Chapter 1 The City of Maps, Formerly the City of Slaughter

If you erase the last hundred years of Yan’s history, what remains is essentially a war chronicle of battles against the barbarians. During those war years, the City of Maps was at the very forefront of the great war between Yan and the barbarians.

Countless times, Yan’s sons departed from here to venture into the desolate desert.

Either their bodies were wrapped in horsehide for burial, or they triumphantly returned with the heads of barbarians.

A significant reason why the kingdoms of the Central Plains are so weak is that Yan single-handedly blocked the northern threat from the desert, allowing the three great nations of the Central Plains the opportunity to “sing and dance.”

Of course, it’s not to say that the monarchs of Yan selflessly dedicated themselves to defending the borders for the Central Plains civilization.

What else could they do when their geographical location was so terrible?

Unless the monarch of Yan was tired of sitting on the dragon throne and wanted to exchange it for a barbarian king’s life, eating cheese and wearing sheepskin, they would never bow their heads to the barbarians of the desert.

However, the smoke of war has been far from the City of Maps for nearly a century. This former major military stronghold on the frontier has now developed into the military, economic, political, and cultural center of the entire Northern Feng Prefecture.

Compared to the City of Maps, Tiger Head City is really just a younger brother.

The commercial economy that Tiger Head City is so proud of is actually just a bit of leftover soup from the City of Maps.

Here, there are many foreign merchants who regard this place as their transit point. Caravans from the desert barbarian tribes, caravans from the Western Regions, and even caravans from the more distant West all gather here.

At the same time, caravans from Yan, Jin, Qian, Chu, and a large number of Eastern small countries also linger here all year round. To say that this place is the "Shenzhen" of the world is not an exaggeration.

At this moment,

on the streets of the City of Maps,

a middle-aged man with a small mustache wearing a white Western-style robe is walking a dog.

The dog leash is very thin,

so thin that it can be taken back and used by skillful women to weave clothes,

but the dog that the leash is attached to is very big.

Its fur is black and white, and its tail is long. If it stood up completely, it would be taller than a normal adult man.

Even the residents of the City of Maps, who have seen the world, keep their distance from this big dog. However, some children are not afraid and keep chasing and playing behind the big dog, but if you ask them to touch the dog's head up close, these little ones wouldn't dare.

From a modern perspective, this giant dog looks a lot like a husky.

However, its size is comparable to a well-built adult Alaskan Malamute.

The man and the dog strolled around the street for half a day, and then returned to the mansion.

The City of Maps is large, but its style is extremely rough. Unlike the capital of Qian, it does not have many districts inside and out. However, the masses naturally have their own residential areas, with rich areas and poor areas, consciously divided according to different house prices.

There are also mansions built by merchants from various countries. These mansions, in later generations, would be tourist attractions for taking pictures.

The courtyard of the mansion is very large. Although there are no overt military attachés like embassies in later generations, private soldiers and guards in the caravan are indispensable, and the defense is quite strict.

The official of the City of Maps allows this because there is a Northern Garrison army camp outside the city. The Northern Garrison army has a garrison of 50,000 soldiers stationed there, so no one dares to act presumptuously.

As for this large husky, the city gate guards initially refused to allow it to enter during the city gate inspection.

In this world, there are demonic beasts.

The Great泽 (swamps) of Chu, the Heavenly 断 (Broken) Mountains of Jin, and the depths of Yan's own northern desert are all places where demonic beasts appear.

Some armies even have tamed demonic beasts to help them in battle. The pixiu and other strange beasts equipped by Yan's own officials and generals also fall into this category, but these are artificially bred.

If a demonic beast went crazy, especially in the city, the damage and impact would be too great.

However, when the husky entered the city that day, it performed a juggling act, proving that it was just a big dog that only knew acrobatics, and was thus allowed to be brought into the city.

In the room, the charcoal basin was lit, and Winter took off his coat.

Two blonde, blue-eyed maids walked over with hot towels and knelt on either side of the husky, helping the husky wipe its paws.

After these chores were done, the two maids retreated.

Winter poured tea, two cups.

The husky stepped to the table, straightened up, sat on the chair, and stuck a paw to the teacup, bringing it to its mouth. Its long tongue protruded to taste the tea.

"The tea from Qian is indeed good," Winter praised.

