As Hu Yuan left the capital and retreated to Penglai Pavilion in Dengzhou to meditate and not care about worldly affairs, the development of the world seemed to have returned to its original trajectory.
Although Hu Long killed the Jin envoy Wanyan Zonghan when he made a fuss in the palace before leaving Beijing, after several rounds of negotiations, the Jin and Song Dynasties still reached a national policy of attacking from the north and the south and joining forces to destroy the Liao Dynasty.
In the next few years, the Jin Kingdom was unstoppable. Although Wanyan Aguda died of illness and his younger brother Wanyan Wu begged to succeed to the throne, the Liao Kingdom's millions of troops were still routed thousands of miles away.
During this period, Pu Feng, the national master of the Jin Kingdom, went to the Blackwater Palace in person, and with his incredible magical power that shocked gods and ghosts, he killed the palace owner, Wei Ziling, and completely razed this spiritual holy place of the Liao Kingdom.
The Song Dynasty suffered repeated defeats and was beaten by the Liao Kingdom in a desperate state.
When the Jin State finally swept across the entire Liao State and even captured the Liao Emperor Yelu Yanxi alive, the Song State could only spend a lot of money to redeem the cities that it should have captured from the Jin State.
During the joint battle, the Jin State had already seen clearly that the Song State, a so-called big country in the Central Plains with a vast territory and abundant resources, was actually a paper tiger with a superficial appearance. It thought that by using a few empty cities to empty out the population and wealth, the Jin State could extort gold and silver from the Song State. The wealth in the sea, and the top brass of the Jin Kingdom, headed by Wanyan Wu Qingbu, all coveted the rich Central Plains.
After only two years of rest and recuperation, the Jin Kingdom, which had barely digested the Liao Kingdom, brazenly launched a war against the Song Dynasty.
Wanyan Wu begged to buy and sent two groups of troops to capture Taiyuan and Yanshan Mansion. The troops leading the way to Taiyuan were blocked, but they marched straight in to Yanshan Mansion. Zhao Ji was so frightened that he hurriedly passed the throne to the prince Zhao Huan, letting him stay in the capital to hold the throne. He fled to Jinling in a panic.
The new emperor Zhao Huan himself was not a wise ruler, and the enemy was already panicking. Fortunately, Li Gang appeared in the court to support the overall situation.
While Li Gang tried his best to persuade Zhao Huan to stay in the capital, instead of following the example of his father Zhao Ji who fled before fighting, he also asked Zhao Huan to send an order to recruit troops from all walks of life to prepare to defend the capital.
He also thought that there was a national master Pu Feng with unparalleled supernatural powers and fierce power in the Jin army, but no one on his side could compete with him, so he requested an order to quickly recruit the unknown Shaolin monk and the Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Zhang Jixian to the capital. .
In view of the terrifying strength shown by Pu Feng, Li Gang thought of Taoist Hu Yun who was independent in Dengzhou and seemed to be self-reliant.
It happened that Zhou Tong, the great master of martial arts, was visiting his house at that time and wanted to do his part in guarding the capital. Li Gang heard that he had a good relationship with Hu Yuan, so he asked Zhao Huan for a decree and delivered it to Zhou Tong to Dengzhou. .
It is said that Zhou Tong was worried about state affairs all the way and did not dare to delay. He used the fast horses at the stations along the way to rush to Dengzhou day and night.
As soon as they arrived outside the city, they saw a divine white horse galloping out of the city gate. The white-robed young man on the horse dismounted from the city gate, quickly ran across the suspension bridge and bowed down in front of Zhou Dong's horse. He said: "My little boy, Yue Fei, comes to greet his adoptive father in the name of my master."
This young general in white robes with majestic appearance and outstanding grace is none other than Yue Fei, the adopted son of Zhou Tong in his later years. He is also one of the two new disciples that Hu Long has accepted in recent years.
At the beginning, Zhou Tong and Lu Junyi's masters and apprentices were forced by the court to participate in the siege of Hu Long. Although Hu Long himself had the strength to ensure his own safety, the master and apprentice also secretly let go, which can be regarded as their friendship as friends.
Afterwards, both of them were disillusioned with the court, so Lu Junyi resigned from his official position and followed Zhou Tong back to his home in Daming Mansion.
In his early years, Lu Junyi purchased some fertile land in Qilin Village, Neihuang County, under the control of Daming Prefecture, and transferred it to Zhou Tong in return for his teachings.
Zhou Tong has been leasing the land for these years, and he only collects some rent during the New Year. Now that I have arrived at Daming Mansion, I personally went to Qilin Village to inspect it. By chance, they met Yue Fei's mother and son who had been displaced here due to floods in their early years.
Zhou Tong saw that Yue Fei was already very impressive at a young age and would definitely not be the best in the pool in the future. If he were taught by a famous teacher, his future achievements would probably be higher than those of his two disciples, Lu Junyi and Lin Chong. So he invited people to visit his mother-in-law, and negotiated peace with him, and adopted Yue Fei as his adopted son.
