Xu Qinglian originally thought that she would suffer humiliation worse than death, but she did not expect that another force would suddenly appear and not only rescue her from that situation worse than death, but also almost wiped out the remaining officers and soldiers.
When Zhang Yiheng found Xu Qinglian, he quickly withdrew from Laizhou City and took Xu Qinglian to the sea. As a senior figure in the White Lotus Sect, Xu Qinglian naturally knew that there was a mysterious force secretly supporting the White Lotus Sect. When she met Tang Yu, she understood who was behind this force.
However, Xu Qinglian never dreamed that the person behind this mysterious force would be an official in the court, and this official who did not look like a kind man was also a famous philanthropist in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In the past, Xu Qinglian had heard of the reputation of the great philanthropist Tang when he was preaching in various places. Now it seems that this great philanthropist Tang is not a kind man, but a man with great ambitions, and the good man is just his disguise.
After Xu Qinglian boarded the ship where Tang Qi was, she saw the equipment on the ship and was secretly surprised. The Ming Dynasty's sea was now controlled by Tang Qi, and Xu Qinglian knew this. Now seeing the scale of the ship and the artillery, with her intelligence, she couldn't understand why the Ming Dynasty's sea had become the world of Lord Tang. With such a large ship and artillery, the Ming Dynasty's officers and soldiers could not be their opponents. One ship like this could be equivalent to dozens of other ships.
For Tang Qi, the earliest impression of the White Lotus Sect came from martial arts novels, but in these novels it was called the Bright Sect or the Demon Sect. In fact, there were many branches of the White Lotus Sect. The earliest one was the Ming Sect which came from Persia. However, after the Ming Sect took root in China, it combined with the culture of China and generated several other sects. The gods they believed in were also different. However, later on, people mostly called it the White Lotus Sect, because it was difficult for outsiders to distinguish the differences among the dozens of different sects.
In novels, when it comes to women in cults, they are basically vixens who seduce men. In Tang Yi's collection, only Ren Yingying in Jin Yong's "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" is a woman. However, the saint Xu Qinglian in front of him is obviously a decent woman from her behavior. In fact, the secret cults at that time were different from the cults in later generations. Most of the time, the secret cults were a self-help group for the poor people in the folk, and also a spiritual sustenance. However, they were sometimes used by others to become anti-government armed forces. The cults in later generations were a combination of spiritually empty people, becoming a cancer that caused social unrest.
Tang Chen looked at Xu Qinglian. Although he was surprised by her beauty, he didn't linger on her for too long. He pointed to a chair at the side of the hall and said, "Please sit down. I hope you can forgive me for using such a trick to invite Miss Xu here."
"How does Lord Tang plan to deal with the Holy Church?" Although Xu Qinglian was smart, she was only a seventeen-year-old girl. She knew that Lord Tang had brought her here to take advantage of her Holy Church, and the young and energetic girl finally lost her patience.
"Since you asked so directly, I will also say it directly. I hope that your White Lotus Sect will develop in other countries in the future, just like Taoism, Buddhism, and Taoism. I also hope that they will only develop in other countries. On the land of China, there is Confucian culture that has not been castrated. If you really want your White Lotus Sect to flourish, then go to India. I will fully support your armed missionary work there. And you have also seen that although you have gained a certain strength in Shandong, you are now surrounded by soldiers and cannot hold out for long. You might as well take the soldiers in your sect to develop in other places. As for Shandong, it will be under our jurisdiction in the future. What do you think?"
The White Lotus Sect still has 100,000 soldiers now. It will take a lot of effort for the officers and soldiers to defeat them. If Xu Qinglian stands up and establishes a new leader, the White Lotus Sect can make a dying struggle for a while. However, Xu Qinglian is now in the hands of Tang Qi. If Tang Qi does not release her, the leaders under the White Lotus Sect will fight on their own. It won't be long before they fall apart under the attack of the officers and soldiers. Tang Qi knows this, and Xu Qinglian also understands it a little bit in her heart, but Tang Qi's tone that does not allow for negotiation makes Xu Qinglian feel somewhat resistant.
"Our Holy Church has its roots here. The homes of our elders and fellow believers are also here. Lord Tang believes that we should obey your advice and leave our homeland." Xu Qinglian spoke slowly, her hands tightly clasped. For a teenage girl to face such a huge issue, the choice was not something she could easily make.
"I'm not asking you to take those ordinary believers away. I mean to get the core members of your sect and the soldiers to leave. Of course, if the soldiers no longer wish to serve, I will allow them to return home. However, if your core members come here, they must be under surveillance and not spread your teachings here." Tang Li's words were actually a bit far-fetched. This was the Ming Dynasty. He couldn't control the comings and goings of these White Lotus Cult members. However, Tang Li still felt it was important to speak up. He also had to do his best to prevent these people from causing trouble in other countries in order to reduce their future ambitions on this land.
