Chapter 256: I Go East, and Ten Thousand Follow

The Buddhist establishments of Anxi and Hexi, who had bathed and purified themselves, kept the fast and the precepts, and cleansed their minds with the Buddha's name, had their entire worldview shattered by Zhang Zhao. Though they coveted Zhang Zhao's treasures and feared his power, they were not willing to so readily acknowledge Zhang Zhao's title of Silver Wheel Dharma King.

A joke, this was a Dharma King! If they truly acknowledged it, then from now on, no matter which temple's abbot or senior seat it was, upon seeing Zhang Zhao they would all have to respectfully call him Dharma King.

In particular, the several eminent monks of Shazhou's Kaiyuan Temple and other monasteries were even more uneasy at heart. If this young lord Zhang Erlang seized back the great authority of the Guiyi Army in the future, with both divine authority and royal authority in his hands, how could they still maintain their transcendent status?

However, the Buddhist establishment had one very great weakness, and that was that it was prone to compromise. This was a temperament brought by the doctrine itself, and there was no solution to it.

On one side, Zhang Zhao tempted them with treasures, while outside he deployed heavy troops. Although they knew Zhang Zhao would not dare lay blade and axe upon them, he could still trap them and wear them down.

In the end, after weighing the pros and cons, the two sides reached an agreement: Zhang Zhao would distribute half of all the holy relics in his hands, as well as the Buddha relics obtained from Shule's Kaiyuan Temple, to the various monasteries for the purpose of venerating the Buddha and performing Buddhist rites. After this condition, the great masters finally acknowledged Zhang Zhao's status.

But they had one condition, and that was that Zhang Zhao must keep the fast and observe the precepts for seven days in the Buddha hall of the Somoruo Temple.

This was no easy condition. The fasting meals consisted of thin gruel three times a day plus a little flatbread. The flatbread was baked raw, with not a drop of oil, and not even small salted vegetables were provided.

As for observing the precepts, apart from the time of chanting sutras, no sound of any kind could be made all day, and no one around him was permitted to approach.

It was equivalent to locking a normal person in a designated small Buddha hall, facing the wall for seven days, with no oil or salt entering his mouth, like solitary confinement.

Outside, there was also a circle of abbots and senior seats from famous great temples surrounding this Buddha hall chanting sutras, and an even grander Dharma assembly would be held.

Zhang Zhao gritted his teeth and endured it, because he knew this was the final stubbornness of the Buddhist establishments of Anxi and Hexi, and also their step down the slope. After passing this test, they would have to acknowledge Zhang Zhao's status.

Of course, this was also something Zhang Zhao was willing to do. If he did not want to, he had plenty of ways to make these bald heads compromise.

The reason Zhang Zhao still chose to keep the fast and observe the precepts was that although he would suffer for seven days, this suffering would stamp a firmer mark upon his title of Silver Wheel Dharma King, eliminating the possibility of anyone using this against him in the future.

Seven days later, the grand Dharma assembly concluded. Zhang Zhao not only gained the acknowledgment of most of the monasteries and temples of Anxi and Hexi, but also, in the eyes of seventy to eighty thousand Khotanese, thoroughly cemented his status as the Silver Wheel Dharma King.

During the seven days that Zhang Zhao kept the fast and observed the precepts, even the Tibetans up on the Qiangtang Plateau, upon hearing of it, had people come down from the ice and snow, risking their lives, to pay homage.

Not to mention the believers in other towns of Khotan. The Khotan royal city, which had only fifty thousand people, rapidly swelled to over eighty thousand in these seven days.

This made the Dharma assembly not only a fasting and precept assembly in which the Buddhist establishments of Anxi and Hexi acknowledged Zhang Zhao's status, but also a grand Dharma assembly famous throughout all of Anxi.

Li Shengtian also helped Zhang Zhao at this time. Zhang Zhao was in the Buddha hall and did not know the situation outside, so Li Shengtian arranged to pay from his private treasury to provide food and lodging for all who came to attend the Dharma assembly, and also had people embellish and widely spread the story of Zhang Zhao protecting the Dharma in India.

