Chapter 162: Simple and Brutal

The ruined streets, the collapsed houses, the gaunt-faced residents, and the empty sheep-and-horse outer wall all told of Balasagun's desolation.

By rights, a great city of Transoxiana like this, even after being besieged for four months by Bughra Khan Satuq, should not have fallen into such decay!

Moreover, Zhang Zhao keenly caught an unusual scent in the air — a scent that belonged to intrigue.

The grand welcoming banquet had just ended, and the Grand Commandery Duke Zhang smoothly moved into the palace that had originally belonged to the Arslan Khan of the Karakhanids.

Although the khan's throne had been vacant for decades, the palace was still quite well preserved, clearly bearing the style of the Great Tang; it looked as though it had been built by Pang Tegin, who had fled west to this place.

Of course, to call it a palace was only by the standards of Transoxiana. In reality it was no more than the size of a minister's mansion in the Central Plains — it could not compare with Li Shengtian's Taihua Palace in Khotan, nor even with the Guiyi Army governor's headquarters in Dunhuang.

Still, there were ways in which it surpassed the Guiyi Army. For instance, the moment one entered the palace gate, dozens of dewy-eyed foreign beauties of every kind knelt on both sides of the gate, paying their respects to yet another master of this palace.

A man who looked like a palace eunuch stood before the prostrating women with several guards, and beside him was a monk in a purple cassock. When the eunuch saw Zhang Zhao, a slightly ingratiating smile came naturally to his face.

"I am..." The eunuch had not finished speaking when Man Xiong stepped forward, lifted him bodily, and carried him out the palace gate. The guards turned pale with shock, and while they were still hesitating over whether to draw their weapons, countless hand crossbows were already aimed at them.

"Commandery Duke Zhang, this... you... what are you doing?" The monk, who had worn a kindly smile, was utterly stunned. He stared at Zhang Zhao, mouth agape.

"Master Titishu sincerely invited the Commandery Duke to Balasagun and will come to pay his respects in person later. We are all believers in the Buddha's teaching — could the Commandery Duke be under some misapprehension?"

"The Master may be confident in his Hinayana Buddhism, but it is not the same as our Han Esoteric Buddhism. It is late today, so I must trouble this dharma master to inform him on my behalf: tomorrow I shall invite Master Titishu to discuss the meaning of our Buddhist scriptures!"

Zhang Zhao's lips curled. He simply did not want too much contact with this Master Titishu before he had a clear picture of the situation, so of course he would not listen to the purple-robed monk.

The purple-robed monk was startled, and only then did he notice that beside Zhang Zhao there was actually a curly-haired Uyghur, apparently a beg of some small tribe, who was now held by the wrist by Zhang Zhao and unable to leave, and could only smile bitterly at him with a pale face.

Then the purple-robed monk suddenly remembered that Zhang Zhao was right: the Buddhism of Balasagun and the Buddhism of Khotan were not of the same school at all.

The people of Transoxiana mostly believed in Hinayana Buddhism, while the Central Plains and Anxi, ever since the Tang monk Xuanzang journeyed west to fetch the scriptures, had largely come to believe in Mahayana Buddhism. The Chengshi school, which represented Hinayana, had nearly died out in the Central Plains.

One must understand that heretics are even more hateful than infidels. Although sectarian struggles within Buddhism were not considered fierce, that was only relative to Islam and Nestorian Christianity.

"Ma Yaozi, escort the dharma master out!

Fan Shun, disarm all the guards in the palace and keep them under strict watch.

Fan Quan, gather up all the serving women here and confine them as well.

Cousin, take the Yi squad and seal the main gate! Li Ruotai and Bai Congxin, arrange the defenses."

Zhang Zhao said no more and directly began ordering his armored soldiers to take over the palace guard.

This time he had brought two thousand men to Balasagun. Besides the armored soldiers of the Hanshan Unit and the Yueqi cavalry commanded by Hulale, there were also three hundred light cavalry of the Basmyl tribe led by Ashina Duo.

Li Ruotai had also come with one hundred fifty armored cavalry. The largest contingent, however, was the one thousand Khotan palace guards personally allocated by Li Shengtian.

Zhang Zhao had left the one thousand Khotan palace guards and the Basmyl light cavalry outside the city to set up camp, under the command of Yan Jin, while he himself entered Balasagun with some seven hundred men.

"Commandery Duke Zhang, just let me go. I truly cannot hold my liquor, and I have an old mother, wife, and children waiting at home. Have mercy and let me go back!"

