Returning to Ziyang Academy, Wang Xu began to remain in seclusion again.
During this battle, he released a series of poems about wine and righteousness, and two poems became famous in the country, which greatly increased his literary talent.
In terms of literary quality alone, he has already reached the level of Jinshi and cannot be improved.
If we want to make progress, we can only increase the number by integrating Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue, synthesizing the new Wang theory, and carrying forward the theory among scholars, forming our own school and inheritance, and then becoming a great Confucian.
Therefore, Wang Xu is not in a hurry at all now, because the formation of a school cannot be achieved overnight. It is not enough to have classics. He also needs to argue with others to prove the advantages and correctness of his own theory. This is a delicate and detailed work.
On the other side, the White Lotus Sect, which had lost many masters, began to shrink its power in Yangzhou.
At the end of August, a group of White Lotus cultists in Yangzhou hurriedly revolted. Before a single spark could start a prairie fire, they were suppressed by Yangzhou Zhizhou with iron blood due to the lack of core combat power.
In early September, just when everyone thought that Yangzhou was defeated and the White Lotus Church was lurking again, the White Lotus Uprising broke out at the same time in Jingzhou and Jiaozhou, both of the three states in the south of the Yangtze River.
Different from the situation in Yangzhou, in the land of Jingzhou and Jiaozhou, the core combat power of the White Lotus Sect has not been reduced.
Even the top leaders of the White Lotus Sect in Jingzhou and Jiaozhou learned from the secret meeting of the top leaders of the White Lotus Sect in Yangzhou, which led to the captured thief capturing the king first.
The fish all operate in seclusion behind the scenes.
There is the Dharma King above who secretly directs, there are sutra masters in the middle who mobilize the believers, and there are walking Taoists below who work together in series.
The White Lotus Sect uprising in Jingzhou and Jiaozhou covered the whole state in just two days. It first used Fu Shui to cure the plague to win over the people, and then focused on publicizing that the Emperor Wu had lost his way and that the country should be replaced by Buddha and the supreme paradise should be established.
In the two states, many ordinary people whose fields were destroyed by floods and suffered from plagues have joined in the fantasy of establishing a Buddhist kingdom on earth.
Loose cultivators, evil cultivators, demonic cultivators, and some unorthodox monks who see benefits are actually secretly adding fuel to the flames.
In just a few days, countless marshals appeared in Jingzhou and Jiaozhou, wearing white scarves on their heads and shouting "No biological parents, Vacuum Hometown".
These marshals may have thousands of soldiers and horses, mainly in one township or town, and they may have hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, roaring in the mountains and forests, massacring villages and destroying houses.
One or two may be inconspicuous, but in one county, there can be more than a dozen marshals and hundreds of generals, and the combined power is terrifying.
Moreover, the White Lotus Sect uprising was obviously carefully prepared.
Which squire has grain and which landowner has more wealth are all in the White Lotus Sect's calculations. If you attack, you will take it, and if you take it, you will win. For a while, the squires in the villages and towns were devastated, dragging their families and their families to the county and important towns all day long.
The relocated gentry.
On the contrary, the White Lotus Sect treated ordinary people equally, and distributed the stolen food to everyone, and the stolen gold and silver, which greatly increased the enthusiasm of the White Lotus believers.
Over time, the public opinion and the fate of the human race in the two states actually seemed to abandon the Wu Dynasty and favor the White Lotus Sect.
Soon, with the cooperation between the elite soldiers of the White Lotus Sect and the traitors, many counties fell one after another. Only the prefectures and counties with high walls and thick walls and heavily guarded troops were still under the control of the imperial court.
The imperial court was furious at this and dispatched county soldiers from the three states of the Central Plains, together with masters from Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, to attack Jiangnan in a mighty manner to quell the chaos.
In terms of power, the White Lotus Uprising is a bit like the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the late Qing Dynasty, and in terms of intent, it is even more massive than the Yellow Turban Uprising in the late Han Dynasty.
Although the Yellow Turban Uprising at the end of the Han Dynasty was dominated by believers, those believers did not receive any actual benefits.
The White Lotus Sect is different. After occupying a place, it not only distributes money and food to the public, but also selects suitable people to be magistrates.
In one county, the population exceeds ten million, and the incense produced is a visible benefit to the monks.
With incense as bait, many casual cultivators and evil cultivators changed their sects to join the White Lotus Sect. Regardless of whether these people were sincere or fake, at least they publicly respected the leader of the White Lotus Sect. The momentum was so great that even the imperial court did not expect it.
Judging from the current situation, if the White Lotus Sect is allowed to fight off several encirclement and suppression campaigns by the imperial court and gain a foothold in Jingzhou and Jiaozhou, it may not be able to follow the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the late Qing Dynasty and defend across the river to compete with the Wu Dynasty.