From then on, Zhang Zhao's status as the Silver Wheel Dharma King was not only well known in Khotan, but even spread throughout the entire snowy plateau and north of the Tianshan Mountains, which was an unexpected surprise.

Outside the Somoruo Temple, Zhang Zhao had just exited the temple when he saw several people in padded cotton clothes kneeling outside the gate.

Judging by the thickness of the snow accumulated on their bodies, they had likely been kneeling for quite a long time. Otherwise their eyebrows and beards would not have frozen over, making them look like snowmen.

Zhang Zhao looked carefully. The one in the lead, was that not his paternal cousin Song Zhongyi? What was he kneeling here for?

"Great King, Captain Song has been kneeling here for a day already. No matter how this servant urged him, he would not get up. He insisted on waiting until you came out!" Guo Tiance leaned closer and said in a low voice.

"Is he stubborn or what? What is this for? Kneeling like this, what if something happens to him?

Quickly get him to the food stall nearby, build up a strong fire, boil some ginger sugar water, and have Wan'er quickly send over some fur coats!"

"Great King! Your kindness to this general is higher than the mountains, yet this general is about to let you down!

This general is advanced in years, and his leg injury makes it difficult to walk. I fear I cannot follow the Great King on the eastward return. Wuwuwu!"

Zhang Zhao was just about to help Song Zhongyi up when Song Zhongyi burst into loud sobs on his own.

"Get up! What if your body freezes? A grown man, what are you crying for? If there's something, say it!"

Zhang Zhao's heart sank. Song Zhongyi and the few people behind him had probably already made their decision—they would not be returning east with him.

"Great King, this general has truly let you down. In past years at Dunhuang, I, Song Zhongyi, was merely a common soldier of the yabing guards. My monthly pay was only enough for my own expenses. It was the Great King who saw worth in me and promoted me, and only then could I amount to something."

Although Song Zhongyi had gotten up, he was still weeping at Zhang Zhao with tears streaming down his face.

"But this general is now thirty-three years old, with only a dozen or so good years left. I have wasted my time until now and do not even have a single descendant. Now my leg is injured again, and walking is even more difficult.

After the battle outside Kesai City, by the Great King's grace, I settled at West River Bend Fort in the Ningyuan Governorate, and was granted a thousand mu of fine fields, a three-courtyard mansion, thirty-five Indian tenant farmers, and also married two Hu beauties of Ningyuan as wives. I truly cannot bear to travel far!"

Zhang Zhao drew a long breath. Song Zhongyi had been stabbed in the thigh during the great battle with the Persians at Three Rivers Bend south of Kesai City, so Zhang Zhao had settled him there on the spot and did not have him follow to India.

But he had not intended to leave Song Zhongyi in Ningyuan. This man had a slight kinship relation with him—he was the son of his birth mother's paternal cousin.

He was quite fierce and brave in battle, and was a famous fierce general in the Hanshan Unit, second only to a few such as Man Xiong, Dunzhu, and Wang Tongxin.

In Zhang Zhao's plan, such a brave warrior would certainly have to follow on the eastward return.

But as his gaze swept over Song Zhongyi and the others, the common trait of these men was that they were all rather advanced in age, basically around thirty years old, and had all suffered some injury or other in the successive battles. Once they settled down in Ningyuan, naturally they no longer wanted to leave.

Zhang Zhao put himself in their place, and he found that if he were Song Zhongyi, he certainly would not want to leave either.

In Ningyuan, they had a thousand mu of fine fields, thirty or forty tenant farmers and servants under them, two wives and concubines, and also concurrently served as the local town administrator, with a monthly income of over a dozen strings of cash.

In Ningyuan, they were the great lords of the Celestial Dynasty who had come from Khotan. Moreover, they came from the Hanshan Unit and had the status of being Great King Zhang's cousins. No matter who it was, they all had to give them some face.

Here, without laboring, there were people to serve them, and they could embrace their lovely wives and beautiful concubines every night. Only an idiot would want to leave.

Thinking of this, the discomfort Zhang Zhao had felt in his heart just now immediately lessened considerably.

