《To Found a Nation (Hiatus, sorry)》
Volume 0: Prologue - A New Republic
In the political capital of x nation, the effects of the civil war could still be seen, with the destroyed building still scattered throughout the city, yet it¡¯s inhabitants seem to pay it no mind, seemingly carrying about their affairs with an atmosphere full of vibrant energy.
Countless construction workers appear to be scattered all around the city, with buildings constantly rising up, occasionally, they would receive a friendly gesture to which they respond with a brilliant smile.
Within a standard house, much like the other thousands of houses being built, ontop a metal table made of average built, stands two frames containing newspaper from two different years, one from seven years ago, and the other from three years ago.
The older begins with a headline regarding a missing heir to a global corporation, it¡¯s content containing.
¡°Heir to multi-billion-dollar corporation missing.
Li Ming, heir to the vast fortunes of the Li corporations has disappeared on August 15, his father, the current chairman confirmed.
He was last seen on the Li private island before the disappearance took place, six days after his 29th birthday.
His father was first to break the news: ¡°Today, the world lost a pioneer, and I, am a missing son. He always was full of kindness, and has always remained filial and an incredibly a generous person¡±.
The Li corporation¡¯s private attorney further confirmed on social media: ¡°My client Li Ming officially been recognised as a missing individual, with his fate unknown. Despite his vast fortunes, he never had the air of arrogance many others in similar position around him carries. He was the most down to earth client I had the opportunity to work under, people like him are rarely seen in the business world¡±.
Li Ming, the son of the current chairman of the Li corporation, with a history spanning back to the 19th century. First entered the business world at the age of 15, where he had started his own branch of the corporation, eventually coming to match the profit of the main branch.
Located around the globe, with an estimated net worth of 46.2 billion dollars, it has numerous branches around every corner of the world.
His was most recognised by his countless amount of charity organisations, praised by many of his employees said he was ¡°never afraid to get his hands dirty¡±, the vast majority of which had also endorsed him for his generous pay and humane treatment of his workers.
His younger brother, later on in a public speech, commented: ¡°My brother had never mistreated anyone, he treated those under him with compassion and constantly donated to numerous charity campaigns, if heaven exists, it is truly blind¡±.
At the bottom of the newspaper, a lean man wearing a well-tailored suit could be seen, but his face was blurred out.
The newer of the newspaper from three years ago seems to have no correlation with the topic of a missing billionaire, instead, describing a new government that had come to power reading.
¡°After Decades of Civil War, x Nation Enters a Period of Stability
In the historical capital of x, millions flood the street before dawn, as massive flags of their new national flag were flung around numerous public buildings.
A new period of stability that has not been seen in six decades of a constant period of civil war. After the abrupt entry of a fourth side three years ago, did a new era of peace and disarmament shine over the war-torn nation.
Numerous of those who turned up to struggle quickly became overcome with emotion, reminisced of their mothers, fathers, siblings and children lost in the six decades-long conflicts.
¡°I couldn¡¯t stop smiling¡±, said a doctor, who lost his father, mother, and 4 siblings during the war.
By noon, the main square, where the new constitution would be read aloud had been completely packed. Thousands of soldiers, which had built the nation through extensive guerilla warfare, stand, surrounding the governmental office.
The constant could of joyous laughter from the crowd could be heard, but a long moment of silence dawn upon the crowd as columns of military vehicles came after another, each containing an important minister, when the first of the vehicles passes through the crowd of a round of cheers could be heard as the vehicles continued, each was met with countless flowers and roaring cheers.
The last of those vehicles, which contains the new leader of the country, who had ignited the introduction of the fourth party in a four-year-long conflict received the loudest burst of cheers as it entered the governmental building.
From the beginning of the 1950s, a long period of political turmoil began as soon as the newly independent nation which had escaped from its colonial yoke, primally due to the enforcement of a class system by their colonial masters.
The x people, which consist of the majority of the nation, were under the administration of the y people, which were originally speculated to have come from European descent and therefore genetically superior, leaving a rift to grow between the two races.
A full-scale civil war blew up at the beginning of the 1960s between the two ethnicities, led by a group of disenfranchised x people, the conflict further escalated in 1980s as the third side from a neighbouring nation entered, having receiving equipment and training from the Li corporation who were sponsoring their brutal dictator. Engaging in indiscriminate bombing, along with multiple cases of its militias engaging of massacre or enslavement of the native civilians of x nations regardless of sides.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
Finally, in the late 2000s, a fourth force entered the conflict, originating from a small village. It came to defeat the other three forces through the use of guerilla warfare, through the establishment of numerous bases behind the lines of their enemies, managed to defeat their far more powerful foes, as it continues to gain territories around the rural areas, a number of cities had surrendered, ultimately, it¡¯s forces had encircled the political capital, which was then occupied by y people. They had no choice but to sign an unconditional surrender.
At 18:25, the new constitution was officially proclaimed.
A few minutes later, the old flag, used back during the colonial era, was lowered, and the new flag was raised, the mass responded were a thundering cheer.¡±
The article abruptly ends, with a number at the bottom to directing to another page.
A sound of a sliding door could be heard as a man wearing a Zhongshan suit could be seen, his face in the reflection shows a face that is neither handsome, yet could not be described ugly, but somehow carries a friendly air to it that would make anyone lower their guards. His body shape could not be seen through the suit, yet he appears to be unbelievably tall. The most unique feature that could separate him from any other would be the Peking mask attached to his belt, made of porcelain, it shows vibrant expressions, this man was, Li Ming, the missing heir.
Grabbing nothing more than a pair of keys and wallet from his table, he ensures the suit was well fitted and left through the main door, not stopping to lock it, it was a custom that developed during these three years. When he first came to power in the country, anyone that could afford mercenaries would use them to protect their properties, much less lock their doors. Yet now, only a few houses even have locks anymore, as thievery became almost non-existent under the extensive employment programs.
Walking down the newly built road, he took a few turns before reaching a bus station, where he saw a sea of young workers awaiting to for the next bus that will bring them to their work. As he approached the station arrived, the bus had arrived, stepping on the newly built public transport, he sat down on a free spot. After noticing an elderly woman, he took the liberties to let her take the chair he was sitting on, after receiving her thanks, he remained standing .
¡°Can you believe that this road was constructed half a month ago? I remember having to walk hours down a gravel road to retrieve water, yet now the water comes from our taps, the roads are made of concrete and public transport covers the whole city, it¡¯s just a shame that the rural areas can¡¯t experience the same privilege as us¡±, a young lady near the front of the bus professed her amazement to the person next to her.
¡°It¡¯s not the case anymore¡±, spoke the young men next to her,¡± my cousin who lives in the countryside just went to his first day at school, before this, he was working in a coal mine until it had been shut down due to safety regulations under the new government, when I visited him during the weekends, I was surprised at how dedicated he was reading a book he had borrowed from the library¡±.
A slight smile appeared on Li Mings face and remained until the bus had reached the governmental office, where he stepped out of the bus. Next to the building was a supermarket, perhaps it should not be called one, as necessary goods such as rice, wheat, corn, and potatoes were freely handed out, while foods more difficult to produce, such as meat, were rationed. This is a result of the increase in agriculture after a long period of nationalisation, where smaller farms were consolidated into much larger ones in order to increase productivity, along with the increase in mechanisation of these farms, the decades of famine that had plagued the nation had ended, and basic food is granted freely to all citizens.
Entering the governmental building, the guards professionally saluted Li Ming, to which he responded back with his own salute. Inwardly sighing to himself, he reminisced, it had been only seven years prior when he had first abandoned his vast fortunes to lead the efforts in liberating this country. He had first started in a small mountain village, there, only the village elder had any semblance of literacy, he had to painstakingly educate in reading and writing, and equip them with salvaged weapons, only through sheer strategy and luck had he manage to win the civil war.
Walking through the front gate, he notices the still growing trees, newly planted in the garden, during the civil war, the capital was bombed extensively, with nearly all high rising buildings levelled to a single floor, naturally, the governmental office wasn¡¯t spared, nearly half of it was destroyed once in a raging fire, furthermore, little fund was given to the reconstruction of the governmental office, numerous schools, hospitals and houses were built before the nation had the luxury to allocate funds to repair the building.
Off the corner of his eyes, he notices a small stain of blood that had come from the countless officials that were executed once his forces had occupied the capital, the smell of iron that should have long disappeared still remains fresh in his mind, affirming to himself that they had killed countless innocent civilians and would continue their crimes if they remain alive, he continued to the main hall.
Hanging on the walls of the main hall are bronze plates containing the names of officials, yet some names had been removed as a result of their corruption. Due to the limited amount of literacy in his first years in office, he had to rely on the old officials during the previous regime to govern the new nation, unsurprisingly, many of them had reactionary interests and had actively opposed the government, fortunately, nowadays, a new wave of young politicians had replaced them, while those with charges of corruption are performing hard labour.
Approaching the balcony facing the main square, he removes the mask from his hip, ensuring it was fitted on his face, pausing for a moment, he recalled the events that had transpire on his birthday in the year of his disappearance, when his father had planned to hand over to him the entirety of the Li corporation, and gave instructions to him to extend the war in x nation, during those days, he had become progressively more disgusted with the treatment of workers by his fellow colleagues, yet assured himself that he could be different, yet receiving his father, whom he had respected till then¡¯s cruel instruction was a woke up call. That day, he affirmed to himself it was impossible to stop human greed for money.
He pats his clothes clean of dust and prepares to address the nation.
The head of government of x nation had always remained a mystery, having only appeared three times in public, once during the proclamation of the new constitution, and twice during the anniversary of the new constitution, and had always worn a mask.
Standing on the balcony, he resides over a sea of people, preparing to address the nation regarding his future plans, it was however interrupted. In his chest, he felt a strong force hitting his chest, before he had fallen down, he notices a man holding a rifle. Behind his cold mask, he smiled self deprecatingly as he saw the assassin¡¯s uniform.
It was the standardised uniform used by his branch of the Li corporation.
The porcelain mask on his face fell before Li Ming collapsed onto the square where he had proclaimed the nation¡¯s independence three years prior.
In a large manor, full of servants, houses a small cabinet seemingly out of place with the rest of the manor, within it lays a soon to be a mother and her single servant. After a long struggle, the mother saw her new child, yet instead of a motherly smile, a face full of shock appeared on her face.
The master of the household originally had not intended to attend to the birth of his new child, yet upon the whisper of a servant, quickly rushed off.
Volume 0: Chapter 1 - What Constitute Their Right to Rule?
¡°In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of. ``
It was the 217th year since the founding of the Great Sui Dynasty, the empire, after years of expansion, is larger than any dynasty that had come before it.
In it¡¯s Center, lays the heartland of the Empire, encompassing four major rivers flowing to the TianWu ocean, ensuring a system of effective transportation for goods to travel as well as centralised governance, consisting of primarily fertile farmland, millenniums of construction projects has led it to produce a constant supply of food, and the greatest concentration of humans in the world with the latest imperial census reporting a population of 300 million, primarily of the Zui group.
To the North, it had conquered the nomadic khanate that had once raided the land. Before the Sui, every dynasty had to spend much of their government budget on expeditions to pacify these nomads. Yet the Sui had managed to integrate the barbarians 23 years after its founding after an extensive period of campaigning. At present, their culture is near non-existent, replaced after an extensive movement and intermarrying of ethnic Zui group into the former territories of the nomads.
The South borders two kingdoms, addressed by the Empire of NanMeng and XiGu, both of which pay an annual tribute to the empire, yet merely decades before, there had been one additional kingdom, NanHai, which had remained independent for hundreds of years, however, had submitted as a vassal state after a series of disastrous flood that led to decades of famine within the kingdom.
The empire¡¯s territories to the East comprise of it¡¯s most recently acquired prize after an ambitious prince had led his private army Eastward in a 5-year campaign in search of fame, through this, they had conquered vast amount of territories beyond the Yun Mountains, which had historically been the furthermost the empire extended. Comprising of barren deserts and mountains. It did not grant the prestige the prince had hoped for, and soon after his return to the capital, he found his faction had been wiped out, ultimately leading to his demise.
Yet after decades of prosperity in the empire had left its court corrupt and decaying, factions of officials constantly scheme against opposing factions, while the current head minister of treasury had been infamous due to the vast sums of public funds channelled into the pockets of his allies.
The emperor himself had not helped the situation in any way, preferring to spend time with his concubines rather than attending court, leaving his ministers to bicker amongst themselves.
Yet the much empire still remains prosperous, mainly due to the constant stream of talented officials as a result of the reformed Imperial Examination. Even then, cases of corruption are no longer treated with the same amount of severity as before, resulting in influential families filling the court with officials personally loyal to them.
While the court remains decadent, the common people are beginning to neglect their duties, instead preferring to spend much of their time engaging in the most recent gossip.
Recently, in the capital of the Sui Dynasty, rumours have been circulating among the commoners. The only daughter of the prestigious Xu family, was born with an illness that will kill her on her fourteenth birthday, this story eventually became so popular that it even spread to some of the lower-ranking nobles. Ultimately reaching the servants of high ranking nobles, the servants reported to their masters about the recent news, their only response was a round of laughter, leaving them confused, yet out of fear, they remained silent.
¡°This is the further it could be from the truth,¡± the nobles collectively thought to themselves.
In the far East of the empire, lays a collection of cities and towns under the rule of the Xu family, a family with a long military history stretching far back even before the founding of the Sui Dynasty. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, it remains largely self-governing from the rest of the empire. Yet contains one of the highest concentrations of cities in the empire, due to the countless tributaries flowing from the Chang River, which starts from the Tian Mountains. The Xu family¡¯s current patriarch, Xu Jin has five sons and a single daughter.
The five brothers are all actively serving around the empire, Xu Li, the oldest, is currently the general of the Imperial Army. Xu Wuling, the second son, is a master of martial arts well known throughout the empire. Xu Shu as the middle child acts as the Minister of Military and is in a constant struggle with the Minister of Finances. Xu Tianjian, the third youngest is a member of the emperor¡¯s personal bodyguard, while Xu Gaoyun, the second youngest of the sons had just started his military career. All of these 5 brothers are well known throughout the circles of nobles in the empire, yet the youngest of Xu Jin¡¯s children, as well as the only girl, has remained completely unknown to anyone outside of the Xu family manor.
The rumours in the capital had originated from the regional capital of lands ruled by the Xu family, named Xuchang, it had originally been a military camp during the campaigns of the ambitious prince, yet its excellent position had made it grow exponentially, with a population of six hundred thousand in the present day.
Located at the Northern edge of the city lays the Xu family manor, within it, countless maids and servants running around, serving each member of the Xu family.
In the Southern wing of the manor, typically used by servants, houses the mysterious daughter of the Xu family. Yet unlike her other brothers, there are no servants attending to her needs.
The youngest child of the Xu family, named Xu Xiaomeng, had lived in isolation ever since the day of her birth while her dark black eyes seem dull, as if devoid of emotions.
Her body seems as if it could be blown away by a single gust of wind, it was as if her entire life had been spent within this uncomfortable room, rarely had she seen the light of day. Yet it appears that she by now is long used to it.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
From her dull eyes, a single tear rolled down her delicate face, as it falls, onto her clothes, which appears to be of more worth than any other object in the room.
The tear spilt appears like a flower blooming.
Li Ming felt rather miserable, as he struggled to maintain his last breath, finally, his eyelids ultimately became too heavy to remain open.
When he had once more opened them, he found himself in the house he had been living in for the past three years, yet the metal table had been replaced with a wooden one with skilful cravings. Where there had been two frames containing the newspaper, sits a bronze mirror in its place.
Looking outside the window, Li Ming saw nothing but a white void.
¡°What a shame¡±, Li Ming mumbled to himself. ¡°I still had to build up the nation, yet now I could only hope my successor can maintain the current state of the country¡±.
Remaining in his position for an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard the sound of a single droplet of water splashing against the concrete floor.
Turning his head towards its origin, he notices a girl, surprisingly with white hair, appearing certainly no more than 14 years old, materialising off in the distance.
¡°Guess we¡¯re both dead,¡± he thought to himself as he began approaching the figure. Noticing her old style of dressing, similar to ones worn during the Ming Dynasty, he chose to cup his hands as he greeted her¡±.
¡°Greetings¡±.
The figure seems startled, with her body suddenly jumping, pausing for a moment, she turned her head towards Li Ming.
While Li Ming had seen plenty of beauties in his life when he was still the heir to the Li corporation, countless celebrities had appeared in his mansion, yet she seems to be in another realm of charm. The girl possessing a petite oval face, cherry sized lips, and a modest nose, it could be said that she possesses a level of allure rare in the modern world, a more natural sense of beauty. Yet her most distinguishing features would be her long silver hair, flowing along her back, touching the floor as if a waterfall, it¡¯s colour shines like mercury as it reflects the dim lights produced by the lightbulb within the room.
The girl, still in her adolescence opened her mouth to speak.
Li Ming internally frowned, as he could not determine the language she was speaking, yet kept a smile on his face.
Yet moments after, the meaning of those words mysteriously appeared in his mind, this time, his face could not maintain the smile, and shock replaced it for a split movement, before long he returned to his friendly face once more.
It seems the girl had not realised his temporary moment of shock, as she continues on.
¡°May I ask sir where I am, could this be the afterlife?¡±
Despite the sweet and melodious voice coming from her, now that Li Ming understands the content, it¡¯s contents are eerily chilling, while her tones appear indifferent.
Yet he did not show any of it on his face, maintaining his smile, he replied gently,¡± It seems to be so,¡± he sighed before continuing,¡± I had recently been assassinated¡±.
¡°I see¡±, her voice once more rings out, despite its euphonic nature, it sounds incredibly apathetic.¡±Seeing as we may be here for some time, may I ask for sir¡¯s name, I am Xu Xiaomeng, the sixth child and only daughter of Xu Jin, governor of ChangTian province, named after it¡¯s rivers and mountains,¡± pausing for a moment, a cynical smile appeared on her exquisite face,¡± no, perhaps it no longer matters where I came from.¡±
¡°My surname is Li, and my given name is Ming, as in bright,¡± Li Ming responded with a slight smile, yet he was shocked once more, as far as he is aware, he had never heard of a province called ChangTian.
¡°If it is not rude, may I ask the lady where is ChangTian province?¡±
¡°Naturally it is not rude, it is at the edge of the Great Sui Dynasty, to its East is the Tian Mountains, while it borders the Yun Mountains to its South, and further South is the Southern Barbarians, the province is surrounded by mountains on all sides, leaving it protected from most invasions,'''' she replied, pausing to take a breath, she continues,¡±I had heard it has the greatest natural beauty in all of the empires provinces, with mountains and rivers forming many sceneries¡±, when she mentioned the mountains and rivers, a look of lost appeared on her face.
¡°Yet sadly it seems like I can never experience it for myself,¡± she sighed, before strolling towards the wooden table, where she gracefully sat down with appearance like that of a lotus flower.
Li Ming by that point seemed even more confused, The Great Sui Dynasty? Throughout history, there had been one dynasty that followed the name of Sui, yet from her description, it seems to be talking about a completely different entity.
¡°Lady, I conclude that it seems as if our fate has led us from our different world into this encounter with each other,¡± he spoke as politely as possible, before taking a breath, then continued,¡± if it is not intrusive, may I ask how you have perished?¡±
¡°There is no need to be polite, for I had drunk poison to kill myself,¡± she described as if the person who had died was not her,¡± seeing we are to be here for a long time, I invite sir to share his origin as well¡±.
¡°Of course,¡± Li Ming state, remaining standing, he began,¡± I had been the leader of a recently founded republic.¡±
Yet as he was preparing to continue, Xu Xiaomeng questioned,¡± what is a republic?¡±
¡°A republic is a nation without kings or emperors my lady¡±.
¡°But how is that possible?¡± she asked,¡± is it not the will of the Heavens that they remain in power, that they are instrumental to the balance of the natural order?¡±
¡°What constitutes their right to rule? Is the emperor¡¯s purpose not serves the common masses? Then, through the masses'' own assessment, will it not produce a leader that serves the masses better than one born above them? If heaven determines a ruler¡¯s right to rule, then why is it that plagues and famines occur under the rule of good emperors. If through good governance, that these could be avoided, then why have a system of inheritance when there are countless bureaucrats that could outdo the emperor in governance, yet remains in obscurity?¡±
¡°Perhaps the emperor may not be able to control heaven, and there are people with talent greater than the emperor, but what of the ignorant masses, they would not know what is best for themselves,¡± Xu Xiaomeng added.
¡°Then we must educate them through both theory and practice, before then, a group of educated individuals will act as the vanguards that will lead the nation, serving as it¡¯s organs.
¡°It that so,¡± she paused, contemplate, before answering,¡± perhaps you may be right,¡± Xu Xiaomeng sighed,¡± I had seldom possessed any positive feelings toward the emperor nor my father. I have heard countless servants whispering their grievances stemming from nobles, I have spent far more time with them than with nobles, if they could have a far better life in this republic of yours, I accept your idea.¡±
¡°But us two are stuck here,¡± Li Ming commented.
¡°Indeed.¡±
¡°I have been standing the entire time, may I have a seat?¡±
¡°Of course,¡± Xu Xiaoming affirmed.
Li Ming, leaving the side of Xu Xiaomeng, sat down on the chair at the other side of the table, yet as his backside touch the surface of the chair, a sudden void appeared below the two.
Li Ming could feel his consciousness slipping away, before long, the two had entirely fainted.
When Li Ming had once again gained consciousness, he notices he was once again moved into a different location, while the wooden table that he sat behind was still there, the surroundings have entirely changed, his simplistic concrete room had been replaced with one made of wood.
Feeling a tingle by his cheek, he moved his hand to shift it away.
He took his hands away to look at it.
In it, a strand of silver hair could be seen.
Li Ming¡¯s whole body froze, he could feel cold sweat on his back.
But it wasn¡¯t his back, and those are definitely not his hands.
In front of him was a pair of delicate hands, so beautiful it seems as if it was sculptured, yet so soft it seems devoid of bones.
Staring at the bronze mirror in front of him, or perhaps more appropriate ¡°her¡±.
Li Ming, who had stayed calm even during his moment of death, felt his whole existence filled with terror.
Volume 0: Chapter 2 - To Change Your Fate
¡°Be not afraid of growing slowly¡±
If one were to ask any minister of x country what they judge to be the most prominent feature of Li Ming, they would not hesitate to praise his mental prowess, and that is certainly not without good reasoning. Li Ming¡¯s ability to endure any situation he had found himself in had led him in successfully ending the civil war where others failed.
Li Ming, after his initial shock, soon had, for the most part, recovered, and once again put on his approachable and friendly expression, yet when he saw Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s smiling face reflected in the bronze, he could not help but feel miserable once again.
Yet he, no, she did not wallow for long.
The first thought that entered her mind was regarding the girl whose body he currently possesses.
However, before she could even begin consolidating her thoughts, a voice appeared in her head.
¡°I¡¯m still here,¡± the melodious voice rang,¡± do what sir wishes with the body, I will not interfere.¡±
Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s indifferent attitude certainly manifest a great deal of confusion for Li Ming, her apathetic nature that seems to extend even to her life and body, is one she had never seen before, even the people in country x during the civil war had a strong desire to live, yet she had drunk poison to end her life.
¡°Lady, it is not right to conduct yourself in this manner,¡± she commented.
