Ancestors, please don't crawl out again.

Chapter 130 The Only Royal Family Truly Exterminated
In fact, Sima Rui never got to see Yang Feng publicly execute him...

"Could this be considered the only royal family to have been completely wiped out so far?"

Yang Feng looked at the corpses in front of him and said.

Sima Rui hastily ascended the throne an hour earlier, indulging in his imperial fantasies. Then, he set fire to his so-called palace, imprisoning his newly promoted concubines and princes inside to die with him. However, they didn't burn to death; in such a grand hall, they succumbed to the smoke and lack of oxygen before they could be burned to death. Furthermore, shortly after he set the fire, soldiers and civilians eager to capture him and present him to Emperor Taizu Gao rushed into the palace, so the fire was quickly extinguished.

Of course, all they found were their bodies.

Emperor Sima Rui of the Great Jin Dynasty, Crown Prince Sima Shao of the Great Jin Dynasty, Princes Sima Chong and Sima Xi, and Sima Yu was not yet born!

Empress of the Great Jin Dynasty...

This is of course Zheng Achun.

They're about to die, what else do they care about? Just ban their favorite!

Besides, no one cares about this kind of palace intrigue among empresses.

In short, the last emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty and his entire family were laid out before Yang Feng. However, calling it the last emperor is not entirely accurate, as Yang Feng still does not know whether Liu Cong killed Sima Ye, and it is not impossible that Sima Bao might impulsively declare himself emperor.

However, the extermination of Sima Yi's entire lineage was inevitable.

This should indeed be considered the only royal family to date that has been definitively wiped out.

It's unclear whether Qin Shi Huang's successor was from another dynasty.

After all, all we know is that Prince Gao's family escaped the purge because of his understanding of the situation. Whether they were all killed by Xiang Yu is unrecorded, so it's possible some escaped. Given the circumstances, fleeing Xianyang beforehand was a perfectly normal choice. As for Liu Bang's descendants, there are countless of them. Even Cao Pi's descendants still exist, because when Liu Yu destroyed the Jin dynasty, it was the Prince of Chenliu who led the persuasion of the Sima family to abdicate.

That can be considered revenge.

It's hard to say whether they are descendants of Cao Pi, but the lineage of the Prince of Chenliu certainly still exists.

But Sima Yan's descendants were truly wiped out.

There are none left.

Not to mention the men, even the women are all gone; they might have ended up in the bellies of the barbarians.

Even if we trace it back to Sima Yi's lineage, there wouldn't be many left. However, if we trace it back to Sima Yi, then there would definitely be plenty of members of the Qin royal family, as they had already branched out into countless sub-branches over the centuries. Similarly, there were quite a few members of the Cao Wei royal family.

If Sun Shiwan is included, then the Sun family also has quite a few. In fact, a few years ago, Qian from Wuxing took the opportunity of leading troops north to kill Wang Dun and then return to support Sun Hao's son, Sun Chong, as the King of Wu. However, the latter probably refused, so he was killed by him and then suppressed by Zhou Qi.

Thanks to Sun Hao's thousands of beautiful women, he left behind dozens of sons.

There are records of people in their thirties.

There are also records of more than twenty.

Therefore, the lustful monarchs of ancient times were not necessarily purely lustful. They also aimed to have many lovers but few lovers. If they were all like the Zhu family, who were devoted to only one person for life, it would not be a good thing for an emperor.

There isn't even a choice to make.

If we consider Liu Bei separately, his descendants also exist.

However, while most of Liu Shan's descendants, including the Duke of Anle, died during the Yongjia Rebellion, one branch remained in Chengdu. This branch had originally been relocated to Luoyang but escaped back to Chengdu during the Yongjia Rebellion. Furthermore, they were still enfeoffed as the Duke of Anle by the Cheng Han dynasty, which considered Liu Shan the legitimate ruler. Historically, when Huan Wen conquered Cheng Han, Huan Wen's subordinate, Sun Sheng, even met this Duke of Anle in Chengdu.

Therefore, the only confirmed royal family to have been wiped out is the Sima Yan lineage.

This can be considered retribution.

There's not much to say about the Sima family's usurpation of the throne; after all, the Cao family also usurped it. Such things are inherently immoral; once you've usurped power, what does morality matter? Compared to later usurpers, the Sima family was actually quite virtuous. As for the Oath of the Luo River, it's just a joke for later generations. Everyone knows such oaths are impossible to believe; it only shows Cao Shuang was too stupid, or perhaps too afraid of death and lacked courage. However, after the Sima family decimated the Han elite through internal strife, they each recruited foreign tribes as their henchmen, ultimately leading to the Five Barbarian Invasions. This crime truly deserved extermination.

He is someone who is unprecedented and will never be repeated.

Even my Great Song Dynasty ultimately couldn't win, which led to the fall of the Central Plains.

The Western Jin Dynasty was different.

They were strong enough, but they ruined themselves by bleeding each other dry and then having other races help them bleed each other dry.

"Where's Director Wang?!"

Yang Feng said.

"Your humble servant Wang Dao pays his respects to Emperor Taizu Gao! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Director Wang, dressed in plain clothes, knelt down beside him.

