"What do you think? You've been the Navy Commander for a few months, controlling the life and death of hundreds of people, and controlling the entire Luo River Shipping. Do you feel like you can do whatever you want once you have the power in your hands?"
"Power is a good thing. However, no matter how great the power is, it's given by others and can be taken back at any time. It's not safe to hold it in your hands!" Junior Leopard looked at the smiling Li Yuan and said with a bitter smile, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for giving me a chance to gain experience. This time in Jiang City, not only did I broaden my horizons, it was also a great training for my soul. Authority is illusory, only one's own strength is the most real!"
"Good, good, good!" Li Yuan said the word "good" three times. "Zhou Bao, it's good that you can think like this. You've done so many things in Jiang City and gained so many benefits. I'm really afraid that you'll be lost in the pursuit of power and delay your own practice!" Speaking of this, he sighed softly, "Back then, I didn't see this point clearly. In the end, I still worked hard for others!"
"Your Excellency is now the Zhenxi General, in charge of the military affairs of a state. You have great power, unlike me, who's just a small Navy Commander!"
"Hahahaha, you brat, in the end, you still think that your power is too small!"
"Your Excellency, you must be joking. After this incident in Jiang City, I've already set my goal, which is to practice martial arts. The path of a warrior is what I should walk, not to compete with others in the imperial court. I don't have the ability or the capital to compete with others!"
"Well, that's a good choice. You're already a Level Seven expert at such a young age. If you put your heart into martial arts, your future will be limitless!"
"Your Excellency, you flatter me. My cultivation is only at Level Four!"
"Level Four cultivation, Level Seven combat capability, plus that wolf beside you, I'm afraid that ordinary Level Seven experts will run away when they meet you!"
There was a hint of flattery in Li Yuan's words, but Junior Leopard felt comfortable hearing it. He said, "If your cultivation is not at Level Seven, you'll never be called an expert. Granny Long underestimated me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have won so easily!"
"Whether you're an expert or a master, I won't compete with you. Anyway, you're now my strongest combat capability, so you should enjoy the best treatment. Now that I'm in charge of the military affairs of a state, there are many good positions. You're too young, so you can't be an Admiral, but you can pick the garrison of each prefecture!"
"Thank you for your kindness, Sir. However, if you don't mind, please allow me to serve by your side. I'll still be in the personal guard camp, just like before!"
"Don't you feel wronged?" Li Yuan smiled noncommittally. "You have the combat capability of Level Seven, don't you?"
"You're joking, Your Excellency. It's not wronged to serve you!" Junior Leopard smiled. "Besides, as your personal guard, I have a lot of free time. These few years are the most critical period for me to practice martial arts. I need a lot of free time to practice. If you really entrust me with an important task, I may really delay my practice. So, Your Excellency, please do me a favor and let me go back to the personal guard camp!"
"You little brat …!" Li Yuan waved his hand helplessly. "Since that's the case, you can come back. It just so happens that I've released Wang Lei. The Camp Supervisor of the personal guard camp is Qi Fei. The Deputy Camp Supervisor hasn't been decided yet. Since you're back, I'll have to trouble you to be Qi Fei's assistant!"
"No, Your Excellency, just let me be a personal guard. The Deputy Camp Supervisor has a lot of things to take care of!"
"That's settled. The personal guard camp is similar to Jianghu. It's based on strength. Your combat capability ranks first in the personal guard camp. It's just that you don't have enough experience. If you stay with me for a few more years, I'll let you be the Camp Supervisor directly. I'll give you three days off. After three days, you'll immediately take up the post!"
"Yes, Your Excellency!" Seeing that there was no room for redemption, Junior Leopard reluctantly accepted the reality.
In the next three days, Junior Leopard basically immersed himself in the wine jar.
In the past, how could the group of personal guards miss such a good opportunity? Every day, they would drag him to the tavern, saying that now that Commander Zhou was rich and had been promoted, he shouldn't forget his old brothers. If you eat meat, you should at least give your old brothers some soup to drink, right?
After tossing and turning for three days, Junior Leopard took up the post with a dizzy head.
Being a personal guard was a walk in the park. The pay was good and there was a lot of free time.
