Pankang laughed: "Decades ago, I asked Jiang Zhongda how he would repay me if we went hunting with him in the future."
"He said that if there really was a military confrontation, he would take the initiative to retreat thousands of miles away!"
Of course Li Luoer knew about this, but she still smiled and said: "I see. It seems that Emperor Ming has fulfilled his promise."
Pankang nodded, "It is true to fulfill the promise, but there is no benefit. Emperor Ming is really a cunning person. I guess he may have thought of today back then."
Li Luoer smiled secretly in his heart and said: "Emperor Ming is indeed famous for his cunning, but Brother Pan is so bright and has the heart of a great hero."
Pankang looked at the Chu army with murderous intent, his expression slightly solemn.
"Could it be that Jiang Yao suddenly knew that the two ancient witches and immortals were in our Chu army, so he didn't dare to fight again?"
It turns out that Panzhen and Mi Qiluo have returned to the Witch Domain and "secretly" entered the Chu army.
This caused the Chu army's strength to skyrocket.
Therefore, Pankang is very confident this time. The return of the two ancient wizards and immortals has increased his confidence in defeating the Ming army.
However, the Ming army suddenly retreated 30,000 miles, all the way to Kuiguan, and retreated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
Is this just to fulfill the promise of retreating ten thousand miles back then? Why retreat thirty thousand miles in one breath and exceed ten thousand miles?
While Pankang was wondering, suddenly a flying book flew from Kuiguan and flew directly to Pankang.
The flying book has the sun, moon, and dragon patterns of Emperor Ming tattooed on it. It looks like a letter personally sent by Emperor Ming.
Pankang took the Feishu and took a look, only to see that it was clearly written on it:
"I suddenly heard that Brother Dao'an has two ancient wizards to help him in the battle? I don't dare to disrespect the ancients, so I came to fulfill my promise back then and not to compete with the ancients. I avoid fighting to protect myself. Brother is magnanimous. Brother
Greatful…"
Pankang couldn't help but smile bitterly after reading it, "As expected, Jiang Yao has discovered that the two great immortals came to the army to help in the battle. He retreated in this way not only to fulfill his promise, but also because he was not sure."
He had ordered the return of the ancient witch to be kept secret, in order to suddenly ask two immortals to take action during the battle with the Ming army to increase the power of the Chu army in the battlefield.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yao still knew this information.
Without suddenness, it would be difficult for the Ming army to suffer heavy losses.
Now that the Ming army has retreated to the front line of Kuiguan and shifted from an offensive to a comprehensive defensive posture, it will be difficult for Da Chu to win a big victory even with the help of the two immortals.
Li Luoer took Feishu and read it, and smiled bitterly: "Emperor Ming already knows our trump card..."
"No wonder he suddenly retreated 30,000 miles and switched from offense to defense. It turns out there was this reason."
Pankang's face was as gloomy as water, "Junior sister, in your opinion, what should we do?"
If they don't fight, they will be very unwilling. But at this time, the Ming army has retreated and defended. If they fight again, they will have to fight a tough battle. This is definitely not a good thing.
Unless the advantage is huge, you cannot fight a tough battle.
Li Luoer 'thought' seriously for a while, then said in a deep voice: "Brother Pan, in my opinion, it's better to retreat temporarily."
"The area around Kuiguan is a dangerous border city of the Ming Dynasty, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. In the northeast is the Void Dao Gu Mountain, which makes it difficult to make a detour."
"Although our army has two ancient immortals to assist in the battle, its power has greatly increased, but to be honest... the soldiers of Ming Dynasty are more powerful, Emperor Ming is also an immortal, and there are lotus lanterns... our army's advantages are still limited..."
"If we fight a tough battle, my great Chu will only be wasted. Not only will it be difficult to make progress, but it may also arouse the dissatisfaction of the two ancient immortals."
Pankang nodded: "Although I am not willing to accept what Junior Sister means, it is still a prudent view. Then we will retreat."
The two discussed for a while, and Pankang had no choice but to announce his withdrawal.
However, in order not to demoralize the Chu army, give reasons for retreating, and at the same time boost morale, Pan Kang announced the secret of the return of the two ancient witches and immortals.
Anyway, the Ming army already knew it, so there was no point in hiding it anymore.
He wanted to let the soldiers of the Chu army know that the Ming army knew that the two ancient wizards and immortals were helping Chu in the battle, and they were too frightened to fight decisively. They only dared to focus on defense, so Chu had no choice but to withdraw its troops.
