The two court officials who were transformed by Vladimir using the night embrace ceremony were both in their fifties and sixties.
For them, there is something more important than power and position, and that is health.
After being transformed into vampires, they felt that their bodies had long-lost vitality, and they regained their glory in those young and beautiful concubines.
Of course, these two court officials did not know that the vampire's desire for that aspect would gradually fade away (just like Kitts), and they were still immersed in the excitement of returning to their youth.
When Bai Xiaowen came forward and asked these two court officials to cooperate with Shi Miyuan for the benefit of the Changsheng Sect, the two of them put on airs and wanted to refuse.
Vladimir directly thought, causing the vampire blood in the two people's bodies to boil. This pain, like being exposed to ultraviolet light, made the two of them feel what purgatory on earth is.
Only then did the two of them realize that they had become slaves, and that their life and death were in the hands of others. They suddenly became frustrated and could only agree to become peripheral members of the Immortality Sect and serve the Eternal Life Sect.
Bai Xiaowen also took the opportunity to learn about the situation. These court officials had the latest first-hand information coming from the front line.
The Mongolian army and the Song army have defeated Caizhou.
The Mongols robbed most of the gold and silver treasures of the Jin royal family. The Song army snatched back the bones of the last emperor of the Jin Dynasty, Wanyan Shouxu (Jin Aizong), and together with the captured Jin prime minister Zhang Tiangang, they escorted them back to Lin'an to pay homage to their ancestors. This was considered revenge.
The "Jingkang Shame" when the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed and the two emperors were taken prisoner.
The Southern Song Dynasty gained a lot from this battle, and recovered the four prefectures of Shou, Si, Su, and Hao. It can be said that the entire territory of the Huaihe River and Huaihe River was basically recovered.
Destroying the feuding Jin Kingdom made the whole country of the Southern Song Dynasty immersed in excitement and joy.
This kind of excitement and joy also made Song Lizong so ambitious that he had the idea of sending troops to the north to regain the lost land in the Yellow River Basin of the Northern Song Dynasty.
After the destruction of the Jin Dynasty, Mongolia and the Southern Song Dynasty bordered each other. The territorial boundaries were divided between Sizhou and Zhengzhou, which are today's Shandong and Henan, and the western border was in today's Qinghai.
Due to the increasingly hot weather and lack of food and grass, Mongolia withdrew to the north of the Yellow River.
In the court, a group of young and energetic officials proposed to take advantage of the Mongolian retreat to the north and the empty Central Plains to send troops to the Northern Expedition. Their slogan was "pacify the Central Plains, hold on to the Yellow River, occupy Tongguan, and recover the three capitals."
The Three Capitals refer to the three capitals of the original Northern Song Dynasty: Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo (ie Kaifeng, Henan), Henan Prefecture in Xijing (ie Luoyang, Henan) and Yingtian Prefecture in Nanjing (ie Shangqiu, Henan), all in Henan.
However, most senior officials opposed sending troops.
The reason is very simple. The current Central Plains has been turned into a wasteland by the Mongols' massacre policy, with only dilapidated empty cities.
The cities that used to have a population of hundreds of thousands now have only a few hundred households left. Bones are exposed, corpses are filling rivers, and epidemics are prevalent... If we want to restore the prosperity of the past, we don't know how much blood is needed from the Jianghuai region.
Not only were the old-school officials at court opposed, but even the generals outside were well aware of the power of the Mongols and opposed sending troops.
The argument didn't last long.
Because Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty issued an edict in support of sending troops to recover the three capitals, especially the Northern Song Dynasty imperial mausoleum located in Henan Prefecture of Xijing (Luoyang). After regaining the three capitals, he imitated the Jin people and guarded Tongguan, which was enough to resist the Mongols.
After the emperor made up his mind, even the prime minister could not object.
If Shi Miyuan wanted to object, even his position would be surrendered.