Things were different now. He was the Deputy Camp Supervisor. Logically speaking, he should be in charge of things. However, he didn't care. He pushed all his matters to Qi Fei and became a nominal Camp Supervisor. Qi Fei couldn't do anything to him. He had no choice but to shoulder all the big and small matters on his own. He became a servant and took over all the things that should have been done by Junior Leopard.
… …
… …
This time, Li Yuan took over the post of Zhenxi General. He was in charge of the military affairs of Qing Province.
Qing Province wasn't a big province in the Jin, but its geographical location was very important. Moreover, it was adjacent to Yunzhou, located in the north west of the Jin's territory.
Yunzhou was the northernmost province of the Jin, facing Northern Yuan directly. It could be said to be the frontline of the war with Northern Yuan. As for Qing Province, it was equivalent to Yunzhou's logistics base, connecting Yunzhou and the hinterland of the Jin. It could be said that hundreds of years ago, Qing Province was tightly holding onto Yunzhou's throat. Although Yunzhou had undergone fundamental changes under Ma Tianchang's governance, it could be self-sufficient and didn't need to rely on Qing Province or even the entire Jin for support. However, all these referred to ordinary times.
Now it was different. Northern Yuan and the Jin were at daggers drawn. There were no major conflicts, but there were constant small conflicts. It could be said that the two countries had entered a state of semi-war. Under such circumstances, the position of Qing Province became subtle.
In Zhonghe City, because it was located in the hinterland of the Jin, Junior Leopard didn't pay attention to the battle reports in the north. Now that he arrived at Qing Province, he could really feel the intense atmosphere.
All of this was because of two people, Ma Tianchang and Wang She.
Wang She had killed the three princes who were qualified to inherit the throne. If he was chased by the three Grandmasters of Northern Yuan, it would also cause the anger of the entire Northern Yuan. On one hand, they would send envoys to the Jin to denounce him. On the other hand, the Seven Troops of the Southern Yard immediately went south and gathered troops at the border of the two countries.
Wang She lit the fuse. As the Governor of Yunzhou of the Jin, the military chief officer, he added a few more bags of explosives when the fuse was lit.
When the Seven Troops of the Southern Yard were probing but didn't actually attack, Northern Yuan personally led thousands of cavalrymen and went out on their own initiative. Not only did they kill all the cavalrymen sent out by the Seven Troops of the Southern Yard, but they also went deep into the prairie and wiped out all the tribes within 50 miles of the border between Yunzhou and Northern Yuan. The result was that both sides fought three battles. After the three battles, the main force of the Seven Troops of the Southern Yard was completely destroyed. Among the Seven Troops, the leaders of three troops fled in panic. The leaders of the other four troops, along with the heads of 3,000 cavalrymen, were beheaded by Ma Tianchang and hung at the border between Yunzhou and Northern Yuan.
This was premeditated!
After a few battles, everyone could see that this was premeditated. Ma Tianchang had long been prepared and the trap had long been set. It was as if he knew a year ago that the Seven Troops of the Southern Yard would attack. Therefore, he didn't expend much effort in fighting them. It could even be said that it was very easy. All he fought was a war of annihilation.
Originally, Northern Yuan had suffered such a big loss. Even if they were angry, they had to ease up and take a breath. It wouldn't be too late to get back at Great Jin.
However, they didn't expect that not long after, a snowstorm that hadn't been seen in a hundred years swept through the entire prairie. Countless cattle, sheep, and people were frozen to death. Not to mention those small tribes that were nomadic in the prairie, even the few large tribes of Northern Yuan couldn't bear it.
Only then did Northern Yuan realize that Ma Tianchang had already planned to close the fairs to Northern Yuan a few months ago. Before the fairs were completely closed, the hundreds of thousands of tons of grain that originally flowed into Northern Yuan through the fairs every year didn't even have a grain of rice to be seen.
Without food and clothing, the entire Northern Yuan was in a state of extreme cold.
In history, the only solution to this situation was to invade the south.
Without food, they went to the south to rob. Without clothing, they went to the south to rob. Many people froze to death. They went to the south to rob. Everything was burned, killed, and robbed in the south.
However, this year, they discovered that this method didn't seem to work.
