I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1009 When in Rome, do as the Romans do; Su Yao aspires to godhood (4k)

"This...this is how we won?"

"Has Zakharin been captured?"

At the gates of Yan City, those who were dumbfounded were the son of the old priest who had surrendered from Pengikent City who had come with Su Yao.

In a capital city where theocracy deeply influences society, Su Yao was well aware of the importance of the priesthood for maintaining stability. Therefore, he specially brought this young man along to serve as the priest representative of Pengikent City. His mission was to appease the local people and to deal with Prince Botiao's various demonizing propaganda against him.

To be honest, the young priest initially had many doubts about his father's decision to submit to the Han army, thinking that it was at most a choice made out of necessity and that there was no need to exert too much effort or get too involved.

But now, seeing Su Yao's feat of easily breaking through the city all by himself...
"A miracle! By the gods, this is truly a miracle!"

The young priest knelt on the ground, raised his hands to the sky, and shouted in a trembling voice. His eyes shone with fanaticism as he witnessed the power of the gods.

"Prince Botiao was a fraud after all!"

"His Highness the Tang Emperor is the true incarnation of Indra!"

The priest Tipo kept muttering to himself and shouting wildly while gesturing wildly.

Su Yao leaped down from the city wall, grabbed him, and said:
"Get up, it's time for you to get to work—please the people in the city and tell them that as long as they submit to me, there will be no more killing."

The priest Tipo nodded excitedly, bowed repeatedly, and then ran into the city, shouting in the local language as he ran:

"Hurrah!"

"Feel the glory!"

"The great God has descended! He has forgiven our sins!"

"."

Su Yao shook his head and walked towards Guo Jialu, Su Yu, and others who had rushed over, casually tossing the severed head towards them.

"Your Highness is truly awe-inspiring!"

Guo Jia hurriedly caught the severed head and exclaimed in praise:

"The victory over Zakhana without shedding a drop of blood has greatly boosted the morale of our army!"

"It's just a small town."

Su Yao turned around and said:
"The Kushan Empire has vast territory and many cities. If we were to conquer every single one, we would be exhausted. There aren't enough people like us to keep up with that."

"Is Your Highness worried about the escaped Prince Botiao?" Lu Su took the severed head from Guo Jia's arms and handed it to his personal guard, Bao Haowen.

"Yes."

Su Yao sighed deeply:
"That kid is quite good at escaping. After we've gone around in circles, we've probably already fallen three to five days behind. Now that we're going to be stuck in this city, he's really going to disappear without a trace."

To be honest, Su Yao originally didn't want to fight here at all. He just wanted to threaten them, get some supplies, and leave. But now that he has taken the city, he can't proceed according to the original plan. He needs to reorganize, arrange manpower, and coordinate various matters.

Moreover, this is one city, and there are several other cities along the road south.

At this rate, it seems unlikely that they can catch up with the prince's deserters.

"Your Highness, please don't be impatient. Remember that haste makes waste. Sometimes, pausing is necessary to move forward faster and better later," Guo Jia advised.

"Oh? So Fengxiao has already made up his mind?"

Su Yao knew very well that Guo Jia wasn't the type to give him empty platitudes; if he spoke like that, there must be some reason behind it.

Sure enough, Guo Jia then suggested that the discord between the Northern Governor and Prince Bo Diao could be used to his advantage.

"I have heard that the Governor-General of the North is a member of the Queen and the First Prince's faction, and they represent the power of the traditional nomadic nobles in the North."

“But Prince Bodiao is different; he represents the descendants of many conquerors in the south of the Kushan Empire and the forces of many indigenous Indian factions who are dependent on him.”

“In the past, when Prince Bo Diao was victorious in every battle and his military might was awe-inspiring, even if the Governor of the North was dissatisfied, he could only swallow his anger and dare not speak out.”

"But if Prince Bo Diao suffers defeat after defeat, and more than half of his 100,000-strong army is lost in Your Highness's hands, with morale plummeting, then the situation will likely be quite different."

Su Yao raised an eyebrow: "Fengxiao means they will turn against each other?"

Guo Jia waved his fan and said, "At the very least, there will be no harmony. If I were Prince Bo Diao, I would never dare to wander around under the nose of the Northern Governor."

"After all, the struggle for the throne is an extremely cruel thing no matter where it is—the winner takes all, while the loser dies without a burial place."

