Young, this is indeed capital, but Li Shengtian shook his head. Just as Zhang Zhao said, no matter how much he feels sorry for his eldest sister, he is not an ordinary person. He is the king of Khotan. Everything he does must be done.
The interests of the Kingdom of Khotan must be put first.
At this time, although the Khotan Kingdom is prosperous and powerful, it is one of the three great kingdoms in Anxi.
However, the Kara Khanate in the north, composed of nine surnames of Ogus and three surnames of Galulu, still posed a considerable threat to Khotan, and it was not an ordinary threat, but a religious threat.
Since the forces of the Tang Dynasty withdrew from Anxi, the Great Cannibals took advantage of the victory of Talos and continued to spread Tianfang Sect to the east.
Especially fifteen years ago, after Karakhan's Saktu Bugla Khan publicly declared his conversion to Tianfang religion, many nobles in the Karakhanate began to convert.
Monks of the Tianfang Sect and people who believe in the Tianfang Sect continue to spread their faith from Shule to Khotan.
At present, the only thing that the Buddhists and Manichaeans in the Karakhanate can still control is Balashagon, and it is still under siege by Saktu Bugla Khan. It will fall sooner or later.
Things.
It is conceivable that after Saktu Bugla Khan captured Balashagon, the number of Tianfang Sect believers and monks who penetrated into Khotan may not be the current number.
Khotan has a population of 700,000 and is already a big country in Anxi. However, once the Karakhanate regains Balashagon and even Bakhna (Fergana Basin), it will have at least 300,000 tents, which is 150,000 people.
Around 100,000 to 1.8 million people.
Khotan cannot compete with this kind of population size, at least not for a long time.
Therefore, while Li Shengtian continued to strengthen Khotan himself, he still placed his hopes on the Gaochang Uighurs, the Yijun Army and even the dynasties of the Central Plains in the east.
What Li Shengtian is looking forward to most now is for the revival of the Tang Dynasty, and half a million heavenly soldiers to come and beat up traitors and cannibals like Ge Luolu.
Of course, he himself knows that this is not very realistic, but it is still very realistic to get help from the Central Plains and the Guiyi Army.
So no matter how much the eldest sister suffered, even the only bloodline of Jinshan Crown Prince Zhang Xuan died, Li Shengtian still maintained good relations with the Cao family. This was determined by the reality of Khotan.
Thinking of this, Li Shengtian felt very heavy, and he shook his head at Zhang Zhao.
"Don't give me explicit support, even secret support, I won't be able to give it to you. I am the king of Khotan, and I must be responsible for Khotan!"
Zhang Zhao was a little disappointed, but he had considered this situation before he came, and he actually never thought about letting Li Shengtian directly intervene in his plan to regain the power of the returning rebels.
If he is willing to do this, he should go to the Qilian Mountains and collude with the Kucha Uighurs now, slowly mess up the Guiyi Army, and then seize power.
By disrupting the Guiyi Army and relying on a bloody coup to seize power, Zhang Zhao would definitely not choose this path.
"My nephew is very clear about my uncle's difficulties, and I also understand that things should not be done or not done. But I haven't started yet, and I can't give up lightly. Over there in Goni City, I still ask my uncle to show his noble hand!"
"Alas!" Li Shengtian looked at Zhang Zhao and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"Your father died too early, and he didn't even teach you these things. Do you know that with the things you have done recently, if you were a different king, you would have been driven back to the sandbank long ago, not to mention the death of your father!"
”
Zhang Zhao knew what Li Shengtian meant, whether it was to reward the queen of Sanpoba to the people below, or when he arrived in Khotan City, he had to be reminded by Li Shengtian before he gave the benefits gained in Zhongyun to his uncle and the emperor.
Involved with the brothers and sisters Li Ruoyu and Li Ruoliu, who have sensitive identities.
These things, no matter which one they are, are actually quite taboo.
Of course, this was due to Zhang Zhao's lack of political experience, but the bigger reason was that he gradually felt the "pulse" of Li Shengtian and knew that this uncle of the emperor was not a ruthless king. Furthermore, he was very confident that Li Shengtian would see
After seeing his effect on Khotan, all his shortcomings will be ignored.
"Zhao'er dares to be so presumptuous because he understands that my uncle really loves me. Even though I am not my mother's biological child, he loves me as much as I do, and my uncle treats me as his nephew."
Zhang Zhao's face showed some warmth, "But uncle, don't worry, although my nephew is reckless, he is willing and can share his worries!"
Li Shengtian smiled and nodded. Although this nephew was a little reckless, his feelings for him could still be seen.
But he won't show it on his lips. This kid is too ignorant now and needs to be suppressed. So Li Shengtian's face turned cold.
"My uncle knows that you are known to be fierce and brave, and all the soldiers under your command use their strength to fight, but there are only a hundred of you, how much help can you help my uncle? Are you helping someone look after the home and the hospital? Stop boasting!"
"I wonder if Zhao'er can help my uncle, the Emperor, blow down the wall of Shule City. Does that count as a favor?"
Zhang Zhao smiled lightly, this is the advantage of the time traveler. Although he only has a hundred people, he can do things that tens of thousands of Khotan troops cannot do.
"What do you mean...huh? Boy! What did you say? Can you blow down the wall of Shule City?"
Li Shengtian didn't hear clearly for a while and gasped heavily.
And he paused heavily on the word "explosion". At this time, "explosion" did not mean explosion. It was mainly used to describe a very sudden and loud sound.
Zhang Zhao didn't say much, and took out a small gadget from his pocket and showed it to Li Shengtian.
This is a small hollow bamboo tube filled with black gunpowder that Cao Shishi prepared in Yuechang. Both ends are blocked with dried yellow mud. A fuse wrapped with a large amount of gunpowder foam is drawn from the yellow mud.
Stretched out.
This is a relatively primitive firecracker, but the firecrackers are more powerful.
Li Shengtian looked at Zhang Zhao strangely, wondering what his nephew wanted to do?
It seems that his intelligence system is not invincible. At least Li Shentian still doesn’t know how Zhang Zhao blew open the palace gate of King Zhongyun Sanpoba.
"Uncle, you can ask your chamberlain to dig up a ball of yellow mud, and Zhao'er can show your uncle how to break through the wall of Shule City."
The yellow mud was delivered quickly, and the doubt on Li Shengtian's face became more and more intense. If Zhang Zhao hadn't looked like a confident old god, and if Zhang Zhao hadn't been the only son of his eldest sister, Princess Fengtian, Li Shengtian would have wanted to let him go.
People threw Zhang Zhao out.
Four generations of Khotan kings mobilized their entire nation's troops six times but failed to break through the gate of Shule. How can you, a young boy with a strange-looking bamboo tube, break open the gate of Shule just by talking nonsense?
Li Shengtian decided that if Zhang Zhao couldn't give him a reasonable explanation, he would send this guy back to Dunhuang even if it made his eldest sister sad!
At worst, he wrote a letter to his father-in-law Cao Yijin personally, asking the Cao family not to embarrass Zhang Zhao anymore.