Red Mansion: After being expelled from the family, I was granted the title of Marquis of Mobei

Chapter 144 The Burning of the Western Sea, Emperor Yongping's Worries

In contrast, Liu Ziyi appeared resigned to his fate, remaining silent and uttering not a word.

Seeing Liu Ziyi's appearance, Gu Yankai became even more furious.

"You bastard, let's see how long you can keep up your stubbornness."

"When your entire family is wiped out, you won't even have time to cry."

The deputy general standing to the side looked at Gu Yankai and said.

"My lord, let's not waste our time with this traitor."

"By order of His Majesty, the Duke of England has summoned all the garrison troops from the three states near the capital to rush to the capital to defend the emperor."

"Our army has quelled the rebels, and it is time to lead our troops to join forces with the Duke of England and prepare to recapture the capital."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ziyi, who had just been so defiant, looked shocked.

Seeing this, Gu Yankai sneered and said.

"Fool, no matter what benefits your mastermind has promised you, it's all just a mirage."

"After the capital is restored, you and they will definitely face the death penalty of being slowly sliced ​​to death."

At this moment, Liu Ziyi collapsed to the ground, utterly despondent.

He knew he was undertaking a mission with a slim chance of survival, and the reason he participated despite the danger was to secure a real opportunity for his family to reach the top of the Great Zhou Dynasty and transcend social classes.

After all, there's a saying that goes, "If it fails, it's called a rebellion; if it succeeds, it's called a revolution—no, it's called following the dragon."

However, upon hearing that Emperor Yongping was still issuing orders, Liu Ziyi naturally understood that the palace coup had failed and Emperor Yongping had escaped.

In this way, all troubles will cease.

The rebels have no chance of winning.

Gu Yan ignored Liu Ziyi after opening his business and, after ordering the entire army to clean up the battlefield, headed straight for the outskirts of Beijing.

In the dead of night, within the jungles of the Western Sea, the various tribes of the Western Sea natives who had lived there for generations were already fast asleep.

The sounds of insects fill the night air in the West Sea jungle, creating a rather poetic atmosphere.

While the various tribes of the Western Sea were praying in their sleep for their warriors going to war, in the southeast corner of the Western Sea jungle, Shi Ding was leading 30,000 elite troops from the Jiangnan Camp, standing ready and waiting quietly.

About 15 minutes later, the wind suddenly picked up over the West Sea jungle, making the trees rustle.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Shi Ding gave the order, and the 30,000-strong army threw out their torches in unison.

Two hours earlier, at dusk, Zhou's 30,000 troops had already dumped ten boatloads of oil into the jungle in front of them and cut a firebreak in the forest.

As tens of thousands of torches were thrown into the jungle, the next second, the 30,000-strong army witnessed what it truly meant to be cooked in a raging fire.

In an instant, fueled by the oil, the entire jungle burst into flames, the towering fire illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.

Driven by strong southeasterly winds, the wildfire spread rapidly, speeding across the northwest direction.

Wherever the wildfire went, it mercilessly devoured all living things in its path. Faced with the sudden onslaught of the wildfire, the beasts in the forest had no choice but to flee for their lives.

Looking at the wildfire before him, Shi Ding couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion. In the forests of the Western Sea, there lived a million Western Sea barbarians.

I don't know how many people will perish in this fire I started. With such a bloody massacre, it seems I will be condemned to hell and never be able to escape.

In fact, Shi Ding should be glad that he lived in ancient times instead of now.

Otherwise, Shi Ding wouldn't even need to worry about going to hell after death; just for setting fire to the mountain, he'd be locked up for life and wouldn't be able to live a peaceful life.

After a moment of reflection, Shi Ding made a decisive order to have the entire army quickly withdraw from the West Sea jungle according to the operational plan and proceed to the West Sea front to provide support.

By the time Shi Ding led his troops to retreat, the fire had become uncontrollable, and the towering flames were clearly visible from ten miles away.

In the distance, in the jungle tribe of the Western Sea, Shami Yong, a member of the Shami tribe, rubbed his sleepy eyes and got up to go to the toilet.

As soon as he stepped outside the room, he was instantly shocked by the scene before him.

In the distance, flames soared into the sky, like the sun. As a native living in the jungle, Shami Yong was well aware of the power of wildfires. He disregarded everything else and hurriedly began to warn his tribesmen.

The same situation occurred in the other parts of the Western Sea.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night for all the tribes of the Western Sea.

Faced with the relentless flames that were engulfing the jungle, the people of each tribe fled frantically.

