The Ye Lin Empire is located near the southwest, in a huge basin surrounded by mountains. Most of the original Ye Lin Empire's strongest power is now concentrated here.
No one could have imagined that the powerful existence of Xuanwu, which had united several empires back then in an attempt to divide it, had even lost its imperial capital today.
Those strong men who would have caused tremors in the Kunxuan Continent every time they stomped their feet, were like injured beasts, hiding in this mountain col, secretly licking their wounds and silently healing themselves.
Ever since the Ye family established the empire, it has never suffered such a setback. However, when a huge crisis occurred, it also brought some beneficial changes to the Ye Lin Empire.
Ever since a strong man named Xiao Kuangzhan rose to prominence in the Ye Lin Empire, the Ye Lin Empire itself has become the strongest among all empires.
But from that time on, the Yelin Empire also hid a huge hidden danger, that is, "the leader is weak and the minister is strong".
It is not necessarily true that the king of the country is really weak, but Xiao Kuangzhan is really powerful. Not only does he have an astonishing level of talent in cultivation, but he is also unique in family management.
Under his leadership, the Xiao family stood out from the many families in Ye Lin, and in the end was able to compete with the Ye family.
The rise of Xiao Kuangzhan is the result that the Ye Lin Empire hopes to see, but the rise of the Xiao family with Xiao Kuangzhan is not the result that any Ye family warrior wants to see.
If it were just Xiao Kuangzhan, the leader of the country, Ye Shan, would even be willing to divide a large part of his power into Xiao Kuangzhan's hands.
Because that would at most damage Ye Shan's personal power, but it would not shake the foundation of the Ye family and the Ye Lin Empire. But with the rise of the Xiao family, the situation is completely different, and it would shake the foundation of the Ye family's empire.
That's why in recent years, the Ye family promoted Ye Chang to become the master of the Soul Sacrifice Hall, and competed with Xiao Kuangzhan's sacrificial hall.
Ye Shan and the Ye family thought this was a brilliant move, but they didn't expect it to directly bury a greater hidden danger.
In fact, they knew that Ye Chang had never obtained the title of head of the country, so they had always been dissatisfied with Ye Shan and the Ye family. So on the one hand, they supported Ye Chang, and on the other hand, they restricted him in many ways.
Ye Chang is not a fool. Whenever he deals with Xiao Kuangzhan, the Xiao family, and even the sacrificial hall, he will receive help and cooperation from all aspects.
But once you want to develop and expand your own strength, you can feel that countless invisible resistances surround you, as if there is no reason to do anything.
If Ye Chang is obedient, then he can at least become the first person under Ye Shan and Xiao Kuangzhan in the Ye Lin Empire. But when he missed the throne of the country's leader, he would have to succumb to Ye Shan.
How could Ye Chang be willing to do so?
He directly found another way and found a force from the outside. Although they were using each other. But Ye Chang at least now occupies the Ye Lin Imperial Capital. Now he directly declares that he is the leader of the Ye Lin Kingdom. Ye Shan has been dismissed because of his improper position.
He deposed and expelled.
After this operation, several other empires were caught off guard, but other forces chose to wait and see what would happen.
The reason why other empires did not intervene was partly because they could not see the situation clearly. After all, the Yelin Empire was too chaotic now. The Ye family jumped out of a direct line and directly occupied the imperial capital to compete with Yeshan. At the same time, in the east of Yelin, there was
A Tianping Empire declared its founding, which was a chaos unprecedented in tens of thousands of years.
Faced with such a chaotic situation, no one cares about right or wrong. As long as other empires choose to support the final winner of this battle, it will be fine.
When you cannot clearly see the situation, it is definitely not a wise move to rashly support either party, and it may even cause unnecessary trouble for yourself.
In addition, there is another reason, which is the rise of the Nether Clan. Not only has the Fengtian Dynasty lost one-third of its empire, it has also had a certain impact on the Xuanwu Empire.
This impact, both tangible and intangible, has put considerable pressure on all empires. Therefore, all empires are more willing to reserve their strength to deal with the Nether Clan. As for the Ye Lin Empire, they have temporarily adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
As for the Ye Lin Empire, after it survived the initial chaos, and after a period of natural calm, the undercurrent began to gradually become turbulent.
At the beginning of the chaos, everyone acted quickly in order to gain the greatest benefits in the shortest time. Ye Chang was naturally unwilling to occupy only one imperial capital, so he led his men from the Soul Sacrifice Hall and the Qianhuan Cult powerhouses to
It occupied two counties in the shortest time.
As for the Tianping Empire, they acted even more quickly. According to Zuo Feng's deployment, they launched attacks in several directions at the same time. In less than half a month, they captured almost one-third of the Ye Lin Empire within their own territory.
As for the agreement reached with Xiao Kuangzhan, Zuo Feng deliberately played a trick. We only sent strong men to occupy it, but did not hinder the free movement of human warriors. This is not a violation of the commitments made by both parties.
But as a result, except for the army directly connected to the Ye Lin Empire and some super families, there are almost no conditions for other small and medium-sized forces and families to leave immediately.
Of course Zuo Feng also understood that simply occupying an empty city would mean nothing to the new Tianping Empire. Xiao Kuangzhan naturally also understood this, so he proposed such an agreement at that time, but Zuo Feng
He wasn't stupid, he saw the other party's intention on the spot, so he deliberately played a little trick.
