NFBE Chapter 352 Princess Chang's Rebellion 13
Chapter 352 Princess Chang's Rebellion 13
But deterrence is no longer effective.
First, a few soldiers dropped their weapons, then a dozen, then dozens... In the blink of an eye, thousands upon thousands of soldiers began to surge toward the riverbank.
"Come back! All of you, come back to me!" the emperor shouted hysterically, but no one paid any attention.
Some people want to make an example of someone to warn others, but they are quickly subdued.
Ji Xiaosong watched this scene quietly, her eyes showing neither joy nor sorrow.
"Royal sister!" The emperor suddenly leaped into the air, walking on water, "Must we, brother and sister, really come to blows?!"
Tie Zhenshan and the others immediately stepped forward to protect him, but Ji Xiaosong stopped them by raising her hand.
She too leaped into the air, confronting the emperor in the middle of the river.
"Your Majesty has finally decided to come see me in person?" Ji Xiaosong said calmly. "I thought you would always be hiding on the dragon throne, issuing orders."
A flicker of pain crossed the emperor's eyes: "Elder sister, do you truly hate me that much?"
"I don't hate you," Ji Xiaosong shook her head, "I'm just disappointed."
"When you ascended the throne, I fought a bloody battle in the north for you; after you were settled on the throne, I guarded the frontier for you."
She spoke calmly, as if she were talking about someone else, "But what about you? For the sake of a concubine with ulterior motives, you want to kill me."
The emperor said urgently, "I already know I was wrong! Those court officials who framed you have all been executed! My elder sister, come back... Before Mother passed away, you were the one she couldn't let go of the most..."
When his mother was mentioned, Ji Xiaosong's eyes flickered slightly, but he quickly regained his composure: "Your Majesty, it's too late."
She pointed to the thriving new Xia land behind her: "Every brick, every tile, every blade of grass here was built by my own hands. The people here respect me as their ruler, not because of my bloodline, but because I gave them hope."
“And you,” she pointed in the direction of Ying State, “besides increasing taxes and conscripting soldiers, have you ever given your people anything?”
The emperor was speechless.
He was well aware that the people of Ying were suffering, but he always felt that it was merely a necessary sacrifice to achieve his goal of hegemony.
“Royal sister,” he finally said, struggling, “if you insist on dividing the country, how will history record you?”
Ji Xiaosong laughed: "History books?"
She turned to face the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides of the strait, her voice booming: "Today, I, Ji Xiaosong, hereby swear: The new Xia Kingdom will never claim the title of emperor! The ruling position will be elected every ten years! The land will belong to the people, and taxes will be forever light!"
"If you break this oath, you will be punished by heaven and earth!"
Boom! A thunderclap suddenly echoed in the clear sky, as if the heavens had answered her vow.
The emperor turned pale and staggered back a few steps.
This is a genuine resonance between heaven and earth; it cannot be faked.
"Now," Ji Xiaosong glanced at the emperor one last time, "how does Your Majesty think the history books will record this?"
After saying that, she turned and flew back to the Xinxia position, never looking back.
The emperor stood frozen in the middle of the river, watching the jubilant soldiers and civilians of the newly established Xia dynasty on the opposite bank, then looking back at his own routed army, and finally understood:
He lost, he lost miserably.
The defeat was not due to insufficient military strength or strategic acumen, but rather to a loss of popular support.
Three days later, the Ying Kingdom's army was routed.
More than half of the soldiers chose to stay in New Summer, including many elite troops.
A month later, a large-scale uprising broke out in Ying State, with people everywhere shouting "Welcome the new ruler and enter the new Xia Dynasty!"
*
"Report——!"
The messenger stumbled into the imperial palace, his armor covered in mud.
All the civil and military officials in the hall turned around in unison, only to see the soldier kneel down with a thud: "Your Majesty, the people of the three northern cities... the people of the three cities fled en masse last night, and the guards... the guards opened the city gates on their own initiative..."
"what?!"
Ji Xuanye, who was on the dragon throne, suddenly stood up, his gilded dragon-patterned robe sweeping over the teacups on the imperial desk.
The scalding hot tea splashed onto the face of the kneeling Minister of Revenue, but the old man dared not wipe it away.
"The exact number?" The emperor's voice trembled.
“At least 100,000…” The soldier pressed his forehead against a gold brick, “Xinxia has sent a support team, distributing rations along the way…”
"Bastard!"
Ji Xuanye kicked over the gilded incense burner, sending incense ash flying everywhere.
A sickly flush rose on his pale face, and the jade pendant at his waist jingled.
This is the seventh large-scale exodus in the past three months.
Ever since Ji Xiaosong made his vow on the other side of the Luo River, Ying Kingdom has been like a leaky, dilapidated ship, and no matter how hard he tries to plug the leak, it's all in vain.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger." Chancellor Sima Rui stepped forward, his gray beard trembling slightly. "The most urgent task is to investigate the guards' dereliction of duty..."
"Investigate? I'll kill someone right now!"
