Chapter 626: Bright sun and moon, majestic heaven

Yang Minghao was thoughtful, "It's better to destroy them, so that they won't provoke us again in the future!"

Luo Jinsong smiled and said, "Island Master, the population on our Xingyue Island is increasing. It is estimated that there will be no room for people in ten or eight years!"

This is not alarmist. The population of Shenmu Island has exceeded 30,000. In ten or eight years, it will not be difficult to exceed 50,000.

There are many problems caused by population growth. The first is the housing problem. Xingyue City has been expanded several times, and the villages scattered on the island are also constantly expanding.

The second is the food problem. The arable land on the island has long been unable to meet the daily needs of the people on the island. Now Xingyue Island has to buy 20,000 to 30,000 stones of food from outside every year.

The last problem is that the Yang family not only has Xingyue Island, but also several nearby islands that can be inhabited. Although the population on those islands is not growing as fast as Xingyue Island, it has doubled in the past 16 years.

So the problem of Xingyue Island's expansion is imminent.

Luo Jinsong obviously wants to occupy Shenmu Island to solve the problem of nowhere to settle caused by the population growth of Xingyue Island.

And Shenmu Island can indeed meet the needs of Xingyue Island. Apart from other things, Shenmu Island is very large, more than 30 times the size of Xingyue Island.

There are six other islands on the east and west sides of Shenmu Island, and each island is no smaller than Xingyue Island.

The seven islands are connected in a line on the vast ocean, like an emerald necklace inlaid on the sea.

If the Yang family can occupy the seven islands of Shenmu Island, then eight islands will be connected in a line, but Xingyue Island is a little far from Huya Island, more than 300 miles away, and it can barely be connected.

However, it is not easy to occupy the seven islands of Shenmu. Shenmu Sect has 500,000 or 600,000 believers. If you want them to surrender, you need to change their beliefs.

Unless you kill them all, it will be difficult to destroy Shenmu Sect. Don't talk about convincing people with virtue. Those fanatics will not reason with you, and Yang Zhengshan doesn't have the patience to reason with them.

Back then, Yang Zhengshan wiped out Xingyue Island, and did not leave any of the more than 100,000 people on the island.

In addition to the lucky Lu, Wang and Li families, Xingyue Island and its nearby islands, as well as the surrounding pirate forces, totaling 200,000 to 300,000 people, were all thrown into the sea to feed the fish.

"The resources on the seven islands of Shenmu Island are also very rich. Let's not talk about the value of their sacred trees. Let's talk about the corals near Huya Island, the sapphires on Baolan Island, and the fertile fields of Suiyun Island and Huoyun Island, which are enough to feed a million people!"

"And Shenlin Island also has many sacred trees, and those sacred trees are also treasures."

"The worst is Guiyun Island, but Guiyun Island not only has a natural harbor, but also on many routes. To the east, you can go to the Longdan Dynasty, to the south, you can go to the Tarot Dynasty, and to the southeast, you can even reach the legendary Dazhao Dynasty!"

"The bright sun and moon, the majestic Tianchao, that is the holy country of the Tianchao!"

Luo Jinsong couldn't help showing a yearning look.

Dazhao Dynasty is said to be an extremely powerful dynasty, and countless warriors in the southeast sea have an unparalleled yearning for it.

There are many legends about the Zhao Dynasty in the southeastern sea area, but few people know what the Zhao Dynasty looks like.

The main reason is that the distance is too far, and you have to cross the storm sea area with violent winds and turbulent waves.

The storm sea area is full of raging waves all year round, and the waves in that sea area are very special. The front of the waves is like a cliff, and the back is like a gentle slope. The waves can reach up to five meters high, and sometimes accompanied by rotating waves, and the whole sea surface rolls like a boiling pot.

Even if the largest Dafu ship of Dayong enters the storm sea area, it is likely to be overturned by the waves and sink to the bottom of the sea.

It is said that there is only more than two months a year when the waves in the storm sea area will be calmer, and large ships can barely pass.

However, the time of the calm period is not fixed, sometimes it comes early, and sometimes it comes late.

Therefore, crossing the storm sea area is like gambling with life.

Yang Zhengshan had also heard of the legends of the Zhao Dynasty and the Storm Sea, but he thought that the so-called Storm Sea was the place where ocean currents and air currents converged.

When cold air and hot air collide, violent storms will form. If a strong ocean current is added, it is not incomprehensible that it will cause a storm.

He also yearned for the so-called Zhao Dynasty and wanted to see the legendary country.

Yang Zhengshan pondered for a moment and said, "Then destroy the Shenmu Sect."

There were three reasons that drove him to destroy the Shenmu Sect. One was that Xingyue Island needed to expand. The second was because of his yearning for the Zhao Dynasty. If he had the chance, he would also like to visit the Zhao Dynasty. The third reason was that he wanted to study the sacred tree on Shenmu Island.

