save the bachelors

Chapter 4364 Chapter 4366 [Goodbye old friend]

Nine years after Li Zhi ascended the throne, with the death of regent ministers such as Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang, Li Zhi began to become arrogant, licentious, arbitrary, and refusing to accept advice and covering up his mistakes.

He carried out large-scale construction projects in the country. For example, he left Chang'an and built the Eastern Capital in Luoyang. The imperial palace was built in an extremely luxurious way. For this purpose, he levied corvée labor and increased taxes, which caused complaints from the people.

In comparison, the Han Kingdom was prosperous.

The plains of the Red River, Mekong River and Chao Phraya River are fertile, with a well-developed water system and fertile land. In addition, it is located in the tropics and can produce three crops a year, so there is almost no hunger in the country.

Song Shidao was a humble and kind person who did not pursue luxury. Other officials who dared to engage in corruption could not escape Xiang Nan's supervision. As a result, the government was clean and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.

This also led to a large number of Li Tang people, bringing their old and young, to come to Lingnan in droves, which also greatly increased the population of the Han Kingdom.

In ancient times, population represented wealth for a long time. Talented people meant soldiers, talented people meant taxes, and talented people meant food. So to see whether a country was strong or not in ancient times, you could tell by looking at its population.

The influx of a large number of people further enhanced the national strength of the Han Dynasty.

……

Eleven years after Li Zhi ascended the throne, he suffered from poor health and often felt dizzy, so the government affairs were taken over by Empress Wu Zetian.

Xiang Nan was not sure whether this Wu Zetian was still a disciple of Xianxian. However, during the period when Wu Zetian was in charge of government affairs, the national strength of Li Tang further declined.

First, Silla united with the remnants of Goryeo and Baekje to repel the Tang army, thus driving Li Tang's forces out of the Korean Peninsula; second, the Western Turks rebelled again, causing Li Tang to lose the four Anxi towns; third, Tibet conquered Tuyuhun, Qinghai Lake and other places, and divided the Western Regions with the Turks and the Uighur Khanate.

Twenty years later, Song Shidao died and passed the throne to his eldest son Song Yin, who changed his name to Yuanxing. Song Shidao's temple name was Song Shizu and his posthumous title was Emperor Wen.

Three years later, Li Zhi died and his son Li Xian succeeded him as Emperor Zhongzong of Tang. However, less than a year after Li Xian took the throne, he was deposed and demoted to Prince of Luling. Then his younger brother Li Dan succeeded him as Emperor Ruizong of Tang.

This year, Xiang Nan and Song Yuzhi were also approaching eighty years old. Fortunately, they were both very good at martial arts, so they were not too old.

Emperor Ruizong of Tang reigned for six years, during which time the state affairs were actually always controlled by his mother, Wu Zetian. Later, she simply deposed her own son, proclaimed herself emperor, and changed the name of the dynasty to Wu Zhou.

After Wu Zetian ascended the throne, she launched a campaign to clean up the martial arts world.

Not only the evil sects but also the righteous sects, including Cihang Jingzhai, Jingnian Zen Temple, and even the Giant Whale Gang and Haisha Gang, were extremely ruthless in their actions.

Therefore, Xiang Nan guessed that she should be the successor trained by Xianxian. However, her wisdom and heart might be even more cruel than Xianxian.

Even Xianxian cared about her master, her school, and the relationship between men and women, but Wu Zetian, in order to seize power, did not even spare her own son. Moreover, the Yingui Sect was supposed to be her school, but she also wiped it out without any mercy.

Xiang Nan guessed that Xianxian should have died, and Wu Zetian must have killed the demon sect after her death. Otherwise, it would be too cruel to Xianxian.

……

In the second year after Wu Zetian ascended the throne, Xu Ziling and Shi Feixuan came to Lingnan to meet Xiang Nan.

