Even emperors have it tough, so don't be too picky about the entries.

Chen Shao stood outside the valley, joining up with the Yellow Turban army and Bai Bingbing.

He coldly watched the raging fire in the valley.

He was already planning what to do next.

Firstly, it was to take advantage of the fact that Lu Long had just been captured and the news of the Xiao family's demise had not yet spread.

While we're on the way, let's also take care of Prince Yuanji of Hedong.

Hedong is not far from Lulong, so a swift horse attack will catch them off guard.

However, the 30,000 Yellow Turban soldiers were exhausted, and their chances of winning were not high if they continued to fight.

On the contrary, it will cause other warlords to unite in the face of mutual dependence and vulnerability.

inappropriate.

The second one is the most risky.

They launched a swift and decisive northern expedition.

Morale is at its highest now, and the army is at its most formidable.

But there are too few cavalrymen to venture deep into the grasslands... unless there is a genius like Huo Qubing.

That's not quite right either.

Then the only option left is the third one: return to Beijing immediately.

He reorganized the court and slowly plotted against the other six major regional military governors.

......

Taiping Holy City.

The name was personally chosen by the Heavenly General; it's grand and prestigious.

It is actually Dingtao County in the north.

The city walls were high enough to make it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Three months ago, the Yellow Turban army captured this important northern town, and the ransacking of the houses alone took three days and three nights.

Seeing how wealthy this place was, and how high and strong the city walls were, he immediately decided:

We're not leaving; we'll establish our capital here.

That's right, establish a capital city!

Establishing a capital is equivalent to establishing a nation.

He changed the city's name, built palaces, appointed officials, and established a reign title.

The country's name was changed to Taiping.

After going through the whole process, this old Taoist priest, who used to draw talismans to cure diseases for people on the ridges of the fields, finally came to fruition.

He has now become the Great Sage Emperor of Taiping Heaven.

He had thirty-six armies under his command, totaling nearly two hundred thousand men.

His 100,000 trusted troops were stationed in Dingtao alone.

He is now sitting on that hastily made dragon throne.

He was wearing a dragon robe embroidered with the Eight Trigrams in gold thread.

Today is a good day.

The Great Sage Emperor of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has just completed his enthronement ceremony.

The main hall was filled with founding fathers.

Taoist priests who drew talismans, bandits who had joined the gang and surrendered, the repressed man who killed the county magistrate, the fallen scholar, and so on—all knelt on the ground in a huge mass.

The Heavenly General sat regally on the dragon throne.

Even though he had experienced so much and was usually able to keep his emotions hidden, he couldn't help but show his joy at such a grand occasion.

"All of you, rise."

"Today I ascend the throne, and I hereby grant a general amnesty to the world, and begin anew with the people."

"By imperial decree, the area within a hundred li radius of Taiping Holy City shall be exempt from taxes for one year."

The courtiers shouted "Long live the Emperor!" again.

"Your Majesty is benevolent and virtuous; the people are deeply grateful!"

"I believe we should take advantage of this grand occasion to send envoys to all corners of the land to proclaim to the righteous armies that our peaceful and prosperous dynasty has been established, and that the people's hearts will soon be won over!"

The Heavenly General nodded in satisfaction.

Now that the Holy Kingdom has been established, it should announce to the world that from this day forward it will stand on equal footing with the Great Yan.

"Granted. You may draft the decree, my esteemed minister."

Just as he was about to say something more, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall.

A dusty, burly Yellow Turban man rushed in.

He was about to clasp his hands in greeting and speak.

Those nearby immediately reprimanded him.

"You bastard, kneel down and speak to the emperor!"

The burly man was taken aback and looked around.

Good heavens, they've only been gone a few days and the country has been founded!

But he couldn't dwell on that now, so he shouted:

"I have an important military report to submit."

"You fool, now you should surrender!"

The big man ignored the people around him.

"Your Majesty, General Chen Jiao was defeated and killed in Weibo, and all his troops surrendered to Emperor Chen Shao of the Great Yan Dynasty!"

The room was in an uproar. Chen Jiao was one of the top men in the army, and he was gone just like that?

Immediately, everyone was filled with righteous indignation and was about to speak.

But then the Heavenly General waved his hand.

"This man has long harbored rebellious intentions against me, so it's not surprising that he's doing this now."

"Nothing to be alarmed about, it's good that he's dead."

