Chapter 212 The storm is coming
Luoyang City.

In the royal study.

Wang Ming has been practicing in seclusion here.

This is the tenth year that Wang Ming came into this world.

In this world, Wang Ming basically never left the Luoyang Palace.

Most of them stayed in the imperial study to practice martial arts.

Yang Guang's status as emperor was indeed good.

Food, clothing, housing and transportation are all provided for him and he doesn't need to worry about anything.

Even the medicinal materials needed for cultivation are all available and can be taken at will.

During these ten years, Wang Ming also read through all the Taoist collections in the palace, which deepened his knowledge.

With years of practice, Wang Ming's skills have become increasingly powerful.

The ability of [I Am the Only One in the Eight Desolations and Six Directions] to assist in cultivation has enabled Wang Ming to truly enter the realm of a grandmaster.

[Northern Divine Art] also allowed Wang Ming to reach a higher level. (Is this true? Don’t think too deeply about it, just treat it as a magic modification!)
There are five levels of this state.
The first realm is to store water to form a sea and cultivate more Beiming Qi.

The second realm, the sea water is rushing, Duan Yu stopped at the second step. Duan Yu's North Sea is a dead sea, because it only accumulates water and the water does not move.

In other words, it is not flexible and cannot be finely controlled.

The third realm, condensing Qi into Kun, forming a protective Qi. This protective Qi is of little use to Wang Ming, and is not as powerful as the protective method of [Vajra Indestructible Divine Art].

The fourth realm is to transform into a flying roc, with the vital energy flowing, one can directly fly into the air.

The fifth realm, Kunpeng spreads its wings. This realm is where this skill will truly shine.

After years of hard training, countless medicinal herbs were consumed.

Wang Ming finally entered the fourth realm. Flying in the air was real, but there was nothing magical about it.

If you want to talk about the purpose of flying in the air.

Then Wang Ming will tell you the skills only for lazy people.

The flying speed is really slow, just a little faster than a normal person running! This speed is really useless in battle.

Flying in the air is real, and it allows people to hang in the air up to more than ten meters. The higher you go, the more true energy you consume.

Why is it a must-have for lazy people?
[The Eight Desolations and Six Directions, I Am the Only One] The recovery of true Qi is extremely fast.

[Northern Divine Art] The true Qi is even more massive. When it is only five or six meters above the ground, the consumption and recovery of the true Qi are equal, which is equivalent to using no true Qi.

Normally you don’t need to walk, just float.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yang You rushed into the imperial study in a panic and interrupted Wang Ming who was still practicing.

Wang Ming said unhappily: "Why are you so flustered?"

Yang You glanced at the emperor's grim face, and immediately calmed down and said seriously: "Something bad has happened. A large army is approaching and is going to attack our Luoyang City."

Wang Ming's eyes fixed and he asked in a deep voice, "Is it Li Shimin's Tang army or Kou Zhong's Shaoshuai army that is attacking?"

Yang You said with a slight tremor in his voice: "It's not Kou Zhong, nor is it Li Shimin."

Wang Ming was speechless and said unhappily, "It's not one of them. What's there to panic about? The other rebel kings are just a bunch of scum. You can deal with them yourself. Why bother me?"

Yang You said suddenly with a gloomy face: "It's not one of them, but Kou Zhong and Li Shimin who attacked together."

"Cough! Cough! Cough..." Wang Ming choked on the sip of tea he had just drunk.

Wang Ming coughed for a while and asked, "Didn't the news some time ago say that they were still hostile?"

Yang You shook his head. He was also puzzled and said: "My grandson doesn't know. Their armies have not been combined. They are attacking from the north and south."

Wang Ming was stunned when he heard this, and thought to himself: "This is weird, what are they doing?"

According to Wang Ming's speculation, Li Shimin should first deal with Kou Zhong and his elder brother before tackling the tough issue of Luoyang.

Because Luoyang is not weak.

Li Shimin and Kou Zhong now each own half of the country and their strength is similar.

Whether it was Li Shimin or Kou Zhong, it would not be a wise choice for either of them to attack Luoyang.

Once they fight with Luoyang, even if they win, they will definitely not gain any advantage.

A typical case of killing one thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of your own.

When your vitality is severely damaged, someone else will definitely take advantage of you.

So Wang Ming speculated that they would not attack him first.

Moreover, according to intelligence, Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng can no longer hold back and are about to take action against Li Shimin.

Then the Buddhist sect will not be able to sit still...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In fact, this was a butterfly effect triggered by Wang Ming's arrival.

