Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 228 They ruined my chance to be a benevolent ruler.

Inside the study, you could hear a pin drop.

Qin Liangyu was completely stunned.

She stood there like a stone sculpture weathered by wind and frost, only her hawk-like eyes flashing with turbulent waves.

The Little Ice Age? Western countries? The global situation?
Each of these words seems to come from another world—strange, absurd, yet carrying a weight so immense it's suffocating.

If these words had come from any civil official, military supervisor, or even a prince, Qin Liangyu would probably have been furious, denouncing them as spreading heresies and misleading the public. She might even have personally arrested this liar and given him a good beating!
In her view, the enemies of the Ming Dynasty were the Jurchens, the bandits, and the corrupt gentry who refused to pay taxes. She had never heard of the unheard-of "Western" countries.
Not to mention going against that vague and elusive "timing"!
Unfortunately, the one who said these words was the current emperor, the iron-blooded emperor who single-handedly pulled the dying Ming Dynasty back from the brink of collapse!

Qin Liangyu swallowed with difficulty, her throat extremely dry.

Throughout her military career, she had never felt such uncertainty and fear as she did at this moment.

She asked cautiously, almost tentatively, bowing slightly, "Your Majesty... what you just said... is all of this true?"

Zhu Youjian seemed to have anticipated her question. Instead of answering directly, he calmly asked in return, "General, what do you think of the severe drought in Shaanxi?"

Qin Liangyu's expression hardened, and she said in a deep voice, "The land is barren for thousands of miles, and the people are suffering terribly."

“Indeed.” Zhu Youjian’s gaze became even more profound. “But the drought in Shaanxi did not begin last year. Going back a year, in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, Shaanxi, Gansu, Shanxi, and Henan, the four northern provinces, were all suffering from severe drought! The court has issued several orders for disaster relief, but they have all been a drop in the ocean.”

He paused, then continued to guide Qin Liangyu's memory: "Going back further, in the fourth and fifth years of the Tianqi reign, Shandong and Henan were flooded, destroying millions of acres of farmland. In the first year of the Tianqi reign, Sichuan was flooded. The old general must have been stationed in Sichuan and should remember this event."

Qin Liangyu's heart sank, and she said in a deep voice, "It is true! At that time, the floods in Sichuan were devastating, and I submitted a memorial on disaster relief."

Zhu Youjian continued, "I can go back even further. From the 43rd to the 45th year of the Wanli reign, for three consecutive years, there were great floods throughout the north and south of our Great Ming. At the end of the Wanli reign, the coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian experienced rare frosts... General, from the end of the Wanli reign to now, in these more than twenty years, don't you find it strange? Why are the disasters of our Great Ming so frequent and so severe, spreading throughout the north and south, with nowhere to escape?"

He asked questions one by one, and counted them one by one. The natural disasters that were scattered in time and space were connected by the emperor with an invisible thread, and finally woven into a picture pointing to the so-called 'Little Ice Age'.

Following his words, Qin Liangyu matched the scattered disaster reports and official news in her memory one by one, and a fine layer of cold sweat involuntarily broke out on her back.

yeah why?
Previously, it was considered an occasional natural disaster caused by the negligence of local officials. Now, His Majesty has revealed the truth in a single sentence. When viewed in context, this is not a coincidence at all, but a continuous trend sweeping across the entire country!
Zhu Youjian looked at her changing expressions, his voice low and powerful:
"This is the Little Ice Age I spoke of! As the weather becomes harsher and the land's yields decline, the number of starving people will increase. This is how bandits came to be!"

When the imperial court couldn't collect taxes, the national treasury was empty, and military pay couldn't be issued. This is how border troop mutinies broke out!

The root of all this lies not in the hearts of the people, but in the timing of events! If I do not take advantage of the present moment, while I still have the strength, to use the most ruthless methods to heal the wounds of those filthy gentry and princes, and when the world is engulfed in war and millions starve, the Ming Dynasty… will truly perish!

These words were like a wake-up call, instantly making Qin Liangyu understand the underlying logic behind all the emperor's seemingly crazy actions over the past year!

She suddenly realized that without His Majesty's intervention, the Ming Dynasty might not have lasted more than a few years!

Before she could recover from the shock, Zhu Youjian steered the conversation in a direction that felt unfamiliar and frightening to her.

