In the Majestic Temple, the atmosphere suddenly became tense after the arrival of Long Bian and Yelu Abli.
From time to time, patrols wearing leather robes and carrying long swords on their waists walked around outside the majestic temple. The believers who usually came to pray and burn incense at this time were also missing.
Since Lanzhou has the official position of Lanzhou Governor, it naturally has corresponding arrangements.
This was a rule established decades ago. Lanzhou City was initially controlled by the Wang family, and most of the patrols at that time were members of the Wang family.
The Shatuo Li family can now become the "talker" of the Wang family and suppress the Wang family in Jincheng until they can move, just because they have control of the patrols in Lanzhou City.
Most of these patrols were selected from the brave Dingzhuang of the Li family in Shatuo, and there were as many as a thousand people.
Near Lanzhou City, the Shatuo Li clan and the Qiang tribe allied with them numbered more than 40,000 people.
In these semi-nomadic farming tribes, men can fight with swords and guns, and can mobilize tens of thousands of people at any time.
This was the main supporting force for the Shatuo Li family to occupy Lanzhou City, while the Jincheng Wang family's power was squeezed out to the east and south of Lanzhou.
The former is located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River in the Lanzhou section. It is the essence of Jincheng that the Wang family can continue to control. The hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land that Wang Zongheng is reluctant to part with are here.
The latter is close to Weizhou, and there are Han in-laws of the Jincheng Wang family nearby, so the two parties can hug each other for warmth.
In Lanzhou City, the Jincheng Wang family could still use no more than 200 patrols. If it weren't for Wang Zongheng's son Wang Tinghan, who had a team of more than fifty soldiers composed of Wang family members, the Wang family would have been destroyed by Shatuo long ago. Li was killed.
At the same time, in addition to the Li and Wang families, there were also some armed forces in Lanzhou City, including a hundred people from the Su Lun Family and more than a hundred monks and soldiers from the Weiyan Temple.
The Su Lun family's base was to the west of Lanzhou, close to Shanzhou, and there were not many monks in Weiyan Temple. Therefore, except for a sudden attack, they did not have the ability of Shatuo Li family to mobilize tens of thousands of people in a short period of time.
. . . .
At this moment, Master Dinghui, the host of the Majestic Temple, felt numb. He felt as if he had fallen into a series of traps.
This King Zhang, who came back from Tianzhu, first used a huge amount of Buddhist treasures and Buddhist scriptures to get the temple in Longyou, Hexi Province to recognize his identity as the King of Dharma.
Then ask them to help with some small things, such as gathering a few small tribal leaders who believe in Buddhism, or helping to hold a Dharma ceremony or something.
Then there is the thing of throwing out banknotes, which connects major temples with money.
Slowly now, monk soldiers from major temples have begun to be used.
Master Dinghui wanted to refuse, but he also realized that if he refused, the prospects of him, the presiding master, and the Majesty Temple would be somewhat unfavorable.
This was physically unfavorable, because the head monk of Dayun Temple sitting in front of him held a stick in his hand that was said to be the truth of Buddhism and could emit the lion's roar, the highest secret of Buddhism.
Chanting sutras and chanting, the enlightened lion roars. Master Dinghui is very familiar with it because he is good at this method of chanting and chanting.
He was familiar with the lion's roar of the wooden stick opposite him, and he also knew that as long as a spark flashed, people around him could go see the Buddha.
In addition to this physical threat, Master Dinghui suddenly realized that he had to follow in the footsteps of Fawang Zhang.
Because he could not openly oppose the Buddhist Jade Girl Treasure, the monks in Hexi Province ordered Master Long Bian and others to enter the Weiyan Temple.
As soon as they entered the Weiyan Temple, thirty Liangzhou warriors, seventy Suzhou Long family warriors, and fifty Khitan warriors followed.
As soon as these one hundred and fifty people entered the city, they were immediately targeted by the Li family patrolmen outside.
This is really a mute person who cannot explain the suffering of Coptis chinensis. If Master Dinghui goes out and says that everything about King Zhang of Liangzhou has nothing to do with them, not to mention that it would be difficult to explain to fellow Buddhists, even the Li family would not believe it.
Seeing that Master Dinghui in front of him neither said to do it nor said not to do it, Wen Chongle understood.
If it's not easy to make a choice, then just help him make the choice. Wen Chongle then decisively handed over to Master Dinghui.
"Since the master has no objection, please hand over the monks of your temple to my command. When we hear three cannon shots tomorrow at Yinshi, we will open the west gate and welcome the Dharma King's army into the city."
Master Dinghui nodded slowly, made a fingerprint, and chanted the Buddha's name.
"Namo Chakravartin King Bodhisattva, everything is in accordance with the Bodhisattva's decree!"
Sitting on the left side of Master Dinghui, the Hexi Du monk Tonglong Benda was already used to this, and his face didn't even show any emotion. For Hexi, this was just a basic practice.
Only Yeluhe and Mu Shunyi were surprised that such a famous eminent monk who presided over a Buddhist temple could not resist the order of a Dharma King who only occupied Liangzhou.
And it only takes one general to force the monk to submit.
This is extremely rare even in the Central Plains, let alone among the Khitan tribes.
Yeluhe seemed to have discovered a road to the sky. What his father wanted to do was to return to Khitan and take back their tribe. It seemed that he could use the power of King Zhang!
This is really not a fantasy. Historically, the Khitan Liao Kingdom was destroyed by excessive worship of Buddhism. Worshiping Buddhism can be said to be engraved in the genes of the Khitan people.
