Jinling.
Cars and horses flow like a stream, and people walk like a weave.
Although it has been relegated to the eastern half of the Yangtze River, as the imperial capital for thousands of years, Jinling City is still as prosperous as ever.
Business travelers were constantly coming and going on the street, and people of all sizes were shouting and selling. The crowds of people passing through were crowded on the street. In the panic, the children of the aristocratic families in bright clothes and angry horses left happily.
"The country is perishing, but Jinling is still prosperous, even more prosperous than before. The world is obsessed with this moment of peace, but forgets the worries. It seems that the Ning Kingdom is really hopeless."
In the distinguished guest room on the third floor of Jufu Tower, Marquis Wuwei of Daning, General Zhenxi, Imperial Master of Ning State, and Master Xuanyu looked at the children of the aristocratic family who were laughing and leaving outside, and couldn't help but shake their heads.
"The people of Ning may not have forgotten their worries, but now that the country of Ning is in decline, what can they do even if they know that the country will be destroyed and the family will be destroyed at this moment?
The size gap between the two countries lies here. Even if Ning Guo tries his best, he can't change the reality.
Anyway, it is inevitable to perish in the end, so it is better to enjoy the glory as much as possible and indulge in wantonness while the wealth is still there.
Otherwise, it will become a slave to the subjugation of the country and a prisoner of the subordinates. It will be impossible to be so free again. "Ziyun Taoist priest, the great national master of Ningguo, Xuan Chengzi Dandan Taoist.
"Yes, instead of dying miserably and enjoying nothing the other day, it's better to be more happy now."
Xuanyu sighed, then looked at his Taoist master and asked, "Headmaster, King Chu wants us to start an uprising immediately?"
Xuan Chengzi nodded: "These days, the activities of the Liang people's envoys in Jinling have caused the King of Chu to be uneasy. It will inevitably cause trouble, so let us start the attack in advance and leave Ning Guo half disabled first."
Xuanyu frowned: "There is no problem in taking action now. In the past year, our brothers have successively controlled 400,000 soldiers and horses of Ning State. They have also controlled the eastern half of Linhai County. Even Guangling County and the capital have many soldiers. horse.
As long as you take action, you can capture half of Ningguo in an instant. "
Since Ning Guo retreated to Jiangdong, the power of the Linhai family has greatly declined. With the heavy troops of the Chu people suppressing the territory, they can hardly even maintain the territory of the remaining two counties.
Fortunately, Ziyun Dao later swore to follow him to the death, and Taoist master Xuan Chengzi took the entire sect and retreated to Jiangdong County along with Ning Guo.
With the help of the six innates of Ziyundao and the large amount of money they contributed, Ning Guo was finally able to stabilize the situation.
However, it is precisely because of this that a large number of soldiers and horses raised by Ziyundao's money eventually became soldiers of Ziyundao's family and were firmly controlled by them.
Now Ziyundao can control Ningguo's 400,000 soldiers and horses, not only because Ningguo has no one, they have spent a lot of money to help Ningguo recruit troops, which is also a reason that cannot be ignored.
Such a situation will naturally cause the power of Ning State to be divided into two parts, laying hidden dangers for future divisions and even internal strife.
But for Ning Guo today, the hidden dangers in the future are nothing at all, and it is nothing to give up power to Ziyundao now. It is true to protect his country and the country first.
Being able to use shared power to bind Ziyun Dao and let the other party firmly join one's own chariot is a great thing that one can only hope for.
Isn't it power?
As long as the wealth of the Linhai family can be preserved, it doesn't matter even if the position of the national army is given to Ziyun Dao and Xuan Chengzi becomes the Taoist emperor.
Anyway, the emperor of their Linhai family has been taking turns for two thousand years. No one thought that one family and one surname could rule for a thousand years.
Some people within the Linhai Family have tentatively asked Xuan Chengzi and expressed their thoughts in this regard in a vague way.
And this attitude and sincerity naturally moved Ziyundao.
Therefore, for more than a year, Ziyundao worked hard and tried his best to help Ning Guo maintain its rule.
Although they did not forget the mission of Chu State, they conveyed the information of Jiangdong Ning State to Lu Yuan conscientiously and were ready to do anything at any time.
But they were also serious about helping Ning Guo.
This posture of sitting on the wall has clearly expressed Ziyundao's attitude.
Swing left and right, take both sides.
Although he was afraid of the Chu State, he was somewhat reluctant to part with the benefits he had gained in the Ning State.
"Headmaster, are we really going to start an uprising?"
