The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 335: Unification of the South

The Heshi Bi is a rare treasure for the master, but the Buddhist sect is now seriously damaged, and they may not be able to keep the Heshi Bi if it is placed in the Jingnian Zen Temple. It would be better to give it to the Yuwen clan to show sincerity and also to divert hatred. This thing is not something that ordinary people can get.

Someone from the Yuwen clan has already proclaimed himself emperor, and with the Heshi Bi, they must fight to the death with the Song clan.

At the same time, they wanted to follow the way they dealt with the evil king Shi Zhixuan and let the female disciples of Cihang Jingzhai sacrifice themselves to feed the demon in exchange for his mercy towards the Buddhists. Originally, this role should have been Fan Qinghui. She had an old relationship with Song Que, and it was perfect for them to rekindle their relationship. Unfortunately, she was already dead.

"Uncle-master, Song Que is an extraordinary person. If the Central Plains is not united, the situation will be dangerous. Who can defeat the two great masters? I can only do my best. The future of Buddhism still depends on who can conquer the world in the future." As if she was worried, she mentioned it again.

"How could I not know that? Apart from the two from the Song clan, the only other Grand Master in the world is Martial Master Bi Xuan. Only a Grand Master can fight against a Grand Master in this world. Bi Xuan is the best master in the Turkic tribe, so he may not dare to take the risk."

As he spoke, the old monk frowned and said, "If Song Que is really stubborn and refuses to change his ways, I'm afraid my Buddhist sect will have to take an unconventional approach." There was some sadness and reluctance in his voice.

Zhao Rumeng hesitated a little, but couldn't say it. As the current successor of Cihang Jingzhai, she heard the hidden meaning of the other party's words. As long as it can deal with the Song family, Buddhism will do anything, even if...

……

On a ship on the Yangtze River, the leaders of the Jianghuai forces met.

In the quaint hall, a man in brocade clothes sat at the table. He had a resolute face and a calm temperament, without the slightest impetuousness. He turned the teacup in his hand lightly, and the elegant tea fragrance lingered in the air. His behavior revealed a calm and unhurried attitude.

Opposite him, a man was making an impassioned speech, "I, Fu Gongju, cannot coexist with that villain. King of Chu, you know how tyrannical the Song family is. Even if Lin Shihong was forced to surrender, he got nothing. He has no official position, no property, and his accumulation over the years has become a wedding dress for others. If Song Que attacks, are you willing to accept that fate?"

This person was Fu Gongju, who once joined forces with Du Fuwei to rebel against the Sui Dynasty. After Yang Guang's death, Du Fuwei cooperated with Li Zitong to control the Huai River and Yangtze River areas. The two sides were both cooperative and hostile.

Unexpectedly, Du Fuwei was picked out by Su Ming to be Xu Ziling's whetstone. After Du Fuwei's death, part of his remaining power was taken over by Li Zitong, and part was taken over by Fu Gongju. The two are now in a cooperative relationship.

Hearing this, Li Zitong put the teacup heavily on the table and snorted coldly, "I am not afraid of being scared. No matter how powerful Song Que is, he is just one person. His army will have to cross the river. I don't believe that he is as good at naval warfare as he is on land."

"Humph, you don't have to provoke me. I know you and Brother Du are like brothers, and his hatred is half mine."

Fu Gongju was overjoyed and quickly picked up the tea. "Okay, thank you, Your Highness the King of Chu. I will offer you a glass of tea instead of wine."

……

On Poyang Lake.

Song Que stood by the lake, looking at the different boats on the water, with surprise in his eyes, "Lu Miaozi, is this warship really so powerful?"

Lu Miaozi stroked his beard lightly, with a smug look on his face, "Master, this thing is called a flying wheel warship, which uses the reaction force of water on the boat to push the boat forward. It is more labor-saving and effective than using oars. Even when there is no wind, it can travel a hundred miles a day. It is a boat equipped with wheels. The wheels are placed under the left and right bows to stir the water, so it can soar in the wind and waves, and it is as fast as a sail. It is easy to manufacture and durable."

As he spoke, he took out another atlas, turned to a certain page and pointed to it, "Use wheels to stir the water, place people in front and behind, pedal the bike forward and backward, three streams up, middle and down, turn around like flying, the enemy can only look at each other in shock."

In the war in the south, it is impossible to advance without a navy. The Song clan is strong in land warfare but not in naval warfare. The reason they were able to win before was because the Song clan used their fast forces to defeat the slow ones and forcibly broke through the enemy's defenses with their elite troops. Even if the enemy had a navy, it was useless.

As a result, he took over the navies of Xiao Xin and Lin Shihong without any effort. Unexpectedly, Lu Miaozi came to the Yueyang front line and offered a powerful weapon like the flywheel warship.

