Loan Wusheng

Chapter 186: Dismantling the Xuanyin Jusha Flag and the inner elixir of the Yuandan realm demon king!
"Wei Tu pays respect to the Grand Commander."

Wei Tu's armor was broken. He bowed to Zheng Jun in a rather embarrassed manner and said, "I have always heard that the Grand Commander is known as 'the best martial artist in the Northern Frontier'. I used to think it was just a rumor, but now that I have seen the Grand Commander's methods, I know that it is true! The Grand Commander's thunderous methods are truly the best among those below the Yuan Dan level."

"You don't have to be so polite, Lord Wei."

Zheng Jun was friendly as he stepped forward to help Wei Tu up and looked at him again.

Wei Tu had a thin face, sharp features, and a neatly trimmed short beard. He looked to be about thirty or forty years old. He did not look like a battle-hardened general, but rather a scholar who was well-read.

Zheng Jun remembered that Wei Tu was born a horse slave. Fortunately, he was appreciated by the crown prince, now Emperor Yongchang, and was promoted from a horse slave to a county governor step by step.

"The Wei County Magistrate has been fighting desperately in Yulian County against the Fang family and Qin Shuren for a long time. His hard work and contributions are great, and he deserves to be rewarded!"

After taking a deep breath, Zheng Jun continued, "You, the governor of Wei, please take a rest. I will come to discuss with you after I have dealt with the military affairs."

"Yes."

Wei Tu immediately bowed in agreement, and then went back to organize the more than a thousand soldiers under his command.

Looking at Wei Tu's leaving back, Zheng Jun seemed to be thinking about something.

Gao Lishan, Xu Hou, Wei Tu, Jiang Wuya.

Now, the number of Tongqiao warriors who can be commanded by him has reached four.

After seeing that Ningyuan County and Yulian County were taken, Dugu Jing would not choose to hold on, but would make the same decision as his nephew.

In this way, he could command five Tongqiao warriors.

With myself added in, this lineup is still not enough to face the Fang family and the King of Qin.

But this is enough.

We can strategically abandon Yulian County. Anyway, it has been destroyed and only the county town is left.

I directly set up the defense line in Ningyuan County, and transformed the fortresses, fortresses, and defense lines in Ningyuan County that were originally prepared to defend against myself into defense lines against the Fang family and King Qin.

This wave belongs to Germany's third takeover of Maginot.

With this thought in mind, Zheng Jun took a deep breath and used his true energy to transmit his voice, his voice as loud as a bell: "Quickly gather the remaining troops. Xu Hou, Dugu Yuan, Wei Quan, you three generals, lead the Guoyi Army to the south and chase after the defeated soldiers of Hong's army! Together with the Kangle and Xiaoyong armies, attack the remaining soldiers of Hong's army and defeat them together!"

"The last general takes command!"

Xu Hou immediately bowed and agreed, and the two young generals, Wei Quan and Dugu Yuan, also nodded heavily and quickly rode their horses and led their troops south.

The four thousand cavalrymen swept forward with such force that the earth shook.

Soon, the Guoyi Army, which mainly advocated a feint attack on the flank, began to move out and, under the leadership of Xu Hou and Zhao Zhe, swept towards the south.

The commander of the Guoyi Army was actually Chen Jingzhong, the governor of Pingzhang County.

However, Chen Jingzhong is currently serving as the local chief in Pingzhang County and is unable to exercise the rights and interests of the commander-in-chief of the Guoyi Army. Therefore, most of the military affairs are handled by the Guoyi Army's deputy generals Zhao Zhe, Zhou Yin and the military supervisor Feng He.

Now that Xu Hou led his people to surrender, as a Tongqiao martial artist, Zheng Jun temporarily handed over the military power of the Guoyi Army to Xu Hou.

Of course, Zheng Jun was taking some risks by doing this.

After all, no one knows whether Xu Hou was pretending to surrender. If he was, and 15,000 people were handed over to Xu Hou, and if Xu Hou suddenly rebelled when fighting the enemy, then the best result would be the paralysis of the Guoyi Army.

After all, there was no other capable warrior in the Guoyi Army, and no one could restrain Xu Hou.

But Zheng Jun still handed over the army to Xu Hou.

Don't use the suspect, but don't use it.

Since he has surrendered, Zheng Jun believes it!

Xu Hou's attitude of surrender was good, and Zheng Jun believed him.

Moreover, Xu Hou is now participating in the expedition to Hongshanhe and has betrayed Fang Yan.

