Loser System and Berserker Me

“It’s time to reclaim Suyab.”

Shu Yichao stared at the minimap with heated eyes.

On the minimap, the Anxi Protectorate’s territory spanned from Karasahr in the east to the Pamir Mountains in the west, Khotan in the south to Great and Little Patola in the north. That was a lot of land, encompassing almost half of the Western Regions.

But most of these lands were deserts.

The terracotta soldiers had been conquering towns and villages here and there, but these were a drop in the bucket. His tax revenue was still extremely low.

Shu Yichao’s knowledge of taxation was limited to games. To him, taxation was all about adjusting an in-game knob to decide the tax levels.

On top of that, he was also trying to expand his living population right now, so he had to keep taxes as low as possible. After all, high taxes always led to lower reproduction rates in games.

Apportionment? What’s that?

Corvée? Isn’t that for the undead?

Shu Yichao’s unintentional kind governance had helped to maintain internal stability within the Anxi Protectorate. That reinforced his rule, but this also meant that it was unlikely that he would have the means to raise an elite, regular army anytime soon.

Other than the incorruptible ghost horsemen, all undead troops had to be sustained with money and yin energy.

Since Shu Yichao wasn’t making progress on the southern battlefield, he decided to focus elsewhere first.

My terracotta soldiers can be summoned from a chicken’s carcass, whereas your combat puppets take months of work, from the mining of the ores to the shaping and enchantment of the puppets.

Even if I can’t beat you, I’ll make sure that you go bankrupt at the least!

Suyab was a fertile land with an abundance of water and sunlight, together with plenty of livestock. It was the perfect place for agriculture.

The Kara-Khanid Khanate and the Western Liao had cities in the vicinity. Later on, during the Soviet Union’s era, it was even dubbed as the world’s granary.

However, Shu Yichao knew it by another name—Kyrgyzstan.

We have to conquer that place! What are we waiting for? Let’s attack it now!

“On that note, I should reinforce the tunnels connecting both sides of the Tianshan. It’ll serve as an excellent route for commerce.” Shu Yichao could already see the moolah flowing in. “We can even gouge out an underground river. That’ll make the route even more valuable.”

So, Shu Yichao tapped on the minimap and summoned an army to work on the tunnels. Following that, he rallied together the specters he had just conjured and began making his way toward Suyab.

…

It was already winter in the Ili Basin.

A huge snowstorm rampaged, sweeping through the vicinity like a freezing death god.

The nomads had already found a place to spend the winter, holing themselves up in their tents and trying to remain indoors as much as possible. The less wealthy families had no choice but to find ways to hunt down hibernating animals.

It was not just in poems that deserts would freeze over in winter.

That was the case in Suyab.

The Ye Governor Manor contrasted sharply with the snowy landscape outside. Steaming furnaces crackled with firewood and fragrances.

At the center of the hall sat a roasted lamb that oozed with rich oil, giving off a delicious aroma. Slaves traveled to and fro, serving fine wine and delicacies to the guests at the banquet. They toasted one another while enjoying the graceful dances of beautiful female slaves.

It was a delightful banquet.

However, the chief of the Karluks, Governor Ye, didn’t look too happy.

The white-haired old man sat in his seat, staring at his guests in a daze. He didn’t even notice that his silver wine cup had run out of wine. However, his behavior was understandable.

“My warriors, are you bored?” the brawny man wearing a wolf skin hat asked with an arrogant sneer.

“Yes, we are bored!” the chieftains replied in unison.

There was nothing to do in the dead of winter. The grasslands were cloaked in snow, and the rivers had frozen over. Mining and salt production had halted. The only thing that was interesting now was ‘exercising’ on their heated beds.

What could the powerful, armed nomads do in this season?

Answer: fighting wars.

To be more exact, plundering the south.

“Since that’s the case, what are we waiting for?” the brawny man shouted. “It’s time for our nomads to head southward! Let’s conquer the south!”

“Conquer the south!” the chieftains cheered in excitement.

“Brave warriors of the Karluks, grab your spears and mount your steeds! We shall plunder everything like ravenous wolves! We shall make those weaklings grovel at the hooves of our steeds. We shall whip those sinners into submission. They shall learn that we are the most valiant wolves on the grasslands!”

“GRAR!”

Everyone, both inside and outside the hall, cheered fervently in response.

It was only after the chieftains left that the brawny man noticed that old Governor Ye’s complexion didn’t look too good. “Father, you don’t look happy.”

“Happy?” Governor Ye harrumphed. “Your head must be swelling up, deciding on your own accord to lead the tribes on an invasion southward! Hmph!”

Governor Ye, the highest leader of the nomads, was in an awkward position.

On the one hand, he was getting too old as the leader. The people of the grasslands only respected the strong, and the ailing Governor Ye was no longer strong enough to make others submit to him.

But at the same time, his position as Suyab’s governor had been conferred by the Tibetan Empire. Even if the other chieftains viewed him in contempt, they had no choice but to lower their heads to him out of respect for the powerful Tibetan Empire.

Governor Ye thought that this awkward situation would continue, but little did he expect his son to circumvent him and issue an order to the other tribes to gather for a southern invasion. What further shocked him was that the chieftains heeded his son’s call and came.

This was the moment Governor Ye realized that he had been made into a figurehead.

It became clear to him that the tides had changed, but he still couldn’t help grumbling about his situation, especially since he had been the highest leader of the nomads for decades.

“Father, I am not acting on my own accord. I received permission beforehand,” the brawny man replied as he gleefully took out an extravagantly-adorned letter. “A holy envoy from the Tibetan Empire has relayed the Tsenpo’s edict, commanding me to gather our people and head south to eliminate the Tang bandits. We are free to pocket the wealth of the Western Regions.”

If not for the holy envoy’s letter, he wouldn’t have been able to wrestle power from his father’s hands that easily.

“Hm?” Governor Ye was taken aback. “The Western Regions? Something is off. That contradicts the order I have received.”

Governor Ye quickly took out a similarly extravagantly-adorned letter.

“I received an edict from the Tsenpo, commanding to purge the surrounding area but to avoid confronting the Tang bandits’ undead army”.

Shu Yichao had been constantly fighting ever since he awakened the ghost horsemen in Kucha, warring from autumn to winter.

News had spread like wildfire in the meantime, and the surrounding powers had sent out their scouts to verify the news.

To their bewilderment, it was true. The Anxi’s ghost horsemen had returned to the world with a massive army of undead, and the powerful Tibetan Empire had suffered consecutive defeats against them.

Countless nations and cities were shocked and terrified.

It was only a matter of time before there was a decisive showdown between the Tang Empire and the Tibetan Empire.

Governor Ye had been worried that the Tibetan Empire would order the Karluks to dispatch their soldiers to reinforce them. He didn’t think that their soldiers were stronger than the Tibetans, so he didn’t think that they would fare any better against the Tangs.

Thus, he exhaled in relief when he received an order from the Tsenpo not to engage the Tangs.

So why…

The father and son exchanged looks.