Chen Xiang clearly understood the importance of the Grand Canal to the Sui Dynasty court, so he strengthened the training of these 260,000 troops and guarded the safety of the Grand Canal at all times to ensure that the Sui Dynasty court could return smoothly. Chang'an. He used the brand-new Mingjiao as the ideological foundation, taught these refugee soldiers to be loyal to the emperor, patriotism, and defend their homeland. He also promoted many soldiers who could use the rune system in the Mingjiao holy book to create holy light to heal their injuries to become officers, and re-established this concept. Only the army sorted it out and completely became the army of Mingjiao. Among the people, because Mingjiao has been transformed into a capitalist religion by Chen Xiang, it pays attention to practicality, encourages hard work to get rich, pays attention to the rule of law and the spirit of contract, and values ??craftsmen and merchants. Therefore, the people in Luokoucang also quickly entered their new roles. , based on industry and commerce, also made full use of Luokoucang's advantages as a transportation hub, contacted the Song clan in the south, and started doing business. At the same time, Mingjiao spread rapidly, especially among the poor middle and lower class people, and it spread very widely. A month and a half later, the spies arranged by Chen Xiang near Xingyang City reported back the news, saying that the situation in Xingyang City seemed to be unstable. Chen Xiang brought 20,000 already-trained troops, half of Qin Qiong's troops plus one Wanwu's newly trained soldiers, commanded by Qin Qiong, headed towards Xingyang with sufficient supplies and food. On the way, they unexpectedly met Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling. They fled back in embarrassment, bringing with them a middle-aged man, a stout girl, and the maid Su Su from before. Kou Zhong sat on the ground with a smile, coughing and gasping loudly. Angry, he said: "What a fucking irritation! Even if that guy Li Mi is a treacherous man, he can only carry the urinal for our Sui Dynasty Shuanglong!" Xu Ziling said helplessly: "How long has it been, you still You are so bragging here!" He then saluted Chen Xiang and said, "Brother! I'm sorry, we couldn't complete our mission! But we only persuaded the big leader Zhai Rang to accept the court's invitation. The old boy Li Mi pretended to surrender at first, but then In fact, they had a complete break with the big leader Zhai! We suffered a big loss! But Li Mi didn't get any better! When we left, Xingyang City was burned to ashes. Knowing that the city could not be defended, he retreated northward with more than 5,000 troops!" Chen Xiang raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? How many subordinates are left in Dalongtou now?" Kou Zhong laughed awkwardly. Said: "Hey, I don't know about this either." However, the middle-aged man did not wait for Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling to introduce him, took the initiative to come forward, bowed deeply to Chen Xiang and said: "Zhai, a common man, has met the national master." He introduced: "This is the little girl Zhai Jiao, who also met the Imperial Master together!" After saying that, he pulled the strong girl next to him to salute Chen Xiang. Zhai Jiao has never seen such a handsome guy as Chen Xiang, and he is also a powerful and charming national master. Kou Zhong couldn't help but stare straight. He kicked Zhai Jiao in dissatisfaction and said, "Hey hey hey! Why do you look so seriously? Do you want to eat our eldest brother in one bite? When you look at us, You're not so serious!" Zhai Jiao turned around in anger, jumped up and hit Kou Zhong with a heavy elbow, hitting him on the chest, which caused his old injury. In addition, this The blow was indeed very heavy. He choked and his face turned red. Almost dying, Xu Ziling and Su Su rushed forward to rescue him. Zhai Jiao then stood up again, gave Chen Xiang a blessing, and whispered to Chen Xiang with a shy face: "The slave family has met the national master~" Such a huge contrast. Everyone was surprised. Zhai Rang did not expect such an outburst. He hurriedly coughed twice and said: "There are about two thousand brothers from the grassroots following me, and most of them are still injured. I am on my way here." " Chen Xiang thought for a while and said: "There is no need for them to rush here, let's go up to them. Then we will occupy Xingyang City to protect the peace of the Grand Canal and ensure that the Imperial Army can return to Daxing City smoothly. " Not long after they started lighting up, the army encountered the remnants of the Wagang Army who were following Zhai Rang on the way. They looked very miserable. There were burns and stab wounds on their bodies, and the entire army looked very depressed and depressed. Chen Xiang smiled faintly, and the golden pagoda above his head suddenly emitted infinite light, shining on these wounded soldiers. The light from the holy fire shone on them, quickly healing their injuries and giving them All filled with very warm power. After feeling such magical power, the remnants of the Wagang Army were also mentally shaken and felt much better. At this time, someone stepped forward to bandage the wounds of the remnants of the Wagang Army and provide them with hot porridge and rice. This enabled them to survive the threat of death and gave them hope again. As Chen Xiang's 20,000-strong army returned, Turning around, he said to XingRush to the city. One day later, Chen Xiang's team arrived at Xingyang City. As expected, Xingyang City had been