Chapter 54: The Later Ming!

[“Please, Your Majesty, send down divine punishment upon the Western barbarians!”]

[You solemnly made this request to the Divine Emperor!]

[Compared to your previous probing attempt of asking for a salary increase, this direct request for Him to strike down the West was obviously much better suited to test His true depths. Furthermore, your reason for making the request was extremely well-grounded, leaving no room for suspicion that you were testing Him...]

[After all, the foreigners were truly malicious overseas forces who had secretly conspired with the Yangzhou rebels to draft a God-Slaying Plan. Their wild ambitions were plain for all to see. Any Divine Emperor with the slightest bit of temper and capability would certainly strike them down with divine punishment!]

[And as a "loyal minister," you naturally ought to share the monarch's burdens, so putting forward this proposal was entirely reasonable.]

[The Divine Emperor had no reason to refuse!]

[Yet... He actually refused.]

[To your astonishment, upon hearing your request, the Divine Emperor unexpectedly wore a look of helplessness. Hesitant and wishing to say something, He remained silent for quite a long while before finally shaking His head, His face full of embarrassment...]

[Huh?!]

[Your eyes widened in an instant: No way?! He... He has really grown weaker?!]

[He won't even strike back for this?!]

[In a split second, a myriad of thoughts surged together in your mind, and a daring idea gradually took root...]

[Ding! Facing the Divine Emperor who could no longer conceal His decline, your passionate heart involuntarily began to stir. You choose: (?)]

[A: Secretly cultivate death-defying loyalists, following the precedent of Sima Zhongda! Although the Divine Emperor is still very powerful, you are young enough. As long as you study Sima Zhongda's longevity arts, who knows, you might actually live to see the day when the Divine Emperor's strength is completely exhausted. When that time comes, you can raise your arms in a call, and everyone will naturally unite to enthrone you as the new emperor! Then you can curse Him, "Emperor, Emperor, Emperor! You wretched dog-footed emperor!", and beat the emperor with three punches...]

[B: Exert your utmost effort until your heart stops beating, following the precedent of Zhuge Kongming! The Divine Emperor delegated power halfway through His enterprise, elevating you to the position of Chancellor in a single bound, thus placing the great momentum of the world at your disposal... He is like a combination of Liu Bei and Liu Shan as father and son, showing you immense grace as heavy as a mountain. According to "feudal values," you naturally must exhaust your efforts and give your all until death, becoming a fiercely loyal Chancellor Zhou Zifang, the light of virtuous ministers shining through the ages!]

[...¶

Zhou Liang could not help scratching his head:

"What's going on? Can the Divine Emperor really weaken just like those people in Yangzhou said?!"

That doesn't make sense, right? Clearly, until the ninety-ninth year of Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian had not been overthrown. Why is He already failing in the simulation at only the seventy-fourth year of Chongzhen?

Could it be that the so-called God-Slaying Plan actually possessed some feasibility?

Once this thought arose, Zhou Liang—who had spent his entire life wanting to slay a god—immediately let his imagination run wild...

Was there truly a need to slay the Divine Emperor?

OfGourse there was!

If the god-slaying succeeded, firstly, it would avenge the tens of millions of people who died unjustly back then; secondly, it would eliminate a potential ticking time bomb for the world, as no one knew if He would once again stir up heaven-shaking bloodshed like in the past.

As for the final point, it was the secret to ascending to godhood...

Growing up under the oppression of the Divine Emperor's mighty power, how many people did not envy His strength and nobility?

Just like the sentiments expressed by Liu Bang and Xiang Yu back then when they witnessed the majestic royal inspection tour of Qin Shi Huang:

A great man should be like this!

That fellow can be replaced!

Later on, Napoleon also said something similar: A soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier!

Envying the strength of others and wanting to become someone like them was only human nature... Furthermore, as a time-traveler like Zhou Liang, knowing full well that divine beings existed in this world, how could he possibly have no designs on this magnificent power?

If he could take down the Divine Emperor, not only would it remove a major scourge for the world, but it might also grant him the power of his dreams... Why not do it?

This was a true win-win scenario!

However, Zhou Liang was no fool; he would not do inappropriate things at inappropriate times. After a brief period of reflection, he calmed himself down:

"Killing the Divine Emperor is certainly wonderful, but the timing is wrong right now... At present, He is the sole pillar of the Great Ming. Once He falls, a Great Ming in a state of weakness will instantly face invasion and oppression from all sides, and the casualties among the common people will by no means be a small number!"

"Although I want to take His place, personal interests should never override the collective. Therefore, the Divine Emperor cannot die yet... At least until the Ming Dynasty truly experiences a renaissance, He must stay alive!"

So, should he choose A?

Zhou Liang was about to make his selection when he frowned again:

"No..."

"The Divine Emperor isn't one of those blind folks in Cao Wei. If I secretly cultivate death-defying guards right under His nose and stage a Gaopingling Incident, I'm truly overthinking it... Besides, if I were the Divine Emperor, I would definitely reserve more than enough divine power as a fallback. How could I possibly use it all up and wait for my subjects to rebel?"

"The moment He discovers my little tricks, I am dead for sure..."

"Moreover, I still harbor a tiny lingering doubt as to whether the Divine Emperor has truly grown weak..."

Zhou Liang wore a troubled expression:

Thinking from multiple angles, he could not rule out the possibility that the Divine Emperor was feigning weakness on purpose to fish for rebels... Rather than risking being caught as a hooked fish, it would be better to play the role of a loyal subject for a lifetime!