"Indeed, in the past, when tea was transported to our place, it had traveled a long distance, so it was no longer fresh. After traversing the long desert, it seemed as if the tea was tainted with the astringent taste of sand."

The husky spoke in human language.

"The best tea, the best porcelain, the best silk, and even the most beautiful women are all in Qian. Qian is truly enviable."

Winter sipped tea while sighing.

"Yan has desert barbarians on the outside, Chu has the Great 泽 (swamps) and the mountain people in the Great 泽 (swamps) causing chaos, and Jin has not only demonic beasts but also savage settlements in the Heavenly 断 (Broken) Mountains.

Only Qian has land suitable for habitation, fertile land, and abundant resources."

Winter nodded and said, "Perhaps because the geographical conditions are too good, Qian is actually the weakest of the four great Eastern nations."

Qian's most classic battle was the battle that made the first generation of the Northern Garrison Marquis famous.

But besides that, Qian was abused when facing Jin and Chu, with more defeats than victories.

The husky put the teacup on the table with its paw and said:

"I really like that saying from an Eastern sage: 'Born in sorrow, die in peace.'"

"It's a pity that the East is indeed full of gold, but it is too far away from us."

"It's not just the long journey, do you remember the barbarian disaster of yesteryear?"

The barbarian disaster refers to a hundred years ago, after the barbarian tribes, led by the royal court, fought with Yan for many years, the Khan of the barbarian royal court had to admit that Yan and its iron cavalry were indeed a tough nut to crack, and they were repeatedly beaten bloody by the Yan people.

Since the road south was almost hopeless due to Yan's existence, the Khan of that generation turned to commanding the barbarian tribe cavalry to plunder westward.

First, they swept through the countries of the Western Regions, forcing them to submit. Then, the barbarian cavalry penetrated even further, directly breaking into Western territory.

The barbarians, who had been beaten black and blue by the Yan people on the Yan border, instantly regained their confidence in front of the Western countries. They conquered many Western countries in succession, causing great shock in the Western world.

Perhaps because the Khan, who had been suppressed by the Yan people since he ascended the throne, had been suffocating for too long, he began to get cocky after invading the West, seeing that things were going well.

He personally led the royal court's elite and the armies of the left and right Wise Kings, attempting to directly attack the capital of the then-largest empire in the West, wanting to directly crush the spirit of the Western world, so that the Western land could become a new pasture for the barbarians.

As a result, the Holy See took action. In that battle, the Knights Templar all went out, the elites of the Western countries all gathered, and countless grand mages and grand warriors appeared. Even the Western dark camp seemed to have sent out forces to help.

In that battle, the barbarian Khan, who had penetrated deep into enemy territory, and the most loyal and elite royal court elites around him were all buried!

Although the barbarians still had extremely powerful combat power, because they were without a leader, they were once again driven back by the Western countries.

Since then, the barbarian royal court, because of its heavy losses, gradually degenerated into a mascot similar to the later Emperor of Japan, and was unable to integrate and command the desert barbarians to obey its orders.

A hundred years ago, after receiving this news, the Yan monarch and his ministers were extremely surprised for a while. The barbarians who had confronted and fought with them for so many years were defeated by the Westerners and lost their royal court.

Just how terrifying must these Western countries be?

And in the eyes of the Western world, heavens, these terrifying barbarians were defeated by that Yan in the East before attacking them, yet they were already so terrifying, almost allowing their iron hooves to obliterate the entire Western civilization.

God, just how terrifying must that empire called "Yan" be?

Therefore, for a hundred years, because the desert barbarians were honest, the Belt and Road Initiative was established.

The East and the West both felt that the other was very terrible and not to be trifled with.

Holding this kind of attitude,

for a hundred years, the exchanges between the East and the West have actually maintained a very good honeymoon period.

Yan is extremely concerned about trade. Compared to the other three Eastern countries, Yan's territory is really barren, and the Yan royal family also has to face the situation of local aristocratic families standing in great numbers, sucking blood from their empire, so they are even more eager to maintain their trade interests.

"A hundred years have passed, but the Northern Garrison army here is still strong."

Winter sighed.

In recent decades, the Roman Empire has re-emerged and become the undisputed largest country in the West.

He originally thought that after such a long period of peace, Yan's terrifying war machine should have rusted, but the facts told him that this army, called the Northern Garrison, was still incredibly terrifying.