Kou Zhong and Li Tang each occupied half of the country, and their strength was not much different. They all had a consensus.

Luoyang is crucial.

Now it can be said that whoever controls Luoyang controls the world.

But Luoyang is definitely difficult to attack.

Luoyang's development in recent years has been remarkable.

Today, Luoyang is not weak in terms of population, financial resources, and military.

However, Luoyang never expanded outward, and Yang Guang hid in the harem for many years.

This made all parties subconsciously ignore the threat from Luoyang.

Kou Zhong and Li Shimin would certainly not ignore Luoyang.

then,

Kou Zhong took the initiative to contact Li Shimin.

It is suggested that we first work together to eliminate Luoyang, the third party force, and then decide the outcome.

Although Luoyang only had 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers and horses, it was far inferior to them.

However, if Li Shimin and Kou Zhong had a decisive battle, both would inevitably suffer losses.

By then, Yang Guang, who has been watching from the sidelines, will surely take advantage of the situation.

This is naturally unacceptable to them.

In Kou Zhong's heart, there are only two people who are worthy of sitting on the throne. The first is himself, and the second is Li Shimin.

In his opinion, even if he lost, it would not be a bad thing if the world fell to Li Shimin.

In any case, we must never hand over the world to the tyrant Yang Guang again.

Luoyang's economy has been very prosperous in recent years, but Luoyang's reputation is actually not very good.

Not just bad.

But it is very bad.

Because Wang Ming destroyed the interests of too many people and broke too many things.

Knowledge is popularized and everyone can read.

Land is distributed to the people, but they only have the right to use the land to prevent annexation.

This is all about digging up the roots of the aristocratic families!
Moreover, these lands were also recovered from the aristocratic families.

As a result, the entire Luoyang area, except for the aristocratic families like the Dugu clan who had always followed, was completely reshuffled.

How could the other noble families not be terrified when they saw this?
Many noble families who wanted to join the alliance were too frightened to come.

then,

These noble families are ruining Luoyang's reputation everywhere.

Confucianists should be happy that knowledge has been popularized in Luoyang.

But Confucianism only occupied a small part of the knowledge popularized in Luoyang.

Professor Luoyang’s stuff is very diverse.

Farmers, Mohists, Strategists, Miscellaneous Schools, Medical School, Legalists, Taoists...

Knowledge is available at all times.

Luoyang no longer implemented the policy of abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone.

How could the Confucian scholars outside Luoyang tolerate this?
Naturally, we have to keep talking about the evil ways in Luoyang City.

Luoyang, who was driven into the devil's way, should have been liked by the demons.

The predecessor of the Demon Sect was actually an organization of various schools of thought that formed a group after being suppressed.

But after countless years of hiding, they have lost their original intention.

In the beginning, they were misunderstood and slandered as demons. After getting used to being called that, they also considered themselves to be evil demons.

The original meaning of the inheritance had long been lost.

Today, they can no longer be considered a saintly sect, they are just a group of people in the martial arts world. They are also the most unruly people in the martial arts world.

Many of the people from the Demonic Sect who came to Luoyang were arrested for committing crimes.

Those who were sent to labor camps have extremely deep memories, but those who were used as experimental subjects have nothing to say.

then,

The Demonic Sect also has no good intentions towards Luoyang.

The Buddhist and Taoist sects also dislike Luoyang.

The one who lives in the temple in Luoyang is so poor!
The monks' fields were taken away, and the monks were living a miserable life.

The only people who don't speak ill of Luoyang are the businessmen.

Merchants have a good status in Luoyang.

Not the bottom of society.

But businessmen value profit.

Knowing that Luoyang has no future, it is impossible to invest the family fortune in Luoyang.

Therefore, Luoyang has a very bad reputation outside.

Ordinary people outside thought that the people of Luoyang were living in misery and despair.

He kept spreading rumors about Luoyang and Yang Guang. Now, when many people fell and felt the road was uneven, they would curse loudly when they got up: "Damn the tyrant, it's all his fault!"

It’s not that there aren’t smart people who know the real situation in Luoyang, but their positions do not allow them to support Luoyang.

Li Tang also reached a consensus that this three-party force must be eliminated.

Even though Li Yuan and his men lost to Kou Zhong, they were not very afraid.

As long as you surrender, you will still be treated preferentially.

But this obviously doesn't work for Yang Guang.

Although Yang Guang and Li Yuan were relatives, people often do not hate their enemies the most.

