The author

Chapter 292 Across the World, Arriving in Jiangnan

Li Guanyi's voice fell.

Ling Pingyang and thousands of Qilin Army heavy cavalrymen included moved at the same time. They raised their left hands to cover the heavy cavalry's charge visors and moved their right hands away from the swords at their waists. They moved in unison, holding their spears in their right hands and raising their war spears. In an instant, a murderous aura rose up.

Under the gazes of the people, Li Guanyi personally stretched out his hand, grasped the halberd, and slashed forward fiercely. Behind him, the arrogance was surging and gathered, transforming into a ferocious tiger, which raised its head and roared.

The entire Mohist mechanical ship was pressed down, and the air waves surged to both sides. Li Guan swung out with his halberd, directly splitting all the defensive measures blocking the front, and the water of the river surged and dispersed.

Yan Baotai was furious: "Li Guanyi, do you want to go to war with me, Daying?!"

Li Guan stepped on the waves, strode forward with a halberd in his hand, his sleeves rolled up, and he chopped down suddenly with the halberd in both hands. Yan Baotai raised a mixed iron and red steel mace to respond. After a few rounds of fighting, the mace in Yan Baotai's hand was chopped off by Li Guan.

Yan Baotai's internal energy was unable to stop it and he was kicked over by Li Guanyi and fell in front of the pass. The tension had reached this point. The commander of the pass immediately mobilized his troops and thousands of them rushed towards Li Guanyi.

Ling Pingyang led the heavy cavalry of the Qilin Army to fight.

Yan Baotai coughed up blood and sneered, "You, Li Guanyi, you are just a lone army, leading thousands of people, trying to pass through my Great Ying Kingdom, and you also intend to hold my people hostage."

"Even if these people die in my Great Ying Kingdom, they cannot go to your land to farm for you and pay taxes."

"You, have the guts to kill me?!"

Li Guanyi was holding the halberd, and then he let go.

"In troubled times, heroes fight."

"But you are not worthy of threatening me."

Yan Baotai changed slightly.

Li Guanyi raised his halberd and chopped off Yan Baotai's head. Li Guanyi grabbed the head and threw it towards the pass. The Qilin flew up, opened its mouth, and spewed out flames. It broke through the pass in just a moment.

Ling Pingyang also wanted to lead his troops to kill the group of defenders.

Li Guanyi raised his hand and stopped Ling Pingyang. The Qilin Army was well disciplined and they were able to stop the charge instantly. However, the murderous aura became more and more violent.

Li Guanyi looked at the frightened guards and soldiers of Cangxi City, and with a backhand move, he thrust the Tiger Roaring Sky Halberd in his hand into the ground. The weapon trembled like a tiger roaring, scaring everyone back. In front of the five thousand soldiers, Li Guanyi simply said:
"I killed this man only because he tried to stop me. Jiang Wanxiang and I have an agreement that we will not stop each other. You don't need to fight me to death. You can all retreat."

"Our fight will take place on the battlefield someday, but not now."

"You can blame me for killing Yan Baotai."

"I will write a letter myself, and you can give it to Jiang Wanxiang."

"Li Guanyi will take full responsibility for the murder. You don't have to fight with us because of this thief, and you don't have to worry about the punishment afterwards."

The people in Cangxi City trembled as they presented the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone.

The young man picked up the pen and was about to dip it in ink, but after a pause, he dipped the pen directly into the dead general's body and used the blood as ink to write a letter. For some reason, the Tiger Roaring Sky Halberd next to him was roaring more and more wildly.

The soldiers and civilians of Cangxi City all changed color, and saw the young man standing in the battlefield, writing a letter with blood as ink, as if he were a god.

Wen Lingjun closed his eyes.

What a heroic lord.

He has the demeanor of the Red Emperor and the heroism of an overlord.

Fang Zi Qiao and Du Keming looked at each other with complicated expressions. If they came here because of Wang Tong's entrustment before, they finally showed a change of heart at this moment. The Qilin Army passed through Cangxi City again.

The defenders of Cangxi City did not dare to fight, and they all bowed and saw him off, calling him General Tiance.

The Qilin Army led by Li Guanyi did not waste much time and still hurried towards the direction of the Eighteen Prefectures of Jiangnan. Along the way, they encountered constant conflicts of varying sizes, but there were also refugees and civilians who gathered there. Although their numbers were not as dense as those in Zhongzhou, the territory of Ying State was large enough and its population was also large.

