Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 668: The Choice of the Innate Warrior
Other nobles could flee Kyoto, but the Li family could not, because the Li family had just risen for more than ten years and was at its peak. If they fled Kyoto, the momentum of the Li family's rise would be completely suppressed and they would fall.

Of course, the Li family also has their own thoughts. They will not submit to Daliang, but they can submit to Chen Hengchang.

In their view, Chen Hengchang is also a member of the royal family of Dayong. If Chen Hengchang can obtain the throne, then their Li family will still be the Marquis of Haining of Dayong, and can even go further.

As long as they can defend Kyoto, and as long as they can offer Kyoto to Chen Hengchang in the future, it should not be a big problem for the Li family to get a duke title based on the merit of surrendering the city.

But at this moment, when Li Feihe looked at the enemy troops outside the city, he suddenly felt that their ideas seemed a little too naive.

Before they saw the Daliang army, they thought that the Daliang army was just a group of bandits and a mob, and it should not be difficult for them to defend the capital.

But now that Li Feihe had seen the military might of the Daliang Army, he suddenly felt a little unconfident.

Can they really hold Kyoto?

……

After arriving in Kyoto, the Daliang army did not attack Kyoto immediately, but set up camp first and then built siege equipment.

Kyoto is a city with high walls and deep moats. Even if the Daliang army has internal supporters in the city, it will not be easy to capture Kyoto. It requires gradual progress.

Emperor Tianwu and his generals galloped to the city wall and looked at the majestic Kyoto City with excitement in his eyes.

Kyoto, ah, Kyoto!
As long as he can capture Kyoto, he, Emperor Tianwu, will be the real emperor.

If he couldn't take Kyoto, he would just be a local emperor. Only by taking Kyoto could he receive the will of heaven and sit on the throne.

The generals following Emperor Tianwu at this time were also very interesting, and of course, very surprising.

There is no need to say much about the other generals, most of them are old brothers who followed Emperor Tianwu to start the rebellion.

Although the abilities and strengths of these old brothers are average, they are the most loyal to Emperor Tianwu.

Emperor Tianwu also understood that compared to others, his group of old brothers were the most reliable.

In addition to his old brothers, he also has many people and forces who have joined him halfway.

Saying that Daliang has become a powerful force does not refer to how many soldiers Daliang has, but to the fact that the King of Daliang, that is, Emperor Tianwu, has been recognized by many martial arts masters and local forces.

For example, Jian Chengfeng. At this time, Jian Chengfeng was following behind Emperor Tianwu, his white beard flying in the wind and a complicated expression on his ruddy face.

He is an innate warrior who rebelled against the Darong court, and was also the fuse that caused the Sanshan Valley and Cuixia Valley to fall apart.

Now returning to Kyoto and looking at the three mountains again, Jian Chengfeng's mind was very complicated.

There is resentment, anger, uneasiness, guilt, but more of it is determination.

He never regretted what he had done.

The Darong royal family has lost the support of the people, and it's time for a new master of the world.

In addition to Jian Chengfeng, Emperor Tianwu was also surrounded by Yang Jiushi of the Longping Yang family, Li Zhen of the Bahumen, and Zhang Luan, Marquis of Jianchang.

That’s right, Zhang Luan also defected to Daliang, and he was the biggest helper of Emperor Tianwu.

It was not surprising that Yang Jiushi of the Longping Yang family and Li Zhen of the Bahumen defected to Daliang, because the two families were originally located in the three provinces of Longyuan, especially Shunnan Prefecture where the Bahumen was located, which was just west of Hanzhong Prefecture.

The first underworld force to surrender to King Daliang was the Ba Hu Men.

There is no need to say more about the relationship between Li Zhen and Zhang Luan. They are old brothers who have been through life and death together. When Li Zhen made a choice, he dragged Zhang Luan into the water.

Emperor Tianwu was definitely more powerful with the support of Zhang Luan.

Zhang Luan is not an ordinary innate warrior. He used to be the chief of Shangwu Temple. He founded Shangwu Temple and he was in charge of it for more than ten years.

Although he later resigned from his post as the chief minister of Shangwu Temple, he still had many connections in the temple.

With Zhang Luan's support, Emperor Tianwu easily gained the support of the underworld forces in the three provinces of Longyuan.

As for why Zhang Luan defected to Daliang, on the one hand it was because of his relationship with Li Zhen, and on the other hand he had had enough of the bullying in the court.

When Zhang Luan resigned from his post as the Minister of Shangwu Temple, it was not his own will, but he was forced to do so.

Emperor Yanping likes to play a balancing act. He even wants to play a balancing act in Shangwu Temple and interfere in the internal affairs of Shangwu Temple.

