Chapter 204: Ghost Army

Kucheng, Loulan.

It was as prosperous as it had been in the past.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The merchants doing business in Loulan had long since prepared to celebrate and reunite with their families.

Ever since the Loulan King ascended the throne and vigorously promoted Public School and education, the mood within Loulan had surprisingly shed the savagery and hostility of the past.

One must know.

In a nation of this ethnicity, since ancient times, the struggle for power and position, various barbaric acts, sons taking their fathers' concubines, and all sorts of disregard for ethics had emerged one after another.

However, now.

With the start of universal education, the people of Loulan finally began to "understand books and reason," finally knowing how to restrain their desires and restrain their animal nature.

With the environment stabilized, more people were willing to come and do business.

This was a virtuous cycle.

Merchants of different skin colors from all over the world and goods from all over the world began to appear in Loulan. This place had effectively become a transit center for global commodities.

Xiang Chenglin was no longer the small merchant he once was.

Today, he held a prestigious status in Loulan, and the Loulan King had just bestowed upon him the official title of "Loulan Great Yuanwai." This made Xiang Chenglin shine like no other for a time, effectively becoming the leader of the merchants in this Kucheng.

Although this official title did not sound like much.

But in reality, this "Supernumerary Official" was indeed a rather impressive official title in ancient times. Supernumerary Secretary and Supernumerary Gentleman of the Secretariat were all important posts at that time!

But later, why did this Yuanwai give people the feeling of a nouveau riche or a landlord?

Because during the Song Dynasty, Yuanwai became a type of official outside the establishment, which is to say, a contract worker or a temporary worker. Thus, a large number of wealthy merchants, in order to improve their social status, spent money to buy this Yuanwai title, which is why "Yuanwai" became a synonym for a landlord or a wealthy person in later television dramas.

But now.

This Yuanwai was a proper, legitimate official title.

And Xiang Chenglin was even the Loulan Great Yuanwai!

Would you say that is impressive or not?

"Have the Weaponry and Equipment for today all arrived?"

Xiang Chenglin had been glowing with health and full of vigor recently as he came to the Loulan warehouse to inspect.

"Great Yuanwai, they have arrived."

"Great Yuanwai, have the Mo swords arrived?"

"Divine Arm Crossbow, I want the Divine Arm Crossbow! The pirates encountered on this trip to Loulan were too arrogant!"

"And are there wolf-brush spears?"

As soon as he appeared, a group of merchants waving Yinzhou Coin outside the massive logistics warehouse shouted, scrambling to be first.

Xiang Chenglin chuckled: "Everyone, line up by number, line up by number. As long as you have Yinzhou Coin, never mind wolf-brush spears; even the Yinzhou Ship that the Yinzhou Prefect used to display his great might and turn the tide this time, I can get for you!"

The crowd became excited upon hearing this.

"Really?"

"The Great Yuanwai is truly amazing!"

"What kind of background is this!"

Xiang Chenglin said smugly: "That is only natural. I, Xiang Chenglin, am from a Powerful Clan in Hanzhong. During this Battle of Hanzhong, that Yinzhou Prefect..."

The crowd burst into laughter.

This Great Yuanwai was at it again. Ever since the Battle of Hanzhong, this guy would talk about this matter whenever he saw anyone, never feeling bored, with a sense of reflected glory.

"Hey, hey, hey, what kind of attitude is this? If you don't listen to me finish, no one gets to load their goods!"

Just at this moment.

A message via carrier pigeon was delivered.

Xiang Chenglin opened the letter, took one look, and his eyes widened instantly: "Quick, quick, follow me to the Wanggong!"

A moment later.

The Loulan Wanggong was in an uproar.

"Empress Dowager, this must absolutely not be allowed!"

"The Yinzhou army is coming aggressively and wants to borrow a path through Loulan. Who can guarantee they won't harbor ulterior motives?"

"Your Majesty..."

The thirty-something, still alluring Reguli was still reclining on the golden chair. Hearing this, she said coldly: "Young Master Liu is my Loulan Protector of the State and has rendered great service to Loulan. What is so difficult about merely borrowing a path?"

"Empress Dowager, that is incorrect."

A Han official stepped out and said: "Since ancient times, there have been few instances where a country has preserved its territory after allowing an army to borrow a path for a campaign. If Loulan truly lends the path to the Protector of the State, if..."

He paused: "If he occupies it and refuses to leave?"

"That's right, Empress Dowager, you must not act on impulse."

"Your Majesty!"

A group of officials tried to stop them one after another.

Halike looked at his mother and was at a loss for what to do for a moment. Although he was now the Loulan King, the Empress Dowager Reguli was still the one ruling from behind the curtain in Loulan; she had the final say.

Reguli looked at the group of officials and sneered coldly: "With 150,000 Yinzhou troops, do you really think we could stop them if they wanted to come?"

"This..."

The officials were all rendered speechless.

Loulan had no strategic points to defend, and its military strength was no more than 100,000.

If the Longyan Dynasty truly came to conquer, coupled with the current Silk Road, Loulan really could not stop them.

Reguli said indifferently: "The Protector of the State only mentioned borrowing a path through Loulan in his letter, but he did not say anything about establishing a Protectorate in Loulan. Do you still not understand what this means?"

The crowd gasped.

These people had assumed that the Queen was once again infatuated, and upon seeing that Liu Zheng was coming, she had abandoned all caution, wanting to go and have a good time with him...

Who would have thought that Reguli, being able to become Queen, would be an ordinary person?