The struggles among the civil and military officials of Ying State were also extremely fierce, and the powerful families from all sides were gathering the people.

Although these people are servile in their daily lives, some of them are willing to try to escape from such a life after hearing rumors. The son of a servant will always be a servant, and the daughter of a maid will always be just a maid.

This is how their life is.

But he was unwilling to give up and his children still knelt down and kowtowed to serve people tea and water.

Most parents consider their children and do not want their children to continue to suffer the same pain they have suffered.

I can endure it in this life, but I can't do the same to my children.

Along the way, the Qilin Army gathered many refugees and civilians.

By September, the Qilin Army had gathered a hundred thousand refugees. When they marched past in a mighty force, the villages, towns and cities of Ying State were all shaken.

At the end of September, the weather had turned cold. The Qilin Army prepared cloth in advance for the people to change into thick clothes. When they arrived at a city called Fuliang, the city lord was already outside to greet them.

As for Li Guanyi's group, they couldn't let them go, nor could they not let them go. If they didn't let them go, would they have to fight with Li Guanyi's Qilin Army outside?

But if they were to let him go, the Qilin Army's reputation would be high. If they took the refugees away again, Jiang Wanxiang would hold them accountable, and they would be held guilty. The city lord Shao Junlie gritted his teeth and said, "Li Guanyi is no match for him."

"That's General Tiance."

"A natural born killer. How old is he this year? He is just a teenager, but he can ride a horse and kill people during the autumn hunt. He even dares to lead 500 heavy cavalrymen to rush into the palace and draw his sword against the dignitaries."

"This man's bad reputation has spread."

"Besides, Li Guanyi is a martial arts expert. He is on the list of divine generals. Although he has only a thousand men under his command, they are the most powerful heavy cavalry. We are only at the waterway fortress inside Daying. How can we be a match for those fierce men?"

"But if we let it go..."

Shao Junlie looked a little ugly.

As Po Jun said, there were many internal problems in Ying State, but they were suppressed because the Ying State Emperor Jiang Wanxiang was so bold and courageous, and led the Ying State to continuously expand its territory, and both civil and military officials could see more benefits.

But these many benefits actually have little to do with the people.

The Ying State seemed to be prosperous, but in fact it had numerous problems. The conflicts between the civil and military officials were suppressed by Jiang Wanxiang and Jiang Su, while the various problems among the people were suppressed by the civil and military officials and the aristocratic families.

In the past, I had no choice but to lower my head and endure silently like an old ox plowing the fields.

But as Li Guanyi charged along the way, his fame and reputation grew, which was equivalent to giving a second way out to those who used to have no choice but to bow their heads and work like slaves. So how could these people be suppressed?
Shao Junlie paced back and forth and said:
"I can't let it go, and I can't not let it go. What should I do?"

His staff thought for a moment and replied, "I heard that the sword maniac Murong Longtu has left the martial arts world and no one knows where he has gone. His internal energy was shattered in the last battle. Although Li Guanyi is strong, he is only one person. Let's devise a plan to lure him here."

"Then give him a good feast, and when he arrives, ambush your best soldiers and generals."

"He was caught when the banquet was halfway through and the cup was smashed as a signal!"

Shao Junlie said:

"You mean, imitate the feast of the Red Emperor and the Overlord eight hundred years ago?"

The aide answered confidently: "Although Li Guanyi took the Scarlet Sky Sword."

"But it may not be possible to escape from such a situation like His Majesty the Red Emperor."

Shao Junlie said, "With Li Guanyi's martial arts skills, can we capture him? Even if we capture him, he still has a thousand heavy cavalry under his command." The staff member was named Liang Yunxiu, who was also from an aristocratic family. Hearing this, he replied:
"A famous general in the world is just a mortal if he is not a master. I have a destiny and I have recognized a famous master who is willing to fight for me once. In a one-on-one fight, with the eighth-level cultivation, it is not a problem for him to defeat Li Guanyi."

"Besides, a thousand heavy cavalry are good at fighting outside. We are not that idiot Yan Baotai. We can't close the city gates and wait for reinforcements. A thousand heavy cavalry can't break through the city."

Shao Junlie was still hesitating.

Liang Yunxiu persuaded, "If we let Li Guanyi go today, we can control the people in the city and the surrounding towns. Will the people in the village not go to Li Guanyi for help?"

