The Great Seminary

Chapter 235 Reflection
As if in a final burst of energy before his death, Emperor Hezheng, under the guise of seeking refuge from the summer heat, evaded the Yuanshan Empire's military might that besieged Yanjing and moved to Jinling, the capital region in the south.

It seems that after being forced into a desperate situation, he abandoned all his illusions and instead had a great awakening, regaining the courage he had when he first ascended the throne.

On the very day Yanjing fell, he issued an edict of self-reproach, blaming himself entirely for the rapid decline of the Ming and Song dynasties.

Saying that you are,

"Those who are virtuous and disrespectful will incur the wrath of Heaven; those who lack virtue and fail in governance will fall into this predicament."

As a result, the people were displaced and wandered, and their actions were outrageous, causing sorrow and suffering to the world, which is beyond redemption!

He also commented on the high-ranking officials in the imperial court.

He worked diligently and conscientiously, never daring to be carefree; he would not eat until the sun was setting, and would sit and wait for dawn.

Therefore, the fault lies entirely with me, and not with the officials!

In an instant, it reunited the increasingly disunited people in the imperial court.

After all, the emperor had said that all the mistakes were his fault, and that the ministers were all good ministers.

Killing someone is merely a matter of severing ties; the emperor's attitude is so sincere, what more can a subject do?

After the relocation of the capital and the continuation of the established order, Emperor Hezheng issued a second edict.

The eldest son of the legitimate heir, King Kui, who was on a hunting expedition in the Jinling capital region, was appointed as the crown prince.

"To rectify the foundation of the nation and bring peace to the world."

In return, they successfully incorporated the power held by the King of Kui's "Xingzai" into the orthodox system of the imperial court without bloodshed.

Then he used drastic measures, issuing three imperial edicts to summon his other sons, who were on imperial tours in the southern kingdom, to Jinling.

As a result, when Prince Huai, who was on a tour of Fujian, made the slightest excuse, the eunuch in his own "temporary residence" produced the Eastern Depot's waist token and the emperor's secret edict, and he was secretly arrested.

They were taken directly to Lao Tzu's place, locked up, and I don't know if I'll ever get out.

After these measures, the political situation in the northern part of the Ming Dynasty became much more transparent and efficient.

Seeing that Emperor Shanghe Zheng issued such a harsh edict of self-reproach, he will surely be infamous in history for ten thousand years, and there is no point in caring about face anymore.

So they took out silver from the national treasury and their own private coffers and brazenly went on a buying spree of relatively cheap refined rice transported from the Yuanshan Empire.

With the burden of the northern frontier removed, the new harvest of grain in the southern regions of the Ming and Song dynasties alleviated the food shortage to a great extent.

With a massive surplus of grain to provide substantial disaster relief, the imperial court regained much of the people's trust.

In just two or three months.

In the southern border region, including the capital and the five provinces, except for the historically turbulent western Guangdong, the "real troublemakers" in the rest of the territory all voluntarily and consciously returned home.

The imperial court then had the leeway to send out the last of its elite troops brought from the north to intimidate the local areas.

We must thoroughly eradicate those 'poisonous sores' who roam around under the guise of disaster victims, burning, killing, looting, and making a fortune off the ruined nation.

Knowing his own worth, Zhang Gui shuddered and instantly came to his senses.

He gave the order in a stern voice:
"It seems that a powerful Ming-Song army is approaching. You must quickly form ranks to meet them!"

Although the officers of the 'True Dragon Armor First Legion' behind him were completely unaware, they dared not disregard the imperial order.

They all bowed and acknowledged the order, saying, "Yes."

They turned and dispersed.

One by one, they transformed into giants of gold and stone, charging wildly towards the soldiers they led.

A short while later, ten thousand horses galloped outside Dazhe Town.

The thousands of cavalrymen riding strange beasts with snake tails and unicorn heads halted their charge and stopped outside the town. Inside the town...

