I transmigrated to ancient times and became a king with a title equal to mine.

Lu Yuan understood that since the Southern King's cultivation level could instantly jump two levels, it was unimaginable how powerful he was. This filled Lu Yuan with shock.

In fact, Long Bin was not a martial arts cultivator, but a celestial cultivator. This was a cultivation method that Lu Yuan could neither imagine nor hope to achieve.

With today's results, Long Bin felt at ease, but he also felt sorry for the dead man's body.

Following the pre-planned steps, Long Bin quickly entered the Taoist temple on the earthen hill.

By this time, the Taoist temple had already been secretly controlled by Xiao Yudong.

"Your humble servant pays respects to His Majesty the Prince of Nan! A thousand years!" Xiao Yudong, leading more than ten military officers, lifted his robes and bowed in reverence.

"My lords, you have all worked hard. Please rise."

"Thank you, Qiansui!"

Long Bin glanced at the generals and said, "From now on, within the territory of the Southern King, in times of war, in the field, and in public places, subordinate officials shall not kneel before their superiors."

"..."

The generals were stunned. Was this a ritual that had been observed for thousands of years just being abandoned like this?

Long Bin knew the public wouldn't understand, so he added, "I will promote a new civilization and new etiquette. The rights of officers and soldiers, officials and civilians, and superiors and subordinates will be equal in terms of personality, dignity, and life. Of course, I will not interfere with the etiquette and civilization outside the territory of the Southern King."

"Your Majesty is enlightened! I, Xiao Yuzhi, am willing to sacrifice my life for you, even unto death!"

"We are willing to sacrifice our lives for His Majesty the King of the South, even unto death!"

Faced with the loyal declarations of his generals, Long Bin was pleased, feeling that he had finally taken his first step in his journey through time.

"Generals, you cannot act solely for my sake."

Long Bin personally helped each of the soldiers who had knelt down to their feet, saying with deep emotion, "We are all doing this for the Great Xia Kingdom, for the people and future generations of Great Xia, and for our own families and descendants."

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Yudong followed Long Bin into the secret room.

"Your Majesty, we have collected 10,000 catties of flint and 3,000 catties of sulfur. The alchemy sites at Laoshan and Taishan Temples have been placed under military control, and as you instructed, they are being secretly distributed to the King to help him refine the elixir of immortality."

"Well done!"

Long Bin handed over a few sheets of paper and said in a low voice, "Strictly follow the instructions given, keep the alchemists under control, and treat them with respect and kindness."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Two days later, baskets of glittering objects appeared in the cave behind the Taoist temple.

After careful observation, Long Bin nodded repeatedly and said, "Xiao Yudong, you have made a great contribution to the Great Xia!"

"Your humble servant dares not presume; it is all thanks to His Highness the Prince of Nan's excellent guidance."

Next, Long Bin personally prepared the first batch of gunpowder after his transmigration.

Afterwards, he led a small group of people into the distant Laoshan primeval forest.

With a deafening roar, Xiao Yudong and the others were astonished: This is a divine artifact, created by the heavens!

Lin Shan, who had already joined Long Bin, couldn't close his mouth for a long time, and muttered in amazement: "If we put a few of these in the Dongjiang camp, and they were lit, with a hiss and a loud bang, wouldn't 300,000 soldiers be scared away?"

"Don't just stand there, bring up the treasure I asked you to build."

More than twenty people carried the cannon mount and copper cannon barrel into the canyon. With a bang, a small hill more than half a mile away was instantly blasted flat.

After firing three shots, Long Bin carefully inspected the gun barrel, gun body, and gun mount.

Although the workmanship is rough, there are no cracks, and the quality is good.

Of course, the bomb wasn't powerful enough.

"Your Majesty, the cast iron pipe you requested has been formed and is currently being polished," Lin Shan reported in a low voice.

"Has the team responsible for the sneak attack set off?"

"By now, we should have reached the vicinity of Guli Town on the other side. With this treasure, I'm sure they'll have burned their warehouses to the ground."