"And north of the entire snow-capped mountains of the Kushan Empire, that is all under the jurisdiction of this Northern Governor."

Upon hearing this, Su Yao slowly closed his eyes, focusing intently on the system's strategic map.

The Great Snow Mountain, also known as the Hindu Kush Mountains, is the vast mountain range that is now part of Afghanistan.

This great snow-capped mountain served as the boundary, dividing the Kushan Empire into north and south.

Before the rise of the Kushans, they lived a nomadic life in the basins of Tokharistan and Kabul, north of the Great Snowy Mountains, following the water and grass, with Kabul (present-day Kabul, Afghanistan) as their capital.

When the Kushan Empire later began its era of great expansion, it invaded India by moving south through the Khyber Pass and seized a large tract of fertile land in the Ganges River basin. Just like the Yuan and Qing dynasties later moved their capital to Beijing after taking over China, the Kushans were also attracted by the prosperity of India and migrated there, making Purusha in the Gandhara region their capital, which is today's Peshawar in Pakistan.

On that surface, the red dot representing Prince Bo Diao is gradually moving south.

They have crossed the Amu Darya River and are about to enter the Hindu Kush Mountains.

It was at this moment, after being reminded by Guo Jia, that Su Yao finally realized that their route was not as straight as he had imagined.
Will Prince Bo Diao manage to evade the influence of the Northern Governor?

"Yes, Your Highness, that is inevitable."

Guo Jia waved his feather fan lightly and said confidently, "If what the surrendered general said is true, then the former capital of the Kushan Empire, Gao Fu, is indeed the seat of its Northern Governor-General!"

“From now on, once he enters the Great Snow Mountain, Prince Bo Diao will face numerous dangers and will not be able to escape as quickly as he does now.”

"He will do everything he can to make the Governor-General of the North oppose us, and use us to distract the Governor-General's army so that he can escape."

"On the other hand, if we can win over the Northern Governor, or at least appease him, then they will fight tooth and nail to ensure that this already weakened Prince Bo Diao will die a horrible death!"

"What a brilliant scheme to use someone else to do the dirty work!"

Su Yao's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in admiration:

"Fengxiao's plan is brilliant! However, although the Governor-General of the North is at odds with Prince Botiao, his relationship with us is not necessarily much better. How should we cooperate with him?"

Indeed, although the Governor-General of the North had many conflicts with Prince Bo Diao, the Han army was also a major enemy for him. After all, the prince's power was in the south, and he could leave at any time, while the Governor-General of the North's hometown was here. Every step the Han Dynasty took forward, the Governor-General of the North lost a piece of land. The conflict between the two was indeed not small.

"Why doesn't Your Highness make use of those priests?" Lu Su suddenly said.

"Haha, great minds think alike!" Guo Jia said with a laugh. Just then, the young priest rushed back, knelt down with a thud, and asked Su Yao for instructions:

"Your Highness, the great God!"

"Your divine power that you just displayed is truly magnificent, yet there are still villains in the city who persist in their ways. Your humble servant begs you to come to the altar and show your divine might to the people of the city!"

"In this way, all the people in the city will submit to your divine power, and no one will dare to harbor any disloyalty!"

Upon hearing this, Su Yao exchanged a glance with Guo Jia and Lu Su, and completely understood their meaning.

In the name of God, this is indeed something worth taking advantage of.

In the Kushan Empire, where theocracy was deeply ingrained, the influence of religion remained enormous, and the priesthood of the temples was a vital force in governing the region.

If one can use the priest's words to proclaim one's "divinity," it will undoubtedly greatly weaken the enemy's will to resist.

These people will also become excellent persuaders, serving as a bridge connecting them with the Kushan northern governor.

"Fine! I'll go with you and see who dares to be so ungrateful."

With that, Su Yao turned and walked away, preparing to meet with the person in charge.

Unexpectedly, the young man suddenly grabbed his leg and said:

"Oh, no need, no need!"

The young priest Tipo shook his head like a rattle-drum:
"You, the supreme ruler, the incarnation of a god on earth, how dare you deign to meet those stubborn and ignorant people? Do they even deserve it?!"

"So what you mean is?"

Tibo bowed respectfully and said, "Please, Your Excellency, move to the highest temple in the city. I will prepare an altar for you and gather the people, so that those foolish masses may come to worship your divine power!"

Su Yao understood.

Every religion is inseparable from mystery.

