The Eagle Shooting Heroes: From Golden-Knife Prince Consort to Emperor Guangwu of the Great Zhou Dyn

After killing the old monk, Guo Liqing turned to the monks in the temple and declared loudly, "I said, anyone who obstructs me will be killed without exception! It doesn't matter who comes!"

At that moment, Nashita, dressed in military uniform, entered the temple, and two hundred special forces soldiers armed with crossbows emerged from the surrounding walls.

"Anda, are you alright?"

Guo Liqing looked and saw that Torre had also arrived.

Upon seeing the monks' corpses on the ground, Tore asked in bewilderment, "Anda, didn't you say you wouldn't abolish the religion? Why did you turn around and kill them?"

"I only killed a few bald men posing as monks; I didn't abolish the religion!"

Torre was taken aback. What a "final interpretation right belongs to me" statement.

Looking at the monk's corpse on the ground, Guo Liqing immediately ordered, "Seal off Chengtian Temple. Don't let anyone know what happened today!"

"Yes," the Mongol soldier beside him immediately replied.

Guo Liqing saw Yelü Chucai standing beside him, beckoned him over, and he jogged over.

Guo Liqing said, "Lord Yelü, tell Prince Tolui how much wealth these fake monks have amassed under the guise of Buddhism!"

"yes!"

Yelü Chucai immediately gave Tore a brief explanation, and Tore was dumbfounded after listening.

Although the Western Xia was not as wealthy as the Song Dynasty, it was still much better off than the Mongols.

Even Torre didn't have this much wealth!

Guo Liqing walked to the front and looked at the living monks.

None of these monks knew martial arts, so when they resisted earlier, it was the martial monks who did the resistance, and they were the ones who survived.

"Lord Yelü, send someone to persuade them. Those who are willing to submit can stay; those who are not, let them go and follow that so-called Venerable One!"

"yes!"

"The rest of you, come with me and ransack the house!"

"yes!"

Chengtian Temple doesn't appear to have much wealth. Most of its gold and silver are used to gild Buddha statues, and it also has several gold and silver coffins to store relics.

On the surface, the most valuable thing in the temple is a Buddha relic.

However, Guo Liqing found a vault in the temple's underground chamber containing thousands of taels of gold, tens of thousands of taels of silver, and over a million strings of cash.

Guo Liqing looked at the glittering gold and silver in front of him.

He wasn't shocked because he had previously confiscated wealth from Khwarezm.

Khwarazm was a kingdom, and this place was just a temple!

"Amitabha!" Guo Liqing murmured, then roared, "These fake monks are blaspheming the Buddha! They've broken the precept against greed! A true Buddha teaches people to do good, how could he be so greedy! Guards, move them away! Don't let these riches pollute Buddhism!"

Nashita whispered to Guo Liqing, "You're so self-righteous about copying other people's property?"

Guo Liqing glanced at her and said, "When did you start using idioms?!"

At this moment, Yelü Chucai walked in and said to Guo Liqing, "Marshal, the monks outside have expressed their willingness to submit."

"Alright, let them continue to manage the temple affairs and keep the believers under control!"

"Yes."

"Furthermore, the issue with the temples has been resolved, but what about the nobles and officials of Western Xia? Many Tangut nobles have expressed their willingness to submit, but on the condition that their original treatment remain unchanged!"

"They still want to negotiate? Don't they know their own predicament?"

"Of course they know," Yelü Chucai laughed. "The Marshal can certainly do without them, but using them will allow him to take control of Western Xia more quickly."

Yelü Chucai's words enlightened Guo Liqing. They reminded him that throughout history, rule had always been a joint effort between court officials and local powerful families.

The change of dynasties is nothing more than a change of court and a change of bureaucracy.

Even when the Mongols later settled in the Central Plains, they did not kill all the Han landlords, but instead relied on them to govern together.

The situation in Western Xia today is different from that in Samarkand.

When Genghis Khan was in Samarkand, he said he would massacre the city.

Guo Liqing weighed the options and decided to send the nobleman away to be killed by Genghis Khan to vent his anger.

As for how to control and develop Samarkand in the future, he didn't think that much about it.

If Ya Laowachi and his gang can be managed well, that's fine; if not, there's nothing he can do.

After all, that place is far from the Central Plains.

