Chapter 549 Preparation

Outsiders only knew that the Lei Yin Demon Sect was good at management, but they didn't expect them to be so good at management, and they took out a large amount of money and exchanged it for good fields, orchards, villas, and so on. Then, those devout believers, those poor cultists who followed the Thunder Yin Demon Sect, continued to become tenant-like existences. Really, it's just like a tenant. They also have to pay rent to the Thunder Yin Demon Sect, but the rent is much lower than the original landlords. These loyal believers, both in faith and economically, are firmly linked to the Thunder Yin Demon Sect. And these people are the envy of the believers who have not been given land for a while.

In Taizhou, there are 80,000 people who have similar economic ties with the Thunder Yin Demon Sect. Coupled with the officials and wealthy believers that the Thunder Yin Demon Sect can directly and indirectly control, in fact, the Thunder Yin Demon Sect is already exercising the government in place of the government. Although there is a lot of dissatisfaction in the Xiling court, Lei Huang, the Pope of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect, is Sun Boping's son-in-law, and although the Thunder Yin Demon Sect actually holds the power, he still pays attention to saving face for the government. Now there are a lot of taxes, but it is all the Thunder Yin Demon Sect that comes forward to pay on behalf of all its followers. Over time, in Taizhou and surrounding states and counties, the prestige and dominance of the Lei Yin Demon Sect far exceeded that of the government.

The local military strength of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect is also quite large, and the Guardian Army and the Sect Demon Regiment add up to nearly 20,000 people. Moreover, once something happened, almost all the sect members of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect would take up arms and stand on their side, and they would be able to mobilize more than 200,000 people...... The Thunder Yin Demon Sect has 20,000 people in its hands, and its training and equipment are all first-class. Not to mention that the current level of the Sect Demon Regiment is almost not inferior to that of the special battalion in Yunzhou.

With high-level relationships and strong force, the Thunder Yin Demon Sect's control of Taizhou is already something that no one can stop. No one can really understand how the money of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect came from, a sum of money, transported from that secret path into Xiling, used to purchase land, used to pay for the various expenses of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect. And although the Thunder Yin Demon Sect is very upright, it also has sufficient means to deal with those who are enemies of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect. It is equally a pleasure to take possession of land by destroying enemies and excluding dissidents. Since Taizhou was the front line of attacks from the Yunzhou direction, land prices had been declining for several years, and many families preferred to move closer to the country. This also gave the Thunder Yin Demon Sect an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. At first, the magistrate was not aware of this, and by the time the governor of Taizhou realized this, it was practically irreversible. The ministers in the center who did not deal with Sun Boping also tried to suppress the development of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect through the Daoming Sect. But in those other state capitals, it may be able to play a little role, but in Taizhou, the Lei Yin Demon Sect is the absolute ruler.

In this winter, the atmosphere in Taizhou is a little different from usual. The top echelons of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect, including Lei Huang, seemed to be looking forward to something. The cathars have increased their vigilance in the area of control by two levels, which is visible, and the patrols of the cathars are endless, but they show no signs of readiness. What I can't see is that the Guardian Army and the Sect Demon Regiment have begun to change horses one after another. A large number of military horses from Northern Liao made the cathar army appear more and more majestic. And those ordnance are quietly hidden in the homes of more and more faithful believers, so that they can be used against any abnormal situation.

In addition to the strengthened patrols of the Protectors, the shrines of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect have begun to carry out a new round of sprinkling and cleaning, and even repairs and reconstructions, and most of the sacrifices, high-ranking priests, etc., have been issued with new robes. The Sect Demon Regiment has also begun to carry out a new round of outfits, but in the training content and daily duties of the Sect Demon Regiment, the content of guarding and vigilance has been increased by a full three.

And all these situations only mean one thing: Ye Tao is coming.

