Chapter 265: The Land of Destiny: Liangzhou (Two Chapters in One)

Zhang Zhao looked toward the voice and saw a man in a moon-white round-collared robe, a gold-threaded net cap on his head, strolling out unhurriedly with his hands clasped behind his back.

The man had an upright bearing and sword-like brows... uh! No, those eyes were truly unpleasant to look at.

They were long and narrow, giving off a somewhat sinister air, and also a peculiar sense of some kind of longing.

Just looking at those eyes, you could instantly think of many figures — the likes of Chen Ping, Li Ru, Jia Xu.

When the man saw Zhang Zhao looking at his eyes, his cheek twitched involuntarily.

Of course he knew these eyes were not good-looking, but damn it, they were given by his mother and father — could he just say he didn't want them?

If not for these eyes dragging him down, with his birth and learning, how could he still be wandering from place to place? He would long ago have held high office and rich rewards.

But Zhang Zhao only glanced for a moment before shifting his gaze away. As a transmigrator, he half-believed in the idea that the face reflects the heart, but not as deeply as people of this era did.

Besides, someone from the later age of information explosion — even a teenage boy — could cite several cases of rulers who slighted great talents because of looks or other reasons, and regretted it bitterly afterward.

One could say that a person from the later age, even if he were just a high school student transmigrated here, could put on a convincing act of a wise ruler who is open-minded and tolerant of talent — that is the result of proper education and information.

Not to mention that in web novels, this "do not bully the poor youth, do not judge by appearance" face-slapping reversal routine has been seen so often it's tiresome — who hasn't picked up a trick or two?

Therefore, Zhang Zhao did not pay much attention to those eyes, nor did his face show the startled, uneasy expression Cao Yuande had worn when first meeting him. He merely glanced once and returned to normal.

"I have yet to ask your esteemed name. What instruction do you have for me?"

Zhang Zhao cupped his hands and asked naturally. He wanted to see what insight this man — who only needed a feather fan in hand to play the part of Zhuge Kongming — actually had.

"I am Pei Yuan of Jiangzhou in Hezhong Prefecture, Hedong Circuit, of the Pei clan of Wenxi!"

Pei Yuan cupped his hands. He was very satisfied with Zhang Erlang's expression just now — this was the first time a man of power had looked at his eyes without showing dislike, and had even remained courteous.

'Clang! Bang!'

The next second, Pei Yuan discovered he had misjudged the man, because the moment the words left his mouth, a huge clay jar smashed onto his head.

Pottery shards flew off his forehead. Pei Yuan felt no pain, only dizziness.

After the dizziness passed, a warm sensation flowed down from his forehead. Blood dripped onto the ground, and Pei Yuan staggered two steps before plopping down on his rear.

"So you're the one called Pei Yuan!"

In his daze, Pei Yuan heard the roar of Young Lord Zhang Erlang.

'Hehehe!' But he was not afraid; instead, he grinned with delight.

"Well struck! Well struck! Young Lord Zhang Erlang is indeed bold and ruthless — already adrift like duckweed, yet still daring to strike suddenly in this great hall!"

Huh? What kind of creature is this? "Well struck"? You think you can play the part of Zhenguanxi?

Still, Zhang Zhao had not forgotten what this Pei Yuan had said to catch his attention. He walked over slowly and hauled up the fellow, whose face was covered in blood yet still laughing like a madman.

"Now I'm a little interested. You said just now — why confine yourself to this tiny patch of land, was it?

So tell me, where is the wide world? If you can say it, you live. If you cannot, today you will be the first to be reincarnated."

Zhang Zhao was half hopeful — hoping this fellow truly had talent, and might have a better way to break the deadlock.

And half intent on establishing his authority. The people in the room probably thought he would not dare to act. If this Pei Yuan who jumped out could not produce something convincing, would he not be the perfect chicken to scare the monkeys?

As he asked, Zhang Zhao pulled over a terrified middle-aged Sogdian beside him, cut off a large piece of the man's robe with a dagger, and unhurriedly began wiping the blood from Pei Yuan's face.