However, Tang Qi knew that the harm posed by these esoteric religions and ideologies was nothing. The real threat was the Jiannu. Genghis Khan had set back civilization worldwide by several decades, even setting back the civilization of the Central Plains by over a thousand years. He was considered the greatest scourge in history. Later, the Jiannu also set back civilization in the Central Plains by several decades. The devastation they brought to the people of this land was untold. Therefore, Tang Qi's primary focus remained on dealing with the Jiannu. He had no intention of annihilating esoteric sects like the White Lotus. Instead, he was willing to find a place for them to thrive.
Xu Qinglian didn't respond immediately after Tang Qi finished speaking. She could tell from Tang Qi's words that Lord Tang also seemed to harbor the ambition of overthrowing the court. In a sense, the two sides could be considered temporary allies. However, Lord Tang seemed overconfident. Even as he negotiated with her, he already considered this land his own.
Xu Qinglian knew very well that no ruler would want instability under his rule. Therefore, what Xu Qinglian wanted to do was to find a place for his Holy Church to survive and prevent it from falling into decline in his hands: "Sir, it seems a bit unreasonable for you to do this. My Holy Church now has ten
Although I was hurt temporarily, the impact was not significant. I cannot accept the terms you proposed, sir."
"Haha, no rush, we have plenty of time, you will accept it. Come, let this Miss Xu go down to rest." Tang Qi smiled and ordered his personal soldiers to take Xu Qinglian away. As long as this saint of the White Lotus Sect stayed, those White Lotus Sect members who had lost their religion would soon fall apart under the attack of the officers and soldiers.
For more than ten days after that, Tang Qie did not see Xu Qinglian again. Instead, he brought his fleet to Dalian New City, where he negotiated with the Mongolian envoys about 20,000 captives. This time, the Mongols negotiated with Tang Qie behind Huang Taiji's back because the Jiannu people were in civil strife. Huang Taiji's strength had declined a lot after suffering several attacks from Tang Qie. Under such circumstances, not only did the Mongols become restless, but there was also internal strife for power struggles within the Jiannu people.
Huang Taiji was trapped in Korea for a long year. Although most of the damage was done to the Mongols and the Jiannu's losses were not great, other Jiannu people who held military power quietly strengthened their own strength during the year when Huang Taiji was trapped in Korea. After Huang Taiji returned, the strength of people like Dorgun had surpassed Huang Taiji, and naturally they would no longer obey Huang Taiji's orders as before. Although there was no explicit rebellion, the internal division of the Jiannu was already obvious.
Historically, it was not until 1634 AD that Huang Taiji eliminated those people within the Jiannu who threatened his power and took control of the Jiannu territory into his own hands. But now, because of Tang Qi, Huang Taiji's opponents are still there, and Huang Taiji's military strength and prestige are repeatedly damaged, which has planted the seeds of civil strife in the Jiannu.
Under such circumstances, the surrendered Mongolian tribes, due to their nature of only obeying the strong, naturally became disloyal. Although they had little civilization and culture, the leaders of these Mongolian tribes were not all fools. Many of them saw that the Tang Army of the Ming Dynasty was emerging as a new force.
Although the leaders of these Mongolian tribes have not yet considered surrendering to Tang Li, most of them have adopted a wait-and-see attitude. In addition, Tang Li promised to redeem their captives, which made the leaders of these Mongolian tribes even more hostile to Tang Li.
The negotiation process went smoothly, but this time, Mongolia suffered heavy losses as Huang Taiji attacked Korea, which damaged its vitality, especially in terms of property. In order to redeem the captives, the Mongolians suffered heavy losses in cattle and sheep, and they were in financial difficulties for a while. So when Tang Qi proposed that they, the Mongols, be his mercenaries, some tribes were tempted.
The price Tang Qi offered was very high. The income of a mercenary could definitely allow a family of four or five to live a comfortable life. Tang Qi also promised that the tribe that provided the mercenaries would be protected by his Tang Army. If any tribe dared to harm the tribe protected by the Tang Army, the Tang Army would massacre the disobedient tribe.
In order to give confidence to the envoys who came to negotiate, Tang Qi conducted a military exercise. The lineup of 10,000 regular troops and 40,000 auxiliary troops marched past the reviewing stand. Their neat and uniform military appearance made the Mongolian envoys gasp in shock. Then the display of muskets and artillery made the Mongolian envoys understand that in front of such an army, their flesh and blood could not withstand it. After the exercise was completed, three small tribes expressed to Tang Qi on the spot that they were willing to provide their own tribal warriors to Tang Qi as mercenaries.
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