Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"Mr. Wang, you have been in Jiaozhou for many years and understand the local language and customs. I will leave the matter of opening the military market to you!" Xu Tuo said to Wang Bo: "I also know that these expeditionary soldiers have some things they cannot do without, but there must be rules, otherwise chaos will occur!"

"I understand!" Wang Bo's face flushed slightly. If he had heard this order a few years ago when he was on official business in Chang'an, he would have been furious and left in anger. But things are different now. The hardships in Annan over the past few years have turned him into a different person. Although opening a military market to sell spoils of war and military slaves and opening a brothel may not sound good, it is a very lucrative business. What's more important is that he has witnessed with his own eyes the new army led by Suta killing people in Jiaozhou. Being able to board this soaring spaceship will definitely make him a lot of money.

On the thirteenth day after leaving Aizhou, Suta arrived at Jiaozhi City. The rebels had already lifted the siege. Facing this city, which was second only to Guangzhou in the Lingnan region, Suta was full of curiosity.

"It seems that the defenders are scared enough!" Heba Yun looked at the closed city gate and the slowly rising basket in the distance with interest. Feng Sheng was inside: "They can see it clearly, but they still refuse to open the city gate!"

"The governor is dead, so it's right to be more cautious!" Xu Tuo smiled and said, "Secretary Feng came to Jiaozhou a few years ago. He is an old acquaintance of the officials here. He also has the documents of Envoy Yang with him. There will be no problem!"

"Brother Xu Tuo, Jiaozhou is really great!" Heba Yun whispered, "All the way here, it's fertile plains, the soil is fertile, and the weather is warm. It's much better than Japan!"

"What? Are you jealous?" Xu Tuo said with a smile: "You want the territory? No problem, I'll talk to Yuan Bao, he will give it to you!"

"Thank you very much, Brother Xutuo!" Heba Yun laughed.

"The territory issue is easy to deal with. Anyway, as long as we can put down the rebellion this time, the land of the nobles who participated in the rebellion will definitely be confiscated!" Sutuo said, "The trouble is who will take care of it. Unless you move to Jiaozhou, my sister may not be willing. She may not be used to the weather here. After all, there is miasma here!"

"That's right!" Heba Yun nodded: "Forget it, it's too early to consider these things now. After all, the rebellion has not been quelled yet!"

At this time, the city gate in the distance opened, and a group of people and horses came out and came towards Suta. Suta kicked his horse's belly and rushed forward.

"I am Bu Kui, the governor of Jiaozhou. I am here to see General Xutuo!" A middle-aged scholar with a short stature got off his horse about 20 to 30 steps away from Xutuo. He led more than a dozen officials and elders to bow down and say, "General, you came across the sea to help us and saved the people of the city. We cannot repay you even if we die!"

"Please stand up, Mr. Bu Changshi!" Sutuo also dismounted, helped the middle-aged scholar stand up, and said to the people kneeling on the ground behind him: "The ground is full of mud and water, please stand up quickly! Leading the troops to defeat the bandits is Sutuo's job, so there is no need to be polite!"

"Thank you, General!" Everyone stood up. Bu Kui smiled and said, "General, you have worked hard on the journey. We have prepared some wine and drinks in the city to welcome you. Please accept them!"

"Thank you!" Suta nodded, and pointed at the team behind him with his whip: "Then how do we arrange these soldiers?"

"There is a training camp in the city, and I have already sent people to vacate it!"

"That's great!" Suta breathed a sigh of relief. What he was most worried about right now was the problem of the army's camping. After all, the soldiers were already very tired after traveling all the way. They were not used to the climate and water, and it was easy for them to get sick. Camping in the city with ready-made barracks would not require digging trenches or building fortifications, which was very good for the soldiers' health. However, the city guards were generally very wary of the foreign troops coming from afar, and were rarely willing to allow them to rest in the city.

"How about this! I will order the soldiers not to enter and leave the camp at will, so as not to disturb the people. However, Bu Changshi will also set up a military market next to the camp so that my soldiers can buy some daily necessities! How do you think?"

"That's the best, that's the best!" Bu Kui was overjoyed when he heard this. He had just learned a lot about General Xutuo from Feng Sheng. As a local big family in Jiaozhou, he knew that the position of Jiaozhou Governor would not be his, and this position of Chief Secretary had come to an end. And this General Xutuo not only has an extraordinary father, but also the brother of the next Jiaozhou Governor. The most important thing is that he has soldiers on hand. In this gap before the new governor takes office, he is the actual person in charge of Jiaozhou. The previous quelling of the rebellion, how the previous governor died, and so on are all decided by him. Although he is a local snake, he really dare not say "no" to this dragon from across the river.

