On May 4th, almost the entire city of Jiangnan County was deserted.
Especially in some urban areas near Shuiying in the north of the city, more than 3,000 houses raised white flags.
There are few pedestrians on the streets and the market is depressed.
In the streets and alleys, people also look sad when they meet each other.
In the city's restaurants, teahouses, and in front of the many notice boards set up by the government, the crowds gathered in front of Chu Xisheng and the Iron Flag Gang.
At this time, the atmosphere in the lobby of the Governor's Mansion was extremely depressed.
Wang Sheng, the governor of Dongzhou, sat solemnly at the top of the hall.
This is a middle-aged man who is about eighty years old and energetic.
He is indeed 'middle-aged' now. For someone like Wang Sheng, who has reached the third level of cultivation and has a life span of three hundred years, eighty years is only one third of his lifespan.
Not only does he have a long life, but he is also proficient in the art of maintaining good looks. His appearance is only about thirty years old, his facial features are handsome, and he is as rich as jade.
Only Wang Sheng's face was so blue and cold that it was almost dripping with water.
There was also an endless chill in his voice: "Didn't the Jiangnan County Naval Battalion just report its victory to the Governor's Mansion? It was said that it had defeated the Iron Banner Gang and was heading to the east dock of the downstream city. How could it suddenly suffer a huge defeat? Not only did it lose its troops but also its generals.
With more than 4,000 men, sixty-seven warships were damaged? Could it be that Dong Tianyue falsely claimed his military exploits?"
Dong Tianyue is the commander of Jiangnan County Naval Battalion. He commands 120 warships and 13,000 naval troops.
"My Lord Governor, Dong Tianyue has absolutely no such courage!"
As soon as Wang Sheng finished speaking, a young man in the hall spoke up to reply.
This man was the governor-general who proposed to join the army. He clasped his hands and said, "I have just checked all the battle reports in detail and can conclude that Dong Tianyue fell into a trick to lure the enemy. The Iron Banner Gang faked the plan and defeated the naval camp of Jiangnan County with the Seventeenth Link.
The big ship at the dock was lured to the broad river, and three thousand strong archers were waiting in advance.
They fired 40,000 arrows in an instant. The arrow rain was so powerful that it almost swept across the upper decks of all the warships, causing heavy damage to the soldiers of the Jiangnan County Naval Battalion. At this time, Tie Xiaosheng organized thousands of elite soldiers to join the gang.
ship, ultimately leading to our defeat."
Wang Sheng frowned: "Since they fell into the trap of luring the enemy, why didn't Dong Tianyue mention it in the battle report? Also, where did they get the three thousand strong archers?"
The so-called 'strong archers' in the southern army must be at least eighth level, able to hold a twenty-stone heavy bow, fire it thirty times in a moment, and have the ability to hit the bull's-eye within a hundred steps.
.
For those frontier troops in the north, the standards would have to be much higher.
With three thousand strong bows, one salvo can indeed clear the decks of five or six warships.
The question is, where did the Iron Banner Gang get so many eighth-grade strong archers?
"The reason why Dong Tianyue didn't mention it must be because he was ashamed to speak up and worried about being blamed by adults."
The young man proposed to join the army and answered calmly: "As for the three thousand strong archers, they should be hunters from the Western Mountains. Most of the hunters in the mountains are at the peak of the ninth level. They just don't have the money to buy them."
Secret medicine cannot promote cultivation.
But now that the Iron Banner Gang has swept through all the rich and powerful households along the river, it is not difficult to collect whether it is an eighth-grade secret medicine or a twenty-stone heavy military bow."
Wang Sheng was stunned when he heard this. Xiushui County is a major medicine-producing county in the south. It is indeed not difficult for the Iron Banner Gang to temporarily gather two to three thousand pairs of eighth-grade secret medicine.
As for the twenty-stone heavy bow, Daning is rich in martial virtue. Which wealthy family in the countryside doesn't keep a hundred and eighty?
The armed struggle for water and land in the countryside was extremely ferocious. There were often 10,000 to 20,000 people, equipped with a large number of armors and weapons, as if they were marching to war. (In 1991, 5,000 people from two villages in Chenzhou, Hunan Province carried guns and cannons and fought in melee for three days.)
However, he was still puzzled: "Then how did they send these three thousand strong archers? Are the spies in our Governor's Mansion and the Imperial Guard blind? Just watching helplessly?"
