Chapter 454: Drawing the Spring Breeze Across the Jade Gate

Kucha was not far from Yanqi, only a little over six hundred li. Without considering combat, one could arrive in five days.

By the time Zhang Zhao arrived, Li Shengtian was indeed camped only outside the city walls.

Apart from dispatching the necessary officials into the city to take over its defenses, everyone from Li Shengtian down through the military officers, meritorious officials, and accompanying civil officials of the Khotan Golden Kingdom remained outside the city and did not enter.

Zhang Zhao left Ma Shacai with four thousand troops to hold Yanqi, and brought the remaining twenty-six thousand men to the outskirts of Kucha.

Li Shengtian had also brought thirty thousand infantry and cavalry to besiege Kucha; excluding the wounded, he still had twenty-five or twenty-six thousand men.

The two forces combined amounted to a full fifty-two or fifty-three thousand troops.

This was an extraordinary figure. One must remember that the original Great Tang garrison of the Four Garrisons of Anxi numbered only a little over twenty thousand.

Of course, those were battle-hardened elites who could each fight ten men. Twenty thousand of them had more combat power than the fifty thousand and more that Zhang Zhao and Li Shengtian now commanded.

But these fifty thousand and more men of Zhang Zhao and Li Shengtian could be said to be the first army of decisive strength that Han-Tang civilization had possessed in Anxi since the Great Tang withdrew from the region.

Before Zhang Zhao had even reached Kucha, envoys from the Khotan Golden Kingdom and the Liang Kingdom had begun exchanging reports continuously.

Almost every ten li along the road, Li Shengtian sent men with fine wine and delicacies to feast the troops.

Zhang Zhao, in turn, continuously presented the treasures and beauties he had obtained in Gaochang and Yanqi to Li Shengtian and the Khotan meritorious officials.

At last, amid the anticipation of all, Zhang Zhao led his twenty-five thousand troops to the first great Buddhist temple of Anxi north of Kucha — the Qieli Great Temple of Kucha.

The Qieli Great Temple was built during the Jianwu reign of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han. The eminent monk Kumarajiva of old took his vows at this temple, and the Great Tang eminent monks Lotus Vigor, Xuanzang, Wukong, and others also studied here.

Moreover, although most of the Gaochang Uyghur royal clan believed in Manichaeism, the common people largely believed in Buddhism.

The Buddhist temple caves carved outside the city of Kucha had by now reached a scale that even surpassed the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang in Hexi.

Outside the Qieli Great Temple, banners blotted out the sky and drums and music filled the air. The civil officials and military officers of the Khotan Golden Kingdom and the Liang Kingdom had all shed their armor and changed into magnificent brocade and satin robes.

Two thousand men of the Khotan Palace Guard wore splendid red-corded iron lamellar armor. Seen from afar, the red cords on the iron lamellar armor were extraordinarily striking — at once majestic and magnificent.

Three thousand men of the Liang Kingdom's Left and Right Feathered Forest Guards wore cloth-faced iron armor. The Left Feathered Forest Guard wore red cloth facing, the Right Feathered Forest Guard wore white cloth facing. They stood as steady as mountains and as still as deep waters, looking every inch a righteous army that practiced benevolence and trod the path of virtue.

Zhang Zhao wore the Jinde Crown with a crimson gauze single-layer robe, white skirt and jacket, leather belt, white stockings, and black leather shoes — the full attire of a Tang imperial clan prince.

At his sides, Murong Xinzhang and Li Cunhui wore the great military officer's cap with hanging ribbons and carried precious swords as they accompanied him left and right.

Only at this moment did Zhang Zhao understand why Li Shengtian had sent envoys several times to ask what ceremonial dress he would wear.

It turned out that Li Shengtian had not worn the Son of Heaven's ceremonial robes he usually favored, but instead, like Zhang Zhao, had put on a set of Tang imperial prince's court robes.

One could truly say he had taken great pains!

"Uncle!" Zhang Zhao spotted Li Shengtian's figure from afar, immediately leaped down from his horse, and then sprinted toward Li Shengtian.

"Haha! Erlang! You have done great things!" Li Shengtian, seeing this, also jumped down from his horse and ran toward Zhang Zhao.

When only a few steps remained, Zhang Zhao hesitated for a brief moment, then still performed the full ceremonial prostration.

