After Xia Xue subdued Du Fuwei, the overlord of Jianghuai, she originally wanted to lead her troops to southern Jiangsu to support the bearded guests, but she received an urgent report from Jianghuai: Shuzhou City in Jianghuai was captured by Long Xiao, the left envoy of Mingjiao, and the Mingjiao followers took advantage of the chaos. Long Xiao, the left envoy of light, is known as the world's number one master, and is known as the "Sword Saint". After he seized the city of Shuzhou, he gathered a large number of Mingjiao followers, as if he wanted to build Shuzhou into a Mingjiao sect base in Jianghuai, and become a "country within a country" that was not under the jurisdiction of the Angel State.

"Mingjiao" is officially known as Manichaeism, also known as Muniism, originated in the ancient Persian Sassanid Dynasty, founded by the Persian Mani in the middle of the 3rd century AD, influenced by Christianity and the Iranian Zoroastrian Mazda doctrine, is a dualist religion with Gnosticism. The main doctrine is the "Theory of Two Sects and Three Worlds", which advocates light. Mani claimed to be God's prophet and the last prophet. It had a great influence on Sogdia and spread widely throughout the world. Manichaeism was introduced to China during the Sui and Tang dynasties, and the term Mingjiao specifically refers to the localized Manichaeism, which theologically believes that light and darkness, good and evil, are always hostile and competitive.

Based on Zoroastrianism's dualism of good and evil, the doctrine of "Mingjiao" summarizes all phenomena into good and evil, good is light, evil is darkness, and light will triumph over darkness. Since the beginning of time, light and darkness have intersected, and the demons have been in the dark world, and the chaos is endless, so that the world today is still confused with good and evil, so people should strive to be good in order to create a bright world. This religion is also known as Mingjiao. The god of Manichaeism has ten virtues: love, faith, sincerity, respect, wisdom, obedience, knowledge, awareness, secret, and discernment. The cultivation of believers is mainly abstinence and silence, and vegetarianism, fasting, and prayer (four times a day) are daily exercises. Its simplicity and directness were so popular with the people of the time that it spread to Central Asia, the Roman Empire, India, China and other places, and was still flourishing in the thirteenth century.

Manichaeism was introduced to the Western Regions in the 6th to 7th centuries, and then from the Western Regions to the Hui of Mobei, where it flourished. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Mani temples were established in Jianghuai and other places.

Because of the belief that the darkness was about to pass and the light was coming, Mingjiao dared to rebel and repeatedly acted against the government. Since the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, there have been Ming rebellions in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui and other places. Later, Mingjiao was combined with Maitreya and the White Lotus Society, and evolved into the White Lotus Sect at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

In ancient China, the development of Manichaeism was a mixture of Taoism, Buddhism, and White Lotus. The peasant uprisings of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties were often used as organizational tools. They often revere Zhang Jiao as the patriarch, worship Mani (or translated as "Muni") as the god of light, and worship the sun and the moon. Christians wear white clothes, advocate vegetarianism, abstain from alcohol, and bury naked; Emphasizing solidarity and mutual assistance, it is called a family, believing that the light in the world will eventually triumph over the dark forces. The fifth generation of Liang Zhenming and the sixth year of the mother B launched an uprising. During the Two Song Dynasty, it was popular in Huainan, Liangzhejiang, Jiangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian and other places, and constantly organized peasant uprisings, the most famous of which were the Fangla Uprising and the Wang Nianjing Uprising.

Freedom of religious belief is advocated by Xia Xue, but if religion affects national unity and security, then Xia Xue is resolutely opposed. The Ming Sect took advantage of the chaos to seize Shuzhou City and establish an independent kingdom in Jianghuai, which was not under the jurisdiction of the Angel State, which was absolutely unacceptable to Xia Xue.

Xia Xue decided to take advantage of the fact that the Mingjiao had just captured Shuzhou, and the foothold was not stable, so she immediately led her troops to recapture Shuzhou and put down the Mingjiao rebellion.

A few days later, Xia Xue led five thousand elite soldiers of the Angel Special Operations Regiment to the city of Shuzhou, Jianghuai.

Shuzhou City looks at the high walls from a distance, and the walls are thick, and it is still very strong. There are about 3,000 people standing on the city wall, Xia Xue is more than 800 meters outside the city, observing the city head with a telescope, and finds that there are more than 500 people standing on the top except for more than 500 people dressed in white, carrying long swords at their waists, and they are quite neat, most of them are dressed in different clothes, and the weapons are even more messy, and even many people are still holding hoes, nail rakes and other agricultural tools, none of them wear armor, and the formation is also uneven, and it is a rabble composed of a group of chaotic people at a glance.

I heard that the Jianghuai defenders of Shuzhou City scattered and fled after hearing that the angel army had broken through Jingkou City, so Long Xiao led hundreds of Mingjiao swordsmen to take advantage of the loophole and occupy Shuzhou City. Xia Xuexin said: "I'll just say, how can such a rabble capture the strong Shuzhou City, no matter how powerful the swordsman is, it is impossible to be the opponent of a well-organized army." ”

Seeing that most of the people in the city were poor people who were bewitched by the Ming Sect, Xia Xue couldn't bear to kill. He sent a few outposts with loud voices to shout in front of the city, so that the other party should not be overwhelmed, give his life in vain, and quickly open the city to surrender, the angel army will ensure the safety of everyone's life and property in the city, and Qiu will not commit any crimes.

Unexpectedly, as soon as several outposts approached the city and shouted a few times, someone in the city suddenly took the lead and chanted loudly:

"The light is generally pure, and the joy is extinguished without the curse.

He has no trouble with joy, but there is no use in suffering.

Always be happy and bright, if you say that you are sick, it is useless.