These men had followed him in battle for several years, and it had not been easy. Now that they were older and wanted to live a stable good life, he could understand.

"You few, you all also want to settle down in Ningyuan, is that right?" Zhang Zhao asked the few people behind Song Zhongyi.

The few men thudded to their knees again, their eyes full of apology, but this could not stop their longing for a good life.

"We... all think so. We beg the Great King's forgiveness!"

"You have followed me through life-and-death battles. What crime is there?" Zhang Zhao shook his head and gestured for them to rise.

"You are all loyal ministers and brave warriors of my Zhang Zhao! Tiance, grant each of them another five hundred mu of fine fields.

You also work with Wu Yuan'er and Zhu Qingquan to tally up those who are truly advanced in age, those with injuries, and those willing to settle down in Ningyuan, and draw up a list!"

As he spoke, Zhang Zhao patted Song Zhongyi on the shoulder and boarded the carriage. He still had to go to Taihe Palace to meet Li Shengtian!

"The Great King is benevolent and virtuous. We have no way to repay this in this life. May we in the next life again be the Great King's claws and teeth, following in life and death!" On both sides of the carriage, Song Zhongyi once again prostrated himself by the roadside.

In the swirling heavy snow, Zhang Zhao on the carriage extended a hand and waved it. This counted as a farewell. They had chosen to make their home in Ningyuan, and if nothing unexpected happened in this life, they truly would not meet again.

"You've run into a difficult problem, haven't you?" In Taihe Palace, Li Shengtian was personally brewing tea for Zhang Zhao. Of course he knew about Song Zhongyi kneeling outside the Somoruo Temple for a day.

"It is indeed difficult! The desire for a good life is the deepest longing in every person's heart, and they truly do have the right to enjoy it.

Your nephew has already decided: all those over twenty-eight years old, as long as they truly wish it, may all settle down in Ningyuan."

Zhang Zhao nodded. Song Zhongyi and the others were not merely soldiers under his command—they were also members of the Hanshan Unit, the core group with which Zhang Zhao had first built his career.

Back then, one hundred and seven men of the Hanshan Du followed Zhang Zhao west. In four years, thirty-three had died in battle, eleven were left too maimed to keep fighting, and two had died of illness. Sixty-one remained hale and hearty. With Song Zhongyi and his men now leaving, only fifty-five were left.

Li Shengtian had not expected Zhang Zhao to be so open-minded. He glanced at him in surprise.

"If that is so, then of the two thousand one hundred and twenty men now in the Fengtian Army, I estimate you could take back no more than fifteen hundred.

A mere fifteen hundred men, even all in iron armor, would still not be enough to support you in retaking the Guiyi Army — at least not easily. As for the Ganzhou Uyghurs, I fear they would be even harder to deal with."

"How could it be only the Fengtian Army?" Zhang Zhao put on a look of astonishment and turned to Li Shengtian.

"From the Persian surrendered troops, I can at least take two thousand more. Then if I levy the tribes of Shule and Suyab, another fifteen hundred should not be hard. That would make five thousand men — returning to Hexi, there would be much to be done!"

"Still pretending!" Li Shengtian scoffed at Zhang Zhao's play-acting.

"Does your uncle not know you? You never intended to bring many Persians or Suyab tribesmen back to Hexi at all.

To return to the Central Plains with the Yellow River's nine bends once more under Han rule, to appear before the Central Plains as the lone loyal remnant of the Great Tang, to grasp the moral high ground and win men's hearts — that is what you want to do. So in your ranks, Zhang Erlang, the number of barbarians will surely not be too great!"

Zhang Zhao had never expected Li Shengtian to understand him so thoroughly. He could only shed his usual mask and scratch his head somewhat dejectedly.

"It truly is troublesome! I cannot force them to come with me. Not only would that go against righteousness, but even if I brought them back, if their hearts were not with me, they would be of no use once we returned!"

"Come in!"

Li Shengtian suddenly called out for no apparent reason. Zhang Zhao was utterly baffled — come in? Who was to come in?

Creak! Footsteps sounded from outside the door. Zhang Zhao looked toward the entrance in astonishment.