After hesitating for a moment, Xuanyu couldn't help but ask: "Now that Ning State has the help of Liang State, there is no shortage of money and food, and there are reinforcements outside. There are 800,000 soldiers and horses in the country to help us, so it may not be impossible to defend Jiangdong's foundation. In this way It just takes a few decades and maybe there will be a turn for the better.”
Hold on and hold on, this is a common argument in the country since Ningguo returned to Jiangdong.
And this argument, with the arrival of the Liang people's envoys during this period, and Liang Guo's willingness to form an alliance and provide help, became even more encouraging to the people of Ning Guo.
Now more and more people, even those from Ziyun Dao like Xuanyu, are faintly leaning towards this national policy.
The religion of one country may even establish an earthly country.
Just ask, who can give up such a temptation?
"Xuanyu, you have been exposed to too much of the bustling world of mortals, and your heart is confused."
When Xuan Chengzi heard Xuan Yu's words, he looked slightly cold and reprimanded: "The Chu State has now integrated the southwest. There are thirty-three innate masters available in the country, and two million soldiers and horses can be mobilized." many.
And as time goes by, the strength of Chu State will continue to strengthen.
In the end, it is impossible for the number of innate masters to reach forty or fifty, and the number of soldiers to reach three to five million.
This strength, even compared to the Liang Kingdom that occupies Qingzhou in the north, is not necessarily where it falls.
But the Liang Kingdom also had to deal with powerful enemies in Hebei and the northwest. Most of the country's strength was located in the north and west. Only 30% of the troops in the south of the Yangtze River could be used.
With only 30% of the strength and a broken Ning State, how can it resist the Chu army?
The current support of Liang State to Ning State is just to use these Linhai families and me, Ziyun Dao, to consume the strength of Chu State and buy them time.
With such tricks, how can we fulfill their wish and use the lives of my Ziyun Dao disciples to lay the foundation stone for Liang Guo's hegemony? "
It is different from those in the sect who are attracted and confused by the gimmick of the earthly country.
Xuan Chengzi took the situation in Jiangnan and the current situation in Kyushu very lightly.
He knew that even with the help of Liang Guo, Ning Guo was by no means the opponent of Chu State who had unified most of Yangzhou.
After all, Liang State is in Jiangbei, in Qingzhou. Not in Jiangnan, but in Yangzhou.
Just now, it was destined that Liang would not be able to devote all his strength to the Yangzhou battlefield.
Naturally, the Ning State, which could not get help from the entire Liang State, could not be the opponent of the Chu State, which had integrated more than 90% of Yangzhou.
A coalition with at most only 30% Qingzhou and 10% Yangzhou doesn't look like it can win against Yangzhou with more than 90%.
"It is impossible for the Liang Kingdom and the Ning Kingdom to defeat the Chu Kingdom. But we don't need to win. We only need to hold on for a few decades until the four poles change, and then the turning point will come." Xuanyu is still a little unwilling. .
"Transfer?"
Xuan Chengzi sneered when he heard this: "What turn of events? You mean that a few decades later, a dilapidated country suppressed by the Chu Kingdom may only have two to three million people, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and I don't know if there are ten innate warriors." Ningguo.
Are you dreaming of joining forces with the extremely powerful Chu State, which has been fighting for decades and already having a bloody feud, and heading north to Zhongzhou together?
Do not be silly.
It was impossible for the Chu State to join forces with an enemy that had blocked it for decades.
Even if Ning State, which had been besieged by Chu State for decades, could survive, it would not have the strength to go north to Zhongzhou to compete for territory with the heroes of the world.
Just relying on Ning Guo's wealth, how much territory can be captured if they really attack Zhongzhou.
A county?
A mansion?
There can't be a county, right?
And without a single county, how could Ning Guo gain a foothold in the Central Plains surrounded by wolves?
I'm afraid that it won't be long before it will be annexed by the heroes, and the country will be destroyed and the family will be destroyed.
In that case, what's the point of us persisting for decades and shedding the blood of the entire sect?
But it would be different if we help Chu State.
If the Chu State can integrate Yangzhou, it can sit in the south of the Yangtze River and watch the heroes in the north fight, and watch Liang, Zhao, Xu, Wei, Zhou and other countries fighting life and death.
After these people are exhausted from fighting, they can then launch the Northern Expedition. Even if they cannot capture the entire Qingzhou, they can still occupy five or six counties, which is also the foundation of half of the state.
So no matter how bad it is, Chu State is a guaranteed overlord of Zhongzhou.
Would you rather be a state ruled by a single government, or would you rather be an overlord with a state religion? "
Xuan Chengzi made a question that pointed directly at people's hearts.
