Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

After Kumārajīva fled, the soldiers of the Yundan royal family completely lost their leader, their morale plummeted, and they no longer had the power to resist.

At Zhao Qingtan's command, the Song army seized the opportunity to launch a fierce attack, completely annihilating the Yundan royal family. The leader of the Yundan royal family was killed on the spot, and the remaining soldiers either surrendered or were killed; none survived.

News of the extermination of the Yundan royal family quickly reached the other two major Tibetan royal families.

The leaders of the two royal families naturally knew that they were no match for the Song army. If they continued to resist, they would only suffer the same fate as the Yundan royal family.

After a brief discussion, the two immediately dispatched an envoy to the central military camp of the Song Dynasty, seeking to negotiate peace with Zhao Qingtan.

They were willing to cede half of the Western Xia territory, leaving only four cities near the Tibetan border.

Zhao Qingtan burst out laughing after reading the peace treaty.

When the peace treaty was circulated, everyone in the tent shook their heads.

Today, the Song Dynasty reigns supreme, sweeping away the two great powers of Liao and Western Xia. Its momentum is strong, and its army is powerful. It is no longer the Song Dynasty that needed to pay annual tribute to exchange for temporary stability.

Even after winning the war, we still need to negotiate peace?

Then all that hitting was for nothing.

It would be more like giving up half of the city and half of the land of Tibet.

Zhao Qingtan didn't even need to report to the young Emperor Zhao Xu before making his own conclusion.

Continue the pursuit, exterminate them all, and thoroughly intimidate the various Tibetan tribes so that they will never again dare to easily set foot in Western Xia territory or harass the borders of the Song Dynasty.

After the envoy was driven out of the camp, Zhao Qingtan gave an order, and the Song army split into two groups.

They set off towards the camps of the descendants of Osong and the descendants of Kyide Nyima Gon, respectively, and began to hunt down the two royal families.

The soldiers of the two royal families were already terrified by the overwhelming force of the Song army and dared not resist. They abandoned their armor and fled in disarray.

The Song army pursued the Tibetans for hundreds of miles, killing thousands of Tibetan soldiers and capturing countless grains and weapons.

The two royal families not only failed to gain any advantage, but also lost a large amount of territory and suffered heavy casualties. They could only lead their remaining soldiers and flee back to Tibet in a sorry state.

Just as the war was about to end, Chen Zhan, along with Jingzhe and Qingming, arrived at the central army camp of the Song Dynasty.

At this time, Zhao Qingtan had just led his army back to Xingqing Prefecture, the former capital of Western Xia.
Xingqing Prefecture was originally the residence of the ruler of the Western Xia Kingdom. Now that the Western Xia Kingdom has been destroyed and the ruler has fled to the Western Regions, the place is now deserted.

Zhao Qingtan planned to make this place the Protectorate General of the Song Dynasty in Western Xia, to govern all affairs within Western Xia territory.

Chen Zhan's arrival surprised Zhao Qingtan, but also delighted her.

The two met in the camp. Soon after, Shuangjiang and Guyu also arrived and went together to the central command tent to discuss matters.

Inside the central command tent, the lights were on full display.

Zhao Qingtan sat to the side and gave Chen Zhan a detailed account of the battles that had taken place in Western Xia over the past month.

From the crushing defeat of the Western Xia and the pursuit and killing of the Western Xia royal family, to the recent execution of Aligu and the sweeping victory over the various Tibetan tribes, every single event was described clearly and without omission.

Chen Zhan sat in the main seat, listening quietly. After Zhao Qingtan finished speaking, he slowly nodded: "Yes, that's right. That's exactly how it should be done with Tibet."

"Throughout history, peace has always been achieved through fighting, not negotiation. Any alliance or treaty is essentially based on one side being strong and the other weak; there is no true equality to speak of."

"The Tibetan tribes are ambitious. If we do not thoroughly deter them, they will surely come back and invade our Song Dynasty's borders in the future."

Chen Zhan smiled faintly, his tone once again revealing his decisive and ruthless side: "Therefore, it's not enough for Tibet! Let General Liu continue to lead the army directly into Tibet, kill them until they are completely terrified, kill them until they voluntarily submit a letter of surrender, become vassals of the Song Dynasty, and pay annual tribute, leaving no future troubles."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qingtan immediately nodded, her tone firm: "Alright, I will immediately issue an order for General Liu to continue the extermination without mercy."

Chen Zhan nodded slightly and continued to instruct, "You will lead a portion of the troops back to the capital, report to His Majesty, appease the officials, and stabilize the situation in Kaifeng. I will send word to have the men of the Twenty-Four Towers arrive in Xixia as soon as possible to assist General Liu in continuing his attack on Tibet."

"If the Tibetan tribes take the initiative to submit a letter of surrender and request peace talks, then we will discuss with the court officials and His Majesty to decide on the follow-up matters."

Zhao Qingtan bowed and replied, "Yes, sir!"

After Chen Zhan finished explaining the matters concerning Tibet and Western Xia, he suddenly thought of Dali, turned to Zhao Qingtan, and asked, "Has there been any movement from Dali lately? Is it still peaceful?"

