"Let me ask you from the beginning, who asked your monarch to order the invasion of the Dachuan border?"
Han Yun looked at Ganbul and asked.
Gumbul looked pious and answered honestly,
"I have no idea."
"Huh? Then who do you think asked you to come?"
"Talmu and I both guessed that it was Buddhism, because except for people from Buddhism, no one could persuade these kings to let the five major countries send troops to invade Dachuan at the same time.
But I don’t know which Bodhisattva gave the order.”
"Why do you think it was the Bodhisattva who gave the order?"
"Because the person in charge of Buddhism is the Bodhisattva. Only the Bodhisattva has the supreme power. Although the Arhat has a high status and is respected by all people wherever he goes, we senior officials all know that the Arhat is just a thug. In Buddhism, only the Bodhisattva can speak
Calculate."
"What is the order your king gave you this time?"
"Attack Yumen Pass."
Ganbul replied speaking very quickly.
"Oh, doesn't your monarch know that you can't conquer Yumen Pass? Moreover, your Hami Kingdom has an army of 150,000, and there are only 100,000 here at Yumen Pass. What is the order for the other 50,000?"
"The order given to me by the monarch is to attack Yumen Pass and fight to the death. If we cannot defeat it, we must do our best to cause greater casualties and losses to Dachuan.
Another 50,000 troops are attacking the plateau mountains in the west of Qinchuan, together with the armies of Ruoqiang, Cheshi and Luobu."
"What are their orders?"
"I have no idea."
"In other words, you received a mindless order and fought a mindless battle. In the end, you didn't even know what your goals were, and you died in vain."
"Yes, when we talk about this, we are very angry. The king sent us to die. If someone attacks our country, we defend our country and we will die. A man deserves to die.
If you invade other countries, it doesn't matter if you can win, or at least you can seize food and resources, or land, and strengthen the country, then that's fine.
But our monarch asked us to fight a battle that we knew we were bound to lose. We would gain nothing except consuming the lives of our soldiers, consuming food and fodder, and consuming the country's war preparation resources.
Not only me, the soldiers are also very angry."
When talking about this matter, Ganbul's face was filled with anger.
"Then why don't you withdraw your troops and rebel?"
Han Yun asked curiously.
"Withdraw troops? Rebellion? We don't dare. If we die at Yumen Pass, at least our country's wives, children, and children can survive. If we withdraw our troops and rebel, then not only will we die, but our wives, children, and children will also die.
Because this order comes from Buddhism, it is impossible for us to disobey the order without being punished.
What's more, unlike Loulan, our country in Hami still has civilians and troops. It's just one thing for us to rebel and fight, and we don't want our country to ignite war.
On one side is Yumen Pass with many strong men and powerful troops, and on the other side is our own country and Buddhism. The roads at both ends are blocked, and we can only choose to fight to the death against the enemy.
It's a pity that I can't be as decisive as Talmu."
Han Yun asked while thinking about why the other country's monarch insisted on sending his own country's army to die, and asked,
"Who is Talmu, the commander-in-chief of the Loulan Army? What has he done?"
"Yes, he is the commander-in-chief of Loulan. The Loulan Kingdom sent all the able men in the country to die on the battlefield this time without giving them food or grass. This is just to destroy the country.
On the night when we attacked Yumen Pass, Talmu discussed with me. He said that I couldn't go back anyway, so he asked me to hand over the food and grass to him, and then he would return home with 50,000 elites, rebel and kill the king.
And all of his remaining hundreds of thousands of people were thrown into Dachuan.
Anyway, if you stay here, you will definitely die, so there are benefits to doing so.
First, it can fill the soldiers' stomachs and help them live a few more days.
Secondly, it can cause greater casualties and losses to Dachuan. Talmu said, in a war, we cannot just die on our own.
Thirdly, I can attract the army from Yumen Pass and give me a chance to fight the enemy openly and fairly.
He did everything he said, but it's a pity that I didn't get the chance to confront the enemy in the end."
After hearing this, Nie Ze immediately asked,
"Talmu withdrew his troops and returned to his country to rebel. Didn't you say that Buddhism would not allow you to disobey orders?"
Han Yun sighed, what a simple truth, Talmu had no other way to go.
Gamble said,
"Talmu has been forced to a dead end, no, the entire Loulan is facing the crisis of national subjugation and annihilation.
If he didn't take anyone back and allowed all the young people in Loulan to die here, then more than half of the remaining people in Loulan would starve to death within a generation, and the population would not be able to reproduce.
You have also seen that among the Loulan army, there are many old people who cannot lift a knife, and children who are not as tall as a wheel.
Talmu went back with these 50,000 elite young men. No matter whether the rebellion was successful or not, these people could be put into production and planting, so that the Loulan Kingdom could breathe a sigh of relief. As long as they could survive this year, even if they starved to death.
With the help of people, the Loulan Kingdom's national strength can slowly recover.
He had no choice. For the sake of the country, he had to do this even if he faced pressure from Buddhism.
But I am different. My 100,000 people have died, and at most their vitality has been severely damaged. Hami's military strength has been seriously damaged, but its national strength is still there. As long as we don't fight a war of attrition and encourage births, the population will increase in just ten or twenty years.
He recovered quickly.”
After listening to Ganbul's words, Nie Ze looked at Han Yun and said,
"Why do I feel that Talmu is deceiving this Ganbul, letting him come to die, letting hundreds of thousands of people come to die, holding us back, and then he sneaks back to the country with his troops."
"Talmu is a cruel and ruthless person, and he also knows how to save his country, but this is not important. The Loulan Kingdom is no longer worth mentioning, and the Hami Kingdom has no power to fight anymore.
The important thing now is to understand the intention of Buddhism. It sent the armies of the five countries to die. Regardless of the casualties, it would also cause greater losses to our Dachuan. So what is his purpose?"
After hearing what Han Yun said, Nie Ze also sighed and said,
"Yeah, I can't figure out what other benefits Buddhism can do besides irritating us, Dachuan."
Angry?
Han Yun grasped this word keenly and felt that the key point to break the situation was here. He then extended his reverie downwards, but he could not think of any benefits that irritating Dachuan could bring to Buddhism.
Han Yun is not the kind of person who doesn't think about something when he can't figure it out. On the contrary, he is a person who is good at intellectual battles and keeps thinking about something when he can't figure it out.
But a wise man must make a mistake after thinking a lot. No matter how hard he racks his brains, he still can't figure out what Buddhism is trying to do.