Two Realms: Don't call me evil!

Jingzhou!

Jingzhou is one of the four southern states. Today, Qingzhou, Qingzhou and Chongzhou are all under the influence of Guiling Palace.

However, because Jingzhou borders Dali City, it has not been invaded by the Guiling Palace and is still in the hands of the Dali Dynasty.

But on this day, the stalemate was broken.

On this day, the common people living on the border of Jingzhou saw the army of monks from Guiling Palace.

The boundless clouds of insects, the towering and gigantic war machine spider main battle mecha, the towering flying magic ships tearing through the sea of ​​clouds, made all the people who saw this scene tremble.

The army of the Dali Dynasty was also stationed in Jingzhou, but in the face of a Guiling Palace army of this level, these troops almost surrendered, and the Guiling Palace monks encountered almost no resistance along the way.

The Dali Dynasty had long been corrupt and was no longer the overlord that had just been founded and dominated the world.

Today, the military of the Dali Dynasty is slack and neglected. The military pay for the military is repeatedly in short supply, and the number of monks is seriously insufficient. It is unable to even maintain national stability, causing repeated uprisings by refugees within the country. Not to mention facing the army of monks from the Guiling Palace.

In addition, even the high-end force of the Dali Dynasty, the monks of the Patrol Department, tacitly chose to stand by and watch, allowing the monks of Guiling Palace to advance.

The Guiling Palace also acted in harmony and did not attack the monks from the Patrol Sky Division. The two sides maintained an amazing tacit understanding, like two non-intersecting parallel lines, and no conflict broke out at all.

When the Sky Patrol, an organization of high-end monks, was paralyzed and chose to turn a blind eye to the advance of the Guiling Palace monks' army, the army of the Dali Dynasty was naturally defeated at the first touch.

An army composed of ordinary people is completely incompetent in front of the monks and is not even qualified to be cannon fodder.

In a cultivation world like Tianyuan, high-end combat power is the key to dominating the battlefield.

Without the restraint of the Sky Patrol, the Guiling Palace army naturally attacked cities and captured strongholds along the way, annihilating and conquering the armies of the Dali Dynasty one after another, and occupying one city after another.

Even though Jingzhou's requests for help were sent to Dali City like raindrops, Dali City was slow to respond and had no troops to send.

At this time, the Dali Dynasty was like an old man who was about to die, with half of its body buried in the loess. Compared with the powerful Guiling Palace army, it seemed dull and helpless.

In just three days, the entire Jingzhou was completely captured by Guiling Palace at an astonishing speed.

This was because the Guiling Palace had not yet advanced with all its strength. Every time it captured a place, it would provide porridge and food to the local people. At the same time, it brought the various policies that the Guiling Palace had implemented in Qingzhou in the past to Jingzhou.

Puppet factories sprang up one after another, and refugees and beggars from all over the country were gathered by Guiling Palace to be given jobs. They built water conservancy projects and cities, provided work instead of relief, and appeased the local people through various measures.

Guiling Palace is not a bandit that causes chaos everywhere. As a new dynasty that will dominate this land in the future, Guiling Palace needs to maintain its reputation among the people. If the people of the world live and work in peace and contentment, more good fortune from heaven will be fed back in the future, which is closely related to Guiling Palace.

Dali City!
When the military information that the Guiling Palace army advanced, captured cities and occupied large tracts of land along the way and annexed Jingzhou reached the heart of the Dali Dynasty.

The Wei royal family of the Dali Dynasty has fallen into chaos.

The sudden massive attack by Guiling Palace was like a wake-up call, leaving the Wei royal family dizzy.

The atmosphere in the palace was extremely tense. Both the maids and the palace guards were on high alert. From time to time, people gathered together and whispered. They also sensed that the palace was about to collapse.

Inside the Fude Hall, Emperor Yongren Wei Sheng sat on the throne. His hair turned white overnight and he looked completely listless.

"Your Majesty, in the battle of Longmian Mountain, the Wei army was killed, the eldest princess disappeared, and the Patrol of the Sky was suspected of treason. The power of our royal family has been greatly weakened. Now the Guiling Palace army is heading towards Dali City. Please make a decision as soon as possible."

The Minister of Revenue Zuo Min knelt on the ground, speaking in a sad voice.

Wei Sheng's eyes were dull, and he said, "What else can I do? What else can I do? The Guiling Palace has a lot of elite soldiers and generals, and the Dynasty army has been defeated all the way. This is God's will to destroy our Dali."

"Your Majesty, there is only one plan now, which is to ask the nobles to contribute manpower and money to serve as military pay and reward the royal army. At the same time, issue a royal edict as soon as possible to notify the northern border soldiers, especially the eight thousand black iron dragon riders, to go south to serve the king.