Just like that famous saying: If a villain plays the gentleman his entire life, he is no longer a hypocrite, but a true gentleman!

"Screw it! I'll play Zhuge Liang this time—pure and flawless all my life, acting as the eternal paragon of virtue who perfectly aligns with the feudal moral code of monarch and minister, Chancellor Zhou Zifang... Loyal ministers live longer and safer anyway, and living long enough will allow me to test the true depths of Chongzhen."

"If all else fails, I'll play Sima Diy next time and have a blast!"

Zhou Liang made up his mind and made his choice:

"I choose B! I want to be an eternal paragon of virtue!"

[Ding! You choose option B: Exert your utmost effort until your heart stops beating, following the precedent of Zhuge Kongming! The Divine Emperor delegated power halfway through His enterprise, elevating you to the position of Chancellor in a single bound, thus placing the great momentum of the world at your disposal... He is like a combination of Liu Bei and Liu Shan as father and son, showing you immense grace as heavy as a mountain. According to "feudal values," you naturally must exhaust your efforts and give your all until death, becoming a fiercely loyal Chancellor Zhou Zifang, the light of virtuous ministers shining through the ages!]

[Thus, your previously flickering gaze turned resolute once more, becoming even firmer than ever before!]

[No one knew what kind of decision you had made in your heart, but from this moment on, the world lost a "second Sima Yi" and gained a "second Zhuge Liang." From then on, you would exhaust your efforts and dedicate your life until death for the Great Ming and the great Divine Emperor!]

[Without a word, you kowtowed heavily to the Divine Emperor a few times, then calmly left the imperial palace to continue your monumental enterprise of reform and transformation.]

[Only the Divine Emperor remained within the vast palace. Seated on the dragon throne, He gazed into the distance at your retreating figure. The expression of helplessness and embarrassment from moments before suddenly turned into a frown, shifting unpredictably: It seemed He could no longer quite figure you out...]

[...¶

[In July of the 74th year of Chongzhen, the Chancellor recruited tens of thousands of men from the capital, gathering a total capital garrison army of one hundred thousand, and hired Western instructors to drill the troops using Western tactical warfare!]

[In this same month, the Chancellor equipped the capital garrison with Western rifles and cannons captured during the southern expeditions, and ordered the Wanggong Factory to prepare ample gunpowder and projectiles for military use!]

[In October, the capital garrison, having undergone a full three months of strict training, finally grew somewhat familiar with Western tactics, and their proficiency with Western firearms yielded decent results. Although their actual combat effectiveness was probably not very high, within a Great Ming where chickens pecked at each other, they could still be considered a "strong army"...]

[Thus, you decisively dispatched fifty thousand troops from their ranks to strike out into various regions of Hebei and suppress the Hebei rebel bandits!]

[In December of the 74th year of Chongzhen, although the fifty thousand new troops still experienced panic on the battlefield, the majority of the Hebei rebel bandits were merely ignorant peasants incited to revolt, so their combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of Yangzhou... Coupled with a plentiful supply of ammunition, provisions, and pay, they ultimately and smoothly pacified the Hebei rebel bandits!]

[When the news reached the capital, you were naturally overjoyed. While rewarding the meritorious soldiers, you swiftly assessed the officials of various prefectures and counties in Hebei; those with excessive dark histories were immediately sentenced on the spot, while those with minor records were retained in office. Supplemented by money and grain to relieve the common people, Hebei was quickly pacified, and the people sang praises of your governance!]

[Afterward, you ordered those fifty thousand troops to use Hebei as a base and expand outward in all directions!]

[Every time the new army pacified a region infested with bandits, you replicated the Hebei procedure. Thus, your zone of actual control rapidly expanded...]

[In February of the 75th year of Chongzhen, Shandong was pacified!]

[In April of the 75th year of Chongzhen, Henan was pacified!]

[In June of the 75th year of Chongzhen, Shanxi surrendered and was pacified. Consequently, all four provinces of the northern heartland fell under the actual control of your "Later Ming" regime...]

[...¶

[Whether it was because the high-intensity rebels across the entire country had been completely wiped out by you in a single sweep at Yangzhou or not, the capital garrison army encountered practically no hard battles during their sweep across the realm. Not even many high-ranking local officials chose to rebel; as soon as the imperial court's army wiped out the rebel bandits, local military and political administrations smoothly dropped to their knees...]

[Winning such smooth battles one after another gave the new capital garrison soldiers the illusion that they were invincible in every battle...]

[Finally, in August of the 76th year of Chongzhen, the new army advanced all the way to Zhennan Pass in Guangxi. From then on, all two capitals and thirteen provinces were completely pacified, and the faces of the former officialdom took on a brand-new look, becoming both efficient and upright!]

[Your political tentacles finally stretched across the entire Great Ming. Within the ears of the billions of common people across the ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains spanning two capitals and thirteen provinces, only a single voice remained!]

[Following a series of de facto unification wars, the "Great Ming Dynasty," which symbolized the sun, was officially declared destroyed!]

[Simultaneously, a new dynasty, referred to by later historians as the "Later Ming" or "Zhou Ming," officially replaced it!]

[In August of the 76th year of Chongzhen, through Chancellor Zhou Zifang's "exterminating pests and shooting the sun," the history of China entered the "Later Ming" era. With your own hands, you would lead this ancient land and its people toward yet another era of glory...]