Over the years, he and Shi Feixuan have always been wandering around the world, going as far as Europe, the North Pole, Indonesia, and North America. It can be said that they have visited all the famous mountains and rivers in the world. It was not until he was over 80 years old and really didn't want to move anymore that he returned to Lingnan to see his old friend.

"I didn't expect you would be gone for so long. It's really far away." Xiang Nan said with a smile.

"You can only see clearly if you walk far enough." Xu Ziling said with a smile, "It's a pity that you couldn't accompany us on the journey."

"It doesn't matter. They are all wonderful in their own way." Xiang Nan waved his hand and smiled, "I am doing well now, with many children and grandchildren, and no worries about food and clothing."

"That's true." Xu Ziling nodded with a smile.

"Miss Master, now that Cihang Jingzhai has been destroyed and Jingnian Zen Temple has also been wiped out by the emperor, what do you think?" Xiang Nan asked again.

"It doesn't matter. As long as the mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood. She only destroyed the gates of Cihang Jingzhai and Jingnian Chanyuan." Shi Feixuan waved her hand and smiled, "The inheritance of Cihang Jingzhai and Jingnian Chanyuan will not be cut off."

"That's good." Xiang Nan nodded with a smile, "By the way, do you want to stay in Lingnan and live together in the future? Although the rainy days here are a bit unbearable, the fruits are really delicious. If I can eat 300 lychees a day, I would be willing to live in Lingnan forever."

"We came here for this purpose." Xu Ziling said with a smile, "People say that under your governance, Lingnan is a paradise. People here are well fed, well clothed, and no one is hungry."

"The Pure Land of Bliss is really an exaggeration." Xiang Nan waved his hand and smiled, "I am already very satisfied as long as I can make sure everyone has enough food to eat and warm clothes to wear."

"Isn't this exactly what we hope for the most?" Xu Ziling nodded.

Both he and Kou Zhong's parents died of famine, so their wish since childhood was to have enough food to eat and never go hungry again. Now Xiang Nan has realized this wish, which is really amazing.

……

Xu Ziling and Shi Feixuan then settled down in Lingnan.

Xiang Nan also went to the Luoyang Palace and brought back the evil emperor's relics.

It turns out that Wu Zetian was indeed a disciple trained by Xianxian. After the death of Yin Queen Zhu Yuyan, she made Xianxian a disciple of the Yin Gui Sect and stored her life-long martial arts skills in the Xie Emperor's relic.

After Xianxian succeeded to the throne, she accepted Mingkong as her apprentice and passed on the "Heavenly Demon Secret Book" of the Yingui Sect to her. After Mingkong mastered it, she pretended to be a talented woman and entered the palace. With her beauty and scheming, she ascended the throne and monopolized power step by step.

Seeing her disciple so outstanding, Xianxian was naturally very happy. However, she was unable to get the love she wanted in her life, and she was very distressed, so she died before she was seventy years old, and before she died, she stored her inner strength in the evil emperor's relic.

Wu Zetian knew the cunning of the demon sects and the hypocrisy of the righteous sects, so she decided not to accept any of them. After all, knights break the law with their martial arts, and she didn't want anyone to threaten her rule.

It was also because of this that Cihang Jingzhai, Jingnian Zen, the Demon Sect and the six other sects... were almost all wiped out by her.

But this also happened to be a good thing for Xiang Nan, because she had destroyed so many sects and collected a large number of martial arts secrets.

Among them are the "Secret Book of the Heavenly Demon" of the Yingui Sect of the evil sect, "The Miraculous Work of the Yan Yang" by the great Turkic master Bi Xuan, "The Great Fa of Huang Tian" by the heavenly master Sun En of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, "The Yoga Technique" by the Indian evil monk Fu Nanda, "The Nine Shao Ding Yin Sword" passed down by the Xie family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, "The Ten Dwellings of the Mahayana" by the evil monk Zhu Faqing, "The Wisdom Sutra of the Root of All Dharmas" of the Great Ming Zunjiao, and so on.

All these martial arts skills fell into Xiang Nan's hands and were swept away by him.