In the winter of 1644, King Shao and King Gao of the South made frequent moves, which put great pressure on King Zheng and the north. Most of the military forces under King Zheng were stationed in Tengdi and Changjun, facing the south from afar, in order to prevent the two kings from taking advantage of King Zheng's integration and unification. However, King Shao Wuheng and King Gao Xu Che never led their troops north.
Even Prince Shao and Prince Gao knew that although they had an army of 200,000 under their command, Prince Zheng Ji Chongming had already occupied most of the north and had the support of major Taoist sects, Buddhist sects, and aristocratic families. Whoever could enter Yangjing first and gain the support of the Taoist sects, gods, and aristocratic families who were waiting and betting, would almost determine who would be the true dragon emperor.
At this point, it was too late for them to defeat King Zheng and become emperor.
If the two of them had taken control of Yangjing before King Zheng took control of Huandi, it would still be possible, and they might even be able to use this to shake the fortune of the Ziwei Emperor Star, or even replace the other party.
But a step late is a step late. Ji Chongming took over Yangjing first and occupied the entire north and the Mandate of Heaven. There were also many contradictions between King Gao and King Shao, who hindered each other and almost wiped out their hopes of becoming emperors.
But now, the two can only be said to be waiting for the right price, and they have long lost the intention to compete with King Zheng for the world. Moreover, King Shao has seized the fate of Wenquxing, and the son of King Gao is the Nine Heavens Killing Child General. In this killing calamity of the Star God, both of them can be regarded as winners.
Their frequent actions also let King Zheng know the power and influence of the two. Even after they ascended to heaven in the future, the aristocratic families they left behind would be able to maintain their original influence in this land of East Continent, where luck converges, and even produce some proud children from generation to generation.
Among the Zheng Wang faction, many people had heated debates over whether to make a full-scale effort to wipe out the Shao Wang and the Gao Wang, or to mainly appease them. Apart from founding a country and becoming an emperor, this was the issue most frequently mentioned in the court.
At this time, the entire south was full of snobbery and the Tianhu Bai clan, whose disciples all belonged to the Shuwang Mountain and all the gods, sent a man from afar to Yangjing to meet Prince Zheng, Ji Chongming.
The man claims to be from the Tianhu Bai clan and is able to persuade King Gao to surrender to King Zheng, and can even persuade King Shao and Wu Heng to submit to King Zheng together. King Zheng can take over the entire south without bloodshed, but he needs to get King Zheng's promise and bottom line. If King Gao and King Shao surrender, how will King Zheng accommodate the two kings
King Zheng summoned Prime Minister Li Cang, and finally Tianhu Bai left with a royal decree written by King Zheng.
After the beginning of spring, the army was approaching step by step, and the people in the south were in panic. After all, the military exploits of Marquis Pojun Xue Jing along the way were so brilliant that they were too amazing. Most of the world under King Zheng was conquered by Marquis Pojun Xue Jing.
The first to respond was King Gao Xu Che, who gave up his title of king and submitted to King Zheng.
He was conferred the title of Marquis of Gaoyang, and his son Xu Hao was conferred the title of Marquis of Tianshun. He promised that as long as Xu Che was willing to surrender, after he became emperor, he would confer the title of King of Gaoyang on Xu Che, and Gaoyang would be the fiefdom of the King of Gaoyang for generations. However, Xu Che's Yulong Army had to be disbanded and taken over by Xue Jing, the Marquis of Pojun.
Afterwards, the wavering King Shao Wuheng also presented a letter of surrender and surrendered to King Zheng. From then on, the world was completely unified. All the states and counties that originally belonged to the Great Zhou, except for the part in the north that was eroded by the Great Wilderness Dynasty and several border areas swallowed up by the Yi Kingdom in the south, almost all belonged to King Zheng.
On top of Shuwang Mountain, Heart Moon Fox Hu Xiuer, wearing the official robe of the Great Zhou Dynasty, rode a painted boat up along the waterfall and entered the spiritual realm of the Sky Fox Bai family.
