Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 391 Instant Enlightenment?

When Cao Bao and Zu Lang fled to the edge of Xiaxiang City, they had few followers left.

There were not many troops left to pursue them, as the rioting believers had tied down a large number of the pursuers.

At this moment, Zhang Fei led Liu Bei's troops to appear before Cao Bao.

In fact, Liu Bei's troops had been keeping an eye on Cao Bao's carriages and horses. Liu Bei ordered them to disperse in order to ensure an ambush on Cao Bao.

We can't let Cao Bao take away the money and grain from Xiapi.

The missionaries of the Buddhist religion cannot leave either.

It was already late at night. Cao Bao and his men had been running for several hours and were exhausted. Of course, they would not confront Zhang Fei head-on.

Zulang acted quite decisively at this moment.

He took his more than a thousand followers, rode the old horses that used to pull the cart, abandoned the cart full of wealth and Cao Bao, and turned west under the cover of darkness.

Zhang Fei intercepted Cao Bao, but Zu Lang broke through Xu Qiu's troops who were pursuing them.

This is the right choice.

Zhang Fei was in Xiaxiang, waiting in comfort, and he led Liu Bei's elite troops, who were top-notch in every aspect. Facing Zhang Fei, there was no way they could escape.

However, the pursuing troops were exhausted and of low quality.

The long-distance pursuit and constant killings left the pursuing troops scattered and disorganized.

The only way to escape is to turn around quickly, break through the pursuers behind you, and find an opportunity to cross the river.

Zulang glanced back at the carriages, a hint of reluctance in his eyes, but his and his men's small bundles were bulging, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Cao Bao had not expected Zu Lang to make this choice. He had originally hoped that Zu Lang could hold off Zhang Fei, but now the army was missing a piece, with only a bunch of wagons left.

There was no time to turn back. Cao Bao looked at the countless torches that were closing in on them in the night and hardened his resolve: "We have no way out but to fight to the death! Charge!"

The Danyang soldiers mustered their remaining strength and launched a desperate charge eastward.

Zhang Fei, riding his black steed and leading Liu Bei's cavalry, threw out his torch and pulled down his mask: "Form ranks!"

"kill!"

……

The Danyang soldiers were not bad in combat, but a tired army facing tens of thousands of troops could only end up with one outcome.

Cao Bao also failed to survive the first round against Wu Feng Camp.

He didn't even encounter Zhang Fei; he was overwhelmed by the army during the cavalry's first charge.

He was pierced through the chest by a rifle, and didn't even have time to leave his last words.

Most of the Danyang soldiers were killed, and those who tried to escape were also intercepted and killed. Only a little over a thousand people abandoned all their weapons and armor, knelt down, and surrendered. Zhang Fei agreed and allowed the surrendered men to collect their bodies.

Zulang was lucky; after breaking through the pursuers, he fled westward for a while and came across a bamboo forest.

He drove away the pursuers with his worn-out horses, ordered his men to cut down large bamboo stalks, and used the bamboo to swim across the river, escaping southward.

It's the coldest time of year right now, and the Sishui River has thin ice that's too big for people to carry. Crossing the river requires breaking through the ice and enduring the freezing temperatures. It's truly impressive that they can manage to cross the river using bamboo in the dead of winter.

The next day, Zhang Fei led his troops to clear the battlefield and saw his men bringing in a curly-haired foreign monk and a group of young women.

"Didn't we say we wouldn't spare a single Tibetan monk or ascetic? Why spare him?"

Zhang Fei was somewhat displeased when he saw the fat monk draped in a silk robe.

“General Zhang, this man claims to be an envoy from the Yuezhi Kingdom, but we don’t know if he is true or not… Perhaps we should let our lord decide.”

The soldiers who brought the monk were not from the Wufeng Camp, but were Liu Bei's direct subordinates. They handed Zhang Fei an envoy's pass issued by the Honglu Temple, which read, "Zhi Zhu Na Jian, envoy of the Kushan tribe of the Yuezhi Kingdom, arrived in the first year of Yongkang."

The Han Dynasty has always regarded the Kushan Empire as the Kushan tribe of the Yuezhi Kingdom. Ever since Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty has known that the Yuezhi had five tribes, and for the Han Dynasty, the Kushan Empire was only one of the five tribes.

The Greater Yuezhi were the Yuezhi people who migrated westward after being defeated by the Xiongnu. The Lesser Yuezhi were the southern Hu people who remained in the Qilian Mountains area and did not migrate westward, such as the Huangzhong Yicong and Lushui Hu who had previously rebelled.