For hundreds of years, the Seven Tribes of the Southern Yard had always been the vanguard of Northern Yuan's invasion to the south. They were also the tribes most familiar with the route to the south. However, these seven tribes had been completely destroyed by Ma Tianchang and didn't have any combat power. Without the Seven Tribes of the Southern Yard as a guide, if the Northern Yuan Iron Cavalry wanted to go south, it was equivalent to losing a pair of eyes.
Now, the problem that Northern Yuan was facing was not only that the Seven Tribes of the Southern Yard were powerless, but also that they didn't have Khan.
Wali Khan was dead. The three princes who were originally qualified to inherit his position were also dead. All the large tribes were ready to make trouble, eyeing the Khan's position covetously. It was almost impossible to choose a new Khan in a short period of time.
Without Khan, the various tribes of Northern Yuan were like a plate of loose sand, unable to form a unified force. Although there was still the existence of the prairie alliance, this alliance was like the parliament in Junior Leopard's previous life. There were too many Elders, and each had their own interests. No one was willing to submit to anyone. As for the highest leader of the alliance in name, the First Elder, it was only an empty title. He didn't have any real power and simply couldn't suppress the other Elders.
At this time, the three people who had the most authority in Northern Yuan, namely the three Grandmasters, had all gone to kill Wang She. For a while, they couldn't be found.
All these factors added up led to one result. That was, the various tribes of Northern Yuan fighting for their own interests. Ma Tianchang found an opportunity to kill them to his heart's content, causing them to suffer heavy losses. Later on, they sensed that something was wrong and deliberately avoided Yunzhou. They took a detour and attacked the other provinces and prefectures that were at the border with Northern Yuan. However, firstly, they were already exhausted. Secondly, the various provinces and prefectures of the Great Jin were prepared. Therefore, their gains were limited. The gains from the southern invasion were not even enough to make up for the losses!
It wasn't until a month ago, when Kunlun Master returned and appeared at the prairie alliance alliance that everything started to improve.
Under the mobilization of Kunlun Master, the remaining troops and horses of Northern Yuan began to assemble. These were the elite cavalry of Northern Yuan. The vanguard was directed at Yunzhou.
Why was it directed at Yunzhou?
Although Yunzhou was a tough bone to chew, it was the flattest place on the border between the two countries. It was an open plain. The worst part was that the plain was high in the north and low in the south. It was the best place for cavalry to charge. This was also the reason why the situation in Yunzhou had deteriorated before Ma Tianchang became the Governor of Yunzhou.
Although Northern Yuan had suffered a great loss of strength this time, it had dominated the prairie for thousands of years after all. It still had a solid foundation. A few large tribes united and formed a huge combined force. The iron stream rolled and headed towards the various prefectures and counties on the border between Northern Yuan and Yunzhou. Although Yunzhou was strong, its military strength was limited and its battle line was long. If it wasn't for the existence of Ma Tianchang, the entire Yunzhou would have already fallen. Even so, the situation in Yunzhou was still very tense. As the rear of Yunzhou, Qingzhou was naturally affected by this tense atmosphere. However, as the Deputy Camp Supervisor of the Qingzhou General's Personal Guard Camp, he wasn't deeply affected because his duty was only to protect Li Yuan's safety. At this moment, he really couldn't come out.
Therefore, his days were leisurely. Usually, apart from practicing martial arts, his concern about the situation between Great Jin and Northern Yuan was only thinking about whether the other two would pose a threat to Wang She since one of the three Grandmasters of Northern Yuan had returned.
As a bystander, from the development of the whole thing, Junior Leopard smelled a thick smell of conspiracy.
Yes, conspiracy!
Northern Yuan had been forced to such a point. The gathering of 100,000 Iron Cavalrymen seemed menacing and unstoppable. However, these 100,000 Iron Cavalrymen were a big threat to Yunzhou. However, compared to the whole Jin, the threat wasn't big. Great Jin had a population of billions of trillions and millions of armored soldiers. As long as Great Jin could solve these 100,000 Iron Cavalrymen, no, not solve them, but block them, block them for a few months, then without logistics, the 100,000 Iron Cavalrymen would naturally collapse. Once they collapsed, the whole Northern Yuan would be finished. Great Jin could even take this opportunity to unify the prairie and bring the whole prairie under their rule. The only obstacle now was only three people.