Mentioning Dali, Zhao Qingtan smiled and slowly said:
"Not only are they keeping to themselves, but just yesterday, Dali sent an envoy with a letter of alliance, wanting to address the Great Song as a friendly neighbor and brother state, and to respect the Great Song as an elder brother. If the Great Song is at war, Dali will definitely send troops to help."

"In addition, Dali is willing to pay an annual tribute of 100,000 taels of silver, 5,000 fine horses, and 10,000 catties of tea to the Song Dynasty as a sign of sincerity."

"Oh? My neighbor, Brother Bang?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhan couldn't help but laugh. "Duan Zhengming is quite clever. He addresses me as his younger brother, which is like the Liao Dynasty back then, which called the Song Dynasty brothers and didn't want to completely submit to them. He's saving face for himself."

Zhao Qingtan smiled and said, "Although the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty once addressed each other as brothers, with the Song Dynasty as the elder brother and the Liao Dynasty as the younger brother, in the end, the elder brother had to pay annual tribute, give money and grain to the younger brother, and suffer humiliation. The Treaty of Chanyuan, now that I think about it, was indeed too shameful."

She paused, then continued, "However, Dali is much smarter than Liao."

"They did not voluntarily submit, but did everything a subject should do: pay annual tribute and send troops to help. However, in name, they were brother countries, which gave them a way out, so as not to offend the Song Dynasty and to save face."

After speaking, she looked at Chen Zhan and asked softly, "Brother Zhan, what do you think should be done about this?"

Chen Zhan slowly shook his head, his tone calm: "Dali is too small and its national strength is weak. No matter what tricks they play, they can't cause any trouble or become anything significant. You take the alliance document back to Kaifeng and hand it over to His Majesty so that he can discuss and decide with the court officials. I will not concern myself with these trivial matters."

"Too."

Zhao Qingtan nodded, understanding the unspoken meaning in Chen Zhan's words.

She paused for a moment, then looked at Chen Zhan and asked softly, "Brother Zhan, aren't you coming back to Kaifeng with me? In this great battle, you recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, and intimidated the Liao, Western Xia, and Tubo. You deserve the greatest credit. His Majesty will surely reward you handsomely, bestow upon you high office and great wealth, and bestow upon you honors."

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhan shook his head again, "There is no need for a title. Do you think the current imperial power can still restrain me? I lead the army to fight not for high-ranking positions and generous salaries, not for glory, but only to recover the lost territories of China, to deter foreign tribes, and to ensure that the people of the Song Dynasty will never suffer from the ravages of war again."

Zhao Qingtan nodded thoughtfully. She understood Chen Zhan's thoughts. He had always been indifferent to fame and fortune and did not covet power. Now, with his superb martial arts skills and immense power, he was no longer bound by imperial authority.

She then asked, "So, Brother Zhan, what are you planning to do?"

Chen Zhan gazed into the distance: "A few months ago, when we decided to take action against the Liao and Western Xia, you did as I instructed, using your identity as a Dragon God Guard to order the Jianghu of the Song Dynasty to support the border war, right?" "That's right."

Zhao Qingtan nodded, with a hint of helplessness, "However, there are very few people in the martial arts world who respond. There are only some small sects and some unorthodox sects, but their effect is too small."

"The Beggars' Sect, on the other hand, went without hesitation and sent its members to the border to gather intelligence and assassinate enemy generals, making many contributions."

"That's right."

Chen Zhan spoke slowly, his tone tinged with coldness, “The Jianghu of the Song Dynasty is a mixed bag, rife with harm. These sects enjoy the peace and stability of the Song Dynasty in ordinary times, but when the country is in trouble, they stand idly by and are unwilling to do anything. Some sects even secretly collude with foreign tribes to harm the people of the Song Dynasty.”

"I plan to sort out the Jianghu of the Song Dynasty and eliminate these scourges."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qingtan suddenly realized what Chen Zhan meant.

She also remembered her previous visit to Putuo Temple, and the monks there.
At the time, she also thought about cleaning up the martial arts world of the Song Dynasty, and Chen Zhan naturally wouldn't forget that.

Now that the border war has subsided, he is ready to take action to restore order to the martial arts world.

Gu Yu listened for a long time, but she remained uninterested in national affairs and war, and was drowsy the whole time. However, when she heard Chen Zhan say that he was going to reorganize the martial arts world, she suddenly became interested.

Her eyes lit up, and she quickly stepped forward, tugging at Chen Zhan's sleeve, and said urgently, "What about us? Master, take me there!"

Chen Zhan looked at Gu Yu tugging at his sleeve and shook his head helplessly.

"Taking you there is no problem, but you'll have to change your identity. You can't act in your current form or under your current identity."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yu's eyes lit up instantly, but then she frowned, her face full of doubt.

Shuangjiang stood to the side, her expression calm, but a hint of confusion in her eyes. The two exchanged a glance, neither understanding Chen Zhan's intention.

Zhao Qingtan's heart skipped a beat. After a moment's thought, she said softly, "Brother Zhan is going to take drastic measures."

