The Central Plains were unified, and the Turkic and alien forces outside the Great Wall felt great pressure.
In the spring of the fourth year of Wuxing's reign, the Turks gathered 300,000 cavalry, and together with the grassland alien alliance, gathered a total of 500,000 troops, and marched south to the border with the invaders.
The tense military situation at the border was sent to Dongdu, which immediately caused an uproar.
Fortunately, there were generals Li Jing and Xu Shiji at the border, who led a group of Wagang surrendered generals, and Hebei surrendered generals were stationed there. The two great military gods of the early Tang Dynasty were stationed at the border. Although the grassland coalition army was huge, it was difficult for them to enter the fortress.
But the dignitaries in Guanzhong and Heluo didn't know what they were capable of. Even before the imperial court happened, all kinds of rumors started flying all over the sky.
The mainstream rumor is that Da Wu will be in trouble this time. The grassland coalition is too strong and may have to sign an alliance under the city. This will have a huge impact on Wu Emperor Leihu's reputation.
Some people were gloating about the misfortune, while others were worried. Everyone's eyes were focused on the Dongdu Palace, wanting to know what Emperor Wu Leihu was thinking.
"Haha, father-in-law, what do you think?"
The palace was peaceful and peaceful, without any tension or anxiety outside.
Not to mention that the Grassland Alliance Army only has 500,000, even if another 500,000 comes, Lei Hu will not take it seriously.
That day Lei Hu invited his father-in-law Song Que to the palace to talk and play chess, and he suddenly asked.
"It's just a troubling thing!"
Song Que sneered: "Others don't know how powerful Jiang Dongjun is, don't I know it too?"
Those are millions of elite warriors who are successful in practicing outer sect martial arts. The 500,000-strong army of the Prairie Allied Military District is simply not enough to fill the gap between our teeth.
"I intend to severely damage the grassland coalition forces. Is my father-in-law interested in fighting with the martial master Bi Xuan?"
Lei Hu pressed the chess piece in his hand and said calmly: "His Yanyang Qigong still has some special features. It's best to capture him alive!"
Song Que smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "Are you having some difficulties?"
"I will ask the Sanren Ning Daoqi to take action together, and the Buddhist masters will also follow!"
Lei Hu, however, did not take it seriously and said calmly: "There are outstanding people in the Central Plains. We must make full use of the advantages of large numbers. Don't think that we can organize a coalition army on the grasslands!"
Song Que was speechless for a while, then nodded and said: "I don't care, it would be good to see Bi Xuan's martial arts, but I'm afraid Ning Daoqi and the Buddhist masters won't listen to me!"
"Haha, Ning Daoqi is not a problem!"
Lei Hu said confidently: "As for the Buddhist masters, it is not a problem!"
"Okay then, I'll go to the frontier and have a good fight with the Turkic barbarians!"
Song Que put down the chess piece in his hand and said boldly: "Let Bi Xuan know the name of the Heavenly Sword!"
"In this case, my father-in-law should take the first step and bring one hundred thousand Jiangdong elites with him!"
Lei Hu chuckled and said: "Half a million cavalry is impressive. I want to let the Turks know that infantry can also roam the grasslands!"
"good!"
Song Que stood up and said goodbye: "I won't stay here any longer. I'll go back and get ready to go!"
In the spring of the fourth year of Wuxing, Zhennan Gong was ordered to lead an army of 100,000 troops to rush to the frontier fortress. A war between the Central Plains and the grassland coalition forces was about to break out. The atmosphere in the entire Guanzhong and Heluo land became solemn.
On the other side, Emperor Wu Leihu called on the senior Buddhist officials to come to Dongdu as soon as possible. He had something to tell him.
At this time, Buddhist power was dominated by the south. Because of the existence of Jiankang Buddhism and the intentional suppression of Emperor Wu Leihu, the power of northern Buddhism was greatly restricted, and its momentum was much lower than before.