But a traitor.

They are undoubtedly traitors.

If he fell into Yang Guang's hands, he would definitely be dead.

then,

Thousands of troops approached the city of Luoyang.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Luoyang City.

This city has been at peace for ten years.
This city has been peaceful for ten years.
This city, which has been prosperous for ten years,
This paradise-like city is experiencing war today.

The war has not come for so long that many people in this city have almost forgotten the shadow of war.

They almost forgot that there was still a world of war outside.

They were not panicked or afraid of the sudden war.

Most of the young and middle-aged people in this city have experienced war.

They all survived that tragic era when people were eaten without leaving any bones.

Living in Luoyang, a prosperous, peaceful, orderly and hopeful city, for ten years did not turn them into greenhouse flowers.

They are not afraid of fighting.
They have no fear.
They are not afraid.
They will not back down.

Because the city of Luoyang is right under their feet.

Their home is in Luoyang City, and their home is where the people they care about are.

Luoyang has their hope.

They were more active than Wang Ming in defending Luoyang City.

The noble families and emperors of this era favored the policy of keeping the people ignorant.

It is better to make everyone a fool so as not to let the people understand more.

This is the only way to control the operation.

Wang Ming, however, was popularizing knowledge in the city, allowing these people to understand more.

In addition, the various policies implemented by Wang Ming in this city completely changed their three perspectives.

Those who graduated from Luoyang City College are no worse than the children of wealthy families when they go out.

Therefore, many forces have also poached these people to work for them.

But usually it will come back in a few months at most.

It’s not that these people are so loyal to Emperor Wang Ming, but they are not used to it.

such as:

The kneeling ritual was completely abolished in Luoyang. Now, in their minds, kneeling except to their parents and the emperor was a naked insult.

Wouldn't it be awkward to run to other forces and have to kneel down?

Kneel! Kneel! Kneel! Kneel! Kneel…

Then there are the laws. The laws in Luoyang are still very strict.

When they were in Luoyang, these people felt that the law constrained them, but after they left, they realized that it was the law that protected them.

They went out to join other noble families, or to become warlords and rebel kings.

Every day is spent in fear.

In Luoyang, even if he cursed Crown Prince Yang You to his face, he would at most be sent to labor camp.

If you say something unpleasant while working for someone else, you might be beaten, and in the worst cases, you might even be beheaded.

These people who go out work under others, and their biggest feeling is not that they are working for others.

But being a slave.

They are always the ones doing the hard labor, dirty work, and running errands.

It is very difficult to get a higher official position, very difficult!

Many positions have been reserved for children from prominent families, so they have no hope of getting their hands on them.

There are still many, many things I’m not used to.

After they went out, they had the illusion that they were different in the crowd.

There is a kind of infinite loneliness that comes with being the only one sober while everyone else is drunk.

I can't find a sense of belonging outside, nor do I see hope for the future.

Money! They found it harder to make money outside than in Luoyang. The workplace is full of internal competition, too serious. Everyone thinks they are dogs, how can they compete?

Beauty! At first they were very moved, but later they became more and more bored, and their values ​​were completely different. Basically, they didn't agree on anything and it was unpleasant to listen to.

Power! Nepotism is too serious, and it is not based on ability to get to the top. Luoyang City is not completely fair, but it is relatively fair. Ordinary people have a way to rise.

At last,
One by one, they returned to the city.

Only here can they find their peers, find a path to upward mobility, and find a reason to fight for their entire lives without regrets.

These people in Luoyang City received education and their thinking progressed.

The more they knew and the more they saw, the more deeply they loved Luoyang City.

They hold their heads high and lead a decent life in Luoyang City. How could they be willing to go out and kowtow like dogs to others?
They won't have any difficulty adapting to being ignorant and undignified dogs all the time.

If you ask a person to kneel down like a dog and lick other people's shoes, they will feel disgusted.

dead!
death!

Death is no longer the most terrible thing for them.

What they fear most is living without dignity and without thoughts.

They are afraid to look at hopelessness.

They all know...

If Luoyang loses, they will return to that world.

Back to that...

The grandfather of a noble family is an official, the son is an official, and the grandson is definitely also an official.

The common people's grandfather is a servant, the son is a servant, and the grandson will also be a servant.

To them, the outside world is not the human world.

That is an endless purgatory that is more terrifying than hell!

Is there no end to the torment?

The person with the least fighting spirit in Luoyang City might be Wang Ming.

(End of this chapter)