He was as gentle as an elder brother, as if the one who had just smashed the man's head open was not him at all.

"Take your time. Don't be afraid. I'm stopping the bleeding for you! The wound is not large, it won't kill you. Don't let it disturb your thinking!"

But this somewhat cruel and twisted act of Zhang Zhao's actually suited Pei Yuan's taste. He chuckled.

"I was right after all — Young Lord Zhang Erlang is a ruthless hero with a black heart. Since I came to Guasha, I have found the rest of them mediocre and unworthy of counsel. At last I have found someone I can entrust myself to!"

Zhang Zhao silently dragged over another clay jar and jabbed hard at Pei Yuan's wound with his right hand.

"Speak quickly. Don't think you can show off and raise your own prestige at a time like this. My patience is limited."

Pei Yuan glanced at the huge clay jar in Zhang Zhao's hand. He had originally wanted to unleash a grand mockery of the crowd, to highlight their blindness and petty scheming.

But his head truly hurt, and he did not dare talk nonsense. He stood up directly and straightened his bloodstained clothes.

"May I ask Young Lord Zhang Erlang: in the land of Anxi you built a vast domain for the Great King of the Golden Kingdom — striking the Uyghurs to the north, breaking Persia to the east, said to have expanded your territory a thousand li and brought peoples of every tribe under your rule by the million. Why insist on returning to the two lands of Guasha?"

Zhang Zhao stood up. From the Cao brothers one could see that the people here only knew he had done great things in Anxi, but not how great.

Yet even the upper ranks of the Guiyi Army, so close by, did not fully understand what he, Zhang Zhao, had done in Anxi. How did a man from the Central Plains in Hedong Circuit know all this? He must have investigated him.

And everyone in the great hall, including Cao Yuande and Cao Yuanzhong, looked at Zhang Zhao as if he were a madman.

Cao Yuande in particular wanted to step out and point at Zhang Zhao's nose, asking if he was ill.

A deputy king of the Great Golden Kingdom with a thousand li of territory and a million subjects — you don't want that, but insist on coming back to the hundred-li patch of the two prefectures of Guasha to seize a position? What were you thinking?

"The reason I, Zhang, came back is of course to reclaim my family's estate. This place may be small, but it is my ancestral inheritance, won through generations of bloody battle by my Longshe Zhang clan. How could I not take it back?"

This was the first time Zhang Zhao had stated definitively that he had returned to take back the Zhang family's foundation.

"Young Lord wants to hear my true words — should you not speak a true word yourself?"

Pei Yuan's nostrils flared and he raised his head high. He did not believe Zhang Zhao had returned merely to continue as Military Governor of the Guiyi Army with only Guasha to his name.

"Very well!" Zhang Zhao drew a breath. "I came back to avenge my father. In years past the Ganzhou Uyghurs humiliated my forebears. In this life I am determined to trample Ganzhou and make Yaoluoge Renyu kneel and call me 'Grandfather'!"

Yaoluoge Renyu was the current Khagan of the Ganzhou Uyghurs. The crowd thought this made sense.

Back then the Ganzhou Uyghurs had fought to the walls of Dunhuang and forced Zhang Zhao's father, the White-Clad Son of Heaven Zhang Chengfeng, to sign a humiliating treaty beneath the city walls.

Zhang Chengfeng was forced to acknowledge the Khagan of the Ganzhou Uyghurs as his father — this was the famous "the Son of Heaven is the son, the Khagan is the father."

Truly shameful. Damn it — everyone in the great hall felt their faces burn with disgrace.

Zhang Zhao felt the same. This had happened decades before Shi Jingtang acknowledged the Khitan as his father, and it was the main reason the Zhang family lost its legitimacy within the Guiyi Army and Zhang Chengfeng was forced from power.

Zhang Yichao had taken his position as lord of Hexi on the moral claim of opening the road through Gan and Liang and reconnecting with the motherland. When Zhang Chengfeng acknowledged the Ganzhou Khagan as his father, the Zhang family's moral and legal legitimacy was utterly shattered.