"When the time comes, His Majesty will send officials down to check the population of the people. If they don't match, they will be stripped of their official positions and demoted to commoners. They may even be directly convicted of dereliction of duty, bringing disgrace upon themselves and their families!"

"One is that even if you fail, only one person will die, but the family can support his wife and children. The other is that you will bring trouble to the family. Do you still need to choose?"

They are local officials, so they understand better.

When Li Guanyi and his gang arrived, the local people were already a little shaken.

Especially for those households who had lost their land, someone came from nowhere and started talking about the Qilin Army. After hearing about it over and over again, these households were so agitated that they knew about the treatment of the Qilin Army and wanted to leave one by one.

How did those spies do it?
Shao Junlie recalled.

They said that the Qilin Army provided food, land, and that it had run private schools for ordinary people, teaching their children how to read and write and martial arts. They even told these things to the families of the defenders in the city.

These spies actually recounted what the Qilin Army had done.

After the defenders took back the city, they were having dinner with their parents, and their parents said to them, "Son, it seems that the Qilin Army is giving away land."

Some of the defenders have already begun to resign.

Thinking of this, Shao Junlie felt a fire burning in his heart.

Jiang Wanxiang's policies were considered fair, but in comparison, Shao Junlie felt that the Eighteen Prefectures of Jiangnan treated the people even better. However, as he sat in this position, he could only say bitterly, "Hateful, cunning!"

"What a despicable person."

"You actually relied on these small favors to win over these people."

"Li Guanyi, and those peasants. Li Guanyi himself is the son of the Duke of Taiping. He could have become one of our prestigious families, but he actually helped these peasants, and also these common people."

"We, the noble families, provide them with food, clothing, and land to protect them, and we exempt them from corvée labor. They should work for the noble families. If it weren't for us, how could they survive?"

"If it weren't for us, they couldn't even pay the taxes."

"Not to mention, every time it's New Year's Day, we give them some meat to eat. When they reach the age of eighty, they don't have to work anymore. They can drink and eat meat every New Year."

“Isn’t this kindness?”

"They actually want to abandon us and take their own land. It's ridiculous, ridiculous."

"Now, it is risky to intercept him. If we let him go without intercepting him, His Majesty will investigate the shortage of civilians, which will be a serious crime, unless..." Liang Yunxiu hesitated and said, "Unless, we mobilize all the major families in the city, including your family."

"Take out all those people who are not registered as civilians but are in the aristocratic families."

"Then fill in the number of people lost by the country and enter it into the place of naturalization."

"It may be possible to allow Qin Wuhou to leave without being punished by His Majesty."

Shao Junlie's face changed drastically, and he said assertively: "You want us, the noble families, to do such a thing."

"That's impossible!"

The aristocratic families, relying on the recommendation system of the imperial court, controlled official positions, annexed large amounts of land, and obtained the privileges of "tax exemption" and "exemption from corvée labor". They also used the annexed land and privileges to absorb a large number of additional population.

These people were not recorded in the imperial court's records of their place of origin, but were directly controlled by the aristocratic families.

This is the family's heritage and foundation.

These people refused to accept the corvée labor imposed by the imperial court, but instead obeyed the arrangements of their aristocratic families, and were not guilty of being beaten or killed.

It is the foundation of the family's power and status! It must not be shaken.

After several comparisons, Shao Junlie immediately agreed to Liang Yunxiu's plan. While waiting for Li Guanyi and others to arrive, he led his men to wait outside early, bowed respectfully, and invited Li Guanyi and others to the banquet.

A lot of food and goods were brought out, and trading was opened, allowing the Qilin Army to purchase things. Wen Lingjun and others looked at each other, pulled Li Guanyi back, lowered their voices, and said, "My lord, be careful."

"I'm afraid there won't be a good feast."

Wen He narrowed his eyes, and finally he wanted to take a step back, but when he turned around and looked at the people who were rushing over, it seemed that the momentum had gathered. He did not expect that there would be so many people in the end.

The world's general trend is surging, but only those who can follow the trend and have the courage to guide it are heroes.

Wen He was silent for a moment, then said, "I will go with my lord."

Feng Xiao spat out a mouthful of wine and coughed violently:

"Ok??"

"what?!"

"Hey, you're willing to go, are you kidding me?"

The counselors looked at Wen He as if they had seen a ghost.

Wen He smiled and said:
"With me here, there will be no problem."

Wen Lingjun hesitated for a moment and said, "Are you going to run away?"