A deprecating laugh that seems to echo through the room soon followed her comment,¡± It matters little to me, I had attempted to perish already, but it seems that my immortality is true,¡± as she spoke, her voice gradually became softer almost inaudible, while a rare sentiment of sorrow could be heard from it.
As Li Ming and Xu Xiaomeng both share the body, therefore she could hear her words perfectly. Considering that now they inhabit the same body, she decided to inquire her regarding the mention of immortality.
¡°Lady, may I ask what you mean by immortality?¡¯
A moment passed before the voice once again rings out,¡± A legend once told that those born with silver hair has everlasting life. Furthermore, the legend details, through consumption of silver haired individual, one is able to transfer the immortality to themselves.¡±
¡°As I am born with silver hair, others had always hoped to gain immortality through the cannibalisation of my flesh, in response to this, my father had always kept me hidden.¡±
¡°I had always thought of it as an extension of his fatherly love towards me, to be able to resist the temptation of lasting as long as the heavens and earth still stands, require great mental fortitude.¡±
¡°Yet yesterday, he, in a drunken stupor, had openly proclaimed to my brothers his intention to present me to the emperor, in exchange for the emperor¡¯s immortal life, the Xu family would be forever in the flavour of the emperor.¡±
¡°By chance, I had overheard the statement, and once I return to my room, I had determined it would be far more valiant to end my life rather than be eaten by another human being.¡±
¡°And that¡¯s why you had drunk the poison?¡± Li Ming interrupted.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Have you not considered that your immortality would prevent you from death?¡±
¡°No, it had never crossed my mind.¡±
¡°What singled minded, yet honest person,¡± Li Ming thought to herself. Giving a slight sigh, yet the mellow voice that came out caused Li Ming to feel rather gloomy.
¡°Lady, do you wish to change your fate?¡±
A near inaudible, yet clear ¡°yes¡±, rang out.
Having Xu Xiaoming¡¯s confirmation, Li Ming picked a nearby censer that had cooled down overnight, removing the cover, she grabbed a handful of coal dust and released it over her silver hair.
As the dust settled, the silver hair could no longer be seen, replaced with one that seemed as dark black yet it still shone with a silver brilliance.
Li Ming, then changed her clothes, showing no hesitation as she slipped into one of the servants'' uniforms, leaving the extravagant dress on the bed.
Looking out the window, she confirmed there are no servants¡¯ guarding the door, as she approaches the exit, she casually grabbed a pouch of coins. Appearing almost a little blazon, she entered the main corridor, yet frowned as she notices the underwhelming lack of sunlight entering her eyes.
¡°This must be the Southern wing of the manor,¡± she thought to himself but feels a bit delighted that the exit is nearby.
Moving Eastwards, she notices the main entrance, guarded by two servants, yet she showed no hesitation as she walked forward.
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¡°Apologies,¡± she thought to herself,¡± you two will likely die due to the anger of the Xu family patriarch.¡±
As she approached the servants, the smile Li Ming constantly had appeared on Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s face, appearing like a blooming flower, grabbing two iron coins from the bag, placing them in the hands of the servant, then before they could respond, had nonchalantly walked into the main street.
Leaving the vicinity of the manor, Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s voice appeared in her mind.
¡°Even if it was as simple as you showed it to be, I would have still not been able to escape, I doubt I would be able to gather enough courage to do so.¡±
¡°Lady, I believe that to be false since you have enough courage to poison yourself, you would certainly possess enough to leave the manor.¡¯
¡°No, I do not, what I did was out of cowardice, never out of bravery, I would prefer to consume hundreds of poison than to disobey my father.¡±
Li Ming could not make up a response, instead, she chose to change the topic.
¡°It seems as if I am once more alone in the world, with only a small handful of money, it seems as if I am back to when I had left my family behind.¡±
Yet she received no response from Xu Xiaomeng, it seems as if she had noticed her bad attempt drifting the topic, yet just as the silence settled, the melody like voice once more manifested.
¡°Perhaps, we should attempt at building this republic sir suggest,¡± Xu Xiaomeng suggested.
Quite shocked at the words Xu Xiaomeng had said, Li Ming stopped walking.
¡°Are you certain lady?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Despite your immortality, to wage a revolution against the monarchy would be incredibly dangerous.¡±
¡°I am certain, as I said, I feel far more sympathetic towards those of the peasant class then the emperor or my father, to spend my eternal life in improving theirs is quite admirable,¡± she paused for a moment before continuing,¡± therefore, I ask of sir to create a republic from the current empire.¡±
Li Ming gave off a slightly bitter laugh, before replying,¡± lady, you cannot simply start a revolution, a certain material condition must be first met, in my world, the French Revolution could not have happened without the 30 Years War, the privileged noble, and the ideas of the Enlightenment.¡±
Shaking her head, Li Ming continued,¡± perhaps it is fairer to compare starting a revolution here to the White Lotus Rebellion, yet to begin something similar to that, our ideas need to spread to countless suffering peasants over hundreds of years, even then, it was crushed under the Qing dynasty.¡±
¡°The only possible path for us is one not dissimilar to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, which had happened due to ineffective governance and the lack of food for the growing peasants. If lady has any knowledge on places where there is a lack of governmental control, while the peasants also suffer constantly, please do tell me.¡±
Despite that Li Ming cannot see Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s face, she could certainly imagine it currently containing a bitter expression.
After a period of time, Xu Xiaomeng replied,¡± from what I overheard from the servants, the Northern reaches of the Empire is currently suffering a great drought, along with that, the distance from the capital should leave it relatively isolated, yet I know little aside from that.¡±
¡°That is fine my lady, it is enough, yet how will we get to the Northern parts of the empire then?¡±
¡°I¡¯m afraid I am inexperienced regarding this world, perhaps it would be best to hire a carriage.¡±
¡°Lady, we have not enough coins to do that, when I picked up your coin pouch, it was light, perhaps only amounting to several dozen coins at most, I doubt we are able to afford the trip, I propose we travel there on foot, we have all the time in the world, after all, yet before anything can be set in motion, we must find a group to travel with.¡±
¡°Pardon me,¡± a voice suddenly interrupts Li Ming and Xu Xiaomengs¡¯ conversation.
Refocusing her attention, Li Ming apologised to the person, only to a faint blush on the man¡¯s face, before walking away.
¡°Lady, I believe it is best to dress up as a man for our travels, your looks seems to be attracting unwanted attention, there are even children calling you a fairy.¡±
Xu Xiaomeng made a sound of affirmation, and thus a merchant, later on, found a single article of clothing made from silk missing from his stock.
Li Ming, dressed as a man, with her hair tied in a bun, most fortunate, is that Xu Xiaomengs¡¯ body is still one yet to enter adolescence, and do not have the defining female features. Therefore, Li Ming despite appearing incredibly feminine, at most she could be described by others as an effeminate boy who had yet matured into a man.
Li Ming, satisfied with the new outfit, decided to ask for Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s input.
¡°Sir may do as he wishes,¡± she responded coldly,¡± I would not have it for long if it were not for sir. Regardless, should you not be searching for a group to travel with now?¡±
Li Ming ignoring the first part of Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s sentence proceeded towards the main gate of the city, an endless stream of caravans and merchant could be seen lining in wait to enter the city.
As her eyes search for people from the North, her efforts were soon realised, noticing a group of merchants that appears much taller than the others, she moved towards the group, opening her mouth to speak, while also deepening her voice to sound make masculine.
¡°Hello fellow sirs, may I ask if you came from the North?¡±
The group, noticing the lavish clothes Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s body, did not dare lie,¡± yes, young master, we had come to this city in order to sell our fur goods, we have just finished, and plan to return to the North.¡±
¡°I see if the fellow sirs do not object, may I join in your travels,¡± Li Ming requested, keeping a radiant smile.
¡°Naturally not young master, we dare not refuse, but we are afraid that the trip would be too difficult for you to travel, the North has harsh weathers that wear away even at the best of us, and travel will be difficult, as there are no rivers or canals, thus we can only travel by foot.¡±
¡°It matters not to me,¡± Li Ming objected.
¡°Young master, my body had been trained through hunting since I was young, yet I still experience much hardship through the journey down South, if it weren''t for the recent drought, I would have have never entered this city, if sir travels along with us, I¡¯m afraid you may lose your life,¡± cold sweat appears on the man¡¯s face as he thought to himself,¡± this noble knows nothing about the world, if I accidentally offends a major figure, only death would await me.¡±
¡°No, I insist, I will certainly not slow down the party,¡± death is certainly the last thing on the mind of Li Ming, after all, Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s body is immortal, along with that, Li Ming had travelled countless miles in his previous life.
A conflicted expression appeared on the man¡¯s face, behind he finally capitulated,¡± Young master, please after yourself, my caravan only contains enough for six men, and there is already five, if you join, we may need to ration.¡±
¡°That is not an issue,¡± Li Ming replied, his experience fighting in guerrilla warfare had taught him to live off the land.
¡°If young master truly insist,¡± the man lament,¡± then it appears I have no choice, I am called Ke, while my surname is Liu, the caravan contains members of my clan, all brothers, if sir wishes, simply call us Liu One, Liu Two, Liu Three, Liu Four, and Liu Five,¡± Liu One said,¡± if sir would follow me to the caravan please.¡±
Li Ming, following Liu One, soon arrived at an isolated section outside the city walls, where their horses were grazing on feed, as Li Ming introduced himself to the group, each member of the Liu family objected, yet after insistence from Li Ming, they had no choice but to say silent.
As they begin to travel along the road leading to the North, Li Ming, by then sitting on a makeshift carriage the brothers had made by placing wheat onto the cart they had used to carry the animal skin, suddenly asked a question.
¡°May I ask fellow sirs, how long does this journey take?¡±
The Liu brothers were extremely shocked that Li Ming did not even know where they were going, thinking to themselves,¡± This person seems to have made no preparations for the journey, we¡¯re certainly doomed to suffer the wrath of a noble,¡± yet by then it was past the point of no return, after a brief bickering among the brothers, Liu Five, walked up to Li Ming and as respectfully as possible, replied to the question.
¡°Young Master, it will take approximately 20 days to reach the regional capital of the North without rest, yet we must sleep, eat and let the animals rest. When we had journeyed South, it took us 30 days.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Li Ming voiced, before thanking the man and sending him back towards his group.
¡°It seems like it will take some time, lady, would you care to engage in some small talk with me?¡±
Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s voice sounded in his head, her melodious voice ringing out.
¡°Perhaps we shall,¡± she paused before continuing,¡± I¡¯ve always wondered sir, what is this French Revolution you speak of, the language sounds like the words spoken by the Jesuits that had arrived in our city to spread their faith.¡±
¡°Naturally I shall tell you, lady, the French Revolution is the most well-known example of a nation overthrowing their monarchy in my world, despite it not being the first nor the last, it was certainly the bloodiest.¡±
As Li Ming lectured Xu Xiaomeng, the Liu brothers were cursing themselves for allowing a crazy person on board.
Volume 0: Chapter 3 - You Have Nothing to Lose
¡°The people are hungry: it is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes¡±
For the twenty days it took for the journey, Li Ming had barely any interaction with the Liu brothers, other than exchanging a few pleasantries, the two sides had barely made any contact.
The greatest exchange of words would be the first night they had camped outside, the Liu brothers had thought Li Ming as a certified sheltered young master, yet Li Ming showed no complaints. This certainly raised the opinions of them towards Li Ming by quite a few levels, they showcased a little admiration at this feminine looking boy who had yet to mature¡¯s ability to tolerate the wilderness.
Naturally, Li Ming did not spend her time idling away, during the entire journey, she had squeezed every information he could gather from Xu Xiaomeng, from whom she had learnt that the history of the Khanate that had originally inhabit the lands, along with the name of its current regional capital, Bingjiang, named after it history as the Northern frontier of the empire, naturally, the name no longer applies, as the borders had been expended.
Soon, the eighteen days have passed, with Li Ming spending the majority of her time conceiving a plan for the grand aspirations of overthrowing the Great Sui Dynasty, naturally, as a revolution cannot happen overnight, she has to focus on building up a powerbase strong enough to rival the imperial government.
Yet before any of this can happen, Li Ming has to convince the peasants to revolt, that in itself would not be difficult if she was in her former male body, however, her body is currently one of adolescence, not to mention it¡¯s also one of a woman, the two factors would make it far more difficult to gather attention from the common masses.
¡°Why don¡¯t sir simply admit to being a woman?¡± Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s voice rang out.
¡°Lady, it is far too difficult to do so, the current society favours men, to be a woman would cause people to dismiss the ideas I am promoting,¡± Li Ming replied as if a matter of fact.
¡°That is not the case sir, our NorthEastern neighbours is run by a matriarchy, after centuries of extensive trade and contact, it has influenced much of our ideas,¡± Xu Xiaomeng corrected Li Ming.
¡°Lady, how come I had never seen any foreigners?¡± Li Ming asked.
¡°That is due to the isolated nature of ChangHe province, foreigners rarely arrive at our city, instead they would much rather head to the Imperial Capital.¡±
¡°Yet despite the lack of their presence in Xuchang, their thinking had spread to much of the Zui people, tales about vaillant widows and their struggles have long reached the commoners, it is especially popular among mothers, who will then teach it to their children.¡±
¡°Moreover, we could reveal our silver hair and proclaim we are in truth an old sage that had remained in the body of a child, perhaps it would be beneficial to the cause.¡±
¡°However, sir must remain cautious, as those in court, such as the nobles and bureaucrats has remained opposed to these ideas, it is will certainly garner antagonism among them.¡±
¡°Lady, the opinions of nobles who had lived comfortably matters little to me, the peasants can do without nobles, yet the nobles cannot exist without peasants, as long as the peasants are supporting us, we shall not be stopped by these reactionaries.¡±
While the two were continuing their discussion, Liu One came up to Li Ming.
¡°This young master, we shall soon arrive at the areas affected by the famine, I would advise this young master to avert his eyes during the remaining duration of this trip.¡±
¡°No, that is not necessary,¡± Li Ming replied, by now, Liu One had long gotten used to Li Ming¡¯s stubbornness, and did not press further, and returned to his group.
The moon rose and fell, and another day had shone upon the vast lands.
This is the second last day until the arrival of the Liu brothers to the capital.
As they advanced, the effects of the famine would be seen, fields lay barren, yet no sign of human life appears before them, only the dead remains had been left behind, their lips blue while their bodies are left to decay, bones could be seen left along the road, while stray dogs dig holes in search of food.
It appears the Liu brothers had become immune to this scene, as well as Li Ming, who had seen this back in her past life.
Yet it seems Xu Xiaomeng could not bear this scene. Li Ming, who had taken control of Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s body could feel her stomach twisting.
Rushing off the makeshift carriage, Li Ming expelled contents from her stomach.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°This young master, people would call you wasteful for this,¡± one of the Liu brothers offhandedly remarks.
Li Ming who had experienced this seven years ago, see this as nothing more than a common occurrence, it appears this is a reaction from the other person residing in this body.
¡°Lady, are you fine?¡± Li Ming concerned, asked Xu Xiaomeng,¡± I know little about comforting others, but I can say from my own experience this is something we strive to put an end to,¡± pausing for a moment, Li Ming continued,¡± when I had begun in revolutionary activities, I had seen countless scenes similar to the one in front of us, once, I saw a man consuming the flesh of another man.¡±
¡°Yet famines happen not only due to draughts and locusts but also incompetence and greed on the part of the government, we saw the abundance of food in ChangTian province and the inns alongside the road, if they could send aid, the consequence would be far less severe.¡±
After Li Ming had returned to the carriage, each of the Liu brothers had offered words of condolence, before continuing onward, after passing through another li, Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s voice, which now appears to be a little hoarse, spoke.
¡°Why,¡± she began,¡± why did father not sent aid, on the night before I had left, I saw a large amount of grain stored in our private storage alone, it would not harm our family in any manner even if we sent all of it here.¡±
Shaking her head, Li Ming said in the gentlest voice possible,¡± lady, the nobles see those below them as nothing more than how men see livestock, nothing more than property, they would only worry about revolt, but certainly not the lives of these people, for you father to send aid is to empower, something completely unwanted in his eyes.¡±
Xu Xiaomeng had nothing to say and thus remained silent.
Yet the silence did not last long, soon, they saw a group of people lying by the side of the road, hold blades of grass.
¡°What are they doing,¡± Li Ming asked the Liu brothers.
Liu Two replied,¡± they¡¯re selling their children for a bowl of rice, this young master, don¡¯t think about saving them, it¡¯s impossible with the thousands of others waiting in the front gate, these days, men can only look after themselves.¡±
Li Ming, grabbing her pouch still with a couple of coins, walked towards the Liu group,¡± I wish to buy all the spare grain you possess.¡±
¡°Young master, have you not heard what we said? It is impossible to feed all of them if it were not for our family¡¯s history as hunters, we too would be starving,¡± Liu Two refuted.
¡°I care not, as I have said before, I have a few dozen coins in this pouch, I shall use it to purchase all your spare grains.¡±
The brothers looked at each other, before finally agreeing, after all, money is something everyone desires, and they could always hunt for their food, the deal would not affect them negatively.
Li Ming, now having acquired the grain, approached the group and began to speak.
¡°I shall give you grain, but in exchange, you must follow me until I reach the regional capital, if we encounter any other group, tell them to follow, with the same promise I had made with you.
Their heads nodded like a chicken pecking grain, after receiving a share of the grain Li Ming had given them, they obediently followed behind the cart. This continued to the next day, by the end of it, Li Ming had amassed a massive line of followers behind her, by then, the regional capital came into sight.
The city has a wall six meter-tall, with towers scattered throughout its walls, with several soldiers on top, yet they appear to be mentally exhausted, their eyes dull from all the death around the city.
The city¡¯s main gate to the South had been sealed off after the initial wave of refugees, with people constantly dying of malnutrition surround the city walls.
The Liu brothers showed pity in their eyes, before turning the other way.
¡°I shall be leaving here,¡± Li Ming said to the Liu brothers.
¡°This young master, are you sure, the city is not accepting anyone at the moment,¡± Liu Three spoke out.
¡°Do not worry about me sir, it has been a pleasant journey, if fate wills it, we may see each other later.¡±
After saying her goodbyes, Li Ming and the Liu brothers separated, after walking into a secluded area, Li Ming changed from the male clothes she was wearing back into her servant uniform, before he had no time to admire the clothes, but now that she was properly observing it, she endorsed,¡± truly the lavishness of a noble, to be able to spend so much on servants clothing.¡±
Though it appears to be servant uniform, it seemed more like those worn by minor nobles it appears full of colour, with vivid imagery, combined with her silver hair which once again shorn, she appeared as if a celestial. Li Ming after changing appears to be an otherworldly fairy, separated from the aura of death around the city, taking a deep breath, Li Ming expressed a smile on her face, before approaching the crowd around the city.
By the city, the situation seems even worse than along the road people are forced into eating blades of grass along the ground, while boiling bark as soup, infants, who had the weakest bodies are dying in mass. The smell of decay seeps into the air.
¡°Is lady alright?¡± Li Ming inquired Xu Xiaomeng.
¡°Naturally,¡± she replied in a usually determined voice, it seems the last two days had greatly strengthened her resolve.
Li Ming, stepped forward without hesitation in front of the crowd, clearing her throat, her melodious voice rang, yet this time, it contains a voice of authority.
¡°People of the Great Sui Dynasty, you are ill-fed and dying, you have fled from your home, leaving with nothing but your children, you have fled to the city in desperation, yet they turn you away, despite your toils that produce the very city they currently hide in, enjoying a decadent life. The nobles within the city owes their everything to you, yet had given you nothing back, no food and no shelter, for neither you, nor your children, you have nothing to lose except your offspring, yet you have the world to gain in your hand, within that city is storage of grain enough to feed each and everyone of you, will you wait for your life to burn away or to stand up and fight!¡± (please be gentle, I never have written something like this before).
Much of the crowd shows burning desire in their eyes yet did not move thinking the person in front of them is a celestial creature appearing before their death, but the crowd that followed Li Ming to the city showed no delay, after all, they had been fed the last two days, to go back to starving is unacceptable.
As they rallied behind Li Ming, others joined, soon, nearly all of those that could still stand are storming the main gate. The soldiers were clearly shocked, they had not expected this group of dying peasants to begin attacking the city gate and promptly began firing at the crowd using their crossbows, however some soldiers showed hesitancy, ultimately leaving the tower.
As the crossbow bolts were fired and people fell, it appears that morale had not dropped by the slightest, so what if a few dies, had they not been dying already, they crowd thought to themselves. As the crowd continues their assault the city gate, the bodies soon piled up.
Li Ming during this time, had gone around other sections outside the city and rallying support there, soon, the entire city was being besieged, and the soldiers who already had low morale were soon overstretched.
As the ground became dyed red, the Southern Gate was suddenly opened by a rebelling group of soldiers, and the crowd flooded into the city over the bodies of their fellow countrymen, the majority began heading straight towards the food warehouse, while some others began heading towards the manor of nobles.
It appears the nobles themselves were hoarding grain amongst themselves, which furthered the already angry crowd and were soon killed.
Soon, the entire city descended into chaos, yet the ordinary citizens seem to have not been targeted by the crowd, instead, all of the nobles within the city except a few who had managed to escape were beaten to death.
Yet the chaos arrived as soon as it disappeared, Li Ming, leading the group that had followed her towards the city, who were already fed and showed much less desperation, had begun to put an end to the pillage of the city.
Before long, the crowd were forced into lines in front of the grain storage, extending all the way out of the city, with each man and woman receive enough grain to last for a week before they are sent away.
Li Ming action portrayed no traces of fear, despite that she had just overthrown a noble a capital crime, before long, she had rounded up the bureaucrats around the city. After executing a few that had actively influenced the famine, she began making reforms to alleviate the famine.
Volume 0: Chapter 4 - Consolidating a Powerbase
¡°He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.¡±
¡°There truly is too much grain stored here,¡± a voice rang like a silver bell, yet sounds desolate.
¡°Indeed, what the amount stored here, it could be able to last us six months, nine if we ration it out.¡± the same bell-like sound rang out, yet it contains much more warmth within it.
Naturally, the two are Li Ming and Xu Xiaomeng, currently overlooking the entire stockpile of grain stored within the city. After they had entered, the masses could not do anything with raw food, and thus leaving most of the grain untouched, in the end, Li Ming had led her own mob to gather the food stored around the city, private or public, into a single location.
That is after she had executed the main instigators, those who had worsened the effects of the famine, through over taxation, the peasants that could have barely fed themselves had to give the vast portion of their labour away.
Currently, it is the 217th year since the founding of the Great Sui Dynasty, much of it¡¯s had remained prosperous, yet in its¡¯ newly conquered Northern territories, it is undergoing a disastrous famine due to the recent locust swarm, which combined with the recent drought, had disastrous effects.
Nowhere is it more evident than Bingjiang city and its surrounding counties.
Bingjiang city itself sits on the longest river in the world, the HeJiang, named after its¡¯ fertile black soil, yet only small streams of the mighty river remains, with all it¡¯s surrounding tributaries all but dried. The farmer''s wells are but a shadow of its former self, with less than a quarter of the original water remaining. Add to that the locust plague, which had ravaged the already barren fields, it seems as if millions will die in this drought if it continues.
