Chapter 397 Going North
After taking control of Jiangnan, Xin Zhen worked there for three years. This year was exactly the tenth year since the first batch of disciples including Shen Liqiu entered the sect, so Xin Zhen turned his attention to the north.

Although there is the Shaolin Beggars' Sect in the north and the Central Plains martial arts world is full of masters, the Huashan Sect is now fearless.

Shen Liqiu and other second and third batches of disciples have all grown up. There are hundreds of top-notch masters, thousands of first-rate masters, and thousands of second-rate masters. Not to mention the Shaolin Beggars' Sect, even the entire Central Plains martial arts world combined is not enough to defeat the Huashan disciples.

The Huashan Sect marched north in a large force and first confronted the Beggars' Sect, which had the largest territory. The Beggars' Sect had developed well in recent years under the combination of You Tanzhi and Quan Guanqing. You Tanzhi ensured the output of military force, and Quan Guanqing was a very smart man. With their combination, the Beggars' Sect became even stronger than during Xiao Feng's reign.

In recent years, droughts and floods have occurred frequently in the north, and there have been waves of refugees. The Beggars' Gang has grown stronger as a result. By this time, the number of Beggars' Gang members in the north has almost reached hundreds of thousands. The prestige of the Beggars' Gang in the north is at its peak, and even the Shaolin Temple dares not to mess with it.

However, the Huashan Sect's move northward revealed the Beggars' Sect's true nature of being bloated.

Although the Beggars' Sect has a large number of people, the number of masters is insufficient. Thousands of disciples from the Huashan Sect went north, among whom there are hundreds of top-notch masters and thousands of first-class masters. How can the Beggars' Sect resist them?

The Huashan Sect had taken down all the branches of the Beggars' Sect one by one, but the Beggars' Sect had more people and more power, and using human wave tactics to deal with the Huashan Sect actually caused the Huashan Sect some trouble.

Xin Zhen did not want to fight to the death with the Beggars' Sect. After all, the Beggars' Sect was also the power of the Han people. If too many people were killed, it would inevitably undermine the power of the Han people.

So Xin Zhen went north in person and entered the Beggar Gang's headquarters in Luoyang. He captured You Tanzhi, Quan Guanqing and other Beggar Gang elders single-handedly and forced them to sign a humiliating treaty. As a result, the Huashan Sect successfully entered the north and gained a foothold.

War is only a means, and it ultimately comes down to the control of resources. Under the leadership of Xin Zhen, the Huashan Sect has excellent business genes. Various businesses under the Huashan Sect that have fought their way out of the Jiangnan area, a breeding ground for insects, have entered the north, and under the protection of the Huashan Sect, have begun to occupy the market in the north.

The Beggars' Sect discovered that not only did they lose the war with the Huashan Sect, but that was not fatal. Instead, it was the defeat in the business war that made the Beggars' Sect increasingly weak.

The hundreds of thousands of people in the Beggars' Sect are certainly a great fighting force, but without financial support, how can they grow and develop? Even for the Beggars' Sect, it is not to say that members are left to beg for food on their own, and then there are those who particularly support the Beggars' Sect. They must have money and goods to support such a large organization.

The business war launched by Huashan Sect uprooted the Beggars' Sect, causing it to gradually weaken. By the time Quan Guanqing and others reacted, the Huashan Sect had already established a firm foundation.

Once a powerful dragon like the Huashan Sect has gained a foothold, it will be impossible to drive them out.

Quan Guanqing devised a vicious plan, hoping to create enmity between the Huashan Sect and the Shaolin Temple, and let the Shaolin Temple fight the Huashan Sect to the death, so that the Beggars' Sect could reap the benefits. However, he had just laid out the bait when the Huashan Sect seized the opportunity and launched a war against the Shaolin Temple.

The Shaolin Temple does not have as many members as the Beggars' Sect, but it should not be underestimated. It has firmly occupied the four provinces over the years. Even the Huashan Sect has infiltrated it several times, and it has been difficult to shake it. Its influence extends throughout the Song Dynasty. After all, the title of "Shaolin is the source of all martial arts in the world" is too famous.

After careful consideration, Xin Zhen knew that this battle had to be fought. The mountains, rivers and four provinces were too important. If the battle was not fought, it would be difficult to form the value of the united front.

