The road to Guanshan is far away, the Gobi desert is deserted, and the camel bells are ringing. Luo Xing is riding on a horse with a sword on its back and a harness hanging on the horse's body.
When the sun went down, Luo Xing and others set up the tent, set up the stove and started cooking. Diao Chan got off the carriage and took care of the ingredients. Luo Xing squatted next to her and asked, "Chan'er, do you regret coming with me? Western Region.”
Diao Chan's face was still pale and clean. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears and said with a sweet smile: "Husband, I am not a delicate young lady. Whether I am killing people with a sword or serving a spoon with bare hands, I am not weaker than others. "
Luo Xing recognized this sentence, especially Guanyue's sword, which was so strange and unpredictable that even a master like himself could fall victim to it without noticing.
Since leaving Zhaocheng and heading west, Luo Xing couldn't help but feel a little hesitant as he looked at the scenery that was gradually different from that of the Central Plains.
However, the mission given by his family still made him firmly embark on this path. One of his most admired ancestors is Luo Zhongkan.
His name is not very dazzling in the world. Even except for the Western Regions, not many people in the Central Plains know his name. More people know his son, Luo Wuji!
But in Luo Xing's view, Luo Zhongkan was one of the five sons of the Luo family in the late Qin Dynasty. King Zhaosheng called him Neng, even better than King Luo Wen.
Such natural talent should have shown its own brilliance in the chaotic times of the late Qin and early Han Dynasty, just like King Zhaosheng, King Luowen, and Marquis Yingwen.
But for the sake of his family, Luo Zhongkan went to the Western Regions to open up the map without hesitation.
Doesn't he know that it will take him a lifetime to open up a dark place that no one knows about?
Doesn't he know that he will disappear without a trace in the history books?
But he didn't hesitate.
Luo Xing believed that with his own abilities, he would be able to gain high authority no matter which prince he joined, but that was not what he wanted.
He wants to make his own contribution to the family.
The Western Region is where the family keeps watch, but it has not always been extremely stable. The geographical environment of that place, especially the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, makes it difficult for a stable unified regime to emerge. The Xia king only unified the Tianshan Mountains. The northern foothills, and then use their strong strength to make the countries at the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains surrender.
Now King Xia's entire energy is focused on attacking the Central Plains. He wants to enter the Central Plains to prove himself, which will invisibly relax the suppression of the Western Regions, and accidents may occur.
Luo Xing hoped that after going to the Western Regions, he could use religious power to maintain the suppression of the Hu people in the Western Regions.
The Zhaocheng group quickly walked out of the Hexi Corridor and entered the city at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains. The northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains have a much better natural environment than the southern foothills, but there are still hundreds of miles of Gobi Desert.
The vast expanse of heaven and earth made people involuntarily feel insignificant. Luo Xing couldn't help but sigh: "No wonder the scribes who have traveled to the Western Regions have a bit of heroism in their poems."
The sound of camel bells rang in the Gobi desert. Along with the sound of camel bells, a group of monks appeared. Luo Xing naturally knew that in the Western Region, there were monks and Taoist priests everywhere. This group of monks seemed to have never expected to meet others. He took a closer look. Look, it turned out to be a high phoenix flag flying, and I was shocked. Looking at the stigmata again, it turned out to be a direct lineage of the Luo family traveling.
Since the death of Wushuang Zhongwuhou, no direct lineage of the Luo family has been seen in the Western Regions. Even the Suwang Temple is not hosted by a direct lineage of the Luo family. Now, a direct lineage of the Luo family appears here.
The leading monk hurriedly came forward to say hello, and then learned that Luo Xing had indeed gone to the Temple of King Su in Wushuang City to host the sacrifice to King Su again.
After a while, the group of monks left in a hurry. Luo Xing squinted at these monks, then recalled the Taoist priests he met in Qiemo City, and smiled coldly.