¡°We have enough to feed the entire county, don¡¯t we, why worry about food?¡± Xu Xiaomeng asked, with a hint of curiosity in her voice.
¡°Lady, it is not that simple, grain takes seven months till it could be harvested, our grain storage could only last that long if we ration it, we cannot wait until the rain begins to fall if we wish to take actions.¡±
¡°Sir, then would it not be wise to purchase grain from nearby counties?¡± Xu Xiaomeng inquired
¡°I¡¯m afraid that is wishful thinking my lady, it is impossible to establish any relationship except hostile towards our neighbouring provinces, we have revolted against the empire in overthrowing the city, to say the odds are greatly stacked against us is a great understatement, BingJiang has only a population of three hundred thousand, even if we include it¡¯s surrounding counties, against the Empire¡¯s four hundred million, we are like a mantis trying to stop a carriage,¡± Li Ming said with a hint of self-mocking.
¡°Yet for now, we should at least improve the lives of the common folk, we should have ample amount of time before the Empire would divert its attention towards us, it is too corrupted and incompetent to send immediately troops to quell us,¡± Li Ming continued.
¡°Thus leaving us ample time to consolidate a power base to expand from.¡±.
¡°Then sir, how will you manage to advert the crisis caused by the locusts and drought?¡± Xu Xiaomeng questioned.
¡°Lady, do remember, I have come from a more technologically advanced world, despite my lack of knowledge regarding advanced weaponry as well as industry, I do possess some concepts that conserve the use of water,¡± Li Ming cheerfully proposed, her eyes forming what seems like crescent moons.
¡°What may that be sir?¡± Xu Xiaomeng inquired once again.
¡°Naturally you would have never heard of the term, it allows for far more water to be conserved, allowing the plant to grow even in the worst of droughts,¡± Li Ming answered, still maintaining the cheerful voice.
Eventually, he explained the process of drip irrigation to Xu Xiaomeng.
¡°That idea is indeed ingenious, yet sir, how will you teach the peasants how to use these techniques?¡± Xu Xiaomeng once again asked.
Shaking her finger in the air, as if towards Xu Xiaomeng, Li Ming answered,¡± Lady, have you forgotten I was the head of state of a nation, naturally I have a solution,¡± Li Ming said, before continuing.
¡°In the enclosure movement, the British farmers¡¯ land became centralised in the hands of a few landlords, while those that had formerly owned those plots became workers that had to work in their former lands.¡±
Xu Xiaomeng, who was now relatively knowledgeable about Europe after Li Ming¡¯s lesson on the French Revolution, naturally understood Britain, and there did not ask any questions.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
¡°Through this, the British had created a system which produces far more than any single peasant, through this, crops could be planted, maintained and harvested far more efficiently, all the while using much less labour.¡±
¡°Yet this created a situation where the peasants were forced out their former land, leaving for the city, while creating a situation where wealth is centralised into the hands of a few individuals,¡± Li Ming explained.
¡°Yet sir wants to avoid the concentration of wealth into a few people,¡± Xu Xiaomeng spoke, finishing the sentence for Li Ming.
¡°Indeed, lady, it is as you say,¡± Li Ming stated, before continuing,¡± much later on, the concept of a collective was developed, where instead of the land being owned by a single individual, and others work on it, a collective creates a situation of all the people working on the land collectively own the land and equipment, through this, not only do we benefit in the same manner as the enclosure movement, we also eradicate the inequality of wealth between the peasants.¡±
¡°Sir, yet how will we ensure the those with the right skills have their talents used to their full potential?¡± Xu Xiaomeng once again asked.
¡°Lady, that is naturally through elections, in a collective, people would elect individuals on the local level, with whom they are far more familiar with, and thus are able to distinguish between the good and bad, not only does it ensure wealth does not pass on, it also allows the process to be much more democratic than landlords controlling the land.
¡°Furthermore, we will conduct regular census and surveys to ensure no group feels mistreated, through this, the people will be far better represented and governed than under the current system, where capable officials would lose their duties if they offend the wrong person, and the common masses would have no say if an incompetent official controls the products of their labour.¡±
¡°That is indeed reasonable sir, however, without the officials, there would be no one to take control of governing the province as a whole.¡±
¡°Lady, that is indeed the case currently, for now, I shall temporarily take control of matters before proper administration is put into place.¡±
¡°However,¡± Li Ming sighed before continuing,¡± before all else, we must focus on the famine on hand, I shall address the refugees within the city and have them return to their fields after teaching them the concept of collective farming and drip irrigation.¡±
After two days, around half of the peasants that had fled to BingJiang were gathered around Li Ming during her display of drip irrigation, after seeing its effects, they were certainly shocked, this method could undoubtedly save them much time and water, leaving the city with a promised monthly delivery of grain until harvest and a renewed spirit, they seem nothing like the starving corpse around the city just days ago.
As the peasants returned to their fields, Li Ming who is currently residing in the governor¡¯s study had much on her hands, as much of the bureaucrats had either left the city or died after she took power. Fortunately, she was well versed in the art of governance, and soon public order was restored through her use of the city garrison as police, leading them around the city to stop petty crime, while she had set up large soup kitchens, distributing food for free.
However, currently sitting in the governor¡¯s study, Li Mings¡¯ elegant brows current has a frown, rarely seen on the always smiling character, appearing deep in thought.
¡°Sir, despite our agricultural reforms, we must still deal with the possibility of the Empire responding to our traitorous actions, they may send an army towards us.¡±
¡°Lady, you need not worry, from what I have seen within the barracks, we possess the technology to produce flintlock weapons, albeit only a few are in our hands. However as long as we increase its production to the thousands, we will be able to overcome the superior numbers of the Great Sui Dynasty through its use, along with the implementation of guerrilla warfare.¡± Li Ming reassured, originally, she had planned to purchase weapons from foreign traders, or perhaps not use it at all, yet it seems as if there is no need, as blueprints of flintlock weapons already exist.
Furthermore, the imperial army had yet to adopt the usage of hot weapons, giving her a great advantage. As the effects of collectivisation begin to show, more food would be produced. Then she would need far fewer peasants working in the field, allowing more men to conscripted into the army or into the workforce, while the produced food would be sent to supply the army.
Overtime, Li Ming could raise an army to a more effective degree than the average province controlled by the empire is able to, all the while maintaining an effective logistic system.
However, flintlock weapons would need to be produced on a massive scale if she plans to equip every soldier with superior weaponry.
Naturally, that would mean the city¡¯s artisan has to individually craft the weapons. Fortunately for Li Ming, she has the knowledge to create a production line, which allows for goods to be produced on a much larger scale. Determining her course of actions, Li Ming gathering the craftsman within the city in a similar manner as she had done with the peasants, then she had instructed them to begin producing individual parts while some of the peasants that had remained within the city watched, soon, they would be able to copy the techniques in producing these goods as well.
Like this, a small production factory consisting of peasants and all the artisans who had known how to craft flintlock rifles within the city was soon set up, as the peasantries nearby carefully observed their actions, some began to craft their own rifle parts, soon, individual parts of the rifles were being produced on a mass scale before they are assembled.
For now, Li Ming was to personally manage the factory, yet in a month, a system similar to the collective farms, where the workers would elect an overseer that managed the factory would be put in place.
¡°Sir, perhaps the peasants can watch and imitate, however, they cannot accomplish much more than that,¡± Xu Xiaomeng expressed with a hint of doubt.
¡°Lady, it is indeed as you say, therefore, it is necessary to create a literacy program to educate the masses and that is why I had barely touched any scholars within the city, it is so they can be sent to teach the peasants how to read and write.¡± Li Ming stated
Gathering all the scholars within the city, as she had done with the peasants and craftsmen, she had brief them to teach all around the city, men and women alike, yet unlike the peasants and craftsmen, the older scholars soon rejected.
¡°What rights do you, an individual of the weaker sex, have any rights to force me to do your bidding, furthermore, for me to teach the uncouth masses, that is impossible,¡± an elderly criticised, pointing his already withering finger at Li Ming.
Yet her benevolent smile remained, unfazed by the scholar,¡± sir, to spread the ideas of the classics to the common man is what one well versed as you are should do.¡±
¡°Rubbish,¡± he harshly replied,¡± the peasants will never learn, they will remain as peasants no matter how much you teach them.¡±
This statement seemed to garner many negative feelings among some of the scholars coming from poor families.
A much younger scholar stepped up against the older man,¡± elder, many of us came from the same origins as the so-called ignorant peasants, are you possibly implying that we cannot ever surpass the scholars coming from the privileged families?¡±
As the argument developed, it was evident that there were far more scholars coming far humble backgrounds than the other side, many began to hurl insults at the elderly man, it eventually developed into a fight, with the more conservative side ultimately leaving the scene as a protest.
However, this greatly increased the motivation of the remaining scholars, and soon they spread all around the capital, engaging in public lectures, with some scholars even volunteering to journey to the countryside and teach there.
As there was not enough paper, the people had instead begun to write on the ground using sticks.
As the city became revitalised with boundless energy, Li Ming looking outside the window began to recall the capital of a certain nation, before shaking her head, after all, now, her duty is not yet done. Now that she had reform much of the governmental structure, she can finally focus all her efforts on the military.
The current soldiers she holds in her hands consist of the garrison station at the city, numbering four thousand, and the group of refugee she had led to the city, number twelve thousand.
This is certainly far from the professional and numerous Imperial Army.
Volume 0: Chapter 5 - General, the Concubine, and the Silver Haired Decision
¡°Remember, when one¡¯s aim is to achieve greatness¡ everyone is expendable¡±
At the Southwestern part of the Imperial capital lays the Western Palace, where the court was held every day from before dawn to dusk, managing the affairs of the state.
The floor, made of marble, reflect the dragon carving on the ceiling, while it¡¯s columns are painted gold, it gives off an awe-inspiring power, that seems to suppress even the boldest of men.
The emperor himself, sitting on his imperial throne, seems to be bored at the court discussion before him, instead of focusing his attention on fondling his concubine using one hand, while holding a jade sculpture on another.
When abruptly, the sound of metal clashing together could be heard.
A man dressed in full armour appeared, his face seems to be filled with the scars of time, yet the handsomeness of his earlier years could still be seen. Appearing before the count, then trodding before the emperor, he pauses for a moment, before suddenly kowtowing.
The emperor himself appears to barely notice the men, after a movement, he waves his sleeves, indicating the man can continue.
¡°This servant has failed the emperor,¡± despite the man suppressing his voice, the authority of a general within it could still be heard.
The emperor gave a sound of acknowledgement, still appearing to have no interest in the person.
The man continued,¡± it¡¯s regarding the elixir to immortality.¡±
The emperor¡¯s face now appeared a little serious.
¡°To report to the emperor, my daughter has fled, two of my door guards had last seen her.¡± naturally, this man was Xu Jin, Xu Xiaomengs¡¯ father.
The emperor stood up from his throne, while the concubine remained where she is.
Abruptly, the jade within the emperor¡¯s hand was thrown towards the Xu Jin, yet he did not dare evade it, resulting in it hitting him directly on his head.
¡°You mean you lost Xu Xiaomeng, my elixir of immortality?¡± the emperor harshly said.
¡°This servant, in a drunken stupor, had spoken aloud the emperor''s arrangement, resulting in her escape,¡± Xu Jin said, kowtowing even deeper.
¡°Drag general Xu out and chop off his head!¡± the emperor¡¯s face was now red with anger, his concubine too afraid to approach him.
¡°Emperor please reconsider,¡± the court unilaterally plead,¡± general Xu had contributed greatly to the emperor, to kill him is to do a great disservice to the country.¡±
Yet the emperor seems to be convinced in his decision, with his silence rejecting the court¡¯s begging.
The concubine which he had been playing with then approached the raging man, whispering in his ears in a delicate and shy voice,¡± my emperor, though Xu Jin has done a great disservice to the empire, his is still a man with value, I propose we send him to recapture Xu Xiaomeng, then afterwards suspending his salary for six years and revoking his noble title.¡±
The emperor, who had not listened to the advice of the court, appears value the suggestion of this concubine much more, returning to his seat, he swung his sleeves, before speaking once again,¡± Xu Jin has lost my elixir of immortality, that is unpardonable, but considering your previous service towards the empire, you shall be pardoned death,¡± he took in a breath before continuing,¡±Xu Jin shall have his salary suspended for six years, his title revoked, and will be given the task of recapturing Xu Xiaomeng, furthermore, he will not be allowed alcohol for six months.¡±
After the emperor had given out his edict, a eunuch dismissed the court.
Yet as the court was walking out the front gate, Xu Tianjian, along with an envoy appeared before the court.
¡°Reporting to the emperor, the peasants of Bingjiang had revolted, they had killed the governor, nobles, bureaucrats, and merchants within the city, and replaced it with their own.¡±
The emperor laughed, before roaring as he approached Xu Tianjian,¡± impossible, completely impossible, Bingjiang has eight thousand guards and a city wall ten meters tall, to be overthrown by a group of starving peasants is completely impossible.¡±
The concubine once more appeared before the emperor,¡± it is possible my emperor, Bingjiang¡¯s city walls had been in decay for years, furthermore, it is well known that the governor of Bingjiang is corrupt, the soldiers may have not received their pay for months, resulting in many of them deserting, while the rest have low morale.¡±
The emperor, a little calmer, then turned to his concubine, then asking,¡± then how did the merchants and nobles within the city allowed it to be taken, did they not displace any form of resistance?¡±
This time, Xu Tianjian spoke with a bit of a stutterer,¡± my emperor, the merchants had been avoiding the city ever since the famine, while the nobles had thrown out all the unnecessary servants and soldiers, preferring not to feed an extra mouth, due to this, they had gained much hatred among the populous.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
It seems like the emperors¡¯ anger once again exploded,¡± This emperor was not talking to you, remain silent, even if the city has fallen into ruins, how did a group of peasants without weapons take it.¡±
The court remained silent as if too afraid to answer, yet the concubine showed no fear, looking at the emperor in the eye, she explained,¡± emperor, I have heard a rumour that the peasants saw a silver haired girl, describing her possessing the beauty of a fairy, which had greatly boosted their morale, moreover, there appeared to be a young scholar which had been handing out food, yet he had suddenly disappeared once they had arrived at the city, those peasants had already been fed, to be suddenly taken away from their days of full stomach would rouse great anger, those men could have well been the vanguard during the attacks.¡±
Hearing the soothing voice of his favourite concubine seemed to calm down the emperor once again before his face suddenly turned black from his anger.
¡°Xu Jin, isn¡¯t the silver haired girl your daughter?¡± he questioned, this time, he was no longer yelling, instead, he spoke it in an authoritative voice.
Xu Jin could kowtow no lower replying,¡± it may be, emperor, this servant deserve death.¡±
Yet the emperor seems to be no longer angry, instead, giving out a command,¡± Xu Jin, your military prowess is known through the heavens, take forty thousand troops, reconquer the Bingjiang, and bring Xu Xiaomeng before me.¡±
¡°Xu Jin obeys.¡±
Finally, the court was truly dismissed, as Xu Jin and his son walked out, Xu Tianjian suddenly asked his father.
¡°Father, I have heard from the common masses the emperor was a wise one, yet he appears to be irrational.
Xu Jins Face grew dark, slapping his son, he scolded,¡± your words will get you killed,¡± before leaning to his sons ear, whispering,¡± the emperor had sent half his life campaigning against the Northern barbarians, yet once he established peace at the border, he became obsessed with immortality, consuming countless substances, including mercury.¡±
The content Xu Jin had told Xu Tianjian is an open secret, known to almost all nobles and bureaucrats that had been familiar with the emperor in his prime, yet if the emperor heard it, the person would be executed on the spot.
Walking out of the Western Palace, and onto the Xu family carriage, the father and son pair continued.
¡°Father, I do not understand, how is that concubine able to hold that much power over the emperor?¡± Xu Tianjian asked.
Xu Jin looked at his third son¡¯s face, which still retained some of its baby fat, making Xu Tianjian appearing innocent despite his valiant features that he had inherited from his father.
Xu Jin checked the carriage, ensuring no one can hear him, before leaning closer to his son.
¡°From rumours I had heard that concubine is surnamed Hu, coming from the extreme South of the empire, despite her barbaric background, she had impressed the emperor with her elegant dance as well as her poetry that had stunned the court. Perhaps the only reason she had not yet become empress is due to her commoner background.¡±
Xu Tianjian was quite stunned, looking at his father who had returned to his seat as if nothing had happened, he did not ask any more questions.
At the Eastern Palace, used to house the emperor and his family, is a small lake, surrounded by artificial mountains, creating secluded from the rest of the palace, making it an ideal place for privacy.
The emperor and concubine Hu, sitting on a porcelain bench appears to be rather intimate, yet the contents are most certainly not.
¡°Why did you stop me when I had planned to execute Xu Jin?" he asked, before continuing," despite his history of serving in the frontier, to disobey my arrangement is proof that he is disloyal."
Concubine Hu showed a shy smile, before whispering into the emperor¡¯s ears,¡± we shall see his loyalty from this campaign, even if he was disloyal, emperor always has his sons under your wise hands.¡±
The emperor chuckled, before violently coughing, bring his handkerchief to his mouth, splashes of his blood formed flowers.
Concubine Hu panicked, tending the sickly emperor, before calling a eunuch to sent the emperor back into his chambers, reminding the eunuch to give the emperor medicine, she went back to her private palace.
It had originally been the palace of the empresses, yet the emperor had granted it to Concubine Hu while placing the empresses into the palaces usually reserved for concubines.
The palace the empresses had been exiled to was desolate. In the earlier reign of the emperor, there had been hundreds of concubines, yet all of them had been deposed of after Concubine Hu had entered the palace, through a series of assassination, blackmailing and suppression, leaving Concubine Hu as essentially the sole woman of the emperor.
Within her room was a maidservant, carefully avoiding looking at Concubine Hu in the eye, she tendered her master perfectly.
¡°Xiao Xi was it,¡± Concubine Hu¡¯s delicate and shy voice could not be heard anywhere, instead, it sounded distant.
The maid servant''s body shook, thinking to herself, Xiao Xi was Concubine Hu¡¯s maidservant two months ago, whose fate is now unknown, yet the maidservant was too afraid to speak up, replying.
¡°Yes my lady, this servant is indeed Xiao Xi,¡± the girl¡¯s voice quivered like that of a mosquito.
Yet it seems as if Concubine Hu had already forgotten she had asked the question.
Picking up a brush, Concubine Hu began to write a letter, it¡¯s message was direct and ruthless.
¡°Increase the amount of mercury to the emperors¡¯ pills,¡± it reads.
The words, not only imply Concubine Hu was aware of the harmful effects of mercury but it also that she was the one responsible for the emperor¡¯s gradual degradation of his mind.
After carefully sealing it, she handed it to ¡®Xiao Xi¡¯, instructing her to deliver it to the imperial physicians¡¯ hands.
¡®Xiao Xi¡¯ obeyed, carefully avoiding looking at the letter, walked towards the residence of the imperial physician, leaving it in his hands, she fled back to Concubine Hu¡¯s residence, yet before she entered, a cold object touched her neck, cleanly severing it, yet not a single drop spilling onto the ground.
The body was then quickly carried away as if it was never there, to begin with.
This whole process was efficient, as if repeated hundreds of times, while the assailants¡¯ figure could not be seen.
Concubine Hu seems long numb to this process, only sighing a little.
¡°It¡¯s such a shame, her face was quite agreeable,¡± Concubine Hu lamented, before writing another letter.
After a week, Xu Jin had returned to Xuchang, while Xu Tianjian had remained within the capital.
As soon as he entered the city walls of Xuchang, he did not go to Xu manor, instead directly heading to the barracks, gathering the forty thousand that will be striking Bingjiang.
After ensuring he was well supplied, the horses were fed, the soldiers well equipped and the siege equipment were functioning properly, he proceeded to march his army towards Bingjiang, with his current arrangement, he can campaign for six years.
Li Ming, during this whole, had not been idle, she naturally knew they were going to send forces to reconquer the city.
After a months Bingjiang city appear to be doing far better than it originally had when she had overthrown its governor, numerous children are becoming literate, the production of rifles is booming producing more than twenty thousand rifles, and the crops seem to be growing well, ready to be harvested in half a year.
Her army, recruiting both man and woman to increase her reserve of manpower, had been completely equipped with flintlock rifles. Trained in line formation, they still wear their peasant clothes, as proper uniforms are too difficult to produce at the current moment.
Unfortunately, she had only four weeks to train these soldiers, resulting in them coming out less desirable, due to their lack of training, they could only fire at most two rounds per minute, while the lack of calvary means that she has to maintain the use of square formation to prevent outflanking, which greatly reduces the maneuverability of the army.
Ultimately, she had managed to raise an army the size of four thousand, partially due to the recent famine, which had reduced the population of Bingjiang, as well as it¡¯s historically only being a city of fifty thousand, to raise an army this size was already impressive.
Yet this was certainly not enough to hold against Xu Jin¡¯s army, even with the use of hot weapons.
Li Ming, upon the news of an army of forty thousand, did not at first respond, instead, she had a meal of only bread, as well as some vegetables, then walking towards the governors¡¯ study, where she burnt all the papers within the room, before finally going in front of the army four thousand men strong.
¡°We are leaving the city,¡± Li Ming said in a solemn voice, while she could hear a slight gasp in the back of her head, she ignored it.
¡°Gather the bare minimum of your belongings, we cannot defeat the enemy, it is best to avoid direct confrontation, and to keep as many soldiers as we can.¡±
Volume 1: Chapter 6 - Three Rules and Eight Notices
¡°Our Army''s Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention have been practiced for many years, but their contents vary slightly in army units in different areas. They have now been unified and are hereby reissued. It is expected that you will take this version as the standard one for thorough education and strict enforcement. As to other matters needing attention, the high command of the armed forces in different areas may lay down additional points in accordance with specific conditions and order their enforcement¡±
The Liu family is a family of seven, containing Liu father, Liu mother, and five brothers. The father and mother had long past their prime, relying on the five brothers and their neighbours to look after them.
When they went to Xuchang to trade much of their stock of fur and other animal goods, they had gotten a plentiful amount of grain and rice. When they were returning, a peculiar scholar had travelled with them, yet they had not seen him since Bingjiang.
¡°He''s probably dead, killed during the chaos,¡± Liu One said to himself.
¡°I doubt it, the scholar seemed frail, but most certainly was not, he showed impressive survival skills,¡± Liu Five returned.
Currently, the five brothers are sitting around the table, with a wooden slip in front of them.
¡°Big brother, fifth brother, please don¡¯t distract yourself,¡± Liu Two, in an attempt to redirect the conversation, negotiated.
¡°What rubbish is this,¡± Liu Three yelled as he smacked his hand on his knees,¡± before, conscription was at most one from each family, now all five of us have to join the military?¡±
Liu Four patted his older brother on his back, before reassuring,¡± didn¡¯t the slip say that our father and mother will have their food provided by the collective?¡±
Liu Three directed a glaze at his younger brother,¡± How will the administration ensure it is properly provided for, our father and mother could be ignored for all we know.¡±
Liu Five during this whole argument was too timid to speak and sat out.
¡°The slip said that in exchange for five coins, conscription could be excepted, how about we leave Liu Five to look after mother and father while we serve,¡± Liu One proposed after a period of consideration.