The Empire wanted to extend its tentacles to the East. The barbarian tribes were easy to deal with, but the journey was too far. A labor-intensive expedition would be extremely stressful. When the Empire's army crossed the desert to reach the East, could they withstand the charge of the three hundred thousand Northern Garrison iron cavalry from the six garrisons up and down Northern Feng Prefecture?

"Rome wasn't built in a day. We just need to do our job well.

Besides, haven't the Northern Garrison Marquis's Mansion and its Northern Garrison army become estranged from the Yan court? If we can obtain the Northern Garrison Marquis's Mansion's promise and cooperate with them, the Empire's power extending to the East will no longer be a dream."

"Will those old fogeys in the Senate agree?"

"Do your job first, then consider the Senate. If we can reach a cooperation with the Northern Garrison Marquis's Mansion, the Senate will have to agree, or else...hehe, aren't they afraid of being bloodily purged by the generals again?"

"This matter can't be rushed. That Prefecture Princess has been refusing to see me. She must have sensed my identity. I'll try again in a few days."

"These Easterners are like this. It doesn't matter how fiercely they fight and consume each other internally, but they are extremely wary of foreigners like us. In their eyes, we are no different from the barbarians."

"Let's not talk about this."

Winter interrupted the husky,

reached out,

took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket, pulled out the stopper, took a deep breath of the fragrance inside, and a look of extreme enjoyment appeared on his face as he slowly said:

"How is the investigation of that group of people going?"

"They only came to us and didn't go to other merchants."

"Didn't they look for other Western merchants either?"

"No, they only looked for us."

"I feel like they've already seen through our identity?"

"You mean, they are secret agents of the Yan court?"

"No, no, no, how could secret agents be so unprofessional as to create such magical things? As for that thing called soap, haven't you been using it every day these past few days?"

The husky heard this and said:

"I must have washed with that thing too many times. I'm starting to shed a bit."

"Hehe, when you go back later, use soap to wash, and then spray this on your body. Wouldn't every mature female...dog in the empire be captivated by you?"

The husky grinned, obviously, it had been fantasizing and looking forward to this scene for a long time.

"Has the location of that group of people been confirmed?"

"Not yet. After giving us this gift, they have been deliberately hiding themselves."

"Not stupid."

"They should want something from us and want to negotiate with us," the husky said.

"If you want to negotiate, you have to have the qualifications to sit at the same table as me, otherwise..."

At this moment,

a black shadow seeped in from the doorway, revealing a humanoid figure kneeling on the ground.

"What is it?"

"Reporting, Your Highness, we have finally found the location of that group of people."

Winter heard this, stretched,

and said:

"Go, keep the noise down, and capture them alive."

"Understood."

The black shadow's figure then dissipated.

The husky then raised its paw and pressed a bell on the table.

"Ding-ling-ling..."

Then, the husky lay back on the ground, pretending that it was really just a dog.

Soon, footsteps came from outside, and a man who looked like someone from the Western Regions walked in respectfully.

"Your Honorable Master, your loyal servant, Maimuti, awaits your orders."

Winter glanced at the husky lying on the ground wagging its tail, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth,

and said:

"Go pick a female Tibetan mastiff from the ones bought from the barbarian merchants a while ago and give it to him."

Winter pointed to the husky under the table.

Maimuti nodded and said, "Yes, Master."

"Oh, right, I asked you to find someone in the City of Maps who can play the piano. Is there any news?"

In fact, Winter didn't have too much expectation for this task. Even in the West today, very few people know how to play the elegant instrument of the piano, let alone in this distant East.

He likes to play the piano, but just like a lofty mountain stream meeting a kindred spirit, without someone who understands the piano by his side, he feels that the piano music has lost its original flavor.

"Reporting, Master, we have found one. He said that he knows how to play the piano, and he has proactively described the appearance of the piano to me, although there are some discrepancies, but the general appearance is consistent with your piano, Master, except..."

"Oh? You really found one?" Winter's mood immediately became cheerful, and he said, "Except what?"

"Except, he is blind."

"My piano teacher was also blind. A blind person's perception of music is more acute than that of a normal person."

"Yes, you're right, Master."

"Where is he now?"

"He is already waiting for Master's summons in the living room."

"Good, invite him in."

"Woof!"

Winter pointed at the husky lying on the ground with a somewhat disgusted expression,

"Take it out first, for mating."

"Woof~~"