From Fang's point of view, Xu Hou's military exploits were much greater than those of the other generals under Zheng Jun. What about Gao Lishan and Jiang Wuya? They did nothing, and their achievements were far less than Xu Hou's!
If Xu Hou is really a good actor and does something rebellious to Zheng Jun, Zheng Jun will let him know what it means to take the leader of an army.

The Guoyi Army marched quickly, while Wei Tu seemed to be hesitant to speak.

He didn't understand why General Zheng trusted this surrendered general so much.

In fact, he could also lead this army south.

His loyalty to Emperor Yongchang is evident to all, and his hatred for the Fang family is as deep as the sea.

He will never betray.

Zheng Jun has actually thought about this issue.

The reason for not using satellite images is very simple.

Buddy, have you ever won a fight?

The 30,000-strong army of Yulian County went out of the city to fight in the field. They fought three battles with Hongshanhe and were defeated in all three battles, with more than 20,000 casualties. In the end, there were only more than a thousand people left.

How can you expect Zheng Jun to trust you?
Before meeting him, Xu Hou had also participated in many expeditions against the Western Di. When Zheng Jun fought against him, he also felt his methods and abilities. His hastily formed formation was stronger than Hong Shanhe's prepared formation.

The only problem is that my background is not good enough.

To conquer the world, good ministers are more important.

"Grand Governor."

Not long after, Zhuo Xin led his troops to come over and bowed to Zheng Jun, saying, "The battlefield statistics are almost complete. Four thousand brothers from the Cang Dao Army were killed in the battle, and one thousand two hundred brothers from the Guo Yi Army were killed in the battle. More than three thousand were injured and have been sent to the city to be treated for their injuries."

"This time, 3,700 soldiers surrendered, and the rest of the enemy soldiers were almost completely wiped out, with about 18,000 corpses."

There were no deserters this time.

It was all thanks to Hong Shanhe's 'Xuanyin Jusha Flag'.

The dark and gloomy aura covered the sky and blocked out the sun.

As a result, the deserters on the periphery were directly enveloped by the evil spirit and could not move.

Even Dugu Yuan's Xianbei cavalry were frightened by the evil spirit and stumbled when they were riding and shooting on the flank, not to mention the soldiers in the Blood Refining Realm.

"This Hongshanhe tribe is quite capable of fighting."

Zheng Jun couldn't help but sigh deeply: "If he hadn't used the 'Xuan Yin Ju Sha Flag' at the end and killed many of his own people, I'm afraid the casualties would have been even greater."

The Cangdao Army suffered more than 4,000 casualties, which was the heaviest casualties since Zheng Jun joined the expedition.

But do you think it’s worth it?
Zheng Jun thinks it is worth it.

Anyone would do so in exchange for the life of a skilled warrior, a magic weapon, and two county towns of the enemy.

A kind person cannot command an army.

"Pass the order down. Soldiers who died in battle must be compensated in full. If money is insufficient, it will be supplemented by land!" Zheng Jun said strictly.

The military supervisor Feng He standing by immediately bowed and said, "Yes."

This order, to a certain extent, gave rise to a large number of small landlords in the county under Zheng Jun's command.

How could the parents, wife and children cultivate such a large field if the man died in the war? Most of the time, they had to find tenant farmers from the refugees to cultivate the land.

This is actually contrary to Zheng Jun’s previous policies.

However, this did not affect Zheng Jun's order.

Was the reason for liquidating other landlords because they really disturbed the people? No, it was because these landlords were not in the same group with Zheng Jun, the land was not in Zheng Jun's hands, and they were too exploitative and inhumane.

Today's new landlords are all from the military class and are loyal to him. The second-generation children can also stand out with their ability to leave their jobs and become Zheng Jun's true "good family sons". Isn't that wonderful?

In most cases now, Zheng Jun no longer needs to take the initiative to clean up the small landlords.

Because most of the land we have obtained now is ownerless.

For example, in Yulian County, the rich and powerful families and the landlord class had already fled, so what should be done with the empty fields? That would belong to Zheng Jun.

What should we do when they come back to ask for compensation after the war? It can only be described as humorous.

Only those landlords who stayed here and did not leave, living in fear, did not resist but surrender after seeing Zheng Jun's army. Only then would Zheng Jun not deprive them of their land: because there was no need.

Zheng Jun agreed that the man could stand together with his hometown.

After a pause, Zheng Jun ordered the troops to withdraw and let the captured soldiers and the Cangdao Army enter the Yulian County City to rest for a while, and then study which areas to set up defense lines and which counties to abandon.

Next, we will enter the stage of strategic stalemate.

Zheng Jun was aggressive before because he was not strong enough to fight a war of attrition with the opponent.

