The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 319: Guanlong Allied Forces Dispatched, Xu Ziling Made a Bet
Kou Zhong's eyes showed a thoughtful look, "So that's how it is."

Li Jing raised his glass and drank it all. "Xiao Zhong, the Song family is different from other families. My Li family is also a family of officials. I once served as a soldier under Yang Su and met two emperors, Yang Jian and Yang Guang. But it was only a dozen years later that the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty died. The entire Sui Dynasty was built on the corpses of the remnants of the old era. Many problems did not disappear, but were covered up."

"But the Song clan is different. Although the Song family is a clan, it is far inferior to the other three clans. It was the clan leader who brought the Song clan to the level of the four major clans. But at the same time, the Song clan does not have the style of the northern clans, and the relationship is cleaner."

"The Guanlong clans occupy important places in the world, but in reality, the ones who hold power are always the aristocratic families. How can the poor and the common people have a chance? Whether it is the selection of officials or the recruitment order, I am surprised. This is the wise leader I have always wanted to find."

Kou Zhong suddenly thought of himself. "Big brother is right. If it weren't for Master, I would still be hanging around in the martial arts world. I wouldn't be where I am today. Master once said that he wanted to rebuild a Han nation, unify the world, drive out the foreigners, and restore the glory of the Han people."

"I haven't read much, and I don't understand those great principles, but as long as the world is peaceful, the people live and work in peace, and as long as the Song family can unify the world, I, Kou Zhong, may be listed in the history books in the future."

Li Jing's eyes lit up with excitement. "Well said. A man's ambition should be like the Yangtze River flowing eastwards into the sea. Brothers like you and I are united in purpose. Why worry about not being able to establish achievements in this troubled time?"

……

In the workshop, Lu Miaozi's eyes widened, "You want me to improve the siege equipment?" After all, he was a man of both civil and military talents who knew astronomy and geography. He didn't expect that after coming to the Song family, Su Ming would ask him to do this.

Su Ming glanced at him sideways, "Why? Can't you do it?"

Lu Miaozi would never admit defeat, and immediately agreed, "Of course, this is just a piece of cake, give me a few days, I will definitely satisfy you."

Su Ming nodded, "Okay, then I'll wait and see. These devices need to be more powerful, and the structure should be as simple as possible, not too bulky. I'll send someone to assist you."

Afterwards, Lu Miaozi stayed in the workshop and discussed ways to improve the product with a group of craftsmen.

The next day, Song Que, who learned about this, felt strange and asked, "Sir, isn't it a bit of a waste of talent to invite Lu Miaozi here to participate in the craftsman's work?"

Su Ming shook his head. "The future war is imminent. The Song clan must prepare in advance and strengthen its strength. The Buddhist sect will not allow us to cooperate with the Taoist sect. The people sent by Longhu Mountain and Louguan Dao are on the way. These Taoists will act as masters to accompany the army to prevent the other side from making a move."

"Lu Miaozi is the best craftsman in the world and a versatile person. However, the Song clan already has Pei Ju, so he is not needed in government affairs. If he can improve the siege equipment, the effect will be immediate. I wonder how many soldiers will be saved on the battlefield."

Hearing this, Song Que understood what he meant. "The Song clan currently has 50,000 elite soldiers, all of whom are veterans leading new ones. In addition, there are more than 100,000 soldiers stationed on the front line of Hanzhong. If we are given more time, our combat effectiveness will become even stronger."

"But I think that Buddhism will not give us time. The Guanlong clans will surely attack together. We have the advantages of geographical location and people, so we will definitely win this battle." His words were full of confidence.

Su Ming laughed, "Haha, now that Brother Song mentioned that, I'm actually looking forward to their arrival."

……

By the pond, Wanwan was wearing white clothes and barefoot, "Xu Ziling, do you know that your master is going to be in trouble?"

"Hmph, I won't believe your nonsense." Xu Ziling turned his back to her, with a hint of coldness between his brows and helplessness on his face.

Wanwan's voice was as gentle as spring water. She squatted by the water, holding a pool of water in her hands, and said proudly, "Your master is undoubtedly an invincible grandmaster. Even Ning Daoqi is no match for him. But don't forget that those stinky nuns in Cihang Jingzhai can do anything."

Xu Ziling turned around, a hint of sarcasm on his face. "Are you trying to say that the Buddhist sect wants to deal with my master, and your Yinkui sect can help us?"

Wanwan stood up, put her hands behind her back, and walked in front of him in a coquettish manner, "No, I'm not going to help you. I'm going to help the stinky nun instead."

Xu Ziling didn't believe a word she said. He continued to talk with her just to get more information. "Are you holding a grudge against me for losing to you and want revenge?"

