Chapter 47: Shooting the Sun, An Old Acquaintance

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[This rebellion was destined to be a bloody affair from the moment the furious Grand Chancellor led a massive army toward Yangzhou……]
[Admittedly, viewed from the perspective of a normal reformer, the methods you used in this coup were undoubtedly simple and crude, even incomprehensible.]
[Because normal reformers are usually constrained by two conditions: the balance of power between the imperial court and the localities, and the degree of support from the emperor behind them.]
[If the imperial court holds no absolute military advantage over the localities, and the emperor's support is insufficient, then if reformers rashly take ruthless action, they are very likely to provoke mutinies and rebellions that shake the court's rule. Moreover, sensing that the situation is turning sour, the emperor will most likely cut ties with them directly……]
[For instance, Chao Cuo's reform of stripping the fiefs of the princes during the Western Han Dynasty provoked the Rebellion of the Seven States led by Wu and Chu. This frightened Emperor Jing of Han into severing ties on the spot and hurriedly executing Chao Cuo, resulting in the complete failure of political vassal-state reduction, leaving future generations with no choice but to use brute military force!]
[Another example is Wang Anshi's reforms in the Northern Song Dynasty. Because Wang Anshi provoked unanimous opposition from both the court and the localities, it frightened Emperor Shenzong of Song into cutting ties on the spot. Although he did not execute him directly, he stripped him of his post as Chancellor and dismissed him from office!]
[Take the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen's reduction of the vassal states as well. In this case, the court's military strength completely overwhelmed the localities, and since the reformer was the emperor himself, Zhu Yunwen, convinced that "victory is in my hands," charged right in!]
[Yet who could have expected that his own side was entirely composed of idiot teammates, while the enemy turned out to be descending deities? He still lost even with dragon-riding superiority…… Worse yet, because the reformer was the emperor himself, Zhu Yunwen could not cut ties with himself at all, leaving him with the tragic fate of an unknown life or death……]
[Therefore, the experience of successive dynasties has taught later generations a profound lesson: reforming carries risks, and state transformations require caution. Even if victory truly seems to be in your hands, do not recklessly provoke conflicts between yourself and the enemy, because the rights and wrongs of such matters are truly hard to judge……]
[Yet look at you. For your opening move, you pulled off a complete Cadian-style capital coup, taking down all the court parasites in one fell wave…… And then, without pausing for breath, you issued a New Deal manifesto across the entire country, declaring that you would bring all evil to justice. Imperial relatives, nobles, corrupt officials, prominent gentry, wealthy merchants…… they were all targets of your purge!]
[This operation of yours was certainly exhilarating, but it also instantly ignited the antagonism between yourselves and the enemy! It threw the two capitals and thirteen provinces into utter chaos, forcing vested interest groups to fight for their own survival and even triggering a military rebellion on the scale of Yangzhou!]
[Once your suppression falls short, following the conventional fate of failed ancient reforms, you are undoubtedly doomed……]
[However, you never once believed you would lose!]
[Since you dared to stage a Cadian-style coup d'état, you were naturally prepared for a Cadian-style iron-fisted suppression: with the God-Emperor presiding over the situation and the Embroidered Uniform Guard in your grasp, how could a dragon-riding advantage possibly lose?]
[That is why you stirred things up with such fervent passion, eager to drive all the parasites into rebellion so you could wipe them out in one fell swoop!]
[Besides, only such violent and drastic actions could resolve the deep-seated abuses plaguing the Great Ming for years…… This is no different from dynastic replacement.]
[Or rather, you are essentially replacing the dynasty……]
[Just as the Han is divided into Western and Eastern, and the Song into Northern and Southern—sharing the name of a single dynasty, yet functioning as two distinct eras—once your "reform" succeeds, the Great Ming will also be divided into the "Former Ming" and the "Later Ming"……]
[In short, brimming with the conviction of victory and yearning for the future, you led a massive army straight toward Yangzhou. You intend to use your "Great Ming" to replace their "Great Ming"!]
[The Great Ming—the Great Sun!]
[Since your coup only accomplished the feat of "exterminating parasites," it is now time to fulfill the feat of "shooting down the suns," completing the grand duo of "exterminating parasites and shooting the suns"!]
[……]
[When you led your army on a thousand-li expedition and reached the Yangzhou frontline, Gao Yiming, who had failed to suppress the rebellion effectively, offered his confession to you without a word!]
[Tasked with a crisis as the Senior Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, he lacked any trace of the high-spirited demeanor he had when setting out on the campaign. Disheveled, utterly battered, and accompanied by the mere thousand remaining remnants of his defeated troops, he cut a profoundly decadent figure of defeat……]
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[Yet you showed no intention of punishing him, merely inquiring in detail about the course of the battles and the enemy's situation.]
[At the mere mention of this, Gao Yiming, who had barely managed to restrain himself, instantly choked up: "Your Excellency does not know, those Yangzhou rebels are by no means mere rioters! They are far stronger than the garrison troops, and hardly inferior to the Capital Guards……"]
["Their strength stems not only from wielding divine power, but also from their strict obedience to orders and highly disciplined military tactics……"]
[Oh? Strict obedience to orders?!]
[Hearing this, your brow furrowed instantly: The Great Ming lacks universal military training like later generations; how could ordinary commoners possibly obey orders so strictly? And execute military tactics with such proficiency?]
