I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 109: Literary Atmosphere, Emerging Chaos, and the Imperial Eunuch.

Faced with the people's wariness and sensitivity towards scholars, the dynasty eventually ordered the issuance of a new proclamation.

Tell the people within the territory that those scholars and intellectuals who were not arrested are all innocent; their actions have not violated the laws of the People's Salvation Army, and so on.
Then officials at all levels and village chiefs announced it to the people under their jurisdiction.

In this way, the academic controversy was gradually brought under control.

Faced with the government's announcement, many scholars couldn't help but change their minds. Perhaps this so-called "Rescue Army" wasn't so terrible after all?

Of course, there will inevitably be some people who won't appreciate it.

However, after this setback, they are at least able to teach more quietly.

In fact, after this round of reorganization, it wasn't just the school teachers who were re-evaluated and began to teach in a more responsible manner.

Many scholars and intellectuals in society were also startled and became more docile, beginning to change their attitude towards the rule of the People's Salvation Army.

As the attitudes of many literati changed, they began to see more scenes that they had never seen before, or that they had deliberately ignored.

The lives of the people in the territory of the People's Salvation Army are indeed better than before, although they have not yet reached the prosperous scene described by the ancient sages.

But isn't this a positive development?

Shouldn't those scholars who read the classics also contribute their efforts?
Some scholars and literati have even begun to write poems praising the People's Salvation Army.

In an instant, the sky above the entire territory of the People's Salvation Army cleared up, and large swaths of gray-black mist were rapidly dissipating.

The nation's fortune grew ever stronger, continuously converging towards the dynasty and merging into the golden sphere above, gradually transforming the last remaining national fortune within it.

Upon noticing the shift in public sentiment in the territory, a happy smile appeared on the dynasty's face.

In the end, Wang Chao looked towards the location of those schools.

School should be a wonderful place for learning; don't give me any of that messy stuff.

After a moment's thought, the dynasty began to consider something.

In an instant, a faint white light began to rise from the countless schools where students were reciting their lessons, eventually enveloping the entire school.

That white light was pure, intriguing, and filled with longing.
The purity of a child's innocence, their curiosity about everything in the world, and their thirst for knowledge.
That was created by the dynasty using spiritual power to erode the spiritual energy emitted by the young students, thus helping them to enter a learning state more quickly.

At the same time, it will also suppress the mental consciousness of those who harbor ill will towards students, leaving them in a dazed and confused state until they leave school or change their mindset.

After some thought, the dynasty called it "literary spirit".

At the same time, a message was sent to the relevant officials at all levels: schools should have a scholarly atmosphere; a strong scholarly atmosphere indicates a thriving academic environment and dedicated teachers, who should be rewarded.

Those who lack literary talent must have poor academic style and lazy teachers. If they go too far, they should be punished; if they go too far, they should be banned.

By the time the issues concerning the school and the teachers were resolved, it was already the end of January of the first year of the Chongzhen reign.

The situation in the territory of the People's Salvation Army is constantly changing, and the outside world is equally interested.

Wang Er, who lived near Baishui County in eastern Shaanxi, and his rebel army were pursued by Li Qiao, the governor of Shaanxi, and forced to hide.

If Li Qiao hadn't deliberately let them win, Wang Er and his group wouldn't have been able to hold on any longer.

Even so, they had reached their limit.

They repeatedly tried to break through the government troops' encirclement and advance westward into the territory of the People's Salvation Army.

However, each time, they were intercepted by government troops.

If things continue like this, their defeat is imminent.

However, at this moment, a turning point suddenly appeared.

Perhaps influenced by the Dynasty's Salvation Army and Wang Er's Righteous Army, Wang Jiayin, seeing an opportunity, also launched an uprising ahead of schedule.

Wang Jiayin, along with Wu Tinggui, Yang Liu, and Bu Zhanni, launched an uprising in Qingshui County on January 12th. Taking advantage of the unpreparedness of the government troops, they quickly occupied Qingshui County.