The other brothers all agreed while Liu Five remained silent.
Liu One sighed to himself thinking,¡± Our fifth brother is too timid, he is not fit for living in an environment of death.¡±
In the end, the four older brothers paid their respect to their parents, encouraged their little brother, and left for Bingjiang
When the Liu brothers once again see the city coming into their view, it was a completely different site than before, as there are no longer people starving outside the city, instead, they appeared much better fed.
As the Liu brothers arrived at the South gate, where the slip had delegated them, the four thousand other soldiers came into view, then a silver haired girl, whose face contains an agreeable smile standing on a platform, overlooking all the soldiers.
¡°How could a girl lead a bunch of men,¡± Liu Three complained.
¡°Third brother, you are wrong, there are also groups of girls around here,¡± Liu Four corrected.
Spitting onto the ground, Liu Three complained further,¡± that¡¯s even worse, those frail girls can¡¯t survive the heat of battle, much less hold a weapon.¡±
Before the conversation could continue, the sound of drum hitting could be heard.
A melodious voice came out from the silver haired girl.
¡°Before proper training, discipline must be established,¡± the silver-belled voice rang out.
¡°There are three rules you must follow.¡±
¡°To obey orders in all your actions.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t take a single needle or piece of thread from the masses.¡±
¡°Turn in everything captured.¡±
¡°Furthermore, there are eight points for attention.¡±
¡°Speak politely, pay fairly for what you buy, return everything you borrow, pay for anything you damage, don¡¯t hit or swear at people, don¡¯t damage crops, don¡¯t take liberties with women, and don¡¯t ill-treat captives.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
¡°If you are found forming the more severe of these crimes, such as looting from peasants, you would be shot on the spot,¡± the sweet voice finished.
These policies certainly caused mass disruption in the crowds, after all, conscripted peasants seldom get paid for their service in the Great Sui Empire, the only method they had to gain their income is through looting.
The silver haired girl¡¯s smile remained the same, as if unaffected by the crowd below her, Liu Three was most vocal in the protest.
Hitting the drums once again, the group of unorganised masses eventually calmed down.
¡°Naturally, I will not force these rules upon you for nothing,¡± she said,¡± those that abide these duties would gain one coin, typically what you would earn in a week.
This proclamation of salary certainly calmed down much of the crowd, yet Liu Three was still vocal, loudly yelling from the crowd.
¡°Why are there women in the military, they can¡¯t hold a spear, much less fight.¡±
The curve of her mouth grew a little,¡± naturally, we will not be using spears,¡± she explained, before pointing to the stack of flintlock muskets,¡± you will be practising using these.¡±
Perhaps the silver haired girl was too radiant, but the vast majority of the crowd has not noticed the pile of weapons, seeing the flintlock muskets in such a massive quantity, many of those more experienced in the military were shocked.
Yet it appeared Liu Three care little about these hot weapons, still criticising the involvement of women.
¡°Still, you can¡¯t expect these girls to have the heart to kill on the battlefield.¡±
The silver haired girl, beginning to disprove the behaviour of Liu Three, still explained.
¡°The women I have picked out are those that have the necessary physical capabilities to match man, there is no need to doubt that, furthermore, even if they cannot fight, they can still play a supporting role.¡±
At this point, Liu One could no longer tolerate his younger brother¡¯s yapping and forcibly stopped him.
After all, Liu One is much more experienced regarding the world and knows their Northern neighbour has a long history of female warriors, at this point, Liu Three is just embarrassing himself.
Perhaps what is more surprising to Liu One is that the silver haired girl had never used the Northern female warriors as a part of her argument. Little did he know that neither Li Ming nor Xu Xiaomeng had much knowledge about the world, and could naturally not use that argument, as they never knew it in the first place.
Regardless, the order was restored to the crowd.
¡°Before we begin, I shall introduce myself, I am Li Ming, but you may call me General Li,¡± Li Ming proclaimed to the crowd.
¡°To begin, each man can get a musket, and take three bullets, after which, form a line three men deep, while holding their weapons like this,¡± Li Ming said as she held the musket those that perform their action with excellence with receive a bundle of wheat to sent to their family as well as their salary.¡±
Li Ming had carefully planned the recruitment as to not affect any community, each one of these recruits is young, brimming with vigour, and unaffected by the recent famine, which is why the army had such a low number.
Naturally, as they were all young, they had mouths to feed, children, parents and siblings are all on their list, to provide for them more during the famine is something these men and women wish to do.
A new wave of energy washed upon the recruits, and they quickly gathered to form a line, yet it was greatly inefficient, it had taken far too much time for it to form, if this was a real battle, they were certainly slaughtered by then.
Liu Three was perhaps the most energetic of these men, pushing and shoving, he had formed great disruption in the formation, Liu Four formed the line largely avoiding the other recruits, Liu One had an air of authority coming from his role as the older brother, causing him easily command others to effectively form his section, while Liu Two had attempted to stop his younger brother¡¯s rampage, ultimately failing miserably.
Li Ming¡¯s smile fell a little, yet she remained optimistic, after all, this is the first day of their training, while will eventually last a month.
Liu Four had proven himself to be efficient working by himself, which had resulted in him being assigned to the light infantry, Liu One was assigned as an officer due to his authority of command, as well as Li Ming¡¯s history with his stubbornness, Liu One would certainly not retreat unless it is necessary, while the remaining Liu brothers remained as line infantry.
Eventually three weeks have passed, various drills were conducted, however, Li Ming had relatively little knowledge on flintlock muskets, ultimately having to ask those more experienced with the weapon for help. Yet this improved her image among the soldiers, to them, it was a case of great humility.
Eventually, under strict training, even Liu Three had stopped his various tantrums, performing rather well using the rifle and bayonet, yet could only resign as line infantry.
¡°That Li general sure is blind, does he not see my skill in shooting,¡± Liu Three complained to his fourth brother.
¡°That is because you act too rashly,¡± Liu Four returned, these days, he had gained various survival skills and other qualities necessary as a scout, perhaps he could be considered one of the best.
The two continued their conservation, yet surprisingly, Liu Three had not once complain about the women serving, partly due to the bond they had all formed, and as well as the cases of severe punishment shown by Li Ming towards those that had harassed female soldiers, to her words,¡± how you can maintain order in villages if you don¡¯t even follow the rules laid down for you as a soldier.¡±
Li Ming herself is currently engaging in a bit of small talk with Xu Xiaomeng.
¡°Lady, are you not curious as to why I had restricted looting and other vulgar behaviours?¡± Li Ming questioned.
A light chuckle went off in her head, before the silver bell-like voice replied,¡± Sir, I would not have asked, for it is a foolish question. The soldiers of the Great Sui Dynasty is known for their pillaging acts, they invade the homes of villagers, sleep with another man''s woman and take their possession, they are notorious for gathering discontent among the peasants.¡±
Li Ming clicked her tongue,¡± lady, how do you know these things?¡±
¡°That is an even more foolish question, no matter how sheltered I am, do not forget that I am the daughter of a general, these words are commonly heard in the manor, my fathers men boast of all the wealth they had looted from the places they had gone to, while boasting about the beautiful wives of other men.¡±
Giving off a sound of affirmation, Li Ming ended the conversation, returning to her duties as governor.
Yet these calm days cannot last forever, now, Li Ming stands before the newly trained soldiers, giving out orders after receiving information regarding Xu Jin¡¯s army.
¡°- to keep as many soldiers as we can,¡± the silver voice that had given out the instruction the first day rang, today, graver than any other day.
¡°You would certainly oppose this, but worry not, as I have ensured your family will be provided for, the reforms I have made remain in place, and there would be a supply for your weapons,¡± Li Ming continued.
Naturally, this raised suspicion among the troops, the entire city avoid taking responsibilities for killing all the nobles within the city? That is impossible.
¡°Of course, you may be wondering how the city escapes responsibility,¡± Li Ming said, with a trace of her smile returning.
¡°The answer is to simply surrender, yet keep a puppet governor working for the people,¡± Li Ming said as the young scholar that had argued against the older scholar appeared.
¡°During these three weeks, I have groomed this man to ensure stability, when Xu Jin¡¯s army arrived, he will surrender the city, yet as the Imperial Law of the Sui Dynasty reads, a surrender city can never be looted by the general, while the governor will remain as long as they swear an oath of loyalty to the empire, furthermore, the previous governor had offended countless people during his time, for him to be replaced would appease many others instead.¡±
Li Ming proclaimed to the crowd, however, she had evaded a key point, how were the weapons produced?
Naturally, that is through an underground factory, while the scholar is kept under the strict watch of the empire, all the key aspects of the city had long been collectivised, leading to them becoming independent from the governor.
¡°Now that your family¡¯s safety is assured, we shall build up our powers in the villages gaining fresh blood and support. While constantly harassing the enemy, cutting off their supply line.
Volume 1: Chapter 7 - Li Ming’s Ambush
¡°But the basic principle of guerrilla warfare must be the offensive, and guerrilla warfare is more offensive in its character than regular warfare.¡±
Li Ming, after convincing her army, left the city, avoiding going through the major roads, she left without leaving a trace, as if she and the army had never appeared.
Two days later, Xu Jin had arrived with the vanguard of his army consisting of eight thousand calvaries and one thousand crossbowmen, expecting to crush any army outside the city walls, yet during this whole journey, he had seen nothing. More surprisingly for him, as he arrived in Bingjiang, he was not greeted by any form of resistance, the city gate is already opened.
As he entered the city, a young scholar arrived in front of him.
¡°Honorable sir, this servant is Ling Ping, it could be said that I am the representative of the city.¡±
Xu Jin appeared quite aloof, before asking, ``Is there a silver-haired girl that had entered the city.¡±
Ling Ping put on an act of shocked, before affirming the general,¡± Indeed honourable sir, there has been one, yet she had left the city just two days ago.¡±
Xu Jin¡¯s brows furrowed,¡± guard the city gates,¡± he instructed his vanguard,¡± make sure to check every woman that leaves or enters,¡± before turning back to Ling Ping.
¡°Do you know the crime for slaughtering government officials and nobles,¡± Xu Jin asked Ling Ping.
¡°Honorable sir, to execute the culprits mean to execute the whole city, the governor had fallen out of flavour with heavens, perhaps an agreement could be made between you and me,¡± Ling Ping responded, extremely calm in front of the face of possible capital punishment.
Xu Jin burst into laughter, patting Ling Ping in the back,¡± Fret not, the emperor had only instructed me to besiege the city if Xu Xiaomeng had occupied it, it seems Concubine Hu had given off misinformation, as long as you aid me in capturing Xu Xiaomeng, no harm will come upon the city. Furthermore, barely anyone within the court had a favourable impression of the old governor, you seem capable, for you to governor Bingjiang would not do the Great Sui Dynasty any harm.¡±
Xu Jin had not spoken from his heart, in truth, the previous governor of Bingjiang is in a faction with Concubine Hu, for her to lose the support of Bingjiang is something he desires.
¡°Many thanks, honourable sir, we will ensure to support your search for Xu Xiaomeng,¡± Ling Ping bowed.
Xu Jin instructed a portion of his troops to remain in the city while taking the majority to search for Xu Xiaomeng.
¡°It seems my lord did not need to bring such a number of troops,¡± Xu Jins¡¯ advisor, Si Yan said.
Xu Jin, sitting on his carriage, appears to be asleep, giving a sound of acknowledgement, he returned,¡± that seems to be the case, once we return to the main army, I will return some back to Xuchang.¡±
Si Yan obliged and continued riding beside Xu Jin.
¡°My lord,¡± Si Yan suddenly spoke,¡± the North is a vast plain, littered with small forests and the like, yet I believe as long as we monitor all roads, which are already few in number, finding Xu Xiaomeng would be effortless.¡±
¡°And what if Concubine Hu had lied, and Xu Xiaomeng was never spotted?¡± Xu Jin asked.
¡°Then Concubine Hu would fall out of favour with the emperor, his desire for eternal life is too strong, to provide false information to the emperor, no matter how much the emperor flavours Concubine Hu, he had already gone mad, she would certainly suffer the same fate as the empress,¡± Si Yan reported, before lifting his head towards the heaven, admiring the moon that had just reached its peak.
Xu Jin still had his eyes closed, the clopping of horse grooves could be heard as the calvary travelled down the main road.
Yet it suddenly ceased.
Before a forest around two hundred meters away from Xu Jin, Li Ming sits, with her distinctly warm smile, as if just noticing Xu Jin, she casually greets Xu Xiao Ming''s father.
¡°General, you have brought forty thousand men to capture me, why to waste so much effort on a single person,¡± Li Ming asked, appearing rather innocent.
Xu Jin by now had his eyes opened, looking at his daughter, who appeared completely alien to him. Xu Xiaomeng had seldom smiled, much less in such a familiar manner, more surprisingly was she addressed to him as general instead of a father, yet still, the moonlight reflecting off the girl made her seem almost celestial.
¡°Unfilial daughter, come back now, your sacrifice will bring the Xu family to new heights, our family will be promoted to the status of prince,¡± Xu Jin said to his daughter as if stating a fact. It seems like some of the troops were surprised at the relation between the two, yet remained silent.
Li Ming paused for a moment, before her silver bell-like voice ran once again, this time as a sigh.
¡°General, these men all have families and aspirations, for them to die here is a great shame, it would be arrogant of me to ask you to retreat, but I truly wish that for those soldiers,¡± Li Ming said with disappointment before she turned and walked into the forest.
Xu Jin gave off a burst of mocking laughter, looking at his troops, he asked, ``Are you planning to flee? If that is the case, then go,¡± yet none of the troops left,¡± If not, then go and capture that unruly girl.¡±
¡°Sir, this must be an ambush,¡± Si Yan suggested.
¡°Of course I know it¡¯s an ambush, yet how much troops can she muster, our troops'' number nine thousand in total, each having gone through years of service in the frontier, I want to see what army she can use to defeat mine.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Li Ming gave another sigh, looking at Si Yan, she shook her head, before walking into the dense vegetation.
Just as she disappeared into the vegetation, four thousand musketeers emerged, seemingly out of ground, holding their muskets, in one massive row one thousand two hundred man wide, and three men deep, each ten men led by a corporal, each fifty led by an officer, and each two hundred led by a captain. As the top of command, Li Ming began issuing out orders, yet could not be seen through the jungle.
¡°Fire,¡± the silver bell-like sound rang out.
The men still in peasant clothes begin to fire in volleys at Xu Jin¡¯s army, the small lead bullets piece through the horses and men, horse that was hit by the bullets collapsed, bring their rider along with them, while the men that were hit fell off their steed, yet the horses seem to be aware of this, galloping away from the battlefield.
¡°Crossbowmen, fire,¡± Xu Jin, seeing Li Ming¡¯s army firing, responded with his own volley.
As the bolts dart through the night sky, it failed to hit it¡¯s target, partly due to the night, partly due to the forest providing cover, and partly due to the smoke from the guns.
¡°Cavalry, charge,¡± Xu Jin, having not brought any artillery alongside his vanguard and could only order his cavalry to charge.
As the horses advanced towards the men, their distance soon closed, yet as the distance between the two armies shrank, the accuracy of the volleys greatly increased, added with the sound of gunpowder, the horse¡¯s advance was slowed.
Yet the cavalry still had managed charge forward, coming to almost twenty meters away from Li Ming¡¯s main force, suddenly, Li Ming¡¯s army turned and hastily ran into the dense vegetation.
¡°The enemy must have broken rank and run, pursue them,¡± Xu Jin orders his force.
The cavalry quickly entered into the forest, constant movement should be heard as bushes rustled.
The leader of the cavalry, noticing their enemies are still around, ordered his men to follow him, with a wave of his hand, all the cavalry formed formation, advancing at the same speed, something cavalry rarely is capable of.
Suddenly the sound of gunfire could be heard, and a nearby soldier dropped onto the ground, while his horse ran away.
Yet as the horse ran not too far, it suddenly dropped into a hole, leaving behind a terrible neigh.
The leader, noticing this peculiar occurrence, sent one of his subordinates to investigate.
Yet before he could reach where the horse disappeared, another multiple shot could be heard, and the scout had died, alongside his horse.
The leader, perhaps due to the tenseness of the situation, ordered his troops to head to where the sound originated from.
As they approached the source of the gunshot, they too suddenly dropped into a hole, a combination of scream and neigh could be heard before the forest returned to its former tranquillity.
The leaders¡¯ grip tightened around the horse''s lead, ultimately, he decided to bring the entire force of his cavalry to investigate.
As the hooves approached where the men had disappeared, the soldiers could see a rather petrifying scene.
The subordinate he had sent had his body pierced by sharpened bamboo, going through the horse''s body into the men.
Many of the men¡¯s faces paled, yet their days at the frontier had hardened them.
¡°It is not safe to be on horseback, everyone dismount,¡± the leader said.
As soon as the order was given, the men got off their horses and began to form a formation, grabbing their sabre and crossbow, their professionalism could not be underestimated.
Another series of gunfire could be heard, and several of the men fell, yet the people around them seem not to notice, filling in the gap created, he proceeded towards the origin of the bullet.
A few more shots could be heard, yet only a few more men died, perhaps most disheartening was the reappearance of the former trap, which had killed more than five dozen men by now.
Suddenly, a large log rolled towards the soldiers. Forming a formation in brace for it, it had still crushed some, but could not be considered substantial, the leader gave out a few commands and continued marching.
Finally, they came to the place where the gunfire could constantly be heard, traces of footsteps could be seen, yet it suddenly disappeared.
The leader once again brought the soldiers along with him to investigate, yet nothing seemed out of the usual.
Ultimately, the leader gave up, ordering his men to act carefully, he sent them to scout around the forest.
A few more incidents with the traps had occurred, yet no traces an army could be seen, no footsteps nor blood.
Scouting through much of the forest, they ultimately gained no result, finally, they returned to Xu Jin, leaving those that had died in the traps, totalling nearly one thousand four hundred behind.
Of course, Li Mings¡¯ army was still within their forest, yet Xu Jin knows when a futile effort is expended, ordering his men to return back to the remainder of his forces, they walked with a solemn look, while Xu Jin kept his eyes opened the whole time, secretly cursing his foolishness.
Underneath the battleground where the two armies had clashed, was a series of tunnels, it was rather tight, humid, and hastily dug, as evident by its bad foundation, as if it was ready to collapse at any moment.
Li Ming herself, due to her petite body, and status as general, suffered the least of these conditions remaining in a space away from the rest of the troops, her silver-haired appeared to occasionally shine, providing a dim source of light.
The soldiers, despite seeing the strangeness of their general, did not dare speak, afraid that they would be noticed by the cavalry. Eventually, Liu Four, who had been harassing the cavalry when they had been in the forest with the rest of the light infantry had returned, did the army proceed to the exit.
The light infantry was not trained in the traditional line formation common during this era, instead, they were thought to act individually, while harassing the enemy, after they had been noticed, they would quickly go into the tunnel to go out in another exit to continue their harassment, yet Li Ming had made it a rule that light infantry could not hide within the main area of the tunnel, where they are currently.
Yet Liu Four had entered, it could only mean one thing, the enemies had left.
Finally, the army had left the cramped tunnel through a small exit, far too small force soldiers wearing army to fit through, as they once again greet the moon, they celebrated.
¡°General Li, your tactic was too good, the enemy suffered so much, yet we were barely scratched,¡± Liu Two commented.
¡°That is thanks to your effort, private Liu Two, as well as the rest of the army, my body is too small to bear the recoil,¡± Li Ming returned with her signature smile.
Seeing her smile, Liu Two blushed a little, scratching his head, he returned back to the rest of the Liu brothers.
¡°He appears to like you,¡± Xu Xiaomeng commented, her tone carrying a bit of amusement.
¡°That appears to be the case lady, unfortunately, I would not be interested in beginning a romantic relationship in a thousand years,¡± Li Ming replied, her tone carrying a hint of seriousness.
It appears their typical roles had been reversed, perhaps due to the two of them residing within the same body, leading to their personality affecting each other.
Xu Xiaomeng, affected by the victory, appeared much more talkative than usual,¡± Sir, why are you not interested in beginning a relationship, I have already said sir can do as you wish with my body, even if you wish to engage in a relationship with a female, I would still not oppose it.¡±
¡°Lady, it is not that, but is instead that I have long lost interest in these things, back when I was the leader of nation x, I had already vowed to never marry, instead of focusing all my attention on governing the country,¡± Li Ming explained.
¡°Of course, if there were anyone lady fancies, I would not object to starting a relationship with them for lady,¡± Li Ming added.
Shaking her head, despite not having a form, Xu Xiaomeng replied,¡± No, I do not think I am interested in a relationship either, my experience of others desiring my flesh, especially men have damaged my capacity to love.¡±
¡°As you wish, lady,¡± Li Ming returned, containing a tad of humour in her words.
Li Ming had forbidden alcohol for the soldiers, in an attempt to maintain discipline, so the soldiers had little to celebrate with, a few fortunate, soldiers had a dance with their partner, despite the army begin unisex, there were far fewer females than males, leading to other soldiers gritting their teeth in anger.
During the night, Li Ming had even heard some of them being rather intimate, distracting her work on future military action, ultimately, she thought to herself,¡± I should ban such intimate actions in the army, this is certainly distracting.¡±
Ridding that from her mind, she looks at the plan she had conceived, at the top to details.
¡°Guerilla encirclement,¡± in broad strokes.
Volume 1: Chapter 8 - Village Recruitment
¡°The revolutionary war is a war of the masses; only mobilizing the masses and relying on them can wage it¡±
- Be Concerned with the Well Being of the Masses, Pay Attention to Methods of Work
The rumour of the dying daughter of the Xu family has only been popular in the city of Xuchang, and later the imperial capital, in fact, much of the Great Sui Dynasty had never heard of this, instead, there had been a much more popular rumour.
Concubine Hu, quite possibly the most powerful woman in the entire history of the Great Sui Dynasty, was actually, in an allegiance to their Northern neighbour, who the empire had countless border skirmishes with, this rumour was most widely spread throughout the common masses, unlike the daughter of the Xu family, who had been primarily the topic of gossip among nobles and wealthy elites.
The Northern portion of the Great Sui Dynasty, who had constantly felt the effects of raids by their Northern neighbours, was particularly bitter about this rumour, with many calling Concubine Hu a seductress who had become a disease of the heart for the prosperous empire.
This was certainly not without basis, as Concubine Hu had been actively building up her own faction, containing many nobles and bureaucrats of the Central Plains as well as her homeland in the South and while others are not aware of it, had played an active part in the madness of the emperor.
The main opposition against her faction is led by Xu Jin, who had the support of much of the military, and himself in possession of Changtian province, whose prosperity matches those experienced by the Central Plains.
While nearly all corners of the empire are engaging in factional conflict, the north had stayed primarily neutral, except for the city of Bingjiang. This was why Xu Jin had been particularly supportive of Ling Ping becoming the new governor.
Regardless, the factional difference between Xu Jin and Concubine Hu would not last long, as the Great Sui Dynasty would soon face a great crisis.
Li Ming is rather satisfied with her new plan, written on a bamboo slip, it details how she will repel Xu Jin¡¯s army of forty thousand while expanding her control over the villages.
The bamboo slip itself details several points in her campaign, detailing how she will use the rumour of Concubine Hu to her advantage, as the Northern part of the empire had long despised their Northern neighbours, she could easily use patriotism to encourage them to revolt.
