Lower Atush, oh no! It should be called Polu City now, and even the Boguz River that flows through Lower Atush has been changed to Polu River.
The reason why it is not called Pohu City is because Li Shengtian himself has a large amount of Scythian ancestry and is technically a Hu person. Therefore, the Jin Kingdom of Khotan does not use the derogatory name of Hu'er, but usually uses the term "Yu You" or "Liu".
Li Shengtian has already gone back, because he is still busy recruiting various tribes around Shule, and more importantly, he also has to control the sectarian vendettas and conflicts that have begun to spread to Shache, Jiashi and other places.
By the Polu River, where Zhang Zhao originally placed his formation, the high platform Li Shengtian built nearby has been demolished, and the place has returned to its original appearance.
Seven days have passed, and the blood-soaked black-purple color has not completely faded away, and the broken parts of various swords, guns, swords, halberds, and arrows still cover the entire battlefield.
"The soul is back! The soul is back!"
For the Chinese, the First Seventh Day is an extremely important date after death, so Zhang Zhao chose this time to pay homage to the souls of those who died in the war.
The familiar "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's Original Vow Sutra" sounded, and Zhang Zhao took the lead in chanting it together. Beside him, stood two monks who looked like eminent monks.
One is the abbot of the Khotan Temple with a haggard face but shining eyes, Li Shengtian’s uncle, and Master Sangha Rama Tripitaka.
The other is an old monk who is tall and tall but looks extremely weak. He is the last abbot of Shule Dayun Temple that Li Qilang and others have been trying to rescue, and the only living direct disciple of the last Anxi monk commander in the Tang Dynasty.
Master Daozhen.
After the chanting of sutras and salvation was completed, Zhang Zhao personally packed up the ashes of the Shandu soldiers who died in the battle one by one, and then recorded them one by one.
As for the Khotan palace guards and the three religious followers who died in the battle, they will be buried according to the customs of Khotan and Shule.
All the soldiers from Shandu have arrived, including Wang Tongtong, who stayed in Shule to recuperate and almost turned into ashes. On the Khotan palace guard side, Liu Zaisheng, who had just escaped, was also carried by his men.
Came over.
Behind them, there was a group of people who were trying their best to suppress their cries and were wearing various rough clothes standing far away. These people were the relatives of the civilians who died in the war.
In this battle, more than 400 civilians who were responsible for delivering supplies to the Fengtian Army died. Most of them were semi-forced by Zhang Zhao to move to the front row, and then suffered two crucial waves of arrows and were killed.
Shot to death.
Zhang Zhao felt very sorry for these people. The Fengtian Army, including the soldiers from Hanshandu, died in the battle. This can be said to be their fate and their duty. As professional soldiers, they went to the battlefield, and they were already mentally prepared.
But these civilians don't have to die. If Zhang Zhao hadn't let them leave, if Zhang Zhao hadn't instigated them, they wouldn't have died here at all.
After paying homage to the soldiers of Hanshandu who died in battle, Zhang Zhao slowly walked by. In the eyes of everyone who was puzzled, he slowly knelt down on one knee in front of these civilians and relatives.
"The governor doesn't need to be like this!"
"What are you doing in Erlang Junli?"
Surprised shouts came from around. In the eyes of people of this era, it is absolutely impossible for someone with Zhang Zhao's status to kneel down in front of these mud-legged people. Let them come here to pay homage together. That would be unacceptable.
It's extremely merciful.
In fact, Zhang Zhao still had this consideration in mind. No matter what he did, it was better not to exceed the scope of etiquette of the current era, so he only knelt down on one knee instead of on both knees.
But when he knelt down, not only the people around him were shocked, but the people he was kneeling on were even more frightened!
Thousands of poor farmers and herdsmen from Khotan and Shule, old and young, were so frightened that they knelt down to Zhang Zhao and kowtowed crazily. They were frightened and didn't know what Zhang Zhao wanted to do.
"It's not that I don't know the superiority and inferiority of superiors and inferiors, nor that they deserve to kneel down, they are actually the ones who fought bloody battles with us before kneeling down seven days ago.
Although they are civilians, they have also fought bloody battles with us, that is, Paoze. To win this battle, your bloody battle is crucial, but the hundreds of civilians who died here also contributed indispensably!