The jungles of the Western Sea stretched for thousands of miles, sustaining generations of the Western Sea's inhabitants.

However, this jungle is now about to become their death warrant.

Once a wildfire starts, stopping it is extremely difficult.

Wildfires are common in other parts of the world. Even in modern society, the basic approach to wildfire relief abroad is to let things burn, and once everything is burned, the fire will naturally go out.

The forest fire in the Greater Khingan Mountains was the most devastating fire since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Even with all of China's efforts in disaster relief, tens of thousands of military and police personnel risking their lives in rescue and relief operations, and hundreds of thousands of logistical personnel providing support, the forest fire still raged for a full 28 days.

The wild beasts in the Western Sea jungle before them had neither the same determination to fight the fire at all costs as China, nor a sound command system, nor the various advanced fire-fighting equipment that China had in later generations.

For the Western Sea Barbarians at this moment, the only thing they could do was to escape, to escape desperately.

However, a person's speed is only about ten miles per hour, while a wildfire can spread at the same speed under the influence of wind.

What makes the wild animals of the West Sea even more desperate is that people get tired, but wildfires do not.

Therefore, even though the Western Sea Wilderness had begun to flee with all their might, they were horrified to find that the wildfire behind them was getting closer and closer.

After the wildfire raged for a night, hundreds of thousands of the elderly, women, and children of the Western Sea tribes perished in the flames, with only the able-bodied able-bodied managing to escape.

However, facing the increasingly fierce wildfires, they could not hold out for much longer.

In Mirror City, the High Priest of the West Sea, Shamito, was pondering his next strategy, looking quite dejected.

The ferocity of Zhou Jun on the other side truly instilled fear in Sha Mi Tuo.

But he was unwilling to simply slink away from Mingjing City and retreat back to his old lair in the Western Sea jungle.

Through his own strategic planning, he managed to secure an opportunity for the various tribes of the Western Sea to move out of the jungle and occupy this fertile land.

If he were to be frightened away from the West Sea by the 10,000 Zhou troops, not only would the dreams of the West Sea's indigenous people be shattered, but the prestige he had built by annihilating the West Sea's vanguard would also vanish in an instant.

No, I must not back down. No matter how fierce the Zhou army is, they are only ten thousand men. The various tribes of the Western Sea have a million people. If each of them spits at these ten thousand Zhou soldiers, they will drown them.

Shamituo immediately made up his mind to use all the strength of the Western Sea barbarians to completely conquer the Western Sea.

Just as Shamituo was preparing to send people back to the various tribes' encampments in the Western Sea jungle to mobilize troops, Shamituo's guards came into the hall in a panic and said...

"High Priest, something terrible has happened!" Upon hearing this, the novice monk frowned and said.

"What major event has occurred? Can those Zhou troops still break into the city? Tell me slowly, the sky isn't going to fall."

However, the guards were completely unable to calm down and pointed loudly towards the West Sea jungle.

"High Priest, look! Fireworks are shooting into the sky from the direction of the Western Sea Jungle. You can even see them from Mingjing City."

Upon hearing this, the novice monk's face immediately darkened considerably.

Mingjing City is two or three hundred miles away from the West Sea Jungle. Even Mingjing City can see the smoke and fire in the direction of the West Sea Jungle. How big must the fire in the West Sea Jungle be?

Not daring to delay, Shami Tuo hurriedly walked out of the hall. When he stood in the courtyard, he looked towards the direction of the Western Sea Forest.

Sure enough, smoke and fire filled the distance, clearly visible even from within Mingjing City.

Shamito's heart sank to the bottom, and he quickly looked at the guard and said.

"Quickly, send the scouts to the Western Sea jungle to find out what's going on."

"Yes."

Soon after, all the Western Sea Barbarians in Mingjing City witnessed the fireworks display in the Western Sea Jungle.

The Western Sea Barbarians in the city all came from various tribes of the Western Sea. Seeing the Western Sea jungle suffering disaster, they were all worried about the safety of their wives, children and elderly parents. The whole city of Mingjing was in a state of panic.

At this time, five miles east of Mingjing City, Jia Jue had already quietly led his army to this location.

Looking at the raging fire in the distant Western Sea jungle, Jia Jue remained completely calm.

Gu Qianfan, standing to the side, couldn't help but feel a chill and said.

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for the various tribes of the Western Sea to survive this fire."

Jia Jue glanced at Gu Qianfan indifferently and then spoke.

"They say there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names."

"It seems that this statement does not apply to you."

"It's really unfair that you've been given the nickname 'Living Yama'."

