Chapter 238: To Save Them, First Ruin Them

Late at night, Rajyapala left Nalanda Monastery and returned to his palace in the city of Rajagriha. As a famously hands-off king, the standard he had always followed was to spread his hands wide and leave everything alone.

This was not laziness in the ordinary sense. For a king who had been educated in rulership from childhood and steeped in it by ear and eye, Rajyapala's hands-off approach naturally had its reasons.

For he had long since seen through the Buddhism his forebears believed in and the true nature of the Pala dynasty: Buddhism was the vine coiled around the great tree that was the Pala dynasty.

Striving was useless, because a king who could not mobilize the power of the monasteries was simply incapable of contending with other states. Rather than dream of vigorous governance, it was better to lie flat and force the monasteries to put forth their strength.

So far the results had been decent. The Pala dynasty, long in decline, had somehow barely managed to hold its position.

Yet the appearance of the Gurkhan had stirred the long-buried ambition in Rajyapala's heart.

The present Pala dynasty could be called a rotten regime without hope, but if it could seize vast tracts of land from the Pratihara dynasty, the dynasty might still be saved.

Because the Buddhist monasteries on Pratihara land had long since been parceled out to Brahmin priests who believed in Shiva.

In other words, there were no monasteries on that land. If only he could take that territory, he could free the Pala dynasty from the monasteries' fatal stranglehold.

Rajyapala swore that he would never again enfeoff land to the monasteries, but would instead grant it in large quantities to the nobles who followed him.

The greatest problem in all this, however, was that Rajyapala truly could not be certain whether Fan Shun was speaking sincerely, or merely putting on an act to deceive him.

And whether the Gurkhan really would not remain in India.

This amounted to a gamble. If Fan Shun was telling the truth, it would be a golden opportunity for the Pala dynasty.

If it was false, the Pala dynasty might face a situation even more dreadful than the present one.

Rajyapala opened the secret report in his hand, which Vice Envoy Fan had delivered through his trusted confidant.

Fan Shun suggested to the king that if sending troops directly was too difficult, then he should at least provide a report on the Pratihara dynasty's armaments, terrain, population, military strength, and political structure.

Perhaps this was feasible, and he could also use the occasion to send envoys to the Gurkhan's side to gather intelligence. Rajyapala slowly nodded.

In Nalanda Monastery, after arranging the sentries, Fan Shun met with Guo Guangsheng.

Guo Guangsheng was at that moment staring at a pile of mush-like stuff in distress. The vegetarian food at Nalanda Monastery actually tasted quite good; it just looked somewhat revolting.

Fine dishes properly seasoned with pepper, cardamom, bay leaf, turmeric, and other excellent spices had to be served up looking like runny diarrhea.

Turmeric especially — when too much of the stuff was added, the color really did rather resemble the product of the five-grain cycle.

"What a shame! These Indians truly waste heaven's gifts! Such fine spices should naturally be used to braise meat, or stew onions and beans — using them like this is sheer waste!"

Fan Shun sniffed, sat down quite naturally in front of Guo Guangsheng, then filled a large bowl with rice, ladled some of that yellow spice mush over it, and began to eat.

The cat-sized portion of vegetarian food that Master Baotongzi had just offered him had not filled him in the least.

"Brother Fan, tell me — the Great King has always lived in Shouchang, so how is it that he understands the situation in India so clearly?

And how did he know India had so many spices? If these were shipped back to Chang'an, how much would they be worth!"

Guo Guangsheng was not counted among Zhang Zhao's innermost confidants — he could not compare to his nephew Guo Tiance, nor to his younger brother Guo Guangcheng — so he was still quite curious about Zhang Zhao.

Fan Shun shook his head very slightly. In truth he did not know either. He too wondered where the Great King's omniscience came from. Could there truly be one born with knowledge? But he certainly would not say any of this to Guo Guangsheng.

"Read ten thousand books, and it is like traveling ten thousand li. What the Transoxiana region is like, what India is like — the ancients have left records of it all.

I hear you are also quite skilled with the written word. After we return, you will surely want to record a thing or two. If later generations can read your account, would that not be little different from making the journey to India themselves?"

"Erlang, you flatter me! Though I do indeed have such thoughts." Hearing Fan Shun praise his writing, Guo Guangsheng was thoroughly delighted, and his form of address grew warmer.

"But Erlang, do you think King Rajyapala and Master Baotongzi will take the bait this time?"

Fan Shun was about to answer when a call came from outside the door.

"Where is Vice Envoy Fan? My king has sent men with a gift list."