Zheng Jun's entire army previously consisted of only 100,000 men, and of those who could really be used were only 35,000 men from the Guoyi and Cangdao armies and 2,000 cavalry from the personal guard camp. The Xiaoyong and Kangle armies were purely second-line troops, and were used to defend the city in most cases.

The Fang family had an army of no less than 400,000, plus the King of Qin's 30,000 elite troops, so the pressure was naturally great.

Now he took the initiative to attack, killed 10,000 men from Ba Tao's tribe, defeated 30,000 men from Xu Hou, pacified 50,000 men from Hongshanhe, forced 60,000 men from Ningyuan County to surrender, and trapped 30,000 men from Dugu Jing.

The Lanzhou Army suffered a direct loss of 180,000 men.

His own military strength has increased to 160,000, and with the possible reinforcements from Bozhou, the number of troops should be around 200,000.

Two hundred thousand against three hundred thousand is still not enough, but it is enough to hold out.

"In history, an army of 200,000 was enough to conquer the world, but in this world of Yanfu, 200,000 can only be used for a decisive battle in one state."

Zheng Jun sighed deeply.

Of course, it would also be fine if it were 200,000 elite troops.

However, there are 200,000 soldiers and only a few elite ones.

but……

Zheng Jun was very curious about the magic weapon that Hong Shanhe possessed.

So, in Yulian County, Zheng Jun looked at Feng He who was counting the city's grain and grass, and asked casually: "Feng He, you are well-read in the scriptures, do you know the origin of Hongshanhe's 'Xuanyin Jusha Flag'?"

"General, I happen to know something about this 'Xuanyin Jusha Flag'." Feng He said modestly.

In fact, he didn't know. During the emergency raid just now, he inquired from several surrendered generals and soldiers named Hong, as well as Wei Tu and others, and only then did he find out where this "Xuanyin Jusha Flag" came from.

Because he felt that the Grand Commander would have doubts about this, he made a point to find out more about it in advance.

As it turned out, he was right.

So, Feng He coughed lightly and began to show off: "According to the fragments of the Nine Nether Secret Scrolls, the prototype of this flag is the 'Xuanming Zhen's Evil Banner' used by ancient witches to suppress the Yellow Springs rift."

"Two thousand years ago, during the chaotic times at the end of the Wei Dynasty, there was a lord in Yunzhou named Hong Tianci, who was at the level of Yuandan Wusheng. He went deep into the Northern Rong and arrived at the North Sea. He killed a North Sea Yuandan Black Turtle, and with this demon pill as a guide, he refined a flag modeled after the 'Xuanming Zhen's Evil Banner' and named it the 'Xuanyin Jusha Banner'..."

"This Hong Tianci is the ancestor of Hong Shanhe."

Feng He continued, "Later, Emperor Yu conquered the world and killed Hong Tianci. He confiscated this magic weapon and placed it in the national treasury. A thousand years ago, the former Yu Tang King Jiang Yang held this flag and fought against the Emperor Shenwu at Yanshan. He was beheaded by the Emperor Shenwu and the flag was confiscated by the Emperor Shenwu again."

"One hundred and ten years ago, the King of Qin was the commander-in-chief and attacked the Western Di, winning a great victory. The Emperor Shenwu gave this flag to the King of Qin." Feng He said, "Now the King of Qin should have given this flag back to the descendant of the Hong family, that is, Hong Shanhe who was killed by the Grand Commander." Zheng Jun was shocked when he heard this: "The King of Qin is so straightforward? He gave the magic weapon to his subordinates, the Tongqiao warriors?"

"The Grand Commander doesn't know."

Feng He continued, "Before Hong Shanhe, this flag was held by Qin Jiugao, the general of Yutong, eighty years ago. General Qin defeated the Western Di cavalry with the flag, but he suddenly became hysterical and pierced the hearts of nine of his descendants with the flagpole, and then hanged himself to death."

"After inspection by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, it was found that the nine corpses all had evil spirits embedded in their hearts, and General Qin himself had evil spirits entering his body. Obviously, he couldn't withstand such strong evil spirits."

Feng He cupped his hands and said, "So it can be seen that this flag is evil. If it is not Yuan Dan, only the descendants of the Hong family can resist it."

"It seems that Hong Shanhe may not be a descendant of the Hong family. Isn't he also being attacked by the backlash?"

Zheng Jun said casually, and thought to himself: "It seems that this flag can only be traded to Yuandan Wusheng! This flag is famous, and ordinary Tongqiao will not take it. "

"Forget it, just tear it down. There is a Black Turtle Demon Pill of the North Sea Yuandan Realm on the top of the flag. If you swallow and refine this demon pill, it will not be difficult to break through the fourth level of Tongqiao."