Although the sacred tree could not produce spiritual fruits, its efficacy was no worse than that of spiritual fruits. Its leaves, flowers, and fruits almost all had the efficacy comparable to precious medicines.

Moreover, the air roots of the sacred tree can be made into strong bows. Those strong bows are just good weapons in the hands of the sacred tree sect, but in the hands of Yang Zhengshan, they are definitely killing weapons.

Because Yang Zhengshan has enough acquired warriors who use strong bows.

If there are hundreds of acquired warriors at the seventh or eighth level using strong bows, the innate warriors will flee in panic.

Innate warriors can control the qi into armor, greatly improving their own defense, but the control of qi into armor also has a limit to defense, and the more attacks they receive, the more true qi they consume.

If there are hundreds of powerful arrows shooting at them, it will still be a great threat to the innate warriors.

In fact, a crossbow can threaten the innate warriors, but the attack of the crossbow is too clumsy to shoot accurately and cannot quickly adjust the shooting direction, so it is difficult for the crossbow to shoot the innate warriors.

But it would be different if it were a strong bow with more than ten stones. The accuracy, rate of fire and power were far above the crossbow.

Of course, strong bows also have flaws, that is, they must be warriors with a thousand pounds of strength to be able to pull.

Ordinary warriors cannot do it, and most of the acquired warriors below the sixth level can't do it. Under normal circumstances, only the acquired warriors at the seventh level or above can draw the ten-stone strong bow in succession.

However, if it is the warriors on Xingyue Island, the warriors above the fourth level of the acquired sky will have almost a thousand pounds of power, because all the warriors on Xingyue Island have drunk spiritual spring water, and their physique and strength must surpass those of the same level.

And if Xingyue Island can obtain the sacred tree of Shenmu Island, then Xingyue Island can build an extremely terrifying army of archers.

This is the main reason why Yang Zhengshan wanted to take over Shenmu Island.

"But it is difficult to capture Shenmu Island with our troops alone!" Yang Zhengshan said.

Yang Minghao said, "Then please help from Tenglong Guard!"

Yang Zhengshan nodded. There were only two thousand navy troops on Xingyue Island, and even with the escort of the merchant fleet, there were only seven thousand people.

It is obviously very difficult to win the Seven Islands of Shenmu by only seven thousand people.

In fact, Yang Zhengshan can also ask Dihuo Island for help, but Dihuo Island still has to deal with Jiuxing Island, so it is estimated that it will not be able to draw too much power.

However, Tenglong Guard is much easier. Now Tenglong Guard has 20,000 naval divisions, so it should not be difficult to mobilize 10,000 naval divisions.

If the court asks, you can also fool it with the reason of going to sea to train.

"I will write to Yu Tonghai and ask him to bring his troops here. You can prepare food and grass, and Tenglong Guard will come to help, so we will naturally pay the money and food!"

"There is also the situation on Shenmu Island. Send someone to investigate clearly first so that we can formulate a combat plan!"

Yang Zhengshan ordered.

Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao agreed immediately.

Then Yang Zhengshan arranged the specific matters and asked everyone to prepare.

He sat in the study and thought for a while before he wrote a letter to Yu Tonghai with his pen.

...

Shenmu Island and Shenlin Island are just one word different, but their status within the Shenmu Sect is a world of difference.

Shenmu Island is the holy land of Shenmu Sect. Only the most devout believers of Shenmu Sect can live on Shenmu Island. Outsiders are not allowed to enter Shenmu Island at all, except for forced entry.

Shenlin Island is only thirty miles away from Shenmu Island, and its area is about half that of Shenmu Island.

Although the Shenmu Sect is relatively xenophobic, they are not completely incompatible with the outside world. They do not allow outsiders to enter Shenmu Island, so they use Shenlin Island as a place to communicate with other forces.

The Shenmu Cult has a system of hierarchical ranks with clear hierarchical ranks, centralized and gradual management, which can also be called the priesthood, priest, main priest, senior deacon, intermediate deacon, low deacon, and divine genius.

No mistakes, one song, one content, one in 6, one book, one bar, one reading!

The first three are all priesthoods, and are specifically responsible for sacrificing sacrificial trees.

There is only one high priest and three priests. These are all absolute high-level leaders of the Shenmu Sect, because they have the cultivation level of the innate realm, and they can be understood as the leader and deputy leader.

Except for Shenmu Island, there is a main priest on each of the other six islands. The main priest’s responsibility is not to manage the people, but to sacrifice to the sacred trees.

The deacon is the real person who does things, just like the three-level officials of the prefecture, prefecture, and county level in Darong.

The gods are similar to officials, and they are usually followers and assistants of deacons.

As for ordinary people, they are just believers. They must maintain the most pious belief in the Divine Tree, and must comply with all the rules, pay taxes for the Divine Church, and be driven by the Divine Church.