The Tianping Army was in the ancient market, but they didn't see any movement on the opposite side of the river? Also, it would be difficult for these three thousand hunters to stand still on the water. How could they still participate in water battles and shoot bows and arrows on the boat? Isn't it true?
absurd?"
The young consultant joined the army and fell into meditation: "It should be with the help of thick fog and grain transport ships. Recently, the east dock of the city has been shrouded in clouds and fog all day long. They have ten large ships departing from here every day to transport grain, grass and arrows to the upper reaches. If
My guess is correct. These three thousand strong archers should have blended into these grain ships to avoid our spies.
As for how they fired their bows, I saw a sentence in the battle report, the Iron Flag Gang's ships are like a city! They connected dozens of large ships together, and the Xishan area is densely covered with streams and rivers, and it is close to the Shenxiu River. These hunters are not like
It’s like northerners who are completely impervious to water.”
What's more, the battle report from Xiushui County has come. This is indeed a defeat that has shaken the Jiangnan County Navy Battalion. How can it be ridiculous?
Wang Sheng had nothing to say.
He could actually deduce some truth from these battle reports, but he just didn't want to accept this fact.
"This Dong Tianyue is truly useless and incompetent."
Wang Sheng rubbed his brows and felt a huge headache: "I asked him to go to Xunyang County to assist the Xunyang County government in clearing out the water bandits on the river. Who asked him to make his own decisions and go do it for a group of water bandits in Shiqihuanhuanwu?
Dao, who entered Xiushui to fight?
If he really has the ability to fight and win, that's all, but he doesn't know how much he weighs, and my elite navy has been completely damaged!"
Even if a state army with a size of 13,000 was wiped out, Wang Sheng would not be so angry.
The problem is that the navy is different from the land navy. The large battleships in the navy are very valuable and difficult to build.
The process of making a warship is extremely complex. They first need to collect suitable large wood and spend up to half a year drying it in the sun. Later, during the building process, they also hire magicians to embed a large number of runes to ensure the sturdiness of the ship.
Those officers and men of the Navy are lost if they are lost. All we need to do is to spare some pension money and recruit more people.
Anyway, there are countless martial arts cultivators in the world. One after another they die and another one is born again. There is no end to the supply and there is no end to it.
But these warships were lost, and the combat effectiveness of the Jiangnan County Naval Battalion would not be restored within a year or two.
In addition, the eight-arm bed crossbows, scorpion crossbows, trebuchets, and even the four-arm God-killing crossbows on the ship are all very valuable ordnance.
The hateful thing about Dong Tianyue is that he threw fifty-four brand-new warships, four four-arm God-killing crossbows, and military equipment worth millions to the Iron Flag Gang, leaving those traitors on the river.
The combat power on the battlefield is greatly increased.
The young man proposed to join the army but did not respond this time.
How could Dong Tianyue dare to go to war without the permission of the Governor-General's Office?
In the past few days, the Jiangnan County Naval Battalion had watched helplessly as the Seventeenth Chain Dock suffered heavy casualties due to the Iron Banner Gang's offensive, and they had turned a blind eye to it.
The essence of Xiushui County's defeat was that the Governor's Palace could not withstand internal and external pressure, suggesting that Dong Tianyue went downstream to 'test'.
But when things got to this point, Dong Tianyue could only take the blame.
It was Dong Tianyue himself who was incompetent and underestimated the enemy, which led to the defeat of the navy under his command, and he brought the blame on himself.
He just clasped his fists with a sincere face: "Your Majesty Governor, the Iron Banner Gang originated from the former Chongzhou Navy Camp. There are nearly two thousand veterans in the gang who are proficient in water warfare. Since the collapse of the Chongzhou Navy Camp, most of them
Relying on the water to do business, he has a rich fortune. Not only are there many people who have reached the sixth or seventh level, they are also well equipped with battle plans and magical weapons, and have strong fighting power.
They still have a lot of manpower, and they have recruited tens of thousands of shipwrights and coolies from Xiushui for their own use. Now that they have obtained these fifty-four military warships, they can be said to have added wings to a tiger, like a dragon to water.
The combat power of those 3,000 strong archers is even more comparable to that of the elite frontier troops. When placed on the frontal battlefield, they are enough to suppress the state army of 10,000 people. I also heard that the Iron Banner Gang recruited 15,000 Kong Wuli from the west of Xiushui County.