Zheng Jun continued to think: "If this is the case, I might be able to become the fastest person to break through the Tongqiao realm. It only took me less than two years to advance from the Tongqiao initial realm to the Tongqiao fourth realm... This speed is really astonishing."

Not to mention others, even Zheng Jun himself found it outrageous.

In the past twenty years, Xu Hou has made little progress in his cultivation.

It took Hong Shanhe a hundred years to reach the third level of Tongqiao.

In less than two years, I have surpassed Hong Shanhe's efforts of a hundred years.

This……

"After all, there is a cheat. If I were to remain like an ordinary person and seclude myself for two or three hundred years before making a breakthrough, then it would be too late."

Zheng Jun thought to himself, "Since I was brought here to this chaotic world, I must be allowed to establish some achievements! After two or three hundred years, when the world is pacified, will I have to kowtow and serve as a subject?"

Coming to this great world of Jambu, one must naturally do something great and vigorous.

Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a waste of time?

After calming his mind, Zheng Jun entered the city of Yulian County.

There are still quite a few people in Yulian County.

Due to its geographical location, the city of Yulian County has always been a military fortress, because it is close to Xuanzhou and Suzhou, both of which are states bordering the Western Di. Once the Western Di breaks through, in most cases they will go south to Lanzhou, and Yulian will be the first to bear the brunt.

During the war against the Western Di, Yu Lian City was the transit center for the transportation of grain and fodder.

In addition, there is a big river called Lianshui in the northeast of Yulian County.

Although it is useless for Yuandan Martial Saints and high-level Tongqiao warriors, it can still block harassment from the army below the fourth level of Tongqiao, and at least it can defend across the river.

Therefore, the status of Yulian County City is particularly important.

The imperial court spent a huge amount of money and grain here, and the city walls were made of black iron and black stone.

This is also the reason why Hongshanhe has been under siege but not attacking.

Because it is indeed impossible to attack.

If Zheng Jun were to attack such a city, it would take him at least several months to take it down.

"This Wei County Magistrate is a good official."

Zheng Jun couldn't help but say, "There are less than 3,000 soldiers guarding the city. He didn't mobilize the people to defend the city, nor did he conscript able-bodied men... It's rare to see a county governor like this."

After hearing Zheng Jun's words, Feng He also flattered him a few times, but he did not agree in his heart and felt that Wei Tu was really derelict in his duty.

If he were the county magistrate, when there were insufficient garrison troops, he would definitely send people to capture able-bodied men and mobilize all the men in the city to defend the city walls.

The city has been broken. Given the nature of the army, how can the people in the city be safe?
It is better to die defending the city than to be killed by the enemy troops who break into the city.

No waste left or right.

Feng He thought about it in his heart, but he didn't dare to disagree with Zheng Jun.

Zheng Jun lamented that Wei Tu really loved his people like his own children, but he really did not know how to fight a military operation.

It seems that we cannot let Wei Tu attack as the main general of an army. This martial artist with extraordinary powers can handle economics and construction, but not military affairs. If we must handle military affairs, it would be best to let him attack as a deputy general.

However, it is a waste for a martial artist with extraordinary powers to be a deputy general.

Especially since Zheng Jun currently has few capable people under his command.

Difficult.

"Grand Commander, we have arrived at the mansion where you are staying temporarily."

A military captain respectfully led Zheng Jun to a luxurious mansion in the city.

This mansion was obviously the mansion of a wealthy family in Yulian County.

"This is the home of Mr. Qiu, a kind man in this county..."

The captain introduced to Zheng Jun: "Mr. Qiu is a well-known philanthropist in Yulian County. He has a rich family background and hundreds of hectares of fertile land, but he often helps the poor..."

As for Mr. Qiu, he stood in front of the mansion, smiling apologetically in a very reserved manner.

"Ah."

Zheng Jun nodded slightly without any emotional fluctuation.

Zheng Jun had no psychological burden regarding such matters, and he immediately stepped forward and entered the luxurious mansion.

The owner of the mansion was extremely attentive. He ordered people to slaughter pigs and sheep, and used medicines that he himself would not bear to take to make medicinal food. He also arranged for his two daughters to serve Zheng Jun.

Zheng Jun knew exactly what the plan was.

Offering oneself to a superior is naturally a means of class transition, and it is also a deep-rooted tradition among some poor families.

But he doesn't just roll in bed casually.

After all, every time you make love, it's useful.