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"This is the study of the former governor! He likes to stay here when he has nothing to do!" Bu Kui carefully stretched out his right hand and made a "please" gesture.

Sutuo nodded. He had not drunk any alcohol at the welcoming banquet that had just ended, but only some fruit juice, on the grounds that the rebellion had not yet been quelled and it was not appropriate for a general to drink alcohol. No one dared to question this, and after the banquet, Bu Kui brought him here. Sutuo pushed open the door, walked to the window, and looked out at the river. It was a bright autumn day, and the sun shone on the water like a mirror. The scenery was really nice, no wonder the former governor liked to stay here.

"Tell me! How did the former governor Liu die!" Xu Tuo picked the most comfortable chair and sat down. The guard Da Ayton stood at the door. The sun shone on his sturdy body, leaving a long shadow on the ground. Bu Kui licked his lips and whispered, "He, he was ambushed!"

"I have read your documents!" Suta said, "But from my experience of fighting with the bandits on the way to Jiaozhi, the bandits' fighting ability is very poor, and they are short of armor, weapons, bows and crossbows. Even if they were ambushed, the governor's guards should be able to protect him and break out, or at least bring back the body, right? But according to your documents, Governor Liu's body was not brought back afterwards. What happened?"

"This--" Perhaps because of the weather, beads of sweat the size of soybeans seeped out of Bu Kui's forehead. His eyes were moving wildly under his thick eyelids. It was obvious that this man was looking for a credible reason to get through this strange situation.

"Bu Changshi!" Sutuo stood up and walked to Bu Kui's side. "You should know my identity very well. To be honest, I am not a strict person. I can understand that everyone has their own little secrets. This is human nature. But the cause of death of Governor Liu is different. He was a senior official of the court. More importantly, my brother is his successor. I don't want him to die in such an inexplicable way. Do you understand what I mean, Bu Changshi?"

"Yes, yes, I understand!" Bu Kui said hurriedly, "The death of Governor Liu has nothing to do with me!"

"I know that you are from a local noble family. Even if Governor Liu died, it would not be your turn to succeed him. You have no motive." Suta smiled and said, "Go ahead, tell me everything you know!"

"There should be people from Linyi among the rebels!" Bu Kui said, "The death of Governor Liu should be related to Linyi!" "Linyi?" Xu Tuo frowned and said, "Go on, tell me everything you know!"

Bu Kui let out a long breath and spoke carefully. It turned out that Linyi Kingdom was the Champa Kingdom of later generations, an ancient country located in Hue, southern Vietnam today. In the Western Han Dynasty, the area belonged to Xianglin County, Rinan County. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, local tyrants overthrew the rule, established themselves as kings, and established the Linyi Kingdom. According to the historical materials and archaeological excavations of later generations, the Linyi Kingdom should have been established by the Cham people, an ancient ethnic group living in the Indochina Peninsula. Unlike Jiaozhi (northern Vietnam) which was deeply influenced by Chinese culture, Champa was strongly influenced by Indian culture after independence and was known as the "Hindu Kingdom". In terms of politics, Hinduism deified the kingship, and established Champa's national institutions and formulated rules and regulations according to the Indian model. In terms of society, the introduction of Indian culture made the upper class of Champa imitate the Indian caste system to form the Brahman and Kshatriya levels. In terms of religion, Hinduism was prevalent, temples were widely built, and Hindu gods were worshipped. Lord Shiva had a prominent position.

Since the founding of Champa in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, it has been expanding to the surrounding areas and its national strength has been increasing. Although it was conquered by the Sui Dynasty and almost destroyed, it was afraid of the Tang Dynasty's strength and sent envoys to pay tribute, but it has always coveted the Jiaozhou area that controls the Red River Delta. Champa also sent people to intervene in the civil strife in Jiaozhou this time, and the death of Liu Shishi may be related to it.

"Why didn't you report such an important matter to Envoy Yang?" Suta asked.

"There have been border harassments from Champa every year, and Envoy Yang has issued strict orders not to provoke border conflicts! Otherwise, they will be punished! And this time Governor Liu died in the battle, and we originally..." Bu Kui stopped here.

