95th Twelve Sacred Edicts and Twelve Golden Tablets

  After conquering Lai State, Wu Song ordered the army to rest for half a month and wait for Zhang Shunyi from Qingyun Mountain to come, and also had Gao Lian and Gao Feng brothers lead the troops from Yimou State to come.

  The army was divided into eight routes: the first route was led by Lu Junyi and Huyan Zhuo, the second route was led by Lin Chong and Qin Ming, the third route was led by Lu Da and Li Kui, the fourth route was led by Chen Lijun and Guihua, the fifth route was led by Shi Jin and Gong Sunsheng, the sixth route was led by Gao Lian and Gao Feng, the seventh route was led by Zhang Shuye and Zhang Mingke.

  Zheng Jue Zhen Ren Zhang Ming Ke was originally unwilling to surrender, but Zhang Shu Ye opened his chest and revealed a shocking wound on his heart. This wound was exactly where Liu Lin's hidden arrow had struck him. He slowly said: "Ming Ke only thought about repaying kindness, has he forgotten his ancestors?"

  Zhang Mingke was ashamed and surrendered, kowtowing to the ground. Wu Song knew that he had always been loyal and righteous, but it would be hard to guarantee that he would not rebel again in the future, so he let him return to Zhang Shunyi's side, where he joined forces with Zhang Bojun and Zhang Zhongxiong.

  With familial ties, Zhang Mingke would never again go all out for Chen Xizhen.

  The Eighth Route Army came from the sea, Wu Song and Admiral Yang Jia and Li Jun made contact, it turned out that the Lou ship's army encountered Liu Hui Niang's submarine - sinking spiral boat, both sides fought a battle in the near sea. Li Jun laid down water mines, which kept the Lou ship safe, but it was still difficult to move forward.

  Li Jun came up with a plan, using large fishing nets to wrap around the water mines and scatter them around the four sides of the Lou ship. The iron-clad ships were afraid of encountering the water mines and exploding, so they couldn't get close to the ship to cut it off.

  Li Jun relied on this method to grind his way to Yangma Island, drop anchor, and lead the army ashore. Thunderbolt Ling Tong immediately ordered people to pay attention to the sea surface, but if there were sunken ships floating out of the water, they would be bombarded with cannons at once.

  The submersible boats could only dive for over ten miles, and had to surface to change air, so they were bombed and sunk in over a dozen boats, which made the Ruan brothers curse Li Jun as a traitor.

  Li Jun was also helpless. If he didn't surrender to Wu Song, not only would he die, but even Hua Rong's sister would be killed. He had no choice but to surrender to the National Master and was arranged by the National Master to marry Hua Rong's sister. It was like cooked rice, leaving no room for regret.

  Ruan brothers had to retreat, Guan Sheng and Yang Jiao led the troops to land near Yangma Island, leaving Li Jun with half of the soldiers to guard the tower ships, and disassembled 50 large cannons, using cows and horses to pull them towards Dengzhou.

  The Eighth Route Army had about 40,000 men, and all the troops advanced together towards Dengzhou, with a mighty killing intent.

  Wu Song had just set out from Laizhou when he received an urgent imperial edict ordering him to return immediately and suspend the attack on Dengzhou, as the court had sent Su Taiping and Xu He to negotiate a surrender.

  "Is Xu Huai coming to surrender?" Wu Song was so angry that he tore the imperial edict into pieces and shouted: "The Emperor is confused! What kind of person is Xu Huai? The leader of the rebels, let him come to surrender, what a joke!"

  The eunuch who read out the imperial edict was so frightened by these treasonous words that he knelt down on the ground, trembling with fear. The person receiving the imperial edict did not kneel down, but the one reading it out did.

  Wu Song didn't let him get up, and said to the commander of the various routes: "The court is muddled, Chen Shi Zhong and Song Jiang only have one state left, which can be broken with a snap of the fingers. At this time, they are allowed to surrender, making all our hard work in the past half year useless!"

  Lu Junyi hesitated for a moment, saying: "The court is muddled, but after all, it's still the court. If he surrenders, we can only follow him..." Hu Yanruo, Zhang Shuye and others were originally loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and they all fell silent when they heard this.