When everyone in the Chu Kingdom knew that the two ancient wizards had returned, their morale was high and they were full of joy.
As a result, the decisive battle between Ming and Chu, which was about to break out, was aborted because the Ming army retreated and defended.
There is news that Emperor Ming is waiting for the return of the ancient immortal of Shenzhou.
Once the ancient immortals of Shenzhou returned, Emperor Ming would be at ease to conquer the Chu Kingdom in the west.
On the border between the Ming and Chu countries, a situation of Ming's comprehensive defense and Chu's strategic offensive suddenly formed.
However, because the Ming Dynasty could not avoid the war and the Chu army had no advantage, the relationship between the two countries became quiet again.
On the eastern front, the army led by Ouyang Feng and others also blindly defended natural dangers and never took the initiative to attack.
Although the Qi army had an advantage in strength, the Ming army was blindly defensive, and the Qi army was helpless.
In the Western Regions, the army led by Yang Jian was also blocked by Qin Yu and Jin Tianjie (Western Saint Xiao Qiushui) with the help of natural barriers.
Relying on his absolute superior force, Yang Jian launched a "forceful attack" for half a month, but he was still unable to capture the Ming army's Guancheng, so he had to suspend the attack.
As a result, all three fronts were shut down!
However, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the strategic situation of the Ming Dynasty is very unfavorable.
It presents a dangerous situation surrounded on three sides.
There is also Zhou Guo, who has an ambiguous attitude and has been watching from the sidelines. He may stab him in the back at any time.
The situation of the Ming Dynasty looked very bad.
However, the alliance of various countries has shown an aggressive posture and has taken the strategic initiative.
The news that makes things worse for the Ming Dynasty is that the ancient immortals from the Demon Realm have also returned.
Then, the ancient immortals from the Demon Realm also returned.
The ancient immortals from Shenzhou have also returned. But the only one who serves the Ming Kingdom is Dragon Burial Sea.
The other two ancient immortals are said to have already served the Zhou Kingdom.
Zhou Guo became strong again.
This is very detrimental to the Ming Dynasty.
Not long after, a secret agreement between the various countries to carve up the Ming Kingdom was suddenly exposed!
This secret agreement that was exposed said that the Sui State was preparing to occupy the Western Region, the Chu State was preparing to take back the Eastern Witch and unify the Witch Territory, and the Qi State was annexing the Southern Region...
As soon as the secret agreement was exposed, the Ming Dynasty immediately sent envoys to various countries to express their willingness to renegotiate the peace.
Then, Emperor Ming formally proposed to marry Emperor Zhou Yu, and agreed that after the wedding, the Lord of Zhou could still live in the Central Region, and he could still live in the Western Region.
However, Emperor Ming's proposal for a wedding was not agreed to by the Lord of Zhou. Instead, he postponed it indefinitely in the name of being the master of the country.
The possibility that the relationship between the two will change is getting bigger and bigger.
Emperor Ming's proposed wedding was actually very low-key and not made public, but it was discovered by the Chung Spirit Organization of Chu State.
This news made many people in various countries speculate that Emperor Zhou and Emperor Ming were likely to have a complete falling out in order to compete for the supreme dominance of Shenzhou.
The engagement they had back then would probably not be able to stop their ambitions from burning.
It is unknown whether the news is true.
However, Emperor Ming proposed that in view of the poor harvest of spiritual rice caused by various countries promoting the planting of Ming Daosui, Ming was willing to sell Ming's spiritual rice at a low price to relieve the shortage of spiritual rice in various countries.
At the same time, Jiang Yao announced in a high-profile manner that the Ming Kingdom also had more than one Earth Immortal, and hoped that other countries would not misjudge the situation and think that the Ming Kingdom could be divided up.
The Ming court even announced that the Ming Dynasty was not afraid of any invading enemies. The Ming army could keep more than one enemy out of the country.
This actually made the rumors that the two had a romantic relationship more likely.
When the Ming Dynasty was in a diplomatic dilemma, Zhou Lord Yu Kuan took the initiative to mediate and acted as a mediator.
To outsiders, it seems to be deliberately easing the relationship with ginger medicine.
But it made the possibility of their relationship changing even more solid.
That's right. The engagement made many years ago seems to be nothing in front of the great position of the Lord of the Divine Continent.
Yu Kuan was the Emperor of Zhou and the most noble woman in the world. How could she be willing to surrender to Jiang Yao and take the initiative to destroy the Zhou Dynasty she had created?