Bai Xiaowen did not object. At this time, his control over the Song Dynasty court was not deep enough, and it took time to slowly penetrate his influence into various ministries and departments.
Besides, the war between the Song army and Mongolia also went according to Bai Xiaowen's wishes. If Song Lizong had become more prudent and stayed in Huainan and other places unlike in history, Mongolia might have been delayed for several months before launching a war. Bai Xiaowen could
There isn't that much time to waste here.
As a result, the Southern Song Dynasty army sent troops northward for the second time.
Bai Xiaowen received the prompt directly, and he triggered a large-scale historical event-the Song-Mongolia War!
"Heroic level side mission: [pacify Huaidong] starts."
"[Mission objective: Destroy the loyal army entrenched in Huai'an.]"
"[Task difficulty: d+]"
"[Mission period: None (equal to the remaining time you stay at the Shao location)]"
"[Task reward: 150 spiritual crystals.]"
Huaidong, where Abaddon is located, also ushered in its first war - not with the Mongols, but with the "Loyal and Righteous Army".
The so-called Zhongyi Army was actually a local armed group that revolted because it was dissatisfied with the rule of the Jin people.
At first it was called the "Red Coat Army". Later, Emperor Ningzong of the Song Dynasty crusaded against the Jin Kingdom and recruited various rebel armies. The generals of the Red Coat Army, Li Quan, Yang Miaozhen and others, led their troops to attach themselves to the Song Dynasty and crusade against the Jin Kingdom, and were named the "Loyal and Righteous Army".
It is worth mentioning that Li Quan and Yang Miaozhen were a couple, and they were both good at using guns. Li Quan, known as "Li Tiejian", was strong and skilled in bow and horse; his wife Yang Miaozhen was even more powerful, known as "Twenty Pear Blossoms"
"The gun is the most invincible hand in the world." The pear-shaped marksmanship he created was even passed down to later generations and was highly praised by military strategists of the Ming Dynasty such as Qi Jiguang and He Liangchen.
The name Zhongyi Army is of course a good one, but unfortunately it changed later on. As time went by, Li Quan and his wife had long forgotten their original intentions and became mercenary. On the surface, they submitted to the Southern Song Dynasty and obtained money and food from the Southern Song Dynasty; but secretly they attached themselves to Mongolia, not only with the
The Mongols traded supplies and burned the imperial armament storehouse of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Later, Li Quan even openly invaded Yancheng, robbed all the treasury supplies, and threatened the Southern Song Dynasty court to remove Zhao Shanxiang, the envoy along the Yangtze River, Yue Ke, the general in charge of Huaidong, and others. This had touched the bottom line of the Southern Song Dynasty court, and finally triggered the Southern Song Dynasty.
The crusade against the loyal army.
Of course, the psychological changes of Li Quan and Yang Miaozhen over the years are also related to the improper employment of personnel in the Southern Song Dynasty. Xu Guo, a high-ranking official sent to appease the Zhongyi Army, was short-sighted and arrogant. He repeatedly deducted food and salary from the Zhongyi Army, and his staff also
He was arrogant and rude to Li Quan's generals, which aroused Li Quan's rebellious spirit.
But regardless of the past, Li Quan has now become a vicious dog of the Mongols. If they want to send troops to Huaidong and go north to Qingzhou, they must destroy Li Quan.
Bai Xiaowen triggered this mission obviously because Abaddon was in Huaidong.
The rules of the spirit world determine that Abaddon is Bai Xiaowen's summoned creature. Abaddon's presence in Huaidong means that Bai Xiaowen's combat power is in Huaidong; therefore, this mission was triggered for him.
The difficulty of this mission being "heroic" must be due to the existence of large-scale war scenes, which improves the "quality" of the mission.
However, when it comes to judging the strength of the enemy and ourselves, the rules of the spirit world judge that Bai Xiaowen's camp is extremely advantageous, and only gives a difficulty level of D+. In other words, even without Bai Xiaowen's participation, this war is a sure win but not a loss.