Setting aside everything else, without Li Shengtian there would be no Zhang Zhao of today. The man was not merely treating him as a true nephew — in truth, even toward his own son he could not have been better.

"Erlang, do not do this!"

Li Shengtian practically lunged forward. Just as Zhang Zhao was about to complete the grand salute, he seized Zhang Zhao and pulled him up.

"Erlang is now the lord of millions. A lord of men cannot perform the grand salute to anyone — not even to his uncle!"

Li Shengtian's voice was resolute, his manner utterly firm.

Zhang Zhao gently freed his hand from Li Shengtian's grip, stepped back a few paces, straightened his back, and, looking at the ten thousand and more pairs of eyes watching from all around, said:

"A lord of men was also born of a mother and raised by a father. A lord of men must also govern all under heaven by filial piety!

In years past, when I, Zhang Erlang, journeyed west with only a hundred or so men, it was my uncle who took me in and taught me as a father would.

This prostration today is not the Heavenly King of Liang bowing to the Son of Heaven of the Golden Kingdom, but a nephew expressing gratitude for his uncle's kindness!"

With that, Zhang Zhao respectfully completed the full set of kneeling prostrations.

After the salute was finished, Li Shengtian hurriedly helped Zhang Zhao to his feet, his eyes somewhat moist.

In that moment, Li Shengtian seemed suddenly to understand the reason for that special feeling he had toward Zhang Zhao.

Why had he emptied the state treasury to support Zhang Zhao's campaigns, and sent several thousand elite troops without so much as blinking?

Because in Zhang Zhao, Li Shengtian saw the shadow of himself — or perhaps it would be more fitting to call it Li Shengtian's dream.

He had fantasized more than once, fantasized that he possessed abilities like Zhang Zhao's: governing with vigor, winning every battle, recovering the Four Garrisons of Anxi, and once more binding together the Anxi territories after the great dynasty's decline.

But he knew his own household's affairs best. He, Li Shengtian, was not a qualified warrior Son of Heaven. Only Zhang Zhao could accomplish all of this for him.

So what appeared to be his selfless support of Zhang Zhao was in fact the two of them together fulfilling the dreams of both men.

Thereupon, Li Shengtian raised Zhang Zhao's hand above his head and turned toward the direction of the Khotan Golden Kingdom's civil and military officials.

"Zhang Erlang's mother was my eldest sister. I grew up on my eldest sister's back. Without my eldest sister, I, Li Shengtian, might well have died in infancy.

And when Erlang came to Khotan, in four years he shunned neither arrows nor stones, crossed great deserts and snowy mountains, and fought desperate bloody battles. Only thus did our Great Golden Kingdom achieve its present glory.

This Great Golden Kingdom rightly has a share belonging to him. From this day forward, the commands of Heavenly King Zhang are the commands of me, Li Shengtian. All within our Great Golden Kingdom, high and low, shall obey without exception!"

The moment Li Shengtian's words left his mouth, everyone was stunned. The Liang Kingdom officers and soldiers, who had just been somewhat uncomfortable at Zhang Zhao's grand prostration to Li Shengtian, were likewise all stunned.

For Li Shengtian to say this was almost no different from handing the Khotan Golden Kingdom over to Zhang Zhao!

The crowd fell utterly silent, but all eyes turned in unison toward the two brothers, Li Congde and Li Congyu.

Because whether or not Zhang Zhao could control the Khotan Golden Kingdom made little difference to the Golden Kingdom's civil and military officials.

Separated by several thousand li of vast desert, even if Zhang Zhao wanted to merge the Khotan Golden Kingdom into the Liang Kingdom, he would still need these very people to govern it.

In fact, to keep them secure, he might well have to scatter coin generously and give ample benefits.

But for the brothers Li Congde and Li Congyu, it was different — especially for the Khotan crown prince Li Congde. This was equivalent to pushing his right of succession back by one place!

Given Heavenly King Zhang's constitution, he might well end up outliving Li Congde entirely.

If one had to be crown prince for thirty or forty years, and even after one's father passed away could only remain crown prince, that would be rather too miserable.

However, beyond everyone's expectations, although Li Congde's expression was somewhat complicated, he still stepped forward of his own accord and performed a solemn bow with clasped hands to Zhang Zhao.