Liu Zaisheng, dressed in a blue round-collared robe, walked in with three other men similarly dressed in round-collared robes, looking like army officers. All had Han faces, and one of them looked very familiar.

"Your subject Li Ruoyu, and your humble officers Liu Zaisheng, Zhao Cunyi, and Erzhu Jing, pay homage to the Great Sage Son of Heaven, and greet Great King Zhang!"

So this familiar-looking man was the cheap brother-in-law Zhang Zhao had met only once — Li Ruoyu, the eldest brother of Li Ruotai and of the little aunt, the Queen of Zhongyun, Li Ruoliu.

The short, stocky one was called Ma Cunyi; the one with the somewhat square face was Erzhu Jing. As for Liu Zaisheng, he was more than familiar.

"I made a levy among the sons of Tang in the royal city governorate of the Khotan Golden Kingdom and the governorate of Shule, and obtained three thousand three hundred and forty able-bodied men. Of those, two thousand and eight were strong and capable.

Among them, where father and son were both present, the father went and the son stayed; where brothers were both present, the elder went and the younger stayed. Thus I obtained one thousand seven hundred and eighty men of bear-and-tiger vigor. I have already had Liu Zaisheng drilling them day and night for more than five months.

I then allocated more than nine hundred men from the palace guard. My elder brother Ruoyu is also willing to return east with you, bringing three hundred elite troops. In all, three thousand men, to return east with you!"

What was this? Zhang Zhao was stunned. It was as if a great drum were beating inside his head, and the whole world turned unreal. Was Li Shengtian going to give him all the sons of Tang in the Khotan Golden Kingdom?

Zhang Zhao felt his eyes grow hot. He dropped to his knees with a thud. "Uncle's great kindness — how can your nephew ever repay it?"

Li Shengtian rose, walked over to Zhang Zhao, and gently helped him up.

"If one day you truly establish your rule over the Central Plains, and Congde finds himself in difficulty, remember to look after him well. He is far inferior to you, and I fear he will struggle to hold Khotan, this flourishing state of Anxi. If there is no hope, he may always return here to his uncle, and guard Ningyuan on my behalf."

"Uncle's kindness is higher than heaven; your nephew could not repay one ten-thousandth of it. If there truly comes a day when I establish my rule over the Central Plains, the Li clan of Khotan shall endure together with the great dynasty! But if your nephew takes them away, what will become of the Great Golden Kingdom?"

Zhang Zhao knew that Li Shengtian had absolutely staked his blood and treasure on this. For the Khotan Golden Kingdom to control so vast a territory, population and troops were both extremely precious.

One had to remember that in the north, Saktu was scheming with all his might to make a comeback, and the Gaochang Uyghur Khaganate had long been eyeing the benefits Khotan had gained.

At the same time, Khotan still had to maintain pressure on the Samanid Persians. Its own military strength was already barely sufficient, and now it had given so much to Zhang Zhao.

Especially those more than nine hundred Khotan palace guards — they had fought alongside him for several years, and their combat prowess was quite extraordinary.

On the way back, Zhang Zhao had actually considered whether he could ask Li Shengtian for some Khotan palace guards, but after mulling it over for a long time, he had felt it would be awkward to bring up, so he had not mentioned it.

He had never imagined Li Shengtian would be so generous as to bestow more than nine hundred in one stroke, and even be willing to part with a fine general like Liu Zaisheng.

"Ruoliu arrived at the royal city the night before last. She has agreed to hand over the Kingdom of Zhongyun and return with you to Dunhuang. Of the Kingdom of Zhongyun's eighty thousand or so people, I plan to move thirty thousand to Shule.

In the future, after you defeat the Ganzhou Uyghurs, move the forty thousand of the Yanqi Long clan in Suzhou back to Anxi for me.

As for the rest, you need not worry. Your uncle is, after all, a sage and enlightened Son of Heaven. Saktu is barely clinging to life, the Gaochang Khagan Wumu has newly died, and his sons are all mediocre. If I cannot hold such an excellent position, then I will have wasted these twenty-some years on the throne of the Son of Heaven."

Zhang Zhao could only nod, because he truly could not bear to refuse these three thousand troops from Li Shengtian.