"As for the foreign countries, old general, do you think I'm exaggerating?" He pointed to a model of a Hongyi cannon used as decoration in the corner. "Where did this come from?"

"...The land of the Portuguese," Qin Liangyu replied.

"Indeed." Zhu Youjian sneered.
"A group of barbarians from thousands of miles away possess artillery far superior to that made by the Ministry of Works of our Great Ming Dynasty. Is this not enough to alarm us? I can tell you that, according to secret reports, they are researching a lighter, faster-firing, and more powerful cannon! They are even developing a firearm that can fire stably even in rainy weather!"
"General, imagine this: if one day, an enemy army of tens of thousands, each armed with those windproof muskets, formed an impenetrable line and unleashed a volley upon our Ming army… then, no matter how valiant your White-Spear Soldiers may be, how many would be able to reach the front lines?"

Zhu Youjian's words unfolded in Qin Liangyu's mind like a bloody painting.

She dared not think any further!

As a seasoned general, she understood better than anyone what such a scene meant for the Ming army, which was mainly armed with swords and old-fashioned firearms.

That's not war, that's a one-sided massacre!

At that moment, she finally understood why the emperor was so worried! Why he was so anxious! And why he was telling her, an old general, about these seemingly distant matters!
The color drained from Qin Liangyu's face, replaced by a deep pallor.

She let out a long breath, a bitter smile creeping onto her lips.

“Your Majesty… I understand.” She shook her head, her voice carrying a sense of relief and self-mockery after the confidence and pride she had built up through half a lifetime of military service were shattered in this moment. “I… am truly a frog in a well.”

After a long time,

It wasn't until the best version of myself broke the silence.

He seemed to have locked those grand worries back into his heart, and then, changing the subject, his face even carried a hint of mockery.

"Enough, enough, thinking about those things is too far in the future. Let's get back to the present. This time in Songjiang Prefecture, enough blood was shed, softening the bones of these Jiangnan gentry who usually pride themselves on their integrity. Now they're kowtowing faster than anyone else and paying taxes more enthusiastically than anyone else, which makes me... somewhat disappointed."

Qin Liangyu had finally recovered from the shock she had just experienced, and upon hearing these words, she couldn't help but smile.

She spent half her life in the military and was unafraid to kill.

"Your Majesty, this is for the best. It's better than them all being outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, playing tricks on the court. One stroke of the sword and they'll all be obedient, saving you the trouble of painstakingly explaining those principles they simply can't understand."

This is the most basic military thinking: straightforward, direct, and effective.

"Do not."

Unexpectedly, the emperor slowly shook his head, a look of regret on his face.

"I truly hope they can be a little more resolute. Ideally, they could unite the gentry throughout Southern Zhili, raise the banner of 'purging the emperor's inner circle and punishing treacherous officials,' and march all the way from Songjiang to Yingtian Prefecture, slaughtering their way through the entire Southern Zhili!"

"?!"

These words struck Qin Liangyu's heart like a heavy hammer!

Her eyes widened suddenly, her mouth slightly agape, revealing an expression of utter astonishment she had never seen before in her life.

What...what kind of talk is that?!
She was completely shattered! She thought that the emperor killing people was a means to achieve his goal of collecting taxes and implementing new policies.

This is understandable.

But to everyone's surprise, the emperor actually wanted to kill even more people.

They even hoped that they would rebel on their own initiative, so that they could slaughter everyone in a bloodbath?
This...this isn't just cruel, this is...the words of a tyrant!
Qin Liangyu was speechless, unsure how to respond for a moment.

Should we offer advice or agree with them?

Her mind had completely stopped.

Zhu Youjian looked at her utterly shocked expression and seemed quite satisfied.

He slowly walked back to the imperial desk, sat down again, and placed his hands on the desk with his hands clasped together.

The emperor's eyes were calm and deep, yet they carried a chilling, almost demonic coldness.

He spoke, word by word, the way he had found for the survival of this turbulent empire—

"Because, to be honest, some people just can't remember."

"Kindness, too, cannot be remembered."

The emperor's gaze pierced through Qin Liangyu, as if he saw countless dynasties rise and fall in the long river of history due to benevolence and reason.