In this land of the Western Regions, the priests of the Suwang Temple are the leaders of religion. Without the pressure of the Suwang priests in these years, these monks and Taoist priests may have become accustomed to their freedom. Now that they know that they are going to the Suwang Temple, they are naturally a little worried. I'm anxious, but the end result won't change.
In the Western Regions, unless the King of Xia unites with them to fight against the Temple of King Su and forcefully uses secular power to suppress themselves, these people will not be able to raise their heads in front of them. As long as King Su is still alive, they can still Being able to show a one-day miracle is not enough for Buddhism and Taoism in the Western Regions. If you want to get rid of the suppression of Suwang Temple, the theory of Buddhism and Taoism must at least be able to break away from the current theory and redefine an incarnation and reincarnation.
After seeing these monks and Taoist priests, Luo Xing hurried a little faster, and then he arrived at the capital of King Xia.
It is said to be the capital of the country, but because of the special climate of the Western Regions, it is naturally very different from the cities in the Central Plains that are surrounded by mountains and rivers. After all, the Western Regions are farming and nomadic.
After a short war, the Xia king was in a period of rest and preparation, preparing to gather strength to go to the Central Plains and attack the four counties in Hexi.
Hearing that a direct descendant of the Luo family had entered the Western Region, he quickly invited Luo Xing to the palace for a banquet.
The city wall is a bit quaint, but the interior of the palace is quite luxuriously decorated, studded with gold and pearls, which shows that a lot of thought has been put into it.
After King Xia saw Luo Xing, all the officials of Xia Kingdom saw that King Xia was very happy and drank frequently.
After drinking for three rounds, King Xia finally asked the question he was most concerned about, "I heard that the young master is going to the Suwang Temple to conduct sacrifices this time?"
Luo Xing replied loudly: "Exactly, since Wushuang Zhongwuhou led the armies from the Western Regions to the east, there has been no one to host the Suwang Temple. The head of the family was uneasy and worried that Emperor Su would blame him, so he let Xing go to the Suwang Temple. .”
The King of Xia solemnly said: "What Duke Zhao said is absolutely true. Since the death of Wushuang Zhongwu Marquis in the Central Plains, our people in the Western Regions have been very sad. One of the reasons why I, the Xia Kingdom, went eastward is to uphold the ambition of Wushuang Marquis.
For this reason, after I became the king, I built sacrificial temples for the Wushuang Marquis in the past dynasties in Wushuang City, and conferred Buddhist and Taoist statuses on them, hoping that one day they could return in spirit.
While I was in the Western Regions, I heard many stories from the Central Plains and felt sad about them. The princes of the Central Plains were really, alas.
Sir, are you willing to lend a helping hand? "
Luo Xing raised his brows and said, "The king can rule the north of Tianshan Mountain. He is a rare hero in the world. It's a pity that Xing already belongs to the Suwang Temple, so he really can't help the king."
Of course Luo Xing couldn't be a minister to King Xia. That was just a joke. He had never thought about being a minister to any prince.
King Xia was stunned for a moment. Instead of showing the slightest anger, he burst into laughter and said, "Young Master really misunderstood. Naturally, I don't want to recruit Young Master to join our Xia Kingdom. I just want to cooperate with Young Master."
cooperate?
Luo Xing cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please tell me. Xing is willing to hear the details."
The King of Xia pondered for a while and said: "Young Master must know that in my land in the Western Region, most of the people believe in various religions. If the Young Master is in charge of King Su's Temple, he can help me spread the majesty of the Xia Kingdom in the Western Region, and the Western Region will surely be more stable. .”
So that's it. Luo Xing looked at King Xia with some meaning. This King of Xia was really extraordinary. He was obviously a noble, but he knew the situation of the people in the Western Region very clearly. He knew that among the lowest level of the Western Region, royal power was not as effective as religion. , using royal power can only command those nobles, but has very little control over the grassroots. However, if you can use the influence of the Suwang Temple, you can influence the most ordinary people and even slaves with a sacred meaning. .
