Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 367 Westward Advance
In April, a new batch of Jinshi (a special examination) and hundreds of other candidates were selected.

After years of promotion, more and more scholars are taking miscellaneous subjects, and even the provincial and imperial examinations have added some content from miscellaneous subjects.

We can achieve this thanks to Duke Yansheng. It was because of his promotion of Li Qiang's books that these books were recognized by Confucianism.

Whether it was the special examination or the normal examination year, the number of Jinshi was only more than 30, but the number of Gongshi in miscellaneous examinations was more than ten times.

There is another thing that is an important reason that makes many scholars change their minds.

Daqian announced some inventions. Although the main inventor was mostly Li Qiang, many of the co-inventors were people who came from various academic backgrounds.

Daqian also issued relevant laws on inventions, and the inventor can obtain the benefits brought by the invention.

An invention brings huge fame and profits, but for a Jinshi to achieve this, it would probably take many years to be promoted to a high official.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Qiang opened more than ten schools in Daqian. The teachers were a group of people he personally trained, as well as some miscellaneous scholars who had already received training and graduated and were suitable for teaching.

Li Qiang is very busy. He has to enter the illusory world of Taixu every day to check where the Daqian troops are.

And the development of the war was easier than he had imagined.

The Tatar King and the Oirat King fled westward with their remnants, and they joined together to form an army of more than 100,000 cavalry.

Think about the Tatars and the Oirat in the past. Any one of them could mobilize nearly a million troops, but now all their cavalry combined is only this many.

But even if there are only 100,000 cavalry left, their strength is a combat force that cannot be ignored in today's world.

The cavalry moved westward, ensuring their needs through looting.

They also encountered a fortified city, Kiev. The city of Kiev had already received the news of the arrival of this cavalry, and the city gates were closed. Many knights were guarding the city's lord, the count, standing on the city wall.

"My lord, the Tatar cavalry is not the Heavenly Khan of the past. They cannot break through this city!" The knight leader assured the lord earl.

"I hope so!" the Lord Earl sighed.

He didn't have much confidence. According to the news brought back by the spies, the Tatars and the Oirat were destroyed by Daqian, and their remnants were coming this way.

When he first heard the news, he was not too worried, but when he heard that the remaining troops had as many as 100,000 cavalry, he couldn't imagine it.

What does a hundred thousand cavalrymen mean? The knight guards in the city have only five hundred people. As for those temporarily assembled troops, although there are a lot of people, it is good enough that they don't collapse when the real battle starts.

What the Lord Earl could not understand the most was that the powerful Tatars, even though they had an army of 100,000 when they were escaping, were still chased like a stray dog ​​by the Daqian army. How terrifying must the Daqian army be.

"They are coming!" the knight leader warned.

The Lord Earl looked into the distance and saw the scene of a hundred thousand cavalrymen. It was overwhelming and there were enemies everywhere.

There were also many carriages with tents among the cavalry, marching along with the cavalry.

The Lord Earl was already considering whether he could enjoy the treatment of a noble prisoner in front of this group of people after surrendering.

Here, even if the nobles were defeated and captured, they would not be tortured, and the victors would even prepare good wine and food to entertain them.

Of course, the captured nobles needed to pay a considerable fortune in order to get themselves back.

The knights on the city wall were also eerily quiet at this moment, as if one could hear the deep fear in their hearts.

Among the knights' attendants, some of them sat down on the ground as their legs went weak.

No one laughed at him because everyone felt hopeless.

How can we resist such an enemy?

The remnants of the Tatars and the Oirats, a hundred thousand cavalrymen, were getting closer and closer, but when they approached the city, they did not choose to attack it.

They passed through the city, and some buildings built near the city did not escape the looting of the cavalry.

Standing on the city wall, the lord and the earl could hear screams and cries coming from afar.

The cavalry responsible for looting only accounted for a small part of the army, and the army maintained its advance speed and did not slow down.

After the looting, the cavalry caught up with the main army with their spoils, including children and women.

Among this cavalry team, only the Tatar King and the Oirat King brought a few female relatives with them. The remaining 100,000 cavalrymen all escaped alone, and they needed a large number of women to reproduce.