For several years after that, Zhou Tong stayed in Qilin Village and devoted all his energy to teaching Yue Fei martial arts.
To say that Yue Fei lived up to Zhou Tong's expectations, it only took him a few years to master Zhou Tong's martial arts skills. The only difference was his skill level.
Zhou Tong already had a plan in mind when he accepted Yue Fei as his adopted son rather than his disciple. Seeing that he had nothing to teach him, he discussed with his mother-in-law and took Yue Fei to Penglai Pavilion in Dengzhou to seek an audience with Hu Huan. Zhang Laolian asked Hu Yuan to take Yue Fei into his sect.
This incident was also a surprise to Hu Yuan, so naturally he took the seed of this famous general who was destined to leave a name in history under his sect, and became his fourth disciple after Xu Ziwan.
At that time, he saw that Zhou Tong was showing signs of declining Qi and blood. He thought it was because he was old and his skills were no longer as pure as when he was in his prime. He was gradually unable to suppress the various old internal and external injuries accumulated from practicing martial arts and fighting with others in his early years. .
Thinking of the friendship between the two parties, Hu Long took a flat peach from the jade gourd and gave it to him.
Zhou Tong took this spiritual fruit and used his skills to refine the spiritual energy in it. All signs of injuries and illnesses that had appeared recently were wiped away. His whole body seemed to be twenty years younger, and his declining martial arts also returned. Peak state. If not, this old man wouldn't have the energy to travel thousands of miles now.
Seeing that Taoist Hu Yuan could predict his arrival and specially sent his adopted son to greet him, Zhou Tong was not surprised at the vastness of the other party's magical powers. After all, the two parties had a close relationship with each other, and he also vaguely understood some of the other party's magical powers.
He first asked Yue Fei, who was saluting in front of the horse, to stand up, and then asked with a smile: "Pengju, is your master in the city or in Penglai Pavilion now?"
Yue Fei stood up and replied respectfully: "Reporting to my adoptive father, my master is waiting for me in the city."
Zhou Tong said with a smile: "This is very good, but it saves you a few steps to become a father. Pengju, you can lead the way."
Yue Fei agreed, turned around and mounted his horse, and followed him half a step behind.
The father and son drove slowly through the city gate and through the streets to the state government office.
Yue Fei dismounted his horse and led Zhou Tong in. He turned around the front hall and came to the back hall, only to see Hu Yuan standing under the eaves of the corridor to greet him. There were two monks on the left and right beside him. They were "Flower Monk" Lu Zhishen and "Ruyunlong" Gongsun Sheng. Below him were another monk. There are three people separated. The one on the right, who looks like a pair of beauties, is Hu Yun's first disciple Murong Yan and the third disciple Xu Ziyuan. The man on the left who is slightly older than Yue Fei is Hu Yuan's next disciple Fang Tianding.
Hu Long now has five disciples in total. In addition to the four in front of him, the fifth one is Lin Chaoying, the daughter of Lin Chong.
Because the little girl is still young, she is still staying with her parents in Liangshan, but she has settled on the status of master and apprentice with Hu Yuan.
Seeing Zhou Tong's arrival, Hu Long stepped down to greet him with a smile. After bowing to each other, they sat down indoors to talk.
Zhou Tong is an old and impatient person. As soon as he sat down, he got straight to the point: "With the Taoist priest's magical power and wisdom, he must have already known my intention of coming here, so I don't need to waste my words. Now the imperial edict is here. , but I don’t know how the commander will reply?”
Having said that, he took out the will from his arms and did not read it out, but casually placed it on several cases around him.
Hu Long said calmly: "The old man is a sensible man, so Pindao will tell his true feelings frankly. Over the years, Pindao has secretly made many arrangements. If he fully mobilizes, he is somewhat sure to help the Song Dynasty survive this crisis." . But in the opinion of the old man, after the crisis in the Song Dynasty is resolved, whether the old Zhao Guan family or the new Zhao Guan family will be able to realize their shame and be courageous, work hard to govern, and revive the China of China, which has been suffering from barbarians from all sides for hundreds of years. The debilitating situation of being bullied by barbarians?"
Zhou Tong was speechless, stunned for a moment and then shook his head.
Hulu clapped and laughed and said: "Since Emperor Taizu released his military power over a glass of wine, the Song Dynasty has been pursuing a policy of advocating culture and suppressing military power. Not only did famous generals wither and undermine the pillars of national defense, but it also gradually weakened the unyielding character of the descendants of Yan and Huang. Now it has become It’s hard to come back. Instead of trying so hard to rescue it and let it linger, how about breaking it and standing up again, so that the Chinese land of China can be reborn from the ashes and regain the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties!”
When Zhou Tong heard these shocking words, his heart was shaken for a moment. After a while, he asked quietly: "How sure is the Taoist master's plan of success?"