King Xia wanted to be not only a political leader, he also wanted to be as sacred as the princes of the summers. This is how various branches of Buddhism and Taoism in the Western Regions now describe King Xia, saying that he is the reincarnation of Heavenly Lord. It is really impossible to say which Lord of the Stars, Lord of the Great Way, and which Buddha or Bodhisattva he is the reincarnation of. As long as there are gods and Buddhas that some people believe in, this King of Xia is the reincarnation of those gods and Buddhas. After all, although the Western Region is called Thousand Miles of Buddha Country and Thousand Miles of Taoist Kingdom, almost every temple and Taoist temple believes in something different. There are too many moral principles. This is a big religious gu pond, and no one knows it at all. Something perverted will eventually come out.
King Xia himself sometimes couldn't figure out what his identity was. Of course he was dissatisfied with this status quo. The pursuit of unification is the unremitting pursuit of every king. The same is true for King Xia. In today's Western Region , the only place that can integrate these different teachings is the Suwang Temple.
All the temples and Taoist temples will shout in unison, Su Wanghuang Datianzun, Suwang Suanghuang Tianshizun, if you can get the position of sword holder in Suwang Temple, then you will not only be the lord of the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain, but also the king of heaven. As the master of the entire Western Region, and able to mobilize more people from the Western Region to participate in the war, his prestige will be greatly improved, and his strength will be greatly improved. Even if he can get the Temple Army to join his command, he will gain An invincible ultimate army.
Luo Xing fully understood the thoughts of this Xia King. This Xia King was really an outstanding person. He was only one generation, but he was able to think of so many things. It took him a hundred years to complete the Central Plains. The cause of unification was just completed.
He didn't know that the Temple Army was a legendary army created with artifacts. No one knew about this, so there was no problem with his plan. Generally speaking, whoever can give the army money and food, the army will be loyal to. , but the Temple Army is different. Even if King Xia treats the Temple Army well, the Temple Army will only be loyal to the Luo family.
For Luo, this is also a very beneficial thing. If it really develops according to King Xia's idea, Luo Xing's status will even become the second in the entire Western Region. If King Xia dies early, he can even become the second in the entire Western Region. The uncrowned king, as long as he puts a crown on King Xia, he can even copy the deeds of King Zhaosheng.
But the key to the problem is that the temple army cannot be turned inward at least now. In essence, it is Luo's private army. The enemies it faces are those who disobey King Su and those barbarians who invade the Western Regions. Therefore, King Xia's intention was destined to fail.
But Luo Xing would not directly reject King Xia here. That would be too disrespectful to King Xia. This is the Western Region after all, and the person in front of him is the Lord of the Western Region. Now the temple army can only be safe if King Xia supports him. Stay in Wushuang City.
Without using his family's heritage and artifacts, although Luo Xing was confident that he could defeat King Xia's army in a field battle with his three thousand temple troops, he would definitely lose in the end when fighting in the Western Regions. He must maintain a good relationship with the local rulers. This is the way to survive.
Thinking of this, Luo Xing pondered for a while, then raised his wine glass and toasted to King Xia: "Your Majesty, Xing understands what you just said. If you can enter Guanzhong and occupy Chang'an, you will get what you want."
Enter Guanzhong and occupy Chang'an.
Everyone in the palace narrowed their eyes, and so did King Xia. This achievement was very subtle. The think tanks of the Western Regions had naturally calculated that entering Chang'an, with the current situation of the Western Regions, was basically within the reach of the Western Regions army and supply lines. pole.
This is because the Xia State placed its capital not far from the four counties in Hexi, so that it could raise enough food and grass. When the Han Dynasty first set out from Chang'an to explore the Western Regions, it was also an exhausting expedition. The Xia State was far inferior to the previous ones. Han Dynasty was strong, Chang'an was the limit.
Luo Xing has never been to the Western Region but he can accurately pinpoint Xia Kingdom's pulse. How can everyone not be shocked?