If Zhang Zhao now returned to break Ganzhou, swallow Ganzhou, wash away the shame, and restore Ganzhou — that was great filial piety! And entirely justified!

The way the crowd looked at Zhang Zhao finally lost some of its hostility. This Zhang Erlang had such resolve — he could still be counted a real man!

"Young Lord, you still have not spoken the truth! A true man — why hide your heart's intent!"

Pei Yuan shook his head like a rattle-drum. As he shook, drops of blood scattered across the floor, making him look utterly demonic.

"Then I'll tell you!" Zhang Zhao gritted his teeth. "The reason I gave up everything in Anxi and Hezhong to come back is that I intend to become the second Grand Protector, open the road through Ganzhou and Liangzhou, hold all of Hexi, cast my eyes on Longyou, and achieve hegemony!"

What the hell! The people in the great hall instantly had an even worse impression of Zhang Zhao.

Because back then Zhang Zhao's father, Zhang Chengfeng, had thought exactly the same way — his heart higher than the heavens, his fate thinner than paper — and in the end he died of despair. How could this Zhang Erlang be the same?

"Hahaha! So it is! This is what a true man does! Young Lord Zhang Erlang, 'cast my eyes on Longyou' — well said!"

Pei Yuan clapped his hands in high delight, looking half-mad. And what came after casting one's eyes on Longyou — wasn't that self-evident?

At that thought, Pei Yuan straightened his clothes, gave Zhang Zhao a deep bow with his head to the ground, then knelt and sat down on the bloodstained floor.

"Young lord, the two prefectures of Gua and Sha have no more than two hundred thousand people and only five or six cities large or small. Without the trade routes to sustain them, they will sooner or later be buried in the yellow sand.

To call this a 'tiny scrap of land' is still overstating it. Placed in the Central Plains, it would only count as a superior prefecture.

Moreover, power here is tangled root and branch. The profits from these two hundred thousand people have long since been gnawed away to nothing by the men in this great hall.

If the young lord wishes to accomplish a great enterprise, without five years' time, it is absolutely impossible to sort out the internal situation and unite men's hearts.

And even if you did unite their hearts, how many soldiers could these two hundred thousand people put forth?

Even if you were a heaven-sent genius, using two hundred thousand to swallow three hundred forty or fifty thousand — without ten years' time, could you swallow the deeply rooted Yageluo clan of the Ganzhou Uyghurs?"

Zhang Zhao likewise sat down formally across from Pei Yuan. Judging from this man's understanding of him and his eloquence and insight, he did seem to be a person of genuine ability.

For a person of genuine ability, Zhang Zhao would certainly show respect — and besides, he happened to be lacking someone who knew the situation east of Liangzhou.

"Using two hundred thousand to swallow three hundred forty or fifty thousand, and blood-sworn enemies at that — ten years would actually be fast."

Although Zhang Zhao did not think it would take him ten years to swallow the Ganzhou Uyghurs, there was no need to boast here, so he very readily conceded Pei Yuan's assessment.

"Ten years to take Ganzhou, then another ten to take Liangzhou — ten years and then ten more. How many ten-year spans does a life hold?

Besides, back then the young lord's ancestor the Grand Protector was a heaven-sent genius: within there was civil strife among the Tibetans, without there was the Xuan Temple, called the Little Taizong, reviving the Great Tang. Only with all that could he bring the six commanderies of Hexi back to allegiance in twenty years."

As he spoke, Pei Yuan pointed with great insolence at Cao Yuande and the rest. "Now the Central Plains are in chaos and can offer no aid. The Uyghurs are not like the Tibetans — they call the Central Plains their maternal uncle and style themselves the nephew. The Central Plains court has no need whatsoever to move against them.

At the same time, the Guiyi Army sits trapped in a city of sorrows. All you mediocre gentlemen have lost the heroic spirit of your ancestors and think only of preserving your wealth and rank, with no heart for expansion. Young lord, with twenty years, can you truly bring Hexi back to allegiance?"