Originally, Ye Tao did not plan to come to Xiling at this time. A few months ago, Ye Tao had given an order to the Lei Yin Demon Sect to stabilize the northern territory of Xiling. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of the Xiling Mission, there would be no need to touch on the issue of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect before attacking Chunnan. But the current problem is very serious, because Xiling has a lot of power scattered in the hands of wealthy families and local politicians, in case there are different opinions in various places, it is a very serious problem. Although the command of the army is now under the Xiling Center, after all, these sergeants and the commanders among them are still from various clans. Whether we can control the overall situation and control all places at the first time is a very serious problem. Xunshan Pass can be opened to Dongping at any time to allow the Dongping army to enter, but after all, some whips are beyond the reach of the army, and the army and other forces that are now in the territory of Xiling will become the key to victory at that time. And now, in the territory of Xiling, among the troops that can be directly controlled, the most powerful are the Guardian Army and the Sect Demon Regiment. Now, the special battalion, Ye Tao's guard battalion, the inner court guards and other departments are infiltrating into Xiling, hoping to be able to concentrate enough combat power and make various arrangements at that time. At this time, the agreement between the two countries had not yet been reached. Ye Tao didn't care, he was not interested in such an agreement at all.

"My lord, it's been a long time." Lei Huang took an entire squadron of the Sect Demon Regiment to the mountain passage to greet Ye Tao.

This mountain pass, after continuous renovation, has become wide and neat, but the vegetation above the passage is very dense, and there is nothing to be seen from the aerial reconnaissance. The passage and the mountains on both wings are also under the control of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect and the Yunzhou military, not to mention people, even if a bird wants to pass through this passage, it really has to go through many obstacles. It is precisely because of this caution that the passage has been able to remain private despite the increasing capacity of the passage. Ye Tao was also able to pass through this passage, riding in a comfortable carriage and carrying a small number of elite escorts, to Taizhou.

"Lei Huang, what are you doing here?" Ye Tao patted Lei Huang's shoulder and said cordially.

"My lord, everything in Taizhou is under control, and there is nothing to worry about. The most important thing is that you come here. Lei Huang's closeness is obvious.

"Let's go, let's talk as we go." Ye Tao re-boarded the carriage and beckoned Lei Huang to come up together.

The carriage was designed and built specifically for Ye Tao, and clearly reflected the highest technical level of this era. This time, because it was almost equivalent to going deep into the enemy territory, Ye Tao did not bring his family with him, and the carriage was particularly spacious.

"My lord, Xiling...... Will it really be a direct surrender? Lei Huang still couldn't believe it. He knew that now Xiling had him and the Leiyin Demon Sect there, and Sun Boping, a very human minister, in the center, there was no suspense in the fight, but he didn't expect that the Xiling royal family was so single, and directly sent a delegation to negotiate peace.

"Pretty much. The disposal specifications of the Xiling royal family will be higher than that of Northern Liao, after all, Xiling's national strength is placed there, and their contribution to the great cause of unification is obvious. Ye Tao smiled and said: "Other conditions don't matter, since they have this attitude, they naturally think about what they want." It's nothing more than a guarantee of security, and the future development of the family. I'm not interested in any of this, but you're here to tell me about the preparations. ”

"Yes, sir." Lei Huang began to give a detailed explanation in the car. This extremely demagogic orator, when he made a detailed report, his tone was not slow, and it could be seen that he knew all the preparations of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect, and blurted out some specific figures, without having to look through the documents and files.

