r18novel Page 355
Page 355
"Grand Ancestor Gu is reorganizing the troops of Shazhou Prefecture and selecting the best fighters!"
"Zhuge Liang, take full control of the administration of Shazhou and procure provisions and military equipment!"
Chapter 214 The White-Robed Guanyin Arrives, and the Refugees of Qingcang Return to Their Homeland!
On his way from Yongzhou to Shazhou, Li Chang'an amassed nearly ten million taels of silver and hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain, which formed the foundation for rebuilding Shazhou.
This money and grain is enough to support Shazhou for one or two years, but after that, it will run out of resources.
Li Chang'an's plan is to sustain the war through war!
Relying on the farmland cultivated by the residents of Shazhou to harvest grain is not a quick way to rise up. If they want to rise up, they must seize it from the enemy.
The money, grain, and people that the barbarians and the Northern Barbarians previously plundered from Shazhou now have to be returned in full.
West Gate of Jinchang City.
In areas inhabited by displaced people, the Guiyi Army is distributing food to them.
Suddenly, squads of cavalry galloped out of the city gate.
The black cavalrymen and their horses were all clad in heavy black armor, while the white cavalrymen wore white armor, and their white horses were unarmored.
Seven thousand cavalrymen, exuding a murderous aura, passed through the city, attracting crowds of onlookers.
"These are the Xuanjia Army and the White Horse Cavalry of the Tang Emperor!"
"What a mighty army! I've never seen such an disciplined force before!"
"I heard they're going to take over Yumen County and also reclaim Gantai County!"
"The Tang Emperor truly has lofty ambitions!"
Li Chang'an's entry into Shazhou was swift and decisive.
Therefore, the people were somewhat surprised and uncertain, and couldn't react for a while.
Li Chang'an knew that accumulating prestige took time, and once he successfully took over Yumen County, everything would fall into place naturally.
When Li Cunxiao led his troops out of the city, more than 10,000 able-bodied men immediately ran out from among the refugees.
Zhang Yichao conveyed Li Chang'an's order to them: if they followed Li Cunxiao to take over Yumen County, their families would be given land.
Therefore, more than 10,000 young men are voluntarily joining the army.
Li Chang'an was not worried about taking back Yumen County and Gantai County.
The White-Robed Guanyin will surely keep her promise, so taking back Yumen County is just a matter of handover.
The Shanshan tribe, which occupied Gantai County, had been severely weakened, with only 30,000 to 50,000 of its 150,000 combat-ready troops remaining. How could it possibly have the strength to contend with Li Chang'an?
In the past six months, the number of experts under Li Chang'an's command has also increased.
Among Li Chang'an's many concubines, Hongshu was the first to break through to a higher realm.
Because the sweet potato practiced the dual cultivation technique most diligently, it broke through from the pseudo-Vajra and pseudo-Finger Profound realms to the early stage of the Vajra realm and the early stage of the Finger Profound realm.
This situation of cultivating two realms simultaneously is quite rare. Currently, her actual combat strength is equivalent to that of a martial artist at the initial stage of the Finger Profound Realm.
Qingniao had genuinely cultivated to the late stage of Vajra realm, and he was still competing with Hongshu, refusing to relax for even a day.
Then, Xu Weixiong also entered the Confucian Celestial Realm. Although he had just entered the realm, his strength was not weak.
News came from Ba Linglong that Qian Sha and Kun Po had also broken through to the first rank.
A few days after Li Cunxiao's army set off, Gong Banque of Wudi City also found Jinchang City.
Li Chang'an only meant to play a joke on Wang Xianzhi, he never intended to put Gong Banque to death.
So Li Chang'an followed suit and made a three-year agreement to serve him.
Gong Banque also agreed to serve Li Chang'an for three years, after which Li Chang'an would remove his karmic obstacles.
By this calculation, Li Chang'an already has a plethora of experts under his command.
With Zhuge Liang and Gu Dazu at the Celestial Phenomenon Realm, Li Chang'an himself could be considered to have Celestial Phenomenon Realm combat strength.
The mysterious realm is associated with Cao Zhengchun, Wu Liuding, Cuihua, Gong Banque, and Hongshu.
In the Vajra Realm, there are Li Cunxiao, Qian Sha, Kun Po, Qingniao, Xu Weixiong, and five red-armored generals.
Although it still lags behind the Li Yang Dynasty and Bei Liang, it is already comparable to the major sects in the martial arts world.
Before news of Li Cunxiao taking over Shazhou could arrive, news of the White-Robed Guanyin leading five thousand monks to Jinchang City had already spread like wildfire.
Shazhou is located in the northwest, and there are many people who believe in Buddhism.