They are just poor people who were drafted here. They could not have died here, they could have gone home to reunite with their families, but they fought bloody battles here because of me and died here. They are Zhang Erlang's brothers, so they should kneel down.
Kneel down to their heroic spirits!"
After kneeling down, Zhang Zhao stood up and looked at the two masters and dozens of Shandu soldiers behind him and said loudly.
This is not a performance, but his true words. The situation was critical at that time. If these civilians were not half forced and half coaxed to come forward, it is estimated that the two waves of arrows and the armored cavalry rushing into the formation might have really killed him.
It was rushed away.
Therefore, he is right to say that these civilians have meritorious service. Although Zhang Zhao would definitely do this again if he could go back in time, the guilt in his heart, a knot in his heart, must be untied by himself.
Although kneeling and monetary compensation cannot bring back the lost life, it can always make the living, whether it is Zhang Zhao or the relatives of the people in front of him, feel better.
"Zhong Weng, Wu Yuan'er, come here. According to the promise made at that time, the reward of three silver coins for each person killed in the war will be distributed according to the list of those who have ascended the throne!"
"Thank you sir!"
"Thank you, Mr. Burke!"
After Zhang Zhao said these words, he knelt on the ground and shivered. The fear on the faces of the relatives of the civilian husbands who didn't know what fate they were going to experience began to fade, and some people even smiled.
Three handfuls of silver coins are at least thirty or forty thousand dollars, which is equivalent to about four to five million in later generations. For an ordinary family, it is also a large amount of property.
"Cousin, see if there are any orphans here left by civilians who died in the war. Find all those under the age of twelve. Let someone raise these. If they become talented in the future, they can be enough to comfort the heroic spirits!"
Yin Yaozi nodded. Zhang Zhao had also mentioned this plan to him, to recruit orphans and train them to become talents, and then make them his confidants. This was also a common practice among the Five Generations.
"Hei Gouer, come here!" After Zhang Zhao took the tablet of Zhang Zhao, the first sacrificed soldier of Hanshandu, in his hand, he waved to Hei Gouer.
"This is one of the most heroic warriors in Shandu. Are you willing to inherit his legacy and legacy?"
The reason why I chose the black dog instead of the yellow sheep is because the black dog has a Han look, while the yellow sheep has a typical Uighur appearance.
Although Huo Sheng'er took a photo, he himself didn't know whether he was a Han, a Tubo, a Tuyuhun or something else?
But for Zhang Zhao, he must find a stepson with Han Chinese appearance for Huo Sheng'er. This is political correctness.
"Hei Gou'er is willing. From now on, he will be my father! My surname will be Zhang!"
Of course Black Gouer is willing. This cunning boy understands very well that at his age, it is very difficult to survive without an adult, and Zhang Zhao, not only has someone to support him, but he is also likely to become famous in the future.
Zhang Zhao nodded and put the tablet into Hei Gou'er's hand.
"Then you will be the son of Nanyang Zhang family from now on. I will name you Zhang Zheng'an. Zheng is the name of the next generation of my Nanyang Zhang family. An, I hope you can grow up safely and live up to your father's famous name!"
Black Gou'er immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times to Zhang Zhao respectfully. From now on, he was no longer an orphan without a father and a mother, but the son of an elite Shandu warrior under the command of Fengtian County Duke.
The sons of honorable ministers are qualified to inherit the glory of their fathers.
"How good! You must do what you say, never forget the old days, and spread the flames of justice. This is a great good deed!"
The benevolence of the Duke is very worthy of my Buddha. When the Duke can spare time, he must go to the Samaroo Temple in Khotan City. The poor monk should express his gratitude to the disciples of my Buddha in the land of Anxi!"
Sanzang Master Sangharama sighed with his hands clasped together, and Zhang Zhao also nodded to him.
Now that Shule has been conquered and the biggest threat to Buddhism in Khotan has been eliminated, the original promise of Sangharama, the monk soldiers and the recognition of him as the guardian Jialan will be fulfilled.
"As soon as the matter here is over, Nobuo will immediately go to Samaro Temple to listen to the master's teachings!"