Of course, according to the custom of the Tatars and the Oirans, the captured enemy children would become their own children when they grew up.

If these captured children continue to follow them and are educated by them, they will also become members of the cavalry.

The Lord Earl watched his people suffer, but he could do nothing.

Fortunately, the 100,000 cavalrymen did not attack the city, which made the Lord Earl feel much more relieved.

"Why don't they attack the city?" the Lord Earl asked the knight leader.

When it comes to war, the knight leader is the professional.

"Seeing that they don't even dare to stop, it seems that there is an army chasing them from behind. Could it be that the Daqian army is behind them?" The knight leader expressed his guess.

Apart from this possibility, he couldn't think of any other possibility that could have caused this cavalry army to be like this.

This cavalry even spared no buildings near the city. It showed that they were short of supplies. If they had captured Kiev, the food stored in the city would definitely be enough to supply them.

"Can the Daqian army be more terrifying than this army?" the Lord Earl murmured.

After seeing the scene of 100,000 cavalry marching, he could not imagine what kind of army was more terrifying than 100,000 cavalry.

The Tatar and Oirat armies passed through the city, leaving behind looted buildings.

The Lord Earl did not immediately open the city gates and send people to check the situation inside the buildings.

He was still looking into the distance, wanting to see what the army chasing the 100,000 cavalry looked like.

He was afraid to see such an army in real life, because it might be a devilish army. But he also wanted to see it, because he could not imagine what kind of army could make 100,000 cavalry so afraid.

Time passed little by little, and the city waited from dawn to dusk, but did not see any pursuing army.

But the Lord Earl still did not open the city gate, for he was worried that the imaginary army would appear when the city gate was opened.

He did not go home at night and slept on the city wall.

In fact, he was so exhausted that he barely fell asleep until dawn.

"My Lord Earl!" Just as the Lord Earl was falling asleep, a voice woke him up.

The knight leader pointed to the distance with a pale face. The Lord Earl was puzzled. Even when he saw 100,000 cavalrymen yesterday, the knight leader did not look so frightened.

He looked at the rest of the knights and found that they all had the same expression.

He was a little afraid to look into the distance, but he still tried to turn his head and saw the army he had imagined. That army was even more bizarre than he had imagined, with ten huge monsters flying in the sky and two hundred steel monsters crushing the soil in front of them.

And behind them, thousands of soldiers in armor were running, and judging by their speed, it could only be achieved by knights running at full speed.

But even though he was a lord and earl, he only had ten knights under his command who truly possessed extraordinary powers.

If those soldiers in armor were all knights with extraordinary powers, an army of thousands of knights would even exceed his fear of the ten huge monsters in the sky and the two hundred steel monsters.

"Am I seeing correctly? How many knights are there?" he asked in a trembling voice.

"Looking at the formation, these are five thousand knights!" the knight leader replied, swallowing hard.

If he hadn't been holding on to the city wall, he would have been so weak that he would have had difficulty even standing.

He knew how difficult it was to become a knight. He and the other nine knights had received knight training since childhood and had struggled with life and death dangers many times. With the help of the lord and earl, they took precious potions after they became adults and became official knights.

Of the knight squires who trained with him, only a few were able to grow up.

He couldn't even imagine that there were five thousand knights in the world.

Even if he added together all the knights in all the cities and countries he knew, there would not be five hundred, let alone five thousand.

"Bring me my family emblem!" the Lord Earl ordered in a deep voice.

The butler who had been guarding beside him was stunned when he heard the order, but turned around and left quickly.

Not long after, the butler brought an exquisite box and handed it to the Lord Earl.

The Lord Earl opened the box, took out a badge from it, and wiped it with his hands reluctantly.

He made up his mind, took the badge in his hand and went down the wall.

When the knight leader saw the Lord Earl's words, he understood what the Lord Earl meant.

He sighed and signaled to the other nine knights, and the ten knights followed the Lord Earl.

Zang Feiyu was sitting on the steam chariot, and he did not pursue the Tatar King and the Oirat King with all his strength.