"Only iron and blood, even pain and death, can leave a lasting impression!"

"Only through profound and unbearable pain can one truly understand!"

"Only by letting them see and feel firsthand just how terrible and desperate the price of resisting divine will is, can they truly submit from the bottom of their hearts!"

Qin Liangyu trembled all over, feeling even her fingers shaking.

Every word of these remarks is dripping with bloodshed, and every phrase is tinged with madness!

At first glance, these are clearly the tyrannical words that only a tyrant like Jie or Zhou could utter!

But when Qin Liangyu tried to refute this with the Confucian classics and the way of the sages that she had learned throughout her life, she found herself to be so pale and powerless.

Because this seemingly fallacious and heretical argument is, in fact, absolutely true!
She spent her life on the battlefield, witnessing countless betrayals and ficklenesses!

Those chieftains who swore allegiance to the court just a moment ago might raise the banner of rebellion for a tiny bit of profit the next.

Only under the butcher's knife of the government troops, after being completely crippled and terrified, and after rivers of blood flow, will they truly and from the bottom of their hearts understand what reverence is.

The emperor's words merely extended this principle from the barbarians on the frontier to the entire gentry class of the Ming Dynasty!
Seeing Qin Liangyu's complex expression of shock, struggle, yet forced acceptance, Zhu Youjian's lips curled into an even colder smile.

He slowly leaned back on the dragon throne, his tone tinged with deep weariness and boredom, and continued:

"Old General, do you think I was born to enjoy killing? I also wanted to be a benevolent ruler who governed the country together with the scholar-officials, but unfortunately... they didn't give me that opportunity!"

The emperor's voice suddenly rose, filled with helpless anger and mockery:
“These guys, every time I talk to them about national policies and the big picture, it’s the same thing—they don’t listen, they don’t understand, they don’t do it, they make mistakes, they don’t admit their mistakes, they don’t change, they don’t accept the changes, and they don’t say anything!”

This rapid-fire rebuke was like a series of slaps to the face of the entire bureaucratic and gentry class of the Ming Dynasty!

Qin Liangyu was speechless, yet she felt that every word was precise to the core, truly penetrating to the heart!

Zhu Youjian exhaled a long breath, as if to expel all the pent-up emotions in his chest. He spread his hands, and the coldness in his eyes transformed back into a sharp killing intent.
"Since they've ignored my well-intentioned advice, then... I'll have no choice but to talk to them with swords!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Liangyu's tense body finally relaxed. She slowly lowered her head, a bitter yet approving smile appearing on her lips.

It does!

Those deeply entrenched officials and gentry, who have long been satiated with their own interests, become more cunning and shrewd the more they read the classics!
Trying to explain national righteousness to them is like casting pearls before swine.

Only when a knife is held to their throat are they at their most lucid and capable of making the right choice.

Having figured all this out, Qin Liangyu had no more doubts.

The young emperor before them was not a simple bloodthirsty tyrant, but a brave and lone ruler who had been driven to the brink of despair and had no choice but to use overwhelming force and sacrifice thousands of lives to heal the terminally ill empire!

She bowed deeply to the young emperor on the throne with unprecedented respect and piety, prostrating herself completely.

"Your Majesty is wise! This old minister... fully understands your good intentions!" Her voice trembled slightly, a mixture of shock, guilt, and resolute determination after sudden realization. "Please give your orders, Your Majesty. We will do anything that requires our service, even at the cost of our lives!"

Zhu Youjian looked at the old general kneeling on the ground, and the cold lines on his face finally softened a little.

Standing up, Zhu Youjian took two steps forward and personally helped Qin Liangyu up, saying in a deep voice, "General, you flatter me."

He didn't say anything more, but just looked deeply at the veteran, his eyes conveying trust and expectation that spoke louder than a thousand words.

Then, he changed the subject, his tone returning to calm:
"Alright. General, you must be tired after your long journey. Go back and rest."

"Sir, obey the order!"

Qin Liangyu nodded heavily, her eyes no longer showing any hesitation. After speaking, she bowed again before taking firm and powerful steps out of the study that had so deeply impacted her mind.

What she didn't see was that inside the room, the emperor once again walked up to the huge map.

His gaze returned to this fertile land, and the fierce light in his eyes was more intense than ever before!
(End of this chapter)