It's not surprising that love changes. It's surprising that love doesn't change.
In May of the 18th year of Hongwu, with the efforts of the Lord of Zhou and the promotion of forces unknown to outsiders, after several months of negotiations, the countries reached the "Shenhua Peace Agreement" in Shenhua Tiancheng, the capital of Zhou.
Collegial provisions:
First, the Ming Dynasty was not allowed to export the reform to other countries, withdraw all Jinyiwei spies, and was not allowed to propagate the reform in any form within the borders of the countries to confuse poor families.
Second, the Ming Dynasty cannot stop the military nobles of the Ming Dynasty from leaving the country to seek refuge.
Third, the Ming Dynasty must announce the true cultivation method of ancient Daosui and sell qualified seeds.
Fourth, the Ming Dynasty cannot take the initiative to attack any country. If the Ming Dynasty attacks any contracting country, then all contracting countries can attack the Ming Dynasty without declaring war.
Fifth, other contracting countries are not allowed to attack the Ming Dynasty. If a certain country takes the initiative to attack the Ming army, other contracting countries can no longer help.
Sixth, countries trade with each other and business travel is inevitable.
Seventh, the contract is valid for twenty years. After twenty years, it can be renewed.
To be honest, this is a so-called contract against the Ming Dynasty. It seems rather harsh. It is simply a noose to jointly contain the Ming Dynasty.
But Emperor Ming actually pinched his nose and agreed!
Zhou's attitude towards the Ming Dynasty also became clear again from the ambiguity after the Xuanfengmen coup: oppose the Ming Dynasty and defend against the Ming Dynasty!
When the nobles of the Wu family in various countries saw the changes in Zhou State, they all looked forward to it, hoping that Yu Kuan would completely return to the Wu family camp.
Many people believe that Emperor Ming signed the "Shenhua Peace Agreement" that was unfavorable to the Ming Kingdom. One of the big reasons was that the direct rift between Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhou made the Ming Kingdom become more isolated and helpless.
With the signing of the "Shenhua Peace Agreement", the countries returned to peace again.
Although all the countries were hostile to the Ming Dynasty and had the same attitude of containing the Ming Dynasty, a new fragile balance was formed in the world.
Both sides also ushered in a strange peace.
But everyone knows that the martial nobles of various countries are sharpening their swords and preparing their troops with the intention of destroying the Ming Dynasty.
And the Ming Dynasty is absolutely unwilling to be surrounded and contained, and will counterattack sooner or later.
…
In early summer, the four giants of Zuodaomen gathered at Shangqing Temple.
Li Wanqing, Xuanmiao and others were all recalled.
"Personally, Yu Kuan has not yet turned against Jiang Yao." Zuo Zheng (Yi Guizang) of Zuodaomen deduced and said, "However, I deduced that Yu Kuan was still hostile to the Ming Dynasty and his desire to destroy the Ming Dynasty was not extinguished.
"
What he didn't know was that Jiang Yao and Yu Kuan had gone to great lengths to guide him in his miscalculation.
The wily Zuo Zheng did not expect that his calculation conditions had been deliberately designed long ago, and were blocked by Jiang Yao's use of the Lotus Lantern and the Taiyi Nine Palaces Bagua Heavenly Dao Disk.
Therefore, his calculation was wrong, and he came to the wrong hexagram that although Yu Kuan had not turned against Jiang Yao in their personal relationship, his desire to destroy the Ming Dynasty was still not extinguished.
In fact, if Jiang Yao didn't have the Lotus Lantern and the Taiyi Nine Palaces Heavenly Dao Pan, he would not have been able to secretly arrange a plan to deal with Zuodao Sect, and it would be impossible to keep it secret.
Taihao's sister frowned slightly, "The treasure lotus lamp is in Jiang Yao's hand. This treasure is of too high a level, but it can block the hexagram calculations. All of this may be an illusion arranged by Jiang Yao and Yu Kuan."
Zuo Zheng said: "I met Yu Kuan yesterday, talked to her about the affairs of the Ming Dynasty, and took the opportunity to explore her state of mind. But she is the child of luck and the leader of the country. She has too many karma and karma, so I dare not Deliberately explore.”
"The result of my investigation is that she is indeed very entangled in how to deal with the relationship with Jiang Yao. It shows that her heart is wavering, and it is not ruled out that she will change her mind in the future."
Li Shizhen said: "The relationship between a man and a woman cannot stand the test at all. At the end of the relationship, there is a sea of ruthlessness and a mountain of heartlessness. There is no such thing as an oath of love."
