I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1012 The Provincial Governor's Invitation

"Protect the general!"

The guards rushed forward at the cost of their lives.

They held up shields and wore armor, attempting to become a shield to buy Sahir time to escape.

However, their sturdy armor and shields were as fragile as paper in front of Su Yao's iron rod. These personal guards were like mantises trying to stop a chariot, and Su Yao beat them one by one, breaking their bones and tendons.

This is the lethality of a pure blunt weapon.

After Su Yao saw the Indra portrait that Tipo had taken out, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of the Monkey King's treasure.

Now that his strength has surpassed that of ordinary people, the long-handled sword and the horse spear that he used to use are no longer suitable for him. They feel light and flimsy, and he can hardly exert his full strength.

So, Su Yao had someone in the city temporarily forge a steel rod from pure iron, which gave him a long-lost sense of pleasure.

A weapon that would be extremely difficult for an ordinary person to even pick up, let alone wield, was now wielded with great force by Su Yao.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

With a series of muffled thuds, the last guard was smashed away by Su Yao's staff, crashing heavily in front of Sahirma, spitting blood and dying.

"What...what do you want to do?!" Sahir drew his sword, trembling, and shouted, his voice filled with bluster but his heart was filled with fear.

Su Yao stopped, leaned on his iron rod, and smiled slightly: "General Sahir, is that right? I've come today to discuss a deal with you."

"A deal?" Sahir was taken aback, then sneered, "You've killed so many of my soldiers, and you still want to talk about a deal?"

“They didn’t have to die,” Su Yao said calmly. “You were the one who ordered the arrows to be fired first. Now, I’ll give you two choices—”

He held up two fingers: "First, continue to resist, and then die here with your soldiers; second, surrender to me and help me contact the Governor-General of the North. If it succeeds, I will promise you high office, wealth, and honor."

Sahir's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty as he scanned his surroundings. He saw that his army was surrounded by Han cavalry, morale was low, and many had already surrendered. Meanwhile, the red-robed demon moved with unparalleled ease, single-handedly cutting through his ranks.

“Why should I believe you?” Sahir said through gritted teeth.

Su Yao chuckled lightly, then suddenly raised his hand and smashed a boulder beside him with his staff. With a loud "boom," the boulder shattered, sending debris flying everywhere.

"Based on this alone," Su Yao said, sheathing his iron rod and looking at Sashir with a half-smile, "Do you think I would need to lie to you?"

Sahir's face was ashen, and the sword in his hand clattered to the ground. He slowly dismounted and knelt on one knee: "I...I am willing to submit to you, my lord."

"Very good." Su Yao nodded in satisfaction. "Send down the order for the entire army to cease resistance and accept reorganization. Also, immediately send someone to Gaofu City to inform the Northern Governor that I, Su Yao, intend to cooperate with him on important matters."

In this way, Su Yao subdued Sahir and his remaining forces without bloodshed, and opened up channels of communication with the governor of the north.

That night, at the Han army camp.

"Your Highness, Sahir has already sent his trusted confidant with our temple's envoys to Gaofu City," Guo Jia reported to Su Yao. "However, it is still difficult to predict whether the Northern Governor will accept our proposal."

Su Yao toyed with the iron rod in his hand and smiled slightly: "He will accept it. Prince Bo Diao has been driven to the brink of defeat by us and is now at his weakest point since he started out. If we are willing to cooperate, how could the Governor of the North let this opportunity pass by?"

"Your Highness is wise," Lu Su nodded in agreement. "According to the surrendered generals, the Governor-General of the North has a close relationship with the Queen and has always regarded Prince Botiao as a thorn in his side. Now that the prince has lost power, it is a great opportunity for them to seize power."

“However,” Guo Jia pondered, “we cannot completely trust the Governor-General of the North. The Governor-General within the Kushan Empire wields immense power; his ability to remain in power in the Kushan court suggests he is a cunning and calculating individual. If he feigns cooperation but actually intends to use us against the prince, he might turn around and bite us later.”

