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

Chapter 200 Chen Qiyu's Miscalculation Leads to His Dismissal, Lu Xiangshan Takes Over to Suppress the Bandits

The dynasty looked up at the sky, where endless bright yellow national fortune was gathering, and the golden sea of ​​clouds formed by dragon energy above had covered the entire Xi'an, with a ten-thousand-foot golden dragon circling and roaring above it.

A dazzling golden light shone forth, like a vast sun, illuminating the entire city of Xi'an in a magnificent golden glow.

From a spiritual perspective, Xi'an at this time is like a divine kingdom on earth, a holy city that suppresses all directions.

A golden dragon coiled above, its eyes surveying the entire territory of the Salvation Army and peering at the surrounding countries.

Because of the repeated victories of the People's Salvation Army, the dynasty was generous with its rewards. Even ordinary people who helped the People's Salvation Army received numerous rewards, as well as military merits.

It should be noted that sufficient military merits can lead to the attainment of a noble title.

However, that will have to wait until the People's Salvation Army establishes a nation.

This filled the people under the rule of the Salvation Army with an urgent desire to make merit, expand their territory, and seize all the spoils of the Ming Dynasty.

As a result, the golden dragon symbolizing national destiny above Xi'an is always filled with an aggressive desire.

It seems to be constantly watching the surrounding countries, ready to pounce and tear them apart at any moment.

Feeling the immense power of the golden dragon symbolizing the nation's destiny, which seemed capable of overturning the entire world with a mere thought, Wang Chao couldn't help but smile.

However, Wang Chaoxuan immediately suppressed his smile, stretched out his palm, and felt the flow of energy in the world. As the energy concentration gradually increased, a sense of urgency arose in his heart.

The ascension of heaven and earth, apart from the initial significant improvement, has actually been a continuous process of improvement ever since.

Eventually, the environment and energy concentration of heaven and earth will reach their current limit, which is the state that the dynasty is currently in.

The current dynasty represents the upper limit of the current world.

As long as the dynasty exists in this world, whatever realm the dynasty reaches will determine the upper limit of this world.

As time goes by, some people, or other beings, will eventually reach the same level as the dynasty in this world.

Perhaps he cannot compare to the dynasty, the pioneer.

However, both sides must be at the same level.

What a dynasty can do is to improve at a faster pace, conquer the world more quickly, and use the people of the world as the foundation and driving force for its own improvement.

He will forever stand at the pinnacle of all beings, guiding them on their path.

The main point of all this is that the energy concentration in the universe is constantly increasing.

As time goes by, the energy concentration will increase, and the strong in this world will inevitably become stronger.

The dynasty was indeed confident that no matter how fast the people in this world improved, they could not possibly outpace him.

However, ordinary militia members could not do what he did.

Moreover, those newly joined militia members are only at the stage of just beginning their training.

Against ordinary cultivators, relying on their superior true energy, innate status, and supernatural powers, they are naturally invincible and crush all rivals.

However, when they face a cultivator with extraordinary talent and years of experience, those newly promoted members of the Salvation Army might not necessarily be able to crush them.

Nowadays, the witchcraft and sorcery practices in the Yunnan-Guizhou region are already causing great trouble for the militia.

So what happens next?

Could there be even more bizarre and powerful secret techniques that could inflict heavy casualties on the militia?

Even if they die, they will enter the dynasty's consciousness space, and may even be granted official titles.

However, the souls that die and enter the dynastic consciousness space do not generate spiritual power; on the contrary, they need to consume spiritual power to maintain themselves.

Even if the dynasty doesn't care about that little bit of consumption now, it's always good to minimize losses.

Wouldn't it be better to live, provide spiritual power to the dynasty, and promote its advancement?
Therefore, the dynasty did not want the militia to suffer heavy casualties.

To avoid this, the best course of action is to conquer the entire world as soon as possible. With no other countries left, the People's Salvation Army will naturally suffer fewer casualties.

Therefore, we still need to speed things up.

The dynasty's outstretched hand suddenly clenched, as if it had grasped the entire world.

Just as the People's Salvation Army stopped its expansion again and focused on development.

Chen Qiyu's campaign against the rebel army has reached a critical juncture.