"The Heavenly King has always been the Deputy King of our Great Golden Kingdom. I, Li Congde, naturally must also obey the Heavenly King's commands."

This statement was likewise far from simple. By saying this, Li Congde was making the heir apparent of the Khotan Golden Kingdom subordinate to the vice-king.

Such a thing would be impossible for anyone with even the slightest ambition to accept.

So the reason was very likely only one: Li Shengtian had not simply blurted out in the heat of the moment that Zhang Zhao's orders were his orders — he had at least already sounded Li Congde out beforehand.

And Zhang Zhao also knew that although Li Shengtian had said these words, how the remaining two states, the two families, were to handle their relationship still needed to be worked out in careful discussion.

Promises made in words often still require enormous effort to put into practice.

Especially for a great event like this, marking the union of two states — who advances and who retreats on all manner of interests alone would require lengthy negotiation.

But no matter what, a good beginning had now been made.

Zhang Zhao did not blame Li Congde for his hesitant reluctance. If he had been willing, that would have been the real cause for suspicion.

Only two kinds of people could accept this so calmly: one, a true grand "player" like Liu Shan, the last ruler of Shu Han; the other, an old schemer of ten thousand years like Kang Mazi.

As things now appeared, fortunately, Li Congde was neither of these. He was a perfectly normal, ordinary heir apparent.

"Elder Brother is magnanimous, and your younger brother is moved beyond words. I, Zhang Erlang, am truly no man greedy for power, but there are some things that must be done.

Today Elder Brother shows me understanding. In days to come, the descendants of the Li clan shall, like the descendants of the Zhang clan, enjoy royal titles in honor, and endure together with the state!"

Ever since Li Congde had been placed under confinement, he had been personally instructed in a storm of words by the deeply disappointed Cao Yuanxing, and had more or less come to understand the special relationship between his father Li Shengtian and Zhang Zhao.

Moreover, Li Congde was, historically speaking, a wise ruler. The Khotan Golden Kingdom's two captures of Shule were both accomplished under Li Congde.

Facing anyone else, he might have been thoroughly unwilling to submit, but facing Zhang Zhao, facing this younger cousin who crushed him in every respect, lowering his head did not seem so hard to accept after all.

Li Congde accepted it, and Li Congyu had even less objection, because the Khotan kingdom was basically never going to pass into his hands. He had even gained the city of Shule out of it — what was there to be dissatisfied about?

"Erlang! Let us enter the city!"

Seeing Zhang Zhao make his promise with such sincerity, Li Shengtian's heart settled considerably. He took Zhang Zhao by the arm and invited him to enter the city together.

The reason he had waited until now was that Li Shengtian knew this city of Kucha held incomparable significance in the hearts of Zhang Zhao, and especially of the descendants of the Anxi Army behind him.

Because the last of the Anxi Army had held this very city until they shed their final drop of blood.

Zhang Zhao and Li Shengtian walked arm in arm, and following close behind them were not the palace guards of Khotan, nor the Feathered Forest Guard of the Liang Kingdom, but the descendants of the Anxi Army, numbering in the hundreds.

Guo Tiance, descendant of Guo Xin, Prince of Wuwei Commandery, along with Guo Guangcheng and Guo Guangsheng; Bai Congxin, descendant of Bai Huan, King of Kucha; Pei Tongyuan, descendant of Pei Lengling, King of Shule; and Li Wang, Li Qilang, grandnephew of Li Yuanzhong, Prince of Ningsai Commandery.

As well as the Yang, Xue, Zheng, and Deng families. Even Zhu Qingquan, a descendant of the Anxi Army, and representatives of the Long family of Yanqi had all come.

The company walked in solemn silence until they came to a residence in the very center of Kucha that still bore a clear Han style. A surrendered Kuchan official said in a low voice,

"This is the former office of the Military Governor of the Four Garrisons of Anxi under the Great Dynasty. People of the time often called it the Tang King's Palace."

Zhang Zhao raised his eyes to look. White clouds drifted above the office, and the stone beasts before the courtyard had been worn beyond recognition of what they were carved to depict, yet they still stood stubbornly on guard here.

"Who lives here now?" Zhang Zhao asked softly.

"The false Governor Huaishun. He has now been killed by righteous folk." The surrendered official's voice dropped even lower.

Zhang Zhao glanced at Li Shengtian, who nodded to him. Zhang Zhao then said, "Today is a good day. You are safe now.

