Take the earth to enshrine the gods

Chapter 234 The Battle of the South Territory That Came to an Abrupt End (Two in One)

Regarding the conditions proposed by the Kunlun School, Chu Wang Ganke felt very hesitant.

Because once the Kunlun School is accepted, it will mean changing the established strategy of the dynasty for thousands of years, subverting the concept of the world, and it is likely to become the target of public criticism.

This is a huge political risk.

At this moment, news came from the rear that the defense formation of Nanyu City was breached by the Southwest Corps, and the two sides were engaged in a more brutal siege battle.

Under the artillery fire of the Southwest Corps, the situation was very unfavorable.

The king of Chu also knew very well that without reinforcements, Nanyu City would surely fall, which prompted him to make an immediate decision to accept the conditions proposed by the Kunlun faction.

September [-]th.

King Ganke of Chu formally signed an agreement with Master Chihu, the head teacher of the Kunlun School, and swore his soul to the gods of the heavens, branding his soul.

In this way, neither party can tear up the agreement.

Otherwise, the soul will be backlashed by the oath. This kind of backlash has nothing to do with the level of cultivation, even if it is as strong as Chihu Daoist, it is enough for him to drink a pot.

The damage to the cultivation base is only minor, and one bad one may damage the Dao Foundation and completely cut off the hope of longevity.

For a monk, this is simply fatal.

It is also because of this that after signing the agreement, the two parties immediately established sufficient mutual trust, laying the foundation for the next cooperation.

Later that day, King Ganke of Chu led his troops into Kunwu City.

Next, King Chu had two options.

One is to lead the troops to the north, and after reuniting with the Kunwu army that is fighting fiercely on the front line, repel the imperial army and complete the actual occupation of Kunwu County.

The second is to send troops south to expel the Southwest Corps to relieve the siege of Nanyu City.

"Sir, what do you think we should do next?" To Jia Xu, the King of Chu is almost obeying his advice now.

Jia Xu analyzed: "Leading troops to the north at this time will not only help to incorporate the Kunlun Army, but also completely support the Kunlun faction, which is equivalent to cooking the ducks in hand and preventing them from flying away.

"If you send troops to the south, you have to face the threat of the imperial army and fight fiercely with the Southwest Corps. It's like looking at what's in the bowl and thinking about what's in the pot. In the end, you may not get anything."

"Of course, the specific choice is still up to His Highness to decide." Jia Xu added.

"So, we can only go north?" Chu Wang Ganke was a little unwilling.

After all, Nanyu City is his old nest. In order to run Nanyu County and win over the local family, how much thought and money he has spent, how can he say that he can put it aside.

But in Kunwu County, the King of Chu has no foundation.

Jia Xu comforted: "It is difficult for Your Highness in Kunwu County, but it will be even more difficult for King Qin in Nanyu County. Think about it, Your Highness, even if the Southwest Corps occupies Nanyu County, with His Highness's management in Nanyu County for many years, King Qin wants to completely control Nanyu County may not be so easy. At that time, will the King of Qin still have the energy to cooperate with the court and encircle and suppress His Highness? The officials think that exchanging Nanyu County for Kunwu County is not a loss."

King Chu nodded, feeling better at last.

"Then let's do this." At such a time, the King of Chu could no longer hesitate.

You can't have both fish and bear's paw.

…………

In September, the sun is like fire.

In this war that spread to the entire southern border, following the unexpected concubine between King Ganke of Chu and the Kunlun faction, the war situation suddenly took a sharp turn, which caught everyone by surprise.

The subsequent development of the matter can be described as a sudden turn for the worse. The outside world thought that a long-term war, in an unexpected way, hastily came to an end.

On September [-], Nanyu City was captured by Xue Rengui's troops.

Although the king of Chu Ganke still gave the third division a death order after making the decision to abandon Nanyu County, so that the third division must fight to the end, but the third division is not a fool.

There is still no reinforcements after holding on for nearly a week, which shows that they have become abandoned children in the hands of the King of Chu.

In this case, how could the soldiers fight to the end?

After all, this is not a racial war between the two races, but an imperial civil war, which has nothing to do with the feelings of family and country, and has nothing to do with the honor of soldiers.

Therefore, after the city was broken, the remnants of the Third Division simply chose to surrender.

After occupying Nanyu City, although the troops were exhausted due to the continuous siege of the city, Xue Rengui sent two elite troops, Di Qing and Yue Yun, to attack from all sides and sweep the remaining four prefectures in Nanyu County.

There are still local troops stationed in various prefectures, which need to be mopped up and incorporated one by one.

In addition to mopping up the troops, Di Qing and Yue Yun's two more important tasks were to establish a new line of defense in the north and east of Nanyu County to prevent the Fourth Army from counterattacking.