During these days, it was Heart Moon Fox Hu Xiu'er who contacted all parties and finally achieved the unification of the two kings Gao and Shao in the south and King Zheng. In the end, King Zheng successfully pacified the south, avoiding a war in the south and also brought forward the unification of the world by nearly a year.
However, the Bai family had been rooted in the highlands for thousands of years, with countless monks and gods working for them, and the two kings Gao and Shao no longer had the intention of fighting for the world, so things were able to go so smoothly.
"Master! My disciple has finally turned things around." As Heart Moon Fox Hu Xiu'er stepped into the hall, she immediately knelt down in front of the demon fairy Bai Mei.
Hu Xiuer's master had died in the counterattack of the dying Great Zhou. Now, he has re-worshipped the demon fairy Bai as his master and became Bai Mei's disciple. With the help of Bai Mei's power, Hu Xiuer turned things around. Bai Mei also supported the twenty-eight constellations of the fox clan. At the same time, he himself could also go to the upper world with them to participate in the opening of the heavenly court.
Bai Mei looked at her cheap disciple and felt that all her hard work was worth it. She even went to the Immortal Lord Juntian for help and was finally able to save her.
"The world has been settled. I think King Zheng will be crowned emperor soon. You and I, master and disciple, should also prepare and head to Yangjing!"
The news of the pacification of the south reached Yangjing, and Yangjing was in an uproar. This meant that the end of the Great Week had begun, and the world, which had been in chaos for many years, was finally pacified again.
King Zheng also decided to proclaim himself emperor on the sixth day of May, and the country was named Zheng as expected.
Zheng comes from the ancient state of Zheng. The sixth day of May is the birthday of the ancient god of grain and it is also an auspicious day.
Taoism, Buddhism, ancient descendants and other major forces gathered in Yangjing one after another. The major families that had left because of the war and the nobles who had fled to Gaoyang returned one after another.
There is an endless stream of merchants and carriages passing through the South Gate. You can see a down-and-out Taoist priest wearing a Bagua robe and holding a long banner, a swordsman carrying a long sword, and a warrior with blood surging through his body.
You can also see groups of Buddhist monks, many of whom are dressed in gorgeous clothes and look like celestial beings. These are all monks from the top Taoist sects. In secret, many spies from the Demon Sect and people from the Monster Clan have re-infiltrated Yangjing and are lurking here.
Compared with the past when Dongzhou only had practitioners from Taoism and martial arts, it now feels like a hundred flowers are blooming.
After a period of rest, Yangjing is still the same Yangjing, and this ancient capital has a new owner.
Just one year after the death of Emperor Kong Qi of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it seemed as if the whole world had forgotten the Great Zhou Dynasty and the former Emperor Kong Qi.
In addition to the invasion of Buddhist, Demonic, and demon clans into the Middle-earth in terms of the inheritance of spiritual practice sects, Yangjing also has many more existences besides humans.
Some ancient remnants also began to enter Yangjing. King Zheng Ji Chongming was different from previous human emperors. He did not suppress these ancient remnants and the southern Rong people and northern Yi people. He could even see quite a few of these ancient remnants under his command, such as the Yumin people, the Beirong Leizu tribe, the Nanzhou Yanhuo people, and so on, all serving in the army under King Zheng Ji Chongming.
These beings that were close to humans but not humans walked on the streets of Yangjing, attracting many people's pointing and talking. Among the dignitaries riding in official sedan chairs, there were many members of the Xuanyuan clan who had human bodies but snake tails. This had not been seen in the nearly thousand years since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and it was a reenactment of a scene from ancient times.
In general, the atmosphere under King Zheng's rule seemed more open than in the past, which brought about many new changes. However, many civil and military officials also believed that there were crises hidden in this openness and innovation.
Some conservative civil officials and censors even submitted memorials one after another, hoping that King Zheng would expel these foreign races. They bluntly said that those who are not of our race must have different hearts, and that these foreign races that integrated into Middle-earth would definitely become a major threat to the human race in the future.
However, Ji Chongming directly rejected it, probably because he had some Xuanyuan blood in his bloodline, and because he witnessed the tragic situation of the ancient descendants of Xuanyuan being suppressed and slaughtered when he was a teenager.