The surname "Zhi" is the surname of the Yuezhi people. Niu Fu had a servant named Zhi Hu Chi'er who led the Huangzhong Righteous Cavalry.

The first year of Yongkang was 167 AD, which was the end of Emperor Huan's reign. Emperor Huan did indeed worship all sorts of gods, regarding Buddhism as a branch of Huang-Lao thought. At that time, many Yuezhi monks came to the Han Dynasty as envoys.

This Tibetan monk named Zhizhunajian appears to be an envoy of the Yuezhi.

Currently, Liu Bei is in power in the Han Dynasty, so foreign envoys cannot be killed casually; the decision must be made by Liu Bei.

"The Imperial Envoy? The Imperial Envoy isn't living in Luoyang, so why is he here?"

Zhang Fei muttered to himself, then turned to the women and asked, "Are you Cao Bao's concubines?"

The women shook their heads, not daring to speak.

The foreign monk then spoke up: "This humble monk is Fadu, an envoy from the Kushan Kingdom, and they are all my disciples."

"Disciple? So that means a member of the Floating Pagoda Sect?"

Zhang Fei glanced at the women: "If they are members of the Buddhist sect, then they cannot live..."

"General, spare my life..."

The women all knelt down: "We are all concubines of the Dharma Master, not Buddhist disciples. We beg the General to spare our lives..."

That makes sense. These women aren't nuns or disciples; they're probably just the concubines of this Master Fadu.

These concubines were all beauties, and they seemed to be similar in nature to the 'adopted daughters' in Zuo Rong's household.

"The Dharma monk has so many concubines, and Ze Rong also has countless beautiful maids..."

Zhang Fei's expression was rather strange: "Doesn't your Buddhist sect say that converting to Buddhism means becoming a monk or nun? Don't you say that you no longer have anything to do with the secular world? How come everyone here is so lustful?"

"Namo Buddha, this humble monk only seeks to alleviate suffering..."

Fadu lay prostrate on the ground, his silk robes stained with mud: "Their families were poor, and they were sold to make ends meet... This humble monk took them in, ensuring they had enough to eat and wear; this is also an act of relieving suffering..."

Zhang Fei stepped forward and slapped him hard across the face: "I think my elder brother won't let you off the hook... I'll take this man to see my elder brother myself!"

The second half of the sentence was addressed to his troops. Zhang Fei personally escorted the law to Xiapi.

……

The area inside and outside Xiapi was littered with corpses.

Liu Bei gave Zhang Chao one night, and the next day he led his guards into Xiapi City, ending the massacre.

Zhang Chao was relatively honest; he simply went door-to-door in the city searching for Buddhist monks, confiscating their scriptures, and killing many believers who protected them. However, he did not carry out a complete massacre in Xiapi.

After Liu Bei entered the city, he personally set fire to the Great Buddha Temple, demonstrating the court's attitude towards Buddhism. He then "expelled" Zhang Chao from the city, thus freeing the people of Xiapi from "Butcher Zhang's" clutches.

Even so, at least three or four thousand people died in Xiapi.

Families in Xuzhou were cleaning up the corpses outside the city, far apart from each other.

Because when each family collected the remains, they mostly recognized members of their own clan.

The Mi family fared slightly better, with few members remaining in Xiapi.

However, the Xu family of Guangling and the Chen family of Xiapi were both very large surnames, and many of the believers who died by the Sishui River were from these two families.

The dead may have been killed by another's retainers, or they may have been killed by their own retainers... it's hard to tell.

The number of corpses outside the city was countless; of the tens of thousands of believers, probably half were killed.

The bodies lying in the river were covered with a thin layer of ice.

This massacre will go down in history, but who will bear the name of this massacre?
……

"Laws and regulations? Perfect. Doesn't Buddhism preach that one can become a Buddha by laying down the butcher's knife? I suppose they won't care about such a crime... Zhi Zhu Na Jian, do you want to become a Buddha?"

When Liu Bei saw the abbot of the Buddhist sect who was being escorted by Zhang Fei, he felt that the curly-haired head of this Dharma Master was just the right size.

"This humble monk is an envoy from the Kushan Kingdom. What crime does the general intend to charge me with?!"

Fadu looked quite panicked. He had been escorted here by Zhang Fei and had seen the corpses along the way.

(End of this chapter)