Naturally, patriotism alone is not enough to make men revolt, their personal grievances must be addressed as well, through exploiting the anger of the masses towards the incompetence of governance that had led to the recent famine, they would soften up towards Li Ming¡¯s idea of the republic.
Her army had already been instructed to carefully observe the social and economic situation of the villages they will enter, and begin to distribute grain, sponsorship of local events, and forming casual conversation to recruit a small dedicated following.
Afterwards, the nucleus would be used to further her support. If her plans are acted in a successful manner, a village that had once acted in the logistic system of Xu Jin¡¯s army would turn hostile, beginning to field guerilla groups after receiving training, and have their old system of governance replace in flavour of a democratic model to further increase the village¡¯s support against the empire¡¯s bureaucracy.
Li Ming and her army during this time would too grow, her professional army would require far more training than those of guerilla whose primary goal was to harass and seize supplies, for that, she had set up organisations within Bingjiang who will train soldiers, under the disguise of charity services which will distribute grain.
Those soldiers would receive the same amount of training as her current army, despite the rush in their deployment, they will gain experience as more battles occur.
Li Ming herself feels no pity for the possible loss of countless lives, perhaps due to her experiences in nation x, she had long grown numb, yet Xu Xiaomeng is inexperienced in war and had grown attached to these rowdy soldiers.
As Li Ming put away the bamboo slip, she proceeds towards a wooden tub, to clean herself from the mud on her body she had acquired during her time in the tunnel.
Perhaps Li Ming¡¯s earlier days as a rich young master had made her numb to seeing a female body, yet her actions as she cleans herself appear completely natural.
Xu Xiaomeng herself doesn¡¯t seem to mind, perhaps she had felt a little uncomfortable the first time Li Ming had cleaned her body, yet she had become accustomed to it. Instead, she seemed distracted on another matter.
¡°Sir, what if father discovers our activities in the village, and use brutal means to suppress it,¡± Xu Xiaomeng asked, her voice appearing slightly fearful.
¡°Then it would be beneficial to us, displays of violence would only further bring the masses to our side,¡± Li Ming, still maintaining her typical smile said.
¡°Sir, that would result in deaths,¡± Xu Xiaomeng, raising her voice rejected.
¡°Of course, this is war. When I had been in nation x, it was far worse, carpet bombing and use of chemical weapons were rampant. Fortunately, these weapons of mass destruction had not been invented yet, lady, you should be grateful that this world is one where these things do not exist,¡± Li Ming, using a voice that displayed a degree of tiredness and wisdom, lectured Xu Xiaomeng.
Naturally, Xu Xiaomeng does not know these terms, ultimately, Li Ming gave off a slight chuckle before she explained to Xu Xiaomeng.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Xu Xiaomeng, sounding rather desolate, still persisted,¡± Sir, just because fewer people die do not mean it is justified.¡±
¡°Lady, it is not that I care not for their deaths, but it is that, through their deaths, we would achieve one where people live better lives, currently, commoners die at the age of forty, if we manage to establish institutions like healthcare, they would live much longer. Yet we cannot, not yet anyway,¡± coughing a little, Li Ming continued,¡± essentially, what I¡¯m saying is, as long as the good outweighs the bad, it is something I would do.¡±
Laughing at herself, Li Ming said to herself,¡± that sounds like Consequentialism .¡±
Xu Xiaomeng made a sound of confusion, yet Li Ming did not explain.
Ultimately, Li Ming remained in the bath for far too long, exchanging her dirty clothes for another similar working clothes, she reappeared outside her tent.
The sun had just risen. Just as it surpasses the hill, the sound of a horn could be heard.
The soldiers, upon hearing the sound, awaken from their slumber and begin to pack up the camp, before preparing for their breakfast.
Li Ming had formed her soldiers in platoons of 60 for the soldiers to form close links as well as to promote healthy rivalry, seeing the men and women preparing food, she begins to pack up her own tent.
As she proceeded to load the luggage onto carriages carried by mules, Xu Xiaomeng suddenly sighed.
¡°Sir, would it be possible to spare my father if you capture him?¡± Xu Xiaomeng asked.
¡°Lady, I despise unnecessary loss of life, if I can ensure the general will not begin to launch a coup, I will certainly allow him to live,¡± Li Ming answered as she continues to load her baggage onto the carriage.
¡°Many thanks, sir,¡± Xu Xiaomeng returned, despite her father¡¯s plan to send her as an offering to the emperor, she still has some attachment to him as his daughter.
Taking a platoon along with her, Li Ming begins to march.
Soon, the platoon journeyed through the forest, arriving at a village of around two thousand, situated at the supply line of Xu Jin¡¯s army.
Xu Jin¡¯s army now is actually closer to Bingjiang then Li Ming, however, Xu Jin is currently recovering from his previous loss, and is currently encamped along with his army. This situation has certainly turned out flavorful for Li Ming
The village had been ravaged by the recent famine, many of the houses lay empty, while the remaining peasants appear incredibly malnourished as they attempt to replant their lost crop.
The platoon, begin unpacking several large pots from the mules, cooking some rather basic porridge, yet to these people who had not eaten for days, it appeared infinitely appetising, yet they resisted their urge to approach the army.
Suddenly, a soldier stepped in front of the porridge, at this point, many of the peasants had their faces lit up.
¡°It¡¯s Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang had returned from the city¡± one of the children shouted, despite their appearance as nothing more than skin and bones, it seemed as if they have a boundless enemy.
The soldier called Xiao Wang smiled, and beginning handing bowls of porridge out, while casually making small talks with his fellow villagers.
Eventually, the large pot was empty, and the villagers had been fed, looking visibly more healthy, ultimately, many of them approached Xiao Wang, and now with their hunger satisfied, begin to ask questions.
¡°Xiao Wang, how come you came back, I thought you vowed to never return to the village after you parents died recently,¡± a middle-aged woman asked.
¡°Of course he came back to bring food for us,¡± another middle-aged woman replied, the two women seemed similar, despite their haggard look.
¡°Who is that pretty lady,¡± one of the children asked. Xiao Wang appeared a little surprised, before whispering into the child¡¯s ear, after he returned, the kid looked at Li Ming with brimming curiosity, to which Li Ming returned with a slight wave of her hand.
Soon enough, the day has ended, despite not much being achieved, a sense of accomplishment was felt after seeing their positive effects on the village.
This continued, until one day Xiao Wang had mentioned the recent rumour regarding Concubine Hu to one of the young men within the army.
The young men slapped his thigh, before complaining about the current dynasty, but did nothing more, yet Xiao Wang had smiled.
A few days passed eventually, Xiao Wang and this man continued this conversation, until finally, the man seemed to be brimming with anger at the Sui Dynasty.
¡°To think the Sui Dynasty had degraded to this degree,¡± the men said,¡± I swear I will fight until my last breathe unless that vixen had been disposed of, come, Xiao Wang, let us go march to the capital.¡±
¡°Good brother, that is too rash,¡± Xiao Wang replied with a sigh,¡± For now, why don¡¯t you help us by disrupting their army so we can remove the empire¡¯s influence from the North.¡±
The men paused for a moment, before slapping Xiao Wang¡¯s back,¡± That is indeed a good idea, come brother, let¡¯s go recruit more men to oppose the tyranny of Concubine Hu.¡±
This process continued for nearly a month, and soon, the village that serves as a vital part of Xu Jin¡¯s supply line had become completely hostile.
This process has been repeated countless times, with each platoon delegated to convert a different village, with different variants of success, ultimately. Nearly ninety villages had become hostile to the empire, while the seeds of discontent had been planted in the others.
Furthermore, they had spread collectivisation throughout the villages, which will increase the production of food, partially alleviating the famine, while they had occasionally forced down or had outright killed the official guilty of hoarding grain, which worsen the effects of the famine, much like what Li Ming had done in Bingjiang.
After each platoon left their respective villages, they regrouped at Bingjiang, by then, four thousand fresh troops from the city had been freshly deployed, making her army forces thousand men strong, not including the militias from the villages.
¡°Excellent work everyone,¡± Li Ming congratulated the soldiers, before giving out instructions to each platoon leader,¡± the next month, I will have you repeat the process, however, the month afterwards, we will gather at the Beixi bridge, which connects the Northern territories to the Central Plains, in particular, the province of Huxi, there, we will expand our influence.¡±
Returning to the soldiers who appeared to be in high spirits, they proceeded to follow their commander toward a new village.
Naturally, as the Great Sui Dynasty has four hundred million inhabitants, living in nearly two hundred thousand villages, even in the relatively sparsely populated Northern territories of the empire, it is impossible to influence every village, however, Li Ming only needs continue this until Xu Jin has retreated, which by her estimates, would be after this month, which is the beginning of a new year, bringing winter along with her, during this time, armies would stop campaigning and return to their camp, furthermore, Xu Jin¡¯s supplies are under danger as the villages continue to turn hostile.
Looking at the crumbling city walls of Bingjiang, which still had not been repaired, Li Ming sighed, forming condensation.
Xu Jin had been under enormous pressure for the last month, not only had their defeat resulted in several thousand dead, but his army¡¯s morale had been destroyed, after all, how are they meant to fight an army they could not be seen.
His valiant brows formed curves when suddenly Si Yan entered his study room.
¡°My lord, I have come bearing bad news,¡± Si Yan spoke, with sweat visibly appearing on his brows.
¡°Speak,¡± Xu Jin commanded, his brows forming curves even deeper.
¡°Our supply, which was meant to be transported in wagons had been destroyed, supposedly by a bandit group, yet suspiciously, they burnt the entire stock instead of looting, we now only have enough for thirty days if we remain encamped here,¡± Si Yan answered.
Xu Jin slammed his fist against the table, scattering his paper, abrupt standing up, his armour hit against each other.
¡°However, we have captured twenty men, while killing forty in one of our skirmishes, through torture, we have managed to receive information of their movement towards Beixi bridge, we can ambush their troops.¡±
¡°Furthermore, we can remove the planks on the bridge, as it is the only major bridge that connects the Northern empire to the Central Plains, they would have no other options.¡±
¡°What if they refuse to cross?¡± Xu Jin asked,
Giving off a light chuckle, Si Yan gave his idea,¡± My lord, we can station our elite cavalry to attack them from the rear, they would have to cross if they were to avoid being completely surrounded.¡±
¡°And what if they disappear once again,¡± Xu Jin further questioned.
¡°The area surrounding Beixi composed of entire plains, worry not my lord, it is impossible,¡± Si Yan answered.
After a moment of consideration, Xu Jin responded
¡°Very well, bring me my horse, we shall end their rebellion at Beixi bridge,¡± Xu Jin ruthlessly said.
¡°My lord is wise,¡± Si Yan answered.
Volume 1: Chapter 9 - Battle at Beixi Bridge
¡°Probably never before had the Sichuanese seen fighters like these ¨C men for whom soldiering was not just a rice bowl, and youths ready to commit suicide to win. Were they human beings or madmen or gods? Was their own morale affected? Did they perhaps not shoot to kill? Did some of them secretly pray that these men would succeed in their attempt?¡±
Beixi bridge is the only major bridge that connects the Northern areas of the Great Sui Dynasty to it¡¯s wealthy Central Plains, building by the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty, it acted as the springboard that brought an end to the nomadic barbarians that had constantly raided the Central Plains, that had occurred as long as the beginning of the annals of time.
The emperor then subsequently divided the Northern region into numerous counties, left to bicker among themselves, in order to no longer form any system of a united nomadic horde.
That is why the area had never gotten a designated name, only referred to as the Northern areas of the Great Sui Dynasty.
Regardless, the Beixi bridge itself was built upon the great Hejiang river, spanning twenty meters wide where Beixi bridge was built, it appears black, as a result of the fertile soil it carries.
Surround Beixi bridge is Beixi town, originally a military camp build nearly nine hundred years ago, long before the founding of the Sui Dynasty, it had developed into a bustling small town, which all merchants from the Northern regions, or even the Northern empire, have to pass in order to arrive at the Central Plains, beginning with the province of Huxi.
Nearly a month had passed since Xu Jin was made aware of Li Ming¡¯s crossing. Admiring his soldiers stripping away the planks of the bridge, leaving only its metal framework behind, while constructing fortifications on the Huxi side of the bridge, Xu Jin closes his eyes, with Si Yan by his side, occasionally reading reports from their scouts.
¡°My lord, we have hidden the remaining five thousand of our elite cavalry along with thirty thousand light infantry armed with muskets hidden within a forest at the side of the Northern regions, completely out of sight and ready to ambush the traitor¡¯s band of rebels as they attempt to cross the bridge,¡± Si Yan reported.
¡°Furthermore, five thousand spearmen are garrisoning Beixi town, while the remaining one thousand crossbowmen are at the banks of the Hejiang river, ready to fire at the traitors as they cross the bridge,¡± Si Yan continued.
Xu Jin hummed in agreement, before suddenly asking,¡± And how will we retrieve my daughter after the battle is done?¡±
¡°This servant has naturally planned for this, I have instructed the remainder of our forces to garrison the downstream of Hejiang River, if she attempts to flee through the river, she would need to bypass four thousand light infantry if she were to gain her freedom,¡± Si Yan answered.
¡°Good plan, a good plan,¡± Xu Jin complimented, before asking Si Yan,¡± And how much of these men are fresh recruits?¡±
¡°My lord, excluding the cavalry, the heavy infantry too had spent years campaigning against our Southern neighbours, however, the light infantry had yet to prove themselves in actual battle, however, this servant had mixed them with more experienced troops to decrease the chance of retreat.¡±
¡°Good, very good,¡± Xu Jin once again praised.
During this whole conversation, Si Yan had not mentioned a far better option, to remove the bridge altogether, which was due to his sentiments as an individual from Huxi province, this was the bridge that brought endless trade towards his province, it would be incredibly difficult to entirely rebuild it, thus, he had left the iron chains untouched, swaying above the black river.
Li Ming had been expanding her bases of control since a month ago, with even a few towns falling under her control, after the villages surrounding thoroughly surrounded them, the professional soldiers she had trained with then attack with the support of the local villages, ultimately capturing the town.
Currently, many of the cities are too large for Li Ming to take over without encountering a significant resistance that may damage the foundation of her army, and thus, she left them alone until a grand army has risen.
Regardless, she campaign of arousing the villages had been successful, with the vast majority of the Northern region¡¯s villages and towns falling under her firm grasp.
Furthermore, the recruitment for the professional army had expanded, citizens from rural villages along with urban city dwellers are conscripted into the military, similarly receiving training for a month, they are deployed into the ranks, with her army now swelling up to twenty thousand, all equipped with flintlock muskets.
Xu Jin would certainly not have expected the drastic increase in the size of Li Ming¡¯s army, with its size increase five times. That is mainly due to the ease of access the flintlock muskets require, compared to skills such as horse riding or bowmanship, it is far superior in this aspect.
Unlike last month, Li Ming had primarily remained in Bingjiang, spending most of her time personally training the soldiers, while also incite undying loyalty within these soldiers, yet not towards her, but instead the idea of a republic.
These men and women possessed enough courage to happily die for their cause, perhaps even to the degree of madness.
Along with the recruitment of people, the city had also produce twenty light cannons, along with a number of smaller mortars which will be carried by soldiers.
Soon, she had brought her twelve thousand men towards a nearby town at Beixi bridge, which they had planned to remerge all the soldiers, it appears she was the last to arrive, as aside from a few individuals that had likely died from outside causes, the majority of the army was here already.
Admiring the number of troops that could form a division, she paused, before beginning to speak.
¡°Soldiers of the sparkling republic, you have seen not only the disaster brought to your homes by the famine, caused by the unregulated greed of imperial officials, resulting in those closest to you dead, yet you also have seen the miracle that had been brought when the matter had been put into your own hands. Now, we stand at a crossroad, we will remain isolated in the Northern regions of the empire, or will we expand the revolution, so that the whole of the Sui Dynasty will have the ability to decide for themselves.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
(Please be gentle with me, I can¡¯t write speeches)
It appears words did not even need to be said before the entirety of the army in front of Li Ming had their spirits burning, with some even raising their muskets toward the sky.
After the crowd had calmed down, Li Ming led the men on horseback, as she was too short to observe the battlefield on foot, ultimately, the army had marched just a li away from the bank of Hejiang River.
Li Ming, passing by a forest, continued, until the skeleton of Beixi bridge was visible.
Li Ming¡¯s smile remained on her face, yet much of the soldiers showed faces of shock, where were the planks that made up the bridge, now only the iron chains remain, appearing incredibly unstable, swaying in the wind, while the end of the bridge contains a number of heavily fortified positions, with crossbowmen positioned behind it.
Below the empty bridge was Hejiang, if one falls down, the current would carry them downstream, into the heartland of the empire, yet the individual would undoubtedly be dead by then unless they were immortal.
Li Ming appeared unresponsive, yet before long, let out a brief sigh, and gathered her troops.
¡°Liu One, how do you say we deal with this,¡± Li Ming asked.
¡°General Li, I suggest we avoid crossing the bridge, there is no way we are able to cross the bridge, we should head back,¡± Liu One replied.
Li Ming, looking at the forest they had passed, objected,¡± And what if they had prepared an ambush for us, trapping us with our backs at Hejiang.¡±
¡°General Li, our army is able to fight back their forces,¡± Liu One replied, with somewhat confidence.
¡°That is not possible, our troops are untrained, to go against their troops would be near suicide,¡± Li Ming replied.
¡°General, I cannot speak for the troops, however, I am willing to face death for the revolution,¡± Liu One remarked.
¡°Do not speak of yourself in that manner, you are a general now, leading five thousand men,¡± Li Ming replied, shaking her head.
Liu One remained silent, yet perhaps surprisingly, his younger brother Liu Four spoke up.
¡°General, I am willing to volunteer to go across the remains of Beixi Bridge,¡± Liu Four said, with a degree of determinedness in his voice.
Following Liu Four, nearly ninety other soldiers too volunteered, all from the Light Infantry.
Li Ming, pleasantly surprised at their dedication, yet did not speak much on it, begin to instruct them.
¡°Leave all your baggage on the carriages, bringing with yourself only the most well maintained of rifles, ten grenades, and a large knife,¡± Li Ming said to thirty of them, before turning to the other sixty,¡± You will each carry a plank, as you progress behind the other thirty men, each one of you will replace a portion of the bridge, meanwhile, we shall support you through the mortars and cannons.¡±
The soldiers signalled their understanding, and after either deposing themselves of all equipment or gather a piece of wood, they proceeded to walk towards the bridge.
Just as they walked onto the edge of the bank, the sound of gallops could be heard.
The troops Xu Jin had placed within the forest had emerged, the musketeers, who are in greater number than Li Ming, began to fire at her army.
As Li Ming had already noticed their existence after she had spotted the bridge, the soldiers were already organised in line formations, and soon, volleys began to be exchanged.
As the distance was rather great between the two armies, not much casualties were experienced, yet soon the enemy musketeers began marching.
Liu Four and his group of volunteers had begun crossing the bridge, experiencing heavy fire from the crossbowmen on the other side of the banks, their bodies hugging the bare chain, exposed to the crossbow bolts, yet most of them had bounced off the cliffs of the bank, into the great river.
The men did as Li Ming had instructed, as each man progressed, the one in front placed down their plank, before beginning to return fire back at the enemy crossbowmen.
Soon, one of the men were hit, and soon, a second one, both falling into the black river, creating a loud splash, yet the others seem unaffected by it, continuing to return their fire.
By now, the enemy infantry was advancing quite close, nearly within the range of their muskets.
The crossbowmen who were shooting had not seen anyone fighting like this, it seems they were ready to commit suicide to cross the bridge, some had refused to further fire out of respect perhaps hoping their bolts would miss these daring men.
At last, Liu Four, who was at the front of the manage to cross the bank, madly throwing the grenades he was carrying within his belt, the fortification was soon destroyed.
The crossbowmen soon fled the field after their nests were destroyed, while the men who were carrying the planks had placed it onto the bare metal chains.
Li Ming, seeing this, quickly ordered her men to cross the bridge, with her men soon marching towards the opposite bank of Hejiang river.
The Heartland of the Great Sui Empire, the Central Plains was opened to them.
The enemy forces, upon seeing them crossing the bridge, attempted to cross, yet their attempts were futile.
Soon, the five thousand spearmen who were guarding Beixi town was overrun while Li Ming suffered little casualties, and the army on the other side of the bank, seeing their fellow soldiers being defeated yet could do nothing but watch, was soon demoralised, and began to leave the battlefield.
Ultimately, other than the two that had died crossing the bridge, the few dozen casualties from the brief round of volley fire, Li Ming¡¯s army were almost unscratched.
Li Ming gave each man that had volunteered to cross the bridge half a year''s worth of salary, then began to set up in Beixi village.
Later that night, the Liu brothers have gathered around within a single tent.
Liu Four, lying on the bed, appeared pale, while Liu Two was crying, Liu Three was cursing, and Liu One had remained silent.
Indeed, during the crossing of the bridge, Liu Four had not escaped unscratched, rather, he had been hit with a great number of crossbow bolts, some even hitting his vital areas.
Yet Liu Four had braved and crossed the bridge, spearheading their advancement to the other side.
¡°What is half a year both of salary worth, you alone are worth much more than that,¡± Liu Three said, yet Liu Four moved his hand to stop his brother from speaking further, struggling, he managed to raise up his body to look at his brothers.
¡°Older brother, I had volunteered to cross the bridge, this was completely in my calculations,¡± Liu Four returned.
¡°Hush fourth brother, speaking further would only weaken yourself,¡± Liu One advised, yet only receiving a slightly bitter laugh from the dying man.
¡°Brother, you know that in our village, countless had already died due to the famine, were it not for the reforms General Li had made, perhaps more would have lost their lives.¡±
¡°We were lucky enough to avoid this due to our hunting skills, allowing us to be largely unaffected by the crop yields, yet I always felt it was rather irrational to only look after ourselves, after all, us humans have always been social creatures.¡±
The Liu family could all read, a rare ability in the Great Sui Dynasty, yet Liu Four had always been the most well versed, exceeding in the study of the classics of history.
Looking towards his troublesome other brothers, Liu Four begin to speak,¡± third brother, cut down on alcohol consumption, I know you had sneaked alcohol despite army orders,¡± pausing to gasp for breath, he continued,¡± Second brother, you have to stand up for yourself, if you like the general, just tell her, and oldest brother, look after the general, despite the valiance she displays, she is still a small girl, look out for her,¡± once again pausing for a breath, he barely squeeze out.
¡°Keep on fighting for a better future for everyone, so we will not see the famine that had plagued our village once again.¡±
Just as he finished these sentences, his body, fell backwards.
Xu Jin¡¯s ration had run out, his attempt to stop them at Beixi Bridge had failed, and with his supplies constantly harassed, and many of his soldiers fleeing the battlefield, he could only return to Xuchang.
Looking at Si Yan, which had proposed the disastrous plan, he made the decision to no longer trust this man.
Volume 1: Chapter 10 - The Great Sui Dynasty
¡°... soldiers who have served under puppet governments and bandits who have been converted should be welcomed as individuals or as groups. They should be well-treated and repatriated¡±
The Central Plains of the empire consists of twenty-two provinces, three of the four major rivers in the empire, and a grand population of three hundred and thirty million million, far greater than Changtian¡¯s forty million, while to the South are twenty-six million, and the mere four million in the Northern Regions.