The senior leaders of Southern Buddhism have a very close relationship with Emperor Wu Leihu, and they have become a solid alliance of interests.
They also want to set up a branch of Buddhism in the north to dominate the overall trend of Buddhism.
Under such circumstances, the status of the former Buddhist holy places Cihang Jingzhai and Jingnian Chanyuan has been greatly reduced, and the situation seems a bit embarrassing.
Emperor Wu's Leihu took a strong position in the Eastern Capital, putting great pressure on Cihang Jingzhai on the peak of Mount Zhongnan and the Jing Nian Monastery outside the Eastern Capital, and their power shrank greatly.
There is no need for Lei Hu to personally suppress them. Southern Buddhism, which follows the army to expand its influence to the north, will not make things easier for these two so-called Buddhist holy places.
Inadvertently, Lei Hu has provoked internal disputes within Buddhism.
Leihu did not have a horse to ride on the Emperor's Peak of Zhongnan Mountain, but he also strictly restricted Cihang Jingzhai not to be born within ten years. This was a punishment for their frequent interference in the affairs of the Central Plains.
It was Cihang Jingzhai who reacted quickly. When Lei Hu led the Jiangdong Army to sweep across the north and was about to unify the Central Plains, he made a contribution in the battle to regain Guanzhong, so Lei Hu let them go.
A bunch of nuns still want to stir up trouble in the overall situation of the world?
The only thing he relied on was the powerful power of Buddhism. Lei Hu simply came to the bottom of the cauldron and directly promoted the internal fighting in Buddhism. It would not be that simple for Cihang Jingzhai to stir up trouble again.
It has to be said that Cihang Jingzhai is really good at being a good person. When Lei Hu unified the world, they offered Shi Qingxuan, the daughter of the evil king Shi Zhixuan, a master of Xiao Yi who had been carefully cultivated.
Speaking of which, the evil king Shi Zhixuan is really pitiful. He himself was treated by Bi Xiuxin, the successor of Cihang Jingzhai, to the point of schizophrenia, and his good future was ruined.
As a result, her daughter was trained as a chess piece by Cihang Jingzhai. In the original work, she was used to contain Xu Ziling. In the end, Xu Ziling completely turned to Cihang Jingzhai and made a great contribution to persuade Kou Zhong to retire from the world.
Now, seeing that Emperor Wu Leihu had unified the Central Plains and needed a spokesperson for Buddhism in the harem, he did not hesitate to offer Shi Qingxuan.
In this way, not only did Emperor Wu have a spokesperson for Buddhism in his harem, but he also attracted the attention of the evil king Shi Zhixuan, who was secretly thinking about it.
Lei Hu knew it in his heart and just smiled.
Women are women after all, and it is okay to play some intrigues. If they want to participate in the general changes in the world, they obviously lack vision and ability, which means that every woman belongs to Wu Zetian.
Cihang Jingzhai wanted to play tricks on his mind, so Lei Hu casually gave Louguan Taoism, one of the mainstream Taoist sects on Zhongnan Mountain, a time when Cihang Jingzhai's group of nuns had a headache.
Emperor Wu summoned the leaders of southern Buddhism, the old monk Jiaxiang of the Sanlunzong Sect, and the old monk Zhizhi of the Tiantai Sect. They took a boat all the way north along the canal and arrived in the eastern capital in half a month to meet Emperor Wu.
"The Allied Forces on the Grassland Beyond the Great Wall have invaded, and I plan to destroy them!"
Lei Hu summoned him and said straight to the point: "After the Wu army enters the grassland, I want to spread the Buddhism and Taoism of the Central Plains on the grassland. Do you two have any ideas?"
If you have an idea, of course you have an idea!
When the two old monks Jiaxiang and Zhizhi heard this, they were immediately overjoyed. Regardless of the fact that they were about to turn 100 years old, they just beat their chests and promised that they would be happy to participate in the spread of faith in the grassland.