Zhang Zhao had also sent a batch of silks and porcelain to Rajyapala. By custom, Rajyapala would of course return the gesture with some treasures, but choosing to send them at this hour, near nightfall, and in such haste, it could not be solely for the sake of returning gifts.

"It seems the Pala king has agreed. Brother Guo, please go at once and muster the men and make ready!"

Fan Shun clasped his hands toward Guo Guangsheng, and Guo Guangsheng hastily rose and clasped his hands in return. At the same moment, sinister smiles appeared on both their faces.

They had not come on this journey with good intentions. Shaping Zhang Zhao's image as Buddhism's savior was one aspect.

The other aspect was to obtain the intelligence on the Pratihara dynasty provided by the Pala dynasty, and then to forge copies with embellishments.

In a ratio of three parts truth to seven parts falsehood, they would fabricate letters and intelligence, and finally arrange for them to be "accidentally" discovered by the Pratihara dynasty.

Then, to avoid fighting a war on two fronts, the Pratihara dynasty would most likely strike first — while the Gurkhan was fully occupied seizing the Shahi dynasty, they would first crush the Pala dynasty, and only afterward deal with the Gurkhan.

As the saying goes, if I do not push you into a desperate corner before rescuing you, how can I make my kindness to you seem higher than heaven and deeper than the sea?

If I do not push the Pala dynasty and Indian Buddhism to the brink, how would they be willing to bestow upon me, Great King Zhang, the title of Dharma Protector King — one no Pala king has received in nearly a hundred years?

The Indus River — at this time it should be called the Sindhu River. This great river, rising from the Qiangtang Plateau and abundant in water, shaped the entire Sindhu civilization and is the source of life here.

Udabhandapura's uniquely advantageous location also came from a bend the Sindhu River makes here.

This broad river bend not only gave Udabhandapura an excellent inland port, but also made Udabhandapura the trade hub of the entire region.

Today, however, not a trace of anything related to trade or money could be seen here. Instead, at the river bend, two armies were facing off.

One flew the red banner of the sun, moon, and stars and the great blue banner with the black character "Zhang" — a tightly ordered formation, but numbering only four or five thousand men.

On the other side flew a motley array of banners, a vast host that could not be less than thirty or forty thousand strong.

Though they had barely arranged themselves into a fan-shaped formation, it somehow looked more like a huddled circle. It was called a fan formation, but it looked like a fried egg spread out on a pan.

Shivanu cast a sidelong glance at the Shahi crown prince, who was surrounded like the moon amid a host of stars not far away.

Of these forty thousand troops, those belonging to the royal house numbered no more than ten thousand, and the Kshatriya knights were pitifully few. Most of the force had been summoned by Kshatriya nobles like himself, scattered throughout the kingdom.

It was said that King Madanapala had already been executed by the Gurkhan. It seemed that after this battle, whether victory or defeat, the Shahi royal house would soon decline.

He wondered whether the Gurkhan across the way would accept their surrender. If not, and he intended to devour every last benefit here, Shivanu would not mind taking his several hundred Kshatriya households and making contact with the Rajputs.

On the surface, of course, Shivanu still appeared most loyal. He first donned his splendid white robes, then lightly nudged the flanks of the white horse beneath him and came before the crown prince.

"Your Highness need not worry. Those people have no foundation here, and their force is only some ten thousand strong. They are surely no match for us. Even if the royal city cannot be held, this old servant's Jalandhara has high walls and thick defenses, and I am willing to defend it together with Your Highness!"

Jalandhara was Shivanu's old lair, close to the Pratihara dynasty. While old Madanapala was alive, he had still been able to keep this old fellow in check, but the young crown prince had neither the skill nor the prestige for that. If he went to Jalandhara, he would likely be squeezed into Shivanu's palm.

Hearing this, the fifteen-year-old Shahi crown prince, who understood a little of such matters, immediately turned grim — though being so young, he did not yet know how to conceal the expression on his face.

"General, I appreciate your kind intentions, but Udabhandapura is our royal city. Before battle has even been joined, how can we speak of abandoning it?"

"Hmph! You don't know what's good for you!" Shivanu sneered inwardly.

He had thought to hold the Crown Prince as a rare prize to exploit later, but it seemed the Crown Prince had ideas of his own. In that case, forget it.

Without the slightest regard for face, he wheeled his horse around and left, issuing orders to the trusted generals beside him.

"In a moment, tell everyone to keep their eyes sharp. If the Juer Khan turns out to be overrated, we still shouldn't hit them too hard. But if they really are as invincible as the world says, then we run fast! We'll head back to Jalandhara first and talk later."

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