This curly-haired Uyghur who was now begging for mercy was none other than Huduowuxi, a descendant of Li Sizhong, who had raised the banner of the Guiyi Army envoy outside the gates of Balasagun, hoping to ingratiate himself with the envoy of the Great Jin Kingdom.

But this attempt at ingratiation had landed him straight in a pit. Zhang Zhao had been worrying about finding a breakthrough, and this fellow had delivered himself to his door, so at the banquet Zhang Zhao had simply detained him.

Huduowuxi wished he could slap himself several times. At the banquet he had been rather pleased with himself — sure enough, the Jin Kingdom people of Khotan favored the sons of Tang, and his banner of the Guiyi Army envoy had been the right call.

This Commandery Duke Zhang had ignored even Master Titishu and the Preeminent Virtue Xuanqing, and instead pulled him aside to drink. Surely he was destined for great advancement.

But only now did Huduowuxi understand: it was not advancement — it was disaster!

Commandery Duke Zhang had clearly come with ill intent, and Master Titishu had his own schemes. His own family was a minor player in Balasagun; how could they withstand the storms stirred up by such great men?

With a boom, the palace gate slammed shut and locked. Tears streamed down Huduowuxi's face at once. What was he to do? He looked at the Commandery Duke Zhang, who still held his wrist — where was any trace of the drunkenness from the banquet?

Zhang Zhao looked at the curly-haired old Uyghur weeping so pitifully before him, secretly pleased that he had not misjudged the man.

Had he been a coarse fellow, he would still be dreaming of fine wine, beautiful women, and future riches, and would never understand what Zhang Zhao intended. These tears were worry over his own future fate!

In fact, Zhang Zhao had decided on a swift, decisive stroke from the moment he entered the city, because the atmosphere at the banquet had been very wrong. Balasagun was clearly divided into two factions: the Buddhists and the Nestorians.

Moreover, the conflict between the two factions seemed quite deep. Even in Zhang Zhao's presence, they had not managed to restrain their mutual hostility.

More importantly, the Buddhist believers led by Titishu were not in the majority, yet they appeared aggressive and overbearing. The Nestorians were numerous and powerful, but that Preeminent Virtue Xuanqing adopted an attitude of yielding at every turn.

Something was off!

But Zhang Zhao had no interest in playing palace politics with a bunch of barbarians here in Transoxiana. This piddling little place, with at most two or three hundred thousand people in all, was not worth spending too much energy on.

He had initially been somewhat concerned about Balasagun's military strength, since they had, after all, withstood Satuq's four-month siege.

But once he entered the city and analyzed the intelligence gathered by Fan Shun, Pei Tongyuan, and others, he saw that Balasagun's military strength was not only lower than Satuq's, but its people were also divided. There was no need to stand on ceremony with them.

"Speak! What are this Titishu and that so-called Preeminent Virtue, and all the Yabghus of the various tribes in this city, plotting?

How did you come to think of submitting to the Jin Kingdom of Khotan? And how has Balasagun become so desolate?"

Zhang Zhao's questions were very direct, without any of the circumlocution of a great man.

Hearing this, Huduowuxi grew even more afraid. It was over! Not only had he walked into a wolf's den, but this Commandery Duke Zhang was a reckless hothead. This time, not only would he himself come to grief, but his entire clan would likely be destroyed.

At this thought, the tears on Huduowuxi's face flowed even more uncontrollably. He lowered his head and said nothing, only inwardly regretting why he had ever raised that banner of the Guiyi Army envoy. Now his very life was in danger.

Zhang Zhao smiled faintly, then patted Huduowuxi on the shoulder. "It doesn't matter if you don't want to talk. Tomorrow, the moment the palace gate opens, I will go straight to make trouble for Titishu. Guess whether he will think I insisted on moving against him, or that you said something in between."

Huduowuxi raised his head with some anger, his gray-white beard, covered in tears and snot, trembling repeatedly. Even the curly hair on his head seemed about to stand on end from fury.

"Why would the Commandery Duke do this? Master Titishu, with all sincerity, sent men a thousand li to declare submission. By any reckoning he is a meritorious subject of the Great Sage Son of Heaven. Is the Commandery Duke not afraid the Great Sage Son of Heaven will blame him?

Besides, for a nobleman like you to coerce a commoner like me — is that not beneath your dignity?"

"Well said!" Zhang Zhao clapped his hands. "But it is of no use. Let us put it another way.

I do not wish to waste much time in Balasagun, because there are more important matters awaiting me.

But neither do I wish to become some schemer's blade. Whoever can save me energy will receive a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity!"

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