Xue Rengui didn't want the duck he got to fly away, even if the king of Chu took the opportunity to take back the land, it would be a failure for him.

On September 22, Qian Yuan came to Nanyu City.

Qian Yuan knew very well that the situation in Nanyu County was complicated. Although the resistance on the surface was basically suppressed, there was always a dark tide surging inside. I don't know how many descendants of the king of Chu have been dormant.

Because of this, he personally rushed to Nanyu City to sit in town to stabilize the army.

Arriving at Nanyu City with Qian Yuan was also a strange scribe with an engraved face and a long beard. He was both a civil official and had a monk's elegant demeanor on his body.

This person is Xiao He, the famous prime minister in history.

As the founding hero of the Great Han Dynasty and the first prime minister, Xiao He advocated inaction and liked the techniques of Huang Lao, which fit Yu Yutian's environment best, so it was no wonder he was summoned by Qian Yuan.

Qian Yuan's use of this first-class civil servant summoning was to summon a heavyweight civil servant to sit in Nanyu City and guard Nanyu County for him.

Now that Nanyu County has been won, Qianyuan never thought of handing it over to the imperial court. As for the name of Nanyu County to be run in the future, he still needs to play a game with the new emperor.

Qian Yuan is not in a hurry.

Although Nanyu City is the center of the southern border, Qianyuan has no plans to relocate the Qin Palace here.

One thing is that Prince Qin's Mansion and Six Division Yamen have just settled in Zhaoyao City, so it is not advisable to move them frequently, not to mention wasting money and wasting money, and it is easy to shake people's hearts, which is really unwise.

The second is that the city of Swagger is Qianyuan's "Land of Prosperity". No matter what the status of Swagger City was before, it should be the only choice for the center of the fiefdom for a long time to come.

Qian Yuan didn't want the family of Nanyu County to have any other ideas.

After arriving in Nanyu City, Qian Yuan was busy meeting with the representatives of the aristocratic family. Instead, he handed over the administrative affairs of Nanyu County to Xiao He, and temporarily handed over the general affairs to Xue Rengui.

The First Division of the Southwest Corps will also shoulder the heavy responsibility of guarding Nanyu County.

…………

While Qianyuan was busy in Nanyu City, Chu Wang Ganke was not idle either.

Except for a small number of troops left to guard Kunwu City, the rest of the troops were sent to the front by the King of Chu to join the Kunwu Army to defend against the imperial army.

The Kunlun School also sent disciples to help, to show the sincerity of cooperation between the two schools.

With the addition of the new force of the First and Second Divisions of the Fourth Army, the Kunwu Army, which was about to be overwhelmed, miraculously persisted.

Instead, the originally menacing court army suddenly became scrupulous.

The situation in the southern border war was changing. Originally, the situation was good for the imperial court, but unexpectedly, it turned into this situation in a blink of an eye, making both the City Guards and the Third Army very passive.

Especially the City Guards.

At the beginning, Gongsun Long, the commander of the city guards, chose to serve the new emperor Qianshen, not because he was loyal to the new emperor, but because he was standing in line normally after judging the situation.

Gongsun Long knew very well that he was able to stand firm in the new dynasty, and even had a higher status than before, not because of anything else, but because of the city guards in his hands.

This is the foundation of his life.

Therefore, after joining the new emperor, Gongsun Long's control over the city guards not only did not weaken, but strengthened, making it impossible for the new emperor to intervene.

When the new dynasty was just established and the new emperor was about to rely on the city guards, it was naturally not easy to get angry with Gongsun Long. The monarch and his ministers had already secretly played games and contests.

Under such circumstances, how could Gongsun Long involve the city guards in a battle destined to cause heavy casualties without seeing any hope of victory?
As soon as the Fourth Army went north, the City Guards stopped their advance and told the court that the army was exhausted and needed a temporary rest.

There was nothing he could do to make the new emperor in Shendu so angry.

Although the situation of the Third Army was different, Zhan Tian's views on this battle were surprisingly consistent with Gongsun Long's, and he was also unwilling to involve the new force in a cruel civil war.

In this case, what else can Xindi do?
Even if he was unwilling in every possible way, he could only knock down his teeth and swallow his blood, with a livid face, order the city guards and the third army to withdraw, and end the war in an anticlimactic manner.

After this battle, it is inevitable that the new emperor's prestige in the court will be damaged.

The only consolation is that the Southwest Corps took advantage of the situation to occupy Nanyu County, and did not allow the King of Chu to further expand his power.

If so, that's a consolation.

…………

By the end of September, the smoke of gunpowder had basically dissipated across the southern border.

The various armies participating in it, those who surrendered, those who retreated, those who reorganized, and those who rested, were all silently licking their wounds.

