“Spare you? Why should I spare you? What makes you so capable that I would speak up for you?” Wang Han said coldly.
"From now on, this old servant will be the General's dog. I will do whatever the General tells me to do, I will bite whoever the General tells me to bite, and I will befriend whoever the General tells me to befriend." Hearing Wang Han say this, the old eunuch understood a little and quickly replied. Having been a eunuch all his life and having spent most of his life scheming, these were the only skills he had that were of any value, and he knew that this was all he could do.
"Yes, from now on, as long as the General gives the order, we will do our utmost to obey." Seeing the old eunuch take the lead in pledging allegiance, the remaining Imperial Guards quickly followed suit. Although they were Imperial Guards, most of them were just trying to make a living. Even those loyal and courageous generals who were willing to sacrifice their lives for loyalty and righteousness did not want to be executed along with their entire families, let alone be allowed to rebel. None of them wanted to die and have their entire families executed.
"Seeing that you know you were wrong, I'll let it go this time. But remember what you said today. Otherwise, not only will your entire family be exterminated, but you will also be nailed to the pillar of historical shame." Wang Han's voice softened.
"Thank you, General! Thank you, General! We will remember, we will remember!" Upon hearing this, the old eunuch and the others thanked him profusely. They breathed a sigh of relief; they had finally passed this hurdle.
"You should all find a secluded place to set up camp for a while! Go back in ten days and tell Emperor Huizong about the situation in Western Xia. I need to go into seclusion for a while and will return later," Wang Han said, then turned and rode away on Little White.
Seeing Wang Hanfei leave, the old eunuch and the others wanted to call out or ask, but they didn't have the courage. They could only look at each other and change direction to find a secluded place to camp. They camped there for ten days because they had arrived ten days earlier.
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On the other side, after Wang Hanfei left, he found a secluded cliff inaccessible to humans and sat down cross-legged.
As soon as Wang Han sat down, the voice of the Heavenly Dao from the Water Margin world appeared in his ears, and the gentle Daoist chant began to resonate in his ears.
Hearing the Daoist chants in his ears, Wang Han closed his eyes and focused his mind on communicating with the Dao.
Sun rises and moon sets, moon sets and stars fall, stars fall and the sun rises again, tides ebb and flow, time flies like an arrow, and day after day passes by. Wang Han is like an old tree rooted on the mountaintop, unmoving. In the blink of an eye, a year and a half has passed. Even Wang Han himself did not expect that his discussion with the Heavenly Dao would take so long, and this is far from over.
Even though he had discussed the Heavenly Dao of both worlds for a long time, and even though he had a Heavenly Dao Jade Disc that he could study at any time.
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(Let's pause here and end this world as soon as possible.)
A year and a half later, after the Song Dynasty annexed the Western Xia, it had already rewarded those who had contributed to the victory. Wang Han, as the person who made the greatest contribution to the annexation of the Western Xia and also the most powerful deterrent to the surrounding countries, had reached the top of his official position and could not be promoted any further. Emperor Huizong of Song then bestowed upon him a large number of treasures. Each of these treasures was either priceless or extremely rare, and they almost filled most of the rooms in Wang Han's Divine Might General's Mansion. There were so many gifts that even the servants in the mansion had to squeeze into one room several of them.
Although Yang Zhi's contributions weren't particularly outstanding, he was Wang Han's man, and Wang Han had taught him martial arts techniques, provided him with body-refining formulas and cultivation methods, making him far beyond ordinary people. Furthermore, Wang Han was in seclusion. Having experienced the benefits of powerful, divine combat abilities, Emperor Huizong of Song, knowing of Wang Han's seclusion, couldn't wait for Wang Han's return and immediately rewarded those who had contributed, promoting Yang Zhi and others. Yang Zhi was directly promoted to a second-rank general, second only to renowned veterans like Zhong Shidao. However, Yang Zhi still had to earn his own power. Besides the symbolic rewards from Huizong, ministers also privately offered gifts to curry favor.
It took the Song Dynasty two months to annex the Western Xia. During those two months, the Song's mighty generals' fame spread throughout the surrounding countries and even reached more distant lands. With the example of the Western Xia's demise before them, witnessed firsthand by countless people, and bearing the marks of mountains leveled and plains eroded, the Liao and Tibetan kingdoms, among others, were forced to believe it. Seeing how easily the Song Dynasty had destroyed and annexed the Western Xia, fearing they would become the next, these countries offered tribute and sought peace.
Emperor Huizong of Song originally intended to continue the attack, but Wang Han closed the border and accepted the tribute from these countries. Moreover, because he thought of Wang Han's deterrence, he made even more outrageous demands, not only requiring tribute every six months, but also asking for a great many things, even to the point of affecting the foundations of these countries.
Given the precedent set by the Western Xia, countries like Tibet and the Liao Dynasty could only negotiate for over a month before finally agreeing to the Song Dynasty's demands after some reductions in tribute. Faced with such a seemingly true story, no one dared to risk their own country.
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"General Yang, have we not found the Divine Might General yet?" In the Song Dynasty's imperial palace, Emperor Huizong asked Yang Zhi again.
"Your Majesty, the General's whereabouts are unpredictable; he comes and goes without a trace. I have been sending people to search for him, but so far there has been no news at all. The General should still be in seclusion somewhere that ordinary people cannot reach." Upon hearing this, Yang Zhi immediately stepped forward and said.
"The Liao envoys will arrive again tomorrow to pay tribute. This time, Liao has allied with several neighboring countries, including Tibet. Their purpose is likely not only to pay tribute, but also to gather information about the Grand General," Emperor Huizong said. "Now that the Grand General is no longer here, do any of you ministers have any plans to deal with this?"
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