This is a man of real ability! Zhang Zhao made his judgment in an instant.

To be able to explain clearly how Zhang Yichao, with a single rallying cry, brought Hexi back to allegiance in only twenty years — and to lay out the Guiyi Army's present decline so plainly — this man was absolutely a talent.

"Zhang Zhao of the Dragon-Tongue Zhang clan asks you, sir: how may I once more carry out the Grand Protector's ambition and bring glory to the Guiyi Army?"

Zhang Zhao straightened his robes, and in that hall of awkward and eerie atmosphere, bowed low to Pei Yuan and asked for instruction.

Everyone in the great hall — whether the Cao brothers, or Zhang Zhao's maternal grandfather and grand-uncle and other relatives, or Luo Tongda and the rest — was stunned.

The scene was indescribably bizarre!

A crowd of old men stood gathered, watching Zhang Erlang warily. The bomb-tool Cao Yuanshen could neither stand nor sit, utterly awkward and terrified. Cao Yuande and Cao Yuanzhong looked at each other in dismay.

And there on the floor, amid shattered pottery shards and drops of blood, Zhang Erlang sat facing a man in a moon-white round-collared robe with a blood-smeared face, the two of them solemnly acting out a Longzhong dialogue.

Cao Yuanzhong suddenly rubbed his eyes hard. This world was too damn insane!

"Yuan — drifting through half a lifetime, never once has a regional lord condescended to seek my counsel. I am moved beyond words. How does the young lord see this Pei?"

In the great hall, the Hexi version of the "Longzhong dialogue" continued. Pei Yuan cupped his hands and in turn questioned Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Zhao knew Pei Yuan was not asking how Zhang Zhao viewed him, but rather asking what treatment he would receive — that is, after he laid out all he had learned, what he would get in return.

Zhang Zhao smiled faintly. "If Secretary Pei can help this Zhang achieve the foundation of my ancestor the Grand Protector, I would gladly appoint him Chief Clerk at a hundred thousand cash a year. And if the gentleman lacks a red sleeve or two to add fragrance, I will present with both hands a daughter of the Samanid Persian royal house."

Of course, this Samanid Persian royal woman was definitely not the little loli Saifeiye or her sister Taliya, but other granddaughters of Nasr II.

After they had taken Bukhara, Prince Hamid had executed seven or eight of his brothers, and the daughters of those brothers' consorts had all been packed up and carried off by Zhang Zhao.

On the way back to Anxi, Li Shengtian and the Khotanese nobles, as well as his own senior generals like Yan Jin, had each taken a few.

Two of superior beauty remained, which Zhang Zhao had deliberately kept aside precisely to win over men like Pei Yuan — if he truly had talent.

"Truly a Persian princess? That country is a great power in Hezhong!" Pei Yuan gulped audibly.

Even a man not given to lust would feel his heart stir at the mention of a princess or royal daughter of a great country like Persia.

These were royal daughters of a great kingdom — to say nothing of a young man like Pei Yuan; how could he not be fond of beauty?

"I took Bukhara and Samarkand as easily as reaching into a bag. If Secretary Pei had made my acquaintance earlier, he could have ridden with me across Anxi and Hezhong.

When the heavenly host arrived in force and the barbarian hordes submitted, we took whatever we wished. A mere one or two Persian royal daughters — what is there to speak of!"

What did ultimate Versailles look like? This was ultimate Versailles. Zhang Zhao's light words set every man in the great hall dreaming.

Though it may be uncivilized to say so, males seizing the mates of other males through war is a drive carved into the genes.

Even in later ages it was not uncommon — it merely changed from pure warfare into a more all-encompassing form of competition.

"Alas! What a pity! If I had not wasted my days at Xu Donghai's place, I could certainly have followed the young lord west!"

Pei Yuan's face was full of regret. He should never have believed the rumors that Xu Zhigao was a man of great talent and gone off to Yang Wu.