All miners wear armor and train day and night.
In the past few days, they plundered seven million taels of Demonic Silver God's gold and countless various materials. They used the money to recruit skilled workers and purchased a third-grade treasure armor and numerous crossbows at a high price.
.
According to the news from Jinyiwei, they have recruited two fifth-level masters. They are both green forest warriors from the north. They are on the black list. They heard about Chu Xisheng's benevolence and righteousness and went to join them. In addition, Dong Tianyue left four four-fighters.
Arm-Killing God Crossbows, their number of God-Killing Crossbows has reached thirteen.
In today's situation, the Governor's Mansion can no longer sit back and watch. Whether it is war or appeasement, a decision must be made first. Otherwise, the strength of the Iron Banner Gang will increase day by day. The longer they delay, the stronger they will become. We will not
If you respond, the situation will get out of control sooner or later."
Governor Wang Sheng frowned, and a wry smile escaped from the corners of his lips.
Didn't he know that he should have made a decision earlier?
But this decision is really difficult to make.
Behind Sikong Chan, the prefect of Xiushui County, are the powerful officials in the palace, and will not be at his mercy.
Recently, this person even contracted with the Xiushui gentry and invested tens of millions of taels of magic silver in collusion, and tried every means to nail Chu Xisheng and the Iron Banner Gang for committing a serious crime of rebellion, which also put him, the governor of Dongzhou, into an embarrassing situation.
He could no longer treat the turmoil in Xiu Shui as an ordinary civil turmoil. If he bowed to the Iron Banner Gang and compromised, he would even attract criticism from his political opponents and many censors.
But standing on Sikong Chan's side and wiping out the Iron Banner Gang, Governor Wang Sheng couldn't swallow his bad breath.
Sikong Chan teamed up with the Dongzhou Inspector to press him forward, which was a taboo in officialdom and deeply offended him.
From Sikong Chan's point of view, he might have no choice, but Wang Sheng couldn't tolerate it.
If everyone in the officialdom of Dongzhou is like this, then what authority does he, the governor of Dongzhou, have?
And how easy is it to annihilate the Iron Banner Gang?
Since Chu Xisheng raised the flag and raised his troops, the momentum has become stronger and stronger. Now there are 50,000 naval troops on the river and at least 30,000 capable soldiers on the land.
Now, even the 17,000 Tianping Army under Wei Lai's command were forced to leave the ancient market and camp ten miles back to avoid the Iron Banner Gang's advance.
What Wei Lai was worried about was that the Iron Banner Gang would move 3,000 strong archers and many military warships back and spread them along the east coast where the ancient market was located. By then, the Tianping Army would be unable to resist and suffer heavy losses.
The Iron Flag Gang's lineup of masters is also quite impressive.
Even if those mysterious masters are not taken into account, just the few black list masters recently recruited by the Iron Flag Gang are enough to replace Iron Madman and support the Iron Flag Gang's family.
What's more, if the Iron Banner Gang officially rebels, Mozhan Tower will definitely intervene and send a large number of experts.
How much military strength does the entire Dongzhou have to mobilize for this? How many experts? How much food? How much equipment?
What if the final encirclement and suppression campaign fails?
When Wang Sheng thought about this, he felt the breath in his chest going backwards, piercing his heart and lungs like needles, and there seemed to be ten thousand gongs and drums beating and buzzing inside his head.
Now he wants to tear that Xiushui Prefect Sikong Chan to pieces!
"So where is Mount Tai?"
Governor Wang Sheng rubbed his forehead: "Didn't Sikong Chan spend all his money and hire people to surround and suppress Chu Xisheng? It is said that Blood Bat Mountain was also riding a tiger and was unable to get down. After suffering heavy casualties, he became really angry, and they still couldn't capture Chu Xisheng?"
The young man who consulted to join the army looked solemn and shook his head slightly.
Sitting next to Wang Sheng, Chief of the Governor's Office, Shi, silently handed a thin booklet to Wang Sheng.
Governor Wang Sheng took it in his hand and took a look and found that the text on the cover of the book was "On the Divine Machinery of Martial Arts*Dongzhou Chronicles*Iron Flag Gang Supplement".
He raised his eyebrows slightly: "When was this supplement released? It seems that Mr. Xie from Lunwu Tower still couldn't handle it."