"You have already had a crime, and you are afraid of angering Envoy Yang and being punished by him, right?" Sudatta asked. Seeing Bu Kui remaining silent, he sighed, pointed to the stool next to him, and asked him to sit down. He was not unfamiliar with what Bu Kui said.

Everyone knows that the Tang Dynasty was a powerful country. When faced with military provocations from neighboring countries, the Tang Dynasty would generally not respond if it could. However, this was not the case everywhere. For example, the Tang Dynasty rarely used military force against small southeastern countries such as Linyi and Funan. The reason was simple: first of all, there was no threat. Small countries such as Linyi and Funan could only attack the border counties of Jiaozhou, and could not even threaten the hinterland of Lingnan. Due to geographical reasons, the taxes that Jiaozhou could pay to Chang'an were pitifully small, unlike Tubo and Nanzhao, which could easily take Chengdu, which would have stabbed the Western Palace of the Tang Emperor.

Secondly, the distance was too far. Even if troops were transferred from Jiangnan and Lianghuai to Annan, the cost was very high, and large-scale epidemics were likely to occur. If the enemy was not destroyed by mistake, it would be troublesome if the army mutinied. Moreover, there was no benefit in conquering the enemy. The local people were all Hindus, and it was impossible to govern them. It was better to make less trouble than more, and just turn a blind eye to it. Yang Quansheng's approach also represented the attitude of the Tang Dynasty center centered on Chang'an and Luoyang to a considerable extent.

"I understand. This is not your fault!" Xu Tuo sighed and patted the other party's shoulder: "I will explain to the new governor for you!"

"Thank you for your understanding, General!" Bu Kui was already in tears: "In fact, we really want to avenge Governor Liu, but we are unable to do so!"

"Oh? Is Linyi very strong?" Suta asked.

"Yes!" Bu Kui nodded. "Since the last time the Sui Dynasty conquered Linyi and destroyed its capital, the king of Linyi was submissive on the surface, but actually joined forces with Funan to invade Zhenla. Later, Zhenla became strong and Funan declined. Linyi turned its spearhead and joined forces with Zhenla to invade Funan, expanding its territory by hundreds of miles. Moreover, there are gold mountains in its territory, and the capital Sanghapura has prosperous trade. The king is rich and powerful, building temples and recruiting warriors from all over the world. Many small countries around him pay tribute to him and respect him as their master. It is said that he has 100,000 soldiers who can fight. On the other hand, Jiaozhou is not as strong as him!"

"Build a temple?" Suta laughed. "If there is nothing, it's fine. Forget it! Let me ask you, are the temples in Linyi very rich?"

"Ah?" Bu Kui was stunned, then nodded: "Yes, everyone from the king to the common people in this place worships Buddha. There are many people who donate their property to the temples in the hope of blessings in the next life. In terms of wealth in the country, I am afraid that only the royal family can compare with the temples!"

"That's right!" Suta smiled and said, "Okay, you don't have to worry about this matter! Go back and have a rest first, I'll talk to you in detail tomorrow!"

"Thank you, General!" Bu Kui stood up and bowed before leaving. Su Tuo escorted him out the door, came to Chong Jing's residence, knocked on the door, and said with a smile: "Master!"

"Is that Suda? Come in!"

Suta pushed the door open, bowed, and said with a smile: "Teacher, I plan to use military force against Linyi and seize its temple. Is this against the will of heaven?"

Chong Jing's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked, "Can the temples in Linyi country guide people to be good?"

Suta scratched the back of his head and said, "I don't know about that, but it is said that this temple is rich and powerful, almost comparable to a king!"

"That's fine!" Chong Jing said, "Collecting the people's wealth to worship the gods, building temples like mountains and incense like the sea, this is not the right way, destroying it will do no harm!"

"Teacher, I feel relieved if you say so!" Suta said with a smile, "Then I will write a letter back immediately and ask more brothers to come to help us!"

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Sanghapura, Bhadresvara Temple.

"Tang reinforcements have entered Jiaozhi City! The siege has been lifted!" the waiter whispered. She was not yet an adult and was wearing a white robe and a white veil, symbolizing their purity. Only the most beautiful noble girls were qualified to enter the deepest part of the temple.

The high priest turned around. His hair had turned completely white, and his skin was as white as parchment, but time had not dimmed his eyes. They were as green as emeralds, and full of wisdom. (End of this chapter)