And what do Luo Xing's words mean?
He knew that the Xia Kingdom could reach Chang'an at most. At this time, he would give King Xia help and allow him to mobilize the entire Western Region, so that King Xia would have enough energy to continue heading east. The most important thing is that he would not have to worry about a fire in the rear. This was Luo Xing's promise to King Xia.
To a certain extent, Luo Xing has agreed to King Xia's conditions, but if you want to get these things, King Xia still needs to work hard. Now you are not qualified to be recognized by the entire Suwang Temple. You How hard you have to work.
King Xia didn't feel slighted. In today's Western Region, there were many people who opposed him. Luo Xing's statement was enough to help him. At least Luo Xing didn't oppose him, otherwise he really wouldn't be able to do it. Knowing what to do, those princes and nobles were not pious to King Su's faith, but they had the courage to raise troops against themselves in the name of King Su.
"Young Master, once you say something, it's hard to catch up. I will high-five you here."
King Xia laughed loudly and said, As for how difficult it is to break through Chang'an, and how difficult it is to break through Guanzhong, known as the land of four fortresses, he has not considered it. He must go eastward, and no matter how many difficulties he encounters, it is just that he will eventually cross the road. It's just a stone, it can't be an obstacle to him.
After Luo Xing and his party left the Xia King's capital, Diao Chan couldn't help but ask: "Husband, do you think this Xia King can enter Guanzhong?"
Luo Xing laughed loudly and said: "His success rate in entering Guanzhong should not be high. He is indeed an outstanding individual, but the current Western Region cannot support his strategy. The most important thing is that he was born in the wrong era. In this era It was an era when outstanding people were surging in the Central Plains. That group of people experienced the most brutal fighting in the world in the Central Plains. King Xia ran into this group of people head-on. The final outcome would not be too good. At most, he would take advantage of the civil strife in Guanzhong to occupy four parts of Hexi Province. County, if you want to enter Guanzhong, it is basically a dream."
Diao Chan wondered: "Husband, if King Xia suddenly dies in the Central Plains, will the Western Regions be in chaos? I always feel that the current Western Regions are maintained by King Xia."
Luo Xing was startled, caressing Diao Chan's soft hair and said: "Yes, the current Western Region is maintained by King Xia. If he didn't want to attack the Central Plains, then my husband would not be so anxious to come to the Western Region. He is just worried. Something unexpected happened to him in the Central Plains, which caused chaos in the Western Regions. My uncle asked my husband to come to the Western Regions just to maintain the stability of the Western Regions, but I don’t know if he can succeed. So far, I have never relied on the power of faith to stabilize a land. A strong person is still needed. A powerful combination of political power will do the trick, and King Xia should have been the best choice, but it’s a pity that Taoism is different and they don’t work together.”
Diao Chan has the ability to close the moon, and she has a natural intuition. The reason why she asked that question just now was because she felt something was wrong. The current Western Region seemed to be an existence that could explode at any time. Listen now From what Luo Xing said, he realized that the Western Region had always been like this. It had actually exploded once after Luo Kong left, and it was King Xia who put it back together again.
After this conversation, the couple stopped talking about this topic and rushed straight to Wushuang City. After more than two months of trekking, they finally arrived at Wushuang City. If the army traveled, it would even take more than four months. Such a long distance has long exceeded the extreme wall of the ruling empire.
The Han Dynasty was able to rule here because of the blessing of King Su's faith and the guarding of the unparalleled princes in the past dynasties. Otherwise, it would have been separated from the Central Plains long ago and became a separatist force.
Before Luo Xing came here, Luo Kong's mother had been taken back. There were almost no Luo clan members here. When the phoenix banner appeared again in Wushuang City, the people in the city even thought they had seen it wrong. When they saw Luo Xing riding on the horse, after a brief silence, waves of cheers suddenly rang out.