This is a good thing to expand the influence of Buddhism and leave a name in the history of Buddhism. Just like the previous southern Buddhism, how can they let it go easily?
As for whether the Wu army can defeat the 500,000-strong army of the Grassland Alliance, isn't this a joke?
On the way north along the canal, they also heard various rumors, but they scoffed with disdain.
As the leaders of the Southern Buddhism, their understanding of Jiangdong's strength is better than that of Zhennan Gong Tiandao Song Que. Jiangdong's strength is absolutely jaw-dropping. How could it be possible for a mere grassland coalition to fight against it?
The trend of everyone in Jiangdong practicing martial arts to strengthen their body has lasted for more than thirty years, and has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, changing the outlook of the people in the entire area south of the Yangtze River.
All Jiangdong Army lieutenants and generals are beginners in martial arts training. What a terrifying force this is?
Although Emperor Wu had mobilized 1.2 million troops in one go before, this had not reached the limit for Jiangdong. As long as Emperor Wu was willing to mobilize another 500,000 troops, it would not be a problem.
And after a few years, as the young men who graduated from the Youth Army grow up and become hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers and generals, will the Grassland Alliance have such strong strength and such a large population that can go to the battlefield?
That is to say, Jiangdong did not allow women to join the army, otherwise he could recruit millions of female troops, and their combat effectiveness would not be worse than the Jiangdong army that swept the world before.
Haha, two old monks, Jiaxiang and Zhizhi, are mature and mature people. How could they miss the opportunity to expand the influence of Buddhism in this way?
As for the rumors outside, they are just rumors and have no influence on their decision at all.
"If we travel from the Western Regions, we might be able to connect with the Buddhist country of Tianzhu. What do you two think then?"
Lei Hu let off another big thunder, which made the two Buddhist leaders dizzy. They didn't even know how to get out of the palace, but their hearts were filled with fire.
If I could preach in the Buddhist country of Tianzhu, it would be an indescribable relief.
As the two old monks were close to a hundred years old, they couldn't help but feel surging and ambitious. After leaving the palace, they immediately contacted the southern Buddhist elites to discuss accompanying the army to the grasslands to spread Buddhism.
Such commotion naturally attracted the attention of the higher-ups of the northern Buddhist sect. The two old monks were immediately invited by Jing Nian Zen Monastery to speak. The other two Buddhist monks, the Venerable Emperor Xin, and the fourth ancestor of Zen Buddhism, Daoxin, were all present.
When they knew Wu Emperor Leihu's thoughts, their hearts suddenly became hot.
Although they doubted whether Emperor Wu had the strength to deal with the 500,000-strong allied army in the grassland, looking at the confidence of the two old monks Jiaxiang and Zhihui, they were too lazy to ask more questions and wanted to participate in it and get a share of the pie.
What a great achievement it is to spread Buddhism to the Western Regions and grasslands?
Maybe in later generations, they will be awarded the title of Arhat, Bodhisattva or even Buddha by the monks of the younger generation due to their merits. That will be a lasting legacy. Who wouldn't be willing to take the gamble?
Compared with such a major event, the shrinking power and influence of Buddhism in the Central Plains region is nothing at all. Let's get the benefits first.
At the same time, Lei Hu summoned several leaders of the Central Plains Taoist Sect and told them about preaching in the grasslands and the Western Regions.
No matter how many doubts they had in their hearts, since Emperor Wu had greeted them, they had to show something. Otherwise, if they wanted to continue a secret fight with Buddhism in the future, wouldn't they be at a disadvantage?
Rumors outside were still raging, but the calm atmosphere in the palace, as well as Emperor Wu's frequent meetings with senior officials of Buddhism and Taoism, made the forces and people with malicious intentions behind the scenes confused.
What is Emperor Wu doing? Isn't the current battle with the grassland coalition the focus of attention?