Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 450: Covering one's ears while stealing a bell, what is the intention?

Time flies, and a few days pass.

At Zhu Jinzhen's enthronement ceremony, he prayed to Heaven, and Heaven bestowed upon him the Investiture of the Gods list, leading to an increasingly elaborate process of officials bestowing titles upon gods.

In particular, the fact that many veteran officials of the current dynasty have become young again, and that many meritorious officials of the Jingnan Campaign have transformed from powerless civil servants into Confucian scholars whose writings carry immense weight and whose achievements are comparable to those of the neighboring Li Yang, is something that cannot be concealed even if one wanted to.

It quickly spread beyond the capital and gradually reached the whole country.

When envoys from various countries reneged on their promises, many people along the way tried to get information from them. After receiving affirmative answers, officials and noble families in various regions went even more crazy.

But soon, the news that followed was like a bucket of cold water, chilling them to the bone.

The Investiture of the Gods is real.

But the biggest beneficiaries were not the civil and military officials.

Instead, it was the Cangyun Army and the Tiance Army, the two main armies that followed Zhu Jinzhen in his campaign to quell the rebellion.

The 80,000 Cangyun and Tiance soldiers stationed in the capital all received a blessing from Zhu Jinzhen on the day he ascended the throne, leaping from the Vajra Realm to the Finger Profound Realm.

in other words……

At this time, there were two large armies in the capital, all composed of members at the Profound Realm.

There are no fewer than ten thousand grandmasters of celestial phenomena!

There are at least a thousand or more terrestrial deities.

When the news broke, the world was speechless; the first reaction was disbelief.

……

Southern Song Dynasty, Imperial Palace.

Zhao Kuo's face has looked very pale these past few days.

The matter of the Heavenly Sword caused a great uproar throughout the city and shook the world. He originally thought that by sending the Imperial Advisor Huang Shang and Zhuge Shenhou, even if they could not successfully bring the Heavenly Sword back, they could at least get a share of the spoils.

As a result, during the war with the Sui Dynasty, all the immortals on land completely disappeared, as if they had vanished from the face of the earth.

Bad news kept coming from the neighboring Ming Dynasty.

The Cangyun Army and Tiance Army consist of hundreds of thousands of Vajra Realm experts.

Prince Su of the Ming Dynasty, acting on the orders of the Emperor, stormed into the capital of the Ming Dynasty in less than a month, preparing to ascend the throne and declare himself emperor.

So what's the next step?

The principle of "one cannot allow another to snore beside one's bed" applies.

No emperor understood this better than Zhao Kuo.

Therefore, upon learning of Zhu Jinzhen's ascension to the throne, he immediately dispatched an envoy delegation to investigate the true state of the Ming Dynasty and whether it was as outrageous as the intelligence reports suggested, so as to prepare a timely response.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report from the Ming Dynasty."

"read."

Immediately, the shadow guards of the Imperial City Guard began to read aloud the urgent report sent back by the Southern Song delegation. Every word uttered by the shadow guards made Zhao Kuo's heart sink a little more.

"A prayer to Heaven, and the divine bestowal of the Investiture of the Gods?"

“Absurd, absurd.”

Enraged, Zhao Kuo swept everything off the table as if to quell his unease and fear. He pointed at the shadow guard and demanded, "Where is the envoy delegation? I want to find out for myself."

"Your Majesty, they are already on their way back. According to the report from Lord Han and others, they will arrive in the capital in three days."

Three days.

Not long, not short.

Zhao Kuoqiang suppressed the fear rising in his heart, waved his hand to order the shadow guards of the Imperial City Guard to retreat, and then slumped weakly onto the dragon throne.

Does he not believe the urgent report from the envoy delegation?
Zhao Kuo didn't disbelieve it; he simply dared not believe it.

He had investigated thoroughly and repeatedly confirmed the intelligence from the Ming Dynasty dozens of times, confirming that the Prince of Su of the Ming Dynasty had indeed stolen the power of the Heavenly Sword, and that he had an army of hundreds of thousands of Vajra Realm warriors under his command, as well as hundreds of grandmasters and terrestrial immortals serving him.

but……

Zhao Kuo couldn't accept it!
The Ming Dynasty's development has been so rapid and terrifying that its next step will inevitably be to conquer other countries.

The Southern Song Dynasty was the first to bear the brunt.

Does he have to become the last emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty?

As for resistance? He had thought about it, but only thought about it.