More than one person had the same idea as Junior Leopard. At this moment, Yunzhou Governor Ma Tianchang submitted a world-shaking memorial. It was this memorial that disrupted Junior Leopard's peaceful life!
"Petition to Punish the Three Great Bandits of Northern Yuan"
The target was the three Grandmasters of Northern Yuan.
This memorial not only caused a sensation in the imperial court of Great Jin, but also in the entire Jianghu!
Who were the three Grandmasters of Northern Yuan?
They were the most famous Level Nine experts in the world. They had been unrivaled for more than a hundred years and had always been the pillar of Northern Yuan. At the same time, they were also the most unattainable existence in the martial arts world. Now, Yunzhou Governor Ma Tianchang unexpectedly sent a memorial to kill these three immortal-like figures. It was really shocking and unbelievable. In fact, there had never been such a thing in the martial arts world.
A Level Nine expert was synonymous with the strongest force in the world. The destructive power a Level Nine expert could cause was far beyond the imagination of ordinary people. In a sense, a Level Nine expert was equivalent to a nuclear weapon in Junior Leopard's future life. It was completely a deterrent. They rarely intervened in wars between countries. And in wars between countries, the existence of these Level Nine experts was never considered.
But now, the Yunzhou Governor of Great Jin submitted a memorial to kill the three Grandmasters of Northern Yuan. This complicated the problem.
The relationship between Jianghu and the imperial court became subtle. Similarly, this memorial also simplified and made the situation between Northern Yuan and Great Jin clear. Especially the words at the end of Ma Tianchang's memorial, "accomplish the task in one stroke", "annihilate a country", and "achieve an immortal achievement", made people's blood boil.
Indeed, the matter was already clear, completely clear. As long as the three Grandmasters of Northern Yuan were eliminated and the 100,000 Iron Cavalry gathered in Yunzhou were defeated, there would be no more resistance in the northern prairie. In front of the Great Jin, there would be a smooth road!
Once the prairie of Northern Yuan was brought under the rule of Great Jin, then the power and influence of Great Jin would inevitably be unprecedentedly strong. Most importantly, no matter which dynasty in the Central Plains did such a thing, it would be an immortal achievement, just like what Ma Tianchang had said in his memorial.
Ten thousand years of immortal merit ah!
Since the beginning of historical records, the northern prairie had been the archenemy of the Central Plains. For tens of thousands of years, the southern Central Plains had always been in a passive state of defense. Once in a thousand years, a truly ambitious overlord would appear in the Central Plains and attack the northern prairie, causing the prairie's vitality to be greatly damaged. They would bow their heads in submission and not have the power to invade the south for hundreds of years. This was already extremely difficult for a figure to be called a Great Emperor. And these people who could be called Great Emperors were all figures of the dynasties 10,000 years ago.
Since the emergence of the alliance of the northern prairie, all the forces of the prairie had been unified. There had never been a figure in the Central Plains that could make the northern prairie submit. Moreover, with the strengthening of the cohesion of the prairie, the vigor of the prairie gradually flourished. In the past thousand years, there had been a faint desire to conquer the Central Plains. Before Great Jin, the Great Shang Dynasty had suffered a great loss of vigor during the last large-scale invasion by Northern Yuan. Although they had finally repelled the cavalry of Northern Yuan, they had also lost almost all of their strength. The founding monarch of Great Jin took advantage of this and seized the country.
But now?
The development of the facts was beyond everyone's expectations, except for the four of them.
No one had expected that a sudden incident, a snowstorm that was rarely seen in a hundred years, would cause the entire Northern Yuan to encounter a catastrophe.
This was a true calamity!
Ten thousand years ago, when the supreme monarch of the prairie formulated the system of the prairie alliance, he would never have expected that this system, after bringing ten thousand years of prosperity to the prairie, would also be the foreshadowing of the entire prairie's destruction. Ten thousand years could change a lot of things.