In the end, the ministers under Xu Zhigao, Prince of Donghai Commandery, excluded outsiders, and Xu Zhigao himself took a dislike to him. He had wasted his time for nothing.

"It is still not too late. Secretary Pei, do tell us your fine plan quickly. The honored elders in this hall are waiting to hear your lofty discourse!"

Zhang Zhao glanced at Pei Yuan, his meaning clear: if you truly have learning, you'd best say something solid quickly to overawe them. I'm running a kidnapping here — hurry it up.

"Very well! The open land this servant has chosen for the young lord is Liangzhou! Since the young lord has several thousand fierce guards and the ambition to dominate Hexi, why not go directly to Liangzhou?

Liangzhou is a vital place in Hexi. In Great Tang times it was the foremost strategic town under heaven. Even now it has eight hundred thousand people of various tribes, with high walls and thick ramparts. If you can seize Liangzhou, the whole board comes alive — the trifling Ganzhou Uyghurs could be taken in a day."

"You mad scholar! You don't know the height of heaven or the thickness of earth! Who here doesn't know Liangzhou is good? If a few thousand troops could take Liangzhou, would we need you to say it? Your fathers would have gone long ago. Why don't you tell Zhang Erlang to go to Chang'an and become Son of Heaven?"

"Exactly! We thought you had some learning, but it turns out you're just a mad scholar spouting wild words!"

Before Zhang Zhao could speak, a great burst of laughter erupted in the hall. Everyone laughed at Pei Yuan's wild fantasy. Did the descendants of the Guiyi Army need to be told that Liangzhou was good?

Back then the Guiyi Army had twice held Liangzhou, both times at the height of its power. But what era was it now? With the paltry forces of the two prefectures of Gua and Sha, they could not even retake Suzhou — what talk of Liangzhou?

Pei Yuan paid no heed to the mockery in the hall. Instead he raised his head even higher. Suddenly he reached into his chest and drew out a rolled document of silk, then held it high, the scorn on his face growing thicker still.

"Does the young lord know what this is?" Pei Yuan asked, his face full of smug satisfaction.

"I do not!" Zhang Zhao shook his head, thinking to himself: it couldn't possibly be an imperial edict from the Later Tang court appointing him Prefect of Liangzhou.

"This is a letter seeking aid from Lord Li, named Wenqian, Acting Military Governor of Hexi under the Great Tang and Prefect of Liangzhou."

"The Wenmo of Liangzhou are in turmoil, and the great clans are encroaching on the Hexi Military Governor's authority. Acting Military Governor Li has sent me with a handwritten letter to seek aid. Whoever can lead a great army to subdue the Wenmo tribes may become the Hexi Escort Office Troop Commander."

Everyone was stunned by this news. So this Pei Yuan had come to Dunhuang bearing a mission.

But the crowd's eyes grew even more distrustful. Li Wenqian, Acting Military Governor of Hexi and Prefect of Liangzhou, was a frontier grandee appointed by the court. If he wanted outside help, why would he come all the way to Dunhuang?

Not to mention petitioning the court directly — even the three nearby Military Governors of Shuofang, Xiongwu, and Zhangyi were all closer than the Guiyi Army, and all stronger than the Guiyi Army.

But Zhang Zhao felt a stir in his heart, because he knew that Shi Jingtang was about to sell the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun, and the Later Tang would fall this very year.

It was already the second month. In three or four months at most, the Central Plains would be thrown into chaos. Liangzhou was far closer to the Central Plains than Dunhuang, and had likely already sensed that something was wrong.

Pei Yuan gave a long laugh and bowed to all around him. "Gentlemen, you should know that the garrison of Liangzhou today is descended from the two thousand five hundred men of the Yunzhou Tianping Army sent there by the previous dynasty."

"The year before last (933), Sun Chao, Commander-in-Chief of the Tianping Army, sent his great general Tuoba Chengqian to court, and the Ming Temple thereupon appointed Sun Chao as Acting Military Governor of Hexi and Prefect of Liangzhou."