In order to attract the Han people to join him, Yelu Abaoji, the Taizu of the Liao Dynasty, insisted on ranking Confucius before Buddha, but this caused a big disturbance.
Not even the founding heroes like Yelu Abaoji could suppress the worship of Buddha in Khitan, let alone the fact that being in Khitan with Buddha is a visible and tangible strength now.
At this time, Yeluhe even felt some distant respect for the Reverend King who was far away in Liangzhou. He cupped his hands and looked at Wen Chongle.
"General Wen, some of the Khitan warriors who escorted the Jade Girl Baoxi are also followers of Buddha. They are all skilled in spears, sticks, bows and horses. We are also willing to help King Zhang open Lanzhou City."
Wen Chongle glanced at Yeluhe. These Khitan warriors had calluses on their jaws. They were tall, had long arms, could use guns and clubs, and were capable of riding and shooting. They were probably either cheating or they didn't know their combat effectiveness.
But no matter what, it is always good to fight with fifty more people.
"I would be very grateful to Mr. Yelu Lang for your help!"
. . . .
Lanzhou City was built along the Yellow River. It was called Jincheng in ancient times, after the Jincheng Tangchi, which means solid as golden soup.
In the Tang Dynasty, when Shanzhou, where the Longyou Jiedushi was located, was not occupied, Lanzhou was the second largest military town in Longyou, Hexi, after Liangzhou.
However, after the Tang Dynasty, Lanzhou's military status declined compared to the Han Dynasty when it occupied Shanzhou, which had a more important terrain. After its troops were directed towards Dafeichuan, Lanzhou's military status declined.
But despite so many years of desolation and decline in status, Lanzhou City is still one of the few large cities in Hexi.
Ma Shacai led 1,200 people. After crossing Yema Ridge, he fell behind and lost more than 200 people. He only had more than 900 people left on hand.
Braving the wind and snow, running thousands of miles is easy to say, and it sounds bloody romantic, but it is quite difficult to do.
You must know that the 860 tribesmen selected this time are all the elites of the six tribes. The remaining soldiers selected from Yucheng Town and Hanhai are even more extraordinary than ordinary soldiers.
But among the 1,500 people, after traveling for more than 500 miles, the number of stragglers and attrition still exceeded the terrifying one-third.
After getting off Yema Ridge, it is impossible to hide your whereabouts, because the valley where the Yellow River flows through Lanzhou is extremely rich and is the essence of Lanzhou. There are a large number of people called Lanzhou Aimo living everywhere. Shatuo Li family, and other Qiang tribesmen.
Therefore, when they were about ten miles away from Lanzhou, more than 900 people led by Ma Shacai were already targeted.
At first, the Lanzhou Ammo tribesmen who rode ponies and held inferior swords dared to spy on them from a distance.
However, after Ma Shacai personally led the elite cavalry of Hanhai Town and used the explosive and powerful folded-eared horses to quickly approach and kill dozens of them, these people did not dare to come up and take a peek.
But they still continued to gather their troops and followed the Guiyi army, which was alone and deep, from a distance of two or three miles.
Ma Shacai snorted coldly, ignored them, and led his troops directly to Lanzhou.
When the news came that Ma Shacai had led his army to Lanzhou City, the atmosphere in Lanzhou City became even more solemn, and the streets were instantly deserted.
Wang Zongheng and his son Wang Tinghan did not expect that the Guiyi Army would actually be able to cross the Hongchi Ridge in winter and suddenly arrive at the foot of Lanzhou City.
At this moment, their crotches were covered with yellow mud, and they were either feces or feces.
The trembling Wang Zongheng looked at his second son Wang Tinghan, who was covered in armor and stomach, "Erlang, please quickly send someone to drop a letter outside the Li Family Fort. We really don't want to hook up with Zhang Sikong of Liangzhou. Please don't misunderstand, Chief Li."
Wang Tinghan looked at the two younger brothers around him speechlessly. For the first time, he felt that his father was old.
How can you still explain it clearly now? Regardless of whether it is true or false, it is impossible for the Li family to believe it.
"Uncle! Second brother! The Li family summoned all the patrols and went to the Majestic Temple!"
At this time, a child of the Wang family ran in from outside the door, still thinking about how to veto his father's opinion. Wang Tinghan was overjoyed when he heard this.
The Li family is looking for death. If they leave the city immediately, they can gather their tribesmen to fight and talk with the Liangzhou warriors, and in the worst case, they can go back to the mountains.
But now when we go to the Majestic Temple, if we can't attack it in a short time, then everything will be over.
"Erlang! Call our Wang family patrolmen, and we will also go to threaten..."
"Sir, you are wise! Let us also go to help Weiya Temple and defeat the white-eyed wolves of the Li family, right now!"
Before Wang Zongheng finished speaking, Wang Tinghan interrupted his father. He was trembling a little because of excitement or something else.
"You're blind..." Wang Zongheng was angry and anxious. What was this traitor talking about without even listening to his words? He wanted to call the Wang family's patrol to go to the Majestic Temple and help whoever had the upper hand.
"Brother! Father agreed, he just asked you to give the order!"
Unfortunately, Wang Zongheng didn't say anything, and the fifth son Wang Tingbi also shouted excitedly, interrupting his words.
Now, no matter how slow Wang Zongheng reacted, he knew what it meant. He opened his mouth and looked at the two traitors whose faces were red with excitement. The word "nonsense" was stuck in his throat and he couldn't spit it out for a long time.
After a long moment of awkward silence, Wang Zongheng gently stroked his chest and waved weakly.