If there are those who can live in other countries, they will be worry-free.

The solemnity of the place is pure, and all the evil is not pure;

Happiness is full of Chang Kuantai, and there is no point in saying that there is Xiangling. ”

This is the prayer in the Mingjiao classic "Lower Praise" "Sigh Ming Realm Text".

Someone shouted again: "King Ming was born, invincible!" Brothers, fight with the angels! ”

Of the more than 500 Mingjiao swordsmen in the city, more than 20 were carrying bows and arrows, and they shot arrows at several outposts of the Angel Army under the command of Fang Hao, the protector of the Mingjiao.

Xia Xue saw that the other party didn't know what to do, and he resisted stubbornly. I can't help but be angry, salute first and then soldiers, since "salute" is not good, there are only "soldiers". She called back a few shouting outposts. Let Zhao Feng and the other blockers advance to a distance of five hundred meters from the city, and specifically aim at the Mingjiao swordsmen carrying bows and arrows in the city for accurate shooting.

"Bang bang bang!" Gunshots rang out like bursting beans, and the Mingjiao swordsmen carrying bows and arrows on the city tower were shot to the ground one by one, and some of their heads were pierced and their brains burst; Some were pierced in the chest, and blood gushed out. In less than half a cup of tea, more than twenty Mingjiao swordsmen carrying bows and arrows were all wiped out.

The distance was so far, and I didn't know what demon techniques the angel army used, and after a while, more than 20 of his elite swordsmen were all killed. This made the Mingjiao Bright Left Envoy Long Xiao, the Mingjiao Protector Fang Hao, the other Mingjiao swordsmen and the people who were bewitched by the Mingjiao who defended the city all stunned, this angel army is too powerful, not to mention beating the Jianghuai overlord Du Fuwei to the point of pouring urine and raising his hands to surrender.

Xia Xue used the binoculars to see that the other party was frightened one by one, and smiled secretly in her heart, "Toast and don't eat and drink!" She decided to add another code to the other party, so that the other party's already fragile nerves completely collapsed.

Xia Xue ordered Zhao Ning to select a few excellent gunners and use angel cannons to bombard the Shuzhou City Tower.

Zhao Ning was ordered to operate the cannon himself, he used his thumb to do the ranging, and then adjusted the angle of the cannon according to experience, aimed at the Shuzhou City Tower and fired a cannon.

"Boom!" With a loud bang, the Shuzhou city tower exploded, bricks, stones, broken wood, tiles, shrapnel, and dust flew everywhere, and many people standing near the city tower were shocked to the ground by the shock wave of the cannonballs, and many people were also injured by the flying bricks, stones, wooden blocks, tiles, shrapnel, etc., covered with dust, covered with blood, embarrassed, and screaming and wailing endlessly.

The position where the Ming Sect's Bright Left Envoy Long Xiao and the Ming Sect Protector Fang Hao stood a little far away from the city tower, but they were almost hit by the bricks and tiles that flew over, seeing a miserable scene on the city tower, Long Xiao and Fang Hao knew that they were not the opponents of the Angel Army at all. If you still resist stubbornly, it is estimated that you will only die without a corpse and disappear into ashes.

Both of them were pale, and when they saw their men scattered and frightened, they also knew that their morale had collapsed, and even if they wanted to resist stubbornly, there was no one to use.

Long Xiao sighed: "Alas, it seems that we are powerless to fight, in order to avoid unnecessary casualties, I think it is better to leave Shuzhou City and look for opportunities elsewhere." ”

Fang Hao said unwillingly: "We finally got such a good base, and we gave up so easily, I'm unwilling!" ”

Long Xiao glanced at Fang Hao: "Then what can you do to keep Shuzhou?" ”

Fang Hao stared at Long Xiao for a while, and suddenly smiled gloomily, he said a few words to Long Xiao in his ear, Long Xiao stared at Fang Hao with wide eyes after listening to it and said, "Will they agree?" ”

Fang Hao nodded confidently: "As long as we relax the conditions, they may take the bait, this is the only chance, we might as well give it a try." ”

……

In the afternoon, Xia Xue received a letter from Long Xiao, the general content of the letter was: "The angel army is powerful, and the Mingjiao is not an opponent, but there are many swordsmen among the elite of the Mingjiao, they advocate martial arts, and hope to have a one-man confrontation with the martial arts masters in the angel army." If they lose, they will be completely convinced and willing to give up Shuzhou City. In order to dispel the doubts of the Angel Army, the Mingjiao side only elected one martial arts representative, and that was Long Xiao. The Angel Army can elect three representatives, and the competition is scheduled for tomorrow morning. If one of the three representatives of the Angel Army defeats Long Xiao, even if the Ming Sect fails, the Ming Sect will immediately sacrifice Shuzhou City. If none of the three representatives of the Angel Army can defeat Long Xiao, I hope that the Angel Army can stop fighting and retreat, and let Mingjiao protect the holy land of Shuzhou. ”

Xia Xue consulted with the generals about Long Xiao's letter, and the generals unanimously objected, because everyone knew that Long Xiao was the number one master in the world, known as the "Sword Saint", and his swordsmanship was at its peak, unmatched. Mo said that the angel army chose three representatives for the competition, that is, they chose ten to conduct wheel battles, and they were not Long Xiao's opponents.

However, Xia Xue thought carefully for a while and smiled: "Are you so unconfident in us?" Conquer the enemy, only by conquering the enemy's heart, can you be considered a complete conquest. If we don't dare to accept the challenge of the Mingjiao martial arts competition, it will become the laughing point and stain of the angel army, and we will be ridiculed, ridiculed, and looked down upon by others in the future, which is not conducive to the prestige of our army, our angel army is not afraid of any challenge, I decided to agree to the other party's challenge of the competition. ”