Although he had grown somewhat thinner, his eyes still gleamed whenever he looked upon Dayan’s ever-expanding borders.
The emperor and his minister shared an unspoken understanding. When Emperor Mingxi glanced toward him, Huo Ying immediately braced himself against the edge of the imperial desk and rose, then walked over to the sand table. He studied it for a long while.
“Your Majesty, General Shen’s plan is sound.” Huo Ying paused before continuing, “But I have one concern.”
“Speak.”
“The people of the three cities along the western route.” Huo Ying pointed to the area west of Jincheng on the sand table. “Beyond the capital of Xiqiang lie the three cities of Huangzhong, Linqiang, and Poqiang. The people of these cities are deeply devoted to the God Shibi. They are unlike the people of Dayan.
“When we fought Nanzhao, Nanyue, Beili, and Dongyi, the people eventually welcomed us because many of them had secretly worshiped the Divine Maiden to begin with. The messages we spread among the common people traveled quickly, and the Divine Maiden would occasionally appear before them in person. The people believed that our dynasty would treat them well. Once we conquered their lands and they discovered that their lives were better than before, they naturally submitted. But Xiqiang is different.”
After a brief pause, Huo Ying continued, “Most of the people in those three cities belong to the Huaqiang tribe. They truly believe in the celestial god Shibi. In their eyes, the Dayan army is an army of heretics, come to destroy their god.”
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Everyone present was familiar with the Huaqiang branch of Xiqiang and its belief in the God Shibi.
Legend had it that several centuries ago, when the ancestors of the Qiang people rose in rebellion, a god descended upon the summit of Mount Luntai. Calling himself Shibi Tian, he bestowed three military manuals upon the ancestor of the Huaqiang and helped him pacify the realm.
After the founding emperor ascended the throne, he enshrined Shibi as the sole true god worshiped by the Huaqiang. To this day, temples had been built and sacrifices offered, with incense burning without end.
Even as dynasties rose and fell, faith in Shibi continued to spread among the people. Among the Huaqiang in particular, it had nearly become the spiritual anchor of every person.
The people of Xiqiang worshiped neither Buddha nor the Dao. They had once believed only in Shibi. But ever since Yue Fuguang emerged like a heavenly miracle, the faith within Xiqiang had split into two factions. Ordinary Xiqiang people had turned to worshiping Yue Fuguang. They called themselves the “Divine Maiden’s People,” and the first three cities conquered by Dayan had been populated mainly by them.
Throughout the war between the two nations, the people of Xiqiang had harbored complicated feelings toward Dayan—fear, closeness, and yet resistance all at once.
The other faction consisted of the Huaqiang. Even after hearing countless accounts of Yue Fuguang’s miracles, they remained convinced that Shibi Tian was the true god.
They feared that once the people of Dayan arrived, they would forbid them from worshiping Shibi Tian. As a result, their resistance was the fiercest. That was precisely what concerned Huo Ying most at this moment.
After listening to Huo Ying, Emperor Mingxi fell silent for a while.
“So in this battle,” he said, “the difficult part is not taking the cities. It is what comes afterward.”
“Your Majesty is wise,” Huo Ying said, bowing.
In the end, the decision remained unchanged: they would attack. No one would permit a single corner of Dayan’s territory to remain outside its borders. But before sending out the troops, Emperor Mingxi issued a personal order to Shen Jian. It contained only one sentence:
“After a city is conquered, Dayan’s soldiers are forbidden to enter the temples of the God Shibi.”
Emperor Mingxi was confident that once Xiqiang became part of Dayan, even the Huaqiang who worshiped only Shibi would willingly and sincerely offer their devotion to the Divine Maiden after witnessing her in person.
By the time the emperor’s handwritten order was carried by swift horse to the Pingchang encampment, Shen Jian was standing atop the city wall, gazing westward. The setting sun dyed the snowy peak of Mount Luntai a golden crimson. Beyond that mountain lay the heartland of Xiqiang.
After reading the order, he was silent for a moment before handing it to the military clerk beside him.
“Have three hundred copies transcribed and distribute them to every unit.”
The clerk accepted the order and glanced at it, hesitating to speak.
“Go on.” Shen Jian looked at him.
“General, the soldiers of our army firmly believe in the Divine Maiden. They worship her as the one true god. Some even think the Huaqiang are being deliberately obstinate. It would be one thing if they refused to worship the Divine Maiden, but they actually have the audacity to claim that Shibi Tian is the only true god who has ever walked among humankind.
“They… they all feel that the Huaqiang are using Shibi’s name to insult the Divine Maiden.” The clerk spoke carefully. “Will this order make the men think that…?”
“Think what? That I fear their god? Or that they should doubt my devotion to the Divine Maiden?” Shen Jian turned his head, his expression calm. “I am not afraid of their god. I am concerned about winning over their people. Remember this: taking a city is easy. The true measure of ability is making the people within it willingly become citizens of Dayan.”
The clerk said nothing more. He lowered his head and went to carry out the order, clearly not entirely convinced by Shen Jian’s words.
Shen Jian gazed out the window at the full moon hanging high in the sky. After the war in Beili, he had seen too many cities, too much blood, and too many flames.
He had also seen the Dayan army fight its way into Beili from the south. Every time they conquered a city, the hardest part was not the charge, but the first few days after occupation.
The people inside would be afraid, resentful, and desperate. If they were not told immediately that “your lives will not become worse now that Dayan has arrived,” then even ten times the effort later might not be enough to win them back.
“Fortunately, Dayan has the Divine Maiden.” Every time Dayan conquered a city, the Divine Maiden would personally appear and scatter her heavenly dew, ending the drought that afflicted the people. That was more effective than any number of reassuring words.
Xiqiang’s circumstances were even more unusual. Its people did not fear that the Dayan army would slaughter them.
After all, the Dayan army was famous throughout the wars of unification for its strict discipline. It did not massacre cities, loot, or kill surrendered soldiers. These rules were enforced more rigorously by the Dayan army than by anyone else.
Some of the people of Xiqiang feared that Dayan would destroy the beliefs they had held for centuries.
Shen Jian did not wish to destroy those beliefs. Not because he believed in Shibi, but because, like Emperor Mingxi, he was confident—in the Divine Maiden.
They believed that as long as the Divine Maiden appeared before the Huaqiang, no Shibi could prevent them from turning to worship her, the only living true god in this world.
Faith was more difficult to breach than city walls, but it was not impenetrable. The Divine Maiden was the crack in that fortress, the one through which centuries of devotion could collapse—and a new god could be rebuilt in its place.
That was his belief, and the emperor’s as well.
The expedition was scheduled for the twentieth day of the eighth month.
The troops had yet to move, but provisions had to go ahead of them. In the first half of the eighth month, Pingchang was a hive of activity. To secure the supply lines, grain and fodder continued to be transported into Xiqiang from increasingly distant regions. Wagons laden with provisions filled the official roads leading to every city in Xiqiang.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Jincheng was an entirely different matter.