————————
On the sixth day of May, before dawn, the lights in the palace were lit up one after another. Then the morning drum was struck in the palace. The sound was so loud that it could be heard throughout Yangjing.
Inside and outside Yangjing, the great formation was activated, and countless ghosts, gods, and cultivators in every corner were monitoring everything inside and outside to prevent any accidents from happening.
The military array was lined up outside the palace gate, with civil and military officials standing at the front, waiting early.
As soon as the day dawned, the Imperial Observatory, Buddhism, and the Xuanyuan clan took action together. Taoist magic continued to appear along the way, as if changing the world.
The whole Yangjing was in full bloom, the sky was filled with light rain, and the east road and outside the city were paved with clouds to form a road, which passed through the city gate and led to the Temple of Heaven altar that had been built long ago in the southern suburbs.
Emperor Ji Chongming put on the dragon robe and rode on the dragon chariot along the cloud-like path of light. He was followed by civil and military officials and protected by the army. It was as if the emperor from the upper realm was traveling.
According to the founding ceremonies of every dynasty, the emperor had to report to heaven, offer sacrifices to the earth, and worship ghosts and gods.
The process here is almost the same as in previous dynasties, but the strange phenomena that followed stunned all the people and common people in Yangjing and the surrounding areas, and even many practitioners were stunned.
The surrounding areas, including the nobles and officials as well as the vast crowds of people from the capital, all roared like thunder and waves, and many of them even fell to their knees on the ground.
"Gods! There are gods!"
"Hurry up and worship the gods!"
"It really is the true dragon emperor. Even the gods have come."
All I saw was rays of light falling from the nine heavens. Immortals came out along with the sea of clouds. Above the sea of clouds, immortals appeared one after another. The immortals, who were supported by the Dao realm, sat on the sea of clouds.
In an instant, the entire Yangjing city was shocked. Even in the legends, it had never been heard of that in all dynasties, there were so many immortals and gods coming to congratulate at the founding of a country.
Sitting in the center was Zhang Heming, the leader of the Nine Palaces. Even mortals couldn't help but shout out loud when they saw this immortal. After all, the inheritance of the Tianshi School was extremely prosperous in the southwest. Many people had seen the statue of Zhang Heming in the Tianshi Temple, but no one had thought that they would be able to see the real person.
"Da Zheng received the mandate of heaven, inherited the great lineage of the Middle-earth human race, and controls the destiny of the human race."
Then Zhang Heming waved his hand, and the Nine Dragon Imperial Seal surged up to the sea of clouds. The nine dragons of luck gathered together and transformed into a roaring golden dragon, rushing towards Ji Chongming, the Emperor of Da Zheng.
Zhang Heming, a deity from the upper realm, came down personally to bestow the Nine Dragon Imperial Seal upon the Da Zheng Dynasty, representing that Da Zheng officially inherited the Great Zhou's mandate, became the common leader of the human race in the Central Plains, and controlled the destiny of humanity.
Emperor Ji Chongming took over the Nine Dragon Imperial Seal, and a mighty pillar of luck rose into the sky from his body and the Nine Dragon Imperial Seal. A golden dragon circled around his body, circling and roaring continuously, and the roar of the golden dragon could be faintly heard throughout the capital.
The civil and military officials below shouted "Long live the emperor!", and then the surrounding soldiers knelt down together, and a large number of civilians in the southern suburbs also fell to the ground.
At this time, following the Emperor Ji Chongming who was holding high the Nine Dragon Emperor Seal and the Dragon Pillar of Fortune, they ascended to the Ziwei Emperor Star above the nine heavens. In an instant, they saw the Zhoutian Star Array activated, taking over the entire Dongzhou region.
The stars in the sky lit up one after another, and the big sun and the bright moon appeared in the sky at the same time.
Among the civil and military officials, at least nearly a hundred people showed various strange phenomena, emitting mighty light of luck that connected with the stars in the sky. In various places in Dongzhou in the distance, one could also see rays of light constantly rising and lighting up the stars in the sky.
Rays of starlight were projected onto the earth, as if dyeing the entire Dongzhou in silver.