Before, Song Que regarded Lu Miaozi as an ordinary master, but since he joined the Song clan, the power of the Song army's military equipment has increased a lot. Equipment like crossbows and counterweight catapults have played a great role and reduced damage.

He no longer regarded Lu Miaozi as an ordinary expert. His camp had no shortage of grandmasters, but what he lacked were talents who could benefit the overall situation.

"Okay, if this thing is as powerful as you said, I'll give you credit for this."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Miaozi said, "Master, I came north this time not only to offer the Flywheel Warship, but also for the Pegasus Ranch."

Song Que smiled faintly, reassuring him, "I know the relationship between you and Pegasus Ranch, don't worry, as long as Pegasus Ranch sincerely surrenders to me, I won't do anything to them, so you should rest assured."

Hearing this, Lu Miaozi felt relieved, but then she thought of her daughter Shang Xiuxun and said, "Master, if you want to take over Pegasus Ranch, I am willing to be your lobbyist."

"Okay, I'll allow you."

……

At the same time, Pegasus Ranch received a messenger from the Song clan.

In the flower hall, Shang Xiuxun was discussing matters with the ranch managers. "Mr. Shang, the Song clan is coming with great force, sweeping across Jinghu. I'm afraid that Pegasus Ranch will no longer be able to remain immune."

The chief steward Shang Zhen smiled bitterly and said, "In the battle last year, the Guanlong Alliance lost tens of thousands of soldiers and had to retreat to Guanzhong to protect themselves. Before the battle, the second son of the Li family came to buy horses in person. If the Song family knew about this, I'm afraid it would be difficult to resolve it peacefully."

"At that time, it was I who personally led the sale of three thousand war horses. Our ranch has always maintained neutrality, but now, the Song clan's troops are imminent, and it is difficult for us to stay out of it."

Shang Xiuxun sighed in her heart. At the beginning, the Taoist Yu came here in person and wanted them to join the Song family. She had no choice but to ask Lu Miaozi to come out, and the other party retreated. She thought there was still time, but she didn't expect the Song family to come so quickly.

"Don't worry, Grand Deacon. Have you forgotten Senior Yu Dao Ren who came before? The Song clan already knew about the horse sale, and they won't blame us." Shang Xiuxun consoled him, and then continued, "Give the Song clan a reply tomorrow. My Pegasus Ranch is willing to surrender."

"Owner!"

Except for a few old men at the ranch who tried to dissuade them, everyone else looked interested and excited.

Who in this world is willing to be ordinary?
In the past, the ranch was only strong enough to protect itself, and it couldn’t even deal with the four major bandits. In addition, with a woman in power, there was no possibility of dominating the world. But now it is different, the Song family is a big strong leg.

By joining the Song clan, they might be able to gain a rich and prosperous future, which is better than living on a ranch just a few dozen miles away.

Shang Xiuxun glanced at everyone and said with a firm face, "No need to persuade me anymore. I have made up my mind. To be honest, I don't want to hand over my ancestral foundation to others, but you all know the strength of the Song family. With two great masters in charge, who in the world can defeat them? It is only a matter of time for them to unify the world."

"Besides, resistance is just like hitting a rock with an egg. The gains do not outweigh the losses. I don't want to see the young men of the families die in vain."

At this point, no one could say anything more. At night, Shang Xiuxun unconsciously came to the waterfall in the back mountain. This was where Lu Miaozi lived in seclusion. She had hardly set foot here before, but after Lu Miaozi left, she would come here every day.

"Who?"

As soon as he arrived, Shang Xiuxun looked at the lights in the bamboo building, took out his weapon, and shouted in a deep voice.

"it's me!"

Lu Miaozi walked out of the house and looked at Shang Xiuxun with a kind face.

When Shang Xiuxun saw him, he immediately frowned and asked coldly, "Why did you come back? Have you forgotten the agreement between us?"

"I'm afraid you'll do something stupid."

Shang Xiuxun's eyelids jumped, "Nonsense, I'm fine, why would I do something stupid?"

"I heard today's discussion. You did a good job. If it were your mother, she would make the same choice." Lu Miaozi sighed, "Pegasus Ranch is a pure land. I don't want it to be affected by the war."

"Since you have made up your mind, I am relieved." After saying that, he added, "I will leave tomorrow."

Then he returned to the bamboo house and closed the door.

Watching the other person's back gradually disappearing, Shang Xiuxun felt an indescribable emotion in her heart, and her nose felt sore, but in the end she forced herself to leave.

The next day, Shang Xiuxun wrote a letter of surrender in front of everyone at Pegasus Ranch and handed it to the messenger of the Song clan.

After finishing writing, she returned to the flower hall where she lived and closed the door to see no visitors.

