Chapter 291: Emperor Zhengde’s Vision Spanned the Ages
Master Fang Zheng knew without hesitation that it wouldn't take long for today's events to spread throughout the martial arts world.

He knelt in front of the Buddha, his face full of sorrow.

Clearly everything had been arranged. Even the bodies of Xue Xiangzhu, the incense master of the Tianfeng Hall of the Demon Cult, and Wang Lu, the leader of the Black Flag of Huguang, were not buried until after they were secretly inspected by the people of the Songshan Sect.

After all, the monk who chants at the funeral is also a monk. Shaolin only needs to give a few words and it is not difficult to delay it for two or three days.

But I never expected that Zuo Lengchan would make such a choice.

Master Fang Zheng closed his eyes and fell into deep thought. Based on his understanding of Zuo Lengchan, he would not do such a thing.

This kind of working style of "I take all the benefits and you take the blame" is too similar to some people in the court.
Could it be that Lord Ou is giving instructions behind the scenes?
Is he too idle?
At this time, a novice monk came in, clasped his hands together and said, "Abbot, Taoist Chongxu is here to visit."

Master Fang Zheng opened his eyes, then stood up and walked out of the Buddhist hall.

An old Taoist priest with a thin figure, silver hair and beard, and holding a dustpan in his hand, stood under the eaves, admiring the scenery of Mount Shaoshi in a natural manner.

Seeing Master Fang Zheng coming out, Taoist Chongxu smiled and saluted, saying, "Master Fang Zheng, how are you?"

“Fellow Daoist Chongxu.” After Master Fangzheng returned the greeting, the two of them strolled in Shaolin.

"I have heard about the incident in Shaolin yesterday." Taoist Chongxu looked at Master Fangzheng, his expression revealing a bit of gloating.

Master Fang Zheng lowered his head and said calmly, "Amitabha, the Five Mountains Sword Sect is determined to uphold justice in the martial arts world. I am deeply touched by their sincerity and feel comforted. If all sects work together, we can expect peace in the martial arts world."

Taoist Chongxu nodded in agreement and said with a longing look on his face: "If the martial arts world were free of all these disturbances, it would be a peaceful and carefree place."

After hearing this, Master Fangzheng looked even more worried. Taoist Chongxu couldn't fool him, and Zuo Lengchan had Ou Zanghua guiding him. Where could he find another good sword?

Thinking of this, Master Fang Zheng felt his scalp go cold.
In a bamboo forest outside Luoyang City, there is a small wooden house. From a distance, several horses can be seen parked outside the house.

The next moment, a deafening shout of "waste" was heard from the wooden house, and then two figures were knocked out. They fell to the ground and spit out several mouthfuls of blood. It was obvious that they were not going to survive.

Xiang Wentian, who had just returned, saw this scene and said to the others indifferently, "Drag him away and bury him far away. Don't dirty the Saint Lady's land."

"Yes!" The remaining few people responded tremblingly, quickly walked out of the wooden house, and dragged the two dead bodies away.

"Brother Xiang is back! How's the situation?" Ren Woxing sat steadily in the wooden house and asked calmly, as if he was not the one who had just been angry.

"In reply to the leader, I made some inquiries and found out that Zuo Lengchan did indeed summon the cavalry out of the city that night and brought the people from Huashan and Hengshan back to the city." Xiang Wentian bowed and said slowly.

Ren Woxing narrowed his eyes. It sounded like he was blaming himself for killing the wrong person!

Xiang Wentian continued, "There is another piece of news. The Five Mountains Sword Sect is preparing to join forces with Shaolin and Wudang to safeguard the righteousness of the martial arts world."

"Ok?"

Ren Woxing frowned slightly, looked at Xiang Wentian and asked, "Those fools from the Five Mountains Sword Sect, aren't they going to be the first to stand out?"

"It seems to be the case at the moment." Xiang Wentian nodded.

"Hiss!" Ren Woxing was quite surprised: "Zuo Lengchan's wooden head has finally come to his senses!"

"Master, what should we do now?" Xiang Wentian asked directly when he saw Ren Woxing's reaction.

"Zuo Lengchan is now the co-director of the Luoyang Guard of the imperial court. He has many soldiers and generals under his command, so it is indeed difficult to offend him." Ren Woxing became angry again when he said this.

His original plan was to kill Yue Buqun and his group, and then push Linghu Chong to the position of the leader of Huashan. Given Linghu Chong's character, the Five Mountains Sword Sect could not be integrated.

For this purpose, he specially sent people to delay Linghu Chong, who was following the Huashan Sect, and prevent him from participating.

But he didn't expect that Mo Da of Hengshan Sect would interfere, and Zuo Lengchan would even personally take action.
Thinking of this, Ren Woxing couldn't help but laugh. After not seeing each other for twelve years, the opponents who he once looked down upon have grown a lot!

"Master, do you mean Shaolin?" Xiang Wentian asked hesitantly.

"No,"

Ren Woxing shook his head and said, "Now is the time when those so-called righteous martial arts are at their most arrogant. We don't need to compete with them. We can just take advantage of this opportunity to go up to Black Wood Cliff!"

Xiang Wentian's pupils shrank, revealing an expression of disbelief.
People in the underworld are scheming against each other, and the situation in the court is not much better.

When Ou Zanghua arrived at the Leopard House, he saw a big thing. This thing was about three meters high and covered with a layer of iron sheet with several holes left. Judging from the shape, it should be the muzzle of a cannon.

"Ou Qing, what do you think of my creation?"

Emperor Zhengde came over wearing golden fish-scale armor and a blood-red cape, and said with a bit of pride: "I name this thing the Zhengde Chariot! It has three floors. The first floor is driven by ten internal martial arts masters. The second floor has eight cannons, and the third floor has six cannons."

"It's covered with iron sheets, so arrows can't penetrate it! Soldiers just need to stand inside and fire at the enemy."

"This is a mobile fortress. When it appears on the prairie, it will surely sweep away the Mongolian cavalry!"

Ou Zanghua looked up at the Zhengde chariot. There is a saying that goes, since the invention of the Maxim machine gun, nomadic peoples have become good at singing and dancing.

Emperor Zhengde's vision was beyond the times, he invented the 'tank'.
"Your Majesty, this thing is indeed miraculous, but it has obvious flaws."

Ou Zanghua thought for a while before saying, "The advantage of cavalry is their speed and quick movement. When they find that they cannot break the defense of this creature, they will choose to wander or retreat. We can't rely on the two legs of an expert to chase the four legs of a horse, right?"

After hearing this, Emperor Zhengde was stunned. He looked at this big guy with a bit of melancholy for a moment, "So, Mr. Ou thinks that the Zhengde chariot is flashy but impractical?"

"That's not the case. In my humble opinion, your Majesty's ideas are beyond the times."

Ou Zanghua shook his head and said seriously: "When I saw the Zhengde chariot, my first thought was, since the artillery can be installed on the chariot, can it be installed somewhere else?"

"For example, put two wheels on the cannon? In this way, the soldiers can push the cannon and the marching speed should be faster!"

What needs to be considered for wheeled artillery are recoil and stability. There happens to be a researcher on hand so we can try to work on it.

After hearing this, Emperor Zhengde stroked his chin and thought: "I understand what Mr. Ou meant. Let's shrink the Zhengde chariot, right, Zhang Banban? Let the Armory Bureau try it!"

(End of this chapter)