He carefully examined the potential boss and could tell that he was well-built and taller than the others around him. Although his face was covered in makeup, he still gave off a handsome and imposing impression. Hmm... he was almost as tall as him.
The entire sacrificial ceremony seemed like a shamanistic ritual to Zu An, and he had no interest in it at all. Instead, he communicated with Pei Mianman through telepathic communication from beginning to end, exchanging various information.
However, when the sacrificial offerings began, both of them frowned simultaneously. This sacrifice was of unprecedented importance, so naturally, the most crucial offering was human sacrifice; a dozen or so Qiang prisoners were brought along.
Seeing that the prisoners were about to be beheaded and gutted, Zu'an hurriedly spoke up to stop them and ordered that pigs, cattle and sheep be used instead.
It wasn't that he was being overly compassionate; rather, he genuinely didn't want these human sacrifices to be boiled and then served on his plate. He had previously learned from the chief that these offerings to the gods would be distributed among the higher-ups afterward, a tradition he had also confirmed with Fu Yue and Xiao Tuo.
In addition, he was well aware that the value of these prisoners far exceeded their value as human sacrifices.
Why was Huo Qubing able to lead a lone army across the Hexi Corridor for thousands of miles, striking fear into the hearts of the Xiongnu? Keep in mind that the Han people had never been to those places before, yet he seemed to have a built-in GPS map.
Besides his military genius, a major reason for his success was his use of a large number of Xiongnu prisoners of war. It was with these people as guides that he was able to accomplish a miracle in military history.
The situation is quite similar now. The Qiang people have influence in the Shaanxi and Gansu areas. Although I drew a rough map for Pei Mianman, it was only a macro view. Only the Qiang people themselves knew the specific details of the terrain.
How could he bear to kill these living maps like that?
He told Pei Mianman his idea, and she immediately agreed. Together, they saved the group of people.
The others were all in uproar. Why not offer the highest-ranking human sacrifice to the gods? What if they angered the gods?
Lian almost burst out laughing. This way, if anything unexpected happened in the future war, everything could be blamed on Wu Ding, saving him a lot of trouble. So he went along with it and got the matter settled.
And so, the Shang Dynasty army marched toward the northwest with trepidation, facing an unknown fate.
Meanwhile, Zu'an and Fu Yue were handling various government affairs in the palace, clearing out some potential rebellious forces in Yindu, while waiting anxiously for the outcome of the war.
One evening, Xiao Tuo stood outside the palace gate and took a deep breath. She knew she couldn't delay any longer. These days, some of Brother Lian's forces had been hit hard, and she had to gain the King's trust as soon as possible and send out some intelligence in advance.
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Chapter Two should be finished in about an hour.
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