Of course, there is a premise here, that is, the main force of the human race who is stationed in the Two Realms Mountains cannot go south.
Otherwise, with the level of the White Lotus Sect's miscellaneous soldiers, against the Northland border troops who are capable of conquering and fighting, it would be no better than throwing an egg against a stone.
At the end of September, the White Lotus Sect swept across the two states, with a fierce offensive that seemed to cross the Yangtze River and head north.
At the same time, the leading general sent by the imperial court and the former Minister of War was ambushed at Luokou. After three battles and two defeats, he retreated to the Yangtze River Camp.
In these three battles, the imperial court lost 500,000 soldiers and horses, and the White Lotus Sect lost 300,000 soldiers and horses. It seemed like a great defeat.
In fact, knowledgeable people were not surprised but happy, because the imperial court was defeated because the imperial army used county soldiers, who captured a large number at a time and were not the main force at all.
On the contrary, most of the 300,000 people lost to the White Lotus were elite believers who led the charge.
These people were recruited by the White Lotus Sect as early as ten years ago during the severe drought in the north, and they have only become a powerful force today. They can be regarded as low-end versions of Tao soldiers.
The court doesn't care how many miscellaneous soldiers die. It's a famine year now, and there are many people who want to be soldiers for pay.
It is not that easy to build an elite division. After the White Lotus Sect hurriedly revolted, they no longer had time to train elite troops. The elite troops and horses in the hands of each sutra leader were used less and less.
Similarly, after taking advantage in the early stage, seeing that the Wu Dynasty wanted to encircle and suppress them, some casual cultivators who were fishing in troubled waters began to withdraw.
In mid-October, at least sixty-seven out of ten of the lower-ranking monks who had joined the White Lotus Sect to fish in troubled waters had left. Only some monks who had enmity with the three religions and were unwilling to retreat were still actively resisting.
It's just that all of this has nothing to do with Wang Xu for the time being.
Wang Xu was obsessed with books and couldn't help himself. He copied Confucian classics one after another, stamped his name on them, and quickly sent them to the world.
How many White Lotus demons were killed by Jiaozhou officers and soldiers today, and how many cities were captured by Jingzhou believers tomorrow, were all out of Wang Xu's consideration.
In the end, the White Lotus Sect's uprising was hasty. Without the backbone of Yangzhou, the White Lotus Sect could only use the land of two states to fight against the seven states under the imperial rule.
Although it was impressive at the beginning and the court was caught off guard, once the war reached a stalemate, the White Lotus Sect, which had a weaker foundation, could only be defeated.
Wang Xu didn't know why the leader of the White Lotus was unwilling to wait any longer, but this did not prevent him from looking down on the White Lotus.
Even if the White Lotus Sect had a start like the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the late Qing Dynasty, the Wu Dynasty was not Wanqing after all, and the Emperor Wu was not Cixi who wielded power and interfered in politics. The longer it dragged on, the smaller the possibility of victory.
On the contrary, just like Germany's raid on France during World War II, they sent their troops northward in a short period of time and attacked Huanglong, so that the White Lotus Sect had some hope of survival.
Now that the two armies are in a stalemate, the White Lotus Sect has turned from offense to defense and begun to consolidate the territory south of the Yangtze River, but there is no need to have this dream anymore.
"In just two months, the White Lotus Sect seemed to be unstoppable. It united with monks from the three schools of Buddhism, Evil Taoism, and Demonic Taoism to drive out Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism from Jingjiao Erzhou. In fact, the White Lotus Sect has become a powerful force. At the end of the year, especially those evil heretics who are disobedient to discipline, killing people and setting fires are just a family meal. It's okay to fight against the wind, but don't even think about it against the wind."
Wang Xu was sitting alone in Ziyang Academy, concentrating on writing books, but he also heard some rumors.
To use an unkind word to describe it, many people in the White Lotus Sect see small gains but forget the great righteousness, see big gains but cherish their own lives and are indecisive, lacking the decisiveness and courage they should have.
Entering like a thief entering a house, only greedy.
He retreats like a bereaved dog, fighting fearfully.
No wonder the three sects call them the Lower Ninth Sect. They are really low-class things. The three sects fight overtly and covertly, and the various sects are incompatible with each other. When it comes to matters, they all deal with the outside world in unison.
It's a good thing that these people have all gone to the battlefield. While guarding against the enemy, they must also guard against their own people. How can they achieve great things?
Wang Xu observed that the White Lotus Sect could not survive the disease of ringworm and scabies, and it would take three to five years in the long term, or one and a half years in the short term.
If you don’t believe it, go see him again in three to five years and see who is the true hero.