"I went to court some time ago, observed his words, and found that Yu Kuan was indeed trapped by love. He seemed to have difficulty choosing between personal love and the throne. This is human nature."
Luo Hong nodded: "Yes, how can there be any true feelings? I don't believe that in front of the great throne of Shenzhou, Yu Kuan and Jiang Yao will still love each other and remain loyal. There is no such a stupid emperor."
Taihao Yuji smiled and said: "This makes sense. It's really hard for me to believe that these two people gave up the throne to fulfill each other because they were engaged and loved each other."
"The so-called oath of love is just because the temptation is not enough. As long as the temptation is big enough, it will be a matter of time before you change your mind and betray. With such a temptation as the emperor of Shenzhou, I don't believe that these two people will stay together until death because of their love for each other."
Zuo Zheng said: "It is precisely because of this reason that I don't think this is a calculation trap set up by the two people. The lotus lamp alone cannot completely block my calculations, unless there are extremely high-level hexagram treasures."
"Besides, even if they can block my calculation, so what? I have been in contact with Yu Kuan for a long time as Yi Guizang, and I know her background very well."
Li Shizhen said: "Wanqing, what abnormalities can you and your men detect?"
Li Wanqing stepped forward and handed over his hand: "Every country has the ancient immortal as its backer, and their desire for hegemony is in full swing, but they are all hostile to the Ming Dynasty. There is no difference for the time being."
Li Shizhen suddenly looked serious, "Do those so-called ancient immortals have any intention of uniting?"
Li Wanqing said: "No. They each have their own clans and camps. They have become the national masters and imperial masters of various countries. There is no possibility of uniting."
Luo Hong sneered: "Even if they unite, what can they change? They have no ability to save the world. I don't believe that they still have such a strong desire for the common people and how much compassion and compassion they have for salvation."
"If it is for their own longevity to save the world, it will even less succeed."
If there is one thing that all leftist sects have in common, it is that they ignore emotions and believe that "if heaven is sentimental, heaven will grow old, and if man is heartless, lovers will live forever."
Because the Zuo Dao Sect is a heaven-defying practice, it is inherently necessary to cut off emotions. If you cannot let go of emotions, you will not be able to achieve their great path.
They have lived for too long and have seen too much killing, betrayal, conspiracy, selfishness, coldness, ruthlessness, and cruelty in the world... so they believe that the nature of life is cold and dark.
Precisely because the world is a country of long night full of coldness and darkness, there is no need for mercy or redemption, only domination and control over it!
Taihao concubine closed her eyes, opened them after half a minute and said: "Since the Ming Kingdom does not yet have the strength to unify the world, and is currently in a passive situation, then don't take action personally yet."
Luo Hong breathed a sigh of relief, "That's right. We really can't take action against Jiang Yao unless we have to. His luck is too strong and his karma is huge. If we attack him personally, the catastrophe of karma will be unbearable."
"Back then, Fellow Daoist Li killed Tang Wangshu and almost completely reincarnated. It took tens of thousands of years to recover his memory. The price was too high."
Li Shizhen looked solemn after hearing this.
Killing don Wangshu was as simple as crushing an ant. But the causal cost of killing don Wangshu made him feel lingering.
He would never attack the Son of Luck by himself again. Especially the Son of Luck with the strongest Luck like Jiang Yao.
If you really want to kill, everyone should do it together and the cause and effect will be spread equally.
Taihao's eyes were indifferent, like the vast and infinite void. She said quietly: "As a last resort, if you really want to personally attack the people who unified the world, then let's do it together."
"Four people take action together, the cause and effect are all shared, no one suffers, and everyone can bear the disaster of cause and effect."
"That's what the senior sister said." Luo Hong said with a smile while stroking his beard, "If you are really forced to kill the son of luck in person, then let's do it together and share the cause and effect."
With one word, Taihao concubine decided on the plan to deal with the one who unified the world.
Whoever unites will be killed!
What they didn't know was that it was precisely because they didn't believe in the power of true love that they fell into Jiang Yao and others' delaying strategy, giving Jiang Yao and others valuable preparation time.
It was precisely because they despised emotions that they did not deduce that the ancient immortals had actually secretly united to form the Immortal Alliance.
Trust is also a kind of Tao and a kind of power!
PS: This chapter is a very important foreshadowing, so we need to talk about logical reasoning. Although this chapter is not very story-telling, it explains the logic and philosophical thinking of the leftist sect. Good night, Crab!