"You are right. Confucius once said that it is difficult to raise a woman or a villain. However, the Buddhist and Taoist sects are fighting to the death. Why should my Yinkui sect intervene? Isn't it better to sit back and watch the fire from the other side and reap the benefits?"

She leaned forward and stared into his eyes, "I also want to know what your expression would be when you heard the news of the Song family's failure."

In response, Xu Ziling only replied with six words, "Summer insects cannot talk about ice."

Wanwan's smile faded, "What do you mean?"

Xu Ziling sneered, "How can you guess what my master can do? Not to mention the mere Buddhist sect, even if there are two more great masters, they may not be his opponents. I have only practiced a little bit of basic martial arts to defeat you, let alone my master."

"You think that a Buddhist sect plus a so-called Grand Master can defeat Master? It's a complete joke. If I were you, I would quickly go back and persuade Sect Master Zhu to surrender to the Song clan in exchange for the whole situation. You must know that adding flowers to the icing on the cake is not as good as sending charcoal in the snow. Of course, your surrender is not charcoal, and the Song clan is far from the time of falling snow."

Looking at the other person's calm and relaxed manner, Wanwan couldn't help but wonder, is this guy telling the truth or not? Is his master really that powerful?

She didn't dare to jump to conclusions, so she tried again, "If your master is really that powerful, why didn't he just destroy the Buddhist sect? Instead, he went to great lengths to merge with the Taoist sect and pushed you out as a target."

Xu Ziling was stunned for a moment, and then laughed out loud, "Haha, you have a good-looking appearance but such shallow knowledge. I don't know whether to say you are naive or stupid. In the words of my master, when you are thinking, the air is full of stupidity, which makes it difficult for me to breathe." The joyful laughter echoed in the mountains and forests, startling the birds.

Wanwan's eyes were wide open, her chest kept rising and falling, she glared at him fiercely, but she didn't know what to say, so she could only grit her teeth and said, "You! You are as annoying as your master."

After laughing for a long time, Xu Ziling finally calmed down. "Forget it. Since you have followed me for so long, I will explain it to you with great reluctance. First, I am already a master, and a disciple of Taoism, representing Taoism. He asked me to come out because he trusts me. Second, killing people will not solve the problem, but will only make the situation more chaotic. Third, the Buddhist sect can barely be regarded as an opponent that the master can respect, but you, the Demon Sect..."

Although it was not stated explicitly, the meaning was self-evident. Wanwan's pretty face was puffed up, and she was so angry that her teeth were itching. "Okay, then I will wait and see if your master can win this game."

Xu Ziling smiled secretly in his heart. He had absolute confidence in Su Ming, not only because of the battle in Zhongnan Mountain, but also because of his intuition. "How about we make a bet?"

"What bet?"

"If my master wins, you agree to one of my conditions. Otherwise, I agree to one of your conditions. How about that?"

Wanwan didn't want to agree, but seeing the other party's half-smile, she agreed involuntarily, "Okay, I'll bet with you!"

After she finished speaking, she felt panic for no reason, but it was hard to take back what she had said. Not only did she not back down, but she took a step forward. At this moment, the two of them were so close that they could hear each other's breathing. "If I lose, you come back to Yinkui Sect with me!"

A trace of helplessness flashed across Xu Ziling's face. This woman really wanted his body. "Okay, I promise you, if you lose, I want to see the Heavenly Demon Strategy."

Wanwan rolled her eyes and agreed with a smile, "Okay, it's a deal."

Xu Ziling knew that she was cheating, but he didn't take it to heart. He was far away in the north and was entangled with this witch. He couldn't go back for the time being, so he might as well let her be his eyes and ears.

Wanwan knew nothing about this.

……

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was the 14th year of Daye.

In the early spring, the Li clan in Guanzhong sent their eldest son Li Jiancheng to Chang'an as an envoy to discuss an alliance between the two sides and to attack the Song clan together. Li Jiancheng was called an envoy, but in fact he was a hostage, otherwise it would be difficult to gain their trust.

With the help of Cihang Jingzhai, the former Guanlong clans reached a consensus again and wanted to unite to deal with the Song clan in Bashu and eliminate this force in advance.

The three major clans, Li, Yuwen, and Dugu, all contributed manpower and manpower and continuously dispatched troops. After the spring planting, the Great Zhou in Guanzhong issued a punitive manifesto, meaning that the Song clan was causing trouble in Bashu and not following the orthodoxy of the Great Zhou, so they sent troops to punish the disobedient clan.

Among them, the Li clan cooperated with the Dugu clan, with the support of Buddhism behind them. Shi Feixuan invited the Yijian master Fu Cailin from Goguryeo, hoping to accomplish the goal in one fell swoop.

When the news came out, the world was in an uproar.

Many forces did not expect that the Li and Yuwen clans, who had been fighting each other to the death last year, would actually unite to deal with the Song clan, while Dou Jiande in Hebei and Wang Shichong in Luoyang were relieved.