Wen He: “…………”

For some reason, he found that Wen Lingjun seemed to be eager to try, and his hand had already fallen on the rope beside him, as if he was planning to take revenge on Wen He for knocking him out and tying him up that day.

Wen He remained silent.

This strategist who puts his own interests first seemed to have a hard time controlling his emotions. His smile finally showed a hint of sarcasm as he said:

"If I try to run, will you notice?"

Everyone thought about it and then nodded, agreeing with Wen He's words.

This is true.

Li Guanyi asked Wen Lingjun and others to do the shopping, while he got up and went to the banquet. Wen He wanted to go with him, but Li Guanyi stopped him and said, "There may be a fierce battle this time, sir, just wait here."

"Oh?"

Mr. Wen He raised his eyes slightly and watched Qin Wuhou turn around and leave, followed by a short, hooded astrologer. He paused in his thoughts and shifted his gaze to see the old man in green clothes over there also casually picked up a green bamboo and left.

Murong Longtu was planning to go together, but Li Guanyi stretched out his hand to stop the old man.

Li Guanyi knew that his great-grandfather only had the power of one sword left. If he did not take action, he could live for about three years. But if he attacked recklessly, he would waste his lifespan. Li Guanyi would never allow this in his heart.

Murong Longtu looked at Li Guanyi and said gently, "I'll just go with you to take a look."

Li Guanyi said, "Grandfather, you have been with me."

He reached out and patted the wooden sword at his waist.

“This journey is my story.”

"Great grandfather, now that you are out in the world, just sit here quietly and read my story carefully."

When Li Guanyi turned around and walked out, a silver-haired girl nodded to Murong Longtu, then turned around and walked towards the back of Li Guanyi. After taking two steps, she found that her feet were hanging in the air.

The silver-haired girl raised her head and looked at Li Guanyi. Li Guanyi reached out his hand, grabbed the girl's collar and pulled her up. Li Guanyi raised his eyebrows and said in a more serious tone, "It's very dangerous."

The silver-haired girl stared at him and said quietly, "It's not the first time."

The two men looked at each other.

Li Guan remained silent, then smiled helplessly and said, "That's all."

"you're right."

He put Yaoguang down. Yaoguang reached out to adjust her clothes, then quietly followed Li Guanyi to the banquet. Murong Longtu looked at Li Guanyi's back. His own sword was at Li Guanyi's waist, which always made him feel dazed.

His sword is still there, but he is gone.

It's really wonderful.

It suddenly became clear.

"Well, now that we're out in the world, we shouldn't be involved in everything anymore."

"Li Guanyi has encountered a lot of things on his way from Zhongzhou to here." Siming's voice came. The great master of Yin Yang School sat next to Murong Longtu, handed him the wine in his hand, and said, "Drink."

Murong Longtu took the wine, Siming grinned and said, "Don't worry, the girl is here, Li Guanyi will be fine." He looked at the silver-haired astrologer over there and sighed a little. He once jokingly told Yaoguang about Xue Shuangtao's existence.

The girl's eyes were still calm at that time, without any ripples.

Siming shook the wine pot, and for the first time he was confused, and sighed:
"You and I can't explain clearly about the affairs of young people, but the country is in turmoil, and they are not the kind of people who are in love. I have no idea that your great grandson will get married when the world is not settled."

"You old man, you can't see his children."

Sima Ming joked.

Murong Longtu smiled calmly and said, "It's okay."

"That's more than enough."

Li Guanyi and Yaoguang went to the banquet, just like what happened in Zhenbei City.

When it was time for the banquet, Shao Junlie arranged singing and dancing.

The swordsmen had been lying in ambush behind the screen wall, urging him to drink again and again, waiting for the right moment to smash the cup as a signal. However, when he had already raised his cup, he saw Li Guanyi drinking with a calm look in his eyes.

The wooden sword at Li Guanyi's waist floated in the air.

Shao Junlie's movements froze.

For some reason, his soul seemed to be unable to control his body. He felt that if he dropped the quilt, his head might fly up first. He was stiff for a long time, slowly drank the wine, and said respectfully:

"Could this wooden sword be the sword of the unrivaled sword god Murong Longtu, as the people in the martial arts world say, who has been invincible for eight hundred years?"

Li Guanyi did not answer, but just said: "Why don't you take out the 300 swordsmen, captains, and the generals guarding the city behind your screen wall to save trouble..."