Go now and summon all the people of Kucha. Within fifteen days, convert this place into the greatest temple in all Kucha. Summon painters and craftsmen, and have them paint images of heroes according to our requirements. That will count as your atonement."

The surrendered official was overjoyed and hurried off at a run. For their forty thousand Kuchans, this was already the lightest possible punishment.

"Bring out the descendants of Xieli Pijia and Pugu Jun!"

After the surrendered official left to make preparations, the main event arrived. Zhang Zhao had kept Xieli Pijia and the descendants of Pugu Jun alive all this time precisely for this moment.

Perhaps because they had committed too many evil deeds, the line of Pugu Jun had never flourished.

After the previous Khagan — the elder brother of the Wumuzhu Khagan — was captured by the Khitans, only five descendants of Pugu Jun remained in the city of the Gaochang Uyghurs.

Zhang Zhao stepped aside, because he was not the protagonist at this moment. The protagonists were the descendants of the Five Surnames and Three Kings of the Anxi Army.

And among the Five Surnames and Three Kings of Kucha, Guo Tiance currently held the highest position, so he was the one to wield the blade.

On the face of this always gentle man, who had served at Zhang Zhao's side as his personal secretary and was a Grand Academician of the Qionglin Academy of the Liang Kingdom, a fierce expression appeared for the first time.

In the howling cold wind, Guo Tiance stripped off his clothes, baring his upper body. With both hands he gripped a short-handled modao glaive glaive glaive.

In fact, it was a Han-style horse-slaying saber. The Tang and Five Dynasties classified this horse-slaying saber as a type of modao glaive glaive glaive, though it was generally not used in actual combat, but rather on certain special occasions.

Most commonly, it was bestowed by the Emperor upon ministers as a symbol of imperial authority. The so-called imperial sword was not common; the imperial horse-slaying saber was far more common.

Xieli Pijia struggled violently, but unfortunately he could no longer make a sound.

Because not only had his mouth been gagged, his tongue had long since been cut out — precisely so he could not shout and howl.

This treatment was worse than even what Sanpoba, the former King of the Zhongyun, had received. The only slightly better point was that Zhang Zhao, seeing he too was the ruler of a state, had specially forged an imperial horse-slaying saber to execute him.

Guo Tiance took a mouthful of strong liquor, then suddenly sprayed it onto the blade. He raised the horse-slaying saber high, and hot tears streamed down his face in an instant.

"A hundred years. My Anxi Guo family are the descendants of Guo Xin, Prince of Iron-Blood Commandery. It was because of you wretches that my ancestor bore a hundred years of infamy.

Everyone says Lord Guo Sheng betrayed the descendants of the Anxi Army. Today I can finally say it: the men of the Guo family have always been loyal to the state. They never betrayed the comrades who held the Western Regions alone with them.

Lord Guo Sheng, your descendants today wash away your wrongful disgrace!"

Amid the roar, Xieli Pijia's head flew into the sky, and blood splashed all over Guo Tiance.

And following Guo Tiance's roar, the other descendants of the Anxi Army also stepped forward, each gripping a long blade, and slaughtered the kneeling descendants of Pugu Jun to the last man.

The great vengeance of a hundred years for the descendants of the Anxi Army was finally repaid today.

With the execution of Xieli Pijia, the sorrowful cast that had hung over the descendants of the Anxi Army seemed to dissipate almost entirely.

But Zhang Zhao and Li Shengtian would not leave Kucha just yet, because this was the first recovery of Anxi in one hundred and eighty-eight years since the An Lushan Rebellion, and there were certain to be further celebrations.

That night, with Li Shengtian's consent, Zhang Zhao for the first time presided over the bestowal of rewards in his capacity as Great King of both the Liang Kingdom and the Great Jin Kingdom.

All civil officials and military officers were promoted one rank. Of course, this did not mean their substantive posts, but rather their honorary rank and treatment — each promoted one grade.

Every soldier was rewarded one string of cash. This string was not paid out directly in coin, but rather allowed the soldiers to choose freely.

You could take seven or eight sheep, or two bolts of colored silk, or a dozen or so bolts of cotton cloth, or fifty dou of rice — all fine.