Coming from the Demon Sect of Guiling Palace, they act in a domineering and arrogant manner, looking down on everyone. They are always harsh and cruel to aristocratic families and sects, and have a bad reputation.

As long as we delay a little, the noble families and sects in various places will surely rise up to resist Guiling Palace, and then it may not be a bad opportunity for us."

Zuo Min's words were sincere. He was one of the few loyal ministers left in the Dali Dynasty. Now most of the other powerful officials and ministers in the Dali Dynasty began to look for ways to retreat, but he had no plans to move away.

The suggestions he made were also the only things that the Dali Dynasty could do at present.

In order to guard against the Divine Eagle Empire, the most elite military forces of the Dali Dynasty are all in the northern border, especially an 8,000-man Black Iron Dragon Cavalry. All of them are selected from cultivators above the sixth level of the Soul Condensation Realm. The generals at all levels are secret treasurers and Taoist priests. They are the most combat-ready mobile force of the Dali Dynasty. With the mobile speed of the Black Iron Dragon Cavalry, they can arrive at the foot of Dali City within two days.

What really worried Zuo Min was that the military camps across the northern border had been short of pay for a long time, and often only rations were distributed.

Those arrogant and fierce soldiers in the Northern Frontier are full of resentment towards the court. They may not be willing to go south to fight against the army of monks from Guiling Palace. Only by promising them huge benefits can the Northern Frontier soldiers be mobilized.

But now the treasury of Dali is empty, and the only ones who can afford this money are the wealthy officials and dignitaries in the court.

"Yes, my dear ministers, the country is in crisis, and it is time for you to serve the country. You also need to donate a portion of your wealth to the country to tide over the difficulties together."

Wei Sheng felt like he had grabbed a life-saving straw. He was at a loss and could only choose to follow Zuo Min's plan. It was better than doing nothing and waiting for the army to arrive at the city.

However, such remarks caused the officials present to look at each other in bewilderment and there was uproar.

"Your Majesty, it's not that I don't want to donate my wealth to pay the army, but I have always been poor and incorruptible. I really don't have any extra wealth to give!"

"I have never forgotten my country, but my family is poor and I have dozens of people to feed. There is only a few grains of rice for breakfast and dinner, and most of them are just watery soup. Alas, I have a sincere heart to serve my country, but I am unable to do so! I am guilty, and I hope Your Majesty will punish me."

"Your Majesty, you know me well. Although my family has some floating wealth, the unfilial descendants of the family have squandered it recklessly over the years and have long since squandered all the family property. I can only take out 5,000 low-grade spirit stones, which is already the limit of my ability."

Princes, ministers, relatives and dignitaries cried and complained about their poverty, as if they were really poor and could not even afford to eat. Many of them were hereditary, and many of their family histories could be traced back to the generation that fought with Emperor Tianwu to conquer the world. Over the years, they had accumulated huge wealth and assets, and some were even as rich as a country.

But even in such a dangerous situation, he was still reluctant to donate his wealth.

When Wei Sheng saw this, he immediately became furious, slammed the table and stood up, cursing: "You really think I don't know your situation, Zhou Yunping, your family is a wealthy family in Qianzhou, with a fortune of millions, 100,000 hectares of spiritual fields, and hundreds of spiritual mines, and you say you are reluctant to put rice in your meals?
Xu Yingtao, your family has been running the salt, iron and shipping business for generations. The grain and goods transported into Dali City through canals all over the world, haven't your family members embezzled enough of them?

Ke Yu, your family assets are tens of millions of spiritual stones. Not long ago, you also spent a lot of money to buy several summer resorts in Anzhou, hundreds of singing girls and concubines from the Western Regions, and bought real estate and land. You say you have no money. Do you think I am a three-year-old child?"

Wei Sheng's roar was deafening, and one could hear a pin drop in the hall.

The faces of the princes and nobles turned stiff and they remained silent. No one spoke.

After a while, seeing that Wei Sheng's eyes were red and he looked like he wanted to kill someone, the princes and nobles reluctantly expressed their willingness to eat coarse food, serve the dynasty, and donate part of their wealth.

In the end, everyone pooled their money here and there, arguing over who would give more and who would give less, just like in a vegetable market, and they barely managed to scrape together five million spirit stones.

Wei Sheng set an example himself by selling off the royal family's limited inner treasury and taking out all the treasures and brocades that the queen brought as a dowry, raising a total of five million spirit stones, for a total of ten million spirit stones.

Such a figure is simply a drop in the bucket compared to the current demand and cannot impress those arrogant soldiers in the northern border at all.

Not to mention the Northern Frontier, even the generals and generals in Dali City were unwilling to take on this hot potato, and they all fell ill and stayed in bed.