Although the transfer of the Extraordinary Assault Battalion created a gap in the encirclement, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and others ultimately escaped.

Later, the People's Salvation Army occupied Datong and Xuanfu, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of soldiers, which allowed Gao Yingxiang and his forces to rise again.

However, Chen Qiyu, having the backing of the Ming Dynasty, quickly recruited and replenished his troops.

Then he commanded the armies of four provinces to encircle the enemy. Xu Dingchen was promoted to Governor of Shanxi, while Li Maofang, Governor of Shandong, and Xuan Mo, Governor of Henan, cooperated with him.

In addition, Tang Hui, the governor of Huguang, stationed troops in Xiangyang Prefecture, and Hong Chengchou, the governor-general of Huguang, stationed troops on the border of Huguang to prevent the rebel army from moving south to Huguang.

Finally, the government troops surrounded the rebels again and began to gradually erode their manpower and territory.

In May of the seventh year of the Chongzhen reign, Chen Qiyu finally led Lu Xiangshan, Lieutenant General He Renlong, and others to once again trap and kill Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and others.

Under normal circumstances, they would most likely have been wiped out.

However, on May 15th of the seventh year, Gu Jun'en feigned surrender and broke out of the government army's encirclement once again.

This included Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and others. The Eight Kings' tribe numbered over 13,000, the Scorpion Block tribe over 15,000, Zhang Miaoshou's tribe over 9,100, and another Eight Kings' tribe over 8,300.

After breaking out of the encirclement, the rebel army successively captured Changling Pass, Songzi Pass, and Lizi Pass, and conquered Huoshan and Liuan Prefecture in Southern Zhili, as well as Yinshan Pass, Shangcheng, and Gushi in Henan.

Suddenly, the uprising, which was about to be extinguished, grew back into a raging fire.

If that's all there is to it, then so be it.

But
After breaking out of the encirclement, the rebel army immediately dispersed to avoid being surrounded by government troops again.

After fleeing, Zhang Xianzhong once again led a large number of peasants and civilians to attack Zhongdu (Fengyang). In August of the seventh year, Zhang Xianzhong captured Zhongdu (Fengyang) and set fire to the ancestral mausoleum of the Ming emperor, reducing all the pavilions and palaces to ashes.

Three hundred thousand pine trees were burned, sixty eunuchs guarding the tomb were killed, and over a hundred criminals were released from the high walls.

Tens of thousands of scholars and commoners were killed, pregnant women were dissected, and infants were impaled on spears. More than 22,650 public and private residences were burned.

Upon hearing this news, Wang Chao couldn't help but slam his fist on the table and smash it to pieces.

That damned Zhang Xianzhong, how is he any different from those Japanese pirates?

One day, he will make him regret what he has done.

He didn't mind killing. Along the way, the number of enemies who died under the swords and guns of the People's Salvation Army was at least 300,000, if not 500,000.

However, the people killed by the Salvation Army were either their opponents on the battlefield or those who launched attacks against them.

However, the People's Salvation Army never killed pregnant women, infants, or innocent civilians. Instead, they would take them back and raise them properly or put them to labor.

In the future, they will be the people under the rule of the People's Salvation Army.

On the other side, after receiving the news, the eunuch Lu Jiude and Yang Yufan, the general of Fengyang, led three thousand men to provide support. Reinforcements from Yingtian Prefecture were also rapidly gathering in Fengyang.

Chen Qiyu, in particular, coughed up a mouthful of blood and turned deathly pale upon receiving the news.

Good heavens, Emperor Chongzhen was so magnanimous that he didn't even hold him accountable for the previous loss of Datong and Xuanfu.

Now look what's happened! He actually let the rebel army dig up the ancestral graves of the Zhu family. It would be strange if Chongzhen didn't punish him, or even exterminate his entire clan. He wouldn't be too surprised.

Upon receiving the news, Chen Qiyu immediately mobilized a large army and headed straight for Fengyang.

However, Zhang Xianzhong was not stupid. He knew that he had destroyed the ancestral tombs of the Zhu family, and Emperor Chongzhen would certainly not let him off the hook and would definitely send a large army to besiege him.

Therefore, before Chen Qiyu could lead his troops to arrive, he had already taken the lead in withdrawing his troops and fleeing.