However, Western Xia was close to the Central Plains, and the land of Western Xia was originally part of a unified dynasty. It was only because the Song Dynasty was unable to achieve unification that so many states were formed.

The Western Xia should be carefully managed. The soldiers and civilians of the Western Xia can be used, and the Hexi Horse Ranch and Tianshan Horse Ranch of the Western Xia will be an important source of horses for the future army.

Guo Liqing pondered for a moment, then looked at Torre beside him and asked, "Torre, what do you think about this?"

Torre laughed, "Isn't this entire Zhongxing Prefecture your territory now? You can do whatever you want with it!"

"The Khan wants you to be more involved in politics. This will all be your family's property in the future. How can you manage it if you don't know how to handle it?"

Yelü Chucai overheard Guo Liqing's words and immediately understood a principle.

It seems the throne of Mongolia will fall into the hands of Tolui.

Although Guo Liqing was capable, he was only a prince consort. But with his current status, whoever he wanted to be the Great Khan, that person would be the Great Khan.

"You make a good point." Torre nodded, then looked at Yelü Chucai and asked, "What did you just say?"

Yelü Chucai bowed and said, "The Dangxiang nobles request to submit, on the condition that they maintain their current status!"

"What's in it for us?"

"We can gain control of Western Xia more quickly, without suffering too many losses in battle."

"In that case, I think it's acceptable," Guo Jing'an replied. "This way, it will save us some trouble and reduce the bloodshed."

Torre was more merciful than his three brothers.

Guo Liqing patted Torre on the shoulder and said, "It's acceptable, but we can't completely obey them. Lord Yelü, what about those nobles who refuse to submit? Let's bring them out for a spin!"

"yes!"

……

On the square in front of the Western Xia Palace.

Mongol soldiers brought in the princes and nobles of Western Xia and made them stand in rows.

Those ranked first were naturally the Weiming clan (Li clan) of the Western Xia royal family.

Secondly, there were the nobles of Western Xia.

Finally, there were the officials of the Western Xia.

Although the Mongol army has only captured the Hetao region south of Wulahai City, as well as Zhongxing Prefecture and Lingzhou.

However, the high-ranking officials of Western Xia mostly lived in this area.

Guo Liqing instructed Yelü Chucai to compile a briefing on the situation of these people.

Upon inspection, he discovered that these high-ranking officials of Western Xia actually controlled 90% of Western Xia's arable land and wealth.

The remaining ten percent was divided among wealthy merchants and farmers.

With land annexation reaching this point, the lower classes of Western Xia had long been suffering terribly.

If it weren't for the constant threats from external forces such as the Liao, Jin, and Mongol dynasties, which kept the Western Xia in a state of constant readiness, it should have perished long ago; how could it have lasted for nearly two hundred years?

Guo Liqing sighed, his thoughts a jumble of emotions.

"Marshal, what should we do?" Yelü Chucai asked from the side.

Guo Liqing glanced at his side; Torre, Nashita, and several guards were all looking at him.

"First, make their wealth public!"

Yelü Chucai asked doubtfully, "What is the Marshal's intention in doing this?"

"Let the people of Western Xia see how much wealth these people have amassed!"

Yelü Chucai still didn't understand, and asked again, "What does the wealth of princes and nobles have to do with the common people? Why should the common people know about it?"

Guo Liqing was taken aback. Yelü Chucai's question surprised him, but after thinking about it carefully, he quickly realized the problem.

According to the ideology of feudal dynasties, these lands and riches belonged to the princes and nobles! What did they have to do with the common people?

This is different from the situation at Chengtian Temple.

Chengtian Temple is just a temple; those monks are not entitled to possess that wealth.

But these are royalty and nobles!

This wealth originally belonged to their family! The people all belong to their family!

Guo Liqing covered his forehead, puzzled: "And all that effort I put into having the Beggars' Sect promote the idea that 'they rob officials and nobles, not ordinary people' for so long."

Of course, publicity is definitely useful, but not in the way Guo Liqing thought.

Guo Liqing glanced at the list; the Western Xia royal family members at the top of the list were definitely to be killed.

Guo Liqing handed the list to Yelü Chucai and said, "Execute them!"

"yes!"

"Amitabha! Benefactor, since you promised this humble monk, why do you still commit this sin of killing?"