Especially those more than nine hundred Khotan palace guards — not only had their combat skills been greatly honed, but they also worked in perfect coordination with Zhang Zhao and had grown accustomed to following his orders.

Moreover, bringing back over a thousand men versus over four thousand men were two completely different situations.

In fact, there was one thing Li Shengtian had guessed wrong: Zhang Zhao really had been prepared, if there was no other way, to bring some of the Persian surrendered troops back with him.

"Uncle's great kindness is like being given a second life. Allow your nephew to make three bows! The Yanqi Long clan of Suzhou — your nephew will move them back to Anxi as quickly as possible!"

Li Ruoyu, Liu Zaisheng, and the other two quickly withdrew, leaving only Li Shengtian and Zhang Zhao in the room.

Zhang Zhao respectfully performed three full kowtows to Li Shengtian. This imperial uncle of his had indeed shown him profound kindness.

"Though you and I share no blood, our bond is that of father and son. After you leave, I fear there will be no day we meet again!

I only hope that on this journey, Erlang, you succeed at once — above, not shaming the spirits of your ancestors; below, displaying the heroic spirit of the men of Anxi and Hexi!"

Having said this, Li Shengtian suddenly turned away. With his back to Zhang Zhao, he waved his hand.

"Ruoliu has brought your eldest son back. Go and see him!"

Zhang Zhao once more bowed respectfully to Li Shengtian's back, his heart full of complicated feelings — like a full-fledged eagle about to leave its father and fly far away.

At the deputy king's residence, Zhang Zhao saw his eldest son for the first time. The moment he saw the little fellow's appearance, he understood that this was absolutely his son — a son beyond any doubt.

For the boy looked extremely similar to Zhang Zhao in his own childhood. There should be no need to have someone privately investigate.

The little fellow wore a small purple robe, a qiao-jiao futou cap on his head, and a tiny precious sword at his waist.

The sword was not even made of wood, but of real iron. It was remarkable that one so young could bear the weight of an iron sword.

When the little fellow saw Zhang Zhao enter, he seemed somewhat afraid. His body gave just the slightest tremble, and then, as if remembering something, he forcibly held still and did not move.

But his little face was slightly red around the eyes, and his mouth was pressed tightly shut as he struggled not to cry — it was especially heart-wrenching.

"Li Zhun! Your mother taught you — what are you to do when you see your father?" Just as the little fellow was about to burst into tears, Li Ruoliu, sitting upright behind him, suddenly spoke.

"Your child pays respects to Father. May Father enjoy boundless fortune and peace!"

The little fellow's voice was crisp. Though he was on the verge of tears, he spoke without haste, with a fine sense of rhythm, and his kowtow was meticulous, every movement perfectly standard — clearly the result of long training.

Once the kowtow was done, Zhang Zhao hurried over and scooped the little fellow into his arms. Barely over three years old, and he already knew so much. Probably from the moment he could understand words, he had never known an easy day.

"Little Aunt, what is all this about? Why does my son bear the surname Li?"

"You! Why do you keep harping on that?" Li Ruoliu's stern face, held for half the day, was shattered by that single sentence from Zhang Zhao.

"This is my child. I can give him whatever surname I want!"

"Your child? You can just conjure a child out of thin air? This is my seed!"

This was generally not a place where a man had any room for argument, and Zhang Zhao was certainly no exception, though he could clearly feel the resentment radiating from Li Ruoliu.

It was easy to understand. She had been comfortably reigning as Queen of Zhongyun, and then nearly half her subjects had been taken away in an instant. The once proper Kingdom of Zhongyun had been reduced to a single city-state. It would have been strange if she had no resentment.

"I want to take Zhun'er to meet everyone. Are the houses and land in your Wuni City ready? I have over ten thousand descendants of the sons of Tang from Anxi under my command, and I intend to settle them in Wuni City first!"

Zhang Zhao planned to first settle the three clans of the former New Kucha, along with the Han people of Anxi willing to return east with him, in the Kingdom of Zhongyun. That would also put the minds of the enlisted men at ease.