That is to say, by means of their waist tallies and the small piece of silk cloth stamped with the Great King's Reward-for-Merit seal, soldiers could go to any shop in the Liang Kingdom or the Jin Kingdom and exchange it for goods worth one string of cash.

This was undoubtedly a step forward. It enlivened the market economy, gave soldiers more choices, spared them from carrying large amounts of goods on their backs, and the government's actual expenditure was also somewhat less than one string of cash.

At the same time, this one string of cash was no small sum. In the Liang Kingdom, one dou of rice cost twenty wen, and in the Khotan Golden Kingdom it was even lower.

Under the Tang system, one dou was twenty-five jin, so one string of cash in the Liang Kingdom could buy twelve hundred and fifty jin of millet — in this era when grain was precious, that was tremendous purchasing power.

Watching the soldiers outside roaring with joy, Zhang Zhao and Li Shengtian exchanged smiles, then ordered cattle and sheep slaughtered, set out a thousand jars of fine wine, and held a grand feast. The revelry lasted until midnight.

As the clamor gradually died down, Li Shengtian and Zhang Zhao, both having drunk quite a bit, still did not go to sleep.

For the two of them had to settle the broad direction between their two states, so that those below could then negotiate the details.

And they were not the only ones present. Li Congde and Li Congyu, the brothers — Zhang Zhao's double brothers-in-law — and Li Shengtian's son-in-law, Cao Yanlu, the sixth son of the Cao family, were also there.

Zhang Zhao took a sip of clear tea and spoke first. "Uncle, my intention is to make Congyu the Chief Administrator of Yanqi, overseeing all affairs of Yanqi, and to make Sixth Brother Yanlu the Chief Administrator of Kucha, overseeing all affairs of Kucha.

Move the Chen family of Yinzhou to Gaochang, rename Gaochang as Xizhou, and make Chen Huiyao the Prefect of Xizhou. Ma Jirong has gained much experience commanding troops of late and can serve as Prefect of Tingzhou.

Then assign Yinzhou to Hexi, and make Xizhou and Tingzhou the Beiting Circuit, transferring Li Ruoyu to serve as Grand Commissioner of the Beiting Circuit and concurrently Defense Commissioner of Beiting. What do you think?"

Zhang Zhao's arrangements had plainly been made with great care. Yanqi sat between the Khotan Golden Kingdom and the traditional Beiting, a vital crossroads, so it was given to Li Shengtian's second son, Li Congyu, to govern.

Kucha had been conquered by Li Shengtian, and it was richer and more important, with a mighty city besides. For such a critical economic and military stronghold, only Cao Yanlu was suitable.

Because he had married Li Shengtian's eldest daughter and was Li Shengtian's son-in-law.

At the same time, Cao Yanlu's younger sister, Cao Yanxi, the nineteenth daughter of the Cao family, was Zhang Zhao's queen, and his elder sister, Cao Sanniang Yannai, was Zhang Zhao's companion through hardship. Only he, holding Kucha, could be accepted by both sides.

Assigning Yinzhou to Hexi was to ensure the Liang Kingdom's influence over Anxi, because Yinzhou was in fact the bridgehead and logistical base from which the Central Plains controlled Anxi.

Even the Great Ming, which historically barely controlled the Western Regions at all, still maintained considerable influence there during the more than one hundred years it nominally held Hami Garrison.

So Zhang Zhao wanted to bring Yinzhou under Hexi, using it to grip and control Anxi.

And moving the Chen family of Yinzhou to Xizhou — Gaochang — was first because Zhang Zhao intended to take the next generation of the Chen family east with him into the Central Plains.

Second, the Chen family were, after all, descendants of a Central Plains royal house, with a powerful pull toward the Central Plains. Using them to control Xizhou put people more at ease.

Ma Jirong was Li Shengtian's close minister. Placing him in Tingzhou would both make use of Ma Jirong's abilities — for he was indeed very skilled at leading troops — and balance the two sides.

Finally, transferring Li Ruoyu to serve as Grand Commissioner of the Beiting Circuit was also because he was a candidate acceptable to both sides.

As a descendant of Yuchi Sheng, his distance from Li Shengtian was neither too close nor too far — that was very important.

At the same time, his own ability, status, and seniority were sufficient to keep Chen Huiyao and Ma Jirong in check.

All these twists and turns were enough to make one's head ache just thinking about them, but Zhang Zhao had no choice but to do it.