The region is nearly devoid of any natural barriers, consisting of nearly entirely plains, along a few stretches of forests and mountains.
The Central Plain has distinct natural barriers to all sides, to the South, vast stretches of untraversable jungles and mountains, governed by small size kingdoms, which pay an annual tribe to the empire, to its North, the great Hejiang river runs rampant, stopping most invading army, and further blocked in the West by Taiping mountain, after crossing it, one would reach Changtian province. While the great ocean that borders the empire to the West named the Wu Ocean, appears seemingly boundless, as indicated by its name.
The three major rivers within Central Plains consist of Hejiang, where the black waters flow due to the fertility of the soil, Changhe, the longest river within the world stretching from the Tianshan mountains to the Wu Ocean, and Mingjiang, which had once been described by a travelling scholar to be so clear it reflects the moonlight, granting it the name of the bright river, eventually becoming widely used after a scholar emperor.
The capital of the empire was built between the closest point of the two great rivers of Mingjiang and Changhe, connected through a canal built in ages long past. The city wall surrounds an area of one hundred square kilometres and twenty meters tall. The city has a population of four million, which had never been reached before in history.
The imperial city, officially by the name of Longjing, the dragon capital, inspired by a myth that details of the creation of the two rivers, Changhe and Mingjiang, that they were in fact the remains of two dragons that had created the world, and the rivers were the products of their blood.
The myth had faded as time went by, yet the association with dragons had brought the river great prestige.
Longjing itself could be considered a melting pot of culture, Jesuits from the far eastern lands, female warriors from the Northern Empire, and the people across the Yunshan mountains consisting of nothing but desert, all collectively co-exist within the city.
The imperial family, surnamed Yang, had founded this city after they had united the warring states of the central plains, which were a result of the collapse of the previous dynasty.
The previous dynasty, named the Sang Dynasty, had focused much on repelling their nomadic neighbours and had thus based their imperial capital on the river of Hejiang, in Huxi province, yet it had ultimately become their downfall. The distance of the capital city was too great from the heart of the empire, leading to its provinces becoming rebellious and it''s generals, ambitious.
The old imperial capital had originally been prosperous, yet after years of disunity, it had dropped and become merely the third-largest city within the empire. It had originally been named Dongjing, after its location and status, however, is now referred to as Dongan.
After Li Ming and her army had managed to cross Beixi bridge, the army had rested in Beixi town for a day, perhaps miraculously, Xu Jin had not led the chase, thus the soldiers, who had expected a hard battle, were greeted with only minimal resistance from the five thousand spearmen, who had not received any training.
While the soldiers were surprised, Li Ming, who had received information about their burnt food storages, had expected this turn of events, remaining on edge over the night, they ultimately became convinced their enemies had retreated. Li Ming, looking towards the East, she admired the majesty that could be seen.
The Sun had risen over the great Tianshan mountains, which had inspired the name of Tian for the continent after the discovery of new continents. Appearing scarlet red at first almost akin to blood, it soon became detaching the endless mountains ranges of Tianshan.
Tianshan mountains, which run from the Northern regions of the empire to Changtian province, separates the Great Sui Dynasty from the remains of the Tian continent. Specifically the Far East, which contains several kingdoms and empires, engaging in constant warfare, yet recently, it was rumoured that they had managed to discover a new continent, entirely separate from them by a great ocean, and had managed to arrive at the Great Sui Dynasty through boats after they had conquered the continent, from the west of the new continent to the east, creating a new route for trade to flow.
Regardless, their power had been greatly reduced as they had recently undergone the largest war seen in their region, the kingdoms had then temporarily formed a coalition against the Northern Empire, which was partially the reason why the raids throughout the empire¡¯s land had been reduced. Ultimately, the war had ended in relative disaster for both the Far Eastern kingdoms and the Northern Empire, and their hold on the new continent had been weakened, with many becoming independent during the war, excluding the millions of civilians that had lost their lives during the war.
While the states in the continents became independent, they prospered while parts of the Far East scarred by war gradually declined.
Most notably, in the new continent, the sighting of gold had been recorded, which had resulted in many citizens of the Far East and even the Great Sui Dynasty to cross the great ocean that borders the empire in search of wealth.
Regardless, these matters are not on the mind of Li Ming, instead, she is currently occupied with looking at the troops that had surrendered a day before.
After they had entered Beixi town, the ill-trained spearmen, seeing the overwhelming forces of twenty thousand, along with the cannons and mortars that had crossed the bridge, had their already low morale had completely broken. Yet unexpectedly for them, they had not been executed as the norm for captured soldiers, instead, they were welcomed by the soldiers, who had given them food, and let them live in the same camp.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
That night, they saw something shocking, at first, they could not see due to the sheer number and distance, but a great deal of the army are women, nearly two out of every ten soldiers.
Yet the men within the army had treated them respectfully, without any harassment, except for one case, where a man had nearly raped a woman, yet before he was to, it was noticed and led to him being punished by dismissal as well as a hefty fine, which had all went to the woman.
All of the soldiers are carrying flintlock rifles, while mortars are shared between platoons, while many of the female soldiers also acted as medics, who were treating the soldiers wounded from the battle.
These spearmen were also astonished at their manner of speech and pattern, which were polite and courteous, similar to those of nobles, unlike the soldiers they were fighting, which had communicated in a rather coarse manner.
Yet perhaps most surprising was that none of the soldiers had looted the town after they had entered, they had instead treated it¡¯s local residences politely, paying for food from their own pockets, while cordially asking to reside in the residence¡¯s house.
This morning, they had all cleaned the bed that they had slept on, cooked for their host, and some had even cleaned the houses they had stayed.
The spearman, who had experienced all of this, was feeling a sense of shame upon themselves, both were soldiers, yet their behaviour is as different as heaven and earth.
Some spearman had even attempted to intimidate the soldiers in Li Ming¡¯s army, aiding in the households, yet mainly failing, ultimately, with a defeated expression, they had later all gathered in front of Li Ming.
¡°You may go back to your hometown,¡± Li Ming had told the soldiers as if a matter of fact. The soldiers were already numb to this peculiar army and did not express much shock in their expression, instead, they felt an unknown desire.
¡°Is it possible for me to join your army,¡± one of the spearman asked. Li Ming appeared to have predicted this, with her typical smile, she told them.
¡°Of course, but after adequate training,¡± she informed them.
Yet that soldier appear not to be disheartened; instead, he had asked the training curriculum.
¡°Of course,¡± Li Ming answered,¡± Alongside the typical education on formations, firing a musket, and marching, you will also be taught to behave like the others.¡±
The soldier agreed on the spot, resulting in the smile of Li Ming grew even brighter, ultimately, she had them sent to one of the generals to be trained, avoiding Liu One, who was still mourning the death of Liu Four.
Around four thousand had joined her army, while the remaining one thousand had left for their homes.
Li Ming did not spend further time dealing with these men, instead, she had retreated to the commander¡¯s tent in the military camp, and began creating a plan for her grand goal of overthrowing the monarch, beginning with a discussion with Xu Xiaomeng.
¡°Lady, how many soldiers are under the empire¡¯s control?¡± Li Ming asked.
¡°Approximately one million, with half located within Changtian province, leaving one million within the Central Plains,¡± the silver bell-like voice answered.
¡°I see,¡± Li Ming responded, before continuing,¡± it would be far more difficult to engage in guerilla warfare in the Central Plains, perhaps we could focus on controlling the villages located on the rivers, deriving the imperial army of a crucial mode of transportation, yet it is not enough.¡±
¡°Instead, we will need to engage in typical warfare and sieges, yet our forces are too small to engage their main army., We will instead focus on attacking the weaker portions of the enemy, while at the same time build up our army, establish our own system taxation, law and most importantly, the system of democracy, which includes the collectivization of farms and production.¡±
¡°Unfortunately, this would make us rather unpopular, added with the fact that the Central Plains are experiencing a period of prosperity, to overtax the peasants would be difficult, despite the already over-taxation imposed upon them by the corrupt officials¡± Li Ming concluded.
¡°Sir, is it not enough to simply use the justification of Concubine Hu acting along with the Northern Empire, inspiring patriotism?¡± Xu Xiaomeng asked.
¡°Lady, it is not enough to simply do that, people of this era cares little about their ruler as long as they are well-fed, shelter, and have a family, politics are the last thing they would consider in their daily lives,¡± Li Ming corrected.
Xu Xiaomeng seemed to be listening attentively, before coming to a conclusion,¡± What sir is implying is to change the thinking of the peasants so they become more politically aware?¡±
¡°Perhaps so, however, as long as their standards of living improve, soon will they start becoming politically aware, we do not need to rush the matter,¡± Li Ming said,¡± Of course, that is my personal opinion, you are free to believe what you have just said,¡± she reminded.
The revolution had been incredibly rushed, perhaps more so than any other revolution, within three months, Li Ming had expanded her influence throughout the entirety of the Northern regions of the empire, made Xu Jin¡¯s army retreat back to Changtian province, and is now beginning to enter the Central Plains.
Li Ming, who had stopped her conversation with Xu Xiaomeng, began tapping her slender fingers on the wooden table, on which a massive map of the empire is laid out, yet nothing more.
Nearby the city of Bingjiang, which Li Ming had marched from, lays the city of Dongan, which she had determined to be the target of her next military operation.
Dongan, with its history as an imperial capital, had walls ten meters tall, whilst within it lives more than one million inhabitants. The city itself sits on a hill, while protected by the Hejiang river, it is in an incredibly defensive position.
While it may be possible for Li Ming to successfully siege the city with her current twenty thousand troops, it would mean the deaths of thousands from the blockade, although if she allowed food were to be transported, it would lead to the local garrison to be well supplied, making the siege much more difficult.
Ultimately, Li Ming breathed out a long sigh. She had decided to temporarily pause the campaign until more troops are delivered, fortunately, the Northern Empire is still recovering from the massive war they had fought against the Far Eastern kingdoms, leading to a lack of raids and border conflicts, while Xu Jin had to return to Xuchang, allowing Li Ming to dedicate all her efforts towards the heartlands of the Great Sui Dynasty.
Li Ming begins writing a bamboo slip, planned to be sent to the young scholar and governor of Bingjiang, Ling Ping. Detailing information to increase conscription to include the villages she now controls, it also includes a severe note to increase the spread of republican ideas among the masses, so they would feel more inspired volunteer their service as well.
Paper had also been available, yet bamboo slips are much more popular due to its elegance, while Li Ming had no desire to use either of the two materials, Ling Ping had specifically requested the use of bamboo slips in their communications as officials.
While her current forces have gained military victory over Xu Jin, her pool of manpower is a matter of great difficulty, as it would be impossible to raise the same number of soldiers as the Great Sui Dynasty, which is in possession of the Central Plains and the South, while Li Ming only has the sparely populated Northern regions.
Li Ming¡¯s calculation leads to possibly a sixth of the four million inhabitants to be conscripted, around six hundred thousand, yet it will negatively affect the Northern regions, leading to her ultimately deciding against the notion, instead she will begin to focus on expanding outward to increase her pool of manpower.
Looking towards the Sun that had risen to the middle of the sky, a strange sense of anticipation could be felt in Li Ming¡¯s chest,
Volume 1: Chapter 11 - 218 Year Since the Founding of Sui
Five months had passed since the Battle at Beixi bridge, Liu Five and the Liu parents had received material compensation in the form of coins, while spiritual comfort in the form of a personal letter from Li Ming.
The new batch of wheat since the famine had finally become mature, golden field covers the Northern regions, with figures of human, could be seen harvesting using their relatively crude sickles.
During this time, recruitment for the army had reached one hundred and forty thousand, composed of primary infantry from the Northern regions of the empire, while the cavalry, which the North was famed for, had finally been trained sufficiently to be included into the army.
A part of the new army had been designated with the goal of gaining control over the remainder of the Northern regions, as Xu Jin had already left, there was particularly no opposition against the army
The army West of Hejiang river had not been idle either, they had been expanding through Huxi province, taking over some minor towns and villagers, yet kept their distance toward the city of Dongan, as Li Ming had instructed.
The silver haired girl herself had long returned to the North, where her main concentration of power had been and had begun planning in preparation for the creation of much more sanitary cities.
The Great Sui Dynasty is famed for its Urban Planning, far ahead of those in the Far East, with a sophisticated grid system, the river of Hejiang providing water, which were then boiled with the city¡¯s inhabitants, ensuring little disease were spread, therefore minimum changes could actually be improved with the current technological limitations.
Li Ming herself was rather satisfied with this aspect of the Great Sui Dynasty, the city had remained sanitary, the only issue was the recent influx of migrants due to the famine.
This recent increase in Bingjiang¡¯s population had been a rather difficult task to deal with, as winter had arrived with the retreat of Xu Jin, these refugees, without adequate housing or warm clothing, would certainly die on the streets.
In response to this crisis, Li Ming had spearheaded a massive public housing program, which had never been a concept in the Great Sui Dynasty, and possibly the world in a whole.
Li Ming, having the experience as a leader of a nation, naturally knows the possible damage winter can do to those living in slums or on the streets, and had long planned to expand the city grids to accommodate for the increase in its population.
In the Great Sui Dynasty, the majority of labours were independent and were hired by the state once their skills were needed. Yet Li Ming had formed the carpenters into a collective unit, similar to those of the agricultural farmers and weapon manufacture workers.
Through this organisation, Li Ming had increased the cooperation between the carpenters in the construction of new homes, greatly increasing the speed buildings raise up.
Ultimately, by winter, several new grids had been built, capable of housing those on the streets. As the refugees had lost all their possessions during the famine, Li Ming had made it entirely state subsidies, ensuring almost none had frozen in the bitter winter of the North.
While the building was constructed hastily, with the walls still permitting the bone-chilling wind to pass through, the living conditions of the city had greatly improved.
After the winter had passed, Li Ming had to initiate a public education program. After she had the scholars began to conduct public lectures, literacy had indeed greatly improved, yet their learning conditions does not suffice if a productive society is desired.
With literacy not only comes the rising standard of living, but also a skilled pool of labour, able to perform jobs other than basic manual labour. Li Ming had prioritised the construction of the first public school in preparation of industrialisation, which will undoubtedly be within the span of the immediate future, considering the current world¡¯s history seems to run parallel to his own.
Regardless, as Li Ming tackles these problems, time soon passed, and the 218th year since the founding of the Great Sui Dynasty had come.
The New Year of the Zui ethnicity is based on the harvest season, as a result, the first day that wheat and rice become ripe too had become the first day of the year.
Typically, all cities within the Great Sui Dynasty would hold a festive day in celebration of the new year. When Li Ming was informed of this, she immediately delegated all the task of preparing for the festival to Ling Ping.
As the streets become coloured in a festive mood, with the door of each household containing some form of decoration, and the sound of fireworks run rampant, Li Ming remained in the governor¡¯s study, along continuing to detail the creation of a public school system.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°Sir, the people outside seems so festive, are you not going to join them?¡± Xu Xiaomeng questioned her typical ice-cold voice containing a hint of desire.
¡°There is no need to worry about me lady, nevertheless, do lady think it would be preferable to have an education system that is rigid, or more flexible,¡± Li Ming avoided the topic brought by Xu Xiaomeng.
¡°Naturally one that is more flexible, as it allows for the student to develop their creative skills, along with their characteristics in a superior manner,¡± Xu Xiaomeng answered.
Li Ming hmmed, and injected her own opinions,¡± Lady, in my view, it is difficult to implement such a system of education, currently, nearly all the nation is uneducated and we are lacking resources, currently, we should simply prioritise to educate as many as possible, a system of a universal curriculum would be ¡± Li Ming answered.
¡°Then would it be possible to implement a combination, where gifted individuals would receive a more flexible system of education catered to their abilities, while the majority simply go through a universal system of education, at least until the conditions are met where we are able to apply a flexible system to all individuals,¡± Xu Xiaomeng asked.
Li Ming, pondering for a moment, decided to write down what Xu Xiaomeng had proposed onto a piece of paper, before beginning to focus on the matters of the military. Pondering until dawn once again broke out from the Tianshan Mountains, Li Ming ultimately resigned and began to clean herself.
One of the minor changes she had made in not only the city of Bingjiang but all of the territories she possesses is the increase in baths. The Great Sui Dynasty had a culture of washing oneself only every five days, considering the importance of the germ theory, how could Li Ming tolerate this, through the use of woodblock printing, she had created mass numbers of pallets detailing in the importance of keeping oneself clean, as most could not read, it was primarily communicated through various pictures, while worded versions were given out to scholars to read to in a public lecture.
By this point, nearly all craftsman in the territories controlled by Li Ming had undergone a similar transition of centralisation, which allowed for actions such as the mass distribution of pamphlets detailing hygiene.
After the first day of the year, the peasants returned to their field and begun harvesting, the collectivisation of smaller farms into collectives had worked wonderfully, with yields surpassing those of years before the famine. Due to this, the family began to become more vigorous, it seems that more children could be expected.
Of course, it would only be the case with sufficient medical advancements, the infant mortality rate is still too high in the Great Sui Dynasty for a baby boom, yet no matter what, an increasing population is desirable for Li Ming, as the Northern regions truly lack in sufficient numbers to deal with the Great Sui Dynasty.
Li Ming, with the luxury of being immortal, could wait as long as needed for the material conditions to reach. Currently, his revolution based on a peasant base could not achieve the same results as those of other revolutions, such as the French, as the key of the industrial revolution, steam engines, had not yet been developed, thus a growing urban population had never occurred in the Great Sui Dynasty.
Regardless, as long as the Great Sui Dynasty does not succeed in taking over her newly conquered territories, she would eventually win out in the end.
Li Ming shook her head, ridding herself of these thoughts, and deciding to ultimately take a stroll, as Xu Xiaomeng had advised.
As she walked down the streets of Bingjiang, the smell of firecrackers lingers in the air, as the sun had barely risen, the streets are largely empty, only a sleeping guard could be seen down the street that had accommodated so many people just Yesterday. The main street she is strolling around had been around since the times of the nomad.
Bingjiang had originally been a trader¡¯s settlement, established in deeply hostile land it had been incredibly hazardous for the traders, yet the goods of the Central Plains had brought it relative prosperity, with the Khan, leader of the nomads deciding to ultimately tolerate its existence.
Later, during the campaign of the second Sui Emperor against the nomads, it had been converted a military camp, at one point, housing one million soldiers, with tall walls looking over the plains.
Once the nomads were defeated, a vast amount of settlers from the Central Plains were brought to the Northern Region, and through nearly two centuries of intermarriage, caused the culture of the nomads to largely die out.
Nowadays, less than ten thousand could be considered nomads, living in communities, they are constantly migrating from region to, even Li Ming, who had taken over the Northern regions, had seldom heard much from them.
Later on, in the conflicts between the Great Sui Dynasty and the Northern Empire, a camp had been built nearby, causing Bingjiang¡¯s wall to deteriorate, and becoming nothing more than a regional capital of a conquered territory in the eye of the empire.
After Li Ming had overthrown the governor, she had not paid any attention in the reparation of the crumbling walls, not long due to the lack of goods from the famine, but also in foresight of the development of warfare.
As she continued to stroll down the streets, a lone scholar could be seen preparing for the lecture he will hold, as Li Ming had begun to prioritise education, the basic classroom had been built, with shelter from the rain and sun. While stationary could not be provided for the students, textbooks had been printed for the scholars as a guideline, although there is a lack of content, it details basic principles known to scholars today.
Leaving the main street, into an alley, baskets still containing grain could be seen, though most are empty. The grain storage, used to feed nearly everyone in Bingjiang, had all but run dry, with the last remainders beginning used in the festival Yesterday, yet Li Ming was not worried about this, from reports coming from the collectives, the grain had ripened spectacularly, with great harvest, perhaps the storage would be completely filled in few years time.
Ultimately, Li Ming had decided to return, as her silver hair wave to the alley, it lightly brushes past a basket of grain, leaving some stuck in her hair. As she returned back to the study, it still remains as she began to work on a vast stack of paperwork, in the end, Xu Xiaomeng had noticed it, yet found it slightly amusing, and did not speak out.
Volume 1: Chapter 12 - Besieging Dongan
West of the Hejiang river, stations seventy thousand troops under the command of Li Ming, she had officially called them the revolutionary army. After months of minor skirmishes capturing small towns and villagers, the silver-haired girl finally returned to the camp at Beixi town.
The majority of the soldiers, who had been under the command of Liu One, had never seen a shadow of the supposed major general and were shocked by the delicate appearance of the girl.
After more than eight months, Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s body had not developed in the slightest degree, still appearing of that an adolescent, with a slender figure, undone white hair that flowed along her back, and a delicate face, the soldiers had serious doubts about her capacities as a general.
Li Ming, sitting as straight as a pencil, appeared small in size in comparison with the horse she had been riding on, while her robes usually worn by nobles, along with a slight smile on her face caused her to be in great contrast with the gallant atmosphere within the camp.
Li Ming, with the horse, appeared only two heads taller than the soldiers on foot, looked towards the soldiers, after a few glances, she turned toward Liu One.
¡°Have the soldiers followed the rules I have set?¡± her crisp voice rang out, Liu One, who had not heard the voice in more than five months, appeared shocked at first. Soon he had regained his stoic expression, cupping his fist towards the silver-haired girl, who appeared almost minuscule to him, as both rode horses, he replied.
¡°Of course, the men had not ever engaged in looting, while they treated the commoners courageous,¡± Pausing for a moment to see the expression of Li Ming, he quickly continued after looking down once more,¡± All the troublemakers had been dealt with as per according to what you have instructed.¡±
Li Ming, rather surprised at the skill Liu One commands, reached for a medal out of habit, yet realise that it had not been a concept within the Zui culture, could only offhandedly brush her hand among her side, before she had once again focused on Liu One, after saying a few words of praise, she once again turned to the army.
Exposing the blade of her sword, commonly used by generals in the empire, she points it toward the sky. The soldiers, seeing this sword, did not think any further, and began to stand uniformly in a straight posture.
As Li Ming¡¯s eyes swept over the soldiers, a sea of red, designated as the colour of the army, standing in uniform lines, she once again retracted the sword into the sheath.
Pulling the horse¡¯s lead, she began to trod Westwards, toward the city of Dongan. The army soon followed, while not marching in a uniform speed, remaining largely cohesive through the utilisation of columns. A trail of dust could be seen as the army progressed.
Li Ming slowed moved her horse toward the side of Liu One, to the point where her light fragrance could be smelled.
¡°General Liu, what are your opinions on the defences of Dongan?¡± Li Ming asked, continuing a hint of curiosity.
¡°General Li, no, Lady Li, I have gathered that the defence of Dongan is almost impenetrable, the city possesses a garrison of fifty thousand, it¡¯s water supply are protected by a grand navy, and lead by the prestigious general Xu Li, whose brilliance surpass his father¡¯s, all while protected by a grand wall built during the previous dynasty, it could be considered near impenetrable,¡± Liu One replied, while his eyes observed the flowing Hejiang.
"Originally, if we had attacked Dongan once we had crossed the river, we may have occupied it, yet as the months passed, the Imperial court had sent countless soldiers to defend and fortify the city," Liu One continued.
Li Ming gave off a slight chuckle, before once again looking toward.
