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After capturing the pass, they were shocked to find that nearly 2 troops were already besieging the city from the south.

"Overestimating themselves! A mere 2 troops think they can act arrogantly in front of the Azure Dragon Army!"

Ling Zhennan snorted coldly and immediately ordered 2000 guns to fire in turn.

In just over ten minutes, they killed more than 5000 enemy soldiers with guns alone.

The general in charge of the troops was terrified and immediately knelt down and surrendered upon seeing Ling Zhennan.

Ling Zhennan immediately incorporated 15000 surrendered soldiers, scattered them among various units, and used some as cannon fodder to hold the line, advancing triumphantly all the way.

In just two days, they reached Tianyang Pass, the last line of defense outside the capital.

Tianyang Pass was the strongest defensive line north of the capital.

As the saying goes, "One man can hold the pass against ten thousand." Tianyang Pass was a fortified city with a large population, and even had a wide river flowing through it. Attacking Tianyang Pass was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Ling Zhennan placed the cannons one mile below the city wall and fired three shots.

The gate of Tianyang Pass was blasted into pieces.

Ling Zhennan did not rush to attack, but instead lined up his troops outside the pass.

The general guarding the city was dumbfounded, but he still sent men to repair the city gate immediately.

After the city gate was repaired, Ling Zhennan ordered the cannons to be fired again.

Three more shots were fired, and the gate of Tianyang Pass was once again blasted to pieces.

The general defending the city was almost in tears and immediately sent someone to negotiate surrender.

Ling Zhennan ignored him completely, gave the envoy a beating, threw him back, and ordered him to continue repairing the city gate.

After half a day, the city gate was repaired again, and Ling Zhennan ordered the cannons to fire again.

The city gate was smashed again, but Ling Zhennan didn't even blink. He immediately sent someone to shout from below the city wall, ordering the generals guarding the city to continue repairing the gate.

The defending general was almost in tears. With such powerful weapons, the city gate was nothing more than a piece of paper in front of the enemy.

He understood Ling Zhennan's meaning; this was blatant intimidation.

After hesitating for a long time, the general guarding the city led his men out to surrender and handed over all military power to Ling Zhennan, asking Ling Zhennan to give him a chance to redeem himself.

Faced with such a request, Ling Zhennan readily agreed. The 3 garrison troops of Tianyang Pass were also incorporated into the army.

Because they had been locked in a stalemate here for some time, 50,000 of the hundreds of thousands of troops from the southern border had already arrived.

With the two armies joined together, Ling Zhennan once again commanded nearly 10 troops.

Chu Nan, Ji Menghan, Ling Hanxue, and Ling Zhennan were inside the state government office, where they began their discussion.

After all, there are still Ling family members in the city. It would be fine if they could break through Tianyang Pass, but if they directly attack the capital, Ji Chen might put the Ling family members on the city wall to force them to retreat, which would put them in a dilemma.

"We must break through. If they die, I will tear that bastard Ji Chen to pieces." Ling Zhennan clenched his fists, his tiger eyes turning red.

Of course he felt sorry for his family, wife, children, and clansmen, but they were in the hands of the enemy, and there was nothing he could do.

"In that case, there's only one way." Chu Nan pondered for a moment before gritting his teeth.

"What method?" Ling Hanxue asked hurriedly.

Chu Nan pointed to the map: "I will personally lead 800 elite troops to infiltrate the city and first find and protect the Ling family members."

"Once I succeed, I will signal you to attack the city immediately. If I can hold out long enough, I can resolve this crisis."

"This won't do, it's too dangerous!" Ling Zhennan and Ling Hanxue shook their heads at the same time.

"My dear son-in-law, you absolutely mustn't!"

Ling Zhennan said in a deep voice, "Two fists can't beat four hands. Even if you have a flintlock musket, you can't withstand tens of thousands of imperial guards."

"This is the only way now. If we continue to stalemate and they realize what's going on, they can use the Ling family members as hostages. At that point, we will only be more passive and at their mercy."

Chu Nan's gaze was solemn: "Since I've proposed this method, I'm confident in its effectiveness. So there's no need to discuss this further. I'll take my men there; you wait for my signal."

"Alright then!" Ling Zhennan nodded. "My dear son-in-law, be careful in everything you do. I'm still waiting for you to come back and give me a grandson!"

Hearing Ling Zhennan's words, Ling Hanxue blushed, but instead of getting angry, she gently stepped forward and hugged Chu Nan.

"Husband, be careful."

Ji Menghan stepped forward and hugged Chu Nan: "Husband, I'll wait for you to come back."

Chu Nan nodded and pulled both women into his arms at the same time: "Okay, I will definitely come back safely."

"Once this crisis is over, we'll go back to that deserted island and build our home there, a home that belongs to us."

After Chu Nan finished making preparations, he immediately left the city and led 800 elite soldiers who had been with him the longest to the capital.

At this moment, the city gates of the capital were tightly closed, and the guards were on high alert.