However, there is a cemetery at the foot of the mountain behind, where all the owners of Pegasus Ranch are buried. Shang Xiuxun's mother is also buried here. When she arrived here, she saw various offerings placed in front of her mother's grave.

For a moment, her eyes were blurred by tears.

……

There are many water forts on Lake Taihu.

Fu Gongju opened his eyes and let out a long breath. He had just had a dream. He dreamed that his good brother Du Fuwei was calling him. In the dream, Du Fuwei was covered in blood and looked very miserable.

Recalling the scene in his dream, he felt very heavy in his heart. He walked out of the camp, followed by his personal soldiers, and walked onto the bridge with him. The sound of drums became clearer and clearer. The entire water camp was in action, and countless soldiers began to gather in silence.

Because the Song army is coming.

After defeating Xiao Xing, Song Que almost completely took over the opponent's power. Wang Shichong and Li Mi in the north did not dare to take advantage of the situation, but instead fell into an eerie silence.

In fact, the two sides are now in a stalemate and neither can do anything to the other. If the Heluo land is entirely in the hands of Wang Shichong, he might dare to expand outward. But the bad thing is that he is too slow in starting the rebellion. Luoyang is the capital of the Sui Dynasty and the old forces of the Sui Dynasty are too strong here. By the time he raises the banner of rebellion, he will be surrounded by enemies and Li Mi will even set up camp right under his nose.

It is true that Luoyang has well-trained soldiers and sufficient food, but Li Mi's Wagang Camp is full of talented people and brave generals, and they are no pushovers, not to mention that the two sides had fought a battle before. In comparison, Hedong and Guanzhong are much better off.

After the Yuwen clan entered Guanzhong, they swept across it. People like Xue Ju were all swept away and had no chance to accomplish anything. Similarly, influenced by the Song clan, the Li clan also rebelled ahead of time. Liu Wuzhou also had no chance to rebel and got involved with the Turks.

The two families in Henan stared at each other, and no one dared to take action, nor could they shake hands and make peace to fight the foreign enemy together. After all, Li Mi was backed by the Yinkui Sect, and Wang Shichong was backed by the Daming Zunjiao. He himself was a high-ranking member of the Daming Zunjiao, and the two sides were like water and fire.

In the Taihu Water Fort, soldiers lined up in a long line, and under the shouting of their respective captains, battalion commanders, and lieutenants, the densely packed line stretched all the way to the cabins leading to various large and small ships. Leaving here, the civilians in the water fort were also making final preparations, moving bows, crossbows, and stone cannons onto the largest ships one by one.

In the sky, a water bird flapped its wings and landed, standing on the deck, tilting its head to look at the humans who were approaching, then chirped and flew away again. Fu Gongju walked up to the side of the ship and looked at the sparkling water, "Have the navy from the King of Chu arrived?"

The lake reflected the shimmering light, and the personal soldier replied, "General, the King of Chu's men have already set out."

"Oh!"

Fu Gongju's face instantly turned pale, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

The personal soldier replied tremblingly, "General, I just received the news. They have been walking for more than half an hour and can no longer catch up."

"Asshole, Li Zitong, you are more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything!"

Fu Gongju put on his iron helmet, held the spear that had drunk the blood of countless enemies, and thrust it towards the deck with a bang the moment he finished speaking. He turned around abruptly, and his cloak spread out and fluttered over the side of the ship. "Order! Set sail—"

Looking down from the perspective of a bird, one can hear the shouts of people, and sails are raised on forest-like masts. The wind blows over, and horns are blown on huge warships painted with animal faces. Groups of ships form a huge fleet to guard the surroundings and slowly sail away from the water fort ferry. The surging river water rolls and pushes away the sailing ships in layers.

The giant boat broke through the waves and sailed away.

On the surface of the river, corpses were floating and sinking, dyeing the water red. Flames were burning. Sparse wooden boards were floating in the river. Occasionally, someone lay on them and called for help. However, what awaited them was a ruthless arrow.

Song Que stood on the deck of the Wuya ship, looking at the shadowy city across the river, feeling a little happy in his heart. Just now, he led the navy to fight against the navy of Fu Gongju and Li Zitong.

With powerful weapons like catapults and flywheel warships, the enemy was caught off guard. Except for a few warships that escaped, the rest were all wiped out.

Naval warfare is different from land warfare. One mistake may lead to losing everything. Therefore, he personally went to the battlefield to take charge.

The ending was just as he had expected. The Song clan won a great victory. Without the navy, the Jianghuai area was already in his pocket. The next step was to launch the Northern Expedition.

A few days later, the Song army crossed the river and took the land of Lianghuai. Except for Fu Gongju who fought to the death and refused to surrender, Li Zitong simply surrendered. Jiangdu and Danyang were all in his hands, and the south was unified.

(End of this chapter)