In desperation, Wei Sheng could only order Zuo Min to lead the troops and form an army of 30,000 in Dali City.

In addition to the garrisons around Dali City, such a force also recruited the retainers, slaves and guards of the princes and nobles to serve as the army, and ordered them to march south to provide support for Huya Pass.

This is the last line of defense from Jingzhou into Dali City, where there are several large formations guarding it with both offensive and defensive capabilities.

However, Zuo Min was a civil servant and was good at giving advice, but he was completely clueless when it came to fighting a war.

Wei Sheng placed high hopes on Zuo Min and held a grand farewell banquet. Military generals and civil officials sat at dozens of tables each, and the emperor sat at one table with Zuo Min.

At the banquet, Wei Sheng took out the wine cup used for offering sacrifices to heaven, personally handed three cups of wine to Zuo Min, and handed over the most elite 1,000 Black Iron Dragon Riders in Dali City to Commander Zuo Min.

The army kept procrastinating, and the next day, when the 30,000 soldiers set out from the Zhengyang Gate of Dali City, they had not gone far when thousands of soldiers deserted.

What's even more terrible is that a large amount of spirit stones are needed for the army to march out. Just the one thousand Black Iron Dragon Riders and their mounts, the Dragon Blood Horses, need to be fed precious spirit stones every day, which is a huge number.

Other warriors also need spirit stones to purchase magical weapons, talismans and elixirs because they lack sufficient magic weapons.

During the march, the cities along the way all refused to allow Zuo Min's army to enter. It was obvious that they knew the character of the dynasty's army. Once these bandits entered the city, their own army would rob them before the Guiling Palace arrived.

Zuo Min was very angry about this. Wei Sheng asked him to raise the military pay himself, but he was a scholar and could not act like a bandit. He just planned to borrow military pay by writing IOUs from the cities he passed by, but was ruthlessly rejected.

The soldiers who followed Zuo Min were shocked to see that they were going to the battle hungry and were not even given magical instruments, talismans, elixirs, etc., and were left to face the fierce and powerful army of Guiling Palace. Immediately, more people fled and the marching speed became slower and slower, only able to cover a speed of thirty miles a day.

You have to know that this army is mainly composed of martial artists formed by practitioners, and its speed is almost as slow as a turtle.

They dragged their feet and procrastinated all the way. Before Zuo Min's army could reach Huya Pass, bad news came from the front line.

Huya Pass was lost and fell into the hands of Guiling Palace.

Zuo Min was stunned, and the morale of the army he led dropped to the freezing point. They were on the verge of collapse before they even saw the army of Guiling Palace.

In desperation, Zuo Min could only hastily lead his troops and force his way into the nearby Ding'an City to defend it.

At this time, the distance between Ding'an City and Dali City was less than 150 miles, which showed how slow their march was.

Wei Sheng, who was in Dali City, was anxiously waiting for news from Zuo Min every day, but the news coming from below was confusing and full of errors and omissions.

Some said that Zuo Min had died for his country, some said that Zuo Min held on to Huya Pass and prevented the Guiling Palace army from advancing, and some said that Zuo Min had led his troops to surrender to Guiling Palace.

Wei Sheng immediately found the Minister of War and asked him about it. The Minister of War replied vaguely, "I don't know. The front line is too chaotic. I haven't received accurate military intelligence yet."

When Wei Sheng heard this, he immediately became angry and yelled, "You don't know this, you don't know that, what's the point of keeping you good-for-nothings like you? Where are the scouts? Why don't you send them out to get information?"

The Minister of War spread his hands and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, where will the military pay and food come from? Without military pay, I cannot send out scouts."

After hearing this, Wei Sheng remained silent for a long time, not knowing how to respond.

It is rare to see an emperor as poor as he is.

However, Zuo Min, who was in Ding'an City, did not sacrifice his life for the country, because the city they were defending had been surrounded by the Guiling Palace army.

As soon as he gave the order to defend the palace, the soldiers under him tied him up, and then all the soldiers surrendered to Guiling Palace.

This also rendered thousands of Spider main battle mechas, tens of thousands of monks, and four flying magic boats useless.

However, before Zuo Min was captured, he still sent a letter of military intelligence to Wei Sheng in the nearby Dali City.

The general idea is to let Wei Sheng hunt north quickly and take the prince and princesses to the north, because he cannot be relied upon and Dali City cannot be defended.

At this point, the army that the Dali Dynasty had "exhausted all its resources" to raise was completely wiped out in Ding'an City, without losing a single soldier from the Guiling Palace.

The only achievement of Zuo Min's army along the way was to capture Ding'an City, taking down one of their own cities, and engaging in a fierce battle with the Ding'an defenders who were afraid that they would enter the city to plunder. This was also their only combat experience. (End of this chapter)