Because this was politics. Conflict always exists, but it is not the most important thing. The most important thing is how to compromise, cooperate, and harmonize yin and yang.

Li Shengtian nodded approvingly. Zhang Zhao's methods showed that he had become fairly mature politically. As a ruler skilled at harmonizing his own court, Li Shengtian finally no longer worried about Zhang Zhao.

But this was only the appetizer. It had not yet touched the most important part: how was the status of the Khotan Golden Kingdom to be set?

Li Shengtian did not beat around the bush either, and directly asked Zhang Zhao what should be done.

Zhang Zhao thought for a moment. He had in fact considered many plans, even using the Samanid Persians and the Guo family of Suyab to check Li Congde and even Li Shengtian.

But from the moment he met Li Shengtian, he had abandoned that idea.

Beneath power, intrigue and checks and balances are common, but there is no lack of openness and magnanimity either. Li Shengtian had treated him so; he could not be too petty in return.

"My thought is that we should still request enfeoffment from the Central Plains. The Son of Heaven of the Great Golden Kingdom may be enfeoffed as Great King of the Golden Kingdom, ruling over Khotan and Shule as the foremost among the cities of the Western Regions' vassal states."

Li Congde, Li Congyu, and Cao Yanlu still did not understand what "Great King of the Golden Kingdom" meant, nor where such a strange title as "Great King" had come from.

Li Shengtian, however, understood at once. Smiling, he asked Zhang Zhao, "Then in your view, how many years from now would be the right time to request enfeoffment? Ten years? Fifteen at most, I should think. Beyond fifteen years, your uncle may well have departed this world."

Only then did the baffled trio beside them understand: this request for enfeoffment was not to be made to the present Later Jin court, but to Zhang Zhao, who was determined to take the Central Plains.

Zhang Zhao nodded, making no effort to conceal his ambition. "Ten years should be enough. By my wish, in the future, noble titles in the Central Plains will go no higher than Commandery Prince. Even imperial princes may at most be enfeoffed as Commandery Princes.

In ancient times, the Zhou Son of Heaven ruled the Xia as sovereign and the Yi as subjects, and only thus did our Huaxia come to possess the land it has today. Therefore, in the future, to be enfeoffed as a one-character King of a state, one must go beyond the Central Plains.

If unification is achieved one day, I will certainly bring Anxi and Beiting back under the Central Plains.

But the lands of the Seven Rivers, north of the Gold Mountains — the Altai — Transoxiana, Suyab, Talas, Khorasan, India, and the like, can only be governed by vassal kings ruling the Xia as sovereign and the Yi as subjects.

The Khotan Golden Kingdom is the sole exception. In days to come, from among uncle's descendants and my own, we shall select those of ability to found states westward, bearing the title Great King of such-and-such a state, transforming the barbarians into Xia."

"What grand vision!" Li Shengtian praised. "So this is why you have always wanted to extend the trade routes into Transoxiana, Suyab, and the Seven Rivers, is it not?

With commerce as the bond, armored troops as the backing, and bloodlines as the garrison — if it can be sustained for two hundred years, perhaps it truly can transform the barbarians into Xia."

Zhang Zhao chuckled. "Uncle has forgotten one thing: I also intend to soothe men's hearts with the Buddha. I am, after all, the Holy King and Dharma King of the Buddhist gate — Buddhism without, Confucianism within, blended with Daoist arts. Perhaps the great work can be accomplished!"

Li Shengtian nodded with satisfaction and said to Zhang Zhao, "In that case, for the land of Anxi, your uncle will help you watch over it for ten years.

After ten years, when the realm is unified and the state rich and its armies strong, the work of expansion will be the responsibility of you, Heavenly King Zhang."

Zhang Zhao nodded. "I have already sent word to the Li family of Talas, the Guo family of Suyab, and the Kirghiz and Uyghur tribes to the north.

If I can win the support of all these peoples and then assume the title of Khagan, I shall honor uncle as the Sage-Virtue Uncle Son of Heaven of the Golden Kingdom."

Late at night, Zhang Zhao took his leave. Li Shengtian brought Li Congde and Li Congyu to the study.

With only the three of them, father and sons, Li Shengtian seemed deeply moved. He looked at Li Congde and spoke.

"Now do you understand why I handed the Khotan Golden Kingdom to Zhang Erlang?