One government is the Taoist state, and half the state is the state religion.
These two paths were clearly laid out in front of Xuanyu.
Faced with this problem, there is no need to think too much, the answer has already come out.
"This is naturally...the religion of the overlord country."
Faced with the bloody reality and the headmaster's sharp eyes, Xuanyu could only suppress his ambition and replied bitterly, no matter how unwilling he was.
A government's territory, no matter how wealthy it is, can only support a million people at most.
But if it is the overlord of half a state, judging from the current situation, there are still 20 to 30 million people.
And considering that in the future, a large number of the population of Kyushu will be concentrated in Zhongzhou, the richer and more powerful the country will be, the more people it can control in the end.
So if the Chu State, which controls the entire Yangzhou, moves to Zhongzhou, even if in the end it is only as Xuanchengzi said, it can only seize the land of five or six counties, the final population should not be less than 40 to 50 million. of.
Faced with such a huge base, even if it ends up being shared with Feishuang Dao, Ziyun Dao will still be able to get a share of 20 to 30 million believers.
And facing a small, weak country that doesn't know when it will perish, even if it becomes an earthly country, what's the point?
It is actually very clear how Ziyundao should choose.
Xuanchengzi understood this clearly, so even when the hearts of his people were floating and many people were confused by the earthly kingdom, he still chose to stand firmly by Chu State.
Because that represents the future.
"If you can see this clearly, I can rest assured."
Xuan Chengzi looked at the frustrated Xuan Yu, and the expression on his face finally softened a lot, and then continued to comfort him: "In fact, following the Chu State is indeed a good thing for our sect.
If it is true as you said, we will completely bind Ning Country, and even turn Ning Country into the Tao Kingdom of Ziyun Dao, and then take this Tao Kingdom north to Zhongzhou.
In the end, I, Ziyun Dao, broke away from my status outside the secular world and became an insider from the original outsider.
You don’t even think about it.
With the cruelty of worldly struggle for hegemony, among all the destroyed countries, which one of the royal family and nobles in the country can survive?
They were all killed by the victors, leaving no further trouble.
At that time, if our country, Ziyun Dao, loses in the struggle for hegemony in Zhongzhou.
Not only will the country of Zuo be destroyed, but none of my disciples of Ziyun Dao, who hold the great power of the country, will survive.
After we die, can Ziyun Dao, the remnant of us, still be preserved?
I'm afraid that when the time comes, the enemies we have offended, such as the Chu State, will follow us and beat them up in retaliation for our efforts to prevent their unification in the south of the Yangtze River.
At that time, Ziyun Dao's orthodoxy will really be cut off, and you and I will both be sinners in the sect.
on the contrary.
If Ziyundao surrenders to the Chu State and takes shelter under the Chu State's banner, Chu State will be defeated in the Zhongzhou hegemony and be attacked and destroyed.
I mean Zi Dao and Feishuang Dao, they can also stay out of the matter and escape in the name of Taoism.
At most, he could just cut himself off from those disciples who served in the Chu Kingdom and expel them from the door.
Ziyundao can still be picked clean and preserved.
After all, although the Kingdom of Chu was destroyed, our Taoist sect still has an innate master. On this point, the Taoist sects in the world have the same interests.
If those secular dynasties do not want to bear the innate anger of a Taoist sect and the hostility of Taoist sects in the world, they will never dare to do anything. "
When Xuan Chengzi said this, he seemed to think of something again, so he looked at Xuan Yu again and said meaningfully: "Moreover, you want to carry Ning Guo to death.
But have you ever thought that even if you unite with the Liang Kingdom and have the help of Ziyun Dao, you still can't be the opponent of the Chu Kingdom?
do not forget.
During this period of time in Chu State, the six Qinghuang Masters appeared one after another.
At the moment when all the monks in Jiuzhou have ascended, six more real people can appear, and they have the same names as the previous two real people of Chu State, Qing Yunzi and Huang Xuan.
You don’t know what this means, right? "
Hearing the headmaster mention this, Xuanyu's face turned ugly.
The appearance of the real people of the green and yellow lines, and the awareness of the innate masters among the mortals may be that the Chu Kingdom has six more powerful innate combat powers, and they are innate combat powers that are deeply related to the King of Chu.
But as disciples of the Immortal Sect, Xuan Chengzi and Xuan Yu had an important stake in this matter, which was an unimaginable shock.
Because after more and more Qinghuang real people appeared, they still didn't understand that these so-called real people were basically clones of King Chu, or some kind of puppets.