If Emperor Yanping assigned talented people to Shangwu Temple, Zhang Luan would have no objection.

But the problem was that Emperor Yanping arranged a group of noble children to Shangwu Temple. Those noble children were simply a bunch of trouble and made Shangwu Temple a mess.

Above him was Emperor Yanping, and below him was a group of nobles. Zhang Luan was caught in the middle and was neither a popular figure nor a popular figure. So angry that he gave up.

After leaving Shangwu Temple, he ran to play with Li Zhen.

He lived in Bahumen and often went to Wanshanling with Li Zhen. The two brothers explored the mountains together and lived a free and easy life.

Then there was a severe drought in the three provinces of Longyuan, and bandits rose up everywhere.

Li Zhen chose to support King Daliang. When Zhang Luan returned to Kyoto, he saw that the court had become even more chaotic, so he simply left the court with his children and grandchildren.

At first they did not want to surrender to King Daliang, they just wanted to occupy the mountains and become the king, hiding from the world.

However, after the King of Daliang made several sincere visits and Li Zhen's persuasion, Zhang Luan finally decided to support the King of Daliang.

The rapid development of King Daliang in Hanzhong was naturally inseparable from the support of Zhang Luan and Li Zhen.

In comparison, Jian Chengfeng, the latecomer, is not as well-positioned as the two of them in Daliang.

However, Zhang Luan, Li Zhen, Jian Chengfeng and Yang Jiushi are all innate warriors of the older generation. With their support, it is enough to make up for the lack of high-end military force in Daliang.

"What's the situation in the city?" Emperor Tianwu asked, looking at Kyoto City.

Zhang Luan smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Everything is ready. As long as we attack the city, there will definitely be people in the city who will respond to us!"

Zhang Luan was different from Jian Chengfeng. At this moment, Zhang Luan did not have so many complicated emotions. All he felt was the pleasure of having all his resentment gone.

Humph, I've let you mess around and harm me, so I'm going to pull your son down from the throne.

Well, he had a deep grudge against Emperor Yanping.

Although Emperor Yanping had passed away long ago, the resentment in his heart did not diminish, but became even stronger.

There is also a bit of anger in this.

In the past, he was loyal to Darong, but unfortunately Emperor Yanping betrayed his loyalty and messed up the court.

Deep love, deep hatred.

Although this description is a bit inappropriate, it is roughly the same meaning.

Zhang Luan was in charge of the communication between Daliang and the capital. Zhang Luan knew all the nobles and aristocratic families in the capital very well, so if he wanted to win over someone, he would not fail.

"Well, with these words from the senior, I feel relieved!"

Emperor Tianwu said with a smile: "But we can't be impatient about the siege. We must ensure that everything goes well. It would be best if we can take down Kyoto in one go!"

Kyoto City is high and has deep moats, so it is difficult to break through head-on. You must have the support of an insider to do so.

Daliang is not in a hurry to attack the city now. They have time to waste here, but once they attack the city, they must take Kyoto as soon as possible.

Otherwise, the longer the battle drags on, the lower the morale of the Daliang army will be.

Therefore they were in no hurry to attack the city.

The siege of Kyoto lasted for more than half a month, and during this period of more than half a month, the news of the siege of Kyoto spread throughout Daiei.

Jiangnan, Yingtian Prefecture.

Chen Hengchang and others were talking about the siege of Kyoto.

In the hall, more than a dozen people sat down, including Ji Feiyu, Yan Huichun, Lin Fuan, Wang Chongzhen, Ling Bufu, Lu Hua, Chen Ruishu and others.

For Chen Hengchang, Ji Feiyu and Yan Huichun are undoubtedly the people he trusts the most and his right-hand men.

Lin Fuan, Wang Chongzhen, and Ling Bufu are all members of the Shenyang Church. However, the Shenyang Church has now completely disappeared. They have all become innate warriors in public and have become Chen Hengchang's most powerful supporters.

Lu Hua surrendered in desperation and is currently helping Chen Hengchang to form the Blood Robe Guards. He has people poached from the Secret Guards as well as some power from the Shen Yang Sect, and his main job is to provide intelligence support to Chen Hengchang.

Chen Ruishu, the eldest son of the Prince of Xinjiang, represented the powerful and wealthy in Jiangnan. He was the first to collude with Chen Hengchang and finally handed over the entire Jiangnan to Chen Hengchang's hands.

Here, there are a few other powerful people in Jiangnan, and they all recently joined Chen Hengchang.

Although Chen Hengchang’s strength is not as good as Daliang’s now, it is not much worse.

After gaining Jiangnan, Chen Hengchang obtained a large amount of silver and warriors.

It’s just that Chen Hengchang’s foundation is still a little weak, and he is now busy transforming Jiangnan’s financial and human resources into his own strength.

