After Li Zhen left Zhen Gang Gate, he went to the camp of General Xu Shi to join him.
During this period, General Xu Shilao led a large number of practitioners and troops with overwhelming momentum, winning consecutive battles and victories. In just a few days, most of the territory of Shizhou, which was adjacent to the Hua Kingdom, fell into his hands.
Judging from the current situation, it is not difficult to capture the entire Shizhou.
Li Zhen quickly met with General Xu Shi, and here he met the ghost ancestor who had previously arranged to pick up Sun Jian's family.
The Ghost Ancestor has successfully completed the mission and settled the people at Fengyang Pass. He learned that Li Zhen was going to Zhen Gang Gate and would meet with General Xu, so he came directly to General Xu to wait for Li Zhen.
"Oh? Is everything going well?"
Li Zhen asked when he saw the ghost ancestor.
"There are many people from the whole family, including young and old, and they are all brought back."
The Ghost Ancestor answered truthfully.
Li Zhen nodded with satisfaction and said: "Go back and send a message to Sun Jian. His worries have been eliminated. If he continues to refuse to switch to China, then I, the prince, can only fulfill his promise and start killing people, starting with his family."
Li Zhen previously said that Sun Jian would kill 10,000 prisoners if he did not surrender in one day, but due to the opposition of the clan elders and others, Li Zhen did not take action. But people's patience is always limited, and now Sun Jian's family has been taken over.
Even if he commits treason, Liang Guo cannot do any harm to him. If he doesn't know how to show appreciation, he will have no choice but to be cruel.
"I will send someone to deliver the letter right now."
The Ghost Ancestor was just about to make arrangements when Li Zhen added: "By the way, let me tell him that as long as he is willing to surrender, he does not need to participate in the war against Liang. This is the biggest concession for this prince."
"clear!"
Ancestor Ghost went down to make arrangements. Before leaving, Li Zhen took out a secret book and handed it to him. The secret book was part of the Heart Sutra of the Nine Hells Demon Sutra.
"The things you have done these days have made me very satisfied. This is your reward."
Ever since Li Zhen brought him to Fengyang Pass, Li Zhen was very satisfied with everything the Ghost Ghost Ancestor did. Since he had merit, of course he should be rewarded.
Clear rewards and punishments are the way to govern people.
The Ghost Ancestor was overjoyed when he got the idea. Isn't it just for this thing that he devoted his allegiance so much?
"Thank you for the reward, Your Highness!"
His efforts were rewarded, and the Ghost Ghost Ancestor was so happy that he couldn't even close his mouth.
"Don't worry, Your Highness! I will not hesitate to do anything wrong to you in the future!"
Li Zhen nodded, then his eyes fell on Wuchenzi and Tuliusun, and said: "Listen up, you two, I have powerful skills in my hands that are enough to make you salivate. As long as you do your job well, I will have yours in the future.
Reward.”
"Especially Tu Liusun, what you are practicing now is earth-type magic skills, and I happen to have profound earth-type magic skills in my hands. What I handed over to Zhen Gang Sect before was just the surface of earth-type magic skills. If you concentrate on your work, you will definitely
Teach it to you."
The 'Tou Xing Secret Technique' that Tu Liusun is currently practicing is indeed powerful, but compared with the 'Yellow Emperor Gen Kun Jia', it is a world of difference, so Li Zhen has enough capital to seduce him and make him obediently loyal. As for Wu Chenzi
, although this old Taoist is very obedient and can flatter him, but he hurt his father before, and the debt must be settled, so he has to do a thankless job. When Li Zhen is satisfied, he will be rewarded.
"Don't worry, Your Highness! Tu Liusun has surrendered and is absolutely loyal."
"The old Taoist will go through fire and water without hesitation!"
Tu Liusun and Wu Chenzi hurriedly expressed their loyalty.
In the days that followed, Li Zhen followed General Xu on the battlefield. The Chinese army relied on a strong team of practitioners, and there was no enemy at all along the way. Liang Jun had a large army, but it was very difficult to use the army to compete with the practitioners.
Stupid decision.
The practitioners can only be fought by the practitioners. Once the practitioners attack the army, it will be a one-sided massacre.
Unlike the Hua Kingdom, the Liang Kingdom has integrated its own practice sects. The practitioners supported by the court alone will not have any effect on the war situation. If they are sent out, they will die in vain. But if they want their own practice sects to help, it is not
It's an easy thing, not to mention that the Hua Kingdom dispatched hundreds of cultivators, and just because there were three powerful people in the army, the Hua Kingdom's cultivation sects did not dare to take the lead.
They can only ask for trouble by taking action.
After the Chinese army completely captured Shizhou, the king of the Liang Kingdom had no choice but to go on an expedition in person. However, just as he was about to go out for the expedition, the previously silent cultivation community of the Liang Kingdom suddenly became lively. Various sects organized their own troops to defend the court against the Chinese army.
