“Brother Zu…” Isabella’s eyes were filled with both worry and gratitude, because she knew that he was doing this mostly for her sake.
The Grand Elder nodded with satisfaction: "Very good. Then the barbarians outside the pass will be left to Zaun. Also, Mostima, you will go to the Northwest to take over his work, so as to prevent those rebels from making a comeback."
Mostima looked troubled, clearly unwilling to leave the bustling capital for the harsh northwest, but knowing the gravity of the situation, he reluctantly agreed.
"Lilith, you're done playing around. From now on, you'll take over Mostima's work, be in charge of logistics in the Northeast, and also manage the imperial finances." The Grand Elder glared at Lilith.
Lilith giggled and said, "Don't worry, brother. This matter concerns the very survival of the Chamber of Commerce. How could I not know?"
With Augustus dead, one of the two major factions under Order has been wiped out, and the Order itself may undergo a major upheaval.
Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.
The elder felt a warmth in his heart, and his initial panic subsided. With the help of his brothers and sisters, what could be impossible?
His mind became even more active: "Bella, go and make contact with the Zheng family. It would be best to recruit and unite them, and let their navy attack the Manchu Qing's rear base. This would make it easier to quell those foreign tribes."
"Yes!" Isabella's eyes were filled with excitement. With this appointment, she would have a better chance to help Brother Zu investigate Sister Chu's whereabouts.
Next, the Grand Elder began to discuss their respective tasks with everyone. When Zu An left the Imperial Study, he took the opportunity to meet Zheng Dan.
The two no longer shared the ease they had felt during their first reunion. Zheng Dan looked worried and said, "Grandfather, I've heard that countless soldiers of the imperial court have been buried there beyond the Great Wall. You must be careful."
Zuan comforted her, saying, "I certainly won't let my guard down, but I'll have to go over there to find out what's going on."
He then reminded her, "You should also be prepared for both possibilities. Historically, the Ming Empire was ultimately captured by the rebel Li Zicheng, and Empress Yi'an hanged herself to die for her country. Although the plot of this world may not develop like history, you should still prepare a way to escape in advance."
Zheng Dan knew that he had always known some strange things, so he had no doubt about the accuracy of the information.
"Don't worry, I've already familiarized myself with the palace during this time," Zheng Dan's expression immediately darkened. "However, if it really comes to that, there's no point in me leaving. I'm undergoing a trial of order. If even the palace is destroyed, it means that the order of the entire Ming Dynasty has completely collapsed, and my trial mission has also failed completely. In that case, I still won't be able to escape death."
Zuan held her hand: "Don't give up until the very last step. I will definitely find a way to have the best of both worlds."
He figured this trial wouldn't be as difficult as the previous Trial of the God of Death, where the group was in opposing camps and someone was destined to die.
With the help of the Global Chamber of Commerce, the situation of the Ming Empire is much better than in history.
Moreover, whether it's Tang Tian'er, Zheng Dan, or Isabella, they can all be considered to be in the same camp.
He suddenly felt uneasy. He hadn't seen Chu Yan yet. Could she be with the Manchus?
However, she immediately shook her head to dispel the thought. Isabella found out that she was likely in Taiwan with the Zheng family, rather than in the Qing Dynasty.
"Yes, I will do my best. I will inform you as soon as there is any news from the palace." Hearing her lover's calm tone, Zheng Dan gradually calmed down.
Because it was inconvenient for the two to stay in the palace, they soon said goodbye with reluctance.
With the imperial edict in hand, Zu'an quickly teleported to the residence of the Jiliao Governor in Ningyuan City, where he summoned his men to find out what had happened.
It turns out that the Knights Templar, led by Augustus, had dealt a heavy blow to the Manchus (who were still called the Later Jin at the time, but for ease of understanding, they are uniformly called the Manchus) in the Battle of Ningyuan. Even their leader was seriously injured and killed, which boosted the morale of the Ming army to its peak.
Augustus was not satisfied with that victory; he wanted to reclaim the former territory of the Ming Empire, completely destroy the Manchus, and rebuild the Ming order, as a tribute to the great god of order.
Therefore, he abandoned the Ming army's strategy of holding the line in previous years and changed to "reclaiming the land", pushing the front line outside the Guan-Ning defense line.
He led his men to rebuild Daling City, dozens of miles northeast of Jinzhou, intending to use it as a base and springboard for his attack.
Everything was going smoothly at first, and a large amount of military supplies were stored in Daling City. No Manchu soldiers appeared throughout the entire process. The Knights Templar thought the Manchus were terrified, and their belief in recovering the Northeast became even stronger.
Who knew that on a dark night, the long-lost Manchu army would suddenly descend, surrounding the entire city of Daling. Moreover, their military strength was even greater than that of the Battle of Ningyuan, and they even had many magical cannons that had not been used before to attack the city.
Augustus, as expected of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, remained calm in the face of danger and organized his men to defend the city, preventing the Manchu soldiers from ever taking over Daling City.
However, it seems that the Manchus did not intend to conquer Daling City in one fell swoop this time. Instead, they adopted a long-term siege tactic of "digging trenches and building walls" to surround Daling City and cut off its contact with the outside world.
As expected, the Sixth Elder and the Second Elder, who were stationed in the rear, learned that Augustus was surrounded and dispatched troops to his rescue.
However, they were ambushed by the Qing army. This time, the Qing soldiers were all different from before, and their power of annihilation was much stronger than in the Battle of Ningyuan.
The two elders' reinforcements were repeatedly defeated, and everyone realized that the Qing army was using a strategy of besieging the point and attacking the reinforcements to deplete the Ming Empire's manpower.
Unfortunately, they realized this too late. Although Daling City had plenty of military supplies, it simply didn't have time to prepare much grain.
After months of siege, the city was even plagued by cannibalism, and the power of annihilation began to grow and spread. Augustus knew that Daling City could not be defended, so he led the Knights Templar to break out of the city. As long as he returned to Jinzhou to recuperate, he was confident that he could make a comeback.
Unfortunately, the Qing dynasty was prepared. The Knights Templar were surrounded by a large force and, after a fierce battle, were completely wiped out, including the renowned Augustus.
This battle truly shook the hearts of people outside the pass. If it weren't for the presence of two elders, the Guan Ning defense line would probably have fallen completely.
However, the situation remains grim. The Sixth Elder is in charge of the overall situation at the Jinzhou front, and the Manchu army has already besieged the city.
At this moment, the handsome Second Elder Hermes arrived. Upon seeing Zaun, he frowned and asked, "Why is it you?"
“The First Elder and the others felt that I was the most suitable person to be sent here,” Zuan said solemnly. “Now that the situation has deteriorated, I hope that the Second Elder will put aside past grievances and work together with me to complete the mission.”
Hermes snorted: "How could I be the kind of person who can't distinguish between what's important and what's not!"
Zuan then inquired about the details of the previous battles. Hermes looked worried: "Those Manchu soldiers were extremely powerful. Judging from the pure power of annihilation they possessed, there were probably more than one annihilation god-level beings on the Manchu side!"
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