Dream of the Red Chamber: After being exiled, I went on a killing spree in Liaodong.

Blood flowed down the bluestone slabs, forming a dark red stream that gurgled into the sewer.

The wealth accumulated by Shengjing over a century was looted in a single day.

"Let's go!" Dorgon took one last look at the capital that had once belonged to him, his eyes filled with no sorrow, only cold resolve.

Behind them were thousands of carriages laden with treasures and women and children, a vast and mighty procession like locusts, heading straight for the northern grasslands—the land of the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

The city's survivors huddled in the streets, shivering.

"Waaah... Waaah!!" An old woman wailed, clutching the child's corpse. "What happened? Our invincible Eight Banners... have been defeated?"

No one answered her.

There was only a desolate scene of broken walls and ruins, and corpses lying scattered on the ground, uncollected.

Until a few defeated soldiers who managed to escape brought back news:

An army of 300,000 was completely wiped out!

The fate of the new Khan Huang Taiji is unknown!

The news was like a thunderclap, shaking the entire ruined city of Shengjing.

Immediately afterwards, Nurhaci's remaining sons—Amin, Abatai, and others—fled back to the city, covered in dust and grime.

They stared at the hellish scene before them, hardly believing their eyes.

This... is the heart of the empire they built with their own hands?

The palace collapsed, the streets burned, and the people went mad.

Some people knelt down and wept on the spot, some roared to the sky, and many more just stood there, as if their souls had been taken away.

Only Abatai was the first to regain consciousness.

He looked around and realized that among his surviving brothers, he was the oldest.

In an instant, the sense of absurdity overwhelmed the sadness.

"Everyone," he said hoarsely, "Jia Yi's army is almost here, we... can't stay any longer."

In his heart, however, he had already cursed Dorgon a thousand times over—

That scoundrel was prepared; he grabbed the money and ran! We, who were loyal to the country, ended up empty-handed!

If we had known this would happen, who would care about rules? Who would care about appearances?

"Seventh Brother!" one of them roared, "Let's fight Jia Yi to the death! I don't believe he's made of bronze and iron!"

"Yeah! Let's go all in! We've got nothing left anyway, let's fucking kill them!"

The crowd was outraged, and everyone's eyes were bloodshot.

Abatai shook his head with a wry smile: "Ten thousand remnants, what can we fight with? Three hundred thousand elite troops couldn't even stop him for a day. If we charge in now, we'll just be throwing our lives away."

Everyone was speechless.

Yes, we can't beat them, we really can't beat them...

"Let's retreat," Abatai said in a low voice. "Let's retreat back into the old forest. We'll wait until things calm down before making any further plans."

No one objected.

So they took their remaining food and tattered armor and ventured into the deep forests between the white mountains and black waters, like stray dogs, disappearing into the vast, misty snow.

When Jia Yi led his army to the final stand in Shengjing—

The entire city was empty.

The streets and alleys were quiet, the doors were wide open, and there wasn't even a stray dog ​​left.

"Brother Yi, those Jurchens really slipped away fast." