The two Imperial Court officials that Vladimir used the Night Embrace ceremony to transform were both old men in their fifties and sixties.
To them, there was something more important than power, and that was health.
After being turned into Blood Race members, they felt that their bodies had regained the vitality that they had not had in a long time.
Of course, these two officials did not know that the desire of Blood Race members in that area would slowly decrease (like Keats), and they were still immersed in the excitement of returning to their youth.
When Bai Xiaowen stepped out and asked these two officials to work with Shi Miyuan for the benefit of Changsen Sect, the two of them put on airs and wanted to reject him.
Vladimir directly used his mind to cause the vampire blood in their bodies to boil. The pain was like being exposed to ultraviolet rays, and the two of them felt what hell was like on earth.
Only then did the two of them realize that they had become slaves, and their lives were in the hands of others. They instantly became deflated balls, and they could only agree to become outer members of Changsen Sect and serve them.
Bai Xiaowen also understood the situation at the same time. These officials had the latest intel from the frontlines.
The Mongol army and Song army had already broken through Cai Province.
The Mongols stole most of the gold and silver treasures of the Jin Country royal family. The Song army snatched back the remains of the last emperor of the Jin Country, Wanyan Shouxu (Jin Aizong). Along with the captured Jin Country prime minister Zhang Tiangang, they sent him back to Lin 'an to pay respects to their ancestors. This could be considered as taking revenge for the North Song being wiped out and the two emperors being captured.
South Song gained a lot from this battle, reclaiming Shou, Si, Su, and Hao. One could say that the entire Huai River was basically recovered.
Wiping out the Jin Country, the entire South Song was immersed in joy and excitement.
Such joy and excitement also filled Song Lizong's heart, and he had thoughts of sending troops north to reclaim the Yellow River region of North Song.
After wiping out the Jin Country, Mongol and South Song shared a border. Their territories were separated. The east border was at Sizhou and Zhengzhou, which was today's Shandong and Henan. The west border was in today's Qinghai.
As the weather was getting hotter and hotter, the Mongols retreated north of the Yellow River due to a lack of grain.
In the imperial court, a bunch of young and rash officials suggested to send troops north while the Mongols retreated north and the mid plains were empty. Their slogan was "Pacify the Central Plains, Defend the Yellow River, Occupy Tongguan, Recover the Three Capitals".
The Three Capitals referred to the three original capitals of the Northern Song Dynasty: Kaifeng of Dongjing (Kaifeng of Henan), Luoyang of Xijing (Luoyang of Henan), and Yingtian of Nanjing (Shangqiu of Henan), all in Henan.
However, most of the senior officials were against sending troops.
The reason was simple. The current Central Plains had been massacred by the Mongols, and it had become a wasteland. There were only broken and empty cities.
Cities that originally had a population of hundreds of thousands were now left with only a few hundred households. Skeletons in the wilderness, corpses in the river, and epidemics in the epidemic … In order to restore the prosperity of the past, it was unknown how much blood would be needed from the Jianghuai region.
Not only were the old faction officials against it, but even the generals outside knew how strong the Mongols were and were against sending troops.
The debate did not last long.
This was because Emperor Lizong of Song had issued an imperial edict to support the mobilization of troops to recover the three capitals, especially the Imperial Mausoleum of the Northern Song Dynasty, which was located in Henan Prefecture (Luoyang). After recovering the three capitals, they could imitate the Jin people and defend Tongguan, which was enough to defend against the Mongols.
Once the Emperor had made up his mind, even the Prime Minister could not object.
If Shi Miyuan wanted to object, even the Prime Minister would have to give up his position to someone else.
Bai Xiaowen did not object. At the moment, his control over the Song Dynasty was not deep enough, and he needed time to slowly spread his influence to the various departments and divisions.
Furthermore, the Song army and the Mongols fighting was what Bai Xiaowen wanted. If Song Lizong was different from history and became more cautious and defended Huainan, the Mongols might not start the war for a few months. Bai Xiaowen did not have so much time to waste here.
Hence, the Southern Song army sent troops up north for the second time.
Bai Xiaowen immediately received a notification that he had triggered a huge historical event – the Song – Mongol War!
"Hero Side Quest: Quelling Huaidong activated."
"Quest Objective: Wipe out the Loyal Army in Huaian."
"Quest Difficulty: D +"
"Quest Duration: None (Equivalent to the time you spend in Shaoyang Plane)"
"Quest Reward: 150 Spirit Crystals."
Huaidong, where Abaddon was, welcomed its first war. It was not with the Mongols but with the Loyal Army.
The so-called Loyal Army was actually a local armed group that revolted because they were unhappy with the rule of the Jin.
At the start, they were called the Red Coat Army. However, when Song Ningzong attacked the Jin, he recruited the various Loyal Army. The Red Coat Army generals, Li Quan, Yang Miaozhen, and the like, joined Great Song to attack the Jin. They were called the Loyal Army.
What was worth mentioning was that Li Quan and Yang Miaozhen were husband and wife, and they were both good at using spears. Li Quan was known as Iron Spear Li. He was really strong, and his wife was even better. She was known as the Pear Blossom Spear Technique, invincible in the world. The Pear Blossom Spear Technique that she created was passed down to the future, and Qi Jiguang, He Liangchen, and other Ming Dynasty strategists praised it.
The Loyal Army was a good name, but unfortunately, it changed in the end. As time went on, Li Quan and his wife had forgotten their original intentions and became greedy. On the surface, they submitted to South Song to obtain their money and grain. However, in the dark, they relied on the Mongols. Not only did they trade with the Mongols, but they also burned down the South Song Imperial Treasury.
In the end, Li Quan even openly attacked Yancheng and robbed the treasury. He also threatened the South Song Imperial Court to remove Zhao Shanxiang, Huaidong General Yue Ke, and the like. This had touched the bottom line of the South Song Imperial Court, and it finally caused the South Song to attack the Loyal Army.
Of course, the psychological changes of Li Quan and Yang Miaozhen had something to do with the South Song Imperial Court not using the right people. The Imperial Court official, Xu Guo, who was sent to calm down the Loyal Army, was short-sighted and arrogant. He kept on deducting the grain of the Loyal Army, and his aides were also rude to the generals under Li Quan.
However, no matter what happened in the past, Li Quan was now a dog of the Mongols. If they wanted to send troops to Huaidong, they had to wipe him out.
The reason Bai Xiaowen triggered this quest was obviously because Abaddon was in Huaidong.
The rules of the Spirit Realm determined that Abaddon was Bai Xiaowen's summoned creature. Since Abaddon was in Huaidong, it meant that Bai Xiaowen's combat strength was in Huaidong. Thus, he triggered this quest.
The reason why this quest had a 'Hero Side Quest' difficulty was definitely because of the existence of large-scale war scenes, which increased the 'quality' of the quest.
However, in terms of determining the strength of the enemy, the rules of the Spirit Realm determined that Bai Xiaowen's camp had a great advantage, and it only gave him a difficulty of D +. In other words, even without Bai Xiaowen's participation, they would still win this war.
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