Luo Xing and Diao Chan stood on the streets of Wushuang City. There were people from the city on both sides, front and back, and left and right. They all looked at the two with dazzling eyes. They didn't know who was taking the lead. The two only saw the dark crowd. Kneeling down like a tide, it was a quite shocking scene. In a land thousands of miles away from Zhaocheng, there was such a group of people who had unlimited trust in the Stigmata.
Luo Xing hurriedly called for everyone to get up. Suddenly a knight came on horseback. The people dispersed. Luo Xing knew at the first sight that this was one of the few Luo clan members who stayed in the city. They were white-haired and might even have lived there since their ancestors. Here, after the Luo clan moved back to Zhaocheng in large numbers, these people chose to stay here and not leave.
And Wushuang City really needs some Luo clan members to stay here to take care of things.
When the white-haired old man saw the holy mark between Luo Xing's eyebrows, he immediately shed tears and said: "Master, I thought I would never see my master return to Wushuang City in my lifetime. Today I saw the master's face and the master's return to Wushuang City." Wushuang City, even if you die immediately, it is worth it."
Luo Xing stepped forward and bowed to the old man and said, "Luo Xing is polite. On the order of Duke Zhao, he came to Suwang Temple to preside over the sacrifice."
The old man heard this and said quickly: "Master, please come with me."
Although the people in the city didn't want Luo Xing to leave, they heard that Luo Xing said that he would stay in Wushuang City to preside over the sacrifices at Suwang Temple. They knew that he would not leave in the future, so they gradually dispersed. Luo Xing and others followed the white-haired old man. Head all the way to the center of the city.
The most noble buildings in the entire Wushuanghou are there, and the former Wushuanghou Mansion is also there. No one has lived in the Wushuanghou Mansion for a long time, and Luo Xing can live there in the future.
The white-haired old man took Luo Xing and others directly to the Suwang Temple. After arriving at the temple, several people walked out of the temple. They were all women, not only those who looked like Han people, but also those who looked like people from the Western Regions. They were both young and pretty. When they saw the old man, they all bowed and then turned their attention to Luo Xing with curious expressions. They were all natives of the Western Region.
The white-haired old man pointed at a few people and said: "Sir, these girls are currently dealing with some sundries in the temple. Their hands and feet are more agile. They are more familiar with the sacrificial matters in the temple. Now, let's take the master to collect the complete set of things." Take out the sacrificial objects."
Then he said to those women: "This is Gongzi Xing who came from the Zhaocheng Lord's family. According to the family leader's order, from today on he will be the high priest of Suwang Temple and preside over the sacrifices of the entire Suwang Temple. You must maintain Respectfully."
really!
When they saw someone with the stigmata coming to the Suwang Temple, they guessed that they might be coming to fill the vacant position of high priest. However, what attracted more people's attention was Diao Chan standing next to Luo Xing. These girls all She was considered to be extremely beautiful, otherwise she would not have been chosen to come to the Suwang Temple, but the Diao Chan in front of them was definitely the most beautiful woman they had ever seen in their lives.
When Luo Xing and others walked into the temple, the first item Luo Xing got was also the most critical one, which was the high priest's staff.
In the entire Zhuxia culture, the meaning of the scepter is very unusual. Nowadays, the highest treatment for courtiers in the Central Plains is envoy Chijie, which means that the emperor has given you a certain degree of decision-making power. When envoys go on missions, they all carry it with them. If there is such a thing as the scepter, your status will be different.
There are not many divine staffs in the Luo family. In the entire Zhao city, only the head of the family has a divine staff and the high priest has a divine staff. In the Suwang Temple in the Western Regions, there is only one divine staff. Luo Xing holds the divine staff in his hand. In my hand, I felt that what I was holding was not just a magic staff, but power, a power that could be ranked among the best in the entire Western Region.
This kind of power is stronger than the sword in his hand, more powerful than his over 90 martial arts, it is an existence evaluated in another dimension.