She had her own judgment and smiled faintly: "My lords, do not forget, Loulan is merely a small country in the Western Regions. Even if it has developed rapidly in recent years, it is still just one small country among the Thirty-six Kingdoms of the Western Regions!"

A sharp glint flashed in her beautiful eyes: "Loulan's expansion began from Shancheng and ended at Qiemo... Qiuci, Cheshi, and Gaochang are all eyeing Loulan like tigers..."

"Furthermore."

"My lords, do not forget..."

"Why is it that all these years, Loulan has never been able to set foot north of the Tianshan?"

Reguli stood up, her aura expanding, her gaze sharp.

At this moment, she was no longer the silly, sweet girl obsessed with Liu Zheng's looks; she was every bit the Queen of great talent and bold vision. She looked around the circle: "My lords, the Longyan Dynasty has not expanded its territory for hundreds of years."

"And what of my Loulan?"

"Loulan has roads extending in all directions, prosperous commerce, flourishing cities, widespread education, and a powerful military."

"If there is such an opportunity, why can Loulan not lay its hands on the Northern Western Regions?"

The entire hall.

Was silent.

The countries of the Western Regions used the Tianshan as a boundary. South of the Tianshan, Loulan was the strongest, leading the other small countries. North of the Tianshan, Cheshi was once the most famous... However, for some reason, a few decades ago, Cheshi suddenly became low-key. Even Qiuci began to isolate itself from the world.

Loulan found this very strange and sent Scouts, and even armies, to investigate.

Who would have thought.

They all went and never returned.

As time passed.

A rumor of magical terror began to spread among the common people.

That was that in the desert at the border between the north and south of the Tianshan, there existed a Ghost Army!

Legend had it that this Ghost Army was composed of the lingering, restless grievances of soldiers, merchants, and travelers who had died in the desert, who then formed a ghost army to plague the human world.

This Ghost Army, being undead, was immortal. They appeared at any time, disappeared at any time, and possessed unrivaled combat power.

If one encountered this Ghost Army in the desert, there was almost no hope of survival.

It was this Ghost Army that had completely isolated the north and south of the Western Regions.

Loulan did not believe in such things.

They sent armies to conquer it several times, but the result was always the same. They went and never returned.

Later, Loulan felt it was not worth it, and with internal strife becoming increasingly intense, they abandoned the idea of conquering the Northern Western Regions.

Afterward, the legend of this Ghost Army spread among the people. Some said that the great army of the Longyan Dynasty back then had been swallowed by this Ghost Army, which added even more mystery and terror to the Ghost Army.

However, this time...

Longyan had sent troops to campaign again.

Thus, Reguli thought.

Since Longyan wanted to go, why not let them?

Among these countries of the Western Regions, Loulan's national strength was already at its peak, and it was waiting for an opportunity to expand. If someone wanted to go and die, could we not just pick up the ready-made results?

The ministers all bowed in submission.

Reguli smiled slightly: "Therefore, my lords, borrowing a path through Loulan is not impossible... It is just that, while the Protector of the State is the Protector of the State, they can only be stationed one hundred miles outside Kucheng. That logistics warehouse of Yinzhou on the Silk Road is the path leading to the Northern Western Regions."

She paused and continued to smile: "I think the vision of the Governor of Yinzhou is likely not so low. Although Loulan is small, it still has an army of one hundred thousand to protect the country, and there are vassal states that can come to our aid. What can his Longyan army of one hundred and fifty thousand do?"

The crowd was startled.

At this moment, Reguli was imposing and domineering, making people believe in her.

"The Queen is wise!"

"Long live Loulan!"

Everyone followed suit and knelt down.

However, at this moment, stars were already appearing in Reguli's eyes: "Oh my, hurry and find me some beautiful clothes; I am going to leave the city to welcome the Governor of Yinzhou!"

"Do you think he brought me a gift this time?"

The group of people was stunned.

Instantly, they were speechless.

"Ghost Army?"

Leading the great army, walking on the Silk Road he had paved himself, Liu Zheng listened to the account of his casual "logistics boss" Du Biao and could not help but laugh.

So that was it.

So it turned out that starting a few decades ago, this Northern Western Regions had begun to isolate itself from the world. No wonder when he went to Loulan last time, no one mentioned the Northern Western Regions.

Jiang Xuan gasped, his face full of shock: "Brother Du, is this Ghost Army truly from the undead?"

Du Biao was deeply convinced and nodded: "I didn't believe it before either, but hearing the Young Master say that Longyan lost five hundred thousand troops, it seems it must be that Ghost Army without a doubt!"

Liu Zheng laughed heartily upon hearing this: "Don't listen to this nonsense about a Ghost Army. If they were really that strong, they would have unified the Western Regions long ago. Wouldn't it be better to turn the entire Western Regions into their ghost kingdom?"

The crowd was stunned, then burst into laughter.

Qingyang Shuo looked at the Young Master with a smile: "How does the Young Master see it?"

Liu Zheng smiled and said: "Actually, it's very simple. Has this Ghost Army ever fought anywhere else?"

The crowd shook their heads.

They had never heard of it.

Liu Zheng continued, "What, could it be that these lonely ghosts and wild spirits still have to pick their spots? To be restricted to one particular place? That in itself is unreasonable. Therefore, this Ghost Army that makes the people of the Western Regions tremble with fear is likely just a Mirage artificially created by utilizing a certain place's unique Geography and climate!"

A Mirage?

Several people looked over, one after another, their faces full of confusion.

【Author's Note】

Seeking tips.