In addition, the Shenmu Sect also has naval troops and merchant ships, which are generally classified according to this priesthood rank, but their soldiers are called tree soldiers.

The status of the tree soldiers in the Shenmu Sect is higher than that of ordinary religious believers and lower than that of the Divine Sect.

But ordinary sects and tree soldiers are both the lowest-level existences of the Shenmu Sect. They are a group of poor people who have been exploited by the senior members of the Shenmu Sect.

But these poor people are not worthy of pity. If you want to save them, they will treat you as a heresy and bury you under the divine tree and purify you.

Rule from faith is the most unreasonable.

It can turn everything unreasonable into reasonableness, it can distort human nature into any form.

There is a large-scale and majestic temple located on Shenlin Island, where a sacred tree is enshrined, which is a big banyan tree.

All the big banyan trees in the Shenmu Sect are used as the incarnation of the divine tree, so there is no statue of the god in their temple, only one big banyan tree.

Its architectural style is similar to that of the buildings in the south of Darong, and is mostly made of wooden structures.

It is not an exaggeration to say that everything is the gift of the Shenmu. Their food, clothing, housing and transportation are inseparable from the big banyan tree.

Their clothes are made from plant fibers in the bark and leaves, some similar to twine.

They will make the tender leaves of the sacred tree into tea, and this kind of tea tastes pretty good.

They will make ships with the air roots and branches of the sacred tree, and they will also build houses with the branches of the sacred tree.

At this time, in the temple on Shenlin Island, two old men with white hair were sitting under the sacred tree tasting the sacred tree tea.

Two old men, one of them was wearing a light green lantern shirt and had silver hair tied up with a branch with leaves.

The leaves on the silver hair are extremely green and extremely conspicuous.

It seems unlucky to wear green on the head, but this is the custom of the Shenmu Sect. Moreover, the wooden hairpin with leaves is exclusive to the priests of the Shenmu Sect. The priests below the chief priest are not qualified to use wooden hairpins with leaves.

The other one is wearing a deep blue yisa, which is a narrow sleeve and a pleated hem.

The old man in green is Hou Fangjin, a priest of the Shenmu Sect. The old man in blue robe is Wen Qing, from the Tarot Dynasty. However, he is not one of those blue-robed warriors. He is a member of the royal family of the Tarot Dynasty and the uncle of the current Tarot King.

In fact, Yang Zhengshan and Yang Mingzhi both guessed wrong. The Shenmu Sect relies not on Jiuxing Island, but on the Tarot Dynasty. Their purpose is not to stop the Yang family from trading in the Longdan Dynasty, but to promote peace through war.

To put it nicely, it is to promote peace through war. To put it bluntly, it is to beat you into submission.

To put it simply, they just want to get a share of the sea trade of Dayong, but they want to intervene in Dayong's sea trade and cannot do without the cooperation of the Yang family, so their goal is not to stop the sea trade of the Yang family, but to make the Yang family surrender and use them.

Shenmu Island has long been jealous of the trade of Xingyue Island, and the Tarot Dynasty also wants to use Dayong's trade to make more profits in the southern waters.

The two sides hit it off and reached a cooperation.

"Now that we have intercepted the fleet of the Yang family business, can we take the initiative to attack next?" Wen Qing put down the teacup with some disdain.

This kind of Shenshu tea is not in line with his appetite at all. It is not as good as the tea produced by their Tarot Dynasty, and it is not as good as the good tea from Dayong.

Hou Fangjin drank it with relish and put on an expression of enjoyment.

"No need to take the initiative. Yang Zhengshan, the butcher, has always been domineering. He will definitely not swallow his anger. It won't be long before he comes to ask for an explanation in person!" Hou Fangjin said with a faint smile.

Yang Zhengshan was also known as the butcher in the southeastern sea area. The reason for this was that Yang Zhengshan led the four sea naval forces of Darong to wipe out the Xingyue Sect. At that time, all the people and pirates on Xingyue Island and the surrounding islands were slaughtered.

As for the reputation of being a tyrant, it was naturally because Yang Zhengshan came to reason with the chief priest of Shenmu Island.

Yang Zhengshan has always been the best at reasoning with a spear.

"So as long as we can defeat him, we can make him surrender?"

Wen Qing didn't know much about Yang Zhengshan. He only knew that Yang Zhengshan was not weak, and he didn't know anything else.

"Of course not, we have to hurt Xingyue Island and let Xingyue Island know that this sea area is not a place where they can be arrogant!" Hou Fangjin said confidently.

Shenmu Sect regarded Yang Zhengshan's forced entry into Shenmu Island as a shame. They have always wanted to avenge the previous shame, but they knew Yang Zhengshan's strength, so they have been enduring all these years.

Now with the help of the Tarot Dynasty, they not only want to bite off a piece of fat from the Yang family business, but also want to avenge their previous humiliation and vent all the bad anger they have suffered in the past.