He drank the wine, threw it down, held the sword in his right hand, stretched out his left hand, and rolled up his sleeves to cover the girl behind him. Yaoguang's voice came to his ears, so Li Guanyi's eyes calmly swept across the places where the ambushes were set up, and said lightly:
"I am immune to all poisons."

"Also, Master Motian, it's been a long time since we parted ways at the Gongsun family that day."

Shao Junlie's expression suddenly changed.

Suddenly, a bitter laugh was heard, and a white-haired warrior walked out from behind the screen wall. He was the former leader of the Motian Sect. After the incident with the Gongsun family, his whereabouts were unknown, but he ended up in Ying State, where he was respected by the family.

He said respectfully, "Meet Qin Wuhou."

"After parting that day, your elegance remains the same."

Li Guanyi looked at this hero who was so heroic when they first met, so disheveled when they met again, and now so decadent, and said: "The sect leader is getting older and more decadent."

The leader of the Motian Sect laughed bitterly. The Motian Sect had collapsed at this moment, and he didn't know where he had gone. Now that he saw the Qilin of the troubled times who had been his prey that day, he no longer had any hostility. His heart was at peace. He just sighed:

"If I had known that I was dealing with a prince today, I would not have come earlier."

Li Guanyi said, "Since the Sect Master has nowhere to go, why don't you come back to Jiangnan with me? If you are willing, you can reopen the Motian Sect in Jiangnan and teach the people there some martial arts."

The leader of the Motian Sect was stunned and subconsciously looked at the dignitaries over there.

Shao Junlie was from a prominent family with great power. He had received many favors by himself. When he wanted to leave, he was entangled and could not get away.

Li Guanyi held the teacup and said calmly:

"City Lord, this old gentleman and I are old friends. Today, I took him away."

Shao Junlie looked grim, but he still managed a smile:
"It is our honor that Your Excellency wants it."

Li Guanyi and his companions gathered the refugees and bought supplies before leaving. Shao Junlie was unable to stop them and could only watch them leave. In the Qilin Army, the Angry Scale Dragon King Kou Yulie saw that his old friend from the Qilin Hunting Conference that day also joined Li Guanyi's army. He was moved and drank for a long time without mentioning it.

Since the leader of the Motian Sect was able to found such a large sect as the Motian Sect and opened martial arts schools throughout the northern region of the Chen Kingdom, he naturally had some skills in teaching people. He simply taught the children of the people to practice martial arts from scratch.

As autumn progresses, the weather becomes colder.

In the eleventh year of Tianqi, Li Guanyi led the people who were willing to follow him across Zhongzhou and Yingguo. They encountered many obstacles, which they either killed or forced back. It took a season before they reached the final destination.

Heroes all over the world were fighting, and the blood flowed like a river.

Li Guanyi only led the people forward and never gave up on them. The people saw with their own eyes the young man killing people with a halberd, and they also saw him attending a banquet with a little girl. Unconsciously, the people won over.

Now if anyone sneaks in as a spy, he will be easily discovered and beaten half to death.

The world was in turmoil. At the beginning, people said that Li Guanyi was just seeking fame and reputation, but all his experiences on this long journey were shattered. At this moment, when the world mentioned Qin Wuhou, even the aristocratic families had to say that he was a hero of the world.

In the hearts of the people, his reputation is comparable to that of the rulers of two countries.

The march was mighty all the way to the border area, and the Jiangnan region was just ahead.

It was already winter.

Li Guanyi led a group of people, totaling 120,000 households.

Farmers, craftsmen, scholars, artisans, merchants, everything.

It was almost to the extent of emptying an entire city.

Yan Daiqing finally realized how many people were needed to arrive at the Eighteen Prefectures of Jiangnan. Due to the enormous logistical pressure, the sound of fists hitting the wall was heard again in the office of the prefect.

Xiaozhi has been entering with his left foot first these days.

Just before Li Guanyi and others arrived in Jiangnan, at the last checkpoint of Ying State, which was the place where they had been circling for a long time that day.

But there was a general waiting there long ago.

He was handsome, with an extraordinary bearing, holding two iron maces in his hands and wearing golden armor. He was none other than Qin Yulong, the great general of Ying State, the husband of the eldest daughter of Xue Daoyong of the Xue family, and a famous general in the world.

At this moment, he led a thousand cavalrymen there, and laughed loudly:

"Marquis Qin Wu, I have been waiting for you for a long time on the orders of His Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)