burned to ashes and was filled with homeless new refugees. They were numbly looking at their burned home and wanted to cry. Tears, not knowing what to say or do. Chen Xiang immediately ordered the rest of Xingyang City and the entire army to rebuild the city. The biggest task now is not to pursue the great rebel Li Mi, but to stabilize the rule of the Sui Dynasty. Therefore, it is very necessary to maintain the concentration and unity of power. Xingyang City is also a large city, and it also occupies a very important position in the transportation of the Grand Canal. The most important thing is that this important city originally belonged to the Sui Dynasty court, but was later occupied by the Wagang Army. Now Wagang After the army retreated, this place became a city without an owner, and Chen Xiang easily occupied it. Because of the wars in the past few years, a lot of fertile farmland around them was abandoned. Under Chen Xiang's leadership, the refugees quickly started production to help themselves, reclaimed the wasteland, and built houses. With the support of a large amount of food from Luokou Granary, Xingyang The city quickly began reconstruction work, and based on the model of the New Song Dynasty, the Six Science School of Civil, Military, Industrial, Agricultural, Commercial, and Medical Sciences was established. It also established a Mingjiao church to focus on cultivating Mingjiao missionaries. Chen Xiang also selected 3,000 outstanding men from the 260,000-strong army to form the Mingjiao Templar Knights, named Tiance Cavalry. Among them, 300 devout officers were all enlightened. The Holy Fire Paladins formed a powerful armed force. Directly controlled by Chen Xiang himself. There are also 50,000 relatively stronger soldiers, led by the original 200 light messengers, who are considered elite ordinary troops. The remaining 200,000 troops are half-workers and half-soldiers, mainly focusing on production. It can be regarded as a military camp of Mingjiao. There are also basic divisions for missionaries: ordinary believers are called lay people, devout believers are called Huoyou, and those who are responsible for preaching in a county are called Huozhu. Those in charge of religious affairs in a county are called Fire Cultists, those in charge of Mingjiao affairs in a state are called Fire Masters, and important figures in the center are called Ming Envoys. Those who are responsible for traveling around to preach and inspect Mingjiao in various places, and those who report lawlessness are called Guangming Sanren. The church of Mingjiao is called the Holy Church of Light, which is used only for praying for blessings and warding off disasters. In addition to traditional religious services such as saving souls and treating injuries, he also works as a blacksmith and craftsman, continuing to research and promote advanced tools. Continuously moisturizing things silently and improving the productivity of the countryside. It is said that kitchen knives blessed by Mingzun are many times more durable than ordinary kitchen knives! With such benefits, the opening of Mingtang was very smooth. We also fully absorbed local blacksmiths and other craftsmen into the Ming Cult, and tried our best to avoid conflicts and competition. Because of these benefits, Mingjiao spread very quickly. With the flow of refugee caravans, with Luokou Cang in Xingyang as the center, it radiated in all directions. A month later, the Sui court's 500,000-strong army rushed from Jiangdu to Xingyang. After joining Chen Xiang's 260,000-strong army, they reorganized here for another month. With the full cooperation of Li Jing and Qin Qiong, they reorganized He reorganized his troops, left 100,000 troops in Xingyang City, and sent another 100,000 troops back to Jiangdu, under the command of Du Fuwei, to ensure stability in the south of the Yangtze River. The remaining 560,000 troops, under the leadership of the Sui court, continued to march westward and arrived at Luoyang City. Along the way, Chen Xiang led his direct lineage of 160,000 troops to carry out military discipline education and Mingjiao propaganda to the entire Sui army. He even opened a Mingjiao martial arts lecture hall that moved with Tian Ceqi, specializing in teaching martial arts and military strategy. Among them, the textbook on military strategy is the suicide note of Wu Mu brought back by Chen Xiang from the world of the late Song Dynasty. It is naturally targeted at the nomads in the north. In just a few months, Chen Xiang was able to build such a large team. Pei Ju felt that Chen Xiang's ability was even more amazing. However, his results are also good. Although there are still many things to argue with each other in the cabinet currently formed, it has finally taken shape and can win over the nobles so that they will not jump out to cause chaos. When she saw Pei Ju again, Chen Xiang seemed to notice that the hair on his temples was a little gray. It was obvious that he had worked a lot in the past six or seven months. "Well, Master Imperial Master!" Pei Ju smiled and saluted Chen Xiang. Chen Xiang also smiled lightly, saluted Pei Ju in return, and at the same time looked at the three young people next to him. One of the young men was slightly taller, wearing night clothes in broad daylight, with a cold face, and a black mask covering his face, making him look very mysterious. Another young man was holding a large folding fan. He was dressed very gorgeously and looked very handsome. His brows were smiling and affectionate, just like a proud young man in love. The last young man especially attracted Chen Xiang¡¯s attention, because