Zhang Gui, activating the various divine powers within his body and unleashing the incomplete primal ability 'Black God Explosive Weapon Master's Complete Techniques,' transformed into a ten-foot-tall golden statue.
His gaze swept around, counting for a while, and he thought to himself,

"What arrived was actually a complete Ming-Song national defense unit, the 'Flower Dragon Cavalry'!"
And this number, my goodness, even the largest 'Thousand Generals Flower Dragon Riders' only numbered 2,401.

But this cavalry force looked to be more than two thousand men; it seemed to be a coalition of three 'Thousand-General Flower Dragon Cavalry' units.

That's seven thousand two hundred and three.

Hmph, back when Yuanshan's army broke through Yanhan Pass and invaded the capital region of Ming and Song, they only managed to wipe out nine 'Thousand-General Flower Dragon Cavalry' units.

Such a large-scale military confrontation can already be considered the decisive factor in a 'national war'.

Now, however, three 'Thousand Generals Flower Dragon Riders' have come out to annihilate me.

It seems that Emperor Hezheng of the Ming Dynasty had realized the importance of this fish-dragon mechanical warship as a deterrent weapon after the fate of the nation depended on the southern border.

In that case, this battle is no longer a trivial encounter, but a battle of fate that must be fought!

So he said to Sang Gui, who was beside him:

"Old Sang Gui, this battle is no small matter."

Due to the limitations of my extraordinary power, you are currently only a thousand-stone corpse warrior, and can only deploy the 'Golden Army Formation', a battle formation of a thousand men.

Therefore, I will take charge of the overall situation.

"Yes," Sang Gui replied respectfully.

Without further ado, Zhang Gui, with a thought in mind, naturally took over command of the 'True Dragon Armor First Legion' in the mysterious realm.

In an instant, what were originally ten battle formations of a thousand men each, the "Golden Army March," merged into one, becoming a "ten-thousand-man formation"!
The special battle formation 'Golden Soldier March' that Stone Corpse Warriors are born with has the following function:

"When activated, the minds of many stone warriors are linked, their power is unified, and they are invincible in killing enemies and charging into battle, making them extremely powerful."

But how can the combined strength of a thousand people compare to that of ten thousand people? Their momentum suddenly increases several times over!
The opposing dragon riders seemed to sense something; the beasts in front of them hissed and began to retreat.

Fortunately, the knights were well-trained. They gently lifted the reins and stroked the dragon's neck, quickly calming their mounts down.

Even so, Miao Wushang, the commander of the three 'Thousand-General Flower Dragon Cavalry' units, frowned slightly.

It should be noted that the so-called "commander" position is not actually permanent.

This was done to achieve a certain important strategic goal, by combining multiple top-level units into one temporary unit for unified management.

So it sounds incredibly powerful, with "handsome" being more than "general".

However, he had no idea about the elite status of the troops under his command, except for his own soldiers, let alone how well he could command them.

For example, Miao Wushang's job was just a dragon cavalry general in the "Thousand Generals Flower Dragon Cavalry", in charge of his 2,401 Flower Dragon Cavalrymen.

It was simply because he had seniority in the army, had ample experience in commanding troops, and his ancestors were founding soldiers registered in the Ming and Song dynasties' "Yellow Register of Capital Soldiers," making him a person of impeccable lineage.

That's why he led the 'commander' on this trip.

So he never felt like he had been promoted, but rather like he had been given a huge burden!
Very cautious.

However, the young and impetuous General He Hongzhen, who assisted Lao Miao, was filled with righteous indignation and deeply hated the bandit soldiers who were plundering on a large scale during the crisis of the fall of the Ming and Song dynasties.

However, they were quite dissatisfied with the coach's inaction.
"Commander Miao, those bandits seem to be afraid of our cavalry formation."

It's impossible for them to leave the town and confront us in an open space to settle things face to face. Bah! How could these bandits possibly be a match for the Flower Dragon Cavalry?

Even if they hide in town, we'll wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

(End of this chapter)