The number of people assisting in the battle reached four hundred. Compared with the number and strength of the Chinese army practitioners, although they were still inferior, their appearance was a huge benefit to the Liang Kingdom.
Taking this opportunity, the Liang court may be able to deepen its relationship with various practicing sects.
When the Chinese army captured Shizhou and prepared to attack the next state capital, spies came to report that Emperor Liang was marching in person and accompanied by a large number of practitioners. It was obvious that the various spiritual sects of the Liang Kingdom were assisting the imperial court.
This news made Li Zhen and General Xu frown.
Emperor Liang obviously wanted to fight a national war with them, but now Li Zhen only wanted to take advantage and did not want to engage in a larger-scale national war.
"It seems that our plan has to be slowed down."
Li Zhen looked at Old General Xu and said: "If there is no help from the Liang Kingdom's spiritual community, I will not be afraid and can continue to act according to the plan. Now things are backfired. Our battle has actually helped Emperor Liang a lot, allowing him and the spiritual community to
We took this opportunity to strengthen our ties. If we continue to fight, not only will we lose more money, but we will gain very little advantage."
"Your Highness, do you mean not to fight?"
Although Li Zhen didn't say it explicitly, General Xu already understood what he meant.
"We captured Shizhou without spending a single soldier. Now that the opponent is well prepared, if we attack again, even if we capture the next state, there will definitely be a lot of casualties. This kind of loss-making business must not be done."
Although the plan to seize thousands of miles of fertile land was not completed, it was not bad to capture a state. At least it could become a forward position for attacking Liang in the future.
"Your Highness! The veteran is only worried that the other party will not let us take Shizhou easily. We will definitely take it back."
Old General Xu said with concern.
"Ha ha!"
Li Zhen said confidently: "If the old general is worried, you can ask Wu Chenzi and Tu Liusun to take a walk over Emperor Liang's camp. I think Emperor Liang will be very wise."
The Chinese army has powerful people on the ground, so the initiative is on their side.
General Xu realized this and immediately felt at ease, and ordered his troops to set up camp and garrison Shizhou.
After Emperor Liang learned that the Chinese army was stationed in Shizhou, he did not intend to continue advancing and stopped his troops. He was not prepared to fight the Chinese army. After all, their strength was still weaker than the Chinese army.
It is not the soldiers who are weak, but the practitioners.
On the second day after the Chinese army set up camp in Shizhou, Dou Wu of Zhen Gang Men came to see Li Zhen in person and brought good news.
After discussion, the Zhen Gang Sect was willing to switch to China and serve the country.
"My subordinate Dou Wu meets His Highness!"
As soon as Dou Wu saw Li Zhen's face, he immediately performed the courtesy of a monarch and a minister to show his surrender. Li Zhen was overjoyed and hurriedly helped him up and said: "Master Dou is so polite. We will all be one family in the future.
No need to be so polite."
“The etiquette cannot be discarded!”
Dou Wu responded.
There are many reasons why Zhen Gang Sect took refuge in Li Zhen, but in general, it was driven by interests and survival pressure that forced it to do so.
Good birds choose trees to roost in.
The future of the Liang Kingdom is worrying. Even if we gather the strength of the country's spiritual practice community, but there is no high-end combat power like a strong person on the ground, it will only be a matter of time before it fails. In this case, why should we die together?
Li Zhen needs someone to stand out at this stage.
The Zhengang Sect is the closest to Li Zhen, so it is the leader. It can either resist stubbornly and be killed by Li Zhen to scare the monkeys, or it can surrender and serve and set an example for other sects in the Liang Kingdom's spiritual world.
There are only two ways to go in Zhen Gang Sect, one can only think about life and death.
This kind of multiple-choice question is actually not a multiple-choice question, because no one will take their own lives.
Exceptions are not excluded, but they are only a very small number.
"With the help of your sect, our Chinese army will be even more powerful."
Li Zhen said: "Now that the Liang State has assembled its army and the power of the spiritual community to resist our army, our army is unwilling to fight with it for the time being and has decided to garrison Shizhou. As a result, the garrison problem in Shizhou requires the full help of Zhengang Sect.
When the time comes, I will also send Prince Wuchen to take charge, and I hope you will cooperate well."
"Don't worry, Your Highness! Our entire sect will go out of its way to contribute to the garrison of Shizhou without any reservation."
The leader of Dou Sect promised.
Li Zhen was very satisfied and immediately held a meeting to discuss the next military operation. The main matter discussed was the details of the Shizhou garrison.
When the meeting ended, Li Zhen did not stay long and took the people back.
There won't be any war in Shizhou for a short time. Li Zhen has fought a wonderful turnaround, and it's time to return to the court to receive his reward.
Following Li Zhen back to the court this time are Ancestor Yougui, Tu Liusun, and more than twenty sect leaders, and three of their clan elders will also return together.
Before Li Zhen started to return to the court, the news of the battle of Fengyang Pass and the capture of Liang Shizhou spread throughout the country due to Li Zhen's deliberate actions.
After returning to the court, he had two important things to do, one was to get married, and the other was to ascend the throne.