After taking the magic staff, he was about to go to other temple rooms when suddenly footsteps came from outside. Luo Xing and others heard the sound and walked outside, where they saw three big men with weapons at their waists walking into the temple. , one looks like a Han, and two look like people from the Western Regions. The faces of these three people are full of eagerness, and they happen to be facing each other with Luo Xing and others.
As soon as the three of them saw the sacred mark between Luo Xing's eyebrows and the divine staff held in Luo Xing's hand, they immediately knelt on the ground, bowed their heads and crossed their hands, and said in unison: "Temple Military Academy Captain, see High Priest, High Priest Wan'an."
It is indeed the Temple Army!
As soon as these three people appeared, Luo Xing had a feeling. That kind of feeling had been felt from the spirit soldiers. It was the scent of the divine weapon of destiny. Now it seems that it is indeed correct.
Luo Xing asked in a deep voice: "Why did you appear in the temple?"
The Han captain said in a deep voice: "The officers and soldiers of the temple army heard that a direct descendant of the Luo family came to take over the position of high priest. The officers and soldiers asked three of us to come and invite the high priest to the army. The officers and soldiers have not seen each other for a long time. The face of a high priest."
Luo Xing nodded when he heard this and said: "Okay, we will go to the temple army later."
Then Luo Xing searched out all the high priest's crowns and robes, and put them on one by one. He was originally a military commander on the battlefield, but now wearing this outfit, there was no sense of violation at all. A feeling of majesty and sanctity.
Luo Xing wore this outfit and headed to the military camp of the Temple Army. The Temple Army was the guardian army of Suwang Temple and was stationed in the city. After a while, he arrived at the place where the soldiers were stationed.
As soon as he approached the camp, Luo Xing felt the strong smell of the destiny artifact, emanating from every soldier.
This made Luo Xing feel an extreme sense of comfort. It turned out that this was how Wushuang Hou led the temple army. When Wu Xianghou led the temple army to the north of the desert to clear out the Xiongnu, he might have So high-spirited.
He strode into the Temple Army's barracks and looked at the faces. This was Luo's biggest support in the Western Region, the most powerful army in the world that had made great contributions, the Temple Army.
At the same time, it is also his biggest reliance in the future. Whether he can defend the flat terrain of the Western Region, a land of four battles, depends on the performance of the temple army in the future.
For the Temple Army, because of the influence of the Divine Artifact of Destiny, they are naturally fond of St. Mark. As long as Luo Shi does not do anything too outrageous, the entire army will always be loyal. Looking at Luo Xing at this moment, It's like recalling the days when he was under the command of Wushuang Hou.
There is a high priest in the Suwang Temple again, and the temple army is no longer rootless, doing nothing every day and not knowing what to do.
Luo Xing raised the staff high, and all the soldiers looked at him. Luo Xing said loudly: "On the order of the Luo family master, I came to Su Wang Temple to take over the position of high priest. Su Wang's sacred glory will be in the Western Regions." Shining forever, King Su’s brilliance will spread to more distant dark places.
The Temple Army will always be the strong shield that defends King Su's faith and the sharp sword that destroys everything. "
People need a sense of identity, not to mention the temple army. They need a sense of identity most. When they heard this, they cheered loudly and waved their weapons.
Luo Xing raised the staff again, the cheers gradually stopped, and he shouted loudly: "Soldiers of the Temple Army, King Su will be with you!"
How long has it been since I heard this blessing?
Some soldiers who had been in the temple army for a long time even had tears in their eyes when they heard this. They knelt down directly on the ground. First they opened their arms, then bowed their heads and crossed their hands in salute. They murmured: "The spirit of King Su is in the sky, glorious." His reputation lasts for eternity."
Luo Xing did not expect this scene.
Since he entered Wushuang City, he has seen such a scene countless times, with countless people kneeling on the ground like a tide, praying for the divine staff in their hands.
He tightened his grip, this is the Western Region!
(End of chapter)