this young man was actually a girl with an extremely enchanting appearance.In his eyes, he felt that this person was the true love of his life. Even if he paid the price of his life for this girl, it would not be a pity at all. And the most important thing is that this girl is wearing a flowing white dress, but she has no shoes on her feet. Her bare feet stand on the dirty ground, but she gives people the feeling that no matter how dirty the mud is, she can't pollute her purity. . "I am too busy during this period, so I asked my two apprentices and a nephew to help me. This is Yang Xuyan, a disciple of my Butian Pavilion inheritance, and a member of the royal family. Help me with some intelligence and military discipline matters. This is Hou Xibai, a disciple of my Huajian sect. He is good at dancing and observant, and he will do some internal affairs work for me." Pei Ju extended his hand. After introducing the woman, he continued in a rather complicated manner: "This is an elite figure of the Yingui sect, Huanwen, who was also sent out by her master to assist me in some communication and alliance work. Major majors The clan members are willing to come to the cabinet, compromise with each other, and assist each other. This is accomplished with the help of Master Nephew Huanwan. Otherwise, we would not be able to do that well at all. " Chen Xiang nodded with a smile and said: " It can be seen that these three descendants of Lord Pei are all great heroes. It is also a blessing for Lord Pei to be used by Lord Pei!" Pei Ju smiled and did not answer. He asked his disciples first. The assistant left the room and discussed with Chen Xiang alone. At this time, he frowned and said: "Most of the power of the imperial court today is in the hands of the clans, especially the four major clans. The imperial court is weak, and it is also It was caused by the struggle for power among the four major clans. The Taiyuan Li clan was an aristocratic group of military commanders. Most of the middle and lower-level military commanders were attached to the Li clan. Moreover, Li Yuan himself also had a reputation in the world, with considerable appeal and influence in the DPRK. Although insufficient, they have the strongest practical operation ability. The Yuwen clan is the remaining nobles of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. When Emperor Wen obtained the Zen throne of the Northern Zhou emperor, these people also contributed, so their aristocratic status was still preserved. The Dugu clan has the most connections and is difficult to sort out because they were once the most powerful relatives and had the closest relationship with the central harem, but their external influence is not that strong. Although a representative has a lot of wealth and a little courage, if anyone is really determined to deal with them, he can still defeat them without any surprises. " Chen Xiang watched Pei Ju introduce the four major clans in detail. Condition. Knowing that he must have something on his mind, he simply responded and waited for Pei Ju's next words. "These four major clans compete for power with each other, often putting the interests of the family above the interests of the court, and even harming the interests of the court for their own interests. This makes the government deteriorate day by day and is difficult to recover. If you want to restore the court again, , these four major factions must be eliminated, but they must not be eliminated at once, otherwise, when the heroes in the world are not enough to make up for the talent gap, the disaster will be more serious, and other groups or people with sufficient strength must be replaced. If you lose the status of these four major clans, the disaster will last forever and the dynasty will inevitably fall again." Chen Xiang nodded and said, "Master Pei is right, and he also made the point. I don't know. What can you teach me?" Pei Ju's eyes narrowed, as if he was still having a final ideological struggle. Finally, he took a long breath and said, "Although the four major clans are really hateful, I have to say that in today's world, Those who are able to cultivate talents are those from high-ranking families. Their children do not have to work and can concentrate on their studies, and they have sufficient resources in all aspects, whether it is civil or military, even if they use resources to pile up talents. Common people not only do not have the resources to study, but they are also severely limited, so that they can be small officials and officials, but they cannot go to the center of the imperial court to participate in some major events." Then Pei Ju's eyes flashed again and he stared straight at it. Looking at Chen Xiang, he said: "And there is another mechanism for cultivating talents in this world, which is the Jianghu sect!" Chen Xiang smiled and nodded. As expected, Pei Ju has already seen this. When Pei Ju saw Chen Xiang's expression, he knew that Chen Xiang had considered this a long time ago, so he continued: "Although the major gangs are mostly attached to the clans and are actually minions and lackeys of the clans, they do start from among the civilians. We have absorbed and trained a lot of talents. Only by finding ways to start with them and continuously strengthening the ability of the private sector to cultivate talents can we truly form a strength that can compete with the clan. " Speaking of this, Pei Ju's eyes were filled with tears. It was as bright as two LED bulbs stuffed inside, and it looked like it had hit the most itchy spot in his heart. Pei Ju, or Shi Zhixuan, was just a poor child