Ji Xuanye drew the Emperor's Sword hanging on the wall, its cold light making his sunken eyes appear even deeper. "Issue the decree! All guards of the three northern cities shall be cut in half at the waist, and their families shall be forced into prostitution! Any fugitives captured shall have their feet cut off for adult men and their faces tattooed for women!"
The hall was dead silent.
The Minister of Works suddenly knelt down: "Your Majesty, you mustn't! Spring plowing is just around the corner, and further severe punishments might..."
"What are you afraid of?" The emperor pointed his sword at the old minister's throat. "Even you are going to betray me?"
Suddenly, a commotion arose outside the hall.
Commander Zhao Wushang of the Imperial Guards strode in, his armor stained with fresh blood: "Your Majesty, a riot has broken out in the slums south of the city. Hundreds of people have stormed the city gates..."
"Kill! Kill them all!" Ji Xuanye laughed hysterically. "Hang their heads on the city walls! Let those lowly people see them..."
Sima Rui suddenly kowtowed heavily: "Your Majesty! This old minister risks his life to offer this advice! The people's hearts are now yearning for change; it is better to guide than to suppress! If taxes are reduced..."
"Shut up!" The Emperor's sword struck the Prime Minister's crown, scattering jade beads. "I think you've been bewitched by Ji Xiaosong's nonsense! What 'land returning to the people' and 'election every ten years'? They're all tricks of traitors!"
The old prime minister looked up, blood streaming down his forehead: "Then why are the people of Xinxia well-fed and clothed? Why are our soldiers willing to swim across the Luo River to..."
"Drag him out!" Ji Xuanye roared. "Sima Rui is to be dismissed from his post and investigated; his family property is to be confiscated!"
That night, the imperial city was ablaze with flames.
The Imperial Guards searched every household for "treasonous documents," but in reality, they were robbing the people of their last remaining food supplies.
Wearing an iron mask, Zhao Wushang personally led his troops in a massacre in the south of the city, and the blood flowed into the moat.
"Commander..." the young lieutenant's voice trembled, "This family consists of only an orphan and a widow..."
"His Majesty has decreed," Zhao Wushang's voice beneath his mask remained impassive, "Anyone who secretly possesses New Xia leaflets will have their entire family executed."
The woman shielded her two children behind her, clutching half a sheet of coarse paper in her withered hand.
By the light of the fire, Zhao Wushang saw a simple map drawn on the paper, marking the safe route to Xinxia.
"Fire arrows."
As the whooshing sound rang out, the woman suddenly knelt down: "My lord! We just want to live!"
She ripped open her clothes, revealing her bony chest. "Look at this body! Last autumn tax took away our grain, the winter tax took away our cotton clothes, and the spring tax is going to take away my two children!"
An arrow pierced the woman's shoulder, yet she still desperately protected her child.
Zhao Wushang's hand holding the knife trembled slightly as he thought of his elderly mother far away in his hometown.
"Keep shooting." He heard the child scream as he turned around.
Five days later, death did not stop the exodus.
Instead, more people took advantage of the darkness to scale the city walls.
The Imperial Guard patrols often "just happened" to turn their backs, and some even took off their armor to join the fleeing crowds.
"Your Majesty!" The newly appointed prime minister presented his memorial with trembling fear, "Yesterday... the Third Battalion of the Imperial Guards collectively deserted..."
Ji Xuanye's eyes were bloodshot.
He suddenly noticed that the cinnabar inkstone on the dragon table was trembling.
It turned out that my own hands were shaking.
For the first time since ascending the throne, he felt fear.
It wasn't fear of the enemy, but fear of the crumbling empire beneath their feet.
"Draft an edict," he said hoarsely, ""Effective immediately, a system of collective punishment will be implemented. Anyone who fails to report a neighbor's escape will have their entire neighborhood executed..."
Before he could finish speaking, a deafening explosion came from outside the hall.
A mushroom cloud rose from the direction of the gate, and cheers of "Welcome to the new government" could be faintly heard.
Zhao Wushang stumbled in: "Your Majesty, run! The artisans' workshop has rioted, they're using gunpowder..."
"I won't leave!" Ji Xuanye frantically tore at the collar of his dragon robe. "I am the true Son of Heaven! I..."
The second explosion was closer.
A piece of broken tile hit the armrest of the dragon throne, and the gilded dragon head broke off instantly.
That night, the historian wrote in a secret chamber: "On the eighth day of the fourth month of the third year of Yongchang, the imperial star fell. Wang Huan, the garrison commander of the western city, led his troops in rebellion and opened the city gates to welcome the refugees. Three or four out of ten of the imperial guards defected, and the rest scattered. Chancellor Sima Rui died in prison, writing the three words 'The people are the most important' in his blood before his death..."
Meanwhile, on the banks of the Luo River, a hundred miles away, the Xinxia patrol team continuously received disheveled and dirty people from the Ying Kingdom.
A little girl pointed to the firelight on the opposite bank and asked, "Mommy, why won't the emperor let everyone cross the river?"
The woman hugged the child closer: "Because he's scared."
"afraid of what?"
"Fear……"
The woman gazed at the towering flames on the opposite bank and said softly, "Afraid that we ants will one day decide who is the emperor?"