The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 267 Buddhist Treasure Offering
Fighting is essentially about fighting for your life.

Even if the Islamic holy warriors had the spirit to fight to the death and enter heaven, they were no match for the Bei army's ultimate cheat code.

When weapons clashed, blood flowed like rivers.

From sunset to dusk.

Some people, who were chatting and gossiping together yesterday, will never see each other again after tonight.

Those who survived: Another day gained!
The next day, after breakfast.

The quartermaster quickly reported the results of the battle to Lieutenant General Tian and General Gan.

"General, esteemed generals! Except for their leader who led over a hundred slaves to break through the encirclement, the Huozhou archer cavalry have left behind 39,875 lives!"
"We, our 4,572 brothers died heroically, 1,031 seriously wounded and 453 slightly wounded!"

Upon hearing this, the generals began to consider their options.

More than 5,000 brothers' lives were exchanged for 40,000 barbarian heads!
No matter how you calculate it, it's a great deal!

What war doesn't result in deaths?!
I'm used to it!

Tian Jiu looked at the quartermaster, who had put on a smiling face, and asked, "Has the spoils been tallied yet?"

As soon as he finished speaking, all the other generals stared intently at the quartermaster:
"Reporting to the Lieutenant General, the statistics have been compiled!"

There were 25,239 living, high-quality horses, more than 25,000 swords, nearly 10,000 powerful bows, and nearly 10,000 matchlock guns.

Furthermore, the gold-inlaid and jewel-encrusted leather accessories that the brothers had stripped from those horse archers were probably worth over two hundred thousand taels of silver.

Wow, goodness gracious!
People from the Western Regions certainly have a lot of gems.

Tian Jiu hesitated for a long time before saying:

"Apart from the warhorses and weapons, everything else shall be distributed among the brothers. Those who die heroically shall receive an extra 30% of the spoils!"

They were all generals trained by the Marquis of Ningyang.

It is a common practice in the military to provide generous compensation to the deceased.

The quartermaster replied with a smile:

"Your subordinate obeys! Besides what was mentioned above, the more than 10,000 horses of the Hu people that were killed or injured by the thunderbolts are also valuable."

Horsehide can be kneaded to make saddles, riding boots, whips, and other items.

The horse meat, after being skinned and made into jerky, could feed Angmen's army of ten thousand for three months.

The generals and centurions were overjoyed to hear this.

Who doesn't love dried horse meat?
They were terrified by the famine in the border town and Huaiqing Prefecture.

Gan Minglan nodded, saying that the quartermasters she brought were all good at managing money.

She stated:
"Let the cooks make the dried meat for the army's journey to Huozhou. The Huozhou chieftain has been reduced to a lone wolf by us. In a couple of days, we'll go to Huozhou and plunder some raisins and wine to enjoy."

All the generals slammed their fists on the table in agreement.

One of the hot-tempered ones shouted:

"General Gan's words are exactly what I wanted to say. We were too embarrassed to share the meager gains we received last night with the rest of us! That chieftain of Huozhou, who keeps so many elite troops, must be quite wealthy! We'll go and eat the rich man's bread!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, I'm different from you guys! I heard the young women in Huozhou are ruthless! I'll snatch a few back and share them with the brothers!"

"Hahaha"

Gan Minglan: Just look at how our ancestors went on their expedition to the Western Regions back then, it wasn't for those raisins!
When the air above Hami City was filled with the rich aroma of dried meat.

Deputy Commander Xiong, who remained in Guazhou, was receiving two special guests.

The two are the abbot and the supervisor of Xianyan Temple, respectively.

The deacon was all smiles, his face resembling that of Maitreya Buddha.

He was recounting the history of Handongwei in detail:

"General, the Left Guard of Handong is actually the old city of Guazhou, which was called Dunhuang in the previous dynasty."

This place has been a crucial military stronghold for the Central Plains in managing the Western Regions for over a thousand years, and it was also once a prosperous city of culture and commerce. At that time, there were three main routes to the Western Regions, starting from Yiwu (Hami), Gaochang (Tufan), and Shanshan (Ruoqiang) respectively.

All three routes pass through Dunhuang when entering Hexi.

In the early Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhism passed through this area.

During the Western Jin Dynasty, Zhu Fahu, a Yuezhi man, preached and taught in Dunhuang, and was known by the locals as the "Bodhisattva of Dunhuang".

From then on, Dunhuang became a place where eminent monks from the Western Regions resided and traveled to spread Buddhism, and also a necessary stop for eminent monks from the Central Plains traveling westward by land to seek Buddhist teachings.

During the Tang Dynasty's golden age, Dunhuang reached a peak where there was a temple every three miles and a bridge every five miles, with pagodas and temples standing in abundance and monks' robes covering the grounds.

With the changing dynasties, Dunhuang's fate also went through twists and turns with the royal power, declining several times.

The former Northern Yuan dynasty relocated the people of Guazhou and Dunhuang to the interior of China, and less than one-tenth of the temples built before the Yuan dynasty survived.

To settle the Mongol tribes of the Western Desert, Emperor Taizu established the Handong Left Guard in Dunhuang.

Later, Handong Left Guard fell into the hands of the Tubo Kingdom and the Kashgar Khanate, which adhered to Islam, and its temples and Buddhist caves were repeatedly destroyed.

Today, apart from our Xianyan Temple, there are no other temples left in Handong Zuowei.

For over a thousand years, our Xianyan Temple has not only propagated Buddhism but also shouldered the responsibility of protecting the Buddhist treasures.

I'm coming.

The main event of the day has finally arrived.

Xiong Zhen was greatly encouraged.

Are these two monks here to deliver treasures to us?!

Seeing his expectant face, the deacon quickly recounted the treasures passed down orally from generation to generation of abbots.

Finally, it was stated that the treasure was enormous, and it was all hidden in some secluded caves.

There is an ancient saying about offering flowers to Buddha.

Xianyan Temple has now donated its Buddhist treasures to the Bei Army.

Xianyan Temple: The Buddhist community can no longer withstand the killing! The Central Plains are in great chaos, and in the entire Northwest, only these soldiers and bandits can protect Xianyan Temple.

Being pragmatic is one of the reasons why Xianyan Temple has become an ancient temple with a history of over a thousand years.

Xiong Zhen didn't show it on his face, pretending to listen attentively.

But inwardly, he kept complaining:
What kind of wonderful treasure is this bald monk talking about!

Those Buddhist scriptures that are rare, can they be eaten or drunk?

Bronze ritual implements? What use are those things on the battlefield!

If you're so capable, why don't you bring me a few gold and jade Buddha statues? We can melt down the gold and use it to pay compensation to our fallen brothers.

hiss!
You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household!

The Marquis just handed over the Seven Guards of Guanzhong to me like that. From now on, I will have to figure out how to pay the soldiers and cover the expenses of the troops stationed here!

But where could he find a wealthy brother-in-law like the Marquis's?

Oh, wait, that's not right!
He also has General Gan, the Jade-Faced Rakshasa who brings good fortune!
Thinking of this, Xiong Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, and his expression became even more amiable.

How could such a boorish and vulgar person understand the value of these cultural relics?
Speaking of the wealth in the world...

More than half of them were in the hands of the royal family and those powerful and influential families.

Besides, who could be richer than those temples that have been around for hundreds or even thousands of years?

The treasures guarded by Xianyan Temple are so numerous that even a random scroll of scripture or a silk painting sent to these temples would cause a great uproar.

It doesn't matter if you don't understand.

After considering for a long time, Deputy Commander Xiong still sent troops to guard outside those Buddhist caves.
(End of this chapter)