On this day, the white-robed Guanyin entered Jinchang City in a silk sedan chair carried by sixteen people.
The White-Robed Guanyin is the head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism and the de facto leader of the Walengfan people.
In the eyes of the Nyingma followers, this Six-Bead Dharma King is practically a celestial living Buddha.
White robes, white pot, white snake, and a face like a celestial being.
And now, this white-robed Guanyin has actually come to Shazhou to pay homage to the King of Beiliang!
The people of Jinchang were utterly shocked.
"Legend has it that the White-Robed Guanyin was defeated by the Tang Emperor and returned Yumen County. It seems that this is true!"
"In the past, Lord Huang invited the White-Robed Guanyin to preach every year, but she never paid any attention!"
"Yes, it is said that the White-Robed Guanyin intends to side with the Northern Liang!"
"Your Highness is truly powerful; even the White-Robed Guanyin has bowed down and submitted to you!"
Sitting in the gauze sedan chair, the white-robed Guanyin felt a mix of emotions.
She was afraid that if she didn't give Li Chang'an enough space, he wouldn't give her the antidote.
So before she came, she had already spread the word that she was coming to pay homage to the Tang Emperor, and her attitude was extremely humble.
Five thousand monks were stationed outside Jinchang City. The white-robed Guanyin, along with her disciples and dozens of personal guards, arrived at the Tang King's Palace.
At this moment, Qingniao arrived at the gate of the Prince's Mansion with several Imperial Guards.
"By order of the Prince, one of the Six-Bead Dharma Kings is to be invited into the manor; the others shall remain at the post station for the time being!"
The noble white-robed Guanyin could only step down from the sedan chair, her bare feet touching the cold floor.
She turned to her disciples and attendants and said, "Go to the post station first, and immediately relay any news of the handover in Yumen County to me."
Although the disciples and attendants felt that Tang Wang of Shazhou was extremely rude, they were helpless because the White-Robed Guanyin did not retaliate.
And so, the white-robed Guanyin was brought into the palace by the bluebird and the imperial guards.
The bluebird led the white-robed Guanyin to the door of a guest room. "Your Majesty, the King requests that you stay here temporarily."
The Six-Bead Dharma King looked puzzled. "Your Highness sent a letter summoning me, and I immediately set off overnight. Why do you not want to see me now?"
The bluebird replied, "His Highness said that once the handover of Yumen County is successful, His Highness will meet with you."
After speaking, Qingniao led his men away. The courtyard where the White-Robed Guanyin lived was guarded by the Imperial Guards at both the front and back gates.
Judging from this, Li Chang'an intends to place her under house arrest here.
The white-robed Guanyin couldn't help but smile bitterly, "The prince's karma is so domineering, how could I dare not keep my promise?"
"Since we said we would return Yumen County, we will definitely keep our word."
Li Chang'an placed the White-Robed Guanyin under house arrest, of course, to ensure a smooth handover of Yumen County.
A general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders; perhaps the barbarians of Yumen County will refuse to hand over the troops.
After subduing the White-Robed Guanyin, Li Chang'an plans to use the power of the corrugated tiles to completely annihilate Shanshan!
The three esoteric sects of the Western Regions—Red, White, and Yellow—each occupied the three major tribes of Waleng, Shanshan, and Yarlung.
Among them, Waleng and Shanshan bordered Shazhou, which is why they were able to seize Yumen County and Gantai County.
The remaining enemies are the Northern Liang to the east, the Northern Mang to the north, and the scattered Hu people to the northwest.
Although there are still several enemies, stabilizing two directions is always beneficial for development.
Moreover, after subduing Waleng, the White-Robed Guanyin could also support tens of thousands of monk soldiers.
Even though the White-Robed Guanyin was under house arrest, she didn't stay idle; she immediately sent a letter to the general of Yumen County.
In any case, the priority is to ensure a smooth handover of Yumen County in Shazhou.
According to her observations, this Tang King Li Chang'an must have had great ambitions.
More realistically, Li Chang'an has already fallen out with Shanshan, which can actually be considered an ally of Waleng.
The three major tribes of the barbarians had been fighting each other for hundreds of years.
The White-Robed Guanyin also fantasized that if she could destroy Shanshan, returning Yumen County and Gantai County would not be a big deal.
Fortunately, all was well and no harm was done. Half a month later, Li Cunxiao sent news that the handover of Yumen County had been successful.
The entire Waleng tribe withdrew from Yumen County.
At this time, the White-Robed Guanyin was also received by Li Chang'an.
When they met Li Chang'an, Jiang Ni in white and Qingniao in blue stood behind him.