Gu Qianfan said with a hint of helplessness.

"General, please stop teasing your subordinate."

Gu Qianfan was also embarrassed. The reason why Gu Qianfan was nicknamed "Living Yama" was mainly because he was ruthless in handling cases and had a lot of experience in interrogation.

However, compared to Jia Jue, his skills were utterly insignificant.

Gu Qianfan's cases only determine the fate of a hundred or so people.

With Jia Jue's command, the various tribes of the Western Sea, who had lived for thousands of years, were about to become history.

Along with it, the entire Western Sea Jungle will also perish completely.

At this moment, Gu Qianfan truly realized the vast difference between himself and generals like Jia Jue, who had emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Seeing Gu Qianfan's reaction, Jia Jue calmly said.

"Qianfan, you may think that I am ruthless and merciless, and that I kill without blinking an eye."

"But as the sage said, barbarians are beasts; they fear power but do not cherish virtue."

"The best way is to nip it in the bud and prevent any future troubles."

Speaking of this, we must mention one person. Although Jia Jue did not like the Manchus very much, there was one thing that the Manchus did that Jia Jue agreed with, and that was the pacification of the Dzungars.

From Kangxi to Yongzheng and then to Qianlong, spanning three reigns, the Dzungars were always a major threat to the Manchus in the northwest. Like the barbarians of the Western Sea, they surrendered and then rebelled, then surrendered again.

It wasn't until the reign of Emperor Qianlong that this problem was finally solved by sending a general.

So how did the Qing army solve this problem? It was very simple: all members of the Dzungar tribe were executed, leaving no one alive.

From then on, the only thing in the world that could prove the existence of Junggar was the Junggar Basin.

Jia Jue also referred to this standard when dealing with the Western Sea issue.

Instead of going through the trouble of trying to appease the Western Sea barbarians, it would be better to eradicate them completely once and for all, ensuring that the Western Sea is fully incorporated into the rule of the Great Zhou.

In short, the existence of barbarian raids by the Western Sea Barbarians is not permitted on the territory of the Great Zhou.

Of course, such ruthless methods will inevitably attract criticism.

Jia Jue didn't care about this at all. He just needed to take care of his own business and nothing else mattered.

Anyone who dares to argue with me about this will be sent to the remaining Xiongnu tribes in the northern desert to educate them.

Over the next two days, Jia Jue led his troops to guard all the key routes from Mingjing City to the Western Sea Forest, completely severing the connection between Mingjing City and the Western Sea Forest.

This left the Western Sea Barbarians in the city as anxious and helpless as ants on a stove.

They were anxious about the safety of their people, but dared not leave the city to fight another real battle with the Zhou army. They could only vent their frustration in Mingjing City.

As for the various tribes of the Western Sea Forest, they had all perished in the wildfires. Now, the Western Sea tribes are reduced to only tens of thousands of remnants in Mingjing City.

Just when the situation in the Western Sea was very favorable, in the study of a house in the mountains on the outskirts of the capital, Emperor Yongping sat quietly in a chair, contemplating how he should arrange his future.

In this rebellion in the capital, Consort Yue and Prince Zhongshun were certainly losers, but Emperor Yongping did not consider himself a winner.

As an emperor, he was betrayed by his own wife, Empress Shen, and is now infertile. His second son is an illegitimate child, and the bloodline of his eldest son is questionable, not to mention that he is now dead.

How to pass on the legacy of this vast land to future generations became a problem that troubled Emperor Yongping.

Under normal circumstances, the best option for Emperor Yongping would naturally be to adopt a son from among the princes, so that the lineage could continue and the heir could eventually inherit the throne.

However, this raises a new problem.

What if this adopted child isn't on his side? What if he still cares about his biological parents?

He died shortly after his own death, then ascended the throne and posthumously honored his own parents as emperor and empress, and even had his father receive incense offerings at the Imperial Ancestral Temple as an emperor.

Emperor Yongping then felt like he had become a clown.

Such things have happened before; the Great Rites Controversy of the Ming Dynasty is the best proof of this.

Logically speaking, since Jiajing inherited the throne from Emperor Xiaozong, he should have honored Xiaozong as his imperial father, which would have been the only legitimate way for him to ascend the throne.

However, Jiajing insisted on referring to his biological father, Prince Xingxian, as his imperial father, which sparked the famous Great Rites Controversy.

This matter ended in a great victory for Jiajing. Jiajing not only successfully obtained the temple name Ruizong for his biological father, Prince Xingxian, but also enshrined him in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

(End of this chapter)