Ten thousand years could change a lot of things. In ten thousand years, the Iron Horsemen of the prairie had gotten used to obeying orders and fighting under the banner of Northern Yuan. Although various tribes wandered in the prairie, their Iron Horsemen could no longer swallow and kill each other like they did ten thousand years ago. While this was accumulating strength for the prairie, it was also wearing down the courage of the entire prairie. When the people of the prairie were united and hundreds of thousands of Iron Horsemen worked together, this kind of influence would be completely ignored. With the Three Grandmasters as spiritual leaders, Wali Khan giving orders, the Elders of the Allied Alliance restraining various tribes, and hundreds of thousands of Iron Horsemen waiting for battle, people only saw the strength of the Iron Horsemen of the prairie. This kind of hidden concern was completely ignored.
But now?
A sudden snowstorm caused the unprepared Northern Yuan to freeze countless cows, goats, and horses to death overnight. It didn't matter if the cows and goats froze to death. The most important thing was the horses, the cavalry's horses. Northern Yuan had hundreds of thousands of Iron Horsemen that could dominate the world.
What did the cavalry rely on?
They relied on the horses. The cavalry of Northern Yuan was incomparably ferocious, but without the horses, their combat power would be reduced by at least 50 to 60 percent. From cavalry to infantry, no matter how ferocious the Northern Yuan warriors were, how could they contend with the millions of armored soldiers of the Great Jin?
The most ruthless thing that Ma Tianchang had done was to cut off the prairie's food supply in advance. Even if Northern Yuan could rely on the frozen cows and goats to survive the cold winter, what about after the winter?
Without the cows and goats, there would be no food. Were they supposed to eat grass like cows and goats?
Therefore, in the face of such a natural disaster, the only correct choice for Northern Yuan was to invade the south. They went south to plunder the Great Jin, plundering their wealth, population, and food. Only by doing so could they help Northern Yuan survive the difficult winter and the following spring, which was even more difficult than the cold winter.
However, it wasn't until they were preparing to invade the south that they realized unknowingly that Northern Yuan was already at a complete disadvantage.
From the beginning of autumn, Ma Tianchang had carried out a merciless strangulation of the Seven Troops of the Southern Yard. Out of the 100,000 cavalry of the Seven Troops of the Southern Yard, there were less than 10,000 left. As for the other tribes of the prairie, after the death of Wali Khan's three sons, they began to fight openly and covertly and suffered many losses. In addition, all of their energy was focused on fighting for the Khan's position, so they didn't take any measures to prevent the cold. Therefore, after the snowstorm, the entire Northern Yuan could only scrape together 150,000 cavalrymen. Moreover, most of these surviving cavalrymen had to cross the vast prairie that had already turned into a snowfield. By the time they reached the border of Yunzhou, there were only 100,000 of them left.
With 100,000 cavalrymen, it was enough to launch a major battle. However, in the face of Yunzhou City and Ma Tianchang, who was on guard, there was only despair left for them.
If Kunlun Master hadn't given up on pursuing Wang She and rushed over, perhaps these 100,000 cavalrymen of Northern Yuan would have already been defeated without a fight.
This was the current situation of Northern Yuan. It was also the best opportunity in the history of the Great Jin and even the Central Plains for tens of thousands of years.
Perhaps there were very few people who realized this opportunity. When Ma Tianchang's memorial was presented, the Great Jin court was silent. Immediately, like a nest of boiling water, the whole court was boiling.
This was an opportunity, a great opportunity!
However, how to make use of such an opportunity needed to be considered and deliberated.
Just as the eyes of the Great Jin court were staring at the imperial court, they wanted to see when and how the imperial court would react.
However, before the imperial court could react, Tian Long Taoism took the lead.
Among the three Chiefs, Lei Xu and Nian Wushuang, led a group of experts down the mountain and headed straight for Northern Yuan. Firstly, it was to rescue Wang She who was being chased by the two Grandmasters of Northern Yuan. Secondly, it was to find an opportunity to assassinate the experts of Northern Yuan, claiming to contribute to the everlasting achievements of the Great Jin dynasty. Apart from sending a large number of experts into Northern Yuan, Tian Long Taoism also called upon the martial artists of Great Jin to unite and exterminate the martial artists of Northern Yuan. They also claimed that Tian Long Taoism would send a few Level Nine Elders into Northern Yuan to kill the three Grandmasters!
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