In the end, Chen Qiyu missed his target and could only follow closely behind.

However, before he could catch up with Zhang Xianzhong, he received an imperial edict from Emperor Chongzhen.

Upon receiving news that the ancestral tombs in Zhongdu had been burned down, Emperor Chongzhen was so enraged that he vomited blood and fainted again.

After waking up, even though he valued Chen Qiyu highly, he was still furious and dismissed him from his post, directly dispatching the Imperial Guards to arrest and imprison him.

Logically speaking, Emperor Chongzhen was the ruler of a country and had once been connected with the Golden Dragon of National Fortune. He should have been able to observe many situations within the territory of the Ming Dynasty through the Golden Dragon of National Fortune.

However, natural disasters and man-made calamities are frequent these days, and people are suffering greatly.

An endless aura of public resentment, thick with grayness, blocked his perception and exploration.

Especially around the rebel army's location, a dark aura soared into the sky, obscuring the heavens and the earth.

At first, all he knew was that the rebel army had attacked the area around Zhongdu Fengyang.

But he didn't know much about what happened after that, until the news of the destruction of the Zhongdu Ancestral Mausoleum came.

Only then did Emperor Chongzhen realize the utterly depraved things those damned rebels had done.

They'd dig up someone's ancestral graves, not even afraid of being struck by lightning.

On August 26, Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict promoting Lu Xiang to Governor-General of Four Provinces, giving him command of the troops of five provinces: Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, and Southern Zhili. He also bestowed upon him the Imperial Sword and the title of Vice Minister of War.

In November, the rebel army first attacked Wenxiang, and Lu Xiang-sheng sent Zu Kuan with the Guan Ning cavalry to its rescue.

The two sides met at Jiaocun, on the eastern outskirts of Wenxiang. After a fierce battle, several hundred rebels were killed.

After witnessing the strength of the government troops, the rebels quickly lifted the siege and moved swiftly to the southeast.

Zu Kuan naturally wouldn't let them off easily, and immediately led the Guan Ning cavalry in hot pursuit, finally catching up with the rebel army at the foot of Jiugao Mountain in Song County.

In a chaotic battle, the rebels suffered hundreds more casualties and were forced to retreat once again.

After being defeated by Zu Kuan twice in a row, Gao Yingxiang and his companions were furious and determined to fight Zu Kuan to the death.

Gao Yingxiang gathered all his troops and set up a battle formation in Longmen Town, south of Luoyang, claiming to have 300,000 men, with camps stretching for 60 li.

A vast and powerful aura of iron and blood surged into the sky, though it appeared somewhat chaotic.

However, the combined spiritual power of 300,000 people, which covered the sky for sixty miles, was truly an extraordinary and powerful force.

Unfortunately, he couldn't even clearly see the existence of the Iron-Blooded Aura, let alone control or utilize it.

Even more unfortunately, Gao Yingxiang never expected that Zu Kuan's Guan Ning cavalry would launch a surprise attack under the cover of night, resulting in the deaths of over a thousand men.

At the same time, Lu Xiang-sheng mobilized troops from various routes to prepare for the encirclement and annihilation of the rebel army.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Gao Yingxiang and his men had no choice but to retreat to the southeast.

When they reached Geliao Town in Ruzhou, they were overtaken by the Guan Ning cavalry.

Good heavens, over 1,600 more people have been killed by Zu Kuan's men.

In early December, the rebel army fled to Queshan County in southeastern Henan, hoping to capture the county and make a fortune. However, the Guan Ning cavalry arrived again and killed more than 500 people in one battle.

Zu Kuan's Guan Ning cavalry was truly formidable; Gao Yingxiang's rebel army was no match for them.

Because of the world's advancement, many of Gao Yingxiang's generals and leaders have developed true qi.

However, the officers and soldiers were equally impressive.

Overall, the gap between the two sides remains as it has been in history.

So the general development is not much different from history, only the timeline has been brought forward by a year or two.

Gao Yingxiang and his men suffered repeated defeats, resulting in severe losses of troops and a collapse in morale.

In the end, Gao Yingxiang felt that if things continued like this, the army would inevitably collapse. They couldn't stay in Henan any longer; their only option was to head east and advance into Southern Zhili.

(End of this chapter)