Wang Sheng has long known about the fighting between the two masters and deputy masters of Dongzhou Lunwu Building.
Even behind Xie Zhenqing, there is the support of him, the governor of Dongzhou.
Sikong Chan wanted to have Lunwu Tower publish a supplement to further solidify Chu Xisheng's charges. How could Wang Sheng make it happen?
However, this host Xie is a woman after all and has no sense of responsibility.
It's only been a few days and I can no longer handle the pressure.
When Governor Wang Sheng opened this booklet with only more than thirty pages, his expression darkened again.
The fact that Chu Xisheng rose to the top of the black list and was ranked third on the Dongzhou black list by Dongzhou Lunwu Tower did not surprise Wang Sheng at all.
Just the day before yesterday, the Dongzhou Inspectorate increased the reward for Chu Xisheng to a high of 144,000 taels of magic silver!
What really made Wang Sheng feel numb was the long list of names under Chu Xisheng's introduction!
‘Rock Eagle Divine Catcher’ Zhao Qiye
Wang Qingbing, the leader of the "Three Swords of Linhai"
‘Shijiahu’ Mi Chang
‘Star Hand’ Gu Yingkui
——
Since the battle at the east dock of the city on April 25, a total of seven fifth-level masters have died due to the collaboration between Chu Xisheng and the five-tailed wind-born beast.
The list at the back is even longer -
‘Shui Xiu’ Zuo Guangzheng
‘Blood Rain Sword’ Yu Chiyang
‘Ghost Hand’ Kan Zhongze
‘Iron Sword’ Luo Xiang
‘White Ape Sword’ Yan Liu
‘Iron Sword’ Luan Xiu
——
The total number is astonishingly up to forty-three, all of whom are famous sixth-grade masters. Among them, there are more than a dozen who have been fortunate enough to be listed on the famous hero list, and there are even some fifth-grade combatants like Yu Chiyang.
Governor Wang Sheng continued to flip through the book and saw a long list of names at the back, the number of which was even more frightening.
‘Mountain Cone’ Zhu Mingshan
‘Flame Knife’ Dai Lei
‘Blood Eye Sword’ Qiong and
‘Double Phoenix Sword’ Kang Ming
‘Blue Dragon Fist’ Cheng Weisen
——A total of twenty-four fifth-grade masters and eighty-five sixth-grade masters were killed by two mysterious masters.
The people killed by the Eight-Armed Vajra Sword Bu Yancheng and Ye Zhiqiu have not been included yet, because of these two people, one is from the outer sect of the Wuxiang Shen Sect, and the other is hired by the Iron Banner Gang.
As for those below the sixth rank, there is no calculation!
This is simply a catastrophe in Dongzhou Wulin!
Ten days ago, no one would have thought that after the death of Iron Banner Gang Tie Kuangren, the entire martial arts community in the eight counties of Dongzhou would pay such a price.
Nearly one-tenth of the fifth- and sixth-grade masters died in the narrow strip of land from Taizi Lake to Taishan County within a few days.
Especially the Killing Building, Blood Bat Mountain and Six Gates all suffered heavy casualties, with many dead.
"Lunwulou published the supplement half an hour ago."
Shi, the Governor-General's Mansion, looked extremely helpless: "It's not that Xie Zhenqing couldn't bear it anymore, but an official document from the Dongzhou Inspectorate revealed the matter to the left minister of the Ministry of Rites. In addition, six doors were damaged and four fifth-rank officials were lost.
The red-robed chief was furious after being arrested. Seventeen chief arresters of the Qinglong line joined forces to put pressure on Lunwu Tower, and a powerful eunuch from the palace handed over a note. The left minister of the Ministry of Rites had no choice but to order Xie Zhenqing not to interfere in this iron war.
Supplement to the Banner Gang.”
The tricky part about this matter is that the eunuchs, Dongzhou Inspector and others followed formal procedures and were aboveboard.
They can try to delay it, but they can't stop it.
Once traces are revealed, he will definitely be impeached.