Because Zhang Erlang's vision and ambition are already beyond anything you can compare to.

What he has his eyes on is not personal power and wealth — one might even say it is not the perpetuation of his descendants — but the ten-thousand-generation future of Huaxia.

Such breadth of spirit very easily stirs resonance in the depths of men's hearts.

I dare say that if Zhang Erlang unifies the realm, most of the heroes of the age will follow him.

He entrusted Anxi to me today, first out of regard for the bond between us, uncle and nephew, and second because this land of Anxi could never stand against the Celestial Court of the Central Plains. This Uncle Son of Heaven knows where the line is drawn."

"Why is that? If it were up to me, after unifying the realm, wouldn't it be fine to just shut the gates and live our lives?

That is the Central Plains, after all! To rule the Central Plains is to rule all under heaven. What is there to fuss over in the rest of those wild and barren lands?" Li Congyu asked, somewhat puzzled.

Li Shengtian gave a bitter smile. "And that, my son, is why you should be content to be King of Yanqi. Without Anxi, how could the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains call himself sagely in culture and mighty in arms, unifier of all under heaven?

Think again. Our Yuchi family is plainly not of Huaxia stock, yet ever since the days of Commandery Prince of Wudu, Yuchi Sheng, why have we always styled ourselves sons of Tang?

Because in our clothing, food, shelter, and travel — even in our language and thought — we are already scarcely different from the sons of Tang. The face cannot be changed, but here —" Li Shengtian pointed to his heart. "Here has already changed!"

Having said this, Li Shengtian was suddenly filled with pride. "Khotan is not merely the Khotan of our Yuchi family, and Anxi is even less the Anxi of our Yuchi family.

Ever since our ancestor pledged allegiance to the Great Court in years past, this land has borne the Great Court's brand. Our Yuchi family are the watchdogs of the Central Plains' Celestial Court in Anxi."

When the Great Dynasty flourishes, our Yuchi family can stand atop the hundred states and ten thousand peoples of this land, commanding wind and rain at will.

When the Great Dynasty declines, we face the danger of ruin. Our fate has in truth long been bound to the Central Plains.

And you must understand: the Great Dynasty of the Central Plains has fought bloody battles in Anxi ever since the Former Han. Countless heroes have shed their blood on this soil. It will absolutely never tolerate any separatist lord here.

In years past, many kings and city lords of Anxi failed to see this point, and in the end they perished, their clans wiped out.

If you two brothers harbor any thought of shutting yourselves up in Anxi like Qarakhanid Saktu, you will surely bring ruin upon your descendants.

Look at Pugu Jun. Jieli Pijia was slain right before your eyes. Where are his descendants now?"

Li Congyu listened, then pouted defiantly. "But Father, do you not still call yourself Son of Heaven? How can a subject of the Great Dynasty call himself Son of Heaven?"

Li Shengtian was momentarily moved. "That was because in those years I truly saw no hope of the Central Plains rising again. I wanted to rely on Zhang Erlang to accomplish the great aspiration of recovering the Western Regions.

But now Zhang Erlang has the possibility of entering and taking the Central Plains. So this title of Son of Heaven should end with me.

In the past, the Prince of Wudu Commandery was so loyal, yet even when the Great Dynasty declined, all he got was marriage to a commandery princess and a princedom with no real power.

Now Zhang Erlang has no full brothers, not even blood cousins on his father's side. You two brothers are the closest kin he has.

For Khotan, a small Western Regions state of barely five hundred thousand people, to become blood kin of the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains — to have the eldest legitimate daughter of the Central Plains' Son of Heaven as my grandson's wife — what more could we possibly want?

This is the perfect opportunity for our Yuchi family — the best chance to forever cast off the name of barbarians and Hu children!"

Li Congde listened, fell silent for a long while, then nodded gently. "Thank you for your guidance, Father. From this day forward, I, Li Congde, will be a good watchdog for the Great Dynasty in Anxi."

"Hmph!" Li Shengtian snorted coldly. "Fool! If I only wanted you to be watchdogs, why would I go to such trouble? Just sit back and watch Zhang Erlang succeed, wouldn't that be enough?

You're a lucky boy! From now on you won't have to be a watchdog, because what I seek for our family is to no longer be watchdogs, but to be the right and left arms of the Great Dynasty's Son of Heaven!"

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