Zhang Zhao nodded to show he knew this. Back when Zhang Yichao had seized Liangzhou, the court, fearing the Guiyi Army would grow too powerful, had transferred two thousand five hundred men of the Tianping Army from Yunzhou to garrison Liangzhou.

From then on, these soldiers multiplied and settled in Liangzhou, becoming the main body of the Han population there. Liangzhou city was still in their hands.

"But do you know, gentlemen, that Sun Chao's move was actually meant to suppress the merging of local Han and barbarian customs?"

"After the dynastic changes in the Central Plains, Liangzhou lost the court's support. The Tianping Army could barely hold half of Liangzhou city. The greatest power in Liangzhou is the Wenmo tribes."

"The Wenmo number seven or eight hundred thousand, while the Tianping Army and local Han descendants number only thirty thousand or so."

"As the days and years passed, the Han people in the city were gradually infected by Wenmo customs. More and more of them speak barbarian tongues and practice barbarian rites."

"To suppress this trend, Sun Chao decided to send envoys to court to request an appointment, hoping to rely on the court's authority to keep the local Wenmo in check."

"But no sooner had the court's investiture envoy departed than Acting Military Governor Li, joining forces with disgruntled Wenmo and those soldiers and officers in the city who had likewise gained nothing from the court's appointments, fell upon Sun Chao and slaughtered his entire family."

Cao Yuande frowned. As the lord of a domain himself, he naturally detested a man like Li Wenqian.

"But didn't this Li Wenqian end up accepting a court office too?"

"That is precisely why Acting Military Governor Li seeks outside help today. Three years ago, after he killed Sun Chao, he suddenly realized that he too needed the court's backing to overawe the restless Wenmo under his command. So he accepted the post of Acting Military Governor."

"And after killing Sun Chao, Acting Military Governor Li not only gave none of the spoils to the Wenmo chieftains, but in the years since has used the court's power to strike at the Wenmo tribes."

"Now, inside and outside Liangzhou, the Han and the Wenmo tribes are at each other's throats, and fighting could break out at any moment!"

"Then Acting Military Governor Li should seek aid from the court! With the court behind him, how would the Wenmo rabble dare make trouble?" Cao Yuande pressed.

By now the atmosphere in the great hall had eased considerably. Though everyone was still somewhat tense, they all felt that if Zhang Zhao were willing to go to Liangzhou, it would be a very good choice — at the very least, it would avert an internal bloodbath within the Guiyi Army.

"The court!" Pei Yuan gave a bitter laugh. "I fear the court can hardly save itself now!"

"His Majesty killed his brother to take the throne, and his foundation was never secure. The warriors of the Central Plains are not like the soldiers under your command, gentlemen. They murder their superiors and mutiny at the drop of a hat."

"Since His Majesty's accession, the arrogant troops and fierce generals, claiming credit for placing him on the throne, have been utterly beyond the court's control."

"Moreover, frontier grandees such as Shi Jingtang, Military Governor of Hedong, and Zhao Dejun, Military Governor of Lulong, all harbor disloyalty."

"Shi of Hedong in particular keeps His Majesty awake at night. How could the court spare any thought for Liangzhou's wretched affairs?"

"Still less could he seek help from Lingwu. Zhang Congbin, Military Governor of Lingwu, has long coveted Liangzhou. Asking them in would be inviting a wolf into the house — unless Acting Military Governor Li wants to lose his life right now."

"And the Zhangyi Army Commander demanded twenty thousand strings of cash before he would send troops. If Acting Military Governor Li were willing to part with his wealth, how would he be in today's predicament?"

"Hmph!" Zhang Zhao sneered. "This Acting Military Governor Li of Liangzhou murdered his superior, mistreated the people under his rule, and has brought Liangzhou to the brink of chaos. Besieged in a desperate city, he still won't part with his wealth."

"He has already lost all real authority. Does he think a paltry self-conferred post of Escort Office Troop Commander is enough to get people to work for him for free?"