"As soon as this supplement was published today, the whole city of Jiangnan County fell into silence, and the people's expressions changed. In his article, Wang Chaoyang, the owner of Dongzhou Lunwu Tower, tried his best to frame and slander the Iron Banner Gang, and Chu Xisheng
They are promoted as extremely evil and unscrupulous villains. However, the record of Chu Xisheng and the Iron Banner Gang is indeed amazing. They have seriously damaged the vitality of the entire Dongzhou martial arts community. By the way——"
Shi, the Governor-General's Mansion, remembered another thing: "Just one day ago, Tianji Pavilion also released a new issue of "Tianji Martial Arts". They may have known about Chu Xisheng's impressive record in Taizi Lake, so they decided to
Chu Xisheng is ranked eighty-sixth on the Qingyun list, and the ranking of Shenxiu's Ten Great Swordsmen has also been promoted to seventh place."
The people present in the hall couldn't help but buzz.
The Qingyun General Ranking and the Shenxiu Top Ten Swordsmanship are extremely valuable.
Anyone who can enter the top ninety in the Qingyun Ranking will basically be able to enter the Earth Ranking as long as they don't die.
Governor Wang Sheng only cares about Chu Xisheng.
"I just want to know, can Sikong Chan kill Chu Xisheng in Taishan County?"
He delayed for so many days just to give Sikong Chan a chance.
If Chu Xisheng, the culprit, can be eliminated, then the Governor's Mansion will be able to follow the trend and level the Iron Flag Gang.
"It's hard!"
It was the young man who proposed joining the army, with a wry smile on his face: "Chu Xisheng and the five-tailed wind-born beast are fighting guerrillas in Taishan County. The terrain here is notoriously complex, and the surrounding areas are... The field of vision is blocked by the hills, and the furthest can only be three miles away, and the spiritual consciousness of martial cultivators cannot reach that far.
Chu Xisheng's whereabouts were uncertain inside, turning left and right, east and west, like a dragon that sees its head but not its tail. Blood Bat Mountain and other forces were in a dilemma. Although they set up nets in the mountains to search, there were only a few people at each site. If you bump into Chu Xisheng, you will definitely die. If there are too many people in the network, the network will be sparse and unable to block Chu Xisheng.
I even suspect that Chu Xisheng deliberately lured them to Taishan County, and in turn hunted them down. Now, whether it is the Blood Bat Mountain, the Six Gates, or the Killing Tower, there is a roar of wind and cranes, and the grass and trees are full of soldiers. Their fifth-grade people are all operating in groups. If there are less than three people, they will never dare to enter the dense forests and mountains. Therefore, their net is actually full of holes."
Here comes another turning point when he talks about joining the army: "However, neither the Six Gates nor the Blood Bat Mountain can give up. More masters are bound to come to help. Since five days ago, Sikong Chan raised the reward on the Killing Tower to Three million taels of magic silver, and many masters from other states are coming, even attracting the interest of some fourth-grade masters. So it’s hard to tell—"
Governor Wang Sheng was deep in thought.
His proposal to join the army did not give him the answers he wanted, but he gave him all the useful information.
After a long time, Wang Sheng's face became serious: "Get ready to mobilize soldiers and horses from all over the country! Within ten days, all 40,000 soldiers and horses of the Tianping Army need to be stationed in the ancient market. In addition, 20,000 soldiers and horses from Jiangnan County and Xunyang County will be mobilized. I have a contract with you. Under his command, the governor's 20,000 standard troops and 30,000 civilian troops were stationed in Linxiu County, Xunyang County.
In addition, the governor's office is responsible for preparing food and grass. It is necessary to prepare as soon as possible the food for a hundred thousand troops to fight for one month. In addition, I would like to ask His Highness King Wu to send two fourth-grade enshrinements to take my place in Jiangnan County to prevent chaos from happening during the night!"
He still hasn't decided how to quell the Xiushui rebellion.
However, there is nothing wrong with making preparations to quell chaos in advance.
Even if you want to negotiate with the Iron Banner Gang and recruit Chu Xisheng, you must first use force to force him.
Once he chooses to counter the rebellion, Wang Sheng is ready to personally lead the army and wipe out the Iron Banner Gang in the shortest possible time.
In recent years, there have been many thieves and bandits on the ground in Dongzhou, rampant cults, demons everywhere, and many demons at the level of local rankings. Giant spirits and great demons have gathered to hide in Yunmeng Mountain, seven thousand miles to the south.
If the war continues for a long time, the whole state will be in turmoil and evil will rise.
Therefore, the speed of quelling chaos must be fast, the faster, the better!
This chapter has been completed!