Chu Nan didn't even think about sneaking in, since with the current defenses of the capital, it would be difficult for even a mosquito to fly in.

So Chu Nan simply used the hot air balloons he had made in his spare time over the past six months to pack 800 people into hundreds of hot air balloons.

In the early hours of the morning, when people are in the deepest sleep, we immediately boarded a hot air balloon and flew to the capital.

With the help of the hot air balloons, and with the capital city under heavy defense, it was difficult for people below to notice what was happening in the sky.

Hundreds of hot air balloons, though illuminated by lights, gradually landed in the alley.

After landing in the city, Chu Nan immediately led his men to rush towards the Ling family compound.

According to the intelligence he had previously obtained, all members of the Ling family were currently imprisoned within the Ling family compound, and were not locked up in prison.

So after landing, Chu Nan immediately assembled with his eight hundred men and surrounded the Ling family compound.

"kill!"

At Chu Nan's command, the group scaled the wall and broke in. At Chu Nan's command, they immediately took control of all the armored men.

After finding Ling Hanxue's mother, Chu Nan immediately recounted the events.

After learning that her husband and the woman were both unharmed, Ling Hanxue's mother immediately understood Chu Nan's purpose and even cooperated with Chu Nan to count the family members and servants in the mansion.

He immediately deployed his eight hundred men around the palace, taking control of all the high points.

Then the signal was sent immediately.

Before long, nearly three thousand imperial guards surrounded the Ling residence.

"Fire!" Chu Nan sneered.

The terror of flintlock muskets was a devastating blow in the era of cold weapons. Of the three thousand Imperial Guards outside, nearly three hundred died and more than two hundred were injured in a single encounter.

If the flintlock musket had been more accurate, the death toll would likely have been even higher.

At this moment, Ling Zhennan also led 10,000 troops from Chu Nan to attack the city gate.

Under the bombardment of cannons, the sturdy city gates of the capital city collapsed after withstanding only two more shots than the other city gates.

The more than 20,000 Imperial Guards were utterly powerless against Ling Zhennan's more than 10,000 troops who employed new combat tactics.

They fought all the way to the palace, where Chu Nan arrived with a group of men.

Just after the palace was surrounded, tens of thousands of troops suddenly appeared inside.

These tens of thousands of people were actually Ji Chen's private army.

However, under the attack of flintlock muskets and cannons, these tens of thousands of people were still like chickens and dogs, completely powerless to fight back, and were defeated and captured in large numbers.

They fought their way into the inner palace before everyone learned what had happened.

The old emperor Ji Che was seriously ill and bedridden, and was placed under house arrest.

Ji Chen took the emperor hostage, killed all his brothers, imprisoned other members of the imperial clan, and even killed many court officials, forcing the old emperor to write an abdication edict.

However, Ji Che never agreed, and even hid the imperial seal. No matter how much Ji Chen tormented him, he still refused.

After Ji Chen was captured, Ji Menghan cried bitterly upon seeing Ji Che.

"Hanhan... I'm sorry, Father..." Ji Che was already on his deathbed.

"Your brothers are all gone..."

"From this day forward, you will be the Emperor of the Great Zhou..."

Ji Che seemed to have reached a point of no return, so he called Chu Nan over, grabbed Chu Nan's hand, and stared intently at him:

"Chu Nan...take good care of my daughter...the Great Zhou...is entrusted to...you..."

With Ji Che's death, the turmoil in the Great Zhou Dynasty finally came to an end.

Three days later, Ji Menghan ascended the throne, and Ling Zhennan was appointed as the Grand General Protector of the Nation, in charge of all the troops in the land.

At Chu Nan's suggestion, flintlock muskets and cannons were banned, remaining only in the Qinglong Army as secret weapons personally controlled by the emperor.

The officials were purged once again under the iron fist of Chu Nan and Ling Zhennan.

All of Ji Chen and Zhao Wanzhi's former associates were purged, and Ji Menghan promoted a group of disillusioned scholars to official positions.

Chu Nan came up with many new policy ideas and also brought in crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes from the people. After a year of cultivation and research, they were popularized.

Although this stuff doesn't taste very good and can cause heartburn if you eat too much, the people of Da Zhou are finally able to have enough to eat.

In an instant, the people of the Great Zhou were filled with gratitude and praised the Empress for her wisdom and benevolence.

At this moment, inside the palace courtyard.

Chu Nan stood outside a palace gate, with dozens of eunuchs and palace maids kneeling beside him.

Chu Nan paced back and forth at the door, his face full of anxiety.

Shortly afterward, two loud cries came from inside almost simultaneously.

"Congratulations, Lord Chu! His Majesty and Miss Ling have both given birth to a son and a daughter!"

"Great! Great! Rewards! There will be rewards for everyone!" Chu Nan was extremely excited.

Although she hasn't married yet because of Ji Menghan's identity, Ling Hanxue has no choice but to get pregnant due to Ling Zhennan's urging.

And so today, Chu Nan became a father.