"Really! That's wonderful. Go quickly — the rest has long been arranged by this slave!"

Li Ruoliu was overjoyed when she heard this, because she knew exactly what Zhang Zhao meant by taking the child to meet everyone. This was the treatment reserved for a young lord.

Zhang Zhao now had only two sons. Ayiguli was a Hu dancer and a widow, so the son she bore had low status. He was being prepared by Zhang Zhao for the future control of the Talas region.

But for a ruler-like figure, having a successor was an extremely important indicator, so Zhang Zhao decided to take the eldest son Li Ruoliu had borne him.

In the main hall of the deputy king's palace, all officers of the Fengtian Army above the rank of squad general, all officers of Zhang Zhao's personal guard the Hanshan Company above the rank of fire chief, and all officers of the Yucheng Army that Li Shengtian had formed for him above the rank of squad leader were present.

The name evidently came from the saying "hardship and suffering polish you into jade," and it also carried the implied meaning that Li Shengtian had polished him into jade.

This was the entirety of Zhang Zhao's current inner circle: roughly fifteen hundred men of the Fengtian Army he could take with him, three hundred from the Hanshan Company, three thousand from the Yucheng Army, and two hundred from the Fenjin Company attached to the Huolei Office — exactly five thousand men in total.

Among them were six hundred fully armored cavalry, fifteen hundred light-armored horse archers, and twenty-seven hundred mounted heavy infantry.

In terms of equipment, there were nine hundred sets of padded cotton armor, twenty-one hundred sets of iron lamellar armor, eleven hundred sets of mail and ring-linked armor combined, one hundred twenty divine-arm crossbows, and one thousand pear-blossom spears.

There were three thousand Ferghana horses of various breeds with blood of the heavenly horses, over five thousand Indian lop-eared horses, and more than twenty thousand other draft and riding horses of all kinds.

But although the horses were numerous, he could not take them all with him, or he simply would not be able to feed them.

So he would leave a portion behind in Ningyuan and Shule. Even so, Zhang Zhao still had a considerable surplus of warhorses.

"Your servants congratulate the Great King!"

When Li Zhun knelt obediently and full of curiosity at Zhang Zhao's side, everyone's gaze was drawn to him.

After a few seconds came congratulations like a roaring sea, and most of them were heartfelt. Zhang Zhao could not be bothered to change the name now; he would deal with it after the eastward return.

When a ruler has a successor, it proves that the ruler's abilities in that regard are sound. The realm they conquer in the future can be enjoyed by their sons and grandsons, and it will not fall back into chaos because the ruler died without an heir.

"Zhang Zhong!" Zhang Zhao shouted.

"Your servant is here!" Old Zhang Zhong, now a father himself, stepped forward with a face glowing with pride.

"I appoint you, in the office of Chief Clerk, to remain and guard Ningyuan. Tend to the training of the warhorses, and care for the officers and men willing to settle in Ningyuan. Rewards and pensions must be delivered in full!"

"Your servant obeys!" Old Zhang Zhong had finally stopped running around everywhere, because he now had a child and his health was not good. He might return to Dunhuang someday, but not now, so Zhang Zhao simply had him stay and guard Ningyuan.

"Gentlemen! Prepare for the eastward return! If there is anything you still need to prepare or equip, raise it now, and the three bureaus of War, Population, and Works will supply it immediately.

In three days, I will personally inspect the great army! We set out on the eastward return! Back to Dunhuang! Back to Liangzhou! Back to our Chang'an, the city that haunts our dreams.

To see the Great Tang that our ancestors took pride in all their lives and served with unswerving loyalty!"

"Eastward return! Eastward return! Back to the Great Tang! Back to the Great Tang!"

Except for Zhang Zhao's Hanshan Company, nearly everyone present was a descendant of the sons of Tang from Anxi. They dropped to one knee before Zhang Zhao in a thunderous wave and shouted in unison!

Guo Tiance, Li Qilang, the eminent monk Hui Tong — Zheng Tong, Yang Shouyi, Xue Shouyi, Zheng Shouyi, and even Lu Sanlang all had tears in their eyes as they gazed eastward.

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