And the gods, as the core of their religion, are an even more supreme and mysterious element.

In many religions, let alone meeting a deity, even harboring the slightest doubt about them is considered extremely disrespectful and a sin punishable by drowning.

The priesthood is the representative of the gods.

He interprets classics, conveys divine pronouncements, and acts on behalf of the divine; he is a bridge connecting mortals and gods.

If Su Yao wants to utilize the power of religion, he must maintain this sense of mystery and remain aloof, which is to demonstrate his divine nature.

Su Yao narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the young priest Tipo. The priest hurriedly lowered his head, prostrated himself on the ground, and remained silent, appearing extremely devout.

However, Su Yao had a vague feeling that while he was using these priests, they were probably also using him for their own opportunistic purposes.

They establish their own divine rule, thus further solidifying the position of their priests.

What could be more effective in consolidating the authority of priests than the descent of a deity?

This will bring them endless believers and boundless wealth.

Especially this young man who is about to preside over the ceremony himself, there is no doubt that he will become the first apostle of this deity afterward.

However, Su Yao didn't care about this mutual exploitation.

This is what a win-win situation in politics looks like.

A ruler in a high position must bestow honor, wealth, and status upon his followers so that they will diligently unite around him and act in accordance with his will.

"Alright, then let's do as you say."

"I hope you won't disappoint me."

Soon, under Tipo's arrangement, the temple at the highest point in the city was cleared out as a place for Su Yao to display his divine power.

For a city like Yancheng, which is not large in scale, the temple here is a rather large building, far surpassing the official residences in the city, reflecting the piety of the people around Zhuohanna.

The temple is situated on a hill in the northeast of the city. Unlike traditional Eastern and ancient Indian styles, it is a building that incorporates more Greek cultural elements, a trace left by Alexander's expedition.

More than 500 years ago, Alexander the Great, King of Macedon of ancient Greece, led his army eastward and spent ten years establishing a vast empire that began in Greece and stretched eastward to Mesopotamia in India.

This was a short-lived empire and a predatory expedition, but objectively it also facilitated exchanges between East and West, and Greek cultural heritage spread throughout the world under the impetus of its powerful military.

Even today, many remnants of Greek culture and religion remain in the Kushan Empire, and some people even regard Greek names as noble.
What will my westward expedition bring to the world this time?

Su Yao touched the marble pillars of the temple and slowly entered the hall surrounded by soldiers and priests. In front of this historical site, he suddenly had a strange feeling and a strong sense of pride.

This temple, which blends Eastern and Western civilizations, seems to be telling the story of the cycle of history.

Five hundred years ago, Alexander's Greek phalanx and his knightly companions traversed Central Asia; five hundred years later, his army also arrived here.

From initially thinking it was just an accident in a game, to now unifying China, dominating the Western Regions, and even being revered as a god by foreign peoples.

All of this felt like a dream.

Although he was still unclear about what had happened to him, since history had given him an opportunity, he was determined to build a great empire far surpassing Alexander's, so that the whole world would be bathed in the glory of the Han Dynasty.
While Su Yao was waiting for the ceremony to begin, a small group of people were gathered in the city, arguing nervously.

"Have you all heard? That foreign priest wants to use our temple for some kind of pilgrimage ceremony, insisting that those heretics from the East are some kind of incarnate gods. It's outrageous!"

"This is blasphemy!"

"We absolutely cannot allow this to happen!"

"How can the temple of my God of Light be dedicated to a heretical false god?!"

The God of Light, namely Ahura Mazda, is the supreme deity of Zoroastrianism in Persia.

Indeed, the Kushan Empire was home to a diverse array of religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Persianism, remnants of Greek gods, and various other primitive religions, which blended together to create a unique religious atmosphere.

This place is closer to Persia than India, and this temple was originally dedicated to Ahura Mazda, the god of light of the Persian Zoroastrian religion.

In fact, Pengikent, which Su Yao had previously conquered, was also the territory of this God of Light.

That old priest was the first missionary to travel from India. He achieved great things in the local area and was a famous sage, known to the surrounding area and respected by many people.

At the same time, they were naturally feared by the priests of other sects in the same sect.

Now, they hear that the man's son has returned, and has even usurped the throne, loudly proclaiming the miracles of the god Indra, and disguising an Eastern heretic as a deity. They are all furious, grinding their teeth, and secretly plotting their rebellion.
(End of this chapter)