Of course, it's not just Director Wang.

In reality, there was a whole group of officials behind him, all of them kneeling there with Wang Dao. Not a single one of them committed suicide, but that wasn't surprising. They followed Sima Rui not out of loyalty, but purely out of self-interest. Now that Sima Rui was dead, whether they could still act out of self-interest depended on how properly they knelt before Emperor Gaozu. Wang Dao was no exception. In fact, the envoy who had begged for surrender was sent by him on behalf of Sima Rui. At that time, Sima Rui was on the throne, and he had already secretly sent someone out of the city to beg for surrender.

However, he could not say that he was begging for surrender, because he was unsure how Emperor Gaozu would treat him regarding Wang Dun's matter.

It's fine to use Sima Rui's name.

If Emperor Gaozu accepted Sima Rui's surrender, then he would certainly not have to worry about the Wang family.

"You will temporarily act as the governor of Yangzhou, with Jianye as the capital of Yangzhou."

Yang Feng said.

Director Wang was stunned.

He never imagined that not only would he not die, but he would also be given an important position!

What a wise and benevolent ruler!
"The minister obeys the order!"

He suppressed his excitement and kowtowed.

that's it.

Wang Dao acted as acting governor of Yangzhou, Xie Kun of Jiangzhou, Gan Zhuo of Xiangzhou, and Zhou Fang of Jingzhou. These were either leaders of the Southern aristocratic families who had migrated south or leaders of the native Southern aristocratic families, and they all held military power. Coupled with their prestige, the local powerful families also recognized them, and ultimately the South was stabilized. In the end, for Yang Feng, the most important thing was to stabilize the South, prevent further war, preserve as much population as possible, and in the future, he would have to follow the example of Zhu Yuanzhang and use immigrants from the South to populate the North.

As for the rest, none of that matters.

Wang Dao was not without ability. In fact, he was more important than Sima Rui in the Eastern Jin group. The Eastern Jin could do without Sima Rui, but it could not do without Wang Dao. He was not only the leader of the Southern gentry, but the Southern gentry also recognized him.

As for aristocratic families and high-ranking clans, with the widespread use of firearms, they no longer had a basis for existence.

Just as firearms shattered the age of chivalry in Europe.

Firearms also shattered the era of the aristocratic class.

When a commoner who has only trained for a few days can easily shoot and kill a nobleman with extraordinary skills, the aristocratic families lose their power to control the country.

As for Zhou Zha and his nephew Zhou Xie, they should naturally be brought back to the court. The Zhou family has rebelled quite a few times, so it would be best to let them leave their base of operations and let them enter the court as high-ranking officials. This would please the Jiangdong aristocratic families and prevent them from becoming too powerful in the local areas. How to appoint them after the court arrives is another matter... Jiangdong should definitely be managed by officials from the north; this place cannot be left unchecked.

If left unchecked, something bad will happen.

"Your Majesty, Sima Rui previously sent envoys north by sea to try and entice the Xianbei to move south. He appointed Duan Jilujuan as the governor of Youzhou and the King of Yan, and Murong Hui as the governor of Pingzhou and the King of Liao, intending to have them invade southward. He also appointed Cui Bi, the governor of Pingzhou, as the military commander of Youzhou and Pingzhou, and the Duke of Joseon, to persuade Goguryeo and the Yuwen tribe to move south together. He promised Yuwen Xidu an official position as the King of Dai, and granted Goguryeo the prefectures of Daifang and Lelang."

Counting the days, the messenger arrived at this time.

Director Wang said.

"A bunch of ignorant fools."

Yang Feng said contemptuously.

So, Cui Bi's three-party coalition against Murong was changed to the Northeast coalition entering the pass?

However, the Duan family originally lived inside the pass.

This plan essentially encompasses all the forces currently in Northeast China, including eastern Hebei, and even the long-time rivals, the Yuwen and Murong tribes. However, if such a good thing were to happen, they wouldn't care about their enmity anymore. After all, the fundamental reason for the enmity between the Yuwen and Murong tribes was their struggle for control of the Rehe Mountains. But since Yuwen Xiduguan could become the Prince of Dai, and the Yuwen tribe could gain more land, why would they bother fighting the Murong tribe for it?

As for Goguryeo, they had already occupied Daifang and Lelang.

Sima Rui merely acknowledged their rule.

Historically, Goguryeo had profited greatly from this period of chaos.

Of course, these kinds of miscellaneous fish are not even within the consideration of Emperor Taizu Gaozu at present.

He looked behind him, and there were already kneeling people behind him, seemingly endless. At the very front were people like Wang Dao, and even Sima Rui's confidant Diao Xie and Liu Kui. The latter was from the Liu clan of Pengcheng. It was unknown whether he was a descendant of Liu Bang, but he might also be a descendant of Liu Bang's clan.

Then there are Zhou Zha, Gu Pi (Gu Rong's son), and Dai Yuan, who claimed to be retiring to the mountains but ultimately came to welcome the royal army.

Then there are the military generals.

