After the Lantern Festival, everything returned to normal, everything was quiet, and there seemed to be no war in the world.
"It's snowing again!"
Sun Lei looked at the snowy sky. This was already the third snow in the new year.
"Brother, why don't we use soldiers?"
Everyone gathered around Sun Lei, looked at the white world, and asked.
"More haste less speed!"
Sun Lei shook his head.
"Brother, shouldn't we strike while the iron is hot?"
Pang Wanchun said, Liangshanbo is now so powerful that it is a great opportunity for expansion.
"Last year we were very eye-catching in Liangshanbo. Now we occupy the entire Shandong Province, with a sphere of influence covering 18 state capitals and 150,000 troops. We have defeated the Xiang soldiers, the Forbidden Army, the Western Army of the Song Dynasty, Xixia, Liao, and Golden State."
"If we seize the time to expand, do you believe that Zhao Ji and those people will unite with Xixia, Liao and Jin to deal with us?"
Sun Lei shook his head and said, Expanding too fast is not a good thing. As Wen Huanzhang said, there are not enough officials to manage the place. This is the case for eighteen states now. What should we do if we conquer 180 states now?
"No way? Although the Zhao family is not a thing, they are not cooperating with the enemy, right?"
Tang Bin said, "It goes without saying that the Zhao family is decadent, but you have to save face, right?" Why is Liangshan "one of our own"? If we unite with Liao, Xixia, and Jin to deal with Liangshan, wouldn't we even lose the face of our ancestors?
"Don't underestimate the shamelessness of those people. If you can join forces with the Jin Kingdom to deal with people like the Liao Kingdom who can do stupid things like seeking skin from a tiger, what can't they do?"
Sun Lei shook his head and said.
At this moment, a small boat came quickly from the water.
"Um?"
Sun Lei frowned and looked at the small boat, which was a bit fast.
"There seems to be something going on!"
Sun Lei spoke silently.
"Brother, someone is coming from Fang La!"
Zhu Gui walked up to Sun Lei and said.
"Fang La?"
Sun Lei touched his chin, Fang La had been on a roller coaster this year, with highs and lows, and now he was in a bit of a difficult situation.
"Who's coming?"
Sun Lei asked.
"It's the Hundred Flowers Saint!"
Zhu Gui said.
"Fang Baihua?"
Sun Lei frowned even more. He originally thought that Fang La would send Deng Yuanjue over. After all, only Deng Yuanjue had a good relationship with Liangshan in the entire Mingjiao.
In the Juyi Hall, Sun Lei sat down, and Fang Baihua looked at the man in front of her, feeling very complicated.
When they first met, she only thought that Sun Lei was a talkative protégé, but a year later, Sun Lei had conquered the Eighteen Prefectures, defeated powerful enemies in succession, and firmly controlled the entire Shandong.
"Leader Sun!"
Fang Baihua raised her fist towards Sun Lei.
"It's the Saint of Hundred Flowers, sit down!"
Sun Lei smiled and pointed to the chair beside him and said, "Compared with last time, Fang Baihua is a lot darker and his face is a lot more haggard. This year must not be easy."
"Leader Sun, this is a letter from my Holy Master of the Ming Cult!"
Fang Baihua took out a letter and handed it to Zhu Gui, who handed it to Sun Lei.
"Master Fang is so polite. The Lantern Festival has passed and the New Year's letter has just arrived."
Sun Lei said with a smile. He didn't open the letter, but he knew it wasn't a New Year's letter without reading it.
"I hope Leader Sun can send troops to help our Mingjiao contain the government troops!"
Seeing that Sun Lei had misunderstood, Fang Baihua immediately spoke.
"Shall I help you?"
Sun Lei touched his chin and thought, but he didn't speak for a long time.
"Leader Sun now controls the entire Shandong Province. All he needs to do is send troops from the Huaiyang Army to go south, conquer Chuzhou and Sizhou, and push straight to Yangzhou!"