Guanzhong kept dispatching troops, almost making them think that the Yuwen clan was going to attack them. The two families even formed an alliance in secret to help each other in attack and defense.

The Song clan far away in Bashu had anticipated this and declared their response in an orderly manner without panicking.

Apart from the great master Su Ming, their greatest confidence comes from the fact that the leader of the Bashu clan, Song Que, is in charge. In the past, they were able to stop Yang Jian's army with the help of Lingnan. Now that the Song clan controls the land of Bashu, shouldn't it be easy for them to fight against the Guanlong Alliance?
After a series of preparations, the Guanlong clans sent troops.

Among them, the Yuwen clan sent an army of 100,000, led by the Great Zhou general Yuwen Chengdu, with Yuwen Shang, the previous head of the Yuwen clan, in charge of the army. The Li clan and the Dugu clan sent out 50,000 troops, led by Li Yuan's second son Li Shimin. The army included the four great Buddhist monks and many masters. The lineup was powerful and eye-catching.

In July, the two sides merged together, crossed the Qinling Mountains from the Guanzhong Plain and attacked Hanzhong. There were seven ancient Shu roads along the way, four of which were very famous, namely Chencang Road, Baoxia Road, Luogu Road and Ziwu Road from west to east.

Baoxiadao is located to the east of Chencangdao, starting from the entrance of Xiashui Valley in Mei County in the north and ending at Baoshui in the south, hence the name. Zhuge Liang also took Baoxiadao when he went out of Sichuan to fight in the north. Although Baoxiadao is closer than Chencangdao, there is another Qinling ancient road that is closer than Baoxiadao, Luogudao. Luogudao starts from Xiluoshui Valley in Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province in the north and ends at Tangshui in the south, so it is also called Tangluodao. It is the shortest of all the ancient roads in Qinling.

Cao Shuang took this road to attack Shu Han, Jiang Wei also took this road to the north, and even Cao Wei took this road to destroy Shu. Although the distance of Luogu Road is short, it is extremely difficult to travel on this road. You need to pass through many river valleys such as Xiluoshui, Heishui, Xishui, Youshui, Tangshui, and cross the eighteen panling, the main ridge of Qinling, Xinglongling, Niuling and other high peaks of Qinling between the river valleys. The mountains are high and the forests are dense. It is rarely visited by people and wild beasts are roaming. It is very dangerous.

The air was hot, and beneath the clouds covering the sky were the mountains surrounding Hanzhong. A soaring and cryin' hawk overlooked the earth below, and its cold pupils reflected dozens of long streaks of dust interweaving across the earth. Teams of cavalrymen galloped across the plains, and from time to time some of them would rush into the huge camp that stretched for ten miles after an inspection. That was where 150,000 soldiers from the north were stationed in Hanzhong.

The roar of horses' hooves and the shouts of "Gee!" never stopped. Scouts in teams of ten directly crossed several checkpoints and took the news to the cavalry station for handover. There were faint cries of hooves coming from the parade grounds. Several large parade grounds were filled with densely packed soldiers lined up in an orderly manner, practicing the essentials of fighting in battle formations under the voices of the generals on the high platform.

Around the large tent in the center, hundreds of Hu cavalry were wandering on horseback, looking at every soldier passing by from time to time. Further on were the heavily armored guards of the Great Zhou, holding their swords on the hilts to guard the various checkpoints and key roads. Patrolling soldiers could be seen everywhere around the general's tent. The security was extremely strict and solemn.

Occasionally, the wind blew and rolled up a corner of the curtain.

In the tent, Shi Feixuan, Li Shimin, Li Yuanji, Yuwen Wudi and other generals and counselors sat upright on both sides, looking up quietly. Yuwen Chengdu, who was leaning back in his chair, looked at the intelligence in his hand and said in a low voice, "The army will arrive in ten days. What news have the spies in the front sent back?"

At this time, a general replied, "General, there is no trace of the Song army for the time being."

Yuwen Chengdu nodded and looked at Li Shimin who was sitting next to him. "General Li, I will send you as the vanguard to open the way and repair the plank road for the army to pass. If we encounter the enemy, I will allow you to make decisions on the spot."

Li Shimin secretly groaned in his heart, but the commander of this expedition was Yuwen Chengdu. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he could not disobey the order. Military orders were as heavy as a mountain, so he could only temporarily respond, "Yes, sir."

Afterwards, Yuwen Chengdu made a series of military deployments, to which Shi Feixuan and the Dugu clan and others had no objection.

He nodded in satisfaction, then stood up, drew his sword, and shouted in a deep voice, "Everyone, Hanzhong is just around the corner, and Chengdu is not far away. Everyone, keep up the good work!"

(End of this chapter)