This includes those who were previously in Jiangbei, and those who have now crossed the river to pay homage to Emperor Taizu Gao.

This definitely needs to be done as quickly as possible.

Most of these were refugees from the north, including Su Jun, Wei Gai, Zhang Ping, Xu Kan, and others.

Some of these people in history fought bloody battles for the Sima clan, while others rebelled for various reasons, mainly due to the insults they received from the gentry. For example, Zhang Ping was sent by Zu Ti to recruit Yin Yi, who wanted to smash his pot. Because Zhang Ping blocked the attempt, Yin Yi mocked him, saying that he might not even be able to keep his head and was still unwilling to give up his pot. As a result, Zhang Ping killed him in a fit of anger.

The Sima clan truly accepted members of the gentry, such as Xi Jian, and not only accepted them, but also appointed them as important ministers.

But for ordinary people, or even those who started from humble beginnings, that's a different story.

For example, someone like Xu Kan.

In the eyes of the gentry, they should be grateful for being given a meal; to think they could be on par with the gentry was simply ignorant of their own limitations.

Wei Gai, who came from a poor family, fought for the Sima family starting with his uncle Wei Jun. When Liu Cong attacked Luoyang, the refugees led by Wei Jun were the only ones who truly came to the rescue, and even provided them with food. However, Wei Gai died after many twists and turns. Although he firmly supported the Sima family during both Wang Dun's and Su Jun's rebellions, he could only die as a minor figure.

"You have all had your homes taken by the barbarians and countless relatives killed. Today I will give you a chance to take revenge. All troops, whether from the north or south, shall assemble outside the city and await orders. I will lead you to recapture Chang'an."

Yang Feng said.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

Behind him, a roar of "Long live the Emperor!" erupted.

As for how to get there, that's no secret anymore.

Fighting alongside Emperor Taizu Gao is so exhilarating! You don't have to worry about marching, logistics, or anything like that. Spatial rifts open up, and you can just step across them to go wherever you want.

Yang Feng looked at Sima Rui's corpse.

"Burn it all and throw the ashes into the river!"

He said.

And so, Sima Rui's entire family was left without a trace.

the next day.

Three hundred thousand troops assembled outside Jianye City.

Moreover, it can be said that there are troops from both the north and the south. Yang Feng led the Han troops from Bing, Ji, You and other provinces to the south, Su Jun's refugee army was from Jiaodong, which belonged to Qingzhou, and Zhang Ping and other fortified lords were from Sizhou. In addition, there were soldiers from various provinces that originally belonged to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, so it can be said that the forces were quite complete.

That is to say, it is not found in Jiaozhou, Guangzhou, Yizhou, Liangzhou and other prefectures, and even Yongzhou has it.

Wei Gai's men were refugees from Yongzhou. His uncle, Wei Jun, led the refugees from Yongzhou to flee eastward.

As for Tao Kan in Guangzhou, due to the distance, it's unclear what choice he will make for the time being. However, nothing unexpected will happen there. Tao Kan is a smart man; Jiaozhou can be ignored. Only the three prefectures of Yi, Liang, and Ping truly need to be resolved by force. Even the Zhang family of Liangzhou will inevitably resist. At this point, it's no longer Zhang Gui, but his son Zhang Shi. Accustomed to dominating a region, they won't easily accept reality.

As they knelt in trembling reverence, the imperial carriage of Emperor Taizu Gao slowly passed in front of their ranks.

Immediately afterwards, flames shot out from the field guns.

Amidst the earth-shattering roar of cannons, a chorus of "Long live the Emperor!" erupted.

"Issue the decree: in this battle, all barbarians must be killed. Anyone who is not of our race shall be killed."

Yang Feng said.

Ran Liang quickly bowed and left.

Then he led a troop of cavalry, carrying a red dragon flag bestowed by Emperor Taizu Gao, and galloped past the battle lines, the flag fluttering in the sky and the golden dragon meandering.

"By imperial decree, in this battle all barbarians shall be killed, and any who are not of our race shall be killed!"
kill! "

He roared as he ran.

Amidst the prostrations, the imperial carriage continued forward until it reached a newly built archway with the three large characters "Kill the Hu Gate" prominently displayed on it. Emperor Taizu Gao stepped down from the carriage, walked to the center of the Kill the Hu Gate, and then leaped into the air. As he fell, the jade axe in his hand slashed into the ground and disappeared along with him.

A spatial rift suddenly appeared within the Killing Hu Sect.

Immediately afterwards, Emperor Taizu Gao returned to his imperial carriage and sat on his throne again. Xun Guan, who was standing beside him, lit the rocket at his feet. As the fuse burned to its end, the rocket shot into the sky with a sharp whistle and then turned into a cloud of red smoke in the sky.

The sound of the explosion echoed through the sky.

The two elephants below, pulling the elephant chariot, slowly drove into the spatial rift.

Then the generals and soldiers who had been kneeling on the ground rose one after another, some mounting their horses and others walking, following their Emperor Taizu Gao, and continuously entered the Gate of Slaughtering the Hu and disappeared into the spatial rift. Thus began their war to recapture Chang'an.
(End of this chapter)