138: Xu Xuanwu's Anti-

Chapter 137: Xu Xuanwu Rebels

"General, the time has come!"

Nanyue County, Longxiang Army camp.

Li Wnyou walked over briskly and said to Xu Xuanwu sitting on the main seat.

"Oh? What does Wenhe mean by this?"

"They have rebelled! Everyone has rebelled!"

Li Wnyou said excitedly, "Over half of the prefectures and counties in the Thirteen Provinces of Great Yu have already rebelled!"

"The vassal kings, aristocratic families, and Sects everywhere have all rebelled!"

"That Great Yu Emperor actually disregarded the interests of the aristocratic families and Sects, brazenly pushing forward Wang Anshi's reforms to clear up the nation's farmland, redistribute it, or even nationalize it."

"Most importantly, he actually wants to collect taxes from officials, merchants, and vassal kings! This is a policy unprecedented throughout the ages. What Emperor Zhengyong is doing this time is pushing all officials and aristocratic families to the opposite side!"

Li Wnyou panted heavily and said, "We didn't send many spies to the capital, and along the way there were rebel forces everywhere. It was with great difficulty that we managed to send the news back."

"This news is already from a month ago. Presumably, the situation in the capital and Great Yu is even more chaotic now."

"Your subordinate guesses that at least a large majority of Emperor Zhengyong's officials have fled, and even the Grand Secretariat ministers will definitely have run out."

"Those Grand Secretariat ministers are all representatives of aristocratic families, hahaha..."

"Heaven truly helps us!"

Xu Xuanwu frowned and said, "Is that Emperor Zhengyong really so careless? To actually dare touch aristocratic families and officials and collect taxes from them is unheard of!"

"I think he has gone mad!"

Li Wnyou gritted his teeth and said, "Officials originate from scholars and are the arms that assist him in governing the world. How can there be any rule of collecting taxes from officials?"

"Now, more than half of the Thirteen Provinces of Great Yu have rebelled, and local officials are simply powerless to stop it. Some warlords have already occupied an entire province."

"General! We must also speed up; otherwise, if other warlords seize favorable terrain and cities first, it will be extremely disadvantageous for us!"

Xu Xuanwu let out a long breath and said, "It is indeed time. This General advanced to the Innate realm half a year ago, and my cultivation has long since stabilized. It is time to emerge from the mountains."

"What strategy does Wenhe have?"

Li Wnyou immediately walked up to the map and said, "General, please look. Currently, our army is stationed in Nanyue County, located on the southwest border of Great Yu, bordering the Nanzhao Kingdom."

"The Nanzhao Kingdom has already been beaten into submission by the General, and is even willing to marry the country's princess to you and recruit you as the son-in-law of the Nanzhao Kingdom. Why not accept, General?"

Xu Xuanwu frowned and said, "This General only loves Yuechan, and besides, this General has never even met the Nanzhao Kingdom princess. I heard she has been sickly since childhood, why should I marry her?"

"You are being foolish, General!"

Li Wnyou said, "Although the Nanzhao Kingdom is just a small country, it already has an army of three hundred thousand and a population of several million. If you become the son-in-law of the Nanzhao Kingdom, once the Nanzhao Kingdom king passes away, you will still have the opportunity to become the king of the Nanzhao Kingdom!"

"The territory of the Nanzhao Kingdom is rugged and hidden, surrounded by the sea on three sides, with tall trees and dense forests, acting as a natural fortress."

"Taking a step back, we have two hundred thousand troops under our command. Combined with the Nanzhao Kingdom's three hundred thousand troops, we will have an army of five hundred thousand!"

"With these five hundred thousand troops, the General will be the strongest warlord in Great Yu!"

"As for that Nanzhao Kingdom princess? Can she control the General? All we want is just a title!"

Xu Xuanwu let out a long breath and finally shook his head, saying, "This matter..."

"General!"

Li Wnyou advised him again, "Those who achieve great things, why bother about such minor details?"

"When the General achieves great things, contends for the Central Plains, and ascends the imperial throne, you can simply honor Miss Yuechan as the empress."

"Furthermore, what wife need a great man worry about lacking? With the Nanzhao Kingdom's three hundred thousand troops, the world can be obtained at a snap of the fingers!"

"In that case... then I leave it to Wenhe."

Xu Xuanwu finally shook his head and said, "As long as the Nanzhao Kingdom hands over the military command of their border troops to fight for me, I will marry the Nanzhao Kingdom princess."

"The General is wise!"

"And Wenhe, how should we act at this stage?"