  "Let's get rid of the bird's nest!" Li Kui jumped out and shouted: "First, let's chop off this heavenly birdman, and after taking Dengzhou, we'll consider surrendering! If the imperial court still makes a fuss, we'll kill our way to the capital, chop off the bird emperor, and have Wu Song become the emperor. Everyone will be happy!"

  Wu Song glared at him and angrily said, "Your words are too rebellious and unrighteous! I originally wanted to spare this heavenly envoy's life, but now I have no choice but to kill him! If he were to return and report to the imperial court, even if I didn't want to rebel, I would have to!"

  Li Kui shrank his neck and said in a low voice: "This court is doing things perfunctorily, it's not worth risking one's life for them..."

  Ruda pulled him aside and rebuked, "Good brother, say less!" He replaced the executioner, had that eunuch dragged out and beheaded, saying: "The court's situation is only afraid of being deceived by treacherous people, he recruits his own peace, we fight our own battles, it has nothing to do with us! As long as we take down Dengzhou before General Su arrives in Dengzhou, even if General Su comes, there will be no room for argument!"

  Lin Chong said with a more serious tone: "Disobeying imperial orders is no trivial matter, I'm afraid there are people in the court who will gossip and spread rumors."

  "What's the fear?" Li Kui glared with his two ox-like eyes and shouted: "Give me, Iron Ox, two axes. I'll chop my way to the capital, beheading all those gossiping men and women..."

  Li Kui was about to say more, but Lu Da hastily covered his mouth and said: "First listen to what Guo Shi has to say, then you can let loose!"

  Wu Song thought for a moment and said slowly: "If Chen Shi and Song Jiang don't die, I won't be at peace; if Liu Hui Niang doesn't die, I won't be able to eat or sleep."

  "Dengzhou must still be attacked. We will pretend to have received orders from Your Majesty, but only report back to the imperial court that we did not see the heavenly envoy and assume he was killed by rebels on the road. As long as we capture Dengzhou before Su Taiwei and Xu Huan arrive, the overall situation will be settled!"

  "All troops continue to advance, hastening their pace, striving to capture Dengzhou as soon as possible!"

  Wu Song's army continued to advance, marching for over ten miles, when suddenly a plume of smoke rose from the rear of the troops. A dozen or so cavalrymen galloped forward, led by an old eunuch who shouted in a shrill voice from afar: "General Wu, receive the imperial edict! The Emperor has decreed that you temporarily halt your attack on the rebels and prepare to welcome General Suo!"

  Wu Song hinted to Li Kui with his eyes, and Li Kui immediately came to his senses. Without waiting for the heavenly envoy to approach, he danced with his big axe and chopped indiscriminately, chopping more than a dozen people into minced meat. He shouted: "So many rebels, pretending to be heavenly envoys! Fortunately, Iron Bull recognized them, otherwise they would have assassinated the national teacher, that's unbearable!"

  The army marched another five or six miles, and saw more than a dozen cavalrymen rushing forward with an old eunuch on horseback. Li Kui killed him again without hesitation, also under the pretext of being a rebel.

  Along the way, before they had gone a hundred miles, twelve imperial edicts came down, ordering Wu Song to withdraw his troops and wait for Xu He's arrival to offer amnesty. Wu Song ordered Li Kui to behead them all; these great axes fell, causing not only Lu Junyi, Zhang Shun, and Hua Rong to tremble with fear, but also Lin Chong, Qin Ming, and Lu Da to turn pale.

  Killing one angel can still be said to be a rebel on the road, but killing twelve in a row is a crime that will lead to the extinction of the entire family! A thousand knives and ten thousand cuts!

  Not only Wu Song was to be executed, but all the great generals and strategists in the army were also to be buried with him!

  Li Kui also killed with a soft hand, and this iron bull without liver or lungs felt that killing so many heavenly envoys of the imperial court was not good.

  "If I chop down any more, my axe will be worn out." Li Kui said with some trepidation.

  "Useless fellow!" Wu Song snorted and shouted: "Where is Yang Zhi?"

  Yang Zhi hugged his sword and appeared beside Li Kui, only to hear Wu Song say: "If someone else comes forward, you take action! Will your hand be soft or will the treasured sword be sheathed?"