This is the method of the Immortal Sect, which comes from some kind of magical power.
And in the current world of Jue Ling, being able to create eight clones or puppets at once and control them freely, the hidden benefits are really too great.
This means that King Chu can still practice and continuously improve his cultivation even if he has no spiritual energy in this world of extraordinary spirits.
This can be seen from the fact that King Chu had only two clones before, but after occupying Tianluo Mountain, four clones suddenly appeared.
After this, King Chu's cultivation level has definitely skyrocketed.
Then comes the problem.
Before King Chu defeated Ning Guo, among the major immortal sects and the world, the strength was recognized by the level of the Taoist masters of each immortal sect, that is, the cultivation of one spirit.
Then if he makes a breakthrough in his cultivation, how far will his cultivation reach?
"King Chu has gathered his energy..."
Although he knew this was ridiculous, the fact was before his eyes. Xuanyu spat and had to admit this fact that he absolutely didn't want to believe.
"Yes, condense two Qi."
Xuan Chengzi's expression was also very complicated. The future interests of the large sect were placed in front of him, so he had to think seriously: "You and I should both know how powerful and terrifying a monk who condenses two Qi can be, right?
If everything is as recorded in the classics, then innate monks like you and me are simply vulnerable in front of the King of Chu, just like those innate warriors are in front of you and me.
Even if we can gather thirteen people, or even more innates, as long as the King of Chu personally takes action, our death will be in vain.
King Chu didn't even need to take action, just relying on his clone puppets whose cultivation was comparable to the second level of Xiantian. If the eight clones acted together, the eight second level of Xiantian would be enough to sweep Jiangdong.
The gap between innate and above is too great.
If you continue to resist, you will only die in vain, dragging the sect to die together with those Linhai aristocratic families.
You and I have heavy responsibilities and the expectations of the previous Taoist master, so we must not do such stupid things. "
At the mention of the former Taoist master, Xuanyu's face trembled, but he thought of that majestic and elegant figure. The last trace of resistance in his heart dissipated, and he sighed helplessly: "I know. I will personally persuade other fellow disciples. I will never It will delay the uprising anyway, and we will miss the promise of Chu."
"Junior brother can feel relieved if he can think so." Xuan Chengzi nodded with satisfaction.
Nowadays, those in Ziyun Dao who advocate taking control of Ning Country and establishing an above-ground Dao Kingdom are basically led by the Xuanyu in front of them.
And if Xuanyu changes his mind, under the influence of his leader, he will undoubtedly be able to influence a large part or even all of the Daoguo sect's disciples.
This is also the reason why Xuan Chengzi wants to talk to Xuanyu.
As long as you convince him, you can convince the entire Daoguo sect and you can bring Ziyun Dao back from the wrong path.
"Everything is just for the sect."
Xuanyu stood up, waved his hands, and said sadly: "King Chu can still practice in this world of extraordinary spirits. I really don't know what method he used. If the former Taoist masters are still here and know about this method, it will be No need to be forced to leave.
Now that I have ascended to the immortal world, the road ahead is bleak, and I don’t know if I can really find the road. "
Xuanchengzi also stood up and said indifferently after hearing this: "Who knows. But even if the King of Chu can practice, the method is extremely harsh and cannot even be used by others.
Otherwise, why is it that no one in the Chu Kingdom has practiced immortal magic except him?
Moreover, in this world of extraordinary spirits, even if you can practice cultivation, it will be extremely rough and the path to immortality will be difficult to find.
At most, we can just hang on for a while.
If the former Taoist masters and the others could get a chance to ascend, they would at least have a glimmer of possibility of becoming immortals, which might not be any worse than if King Chu were hiding in the mortal realm of the Nine Provinces.
However, with the King of Chu's ability to condense the two qi, his lifespan is three hundred years, twice as long as our innate life, and he still has a throne to occupy, but it is enough to be called free.
With this heroic leader in the Chu State, if nothing else, the foundation can be preserved for at least three hundred years.
Compared with other immortal sects in Kyushu, the mortal dynasty they have taken refuge in is already much stronger. "
"Yes, if we join him, at least we have one more monk who can condense the two qi. This is already stronger than many people." Xuanyu sighed.
"That's all, let's not talk about it."
Xuan Chengzi shook his head, looked at his junior brother and said: "The King of Chu not only wants us to cause trouble this time, but also offers the Linhai family a reward to win over them.
I have made an appointment with Marquis Wu Ming and am going to test his tone. Junior brother, please hurry up and persuade your fellow disciples. Time is tight and we cannot delay. "
"yes."
Xuanyu bowed and accepted the order.