Along the way, he held opening ceremonies in the towns he passed through, incorporating all of these towns into the territory of Daqian.

Perhaps after he leaves, someone will reoccupy these towns, but it doesn’t matter. When the subsequent Daqian army arrives, these cities will return to Daqian’s hands.

The army he led was not large, so he could not divide it to occupy the town.

Li Qiang didn't pay attention to these at first, but after discovering that some towns would be occupied by others, he selected some generals from the 100% loyal generals in the capital and sent them to the occupied cities.

He had a clear idea of ​​the military strength of these towns. The strongest had only one or two third or fourth-rank warriors. These types of warriors would only appear occasionally in larger cities. Smaller cities had almost no defense.

Therefore, as long as he leaves five brave generals in these towns, he can ensure that the towns are under the control of Daqian and wait for the subsequent Daqian army to come and take over.

"There is a big city ahead!" Zang Feiyu said after taking a look at the map.

He felt a little helpless. Although he had a map in his hand, the names of these cities had not been translated, so he only knew that there were cities but not their names.

"Let's rest in the city ahead today!" he said loudly.

He had no worries about breaking through a strong city with high walls.

But he didn't expect that when he reached a certain distance, he would see the wide-open city gate.

"This is surrender!" Zang Feiyu said somewhat puzzled.

He was not afraid of anything. He waved his hand and the army stopped advancing. The steam chariot under him broke away from the battle formation and came to the city gate alone.

The reason why he was not afraid of any means the other party might use was because of the Tianlong airship in the sky.

There are five powerful archers on each Tianlong airship, a total of fifty powerful archers. Any unusual movement by the enemy will be shot dead immediately.

In addition, the artillery army's five hundred and nine-turn warriors are still following. When needed, the five hundred and nine-turn warriors are invincible in the world.

The Lord Count watched the steel monster approaching. Instead of being surprised, he was happy. If the other party wanted to kill them, it would not have come alone.

If the other party is willing to come alone, it means he wants to talk.

"Your Excellency the General, I will present you with the family emblem!" The Lord Earl stepped forward, bowed, and said.

However, Zang Feiyu didn't understand what he said, and a confused look flashed in his eyes.

When the Lord Earl saw this situation, he helplessly said something to the butler beside him.

The butler immediately returned to the city, and the lord made a gesture for him to wait. Zang Feiyu understood the meaning and nodded to indicate that he was willing to wait.

After a while, the butler arrived with a man.

The Lord Earl repeated what he had just said. A look of horror flashed across the man's face, but he still translated what the Lord Earl said into Daqian language.

The man seemed to be worried that Zang Feiyu did not understand the meaning of the Lord Earl's words, so he explained it a little more.

It turned out that the Lord Earl presented the family emblem to express his willingness to surrender.

If Zang Feiyu accepted the family emblem, it would mean that he agreed to the Lord Earl's surrender. If he did not accept it, it would mean that the war would continue.

"On behalf of Daqian, I accept the Earl's surrender!" Zang Feiyu said with a smile as he took the family badge.

The interpreter translated his words to the Lord Earl, who bowed again, then stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation.

"Let's take my chariot into the city!" Zang Feiyu invited with a smile.

The Lord Earl hesitated for a moment, then got on the steam chariot somewhat stiffly.

The steam chariot started, rolled over the stone ground and entered the city.

The following 5,000 soldiers also entered the city, leaving only the steam chariot outside the city, while the Tianlong airship in the sky followed Zang Feiyu in the air.

The people in the city watched the army entering the city through the windows and cracks in the doors. The surrender of the Lord Earl did not let the people in the city let down their guard. They were worried about what this army would do.

The knight leader rode on horseback, following the steam chariot, and his eyes kept looking at the five thousand soldiers behind him.

The fear in his heart was like a huge wave. Looking at the orderly steps of 5,000 soldiers, he could not imagine that a knight would be so obedient and treat himself like a soldier.

Even though he was humble in front of the lord and earl, he was only like that in front of his own lord.

He and the nine knights can be considered nobles, nobles who are different from ordinary people.

(End of this chapter)