The outcome of the war was beyond everyone's expectations.

This battle in the southern border involved five of the seven powers of the empire, which is not insignificant.

Let me talk about King Wei first.

This time it was all soy sauce, and he didn't make any substantive gestures other than putting on a show. Of course, he didn't lose anything, and in exchange for Qianyuan's arms trade commitment.

It's a small win.

Let's talk about the Kunlun School.

Although the Kunwu County was lost, the fire for the Zongmen was finally preserved, and they regained a foothold in the Eastern Continent, so that they could act openly within the sphere of influence of the King of Chu.

Compared with Tai Xuzong, this ending is already considered good.

According to gossip, when the Kunlun faction was negotiating with the King of Chu this time, they didn't mention the placement of the Taixu Sect at all. I don't know if they forgot, or they simply didn't want a second sect within the sphere of influence of the King of Chu. The hidden danger of sect competition was cut off in advance.

In short, this hurt Tai Xuzong very much.

In the end, the king of Chu was pitiful, and let the remnants of Taixuzong practice in Luti Mountain in Luti Mansion of Kunwu County, and finally found a place to stay.

But given the conditions of Mount Luti, it is naturally incomparable with Kunwu Stone.

Then there is the king of Chu.

Under Jia Xu's repeated planning, although the king of Chu lost Nanyu County, in exchange for Kunwu County, which can directly threaten Zhongzhou and is extremely wealthy; although the third division was lost, it annexed several times more Kunwu Army.

On paper, the strength of the King of Chu has not decreased but increased.

And this time he succeeded in snatching food from the imperial court. Although he did not do it very openly, at least his reputation was spread in the empire.

It is reported that the King of Chu is already preparing to move the Chu King's Mansion to Kunwu City, making no secret of his ambition for the capital of God.

On the whole, King Chu is unbeatable.

The biggest beneficiary of this battle is undoubtedly Qian Yuan, who easily won Nanyu County with only a surprise soldier and doubled his own strength. There is no more cost-effective deal than this.

Really eye-popping.

After occupying Nanyu County, Qianyuan, who owns two counties, can finally sit on an equal footing with King Wei and King Chu, and become a pivotal force in the empire.

No need to look up to others.

What's even better is that King Wei and King Chu both wear the hat of "King of Chaos", while Qianyuan is the real vassal king of the court. The reputation of the two among the people is completely different.

Even if they attacked Nanyu County this time, they didn't receive any negative comments.

And the most injured in this big melee is naturally the new emperor Qianshen.

In this battle, the imperial court dispatched eight divisions, which cost countless money, food and supplies. Before the battle, they swore that they would definitely wipe out the Kunlun faction and shake the prestige of the empire.

The result was a big overturn.

Not only failed to capture even an inch of land in Kunwu County, but also lost soldiers and generals, and even created a gap with Gongsun Long, the commander of the city guards.

How bad it was, how bad it was.

What made the new emperor even more depressed was that as Kunwu County fell into the hands of the King of Chu, the west of Zhongzhou would face the direct threat of the King of Wei, and the south would face the direct threat of the King of Chu.

The security situation is really worrying.

Under such circumstances, the City Guard Army, which is responsible for defending the security of Zhongzhou, has become more and more important.

This made Xindi even more wary.

Not only did the new emperor not dare to punish Gongsun Long, the commander of the city guards, but he also tried to appease him. He secretly made a series of retreats, such as allowing the city guards to recruit troops on their own.

Really depressed.

The new emperor couldn't bear to criticize Zhan Tian, ​​the leader of the third legion.

They are all unforgivable masters.

The angry and aggrieved new emperor couldn't find anyone to vent his anger on, and finally vented all his anger on Wu Jiaoyang, Shangshu of the Ministry of War.

Immediately after the end of the war, Fifth Sun was dismissed from his position as minister of the Ministry of War and went home to retire.

The new emperor's move to vent his anger is only secondary, and the more important purpose is to push the fifth scorching sun to take the blame and bear the main responsibility for the defeat.

Externally, Xindi directly declared that this battle was planned by Fifth Scorching Sun.

Fifth Scorching Sun naturally didn't dare to refute. He was fine personally, but he couldn't help that there was a family behind him who wanted to make a living in God's City.

If he doesn't take the blame, he will take it.

After being relegated, Fifth Scorching Sun had no face to serve under Qian Yuan's command. It is foreseeable that his official career and military career will have no chance of improvement.

Who would have thought that the fifth family, which was once prominent in the capital of God, would end up like this in just two or three years?

If the Fifth Ziyue, Princess Qin, was not there, the life of the fifth family in Shendu would not be easy, and some people would step on it.

It's really embarrassing.

(End of this chapter)