Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 935: Chapter 666: Da Liang Dynasty, Emperor Tianwu

Mid-April of the fifth year of Jianxing, Chen Hengchang captured Jiangnan in less than two months.

This speed surprised everyone, and no one anticipated such a swift outcome.

Jiangnan was the most prosperous region of Da Rong, and it was also home to the most Martial Artists.

Yet, it was taken by Chen Hengchang with such ease.

It was truly captured, not conquered.

The entire process involved almost no fighting, and neither the government nor the powerful clans put up any resistance wherever the rebels went through.

When the rebels entered the city, they maintained a strict discipline, as if they were government soldiers rather than rebels.

No, even government soldiers would cause some commotion upon entering a city, yet they caused no disturbance.

While Chen Hengchang captured Jiangnan, King Da Liang was not idle, engulfing county by county, prefecture by prefecture, the entire Longnan.

Not only that, but King Da Liang’s influence was also rapidly expanding in Shanhe Province.

If Chen Hengchang relied on his royal family status, then King Da Liang relied on the name of rebellion.

As King Da Liang’s influence continued to grow, many brigands originally roaming Shanhe Province flocked to join him.

In just two months, eight groups of brigands pledged allegiance to King Da Liang, bringing with them two prefectural cities and more than a dozen county cities.

As time passed, King Da Liang’s forces grew larger, nominally reaching five hundred thousand rebels. Of course, this was only the nominal force; how many rebels King Da Liang truly controlled, even they had to assess themselves.

As each day went by, the situation in Da Rong became increasingly volatile.

At the beginning of June, another earth-shattering news spread throughout Da Rong.

The city of Shuzhou fell, captured by the Taiping Army, which meant that the court lost all control over Bashu, and the entire Bashu was completely divided up by the four rebel forces.

However, this news was not entirely shocking, as everyone understood the fall of Shuzhou was only a matter of time.

The truly shocking news was that the Taiping Army actually allied with King Da Liang.

Yes, the leader of the Taiping Army, Yang Zhao, pledged allegiance to King Da Liang and was appointed as National Guardian General of the South, overseeing all military and political affairs in Bashu.

With the Taiping Army’s allegiance, King Da Liang was even more powerful, like a tiger with wings.

At this time, King Da Liang had already occupied the entire Longnan Province, half of Bashu Province, and half of Shanhe Province, with an army close to six hundred thousand, and his momentum was greater than Chen Hengchang’s.

Chen Hengchang only occupied Jiangnan and half of Yun Gui, with an army of less than three hundred thousand.

Although Chen Hengchang held the prosperous land of Jiangnan, in terms of military strength, he was far inferior to King Da Liang.

Chen Hengchang had the support of the Divine Sun Sect, but he started his rebellion relatively late.

When Chen Hengchang initiated his rebellion, King Da Liang had already made a name for himself across the three provinces of Longyuan.

Now, King Da Liang had almost become the leader of all the brigands.

As for why the Taiping Army allied with King Da Liang, the reason was quite simple: Yang Chengye and Yang Mingzhao wanted to add fuel to the chaos and boost King Da Liang.

Nominally, Yang Zhao pledged allegiance to King Da Liang, but in reality, Yang Zhao’s Taiping Army remained an independent rebel force.

The territory occupied by the Taiping Army was still under the rule of Yang Zhao, or Yang Mingzhao.

After the Taiping Army allied with King Da Liang, his prestige surpassed previous levels, and more brigands flocked to pledge allegiance.

In August, numerous brigands in Longxi Province pledged allegiance to King Da Liang, who took control of more than half of Longxi’s prefectures and counties.

In September, the Nine Heavens King of Bashu and Black Tiger King announced their allegiance to King Da Liang and were appointed as National Guardian Generals.

The allegiance of the Nine Heavens King and Black Tiger King to King Da Liang was an unavoidable choice; the Taiping Army’s allegiance to King Da Liang forced them to follow suit, or they would have been crushed by the Taiping Army.

Now, well, everyone was in the same camp, and they would stop fighting each other and focus on living peacefully behind closed doors.

As time moved into December, Yang Zhao actively reached out to the Nine Heavens King and Black Tiger King, and soon the three parties reached an agreement to jointly send troops to attack the Shunan Xingdu.

Nominally, Shunan Xingdu was still an office of the Da Rong Court, although Ma He also had ambitions to hold considerable power, he had not yet raised a banner of rebellion.

The three rebel forces besieged Ma He, the result was predictable; Ma He quickly fled, not only losing the southern territory of Bashu but also the territory of the Shunan Xingdu, escaping with just a few hundred guards to Anxi Town to seek refuge with Marquis Suning Sun Yunbo.

Then, the situation in the southwest of Da Rong fractured completely.

Bashu was divided among Yang Zhao, the Nine Heavens King, and the Black Tiger King. Although the provinces of Tibet and Nanyun had no rebel appearances or were under the control of border towns, they were actually divided by numerous worldly sects.

The Southern Border Town was held by the Qu family, Yunling Town by the Guo family, and Anxi Town by the Sun family.

Nominally, Southern Border Town, Yunling Town, and Anxi Town were still border towns of the court, but in reality, all three families were consolidating military forces, observing the world’s upheaval.

Even Qu Changkong was in the same position. Qu Changkong had no choice; on one hand, he had to guard against the southern Jinlong Dynasty, and on the other, he could not send troops into Yun Gui, so he had to stay in the Southern Border Town guarding his limited territory.

To avoid internal chaos in Southern Border Town, he had to sideline the governor and the garrison eunuch.

At this time, he couldn’t trust these people at all and could only keep all military power in his own hands.

The southwest was unstable, and the southeast was not peaceful either.

After occupying Jiangnan, Chen Hengchang did not stop expanding, turning his eyes toward Fuhai Province.