"The people of the world are all Yellow Turbans, so losing a few troops won't affect the overall situation."

"Besides, those who abandon me should not be kept."

Upon hearing this, the entire court of officials immediately shifted from righteous indignation at the loss of their general to righteous indignation that the villain deserved to die.

"This person was always a hypocrite, calling himself a saint and a gentleman. He deserved to die."

"Yes, they always talk about speaking up for the people, as if we are corrupt officials."

"He went to attack Weibo alone, wasn't it because he thought it was a prosperous place?"

The burly man spoke again:

"There's one more thing..."

"explain!"

"General Ren Gong... caused a ruckus in the capital on the Mid-Autumn Festival, setting a fire. He was then tracked by the court. Now, apart from a few of the Ten Brothers who dispersed on their own, the rest... have all surrendered to Chen Shao."

"I went with him to fight Lulong."

"What?!"

The Heavenly General suddenly sprang up from his dragon throne.

He could disregard Chen Jiao, but Zhang Liang was his brother, born of the same mother.

He could even disregard that, but Zhang Liang was leading an army of 50,000!

He fought his way up to this position.

I have come to a profound understanding of a principle.

In this chaotic world, nothing matters except the army!

The army is his guarantee that he can sit here safely.

From a few hundred peasants who snowballed all the way to where they are now, they haven't even made a sound, and they've all become Chen Shao's?

Whom does Laozi support in raising soldiers?

"Damn it!"

The Heavenly General was furious and could no longer maintain his image as the Great Sage Emperor, even blurting out his local dialect.

"That bastard Chen Shao, is he the emperor or a human trafficker?!"

"If you don't have your own army, recruit one! Why do you have to plunder the Yellow Turban Rebellion?"

"You can't just take advantage of one person at a time, can you?"

"I worked so hard to build this army, and he just takes it all away like that? Is he crazy? Is he crazy?!"

"So the Yellow Turban Rebellion became his source of soldiers?"

"Why doesn't he just come to the Holy City and take me under his wing?"

He cursed passionately, spewing all sorts of vulgarities, calling them "bastards" and "sons of bitches," and cursing their ancestors for eight generations without repeating himself.

This was the first time the entire court had ever seen the Heavenly General so enraged, and no one dared to utter a sound.

Only after he got tired of cursing did someone step forward.

"Your Majesty! Send out the troops! Our entire army of 100,000 will march forth and raze the capital to the ground!"

"Take Chen Shao's head and offer it as a sacrifice to the general!"

"Yes! Send troops!"

"Raze the capital to the ground!"

"Avenge General Zhang Liang!"

The ministers were outraged, which further fueled the anger of the Heavenly General.

Chen Shao, oh Chen Shao, I wanted to let you run wild for a few more days, but you did just that, killing my brothers and seizing my troops.

Since you don't know what's good for you, then don't blame me.

The defeat of the 500,000-strong army of the Great Yan against the 50,000 iron cavalry of the Northern Mang gave the impression that the Great Yan was rotten to the core and beyond redemption.

General Tiangong also wanted to test his skills against Chen Shao.

"good!"

"By imperial decree, mobilize all troops and march on the capital immediately! I will personally twist Chen Shao's head off and place it as an offering before my third brother's grave!"

He gave them detailed instructions, and the soldiers obeyed and left.

After everyone had left, he kept General Di Gong behind.

He whispered the instructions:

"Take 10,000 elite troops and set off ahead of time. Do not display any flags or take the official roads."

"Chen Shao is winning over the hearts of the people in the capital. If there is a fierce battle in the city, it won't be so easy for us to take the city."

"Drive all the people around the capital away and make them walk ahead of our army."

"Let's see how Chen Shao handles this."

The Earth God General instantly understood and led the people to attack the city!

This is a very underhanded tactic, but also a very effective one.

The victor is king, the loser is villain; it doesn't matter what methods were used.

He nodded emphatically: "Big brother is indeed very thoughtful."

"Go, hurry up, who knows if that bastard will try to steal my soldiers again."

......

The army returned in triumph, and the capital was in sight.

Chen Shao escaped the fire on Mid-Autumn Festival night and returned with an army of 30,000 in just over ten days.

The army moved slowly along the official road.

Chen Shao finally remembered the system's notification sound in his mind again.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, for completing the phase of the mission to weaken the regional military governors. The military governor of Lulong, Xiao Yan, has been executed. You have received a 10-draw reward! Draw or not?]

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