When the dynasty received the news, it was slightly taken aback, but it quickly realized that this must be the influence of him and the People's Salvation Army.

Historically, Wang Jiayin and others seem to have launched their uprising in February of the first year of the Chongzhen reign, but now it has happened almost a month earlier.

However, overall, it didn't have much of an impact.

The only ones affected were probably Wang Er and his rebel army, as well as Li Qiao.

Upon learning of the uprising led by Wang Jiayin and others in Qingshui County in the north, Wang Er, who was already parched, with cracked lips and feeling dizzy from hunger, was immediately invigorated.

The soldiers led by Li Qiao mainly blocked their westward advance, but the defenses to the north seemed weak.

Moreover, with the presence of Wang Jiayin and others from Qingshui County, they will surely be able to distract some of the officers and soldiers, making this arguably the best opportunity for them to escape the encirclement.

Without saying a word, Wang Er led his men to flee north.

In fact, as he expected, Li Qiao had been on guard against Wang Er's westward escape and his defenses to the north were not tight.

Anyway, as long as Wang Er doesn't flee west, it's the same even if he escapes the so-called encirclement.

Isn't this the effect he wanted?
They kept chasing and attacking Wang Er, and Wang Er kept finding opportunities to escape. It wouldn't be too late to wipe him out in one fell swoop when Chongzhen got impatient.

However, that was in the north, where Wang Er had no reinforcements to meet him.

The situation is now completely different. In Qingshui County in the north, the sudden uprising of Wang Jiayin and others has shattered all of Li Qiao's plans.

By the time they realized what was happening and hastily summoned their troops to march north and suppress the enemy, Wang Er had already escaped the encirclement and made contact with Wang Jiayin.

By the time Li Qiao caught up, the two sides had already joined forces, and a battle ensued.

It must be said that Wang Jiayin's men were less like a righteous army and more like peasants who had just put down their hoes and farming tools. Facing the imperial army, they had won several victories against Wang Er and were in high spirits.

However, the peasant rebels suffered a crushing defeat shortly after the battle began, and Wang Jiayin, Wang Er, and others led their remaining troops in a hasty retreat.

However, despite his crushing defeat, Wang Jiayin did not panic completely. Instead, he followed the example of Zhuge Liang in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and set a trap in Qingshui County.

Taking advantage of Li Qiao and the Ming army's carelessness, they lured the government troops into the area, where a massive fire buried tens of thousands of soldiers. Although Li Qiao still had twenty to thirty thousand troops under his command.

However, at this moment, he had no will to fight anymore. Li Qiao, with an extremely ugly expression, gathered the remaining soldiers and retreated several miles.

By the time he had reorganized the army, Wang Jiayin and the others had long since left.

Meanwhile, Li Qiao was being led around by Wang Jiayin and others.

At this time, things were not peaceful outside the Great Wall either. In order to further weaken the Chahar tribe, Huang Taiji sent people several times to persuade the Kharachin tribe to submit to the Later Jin.

However, all the men he sent out were intercepted and killed by the Dorot tribe, which belonged to the Chahar tribe of Lindan Khan.

This enraged Huang Taiji, who began to mobilize troops, seemingly intending to teach Ligdan Khan's Chahar tribe a lesson.

Finally, in February, Huang Taiji launched a fierce attack, personally leading a large army to conquer the Chahar tribe.

He ordered Dorgon and Dodo to lead the vanguard in an attack on the Dorot tribe, defeating their army and capturing over ten thousand people.

This situation led the Kharachin tribe, which had previously been close to the Chahar tribe, to send an envoy to form an alliance with Huang Taiji, expressing their willingness to submit to him.

Meanwhile, Wang Jiayin and his men, who had escaped Li Qiao's encirclement, rallied their forces and successively captured Pucheng, Luochuan, and other places, even managing to barely withstand Li Qiao's attack.

Subsequently, they even sent people to contact the Salvation Army, hoping to form an alliance with the dynasty's Salvation Army.

