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Emperor Songtsan Gampo would have had any other man executed for telling him that one of his projects was a waste of time. But this was his favorite younger brother and best general, so he merely shook his head and answered drily. “There is a time to cultivate a people and a time to break them, a time for allies and a time for slaves.” He shifted slightly in his seat. “We have a whole world to conquer; fighting enough even for you. And the Mongols are attainable as allies; valuable allies. They will be the razor-sharp head of my spear, to gut resistance. Men who grew up in the saddle, with the bow, make better cavalry than men who did not. Men who spend their lives on the move, who live on horseback, often on what they can kill, and on milk from their mares—such men do not tire and do not frighten.”
He changed direction then, his voice comfortable, smooth as silk. “The Koreans are excellent fighting men, yes? How many of them volunteered to serve with us, after you’d broken their army?”
The answer was sullen but honest. “None. Oh, a hundred, maybe two, but not good men.”
“And how many soldiers did you find it necessary to post there to control the country?”
“Sixty thousand.”
“And mostly cavalry.”
“It was necessary! Otherwise we’d have needed four times as many garrisons—at least twice as many men— and even those could not control the roads as we do now.”
The emperor eyes gleamed like black marbles beneath hooding has. “So we nave a conquest which bleeds us,” he said.
Drukpa sounded aggrieved now. “But Korea and Mongolia are not the same! Korea’s mountains are thick with forests perfect for rebels and bandits! And it was necessary to be harsh in victory, to break their will!”
It didn’t work. It didn’t break their will.”
His general said nothing to that.
“Well. You are my brother. You conquered Korea on
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my orders, and did what seemed necessary at the time. And you are right; Korea and Mongolia are very different. Mongolia is mostly open to the sun, and to our eyes. And their people are indeed different. The Koreans are stiff-necked, unyielding, and they were united, more or less, behind their king. The Mongols, on the other hand, are more practical and relatively reasonable. And they are fragmented into various tribes that sometimes fight against each other and seldom agree on anything of consequence.
“Had you been less harsh, the Koreans might well have been no less intransigent than they are, and even more difficult. But the Mongols are susceptible to manipulation, and I want at least fifty thousand of them in my army when I send it westward to conquer the world. That will be far better than leaving sixty thousand of my own cavalry, or a hundred thousand, as a garrison in their country. I have chosen one of their chiefs to be supreme, and I will guide him to domination. Then I will honor him, perhaps marry his favorite daughter, and bring his sons here as ‘my proteges’—my hostages. And …”
He stopped, for in the corridor outside his door, a silver gong had been lightly tapped. “Enter!” he said.
A runner entered and bowed. “Your Magnificence, Tenzin Geshe is waiting, with information for you.”
“I will—see him now. Send him in.”
The emperor turned to his brother. “I don’t expect this to take long. Our meetings seldom do.”
A moment later the geshe entered the chamber and bowed deeply. “Your Magnificence.”
“What do you have for me, geshe?”
“It has to do with the barbarian the Circle detected in the west, the man who subsequently began to travel eastward in our direction.”
“And?”
Tenzin Geshe opened his mind to Songtsan Gampo. The emperor’s lips thinned.
“You failed.”
“Indeed, Your Magnificence. At least the ones I sent
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have failed. I did not send a demon; they are too limited and unreliable, and I have no leverage over them. Instead I gathered, created, three storm elementals, and sent one to cover each of the travel routes, to watch for the man and kill him. One of them is lost, it disassembled; one is still where I sent him; and the other has returned.