Chapter 658: Changes

This long expedition did not consume much of the country's national strength. The army Bai Lang took away only had ten thousand people, and most of the cattle and sheep he drove away were looted from the Mongol tribes before, as were the warhorses. And the consumption of grain and livestock along the way was supplemented by ruthless looting. In comparison, the subsequent transport teams transporting the spoils back consumed even more grain.

Walking from the Central Asian line through the later Xinjiang and Qinghai back to the Han land, Bai Lang also burned, killed, and looted along the way. Those temples, along with the people preaching inside, were all burned to the ground. Of course, all the scriptures were too, and most of those who believed in these scriptures were fed to the war knives of Bai Lang's great army. The women were all looted, and the men were executed by "calf execution"—anyone taller than a calf was beheaded. The cities and villages along the way were all blood-washed. This could also be called a "Dharma disaster."

"Let the Monk and Daoist Department send people, especially send more great monks! Allow them to bring monk soldiers. Who the hell doesn't know how to preach with arms?" The Western Regions were originally a Buddhist country, and now it could be considered to have returned to its original appearance—the only problem was that the people were almost all killed, so the soil for preaching was very thin.

Bai Lang returned to the Capital, and the civil and military officials welcomed him for a hundred miles. The brilliant martial achievements of this Emperor were no less than those of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and in terms of martial prowess alone, he was unparalleled among the monarchs of all dynasties. Not long after returning to the court, Bai Lang ordered Bai Biao to lead the army west. After arriving at the Aral Sea, he went upstream along the Amu Darya River, crossed the Tokharistan Basin, and entered the Kabul River Valley. From here, he could reach the Khyber Pass. Once the army crossed the Khyber Pass, before them would be the vast plains and the rich Indian subcontinent...

Although the road was not easy to walk and it was unlikely to march a great army, a force of about five thousand to ten thousand people carrying enough food could still cross this valley. However, if they wanted to bring back the looted wealth? This problem was relatively difficult. They could try to take the sea route, sailing along the coastline with supplies, which was still possible.

It is estimated that this expedition would probably take at least two or three years.

Bai Lang fell into the state of not caring about things again. He was a very comfortable Emperor, basically not attending court, and not participating in small cabinet meetings—at most showing his face. There were few personal instructions, and basically, everything was handled by the cabinet and the six ministries. He could be called a generation of "wise monarchs" who ruled by doing nothing. Moreover, he did not select concubines, did not build palaces, had no hobbies of spending money indiscriminately other than fighting, and had no interest in rewarding the internal officials.

The palace of this person could actually save so much that it spent less than twenty thousand taels of silver a month, which was simply a model of simplicity. The most regrettable thing for the bureaucrats below was that this Emperor never held reading courses, and another important regret was the issue of the foundation of the country—Bai Lang still had no children. But looking at his appearance of even wanting to drag the concubines of the late emperor of the previous dynasty to mess around, it didn't look like he had a hidden illness? Then it could only be said that everyone was waiting; maybe one day there would be a pregnant woman?

Fortunately, there were two princes. Although they were half-brothers, it was also okay. These two princes both had several sons and daughters, and it was completely possible to adopt one as the Crown Prince—and now these two princes were indeed secretly working hard in this regard. They didn't dare to make it clear. These two were also afraid of their elder brother—even though Bai Lang basically did not kill without teaching after ascending the throne, and the ministers really did not kill many specifically.

He didn't learn from Zhu Di to kill ten clans; he even only killed the person himself for those who directly rebelled—this was absolute confidence in Bai Lang's own martial power.

Now it seemed that the legitimate second sons of the two princes were quite hopeful—it must be the legitimate son; the legitimate eldest son had to inherit their respective thrones, so it could only be the legitimate second son. These two little guys were sent into the West Garden. Bai Lang treated them equally, and finally only issued an imperial decree, ordering the cabinet to let the two princes study. As for martial arts, he would teach them himself. "Distance to leave... eh? No, this is not right. In this world, I can already control the power of the Jade Fish. It's completely up to me how long I stay."

In the West Garden, the two little princes were practicing martial arts bitterly, while Bai Lang was sitting in the pavilion by the West Garden lake, lost in thought. "Amitabha, the benefactor has a good mood." A gentle voice sounded behind Bai Lang. "Such martial arts!" Bai Lang was not surprised. To be able to approach within a foot behind him without his knowledge, he was powerless to stop what such an expert wanted to do. Bai Lang never brought guards; his own martial arts were unparalleled in the world, so what guards did he need?

And the palace maids and servants around him did not get very close—Bai Lang did not like this way of serving, and he was usually gentle, so he didn't need someone to do this and that for him all the time. Bai Lang had heard this voice before and knew that this guy had no murderous intent toward him, so he could maintain his calmness. Bai Lang turned around, "Master, long time no see."

In front of him was a monk wearing clean but old monk robes. His face was quite compassionate, and his appearance was upright. It was the Great Dian Monk. No one could see what kind of Heavenly Demon was under the skin of this high monk. "Master, I don't know why you came today?" Bai Lang was also quite curious. Logically speaking, this Great Dian Monk should be making trouble with the Buddhist Sect, or at worst, fighting with his own thief-match master.

"My master was just locked up by the Buddha again. If Master wants to find him, I can't help." Bai Lang pushed the matter away first.

This Heavenly Demon demon monk was at the same level as his master. Great Dian put his palms together, "Good, good. The old monk does want to find Benefactor Zhou. This thread of cause and effect still needs to be covered and disturbed by Benefactor Bai, otherwise, it will be obstructed by the Buddha." Bai Lang couldn't refuse. Just looking at the palace maid standing not far away as if she didn't see or hear anything, he knew that this demon monk was already considered very kind.

The monk just reached out and grabbed, and a golden dragon circled and flew in the air, "Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon!" This dragon circled over Bai Lang and then disappeared directly. "What is this?" Bai Lang was quite curious. "Visual effect." Great Dian's answer was also very fashionable, "Actually, the real cause and effect entanglement was completed when you agreed. The reason there is a dragon is just because of the visual effect."

Bai Lang was also quite speechless. The monk said to him, "Benefactor, for your own sake, it is better not to stay in this world for too long. Ten or twenty years is best. Any longer, the old monk is afraid that under the entanglement of cause and effect, you will have trouble." ===== CHAPTER 659 =====