The mighty river flows, with wild vegetation growing in abundance. Li Ming, seeing this, ordered some of her soldiers to collect the wild herbs along the banks to be added to their diet. As the soldiers went down the river, they stopped the major dam, after which, vast amounts of imperial ships could be seen, bring rice and soldiers down the river.
The soldiers, upon seeing the ships, did not advance further and had returned to the main army.
Li Ming, upon hearing this information, simply ordered the army to continue their advance, while her previously straight posture had become slightly slouched.
Perhaps staring too long at the massive navy possessed by the Great Sui Dynasty, on which thousands of troops could be seen, Li Ming¡¯s could not help but unconsciously sigh.
¡°Sir, why did you not create your own navy,¡± Xu Xiaomeng¡¯s voice rang out, startling Li Ming slightly, yet the soldiers were seen to not notice.
¡°Lady, the reasoning is rather simple, at the current moment, it would be simply suicide to sent a contingent of ships to face against the Imperial Navy, you can see by the various scars upon these fleets that they are experienced sailors, our men at the North simply cannot match their quality,¡± Li Ming replied, her face remaining unchanged.
Before long, they had approached the front of the city. Despite the threat of her army, the city appeared in order, only the private ships that had left the docks gave off any sign that an army looms over Dongan.
The city walls appeared tall and magnificent, almost fifteen meters in height, countless crossbowman and musketeers could be seen stationed at the various towers, unlike those at Bingjiang, they appeared vigorous.
The city likely had been evacuated to preserve their rations, acting nothing more than a fort.
Standing proud above the Southern gates was the general in charge of the city''s defence, dressed in capes and armour, they appeared full of confidence.
¡°Set up camp at a hill, away from the banks,¡± Li Ming instructed Liu One. Nodding his head, Liu One kicked his horse on the side to give out orders. Li Ming herself remained seemingly uninterested, instead, focusing on the sounds on the remaining few citizens within the walls of Dongan.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Perhaps feeling a little remorse, she slightly cupped her fist towards the city. Soon she led her horse towards the farthest hill from the city, for the next five months, she would not leave that location.
As the army encamped on the hill, digging trenches to cover their flanks and their front, the defence seems rather primitive, yet effectiveness against cannon and charges could not be overstated. As the trenches were being dug, a contingent of infantrymen had left the city walls, as the heavy door closed behind them, they advance towards at the revolutionary army.
The city of Dongan long knows the presence of the possibility of an attack by the rebels ever since they had crossed into the Central Plain, yet for more than five months, they had laid rotting within the city walls while countless towns and villages fall around them. When their foes finally arrived, Xu Li had sent the majority of the infantrymen along with their cannons to test Li Ming¡¯s strength.
Li Ming herself gave off a slightly friendly smile towards the general upon the city walls.
Xu Li appeared remarkably similar to Xu Xiaomeng, both eyes were bright, while their mouths appeared similarly cherry-like, yet the feeling they give off was completely different.
Xu Li appeared confident, even slightly arrogant fortified within these walls, while Li Ming appeared to be a celestial that had fallen from heaven, maintaining a smile that could not be shaken even if the earth slips.
Xu Li, taking the bottom of the camp, left with a dissatisfied look, leaving his generals to deal with his sister.
Li Ming, upon seeing the general¡¯s disappearance, simply smiled, before focusing on the force advancing towards them.
The soldiers placed down their shoves, and picked up their muskets, while beginning to gather into lines three men deep, after basic instructions were shouted by their lieutenant, the soldiers soon gathered in the trenches.
Soon enough, the sound of cannons could be heard exploding from the city walls, while it had hit some of Li Ming¡¯s forces, yet the majority were protected by the trench or had been missed, regardless the men and women paid no mind to it, only filling the gaps.
The cannon upon those walls has been transferred from the Imperial city of Longjing, developed to be used in sieges, they are cumbersome, yet have extreme firepower, leaving massive craters where they had landed, occasionally, bodies could be found under the heavy iron ball.
Yet it appeared to not have the desired effects of the generals within the city, who order for the rate of fire to increase, as the booming sound was heard constantly, it was deafening. Li Ming paid no attention to the cannon fire, and soon began to call for her own cannons to return fire, while the majority of the cannons missed the imperial army, some had passed through the deep formation, the heavy metal ball causing many of the men¡¯s body to be quashed together, leaving a rather messy and brutal sight.
The soldiers surrounding them were mortified seeing their comrade¡¯s mangled body at the end of the cannon¡¯s trajectory, some paused in horror, yet it was not long before they continued their march in an orderly fashion.
As the cannons on both sides roared, the infantrymen greatly suffered, yet far less lost were inflicted upon Li Ming¡¯s forces, both physically and psychological, perhaps their will to die for their cause made them ignorant of death.
Regardless, the infantry soon came into firing distance, the cannon fire stopped, and the volleys soon began. As the sound of gunpowder rings, a slight spark could be seen, only to leave a puff of white smoke in front of the men, standing on top of the hill, Li Ming¡¯s petite face formed a rather small frown, yet soon returned to her benevolent smile.
As the imperial forces continued firing, as did the revolutionary army, soon enough, casualties with men falling from the lead bullets built up, yet not many had actually died, perhaps only a few thousands.
Ultimately, their foes forgo firing from a distance, leaving their muskets behind, they picked up the spears placed behind their back, and began to charge towards the trenches, in hopes Li Ming¡¯s troops'' morale would fall, leading to them abandoning their position.
Yet the revolutionary soldier stayed their ground, attaching the bayonet to the end of their rifle, they prepared to retaliate as they remained in the half dug trenches.
The originally semi-coherent formation of the enemy were destroyed as they charged, as they approached the revolutionaries, fighting developed into close combat, while the imperial troops were more specialised in this aspect, the revolutionaries had formed groups with their platoons, with their greater numbers and command structure, pools of blood made equal of both sides had formed, developing into a stalemate.
As the soldiers fought, they forgo all civility, beginning to stab and slash with their weapons, after their spears and bayonet had been broken, they began using their fists, as they were pinned down, they began to bite using their mouths, ripping out unsightly amounts of flesh, before they were finally put down.
Ultimately, the morale of the imperial troops had been broken after their commander and countless comrades had fallen, retreating hastily, as the city gates opened, the men charged in, while more troops could be seen inside, awaiting for the traitors to charge.
Yet it never had happened, in a matter of extraordinary discipline, the soldiers remained within the protection of the trenches. After inspecting no more were coming out of the city, they once again picked up their shovels and continued digging.
Li Ming inspected the casualties from the battle, young men from both sides lay craters created by the cannons, while with the trenches, the blood had formed a thin layer within the ground of the trenches, a slightly metallic smell pollutes the air.
¡°Bury the bodies, including the ones you have fought,¡± she instructed the revolutionary army, the soldiers were slightly shocked by the unusual order, but their disciplined allow them to complete the action swiftly and numerous holes were dug to house the bodies.
After laying the bodies on top of each other, a layer of dirt covered these men, never to see daylight once more.
That day, no more fighting was seen, yet a basic system of trenches was dug, running in a zigzag manner.
Li Ming had remained encamped atop the hill, partly watching for enemy movement, and partly in discussion with Xu Xiaomeng.
¡°Lady, it appeared that man is your brother,¡± Li Ming stated the obvious, pointing towards the place Xu Li had stood, perhaps a little uncomfortable, she shifted her sitting posture, after a few attempts, she returned to her original position.
¡°Sir, you need not worry about my feelings,¡± Xu Xiaomeng replied, rather solemnly.
¡°Lady, how could I not, though I had fought against your father, it was with the knowledge that we will never manage to kill him in the conflicts. This time, if we manage to capture the city, it is a possibility that your oldest brother will die at your hands,¡± Li Ming said, as she waved her hands to indicate her points.
¡°Sir, my days at the Xu manor had not been a joyous one,¡± Xu Xiaomeng said,¡± I had been largely separated from the rest of the family, not to speak of meeting my siblings, to even meet someone outside of my usual servants is quite rare,¡± Xu Xiaomeng had rarely spoken of her past, so Li Ming was rather serious, straightening her already straight posture as if attempting to appear valiant, she still seemed delicate, as if a single gust of wind would blow her into the skies.
¡°Sir, I would be rather unfilial of me to say this, yet I do not feel an ounce of familial emotions toward the Xu family,¡± Xu Xiaomeng said decisively as if cutting with a knife.
Li Ming lowered her head in a sigh, using her slender fingers to massage her temples, before she pulled away from her hands, after staring at it for a little, a slightly bitter laugh came from her voice.
¡°Lady, would you be interested in meeting with your brother?¡± Li Ming asked. After she received a sound of affirmation from Xu Xiaomeng, she massaged her temples once more, yet this time she did not stop until it was much later.
As Li Ming stared at the night sky, completely foreign to her, she breathed out a long sigh, before the ever benevolent smile returned once again, completed with her fair skin, she appeared rather divine.
Volume 1: Chapter 13 - Fall of Dongan
It appears Li Ming had forgotten her proposal to meet Xu Li with Xu Xiaomeng, as the next three months, the two sides had no interacted outside the field of battle.
Each day the cannons would constantly batter against the walls of Dongan, while soldiers from within the city would occasionally engage the revolutionary army in the field, yet to no avail, aside from the constant stream of ships bring soldiers into the city, the situation remained unchanged.
As the siege progressed, at one point Li Ming had instructed the construction of tunnels under the walls, yet most were discovered by the defenders and thoroughly destroyed. During these times, Liu Three had performed exceptionally, Li Ming had offered to promote him countless times, yet Liu Three strangely rejected all her attempts.
In the end, Li Ming could only resign, and say some words of praise, while slightly awkwardly patted his shoulder.
Some nights later, Liu Three, along with Liu Two discussed their peculiar leader.
¡°Lady Li seems rather ignorant of the proper equity between men and women,¡± Liu Two said with a slight hint of yearning as he meticulously picked out the grape seeds he was eating. Li Ming had ordered the distribution of some luxury foods among the soldiers to boost morale, fruits were one of them.
¡°Second brother, it¡¯s not like we don¡¯t live with female soldiers, I¡¯d say general Li ought to give off an air of authority then to give me these,¡± Liu Three replied as he pointed toward the plate of grapes next of Liu Two, before forcefully seizing a vine for himself.
Looking at his tyrannical younger brother eating the grapes without even peeling the skin, Liu Two averted his eyes slightly,¡± Younger brother, Lady Li had offered you promotions countless times, but you reject them, at least give her some face.¡±
Liu Three¡¯s face twitched, looking rather serious, he replied,¡± That is because the fourth brother had died, so I will fight for two soldiers, in addition, I cannot control others with the same degree as older brother, there is no point in me sitting back planning,¡± Liu Three said as he pointed toward his rather thick head.
Liu Two stopped eating grapes, before a sense of sorrow well up within him, ultimately, he could not help but feel his vision blur. Liu Three, feeling that it would be great if he still had his bottle of alcohol with him, silently watched his older brother.
Later, Liu One had arrived in the tent shared by the Liu brothers, seeing that his younger sibling had all fallen asleep, a smile unconsciously crept upon his rather haggard face.
Possessing nothing but admiration for the silver-haired general that have never been seen resting, he couldn¡¯t help but notice the heavy bags under his eyes, after taking off his cape, carefully folding it, he then went into his own bed.
As another imperial boat was sunk by their cannons, Li Ming could not help but sigh, twirling her white hair with her fingers. The empire had been adding more troops ever since the siege had begun, though Li Ming had defeated many, their quantities ensured that the troops surrounding Li Ming had numbered at least one hundred thousand, fifty thousand.
While they had not attacked, their looming presence made the men rather tense.
Li Ming had remained on patrol, similarly observing the movement of ships as she had done for the many previous nights. Relying on nothing but the dim light given off by the ships, her black eyes stared rather intensively at the black river.
Her silhouette in the dark night seems extremely small, sitting on the hill they had encamped upon, she occasionally played with her silver hair, twirling it using her rather slender fingers.
Her distractive actions were suddenly disturbed by the sound of cannon fire, and a large splash within the river followed, after a period of time, the cannon fire once again sounded, this time destroying a ship. As the dim light within the ship disappeared into the river, the silver-haired girl could not help but sigh.
She had ordered for cannons to bombard the city walls and the ship every night, causing countless sleepless nights for the enemy soldiers, causing their attentiveness to be greatly reduced, while their frustration flared as Li Ming had arranged her army lived either outside the reach of the enemy cannons or within the trenches.
As dawn broke, the cannon fires soon stopped, as today was rather special. Li Ming had sent an envoy to the city gates.
¡°General Xu, our general wishes to invite you for a chat,¡± The envoy spoke toward the general standing atop the wall as he made a deep bow, before riding away back to the hill.
Looking toward the advisors around him, Xu Jin began to speak while playing with the jem located at the handle of his sword.
¡°My sister can''t last any longer, our army is constantly getting reinforced from the imperial navy, while they had been stuck on that hill for five months, tell the men to stay put, with their weapons loaded but do not fire,¡± Xu Li said as he looked at a set of tables off in the distance.
¡°I wish to see what she will speak when their defeat is imminent,¡± he finished.
¡°General, you can simply send out the army to crush them at this moment, we have more than one hundred and fifty thousand men, there is no need to negotiate,¡± one of the advisors said.
Xu Li looked with disdain at the men who spoke,¡± Our victory will be watched by heaven, where is there a need for such petty tactics.¡±
Throwing his cape, he rode out the city wall with fifteen other riders.
Li Ming, sitting on a small chair, appeared rather relaxed, upon seeing Xu Li arrive, she did not greet them, only gestured humbly at her brother to sit.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Xu Li sat, stared intensely toward his silver-haired sister if looks could kill, a hole would certainly appear next to Li Ming¡¯s eyes, while the fifteen riders remained standing.
Li Ming poured her brother a cup of tea, before finally speaking.
¡°Oldest brother, you seem rather well off these past couples of months,¡± Li Ming said, her smile appearing even brighter.
¡°Do not speak of these unnecessary matters, speak directly,¡± Xu Li urged, his face appearing completely confident.
¡°Why the rush brother, your army greatly outnumbers mine, with an unknown amount on those ships, time is clearing on your side,¡± Li Ming said rather fragile and desolate, appearing rather tempting to the soldiers around Xu Li.
Xu Li remained silent, yet ultimately allowed for Li Ming to continue.
¡°Brother, I remember when I was younger, you use to sneak me out the manor, allowing me to see Xuchang,¡± Li Ming recalled, giving off a slight sigh.
¡°Those days were quite joyous, seeing the constant stream of people going on their daily lives, I greatly admire their carefreeness, those days, constantly I would have a smile on my face¡± Li Ming continued, leaning back on her chair with a smile, her white has was untied, and her actions caused it to fall toward the ground.
¡°It would be great if we never grew up,¡± Li Ming continued. The sentence not an only reminiscence of their youths, but also implies the deadline for when she will be sent to the emperor as an offering.
¡°Speaking of which, father had arrived at Northern regions in an attempt to capture me on my sixteenth birthday, yet I had only remember it today, perhaps due to how busy I had been these past months,¡± Li Ming said as she rubbed her hands together as if recalling the cold of Bingjiang.
¡°Sister, you are speaking of such embarrassing subjects in front of my advisors, have you no shame,¡± Xu Li interrupted, yet he simply continued to play with the gem on his sword, paying no attention to the words she said.
¡°In our last years together, we rarely saw in other,¡± Li Ming said as she played with her hair, as if trying to past the time,¡± it was not until I have overheard father¡¯s boasting that I finally learnt why.
Xu Li seemed to have run out of patience, slamming the table,¡± if you brought me here to speak of our past, there are no points,¡± before standing from his chair.
Li Ming appeared rather surprised, quickly standing up herself, she used her arms to contain her brother,¡± Brother, of course, I have not wasted your time on this manner, I am here to discuss a ceasefire.¡±
¡°I will accept nothing but an unconditional surrender,¡± Xu Li said as he struggled out of Li Ming¡¯s hold.
¡°Brother, it is not this, I am willing to be captured by you to be sent to the emperor, in exchange, you simply need to promise to not strike at the Northern Regions and my soldiers,¡± Li Ming placated.
¡°And what of the land West of Hejiang,¡± Xu Li asked, returning to his chair, he slouched a little, appearing in contrast with Li Ming¡¯s straight posture.
¡°Naturally those territories will go toward you, older brother,¡± Li Ming said, her posture gave one the sense to spoil her.
¡°The emperor would not allow for the Xu family to gain influence in the central plains, especially with Concubine Hu controlling him,¡± Xu Li complaint, his hand tightening around the jewel.
Giving off an ambiguous smile, Li Ming informed,¡± If you can bring me to the emperor, forget a few towns and villages, even if you want an entire province, he would still give it to you.¡±
¡°How would I know your sincerity,¡± Xu Li asked suspiciously, yet his grip around his jewel had loosened.
¡°Look around you older brother, I have brought no one with me, while you have fifteen horsemen, furthermore, what can I, a frail woman do against you men,¡± Li Ming said, before turning her head to look toward the hill they encamped on, upon seeing a tiny dot of black, she looked back at Xu Li once again.
¡°Nevertheless, first, let us enjoy the dishes on the table, all personally cooked by me,¡± Li Ming said, further inviting the horsemen down from their mounts and toward another table, while personally serving Xu Li.
Xu Li appearing rather confident, placed both hands onto the table, and began enjoying the meal, yet a complicated expression appeared on his face.
¡°When did you learn how to cook,¡± he asked his sister, using his chopsticks to point at the dishes.
¡°Have you forgotten, you used to bring me to the court kitchen to cook,¡± Li Ming answered, rather surprised. Xu Li did not respond, and once more continued eating, perhaps due to his arrogance, he had never once had he thought Li Ming would poison him. Of course, Li Ming was not the sort of person to do so.
Furthermore, Li Ming''s cooking skill had been far better than Xu Xiaomeng''s, only due to the limited interaction between the two siblings was Xu Li not suspicious.
Holding a cup of wine toward her brother, Li Ming said,¡± After you have brought me to the emperor, he will surely shower you with land and titles, perhaps you may even be more prestigious than father,¡± receiving the praise, Xu Li nodded with a smile.
Once again looking at the hill, she saw many more dark dots, at that point, the sun had covered the vision, making it nearly impossible to notice without proper understanding. So naturally, Xu Li and the cavalry he brought along did not see it either.
Rubbing her eyes, Li Ming relaxed her back against the chair for the first time in their conversation and began to laugh.
Her voice that rang like a silver bell continued to laugh, ultimately, tears came out. Xu Li and the men he had brought looked at the crazy girl, yet did nothing.
¡°General Xu junior, to meet with me is a great mistake,¡± Li Ming said before the sound of gunpowder explosion could be heard from the mountains.
Xu Li looked toward the city walls, yet saw no damage, and he once again looked back at Li Ming, before he saw the massive dam that contained the water had been bombarded to enter.
Li Ming had picked herself up from the chair, not bothering to pat herself of dust, she went into a tunnel that was too small for Xu Li and the men he had brought along with him.
¡°You villainous scoundrel,¡± Xu Li yelled at the opened hole, which had shut soon afterwards, holding his head, he glared toward the soldiers.
¡°Quickly, bring me back to the city,¡± Xu Li yelled at his soldiers, jumping onto his horse, leaving behind the table which the steam from the food could still be seen, he begins to gallop on his horse.
Unfortunately, no matter what, he could not outrun the flow of water, the dam soon broke, toppling the massive navy docked around the city, while the gates had been swung open by the black river.
Li Ming army atop the hill had not been affected at all. After the water had calmed down and the city gates had swung opened, they began to row toward the city on makeshift rafts.
The soldiers stationed on the towers had fallen as the tower collapsed, while the soldiers stationed around the city had either drowned or fled to higher ground. With their fatigued spirit from the constant bombing, even if they could usually swim, many had still drowned.
As the soldiers crossed on their rafts, they rescued flooding civilians and soldiers alike, before approaching the main governmental building, where the remaining troops were located at.
As they see the countless soldiers on the rafts, inflated slightly by the number of those they had rescued from the flood, they had lost their will to fight, ultimately, they had surrendered.
During this conflict, Li Ming had not lost a single soldier.
Xu Li meanwhile had been brought away by his contingent of fifteen cavalries, aside from those, he had lost all his soldiers and advisoring remaining in Dongan.
Xu Li had lost, he had lost humiliatingly, even worse than his father had, as he rode toward the imperial capital, he threw his sword toward the ground, smashing the gem he had been toying with.
Li Ming looked at the flooded city, a sense of remorse overcame her heart, before long, she summoned Liu One and instructed him to dedicate all their efforts at rebuilding the dam and alleviating those affected.
Looking at the former area where the table was, a strange light appeared within Li Ming¡¯s pupils, yet it appeared she did not notice it.
Volume 1: Chapter 14 - Governor of Huxi
Xu Li¡¯s red cape is tarnished by countless mud stains, his horse has countless leeches on its legs, while he could be seen clearly irritated at the dampness of his clothes.
Behind him is the fifteen men that he had brought with him to negotiate with Li Ming, they appear to be in even worse conditions than their lord.
Xu Li had no way to vent his frustration, and could only curse his sister, yet the horseman behind him seen used to this behaviour.
¡°Pure villainy, pure trickly, pure pettiness,¡± Xu Li cursed as he looked at the sky.
¡°Not only did that traitor manage to deceive me into thinking she was surrendering, but at the same time, she had offered herself for me to be brought to the emperor resulting in my mental fortitude becoming lowered, furthermore, she had managed to hide the canons under the sunlight to destroy the dam, resulting in Dongan being flooded, in a measly amount of time of a meal, she manages to crush my entire force of one hundred and fifty men, leaving me with only fifteen men remaining,¡± Xu Li continued, tightening his fist, but knows not where to place it, he gradually releases his grip.
The people behind him thought,¡± If it weren¡¯t for you executing all generals that oppose your ideas leaving no one in command of the city if you were gone, at least the soldiers would put up a resistance.¡±
But they did not speak of and continued to road solemnly.
The road leads to Longjing.
Li Ming does not have her usual smile on, instead, a rather indifferent face appeared, while hints of sorrow could be seen in her eyebrows.
Despite the fact that a number of civilians of Dongan had fled, the majority had remained within the city. The resulting flood had killed thousands and destroyed innumerable houses.
This was why Li Ming did not express her usual benevolent smile, as she does not deserve to show such a face after killing innocents.
Regardless, Dongan had fallen, and along with that, the countless towns and villages under its control, it could be said that Huxi, a province with more than twenty million people, is under Li Ming and the revolutionaries control.
The first course of action was to remain the damage they had done, for this, Li Ming had temporarily instructed much of the army to focus on the reconstruction of the dam, while the remainder had gone downstream, in an attempt to relieve the impact made by the flood.
It could be assured that Li Ming would not inform the public that she had destroyed the dam, instead, she had purposefully spread rumours while hiring scholars to inform the public that the dam had been destroyed due to funds allocated to the dam disappearing due to corruption.
While Li Ming would not like to use such tactics, it would greatly reduce her popularity among the masses if the truth spread out.
¡°The old city is truly grand,¡± Li Ming thought to herself, staring at the soldiers still in their brown-red uniform working on the reconstruction of the dam, her hands held behind her.
