open, and impossible to defend. He had already decided to lead the Xinghan Army in an attack on the Xianbei in Yunzhong at the end of summer or the beginning of autumn, which would surely provoke a fierce counterattack. Any fields reclaimed there would only be destroyed.

In the end, Wang Bo could not bear to dampen the people’s high spirits, so he ordered a city to be built on the site of old Zhongling, restoring it to its former status. This would also accommodate some of the newly arrived refugees and prevent Xinghan City from becoming overcrowded. He also ordered the labor corps to reinforce the defenses of Wujin County, building new walls and a moat outside the original city. In a short time, Wujin became a stronghold for the Xinghan Army’s advance on Yunzhong.

With the farming system on track, Wang Bo turned his attention to preparations for war against the Xianbei.

Since he intended to take the offensive, both siege and field battles would be unavoidable. Given the current strength of the Xinghan Army, Wang Bo was confident of defeating the Xianbei, but casualties would be high. Now was the Xianbei’s weakest moment in Yunzhong; as the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot! Wang Bo did not want to miss this golden opportunity. The key, then, was to improve their weaponry.

For siege warfare, the first thing Wang Bo thought of was the siege tower.

At this time, warfare still relied heavily on personal valor and the clash of formations. That was why intricate battle arrays such as the Two Forces, Three Talents, and Four Images formations had been devised. Even a numerically inferior side, unless routed, would often choose to charge the enemy’s ranks at the outset. The contest was one of morale and elite training, testing the general’s courage and grasp of opportunity. Only when the disparity in numbers was overwhelming did defenders retreat into fortified cities.

When it came to assaulting fortified defenses, the main strategy was to lay siege, cutting off food and water to sap morale. Siege towers had existed for some time, but because they were unwieldy and flammable, they were only used in desperate assaults with little regard for casualties. Especially in the north, where defenders faced the hit-and-run tactics of nomadic horsemen, such machines were rarely seen.

Wang Bo designed a new, height-adjustable siege tower: enclosed on three sides, rising to over thirty feet at its maximum, with a thirty-foot boarding ramp in front and a dragging ladder in the rear. All major components were sheathed in iron. For the easily worn axles, he instructed the craftsmen to add iron bands and fashioned iron strips to mimic the ball bearings of his previous life. Lacking grease, they used animal fat instead, applied before each move, which made the tower relatively easy to maneuver.

The resulting contraption, built in a few days, was enormous. In testing, the soldiers pushing it struggled even on flat ground, so Wang Bo simply harnessed three oxen for traction, though that required additional protective gear for the animals.

After several rounds of testing and improvement, the siege tower finally met requirements. Against the current Xianbei fortifications, it was an invincible beast. Not only did arrows and javelins bounce off it, but even a barrage of rocks would take half an hour to break through.

As for stone-throwers, Wang Bo, limited by current ironworking technology, could not improve on the manpower-powered catapult, so he designed a giant “slingshot” instead.

The giant slingshot was simple—just two massive timbers lashed together with thick ox tendons. For siege operations, the logs were buried deep in the ground, with the tendon cords hanging down. The other end was tied to a pouch that could hold stones or chain balls. To fire, cattle or horses pulled the cords back; when the trigger was released, the contents of the pouch would fly forward.

Inspired by the crossbow, Wang Bo aimed to boost the Xinghan Army’s long-range capabilities. After a single trial, everyone was amazed—especially when the slingshot hurled chain balls, which, spinning and whistling, swept through the air with tremendous force thanks to the ox tendons. Accuracy was lacking, but the terror it inspired was second to none.

These were the only new weapons Wang Bo could devise to enhance their siege capabilities. After all, each era is defined by its own technology; one cannot simply invent gunpowder and cannons out of thin air, no matter how hard one tries.

Next, he considered how to counter the Hu cavalry. To defeat cavalry, their rapid charges must first be slowed. In this, Wang Bo felt confident: there was no shortcut—it depended on the quality of the troops. After the trials of the previous battles, so long as they were not taken by surprise, the Xinghan Army was fully up to the task.