  Yang Zhi's face was expressionless, and he said: "Killing one is killing, killing twelve is also killing, killing a hundred or a thousand is also killing. This knife of mine has been passed down from my ancestors, it has experienced the battlefields of Song and Liao, drunk blood by the hundreds, let alone killing a few angels, even if I killed a god, it wouldn't be damaged!"

  Li Kui heard his voice and couldn't help but shiver, saying: "Green-faced beast, you're still ruthless, I'm no match for you."

  The army marched for a while, and when they were only fifty miles away from Dengzhou, the sun began to set. The army set up camp and rested. At dawn the next day, Yang Zhi returned from outside, dusty and windblown, and reported: "Last night, I traveled a hundred miles in reverse, and everything was calm and peaceful along the way. There were no imperial edicts arriving, only twelve golden plaques."

  After that, the twelve golden plaques were shaken off with a clang. Wu Song coldly smiled: "This kind of trick is useless against me, I am not Wu Mu Hou, but Wu An Guo! Pass on my orders, the army will continue to advance, today we must reach Dengzhou!"

  They rushed all the way and arrived at dusk, when Dengzhou City finally came into view. Guan Sheng and Yang Zong also successfully joined forces with Wu Song. However, Li Jun set off from Yangma Island as soon as Guan Sheng and Yang Zong departed, taking a fast boat to leave behind Ruan Brothers' naval fleet, arriving at the coast near Dengzhou. Fifty large cannons bombarded Liu Hui Niang's docked ships, first cutting off her sea route for retreat.

  Li Jun then laid mines in the harbor, blocking the iron-clad ships from approaching the tower ships. At this time, the eight-route army finally surrounded Lengzhou, guarding it so tightly that not even a fly could fly out!

  "Chen Xizhen, Song Jiang and Liu Hui Niang will definitely die!"

  Wu Song ordered people to build a high platform, looking far away at the scenery of Dengzhou City. He only saw that the city tower was piled up with all kinds of defensive equipment, exquisite and unmatched. He couldn't help but sigh: "Liu Hui Niang is indeed a rare talent, able to turn Dengzhou into an iron barrel in a short time. However, against me, it's still a dead end!"

  Just as they were speaking, the sky suddenly darkened and a bolt of lightning flashed, forming a massive palm print that covered an area of several dozen feet. The five fingers were clearly visible, hovering above the high platform where Wu Song was standing!

  "The Five Thunder Seal Great Law!"

  Wu Song looked up at the dark clouds gathering above, his expression changed, and he suddenly burst out laughing: "Even the tricks you've been saving for a rainy day have all been used up, Chen Xichen is really at his wit's end! Where are the masters of Tianji Pavilion?"

  Gongsun Sheng, Yang Jian, Gao Lian, Gao Feng, Tang Kan and others stepped forward, a total of over 100 people. They formed the Nine Palaces Great Array, laughing in unison: "Although Chen Xizhen's skills are extraordinary, one person can't resist heaven after all! The Five Thunder Seal Great Method will break him today!"

  The five thunders in the Five Thunders Seal Great Method are to emit thunder with fingertips, corresponding to metal, wood, water, fire and earth. It is a Taoist method that absorbs the five elements theory of Yin Yang School, combines it with the palm thunder method, and is more powerful than Gongsun Sheng's Five Thunders Heavenly Punishment Orthodox Method, making it one of the three major thunder methods in Taoism.

  This thunder method is sharp and good at breaking evil, after the thunder method falls, it also contains a huge amount of energy, which can shake mountains and rivers, move mountains and seas are not a problem.

  Wu Song first witnessed the power of the Five Thunderbolt Seal at Yang Jier's mansion in the capital, where Chen Xizhen unleashed a thunderstorm at night with the intention of eliminating both Chen Lier and Wu Song as evil spirits. However, Wu Song was not at Yang's mansion but had gone to Cai Jing's mansion to look for Wang Laizi, thus escaping disaster.

  Yang Jian's mansion was also reduced to dust and ashes. To this day, that piece of land still has turbulent thunder energy and cannot be inhabited.

  At that time, Chen Xi's Five Thunder Manual was still incomplete, yet it already had such power. Now that the thunder method has been somewhat accomplished, it is even more astonishing.