The dynasty remained noncommittal, only telling the envoy that they were willing to block the Ming army's encirclement and suppression from Gansu and were also willing to send troops to contain the Ming army.

Upon receiving the news, Wang Jiayin and Wang Er were all dissatisfied. As fellow rebels, shouldn't they have joined forces when they were being besieged by the Ming army?

However, the dynasty is now powerful, occupying four prefectures, and they are unwilling to antagonize it, so they can only swallow their displeasure and agree.

Ultimately, this would be able to tie down a portion of the Ming army, allowing them to catch their breath.

As for what he had promised, the dynasty did not break his word and immediately dispatched troops to the borders of Gongchang Prefecture, Fengxiang Prefecture, and Pingliang Prefecture.

Startled, Li Qiao hurriedly sent troops back to defend, thus easing the siege on Wang Jiayin and his men, which allowed them to expand their occupied territory once again.

At this point, they naturally no longer had the idea of ​​joining forces, but instead continued to expand their territory, just like dynasties that controlled their own armies.

However, upon discovering that the dynasty had merely stationed troops on the border without actually launching an attack, Li Qiao gradually relaxed and once again mobilized his troops to encircle and suppress Wang Jiayin and his group.

Seeing that Li Qiao had once again transferred his troops away, Wang Chao prepared to order an attack.

The dynasty's deployment of troops on the border was not truly to restrain government troops; he intended to seize the opportunity to take over both Fengxiang and Pingliang prefectures in one fell swoop.

However, before he could make a move, someone rushed in to report that a group of eunuch soldiers delivering imperial edicts had been intercepted in the northernmost part of Anding.

This forced the dynasty to halt its operations and send in the group of eunuchs who were supposed to deliver the imperial edict.

Upon seeing the dynasty, the group of panicked eunuchs immediately knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"Little King Anzi pays his respects to the Great King."

"Wang Anzi?"

Wang Chao looked down in surprise at the leading eunuch.

"You actually have that name? You haven't been killed by Wei Zhongxian yet?"

It should be noted that Wang An, who had once been kind to Wei Zhongxian, was killed by Wei Zhongxian.

Do you think Wei Zhongxian would let you off the hook, given your name is Wang Anzi?

"Uh, I'm just a lowly eunuch in Prince Xin's mansion. How could Eunuch Wei Zhongxian possibly know me?"

"Oh!"

After listening to Wang Anzi's explanation, Wang Chao couldn't help but look enlightened.

No wonder.

Moreover, this is probably one of the reasons why he was able to become the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict this time.

Ultimately, Chongzhen trusted him more because Chongzhen had been a senior member of his household when he was Prince Xin.

"Tell me, where are you going to deliver this imperial decree? Why are you passing through Anding?"

"This humble servant is on his way to Gansu Garrison, the Shaanxi Provincial Military Command, to deliver an imperial edict to Governor Mei Zhihuan and General Yang Jiamo."
General Yang Jiamo was to be promoted to Commander-in-Chief of Gansu and ordered to lead troops in a campaign to suppress the rebellion.

As he finished speaking, Wang Anzi's voice gradually lowered.

"Suppress and annihilate the militia!"

The dynasty spoke his final words on his behalf.

"I deserve to die, I deserve to die! This is all the Emperor's decree, no, this is all Chongzhen's order!"

"Tsk! You have truly betrayed Chongzhen's trust."
Okay, okay, stop kowtowing, it's annoying to watch.

Looking at Wang Anzi, who was kowtowing repeatedly below, Wang Chao couldn't help but sigh slightly.

"No, no, Your Majesty is the chosen one, while Chongzhen was nothing but a false dynasty and a false emperor."

Wang Anzi knelt on the ground, bowing and scraping.

"Tell me, what made you decide to go through Anding?"

"This"

"What? Is there something you can't say?"

No, no, no
Since Your Majesty has inquired, I will naturally answer to the best of my knowledge.

(End of this chapter)