"It's alright." Su Yao waved his hand. "Before absolute power, any schemes and tricks are futile. Pass down the order: the army will continue south, target Kapisa!"

Three days later, outside Kapisa. This city, located on the south bank of the Amu Darya River, was the heart of the Tokharistan Basin, with high and sturdy walls and a garrison of nearly ten thousand. However, when Su Yao's army arrived, the city gates slowly opened, and a group of envoys carrying white flags came out to greet them.

"Your Excellency Commander of the Han Army," the head envoy bowed respectfully, "my provincial governor has prepared a banquet in the city and awaits your arrival."

Su Yao and Guo Jia exchanged a glance, a slight smile playing on their lips: "It seems our messenger worked."

"Not necessarily."

Guo Jia reminded him:
"Judging by the time, they have only just received our news, and the Governor-General of the North would never know about it."

"More likely, this governor learned of Sahir's defeat at the front and, fearing the consequences, wanted to test our relationship, or perhaps..."

"They might also have ulterior motives and want to secretly frame you!"

The speaker was General Sahir, a surrendered general.

As the highest-ranking general whom Su Yao had recruited to date, he also brought Su Yao more intelligence.

For example, compared to the priest Tipo, who only knew about temple affairs, Su Yao had a much better understanding of the administrative structure and local bureaucracy within the Kushan Empire.

Although the Kushan Empire was geographically closer to the east, it was deeply influenced by Greek culture due to Alexander's eastward conquests. It adopted a Greek-style administrative system, establishing a three-tiered administrative division of provinces (Pradesh), counties (Vish), and districts (Taluka), and implementing a management model that combined centralized and decentralized local authority.

This Tokharistan Basin was the Kushan Empire's Kushania Province, with Kapisa as its capital. The governor of the province was the one who held military and political power over this area, much like the governor of a state in the Han Dynasty.

As a result, as the empire gradually aged and became corrupt, the governors of the various provinces of the Kushan Empire began to harbor ambitions of separatism, which led to the chaos that has plagued the Kushan Empire in recent decades.

However, perhaps this is simply a cultural difference.

Compared to the Central Plains dynasties' tireless attempts to weaken the power of local lords, the Kushan Empire adopted a layered approach to deal with local rebellions.

What if the governors of several provinces become disobedient?
Then I will appoint another regional governor to manage them, and let this regional governor mediate the conflicts below. I, the central government, will only hold this regional governor accountable, so that he can quell the local rebellions while ensuring that I receive sufficient troops and funds.

Therefore, for the vast and "barren" nomadic lands north of the Hindu Kush Mountains, the Kushan Empire established a Northern Governor-General to govern several northern provinces, including the Kushania Province.

"Therefore, the governors-general held immense power, and even the finance minister and the high priest had to show them respect. Also, because this position was often held by members of the royal family, it was also known as the vice-king."

General Sahir explained with a dark face:

"However, the governor of Kushania is not so simple."

"The current provincial governor, Huvishka, is a rare troublemaker among the northern provinces. He is treacherous, cunning, and extremely adept at scheming. The governor-general also has a lot of headaches dealing with him."

"Even when I passed by before, he didn't give me a friendly look. Now that Your Highness's army is pressing in, he's offering to open the city gates and say he'll host a banquet. I suspect it'll be a banquet with no substance."

Another major reason he said this was that although Huvishka had opened its gates, he had only invited Su Yao, with at most a few attendants. As for the main army, they were naturally not allowed to enter.

Frankly speaking, if this kind of thing happened in an army led by an ordinary person, people would definitely suspect that he had bad intentions and wanted to play some trick of kidnapping and beheading.

But for Su Yao...
The messengers' attitude was simple. Their respectful words conveyed the same message: "Your Excellency, we have heard that you are a god descended to earth, the reincarnation of Indra. Surely you wouldn't be afraid to even enter my city?"

"interesting."

"I'll go and see what tricks this so-called provincial governor is up to!"

(End of this chapter)