Fang Baihua looked pleading, Huaiyang Army is the southernmost military state on Jingdong East Road, not far from Jiangnan, and Yangzhou is now the base camp of the Song Army. As long as Sun Lei threatens, the crisis in Jiangnan can be alleviated.
"Holy Lady Fang, now that Liangshan is surrounded by enemies, I'm afraid I won't be able to go south!"
Sun Lei shook his head and said, as the saying goes, he won't do anything without benefit.
"I'm very curious. The Mingjiao has been working hard in Jiangnan for more than ten years and conquered six states in one go. How could it not be able to defeat the official army?"
Sun Lei looked at Fang Baihua with a smile and asked.
This question stopped Fang Baihua and he didn't know how to answer.
Sun Lei just smiled. He knew the reason. Jiangnan was in the hinterland of the Song Dynasty and it was impossible to face the ferocious aliens. Therefore, the city walls were low, the defense was lax, and the defenders were even fewer. Throughout the Song Dynasty, almost all soldiers and horses were in Tokyo and Borders, and the equipment is even less worth mentioning.
Fang La's subordinates were all civilians who had been oppressed for a long time. They were all filled with anger. When Fang La was bewitched, they exploded like a powder keg and swept across the entire Jiangnan.
But in the end, this could not change the problem of Fang La's men. They burned, killed and looted. From the beginning of killing officials and rich people, it gradually evolved into killing and robbing everyone in sight, causing anger and resentment in Jiangnan.
At first, a large number of ordinary people were afraid of the Mingjiao and would actively adhere to them for self-protection. However, with the arrival of the imperial officers and soldiers, the Mingjiao suffered repeated defeats. The common people soon made their choice again. The Mingjiao lost the most important people's hearts. Defeat is decided.
"Leader Sun! Are you really unwilling to send troops?"
Fang Baihua looked at Sun Lei. The Mingjiao was in danger now. Now that the New Year had passed, the Song Dynasty would soon launch a strong attack. Now that the Mingjiao's vitality was severely damaged, they might not be able to stop it.
"Let me think about this matter. Saint Fang has come a long way and it has been a hard journey. Go and rest first!"
Sun Lei looked at Fang Baihua and said, Pang Qiuxia walked over and took Fang Baihua out of the Juyi Hall.
"The Mingjiao asked for it! Now the Mingjiao has long deviated from its previous teachings. There is no point in saving people in this situation."
Xiao Jiasui shook his head and said, the teachings of Mingjiao are very good, and the earliest believers were pious enough. However, in the later period, Fang La was eager for quick success and recruited too many chaotic people. Today, Mingjiao has long been out of Fang La's control.
"But we can't sit idly by! Now the eunuch Tan Zhen is commanding an army of 100,000 people, and Wang Zhen and Liu Zhen are generals. They should be heading south on a large scale soon!"
Li Zhu said, although Fang La is not a good person, they can't just sit idly by.
"Now, Wang Qing of Huaixi has surrendered to Tong Guan! Tian Hu of Hedong has surrendered to Liao! Of the four forces that rebelled together, only we and Fang La are left. If Fang La is destroyed, the court will be able to deal with us with all its strength!"
Li Zhu added.
"But if we rescue Fang La again, we will have enemies on all sides. The Jin Kingdom will take action soon. The real trouble is there!"
Xu Guanzhong frowned and said, compared to the Jurchen army, the Song army and horses are really nothing.
"Let's go to the Huaiyang Army first. Even if we don't save Fang La, we still have to take advantage of the opportunity to get some benefits!"
Sun Lei thought for a while and then said, he really didn't bother to save Fang La. A magician led a group of villains, what's worth saving? But you can still use it.
"Brother, I'm going!"
Lu Zhishen said that he was not interested in rescuing Fang La, but he wanted to see if he could save the great monk Deng Yuanjue.
(End of chapter)