[If Gao Yiming had not falsified the military reports, the enemy likely received specialized military training, or rather, one might even call them a real army!]
[No…… The localities of the Great Ming possess no such disciplined armies; there are only serf-like garrison troops. This can only mean that they are……]
[It is a private army!]
[A shock ran through your heart: Cultivating a private army? This is truly a rebellion!]
[Thus, you quickly pressed him for more details regarding the enemy forces……]
[What he said next largely aligned with what you had seen in the battle reports: Not only did the enemy forces bear the traces of military training, but they were also equipped with a vast number of Western matchlocks and modern artillery.]
[When engaging the Capital Guards, they coordinated impeccably, suddenly bombarding the capital troops with heavy artillery. Once the capital forces fell into disarray, they deployed into echelon formations, firing volleys of matchlocks. The dense rain of bullets threw the already panicked capital troops into even greater disarray, inflicting heavy casualties……]
[Not to mention that the enemy forces also displayed formidable divine power reactions!]
[ "……Your subordinate engaged them repeatedly with six thousand troops, yet only a thousand remnants remain. It is truly difficult to sustain this," Gao Yiming choked out.]
[ "Had Your Excellency not arrived, this subordinate would have had no choice but to leap into the river and drown himself to demonstrate his loyalty with his death, preserving the court's integrity and avoiding capture by the rebel outlaws……"]
[ "Now that Your Excellency has arrived, this subordinate only begs Your Excellency to spare these thousand soldiers and officers, and not hold them accountable for this defeat…… All faults lie with this subordinate alone. This subordinate begs for a swift death!"]
[Hearing their superior plead on their behalf in such a manner, the thousand remaining Capital Guards soldiers kowtowed sorrowfully one after another, begging the Grand Chancellor to spare Vice Minister Gao……]
[To be honest, the scene of them pleading for each other looked remarkably like a well-rehearsed double act, and even you could not tell whether they had planned it intentionally.]
[However, considering they had indeed suffered heavy casualties, and that the primary reason for failure lay in the overwhelming strength of the enemy, you chose not to dwell on the matter……]
[Instead of reprimanding them, you offered words of comfort: "This defeat is not your responsibility; how could this Chancellor punish you?"]
[Hearing that they would escape punishment, Gao Yiming and the thousand defeated soldiers finally breathed a sigh of relief……]
[Next, you directly ordered them to rest and regroup in place, while you personally led the Embroidered Uniform Guard to charge straight for Yangzhou City!]
[You wanted to see precisely how formidable these rebellious outlaws really were!]
[……]
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[Compared to the descriptions in history books of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of troops, a mere three thousand men were naturally not considered a large force.]
[Yet your three thousand men were Astartes to the last. As the Son of Heaven's personal guards, they had undergone unimaginable training and selection from the very beginning: physical conditioning and martial prowess were standard requirements, but willpower and resistance to the corruption of divine might were of paramount importance!]
[Every single one of them was a superhuman monster wearing human skin, genuinely possessing the terrifying strength to match a hundred men apiece.]
[Under the blessing of divine power, every one of them could leap over a zhang high, fight bears and tigers bare-handed, and surpass ordinary people in every physical metric by more than ten times. Clad in heavy armor and wielding heavy blades, each of them was a human tank…… If three thousand such men moved out in an organized fashion, conquering cities and seizing territories would be effortless!]
[Although they could not soar through the skies or burrow through the earth like the God-Emperor, dropping this group of flesh-clad monsters into the current historical era meant absolute slaughter!]
[Now that you had brought them along, this mysterious faction of Yangzhou rebels would have to bear your wrath!]
[That day, you led your troops to attack the strongholds scattered across various locations by the Yangzhou rebels!]
[Facing the sudden assault of your Astartes, most strongholds had no time to react and were completely subdued in mere minutes…… As for those strongholds that managed to react, although they frantically and hurriedly organized resistance, due to the insurmountable gap in strength, they were likewise subdued in short order.]
[Upon capturing useful high-ranking prisoners, you immediately began interrogation!]
[Yet these captives, without exception, could provide no useful information. They only knew they were guards recruited by various landlords and wealthy merchants of Yangzhou……]
[Guards?]
[You were so angry you laughed: Which family's guards are trained to military standards? Moreover, the Ming military is still generally using cold weapons and crude matchlocks, yet your guards are equipped with flintlocks almost universally, and execute volley-fire tactics with such finesse……]
[Foreigners—do they no longer fear the God-Emperor?!]
[You grew furious and anxious: It is all happening at once! Parasites within, jackals without…… If you fail to clean this up, you will simply recreate the divine slaughter of the God-Emperor's era!]
[Are all of you courting death?!]
[ Thinking of that terrifying outcome, you burned with rage and shouted demandingly, "Who is your leader?!"]
[You decided that once you captured this terrorist who feared nothing more than peace in the world, you would hack, slice, and chop his filthy body into pieces!]
[ "Who is he?!"]
[Faced with your bloodshot eyes and your murderous roar, the unfortunate rebel minor leader turned pale with fright, taking a long time before trembling out a single name.]
[A name both familiar and strange, leaving you utterly dumbfounded……]
[ "Our leader…… No! That rebel leader! That rebel leader is called…… called…… called Liu Yizhao! Yes! Liu Yizhao!"]
[……]
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