The wedding is definitely the top priority at this stage. As for enthronement, we still have to wait a little longer. According to the rules set down by Taizu of China, only those who can ascend to the throne of the One-Calamity Human Immortal can ascend to the throne as emperor. Li Zhen is far away from being promoted to the One-Calamity Human Immortal.
There is still a bit of distance, so he will have to wait a little longer after returning to the court, but Li Zhen has already thought of a way to quickly advance to a calamity immortal, and will start to implement it after the wedding.
Li Zhen left Beijing without much fanfare before, and the same was true when he returned.
After returning to the imperial capital, Li Zhen went to see his father first.
"My sons and ministers see my father."
Li Zhen came to Yangxin Hall and saluted.
Vantage's complexion is much better than when Li Zhen just left. The victory report from the front line has been received a long time ago. He is very satisfied with Li Zhen's performance. Li Zhen has only been gone for more than a month. He has laid the foundation for the future elimination of Liang Kingdom. This is something Vantage never knew beforehand.
think.
"You have done very well! China will definitely become stronger in your hands."
In fact, Emperor Hua had always been quite resistant to Li Zhen using people from the demonic path such as the Ghost Patriarch and the Shadow Guard, and wanted Li Zhen to send these people away. However, this time around Fengyang, they actually contributed a lot, especially the Ghost Patriarch. This is also
This made Vantage not want to take care of it anymore.
"This has been a great achievement and there should be a grand triumphal ceremony."
Emperor Hua thought that since Li Zhen wanted to establish his prestige, he should not come back quietly like this.
Li Zhen did originally have this intention, but in the end he rejected it, feeling that this kind of thing was of little practical significance.
"The merits of the front line are paid for by the blood and flesh of the soldiers. I believe that I should not enjoy this honor alone."
Li Zhen's words made Emperor Hua's eyes light up, and he looked at her with admiration, and then said: "Now that I'm back, the wedding will be put on the agenda as soon as possible."
It had been discussed before that the wedding would be held when he returned to court.
Li Zhen had no objection, because Emperor Huat still had to rest. After briefly reporting on the situation on the front line and future plans, Li Zhen said goodbye and left.
Half a month after Li Zhen quietly returned to the imperial capital, preparations for Li Zhen's wedding began. The number of guests and the grandness of this wedding can be said to be unique among all Chinese princes.
Not to mention the civil servants and military officers of the imperial court, there are more than a hundred people from the cultivation world alone who have been invited. For this reason alone, even today’s saints do not have such a big reputation.
The Chinese royal family has always wanted to control the power of the spiritual world, but unfortunately it has achieved little success over hundreds of years. Who would have thought that Li Zhen, the fallen prince, would finally be able to capture it.
In addition to the large number of guests at this wedding, Li Zhen marrying two daughters is also a hot topic.
One is the granddaughter of a civil servant leader, and the other is the beloved daughter of heaven in the spiritual world.
From the perspective of outsiders, Li Zhen enjoyed blessings that others could not even imagine. However, only he knew that these two women had no feelings for him at all, and marrying them had no other meaning than political significance.
The wedding was held on the first day of October.
It started at dawn in the morning and lasted until dusk. The entire imperial capital was filled with joy because of this wedding.
During the wedding, there was a small episode during the canonization ceremony of Yan Xuan and Meng Bingqi.
According to the previous agreement, Yan Xuan was supposed to be crowned as the Crown Princess and Meng Bingqi as the Concubine. However, Li Zhen suddenly changed his mind and Yan Xuan's crown concubine was canceled and changed to Concubine.
Li Zhen's temporary change was beyond everyone's expectations, but if he insisted on it, Emperor Hua could only agree.
Li Zhen's move actually relieved Yan Xuan's pressure. Yan Xuan was very grateful, but she didn't know that Li Zhen's real intention was that the position of the crown prince or future queen should be the one he truly loved.
"What kind of water and wine do you want to eat at this time? A spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold, why don't you go and enjoy it?"
Friend Chen Qing joked.
Li Qingshan also kept winking at Li Zhen.
Among the three friends from the Qingyuan Sect, Mu Wanjun did not come, obviously she was worried about Li Zhen's marriage.
Mu Wanjun opposed Li Zhen's political marriage.
When Li Zhen heard this, his expression was inappropriate and he smiled and said, "You are only envious."
It was already late at night, and the guests had all left. Li Zhen, Chen Qing, and Li Qingshan chatted for a few drinks and then left for the palace.
Yan Xuan and Meng Bingqi, who were divided into two bedrooms, sat on the bedside, feeling very nervous.
Yan Xuan has accepted her fate and seems calm, but in fact she has mixed emotions inside. As for Meng Bingqi, she is nervous and frightened. What will happen if Li Zhen does not act according to the previous agreement?
Fight, can't beat.
Escape, can't escape.
But in the end, the two people's nervousness or fear were unnecessary. Li Zhen did not go to their bedroom, but returned to the study and rested there for the night.