with extraordinary talents since he was a child. Fortunately, he was favored by the Demon Sect and was accepted into the sect and worked hard to train him. This is how his capital began to skyrocket. Later, becauseUsing his personal talents, he eventually became an important minister of the imperial court. But just because he is not from a wealthy family, he has never been able to truly dominate politics, allowing him to display his talents and what he has learned on this larger stage! In addition, he practiced the two completely different techniques of Huajian Sect and Butian Pavilion, which caused him to become insane, and his actions were completely contrary to common sense, so he hated it! So he is angry! So he devised a poisonous plan to make the imperial court empty and destroy these noble families together with the corrupt imperial court! Who would have thought that before he saw the destruction of the imperial court, there would be a strange person like Chen Xiang, who had been lurking in Yangzhou City for more than 20 years without saying a word. However, as soon as the faint king arrived in Jiangdu City, he broke out and took away his immortality. Jue, killed Yu Wenhuaji, and even single-handedly persuaded Du Fuwei to subdue the Jianghuai Army. He even used incredible methods to directly kill the Hunjun and take control of the inner court. He even entrusted himself with power that he had never had before. The opportunity to change the world that he had been looking forward to for many years suddenly appeared in front of him! And under Chen Xiang¡¯s superpower, not only was all his old illnesses cured, but he even got two clones! He has abilities that ordinary people cannot even imagine! On weekdays, Pei Ju actually divides himself into three people, which immediately improves his work efficiency! Shi Zhixuan, who has a dark personality, led Yang Xuyan to deal with assassinations and purges. Shi Zhixuan, from the Huajian faction, led Hou Xibai to strengthen internal affairs management, know and employ people, calm down grievances, and build a team that can realize his lifelong dream. My Shi Zhixuan, with his long sleeves and long sleeves, is good at dancing, going around among the various gates, balancing the interests of all parties, so that the carriage will not suddenly overturn when he is making a difference! Therefore, although the abilities of these three clones will leave each clone with only one-third of its skill, it has increased the work efficiency three times, and has an unexpected effect, which made Shi Zhixuan occupy all the power in the early stage of establishing the pavilion. Advantage! After Chen Xiang was appointed as a national advisor, he did not cause trouble for himself. He led his men north to control the Luokou warehouse, and then based on these grains, he raised a large army almost instantly. In this way, the Wagang Army was oppressed, causing the Wagang Army to be internally divided and no longer able to form a climate. Such methods are indeed eye-catching, and Shi Zhixuan also knows that Chen Xiang and Mingjiao can only be friends, not enemies. Moreover, even the demon sect that Shi Zhixuan came from is not welcomed by the orthodox society. Even if the other party creates a new religion, it will have nothing to do with him. What¡¯s more, after Shi Zhixuan studied the holy scriptures of Mingjiao, he even felt that Mingjiao was quite to his liking. It also has a natural alliance with his political opinion of cultivating civilians and relying on them. This time, Shi Zhixuan really put in a lot of effort. Not only did he recruit all his people to join the imperial court to work for him, he even recruited people from other sects of the Demon Sect such as the Yingui Sect and the Zhenchuan Sect. They have recruited a lot of people. With these people, Shi Zhixuan also has enough support in the court, and the orders he issues can be effectively executed. This also formed Shi Zhixuan's new idea. At present, except for the sect, there is no other talent that can compete with the sect. Then the court's policy will be tilted towards the sect. First, a balance will be maintained, and then the sect's talents will be gradually used to replace the sect. Talents are replaced and the family is gradually marginalized! Finally solved it completely with one knife! Shi Zhixuan loathed and hated the clan so much that when he said these words, the hatred in his eyes was almost undisguised! Chen Xiang had clearly felt what he was thinking in his heart and said: "Master Pei's idea is very good. You can chat with Yue Buqun more and combine it with the Six Science School system I established in Xingyang City. Promotion will inevitably select talented children among the common people to serve in the palace. In this way, it will not only squeeze the space of the nobles, but also bring all the world's elites into the court's sight, so that they can show their talents. In case the talented people are left in the wilderness and the ambitious people start a rebellion again, Pei Ju's eyes lit up and he said: "Oh? The imperial examination system? That's right if the imperial examination is used to select talents. It is easy to say that it can also provide more formal channels for civilians! Yes, not bad! I will prepare for the imperial examination system for the newly vacant officials below the sixth grade this year! They are all selected through the imperial examination system! At the same time, invitations are sent to all the major schools in the world, asking them to send outstanding disciples to participate in the imperial examination!" (To be continued)