In addition to the Guardian Army and the Sect Demon Regiment, the Thunder Yin Demon Sect also contacted many local garrisons one after another. Moreover, this contact was carried out simultaneously with their missionary work, and spread to almost every state capital in Xiling. The most powerful of these was a large camp located one hundred and seventy miles southwest of Anqing, the capital of Xiling. The commander of the army is Tong Bingwen's son, Tong Sinian. Tong Sinian's wife is a royal noblewoman, although she is not very close to the lord's line, she is also a county lord, and she understands the attitude of the royal family very well. He seemed to have expected that the Xiling royal family would not go to war with Dongping, and before the Xiling royal family made a decision, he had already agreed with the representatives of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect to act in unison when the time came. Tong Sinian guessed the origin of the Lei Yin Demon Sect, which made Lei Huang also surprised, but after Lei Huang went to see Tong Sinian in person, he was also relieved. After all, Tong Sinian is Tong Bingwen's son, and he is too familiar with the army of the Dongping family, and Tong Sinian even came to Taizhou to observe the Guardian Army. No matter how disguised it is, the army that comes from the commoners and is based on protecting the commoners, and the army established by the aristocratic family to maintain their own privileges, the temperament shown is completely different. The kind of righteousness and justice that he believes in what he did from the bottom of his heart makes the soldiers of the Guardian Army and the Sect Demon Regiment exude a unique character charm. This also infected Tong Sinian. Whether it was for himself, for his family, or just for self-preservation, he was one step ahead of the Xiling royal family, and promised Lei Huang that he would obey orders in person. In order to win the trust of Lei Huang, he even sent a pair of his children to Taizhou, and just three days ago, these two babies came to the main altar of the Lei Yin Demon Sect. The two children, one five years old and the other six, were very curious, and they were bold, and the two siblings were scurrying around in the main altar all day long, constantly asking all kinds of questions. The condition of Tong Sinian is that these two sons and daughters should be sent to Yejiabao for upbringing. And after he completed the mutiny, he would resign from the military and go to Yunzhou to retire. Other than that, he didn't ask for anything more. Lei Huang felt that this condition was still very reliable. Ye Tao immediately agreed. In fact, Tong Sinian's conditions also show his sensitivity and open-mindedness. Anyway, after the great changes in the country, it is impossible for him to stay in the army, so it is better to be generous and use this in exchange first. And the future development of children is the most important. Xiling was merged into Dongping, and the structure of the original wealthy family will undergo great changes, and it is really difficult to say whether the Tong family can be taken seriously, so it depends on the children's own efforts. The children themselves have talent and ability, so that the Tong family can create more brilliance. When it comes to education, Yejiabao is probably unparalleled in the world. The Dai family, which is known for cultivating excellent children, naturally teaches Ye Tao and will not hide their secrets, and Ye Tao and Tan Weixin have added many new ideas and methods to it, paying more attention to the cultivation of vision, learning ability, thinking ability and character perfection. After a year or two of upbringing, the original gentlemen who generally gave the family a headache were all led to the right path one by one. It's just that now basically Yejiabao is no longer open to the public. It's hard to get a spot.

Another important force is in Taizhou, which is the commander of the Taizhou border army. He really didn't have the courage to start a war with the Yunzhou army, and the Du family was also discussing defecting to Yunzhou. Lei Huang should not expose the secrets of the Lei Yin Demon Sect in front of this guy, but he passed through the command of Golan, and now stationed in the north of Taizhou, Zheng Mingsu and Du Jie reached an agreement. In fact, Ming Su was still a little confused, why Golan would order him to contact Du Jie, and Du Jie actually leaned over so easily. Golan knew Lei Huang's identity, but he was not in danger of leaking secrets.

The military strength in Du Jie's hands is less than 20,000, at least to stabilize the place, or to maintain local law and order after the army passes, and there is no problem in fighting small warlords or something. What's more, with Du Jie's guy, the Guardian Army and the Sect Demon Regiment can concentrate on the south at that time, and they don't have to worry too much about the safety of the rear.

Lei Huang now understands his identity as a god stick, and he also knows that for the general public, this identity is really useful. He solemnly promised Ye Tao that the Thunder Yin Demon Sect could mobilize another five to sixty thousand troops. In fact, if he did not take into account the combat effectiveness, he could even mobilize more than half a million followers to wage a "holy war". He would not dare to play like this against the regular army, and the casualties would be very heavy. However, he is ready to partially mobilize when he solves the Daoming Sect, provide backup for a small number of elite main forces, and strengthen psychological coercion. After Ye Tao asked the Lei Yin Demon Sect about his own food reserves, he also approved of Lei Huang's plan. The battle between religion and religion is to rely on the large number of people to drown the main trunk and branches of the other side in one go, otherwise, if a large number of middle and high-ranking clergymen of the other side are scattered in the place and are not controlled in a centralized manner, they will have a headache for years or even decades in the future.

Although it was a call to the sect, the Thunder Yin Demon Sect had also hoarded enough weapons and armor, and now they were hoarded in warehouses in different locations. Once he called on the congregants to fight together, he couldn't let the congregants go into battle with firewood knives. At present, there are 350,000 pieces of weapons of various standards, 40,000 sets of armor of various types, and 11,000 war horses in the warehouse. Although the maintenance of weapons is really not good because of the limited manpower of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect, the number is there to arm the peasants, which is too sufficient.