Li Wnyou immediately said, "It's very simple. Our Nanyue County is situated in the southwest, surrounded by Yue Province and Yong Province. The top priority is to mobilize our entire army, divide it into two routes, and invade Yue Province and Yong Province!"

"Yue Province Commander Shi Heilang is campaigning outside, leaving Yue Province empty. The warlord within its territory is Shi Heilang's father, Shi Tianlang, who styles himself the 'Heavenly Wolf Great General'. He led his own clansmen to rebel against Great Yu, and even Shi Heilang was recalled by his father."

"But precisely because Shi Tianlang and Shi Heilang are arguing endlessly with each other, their forces have split into two. Yue Province can be conquered in no time if the General personally leads the Longxiang Army to invade."

"As for Yun Province, it can be left to General Heishi of the Heiyue Clan."

Li Wnyou said, "Yun Province Commander Minister Miao is currently garrisoned in Yong Province, and the largest rebel force within its territory is the local Sect of Yun Province, the Wuliang Cave."

"We only need to acknowledge their Sect status and their encroachment on land to win them over, and even recruit them under our command to fight for the world for the General."

"There are many Martial Artists in the Sects everywhere, but they lack formal organization. With our two hundred thousand strong army pressing upon the borders, if they don't want their entire clan wiped out, they can only submit to us!"

"Dividing the troops into two routes..."

Xu Xuanwu murmured, "What about the Baiyue Clan?"

"We can just imprison their High Priest."

Li Wnyou said indifferently, "The Heiyue and Baiyue are originally one clan; what they are fighting over is merely the upper echelons of the two clans. As long as we imprison the Baiyue Clan's High Priest and his associates, the Baiyue Clan can smoothly integrate into the Heiyue Clan."

"In this way, under the General's command, with the Nanzhao Kingdom army and the Heiyue Clan army, our great cause can be settled."

"At worst, we will carve out a separatist regime in the southwest of Great Yu, establish an independent kingdom, and become the ruler of a nation!"

"Hhahahaha, good!"

Xu Xuanwu laughed loudly and said, "With Wnyou, this General is like a tiger that has grown wings!"

"All plans shall be set by you, Wnyou, and all troops in our army shall also be dispatched by you."

"When this General's great cause is accomplished, I will surely reward you with the position of prime minister!"

"Thank you, General!"

Li Wnyou said excitedly, though his gaze was somewhat cold.

"That's right, General. Before launching the uprising, there are two more things to do."

"Oh? What things?"

"The first thing is to annihilate the Jinyi Guard and Great Yu spies within Nanyue County. Kill them all!"

"Simple. Take this General's token and lead my personal guards to encircle and suppress them!"

"And the second thing is to rebuild the three major passes of Nanyue County, Yun Province, and Yue Province."

"These three major passes were destroyed forty years ago when the Emperor of Tianqi conquered South Yue, and they have never been repaired all these years. Now that we are launching an uprising, let's repair these three major passes first, and make them even more formidable and intimidating than before."

Li Wnyou pointed at the three intersections of Nanyue County, Yun Province, and Yue Province and said, "In this way, we can advance to attack and retreat to defend; the great cause will be accomplished."

"Good, everything will be decided by you, Wnyou!"

That night.

A miserable scream suddenly woke up the Nanyue County prefectural city.

The Nanyue County prefectural city was a new city, built forty years ago when Great Yu captured Nanyue County.

Because the time was short, the Nanyue County prefectural city did not have tall city walls, only a circle of earthen walls, and the residents' houses inside the city were also simple bluestone houses.

Teams of Longxiang Army and personal guards roamed the streets and alleys, purposefully charging into several strongholds within the city and slaughtering them without hesitation.

"Ah!"

"Murder! People are being killed!"

"The Longxiang Army is purging rebels and traitors, ordinary citizens are not allowed to go outside!"

"The Longxiang Army is purging rebels and traitors, ordinary citizens are not allowed to go outside!"

Shouts kept coming from all directions. Most ordinary people in the city hid tremblingly in their rooms, not daring to show their faces.

Meanwhile, those spies from Great Yu or other factions suffered terrible bad luck.

Upholding the notion of rather killing the innocent than letting anyone slip through, anyone suspected by Li Wnyou's subordinates was completely executed.

For a time, screams echoed continuously throughout Nanyue County City, and people were killed from time to time.

"Bang!"

At a secluded civilian house, Houzi slammed open the door and shouted, "Lord Shen! Lord Yang, hurry and leave! Xu Xuanwu has rebelled!"

"What on earth happened?"