Although Zhao Kuo's martial arts skills were not great, he knew a little bit. There were countless experts in the palace, and his teacher was Huang Shang, a terrestrial immortal. He knew very well how powerful the Vajra, Finger Profound, Celestial Phenomenon, and Terrestrial Immortal martial artists above the first rank were.

The Ten Thousand Vajra Realms alone would be enough to plow the Southern Song Dynasty back and forth several times.

What is the concept of "100,000 Finger Xuan"?
There's a saying in the martial arts world: "Once you enter the Finger Profound Realm, you can make a thousand armies retreat." Even on the battlefield, one person can be worth hundreds. If an army of 100,000 Finger Profound Realm Grandmasters were to invade...

Even if the entire Southern Song Dynasty were to wage war, it would only face certain death.

After a long silence, Zhao Kuo's voice finally rang out: "Summon Shi Miyuan and Chen Bokang to the palace."

"Yes."

Although Zhao Kuo wanted to bury his head in the sand and escape reality, he also knew that instead of waiting to die, it was better to first consult with someone to see if there was a way to get out of the current predicament.

……

Meanwhile, in the Northern Song imperial court.

Emperor Huizong of Tang had also received an urgent secret report from the Ming Dynasty.

Just one glance was enough to strike me like a thunderbolt.

Zhao Ji tried to suppress his fear, but he couldn't. He could only point at Gao Qiu's nose and yell, "Gao Qiu, what kind of work have you done? Huh?"

Cai Jing, who was standing nearby, stepped forward and advised, "Your Majesty, please calm down."
"Calm down?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xin pointed at Gao Qiu, who was kneeling on the ground in fear, and angrily rebuked him: "Prime Minister Cai, tell me how to calm my anger? Gao Qiu once claimed that the intelligence from the Ming Dynasty was definitely false, but now Maode has sent back a secret report that is extremely urgent."

"The hundreds of thousands of Cangyun Tian Ce are real."

"Even after the Ming emperor ascended the throne, their strength became even greater. Before they left the Ming capital, the Ming had already begun to strengthen its military and prepare to confront the various countries. Tell me, how do you expect me to appease your anger?"

Cai Jing's pupils contracted, revealing an expression of disbelief.

"Does Your Majesty mean that the secret report submitted by Princess Maode confirms the situation in the Ming Dynasty as true, rather than the information obtained by the Imperial City Guard being misleading or incorrect?"

You should know that many secret agents of the Imperial City Guard died because of this incident.

Gao Qiu played a significant role in this.

"More than that."

Zhao Ji sneered and threw the secret report directly in front of Cai Jing.

He didn't care about anything else and quickly picked it up to check.

In just a moment, his face turned ashen.

"We're in big trouble."

"The power of Prince Su of the Great Ming was already extremely terrifying. Now that he has become the ruler of the Great Ming, according to Princess Maode's report, he was recognized by Heaven at the coronation ceremony and was granted the Investiture of the Gods. This alone is enough to make half of the people in the world turn to him."

"Not to mention what Princess Maode mentioned..."

Cai Jing's voice was hoarse, filled with complex emotions and barely concealed panic.

The nearly 100,000 Cangyun Army and Tiance Mansion soldiers in the capital all received a blessing from Zhu Jinzhen, greatly increasing their power, and almost all of them stepped into the Zhixuan realm.

The number of 100,000 Vajra Realm experts is already terrifying.

Ten Thousand Finger Mystic Realm...

Cai Jing could not have imagined that once such an army set out and marched towards the Northern Song Dynasty, the Northern Song Dynasty would only face one fate, just like Annam and Siam, which were destroyed by the Ming Dynasty.

The nation is destroyed!
Zhao Xin's expression was extremely gloomy, his face so dark it seemed to drip water.

If Cai Jing can understand this, how could he not?
He was muddleheaded, but not stupid.

“What’s even more terrifying is…”

"As soon as the Investiture of the Gods was released, the Ming emperor merely threw out the bait of being able to be listed on the Investiture of the Gods, which caused the Ming court officials to be in an uproar. They all wished they could kneel on the ground and be Zhu Jinzhen's dogs."

"Now he is using the Ming Dynasty's capital garrison as a pilot to hold a martial arts competition, and then he plans to extend it to the entire Ming army."

"Prime Minister Cai, what do you think his intentions are?"

Cai Jing remained silent.

What else could it possibly want?

With its strong and well-equipped army, and the Tian Ce and Cang Yun armies being invincible, the Ming Dynasty could only have one purpose when it came to training troops.

Its aim is the world!
(End of this chapter)