"What do you think about Kyoto?" Chen Hengchang looked at the people below and asked in a deep voice.

Ji Feiyu looked at Lin Fuan and spoke first: "Your Highness, the fake emperor of Daliang has a strong army and can definitely conquer Kyoto!"

"Once Daliang conquers Jingdu, they will definitely move south to attack us! Jiangnan is the richest region in Darong, and the fake emperor of Daliang will definitely want to take over Jiangnan as soon as possible!"

Chen Hengchang does not need to be crowned king because he can inherit the throne of King Qing. Although the court will not recognize him as King Qing, it does not prevent him from using the title of King Qing.

Of course, they would not recognize Emperor Jianxing. In their eyes, Emperor Chengping, Emperor Yanping, and now Emperor Jianxing were all traitors who usurped the throne.

Their lineage of Prince Qing is the legitimate royal family of Darong.

As for Emperor Tianwu of Daliang, although they were unwilling to acknowledge him, Daliang had the strongest military force and they had no choice but to acknowledge him.

"That's right, we must have a battle with Daliang! And this battle will come soon!" Lin Fuan also spoke.

Yan Huichun said: "The outcome of the battle with Daliang is related to our survival. If we win, we will be feared by the world, but if we lose, our expansion momentum will be interrupted, which will affect all our plans!"

Their original plan was to take over Jiangnan first, and then take over Fuhai, Yungui, Nanyun, and Bashu.

In this way, they controlled five provinces and had the foundation to fight for the world.

But the rise of Daliang disrupted their plans.

At the beginning, they actually did not take King Daliang seriously. King Daliang was just a bandit and was not worth mentioning in their eyes.

But they never expected that King Daliang would rise so quickly, to a point that it seemed unbelievable to them.

Before, they had thought of letting King Daliang and those bandits act as a barrier between them and the court. They wanted King Daliang and these bandits to hold the court hostage, and after they had taken over the five southern provinces of Dayong, they would raise an army to attack the capital.

As a result, Daliang launched an attack on Kyoto first.

This situation has disrupted their plans, but it has not disrupted all of their plans.

They have not yet come into conflict with Daliang, and they still have time to prepare.

Chen Hengchang nodded slightly, "The most important thing right now is to be prepared to fight Daliang!"

Ji Feiyu's expression changed slightly, "Your Majesty, we still need to attract more forces!"

"Who do you want to win over?" Chen Hengchang asked.

Ji Feiyu said: "Chongshan is for the Yang family, Nanjiang is for the Qu family, and Yunling is for the Guo family!"

Chen Hengchang took a deep breath, "Chongshan Town Yang Family?"

He had no concerns about winning over the Qu family in Nanjiang Town and the Guo family in Yunling Town. As long as the Qu family and the Guo family were willing to join him, he would be willing to offer better conditions, even giving Nanjiang Town and Yunling Town to the Qu family and the Guo family as fiefdoms.

However, winning over the Yang family of Chongshan Town made him feel a little uncomfortable.

It was Yang Zhengshan who drove his father out of Liaodong, and his father's death was also related to Yang Zhengshan.

After the defeat at Chongshan Pass, the previous King Qing and Ji Feiyu fled together. Although they eventually escaped to Heishan Island, the previous King Qing fell seriously ill and died soon after.

This account can be entirely blamed on Yang Zhengshan.

Ji Feiyu naturally hated Yang Zhengshan, but he still persuaded him: "Chongshan Town has 100,000 elite soldiers. If we can win them over, we can let them attack Daliang from Liaodong. Then we can attack from both sides, and Daliang will surely be defeated."

"Your Majesty, those who accomplish great things should not let their emotions get in the way. For the sake of the world, Your Majesty should forget the past grudges."

Compared to the whole world, the hatred towards the Yang family is nothing.

Ji Feiyu was open-minded. As long as Chen Hengchang could conquer the world, what did it matter if the Yang family's grudge was wiped out?
If Chen Hengchang still cannot let go of his hatred, it will not be too late to take revenge after he conquers the world.

Chen Hengchang looked solemn. He could not forget the scene when he first heard the name Yang Zhengshan. At that time, he had just turned twenty years old and was still in Qinghua City.

Yang Zhengshan led the Tenglong Guard army to the city of Qinghua, and then the city was broken. He fled in panic with his father.

Just when he was fleeing from Qinghua City, he learned the name of Yang Zhengshan.

Afterwards, he fled to Heishan Island. He heard Yang Zhengshan's name countless times and regarded Yang Zhengshan as his biggest enemy.

After his father died, he also thought about seeking revenge on Yang Zhengshan.

I don’t know whether I should feel regretful or fortunate that he never found an opportunity for revenge.

(End of this chapter)