The small countries around the Great Lin Empire had been annexed long ago, and now, only a few dependent countries paid their tributes every year.

However, the Song Empire had been weakened for many years as the monarch indulged in their country’s political affairs. There was no extra energy or thoughts to deal with these small countries around him. Hence, it allowed them to develop for many years without interfering with each other.

The Great Lin Empire coveted those small countries and wanted to annex them all at once, but there was a river known as the River Huai present at the border of the Song Empire. If Emperor Lin wanted to send troops to those small countries, he had to pass through that territory of the Song Empire.

Ever since Song Jinglan ascended the throne, those small countries have become nothing but thorns in his eyes. After rectifying the internal affairs, it was natural that his next move was to fight against the outside world.

When Emperor Lin heard the news, he immediately summoned the generals and wanted to take the opportunity to send his army to the Song Empire. However, it turned out that the Song Empire’s mobilization of troops had also fully increased their border’s defense strength, making it twice as much as the Great Lin Empire’s army head count. If Emperor Lin wanted to send over his army at this time, he would have to dispatch more troops from other places.

However, the Great Lin Empire’s other soldiers had their missions. Take the deployment of soldiers at the Shanyong Gates as an example. The Yong Kingdom’s soldiers were on the other side of the gates, wishing that fewer troops would be stationed at the gates so they could break through in one fell swoop.

Emperor Lin was slightly speechless, “This boy of the Song Empire dispatched so many of his troops and horses to guard the border, so how did he get that many people to attack the Wei Kingdom?”

The Emperor’s general replied, “When the troops were sent to defend the country, the Song Emperor personally led the rest of his army toward the Wei Kingdom and only brought 30,000 soldiers with him.”

Emperor Lin sneered and said, “Although this person has a few tricks up his sleeves, he’s also thinking very highly of himself to try and take down the Wei Kingdom with merely 30,000 troops. However, the old man of the Wei family was also a brave man back then. It seems like the child of the Song Empire is biting off more than he can chew.”

As a result, before the end of spring, the news came from the Great Lin Empire’s military scouts that the Song Empire had defeated the Wei Kingdom and forced them to surrender.

Emperor Lin, who was figuratively slapped in the face, “?”

Even then, this was not the end. After the annexation of the Wei Kingdom, in the next year, Song Jinglan personally led the iron cavalry and marched across thousands of miles, conquering the smaller countries of his surroundings one by one. With that, he gradually retook the Huainan Prefecture.

According to reports from his military scouts, among the soldiers who followed him to fight, there was a group of villains who had committed crimes in the martial world. Back then, this group of people occupied the mountain as kings while burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of crimes. They were the ones who established the Thirteen Villages of Chixiao, the well-known bandit group that even typical martial artists in the world wouldn’t stand a chance against.

But at some point, the once majestic and infamous group of bandits, the Thirteen Villages of Chixiao, gradually vanished and never reappeared in the martial world ever again. Some courageous people tried to investigate this incident, but they found their hideout empty as they were gone without a trace.