So Xin Zhen personally brought thousands of disciples to Shaolin to fulfill the wishes that the Beggars' Sect had not achieved in the past.

Huashan Sect and Shaolin Temple fought two battles. In one, Xin Zhen challenged all the Xuan generation, and in the other, Shen Liqiu led 7749 disciples to form a Tiangang Beidou formation to defeat Shaolin's 108 Luohan formation. The Shaolin Luohan formation is naturally very powerful, but the Tiangang Beidou formation is also extremely powerful. Moreover, the 7749 disciples led by Shen Liqiu are top-notch masters. Even if Xin Zhen faced the Tiangang Beidou formation composed of 49 people, he would be defeated, not to mention the Shaolin Luohan formation.

Shaolin admitted defeat and was willing to close its gates for ten years.

At this point, the Huashan Sect took over the four provinces of Shanhe and completed the unification of the Song Dynasty's martial arts world. The Huashan Sect became the leader of the martial arts world.

Afterwards, Xin Zhen went to Dali and took the Six-Meridian Divine Sword from Duan Yanqing.

Three years ago, Duan Yanqing borrowed 800 disciples from Xin Zhen and went to Dali to take back his position. Then, with the help of these 800 disciples, he achieved real control over Dali and promised Xin Zhen that if necessary, the Dali army would be Xin Zhen's soldiers.

At this time, the Jin and Liao countries in the north were at war. Because Xiao Feng was a member of a powerful family and had great abilities, he was appointed King of the Southern Court and led his troops to fight against the Jin soldiers.

At this time, the Northern Song Dynasty successively sent envoys Ma Zheng and Zhao Liangsi to make a maritime alliance with the Jin Dynasty and jointly attack the Liao Dynasty. The Liao Dynasty was trapped by the Eastern Route Army and captured Zhongjing Dading Prefecture. Emperor Tianzuo fled to the desert.

At the same time, the Western Army also captured Datong Prefecture in Xijing. Xiao Feng, Yelu Dashi and others supported Yelu Chun in Xijin Prefecture in Nanjing and called it Northern Liao.

The Northern Song Dynasty also sent Tong Guan and others to lead troops to attack Liao Nanjing and other Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun many times, but they were all defeated by the Liao army.

The Northern Song Dynasty finally asked the Jin army to capture Nanjing, and the Northern Liao Dynasty was destroyed. At this point, all five capitals of Liao were captured by the Jin army. After negotiations between the Song and Jin sides, the Jin army gave some cities of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

However, what they didn't know was that in the chaos of the war, the Huashan Sect had already entered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and took advantage of the war to take root in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Although the Jin Army and the Song Army each occupied parts of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the Huashan Sect actually controlled these areas.

Afterwards, the Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty went to war. Xin Zhen began to exert his strength and launched an uprising in the south of the Yangtze River. He took over the area south of the Yangtze River in one fell swoop. The Song Dynasty's monarchs and ministers were panicked and negotiated peace with the Jin Dynasty, but the Jin Dynasty would not miss this opportunity and launched a fierce attack on the Song Dynasty. At this time, the Huashan School of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun raised an army to cut off the Jin Dynasty's food supply. The Northern Liao took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the Jin Dynasty's base camp. For a time, the situation became a mess.

The Jin Dynasty realized that it was hopeless, so it quickly withdrew its troops and confronted Northern Liao, intending to destroy Northern Liao and then look for an opportunity to move south.

Xin Zhen took the opportunity to besiege the Song Dynasty from the north and the south. The Song Dynasty's strategy had always been to guard against the north. The south was the rear, so there was no way to guard against it. So the Huashan faction in the south crossed the Yangtze River and Huai River and attacked Bianliang directly, capturing Song Huizong, Song Qinzong and other royal family members of the Song Dynasty. Xin Zhen ascended the throne in Bianliang and named the country Hua.

The Song Dynasty ended here.

Northern Liao also suffered under the attack of the Jin Dynasty, especially when the Jin Dynasty joined forces with Western Xia to attack Northern Liao. In order to unite with Western Xia to destroy Liao, Jin Taizong ceded the Liao land north of Xiazhai and south of Yinshan Mountain to Western Xia.

(End of this chapter)