"Go all out?"

Gu Yu pressed on first, her tone urgent, "Master, how can you be so ruthless? To clean up the martial world, do you have to wipe everyone out?"

Shuangjiang nodded slowly, her gaze falling on Chen Zhan, awaiting his explanation.

Chen Zhan picked up the teacup on the table, took a small sip, and when he put it down, his tone was calm but carried an undeniable resolve as he said, word by word, "I want to... destroy Buddhism."

"Suppressing Buddhism?"

Zhao Qingtan, Gu Yu, and Shuangjiang spoke at the same time, their voices filled with shock.

Although Zhao Qingtan had a premonition that Chen Zhan would take drastic measures, she never imagined that his target would be the entire Buddhist sect.

The persecution of Buddhism is not without precedent throughout history; on the contrary, it has occurred several times.

The most well-known example is the persecution of Buddhism by the "Three Wu and One Zong".

The earliest record can be traced back to Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba Tao, who launched the first large-scale persecution of Buddhism in 446 AD.

He ordered the burning of all Buddhist scriptures and statues throughout the country, the demolition of all temples within the territory, and the forced return of all monks and nuns to secular life. Those who refused to return to secular life were to be killed without exception.

Ordinary people were forbidden from believing in or worshipping Buddha. Anyone who dared to secretly harbor a monk or worship Buddha in private would have their entire family executed. The methods were ruthless and served to intimidate the world.

Later, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yong, launched another campaign to suppress Buddhism, which was even more severe than that of Emperor Taiwu.

He not only abolished Buddhism, but also affected Taoism, demolishing all temples and Taoist monasteries across the country, confiscating all their property, taking back their land to the national treasury, and forcing all monks, nuns, and Taoist priests to return to secular life, register them in the household register, and pay taxes and perform military service. In a short time, both Buddhism and Taoism suffered heavy blows.

Later, Emperor Wuzong of Tang (Li Yan) and Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou (Chai Rong) also implemented similar policies to "suppress Buddhism." Although the methods were slightly more lenient, they still greatly weakened the power of Buddhism.

While the reasons for these several persecutions of Buddhism varied, they also shared commonalities.

The most crucial point is that Buddhism developed too rapidly and multiplied extremely quickly, managing to occupy a large amount of land and population in just a few years.

Monks and nuns were exempt from taxes and corvée labor. Many temples, relying on their power, seized vast tracts of fertile land and accumulated enormous wealth, severely depleting the dynasty's tax revenue, military manpower, and labor force.

Even worse, casting Buddha statues requires a large amount of copper, which is a key material for minting coins and weapons. The excessive copper consumption of Buddha statues indirectly affected the dynasty's finances and military, creating hidden dangers.

This is not the most critical.

Buddhist temples are notorious for harboring evil and depravity. Fugitives, thieves, and remnants of rebel armies often hide in temples, shave their heads, become monks, change their identities, and evade government pursuit.

After these people entered the Buddhist order, instead of devoting themselves to Buddhism, they secretly raised private armies and stockpiled weapons.

When Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty quelled the rebellion, he found a large number of weapons and money in the temples, and even discovered that the monks in the temples were secretly colluding with the rebels and plotting treason. It was then that he made up his mind to carry out a large-scale extermination of Buddhism.

However, the previous persecutions of Buddhism all occurred when the country was in crisis, and the Buddhist community was riddled with problems. Without eliminating them, it would be impossible to quell the crisis or consolidate the foundation of the dynasty.

However, the Song Dynasty is currently at its zenith.

Having recovered Yan and Yun, swept away Western Xia, and intimidated Tubo and Dali, the country was strong, its army was powerful, and its treasury was full. Rashly suppressing Buddhism would likely cause a huge uproar.

The three women were all puzzled, but Chen Zhan seemed to see through their thoughts and said with a faint smile, "What? Such a measure shouldn't need to be discussed with the young emperor, right?"

Zhao Qingtan snapped out of her daze and quickly nodded: "Uh, that's not necessary. With Zhan-ge's current achievements and power, you have full authority to decide this matter, and His Majesty will have no objections. However, should we send troops to assist?"

"Or perhaps His Majesty should issue an edict to make it more legitimate? If you rashly suppress Buddhism like this, Brother Zhan, you might become the enemy of the entire martial arts world. Buddhist disciples are all over the world, and the major temples are quite powerful. They will inevitably fight back to the death."

She wasn't against Chen Zhan's decision, but she was a little worried.

Although Chen Zhan is now highly skilled in martial arts and wields immense power, he has a deep Buddhist foundation and numerous disciples. He himself is not afraid, but those associated with him, including the disciples of the Twenty-Four Towers, do not have his strength.

Chen Zhan slowly shook his head, his tone indifferent: "I don't care. A clear conscience fears no accusation. Besides, I don't care about the reputation of being a public enemy of the martial arts world. However, the Twenty-Four Paths Tower might be implicated. After all, they have been following my lead for many years and have become too flamboyant, making them well-known in the martial arts world."

"That's why I said we need to change our identity and cover our tracks." (End of Chapter)