Pei Yuan rose to his feet and clasped his hands toward Zhang Zhao with an eager expression.

"The facts are indeed as the young lord says. But for Governor Cao and the others, a thousand-li march to Liangzhou would mean not only being used for nothing by Acting Military Governor Li — it would be a death sentence."

"Because the unrest in Liangzhou cannot be quelled by a few thousand troops. Without extraordinary ability, you cannot hold down the surrounding Wenmo, and sooner or later you will be dragged down with them."

"But for you, Zhang Erlang, it is entirely different!"

"When I was in Liangzhou, I heard Anxi merchants speak of your great name. Since you have the ability to range across the Western Regions and extend your territory a thousand li, recovering the mere Wenmo of Liangzhou should not be difficult."

"Young lord, this is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity! The greater part of the Liangzhou Wenmo are descendants of Longyou soldiers who fell into Tibetan hands in years past and were forced to become slave soldiers."

"After Liangzhou was recovered, the court was too busy contending with your great-grandfather, Grand Guardian Zhang, for power, and never soothed them or showed them the slightest favor. Their resentment deepened. Then the Huang Chao rebellion made them forget the court entirely."

"But over these three years I have traveled throughout Liangzhou and come to know many Wenmo chieftains. From what I have observed, many Wenmo still remember where their ancestors came from, and some tribes can still speak Chinese."

"They simply do not know the majesty of the great Han, nor the difference between barbarian and Han. If someone went now to guide them, they could still be turned. But if another thirty or fifty years pass, it will truly be beyond remedy."

"In Liangzhou city there are still thirty thousand Han, of whom no fewer than two thousand are skilled in bow and horse."

"Though their customs have grown close to the Wenmo, they still consider themselves Han. If someone would treat them well and guide them upward, much could be accomplished."

"Beyond that, led by Escort Officer Liu Shaoyan of the Hexi Military Governor's headquarters, the Chief Clerk and the civil and military officials of the Six Bureaus are all unwilling to be buried in barbarian dust. If a strong lord with several thousand troops should arrive, they would all be willing to serve unto death."

"Young lord, if you bring but a few thousand troops to Liangzhou now, this treasured land is yours."

Zhang Zhao abruptly stood up. Liangzhou! Liangzhou! It was too tempting!

This was a great prefecture with nearly a million people, counting the surrounding Tibetans and Tangut. Compared to it, the Guiyi Army's Gua and Sha prefectures were not even worth mentioning.

Pei Yuan was right. At the Guiyi Army's size, even fighting the Ganzhou Uyghurs would take a decade.

Because this was not an internal Han struggle, where once the enemy's main force was crushed, the common people were easy to win over.

The Guiyi Army and the Ganzhou Uyghurs were mortal enemies with a blood feud. It would not end until one side was utterly destroyed.

But if he went to Liangzhou and led the Wenmo back to the right path, from the eight hundred thousand Wenmo alone he could draw tens of thousands of troops.

In history, under the leadership of Pan Luozhi, these people had directly killed Li Jiqian, the war god of Dijinze.

The later Jiaosiluo was also a formidable figure. They could fight the Western Xia on even terms — their combat strength was beyond question.

And with the descendants of the Yunzhou Tianping Army still there, those several thousand Han soldiers were not to be underestimated either.

As long as he could enter Liangzhou city, play the cuckoo and push Li Wenqian out, then wait until Shi Jingtang established the Later Jin and go request an appointment — he would have legitimacy.

After that, he could slowly deal with the Ganzhou Uyghurs, and even gradually swallow the territories of the Shuofang, Xiongwu, and Zhangyi Military Governors. When the Later Jin fell, it would be his time to make his move.

If he stayed holed up in Gua and Sha, far from the Central Plains, by the time he fought his way to Liangzhou, Guo Rong would have damn well already secured his footing. Then what chance would he have to contend for the realm? Liangzhou had to be taken.

But he could not simply leave. The Cao brothers and the clan elders in the great hall would have to show some appreciation first, wouldn't they?

Heh heh!

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