Shifting her gaze toward Dongan, the water could no longer be seen, while the city itself is covered in an atmosphere of mourning, partly due to the recent tragedy, but also the death of their governor.
The governor of Huxi had been known to be mediocre and rather old, as he was appointed when the Emperor was still sane, his ability was atleast capable. Li Ming had originally planned to allow him to remain in power after inspection, as she currently lacks anyone experienced with governing a city, she would attempt to integrate anyone possible.
Yet the old governor had killed himself as a form of silent protest. In the end, Li Ming could only put up a front of respect, and leave the city to mourn, while she sent a message to Bingjiang for them to send her someone experienced with the governance of a city.
Ling Ping had acted surprisingly quick, sending the woman behind the old governor of Bingjiang. The person in question is currently standing beside Li Ming.
Other than possessing a pair of large eyes, she looks could be considered average while a scholarly air could be sensed surrounding her, holding her hands behind her back, perhaps to imitate Li Ming, she too looked toward Dongan.
Indeed, Ling Ping had sent a female to Li Ming, which had surprised her greatly, considering the patriarchal system in place within the Sui Dynasty, a woman would usually remain illiterate.
The two had yet to speak, as the female scholar had just arrived, and Li Ming had not asked her any questions.
¡°Greetings lady Li, my surname is Chen, while my given name is Ju, as in chrysanthemum,¡± Chen Ju took the opportunity to introduce herself, giving a slight bow, she smiled toward the silver-haired girl.
Usually, Li Ming¡¯s warm smile would make anyone feel approachable and at ease, yet it was not here, causing her to give off a slightly icy air, looking at Chen Ju, who appeared to be in her late thirties bowing toward a girl in her adolescence, the scene that developed seems slightly humorous.
¡°Are you not married?¡± Li Ming, noticing Chen Ju¡¯s hairstyle, suddenly asked.
Chen Ju¡¯s already large eyes became even largely, before she replied,¡± Indeed, I have a history of working in the brothel industry,¡± she explained, it was at this point a wind blew toward Li Ming, who noticed she had a rather strong smell of perfume.
Despite not putting on any, the smell of pleasure house in ingrained within her bones.
Slightly frowning, Li Ming used her sleeves to cover her nose, before asking,¡± Why has Ling Ping sent you?¡±
¡°I had originated from a scholarly family, given education about the classics in secret, and later sent to the old governor as a concubine,¡± Chen Ju seems to not take any notice of Li Ming¡¯s reaction.
¡°During those days, I had managed to eliminate the majority of his other concubines, and essentially gain control of Bingjiang,¡± Chen Ju said with a face of yearning.
¡°At some point, I had offended the old governor, causing him to sell me into a famous brothel, as my looks are rather average, I would not be able to repurchase my independence in a lifetime,¡± once she had finished speaking, Chen Ju took a deep bow toward Li Ming.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
¡°It is thanks to you that I am able to be free today, after you had organised the brothels to only allow free women to operate in sex work, due to this, I am deeply grateful,¡± Chen Ju remained in a bow.
¡°Furthermore, you have ousted the owner of the brothel, allowing my other sisters still working in the brothels to control their own fate,¡± Chen Ju stopped bowing and looked toward Li Ming.
Li Ming was quite surprised that Chen Ju had such a complex history, and even more surprised that she had gained such a valuable subordinate she when had offhandedly reorganised the brothel system.
Why reorganise instead of destroying? Xu Xiaomeng had asked this question to Li Ming countless times, to which Li Ming would simply smile and reply,¡± That is because they have no other choice in life, they only know how to please others, even if we were to educate them, some of them would still remain in the industry, the best I can do is to free those who do not desire to remain in this industry, while allowing those who remain greater control over their autonomy.¡±
¡°Furthermore, if I outlaw brothels, a system of underground brothels would surely appear, causing more harm for its workers, allowing a state-mandated brothel that protect the workers is the best option.¡±
Of course, Li Ming does not intend for brothels to run forever, when women in society become educated, they are free to pursue more noble aspirations.
Regardless, Li Ming had forcibly lowered her sleeves and put on her typical smile for the first time since she had flooded the city, appearing akin to a spring blooming, Chen Ju awed by the beauty of Li Ming.
¡°I am sure you would be famous if you were a courtesan,¡± Chen Ju accidentally let the words within her mind slip out, upon noticing what she had said, she quickly lowered herself in apology.
Li Ming did not pursue this matter further, approaching Chen Ju, the silver-haired girl lifted Chen Ju from her position. Patting the back of Chen Ju¡¯s hands Li Ming said,¡± Lady Chen, I am not so petty that I would become bitter from a slip of the mouth.¡±
Chen Ju perhaps due to her days as a prostitute had developed a subservient nature, regardless, an air of intelligence could be seen around her, gaining the approval of Li Ming who appointed her as the governor of Dongan.
Distributing mass amounts of notices, she introduced Chen Ju as the new governor of Dongan. The content of the notices were rather extensive, as Chen Ju is not only the first female governor, not even to omit that she is the first from such a low status, therefore requiring a large amount of reasoning for her to be generally accepted.
Regardless, the civilians were not too bothered, and the nobles had long fled the city, causing little opposition for her appointment.
The city of Dongan had suffered shockingly little civilian casualties during the conflict, as the majority that had suffered from the flooding had been rescued, along with Li Ming¡¯s lenient and swift take over of the city causing only a few thousand deaths aside from those of soldiers.
Thus, prosperity could be still seen in the ancient city.
As Chen Ju took the role of governor, Li Ming had relocated the administrative capital away from Bingjiang, into the city of Dongan, partly due to the historical importance of the capital, gaining her new revolution legitimacy to oppose the Sui Dynasty. Another reason for Li Ming¡¯s relocation to Dongan is due to its vast network of roads and it¡¯s a massive amount of people.
Yet the greatest benefit of Huxi is the absence of higher class, which had fled the province during its siege, while those who had remained in the province had their powers stripped, their servant¡¯s independence granted, and their land redistributed into collectives, leaving them only in possession of their home.
As Huxi had a deep history as the historical capital of the Zui people, the amount of land revoked was quite extensive, the remaining nobles have remained in influenced this province for thousands of years.
Naturally, those in power would not peacefully give up their powers, and had resulted in the mass burning of crops and the slaughter of livestock in an effort of protest.
Yet shockingly to them, Lin Ming had completely anticipated this action. Soon after the crossing of Beixi bridge, countless skirmishes were led to gain control over much of the countryside of Huxi, where countless stalks of rice and grain were planted using the same collective system, in preparation to nullify this event, and the earliest batch being planted eight months ago.
While rice takes five months of maturation, the environment of Dongan is largely not suitable for its cultivation, resulting in relatively small yields. Yet the grain that had been harvested allowed enough food to sustain the twenty million inhabitants of Huxi.
In the end, the landlords and nobles that had burned their grain had all their properties revoked, and sentenced to forced labour in the fields as a consequence for the incalculable quantities of rice and grain they had burnt.
Ultimately, Li Ming had avoided a potential famine, mainlydue to foresight from her previous world.
Strands of silver-coloured hair could be seen in the governor¡¯s manor in Dongan, which had originally been the Imperial Palace in the previous dynasty.
The building give off a regal aura, where the history of the previous dynasty could be seen, massive clusters of governmental buildings, residences for the imperial family, it¡¯s servants along with countless artificial gardens and lakes could be seen.
The palace, built atop a hill, had largely escaped the effects of the flood, yet years of negligence as the imperial power moved into Longjing had made its buildings decays.
The servants within the palace could be seen busying themselves repairing the building. Perhaps they could no longer be called as such, as Li Ming had granted them independence from their status of servitude, replacing it with a contract that grant them a salary for their work, thus, they are more similar to someone employed by the state in her previous world.
The residence, which had formerly housed the old governor and his family, is empty say for a silver-haired girl and a lady with rather large eyes. Li Ming, holding her hands behind her back, she seems to be wandering aimlessly.
Li Ming nodded her head, expressing a great deal of appreciation for the architecture of the building, the floor constructed of marble showed the vast expenditures place in its construction, the dougong system of interlocked wooden structures showed the planning that had been placed for the palace, while the garden and ponds give off a tranquil atmosphere.
The dougong construction had become rather redundant after the introduction of cement and nails from the Far Eastern lands, with the current palace lacking the intricate system of construction used in the previous dynasty.
Giving off a slightly peculiar smile, unlike her typical smile, she gradually walked toward the main administration building, where Chen Ju is currently at work.
The former courtesan, upon seeing Li Ming, hurriedly bowed, yet once more Li Ming had stopped it, lifting Chen Ju with her slender arms, Li Ming saw a massive stack of paperwork and a still wet inkstone.
¡°Lady Chen, it is not appropriate to work at this hour,¡± Li Ming slightly frowning, reprimanded.
¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± Chen Ju replied with a slightly obedient smile, before going back to her table. Reorganising her documents, she proceeds to bow toward Li Ming, then afterwards left the room.
A slight smile broke out from Li Ming¡¯s petite face, as she observed the documents Chen Ju had completed.
Clearly satisfied with her subordinate¡¯s work, Li Ming placed her hands once more behind her and proceeded to wander aimlessly as before.
¡°Sir, it seems rather hypocritical of you to reprimand Lady Chen''s overworking,¡± Xu Xiaomeng suddenly said.
¡°Why is that?¡± Li Ming asked as she arrived at an artificial lake, crouching down, she swept her fingers against its surface.
¡°Sir, naturally that is because you work for far longer hours than Lady Chen, while she had been working since dawn till midnight, your typical schedule is composed solely of paperwork, many days, you do not even sleep,¡± the silver bell-like voice once more rang out.
¡°Of course, lady¡¯s body is immortal, therefore I no longer have the need to rest,¡± Li Ming replied with a smile, it appears that observing the dedication Chen Ju has for the city had lifted a portion of Li Ming¡¯s guilt, resulting in her smile appearing much more carefree than before.
¡°Sir, unless I remind you, you would forever remain within your study,¡± Xu Xiaomeng spoke out once more.
Changing her smile to a hopeless once, Li Ming proceeded to return back into her studies, during which, Xu Xiaomeng continued to reprimand her.
Carefully closing the door behind her, Li Ming brushed her silver hair, afterwards, took a cold bath, and began to pick up her pen once more, leaving the room quiet except for the light sound of the pen against paper.
The unfamiliar moon hung over the night sky, while countless stars in unfamiliar arrangements could be seen as they reflect within Li Ming¡¯s black eyes, the rather cold light shines over her fragile figure sitting by a mahogany table, causing Li Ming to look rather tired.
Volume 1: Chapter 15 - No More Emperors
The land controlled by the Sui Dynasty exists largely isolated from the rest of the continent of Tian, surrounded by the various mountains and oceans.
The civilization, beginning on the basin of the Hejiang river, with national geographical features separating it from the world, see themselves as the only civilization.
It shares similar rise as much of the other civilizations on the Tian continent, beginning as a hunter-gatherer society governed by a form of a primitive society of egalitarianism, without the existence of a system of class, primarily due to the lack of any surplus.
As hunter-gatherers, women had equal power to their male counterparts, while participating in the majority of labour along with their role of childbirth.
Nearly twelve thousand years ago the original hunter-gatherers had begun to form into tribal societies as the agricultural practice was popularised, while constantly at war with their rivals, along with the unpredictable floods of Hejiang, it was a period of great suffering.
It was at this point that the Lu tribe had managed to subdue the Black river by building the first dams, due to this, agriculture became stabilised, resulting in a much larger population compared to their neighbours. As a result of this, the Lu tribe manage conquered much of their neighbours, establishing the state of Lu, the first centralised government.
As the Lu state rose, it brought with it an economic system dependent on organised labour in servitude toward the head of state, in a form of proto slavery.
The first ruler of Lu, possessing immeasurable amounts of land and wealth within his hands, with his power situated throughout the Hejiang river basin. The second ruler was known for the expansion of the system of dams constructed by his ancestors, as he aged, he resigned his position as monarch toward his most capable son.
Afterwards, the crown had passed through twenty-six other descendants, with the last infamous for his incapability while orchestrating in public orgies among those within his court.
Outraged by this, a general serving the monarch revolted, claiming that the Lu monarch had lost the favour of heaven, he proclaimed the beginning of the state of Zhao, which followed a similar model of economic as the Lu State.
The Zhao state had brought forward a bronze age for its civilization, and the beginning of an era of prosperity, lasting more than four thousand years, the longest any dynasty had ruled, as they claimed themselves the son of heaven, directly tying themselves to the prosperity of the nation.
Yet the system of heaven¡¯s favour ultimately brought the Zhao Dynasty¡¯s fall. The last ruler of the Zhao state was known to cannibalise captured enemies, and ironically, had lost his powers in a similar manner to how they had gained it in the first place.
The new dynasty, ruled by the Yan clan, had changed from the centralised form of governance reliant on proto slaves that had administered the two earlier dynasties, instead bring a form of feudalism where serfs were tied to their lands, while possessing a variation different from the Far Eastern system, as the noble¡¯s power was not passed hereditarily, but instead granted by the monarch. It was also the beginning of the use of iron in the land occupied nowadays by Sui, which brought a new era of agricultural development.
As time passed, imperial power gradually declined, until the capital had become the only territory controlled by the central government, while the monarch had become a largely ceremonial figure.
The lack of decentralised power had brought a period of constant warfare among the feudal subjects, who gradually declared their authority away from the state of Yan, ultimately, more than forty states were embroidered in constant warfare, lasting more than five hundred years.
Yet surprisingly, the population had never stopped growing during this time, with agricultural advances bring any nation not currently engaging in strife a massive population boom.
During this time, the serfs had gained their freedom, and begin to stop paying taxes to local lords, and instead toward the increasingly centralised imperial government.
Eventually, power began to centralise into five massive states, each able to field hundreds of thousands of men. Shockingly the weakest state, originating from the uncultivated lands of modern-day Huxi, had conquered the four other rivalling nations and was the first ruler to declare himself the emperor.
Under this era of rule, feudalism was entirely abolished, the possessing of private property and land was encouraged. The land was given out to accomplished bureaucrats, and became non-hereditary, during this time, the titles of nobles became largely symbolic and almost unanimous with bureaucrats.
The new empire, known as the Zui Dynasty, had lasted for six hundred years bring forth a golden age, during those times, the empire had developed countless schools of thought, brought forward technological advancements, the introduction of a universal measurement of weight, a universal coinage system, expansion of the empire to the banks of the Mingjiang River and a grand population of eighty million.
All this was overseen at the ancient capital of Dongjing, built next to Hejiang, which had soon become the centre of the booming empire, acting as the economic, cultural, and political centre. Due to this, Dongjing had grown to possess had a population of six hundred thousand.
The inhabitants of the territories ruled by Zui would begin to develop a strong cultural identity toward the empire and began to call themselves the Zui people, after the ruling dynasty.
There was a brief interruption, where the ruling emperor was overthrown for ten years before the Zui Dynasty would be once more established. The new Zui Dynasty introduce laissez-faire policies, with taxes becoming reduced to only a thirtieth of a peasants income, while a separate system of property tax was also introduced, targeted primarily toward the upper class of nobles, merchants and bureaucrats.
Yet the empire had ultimately succumbed to a weak emperor, who had foolishly granted nobles autonomy unheard of since the collapse of the Zui dynasty in an attempt to end a massive revolt, caused by a famine that had nearly affected half of their provinces, primarily along Hejiang river.
While the revolt was successfully quelled, the ambitions of the warlords, each with armies loyal to themselves, began to fight among each other, and the emperor had become a pawn in their conflicts.
Finally, after the emperor had succumbed to illness, the most prominent warlords decided to declare themselves the heir of the dragon throne.
During these times, Dongjing had remained the seat of power for the largest warlord of the time, the state of Ji, who eventually conquered the other warring states.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Yet the new dynasty of Ji was short-lived and had collapsed after an assassination killing the emperor and his five sons, leaving no heir.
This had resulted once more in a period of warlordism, while the city of Dongjing and much of the North East was captured by the nomadic barbarians across the Hejiang.
Due to the conquest of the North-East by barbarians, the remainder of the Ji dynasty had attempted to rebuild a similar economic system of government as the old Zui Dynasty. In order to accomplish this, they granted a vast sum of land toward refugees and landlords fleeing from the barbarian invasion.
It was at this time that Longjing was constructed, becoming the cultural, economical, and political centre of the Southern regions of modern-day Sui, bring the Ji, and the subsequent dynasties mass wealth.
The ruler of Longjing at that period was the Yan Dynasty, with its vast wealth, managed to hire a massive army of mercenaries, who conquered it¡¯s warring neighbours while retaking the land occupied by the nomads.
The Yan Dynasty was the first to govern from Longjing, during its reign, it had constructed a massive canal connecting the Mingjiang River to the Hejiang river while passing through Changhe.
Yet the massive project had emptied the treasury of the Yuan Dynasty, leading to an overthrow of the emperor by a general, who had established the Chu dynasty, which maintained a largely similar economic system as the dynasties before it, the only difference being the increase of state-owned enterprise.
Widely considered to be the second golden age since the Zui Dynasty, the Chu had conquered the province of Xuchang across the Yun mountains, while expanding a vast system of tributaries across the nomadic barbarians across Hejiang, with its vast territories, it had also developed sophisticated culture, introduce the first instance of paper currency, the development of new agricultural practices, and brought the population to a staggering one hundred and twenty million.
Similar to the Zui Dynasty, it governed from the seat of Dongjing, which had reached a population of one million.
Ultimately, after three hundred years, the emperor of Chu had become decadent, giving power toward corrupt officials and ambitious generals, leading to a massive revolt led by a foreign general, ultimately leading to the fall of Dongjing and the Northeast and the subsequent massacre of its inhabitants.
While the Chu Dynasty had managed to quell the revolt, much of its territories and tributaries were lost, and nearly ten million dead. As a result of the devastation of the Northeast, which much of the economy of the Chu Dynasty was located in, the Southwest of the empire gradually grew to replace it as the most economically important region of the empire.
While the Chu Dynasty would last two hundred more it had undergone a system of decentralisation, where taxes were at one point even temporarily abolished. During this era, warlordism would once again form, while still not declaring independence, until an official would force the emperor to abdicate, and proclaimed himself the emperor, starting the new Yue Dynasty.
Yet soon, much of the territories of the Central Plains was lost, and the empire once again divided into a group of warring states, as Yue was eventually overthrown by the later Chu, lasting twenty years, before itself becoming overthrown by the later Zui, which had lasted ten years before becoming overthrown by the later Yan.
During this period of political chaos, the seat of power still remained at Dongjing.
Ultimately, the period of turmoil had come to an end by the creation of the state of Liang, which had once again reunited the provinces under the heaven.
Governing away from Dongjing, it¡¯s capital was based in Pingyang, situated near the mouth of Hejiang river, in the province of Jiangxi.
During the reign of Liang, it greatly improved agriculture, allowing the population to boom to two hundred million, along with with the invention of gunpowder, and the discovery of coal power, while coal was used extensively, inventions such as steam engine was never discovered.
Liang maintained a system of laissez-faire taxation policies, while still maintaining a monopoly on several key industries. Several government works, such as canals and roads were constructed to encourage the reclamation of land for agriculture, as a result, the population grew to one hundred and eighty million.
(Unlike the real-world version of Liang, the Song Dynasty, the land had never become centralised into the hands of private landlords).
Ultimately Liang had fallen to the growing nomad threat in it¡¯s Northeast. The nomadic barbarians had created a vast empire, stretching throughout much of the territories of modern-day Sui and the Northern Empire, while the province of Changtian, had remained independent.
The nomadic empire came as soon as it went, and was soon overthrown after it¡¯s foreign emperor had supposedly lost the favour of heaven due to his pleasures in the observation of animal intercourse with his concubines. (I am not kidding, there was an emperor who took a liking to this, look up Liu Ziye)
This along with his proposal of the massacre the Zui people, seizing their land, and turning it into pastures for the nomads, had led to a massive revolt by the peasants, which after they had driven out the barbarians, gave the imperial throne to the independent ruler of Changtian.
Thus the Sui Dynasty had been founded, relocating their capital away from Xuchang, into the city of Longjing.
During their rule, nearly all sectors of the economy were controlled by the state, granted toward bureaucrats, many of which possessed noble titles. Much of the land controlled by nobles was dedicated to the cultivation of cash crops, which sold luxuriously to the Far Eastern markets and financial much of the state expenditures.
Furthermore, the introduction of new crops, along with the expansion of public works, had led to a population of four hundred million enjoyed by the Sui Dynasty today.
The ancient capital of Dongjing, which had seen the rise and fall of Zui, the conquest of Huxi by the barbarians, the golden age of the Chu Dynasty and the subsequence massacre, the period of political chaos afterwards, the vast nomadic empire, and finally it¡¯s decline during the time of Sui.
The ancient capital of the two golden ages of the Zui people could be considered as a necessity for a person to declare themselves emperor.
Thus, with the conquest of Dongan, Li-Ming will be considered as a major threat to the hegemony of the Sui Dynasty, furthermore, could declare herself to be a rivalling emperor.
Placing down her pen, a thick stack of paper and bamboo slips could be seen beside her.
Rinsing her mouth with a cup of cold tea, Li Ming proceeded to take a bath.
The water seemed rather hot, causing Li Ming¡¯s pale skin to appear slightly red, giving her a sense of vitality, shifting her head, the only thing above the water, she stared toward Tianshan through the window.
Waiting for some time, until the reflection of the red sun could be seen in her black eyes.
Noticing it had become dawn, Li Ming swiftly changed into a pair of black robes. Her hair, still wet, stick alongside the black robe, appearing as if Mingjiang river was painted onto her robes.
Giving off a slight smile different from her usual benevolent smile, she proceeded toward the main administrative wing of the palace. As she entered, various representatives from each county, elected from the collectives along with military officials could be seen sitting in on crude chairs, evidently placed by Li Ming after they had entered the palace.
Chen Ju and Ling Ping had sat at a level slightly elevated above the representatives of the counties, while Liu One similarly sat on an elevated level.
The room itself is divided between the officials within the military, and the counties, separated left and right, while the centre sits a rather lonely chair, behind it, the old imperial throne.
The chair is typically used by the Prime Minister, while the throne had naturally been that of the emperor¡¯s, possessing elegant carvings of dragons and the land under heaven.
Countless princes had become the sole ruler of the empire after sitting on that chair.
The county representatives, who vastly outnumber the officers within the army, looked rather expectantly at Li Ming.
The officers, wearing their military uniform, similarly looked toward Li Ming, remained upon her as she moved toward the throne.
Li Ming herself, looked toward the dragon throne then back toward her hand which did not belong to her, before once again toward the direction of the throne.
Picking up her dress, which greatly resembled that of the one she had worn when she first entered this world inside Xu manor, a strange sigh came out, before her light footsteps could be heard.
Tap, tap, tap, the light footsteps advanced passed the Prime Minister¡¯s chair.
A strand of silver hair dropped toward the throne, before coiling up similar to a dragon.
Li Ming had arrived at the throne.
Staring rather intensely at the carving of the dragon, a long moment passed.
Li Ming turned around in the direction of the officials, before walking away from the throne, toward the lonely chair.
Picking up her dress once again, she had chosen to sit on the Prime Minister¡¯s chair.
There will be no more emperors.
Volume 1: Chapter 16 - Hong Wang