Just then, the sentry came in to report.

"Reporting to my lord, a raging fire has broken out on the opposite bank of the Jiupai River."

"The sneak attack was a success..." everyone cheered excitedly.

"Bear with it!" Long Bin said calmly, "Disassemble the treasure immediately and follow me straight to Daxingwei."

The generals immediately understood that the King of the South was trying to cut off the retreat route of the Eastern Han army.

If thousands of warships were destroyed by this divine weapon, that brat Xiang Yu would be crying for his parents.

Full of anticipation, the generals immediately began to carry out their respective tasks.

Halfway there, a scout came running: "Reporting, sir, the enemy's warships at Xiaohuangzhou have suddenly caught fire."

Long Bin reined in his horse and looked around. He saw flames shooting into the sky along the Jiupai River, stretching for miles.

"How did the camps become ablaze?" Long Bin had read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms extensively in his previous life and had a vivid memory of the Battle of Red Cliffs, but he had planned to use artillery to bombard the camps and had not ordered anyone to light the fires.

The generals looked at each other and stared back at each other.

"Stop daydreaming, turn around and head to Lishui City."

Lishui was established as a port during the time of Yu the Great's flood control efforts, and has existed for thousands of years. It is the most prosperous land of fish and rice in the Great Xia Dynasty. Because it is located on the west bank of the Jiupai River and has a unique advantage in water transportation, it has been a strategic location fought over by military strategists since ancient times.

Although Dongjiang was established later than Daxia, it had been eyeing Lishui covetously since its founding.

Three hundred thousand soldiers from Dongjiang, led by the Third Prince Xiang Yu, crossed the Jiupai River in three separate routes.

The northern army of 60,000 attacked Wujiang County, the southern army of 50,000 attacked Xinpuwei granary, and the central army of 190,000 approached Lishui City.

The two sides engaged in a five-day tug-of-war at the east and south gates of Lishui.

The walls of Lishui City were thick and tall, and the moat was wide and deep. In addition, the commander defending the city was Li Guixiao, the Marquis of Wanjiang, one of the six great marquises of the Great Xia Dynasty. The Dongjiang army suffered a lot and lost more than 10,000 soldiers in five days, but Lishui City still stood in front of them.

The main attacking force encountered difficulties, and the army advancing on the northern route of Wujiang County was stuck in a vast expanse of paddy fields, unable to advance or retreat, and the two sides remained locked in a stalemate.

It turned out that upon learning that the Dongjiang Kingdom's army was about to invade Wujiang, the county magistrate mobilized the people of Zaolinwei along the Jiupai River to evacuate overnight. He then opened the sluice gates to release water, effectively blocking the Dongjiang troops entering the Zaolin area from entering the 100,000-mu polder area.

The southern offensive went smoothly, but unfortunately, not only were there no grains left in the Great Xia granary, but the area was also surrounded by more than 20,000 Great Xia soldiers.

In the central command tent, Xiang Yu slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Organize warriors to scale the walls and enter the city to behead the officials of Licheng, especially the Marquis of Wanjiang, he must die!"

A moment later, Xiang Yu bowed respectfully to the ten warriors.

"Nine out of ten of you will not return alive. I can only guarantee you three generations of wealth and prosperity."

"It is our honor to serve the Kingdom of Dongjiang!" the ten warriors roared, heads held high.

"I beg you!" Third Prince Xiang Yu was the first to kneel down, watching the warriors set off for battle.

Just as the warriors stepped out of their tents, Xiang Yu received news that the war reserve warehouse on the opposite bank had been bombed and nearly a thousand warships on Xiaohuangzhou had been burned.

Xiang Yu, worthy of being called the God of War of Dongjiang Kingdom, was not stunned by the unexpected attack of the Xia army. After only a moment of hesitation, he immediately changed his order: "You ten men, go to Xiaohuangzhou immediately and intercept and kill the arsonists!"

Marquis of Wanjiang never dreamed that the fire at Xiaohuangzhou, which burned down the camps, would also save his life.