Cai Anyun is from the Cai family and Lu Qingyi is from the Lu family.

Yang Xiao and Princess Qingning Li Zhaowan to Emperor Yongchang.

Each of Zheng Jun's women has her own role. It would be useless to marry the two daughters of the Qiu family. What if they accidentally give birth to offspring? As the first heir to the throne of a prince in troubled times, would he have to choose a son with a weak maternal family background as his eldest son?
Therefore, Zheng Jun just politely invited the entire Qiu family to leave the mansion and gave them a certain amount of compensation so that they would not suffer any loss.

Afterwards, the mansion was cleaned up.

Zheng Jun sat cross-legged on the cushion in the retreat room, his hands surging, and the 'Xuanyin Jusha Flag' naturally appeared in Zheng Jun's hands.

As soon as he started, Zheng Jun heard the faint howling of wronged souls.

A chill enveloped my whole body.

"Whoo~"

Zheng Jun exhaled: "It's quite troublesome to take out the inner elixir of this Yuandan demon king."

Then, Zheng Jun did not hesitate and directly circulated his true energy to suspend the flag in the air.

The surface of the Xuanyin Jusha Flag was dark red like clotted blood, and the patterns on it looked like twisted entangled resentful souls. As soon as it was unfolded, a biting evil wind whistled out, and its shrill screams stirred in the room.

Zheng Jun concentrated his mind and activated his true energy. A layer of green-gold energy emanated from his body, forcibly suppressing the surging evil spirit within a few feet.

Zheng Jun's fingertips stroked the inky demon pill embedded on the top of the flag. An icy and piercing demon power suddenly erupted, and a black tortoise shadow vaguely emerged inside the bead. It was the inner pill of the great demon in the Yuandan realm of the North Sea!

"The demon pill of the Yuandan Demon King is truly extraordinary! Two thousand years have passed, and it is still so strong, and it still has so much spiritual energy!"

Zheng Jun was amazed, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly clasped his palms together, and his rich true energy wrapped around the flagpole like a furnace.

There was a crisp "crack" sound, and Zheng Jun's powerful blue-gold true energy began to condense rapidly, pouring towards the flag. Countless evil black mists struggled and ran around like trapped beasts, but were annihilated into blue smoke the moment they touched the golden light.

"Whoo~"

A bead of sweat appeared on Zheng Jun's forehead.

This evil spirit is really thrilling.

If Zheng Jun did not have the strength of the third level of Tongqiao now, he would have been possessed by the evil spirit long ago.

There are too many restrictions!

It takes some time to refine!

"It's better to refine it as soon as possible. If it succeeds, with the Yuandan realm demon pill in hand, breaking through the fourth realm of Tongqiao will be a piece of cake."

Zheng Jun let out a breath and began to refine it with all his strength.

"..."

Three days later, when the last restriction was broken and the Black Turtle Demon Pill was completely freed from the constraints of the flag body, the ground of the entire mansion suddenly shook violently.

"How dare you cause trouble?!"

Zheng Jun's forehead was covered with sweat and he roared like thunder. His sapphire true essence burst out with all his strength, tearing into pieces the remaining evil spirit that was trying to counterattack him.

Immediately, the demon pill that had been around for thousands of years finally lay quietly in the palm of its hand, with a faint blue glow flowing on its surface.

Zheng Jun looked at the object in his hand and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

This Yuandan realm demon pill that can save me decades of hard training is finally in my hands!

As for the Xuanyin Jusha Flag...now all the evil spirit has been eliminated by Zheng Jun, and it has become ordinary.

The Yuandan demon pill at the top also disappeared.

This magic weapon has turned into an ordinary flag.

If others saw this, they would definitely scold Zheng Jun for wasting such a gift.

But for Zheng Jun, it's worth it.

"The body of the 'Xuan Yin Ju Sha Flag' is still there. If we choose a Tongqiao Demon Pill, we can refine it into a magical weapon... but its power will be much weaker."

Zheng Jun thought to himself, "But this way, the danger will be much weaker. According to the materials on the flag, it will be a top-level magical weapon. It will be good for a martial artist with a clear mind to use."

"It may be difficult to control the outer Gang, but it is not impossible."

With this thought in mind, Zheng Jun put the 'Remnant of the Xuanyin Jusha Flag' back into the Fangcun Mountain.

Then, a pair of eyes stared at the demon pill of the Yuandan realm demon king.

"Fang Ji is at the peak of Tongqiao. If you want to fight him, you need to reach a higher level."

"We still have to quickly refine this Yuandan realm demon pill and step into the fourth realm of Tongqiao!"

(End of this chapter)