Chapter 4357 Chapter 4359 [Changing Times]
In the blink of an eye, half a year passed. During this period, the Li Clan had annexed the Three Qin Dynasties, and then divided its troops into two groups. They invaded the Kingdom of Tianfu from the Shu Road and attacked Dou Jiande of Yan and Zhao. They conquered the city and territory and were invincible.
Wang Shichong of Luoyang fought repeatedly with Li Mi of Wagangzhai. Although Li Mi was famous and popular, he was somewhat headstrong.
Moreover, after becoming the boss, he was afraid that his subordinates would imitate him and rise to the top, so he became timid and did not dare to delegate power easily. This also caused the generals to be restrained when leading the troops and unable to fully demonstrate their talents, so they suffered consecutive defeats.
However, Li Mi did not reflect on his behavior. Instead, he believed that they were deliberately lazy and dissatisfied with himself, so he became more and more harsh on his subordinates, which led to disunity in Wagang Village and the momentum was greatly reduced compared to before.
On the contrary, Wang Shichong gradually regained some of his strength through continuous victory in battles, and even formed an alliance with Dou Jiande of Jizhou to discuss jointly dealing with the Li clan.
The Song clan worked hard to attack the Yuwen clan in order to completely eradicate Yuwen culture and completely occupy the southern region. After half a year of fighting, Yu Wenhuaji's territory was successively captured by Song Shidao.
Seeing that the war was going unfavorably, Yu Wenhuaji simply deposed the emperor Yang Hao he supported, and established himself as the emperor. The country was named Xu, and he also appointed hundreds of officials.
But it turned out that this was just a farce. Less than three months after Yu Wenhuaji proclaimed himself emperor, the city of Jiangdu was captured by Song Shidao. Yu Wenhuaji set a fire in the palace, and it is said that he and his concubine were burned to death. .
But some people say that when the city was destroyed, they saw Yu Wenhua and two beauties leaving the city in disguise, so he must not be dead.
But whether he was dead or not, his army had been destroyed. He was left as a mere commander, and even with great abilities, it would be difficult to restore the situation of the war.
After capturing Jiangdu, Song Shidao sent his troops northward, captured Xu Beng, and directed his troops to the Central Plains.
…
During the past six months, Xiang Nan continued to sharpen his spirit and practice his will, making his spirit stronger and stronger, which also brought him closer and closer to the state of "clear heart of the sword".
However, Xiang Nan still did not slack off at all, but continued to practice hard and strive to reach a higher level.
During this period, he also helped the Song clan build several more small blast furnaces and more muskets and artillery, which made the Song army stronger and stronger.
With the promotion of high-yielding crops such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, peanuts, peppers, and tomatoes, the Song clan has been fighting for years, but not only has the country not been impoverished, but the population has also increased.
After all, those hills and mountains that could not be irrigated with water and could not grow rice can now grow sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn. The grain output has greatly increased and can feed a larger population.
Moreover, the Jingxiang and Jiangnan areas conquered by Song Shidao were also land of plenty and had always been rich. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, etc. have also begun to be grown in those areas, and the yields are very good.
In addition, Xiang Nan also presided over the construction of a number of 5,000-ton steel ships, but they were driven neither by sails nor manpower, but by steam engines.
This can ensure that the ship not only runs fast, but also runs steadily. Even if it encounters larger winds and waves, it can still withstand it.
The ship is also equipped with dozens of artillery pieces. Not to mention pirates, even regular troops will have a hard time escaping from its artillery fire.
Xiang Nan prepared these ships. On the one hand, if Song Shidao and Li Shimin failed in their struggle for world hegemony, these ships would be used to carry the Song family's army to Nanyang for development;
The cargo volume of grain in the Qing Dynasty was only 320,000 tons a year. It was enough to use a 5,000-ton ship to make 64 round trips, which was much better than using a ship with a load of only a few dozen tons.
...In the blink of an eye, half a year later, Li Clan marched from Hanzhong and captured the Sichuan and Chongqing areas, and then used the Yangtze River waterway to approach Jingxiang.
The Song clan was fighting with Dou Jiande at Xubeng in the north, and had to contend with Li clan's army in the west. It was a dilemma for a while.
Wang Shichong defeated Wagang Village led by Li Mi many times, causing the strength of Wagang Village to further decline. In desperation, Li Mi had no choice but to accept Li Shimin's solicitation and lead his army to surrender to the Li clan.
Subsequently, Li Shimin reorganized Li Mi's army and sent troops to attack Wang Shichong.
Wang Shichong won every battle against Li Mi, but was defeated every battle against Li Clan. He was beaten and could only huddle in Luoyang City, and had no choice but to call in his ally Dou Jiande for rescue.
Dou Jiande took the lead in loyalty and led a large army to help Wang Shichong. However, Li Shimin sent people to cut off the food route, causing the army to lack food and lose morale.
Li Shimin took the opportunity to attack fiercely, Dou Jiande was defeated and captured, and the remaining troops retreated to Jizhou. Seeing this, Wang Shichong had no choice but to open the city gate and surrender to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin then dedicated Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong to his father Li Yuan. Li Yuan pardoned Wang Shichong and sent him to Shu, but he killed Dou Jiande.
Because in Li Yuan's view, Wang Shichong was an aristocrat, had been a minister, and was an official in the same dynasty. Although each had his own master, there was still some degree of friendship.
But Dou Jiande came from a poor family, and he was just a man with mud legs, so he was cut off. As a result, this move aroused the indignation of Dou Jiande's remaining troops. They supported Dou Jiande's general Liu Heitai as marshal and revolted against the Li clan.
So among the six main forces that fought for hegemony in the world, now only the Li Clan, the Song Clan, and Liu Heitai of Jizhou remain.
Among them, the Li clan occupies the Qin, Jin, Sichuan and Chongqing, and Central Plains regions; the Song clan occupies the Jingxiang, Xuben, Jiangnan, and Lingnan regions; and Liu Heitai occupies the Jizhou and Qilu regions, forming a three-legged alliance.
Among them, the Song clan has the largest area and the most powerful equipment; the Li clan has the most talents and is equally strong; although Liu Heitao lacks strength, he has the support of the Jizhou and Qilu gentry behind him, and he is also connected with the Turks outside the pass, so his strength Not weak either.
…
Xiang Nan continued his practice, and at the same time, Song Yuzhi announced her pregnancy.
This made Song Que very happy.
Song Shidao has been fighting outside in recent years and has no time to take care of his personal life. Therefore, this is the only descendant of the Song family so far. How can he be unhappy.
Song Yuzhi himself was naturally very happy.
I just heard that my eldest brother was fighting with Li Shimin, which made me feel a little sad.
Once upon a time, she, Li Shimin, and Li Xiuning were all good friends, but now they are at war with each other for power. It is really regrettable.
"Is it really so important to dominate the world? Why do we need to cause so much killing?" She looked at Xiang Nan in confusion.
Xiang Nan smiled and said, "The general trend of the world is that if we divide for a long time, we will unite, and if we unite for a long time, we will divide. War is not a good thing, but it is not a bad thing either. It belongs to the laws of history, so there is no need to worry about it so much."
"It will be great if we can stop fighting. I don't want my children to go to the battlefield in the future." Song Yuzhi sighed.