The Ye Lin Empire's army is naturally unable to win them over. As for those super families, they are either tied to the Ye family or the Xiao family. Forcing them to stay will bring considerable hidden dangers to themselves.
However, those small and medium-sized families and forces, as well as most ordinary people, all have their own livelihoods. As long as the Tianping Empire does not go too far, they will deliberately withhold important property, especially cultivation materials and important martial arts books.
, prohibiting them from taking them out of the Tianping Empire, those forces almost have no choice but to stay obediently.
Of course, this is only the first step, and most of the people who stay are half-hearted, and even make secret arrangements with the Yelin Empire.
But it doesn't matter. Even if they are not left behind, the Yelin Empire will still send other spies, which is inevitable. Zuo Feng also arranged for some spies to follow and infiltrate into the team retreating to the southwest.
From the beginning, Zuo Feng never thought that it would be impossible to eat Ye Lin in one bite, nor did he think that it could be done in just a few months or a few years.
Therefore, after the Tianping Empire quickly occupied some of the areas demarcated in the agreement with Xiao Kuangzhan, it stopped any further actions and made every effort to digest and consolidate its rights and control over the occupied areas.
As for Ye Chang, he did not act immediately. He also consolidated his rights and stabilized the situation in the area he occupied. Compared with the Tianping Empire, it was easier for Ye Chang to stabilize.
Because Qianhuan Sect has always been low-key, it will not be taken seriously by ordinary people, and since Ye Chang is also a direct member of the Ye family. In the eyes of outsiders, this is the internal conflict of the Ye Lin Empire. No matter who is replaced as the leader,
There will be fundamental changes, so there is no need for everyone to withdraw from the area occupied by Ye Chang for the time being.
In the future, whether Ye Chang takes down Ye Shan or Ye Shan fights back, there is no need to deliberately bother about it, just quietly observe and prepare.
For Ye Shan and Xiao Kuangzhan, the only thing that makes them feel lucky is that the huge external pressure forces them to put aside their previous conflicts.
Originally, Xiao Kuangzhan and Ye Shan had already turned their attention to Ye Chang and the Tianping Empire, planning which side they would go to war with next.
But in the process of their planning, the Tianping Empire sent a letter of credence issued by Zhentian himself. In the past, this would have been an insult. After all, it was an existence that had been arbitrarily kneaded and even captured as a pet and a mount.
The letters of credence were actually issued on an equal footing.
But after seeing the credentials, both Ye Shan and Xiao Kuangzhan fell into silence. Although it was just a fluttering page, to them, it felt like a huge mountain was weighing down their hearts.
The content of the certificate of credence is not complicated and can be simply summarized into three points. The first is to establish trade. In the early stage, the Tianping Empire can guarantee that it will never take a commission from it, but the minimum 30% of the materials must be sold at market prices within the Tianping Empire.
Complete minimum one transaction.
The second is that the two sides will then delineate the two counties bordering each other diagonally as a special area where no troops are stationed. According to the Tianping Empire's credential, it will serve as a buffer zone for contact between the two sides.
The third point is the key point. The Tianping Empire guarantees that when Ye Shan is at war with Ye Chang, he will never start a war first, and will also provide certain resources and material support.
All of Ye Lin's senior officials, as well as Xiao Kuangzhan and extremely important figures of the Xiao family, all gathered in the new hall. Everyone's face was very ugly, but no one was willing to speak first.
"The guys from the Tianping Empire want us to start a war with Ye Chang and the others, and they can reap the benefits." After looking around, Xiao Kuangzhan spoke first. He didn't want to continue testing. He didn't have this right now.
Xian Xin doesn’t have that time.
Ye Xing, the former second elder of the Ye family and now the eldest elder, slowly exhaled, nodded with some difficulty, and said: "These three points can be said to attack the heart step by step, and their intentions are so sinister that their hearts can be killed.
It’s so heartbreaking!”
Ye Peifang, the former third elder and now the second elder, also nodded in agreement, "Indeed, it's like they are handing over weapons and letting us fight Ye Chang and the others."
Xiao Gangyi, the eldest elder of the Xiao family, is the first person in the Xiao family besides Xiao Kuangzhan. After reading the credentials, he closed his eyes as if silently recuperating. It was only then that he slowly opened his eyes and spoke.
"But it is difficult for us to refuse the conditions they proposed, even if this is the result we want most. Otherwise, a war between the two sides at the same time will only be more detrimental to us."
Ye Tao, the young man who happened to be next to Ye Shan at this moment, couldn't help but said: "Then why don't we do the opposite and join forces with Ye Chang to deal with the Tianping Empire first."
Everyone present looked at the future heir to the throne, and it was clear that there were complicated meanings in their eyes.
Ye Shan's face darkened slightly, he waved his hand to stop his son from continuing, and said directly: "Then let's discuss how to reply to this letter of credence. Even if we don't go to war with Ye Chang immediately, at least the first part of it will be.
Two of them are very beneficial to us, let’s consider how to make use of them.”
Everyone present turned their attention away from Ye Tao, but no one said anything immediately at this time. Ye Shan couldn't explain anything more at this time. Ye Tao knew that he should have said the wrong thing, but he did it again.