Shen Xing, dressed like a tavern keeper, asked with a frown. They had used the gold and silver allocated by the imperial court to open a restaurant in Nanyue County. Business was good, and they could usually gather some intelligence, living quite comfortably.

But today...

"Li Wnyou is killing people, and he brought Xu Xuanwu's personal guards. I just saw quite a few people walking towards our side."

"Retreat!"

Shen Xing made a prompt decision, untied the apron around his waist, and led a group of people toward the back door.

"Wait a minute."

Shen Xing suddenly stopped, looked at the spacious restaurant, gritted his teeth with a ruthless heart, and said, "Set fire!"

"My lord?"

Yang Shaoyong beside him flashed a look in his eyes and said, "What nonsense are you talking about, hurry up and set the fire!"

"Only by blocking the enemy here can we survive."

"Yes!"

Seven or eight people hurriedly took out flint-and-steels and ignited the entire restaurant.

Especially the stored strong liquor, which burned even more fiercely under the flames.

As for Shen Xing, Yang Shaoyong, and the others, they took advantage of this opportunity to leave quickly.

"There's a fire!"

"It's burning!"

"Come quickly!"

"Clang clang clang clang..."

People outside quickly discovered the fire here, and many people ran over with water basins to put out the fire.

At this time, Li Wnyou was leading Xu Xuanwu's personal guards rushing over here, and his gaze turned fierce as he looked at the soaring fire.

"How ruthless, to actually think of using this method to obstruct us?"

"But... it's already too late!"

A subordinate asked, "My lord, should we put out the fire?"

"Don't put it out!"

Li Wnyou said indifferently, "Chase after them. They left in a hurry, we will definitely catch up."

"Understood!"

A group of wolf-like soldiers searched upward and quickly discovered the traces of Shen Xing and the others.

"Here they are!"

"Found them!"

"Kill!"

The two groups of forces immediately started fighting. One side was fleeing for their lives and trying to break through, and they quickly rushed out of the prefectural city.

Shen Xing and the others had long hidden horses outside the city, and they rushed out of the encirclement, drenched in blood.

Three days later!

Only Shen Xing and Yang Shaoyong remained in the entire team, and all the rest were killed by the Longxiang Army behind them.

The two of them were also covered in wounds, and their expressions were extremely exhausted.

Fleeing for their lives for three days, without even time to eat or sleep every day, how miserable.

"Giddyup!"

"Giddy-up~!"

Behind them, another group of troops chased after them, and the expressions of the two became even more desperate.

Yang Shaoyong abruptly pulled the reins and said, "Old Shen, you go first, I'll cover the rear!"

"No! If we go, we go together, I'll stay to cover the rear!"

"Cover my ass!"

Yang Shaoyong cursed angrily, "For the past few years you've been doing business, your martial arts cultivation has long fallen behind, and I am already a Grandmaster Realm Martial Artist!"

"It's still way too early for this bunch of Longxiang Army soldiers to take my old man's life, scram!"

With that said, he fiercely stepped on the stirrups, his entire figure soaring into the sky like a giant eagle, pouncing toward the pursuers behind him, and they immediately engaged in battle.

"Old Yang!"

Shen Xing roared, but he also knew that this was no time to be sentimental. He hurriedly pulled the reins and rushed forward rapidly.

Soon, a pass appeared before his eyes, with a tall mountain on one side and a cliff on the other.

"Ahead is Shilong Pass. As long as we break through Shilong Pass, we can enter Yun Province, and then mobilize the imperial army..."

"Puff!"

An arrow suddenly shot over from afar, instantly piercing through Shen Xing's chest.

"Whoa...!"

Shen Xing instinctively pulled the reins, the steed's two front hooves raised high, while Shen Xing's eyes were filled with despair.

In the distance on Shilong Pass, a checkpoint under repair actually appeared.

Hundreds of soldiers were guarding it. Seeing that Shen Xing had been shot, a team of troops was spurring their horses to charge toward him.

"A checkpoint? Xu Xuanwu wants to blockade Nanyue County?!"

"Xu Xuanwu!"

Shen Xing cursed angrily, "Your Xu Family has been loyal for three generations... Even as a ghost, I won't let you go!"

He abruptly pulled the reins, and the steed immediately rushed toward the other side.

That side... a cliff!

"Whoa...!"

Several meters away from the cliff, the steed abruptly raised its front hooves, not daring to go further.

Yet Shen Xing forcibly endured the intense pain in his chest, fiercely stepped on the stirrups, and leaped directly off the cliff!

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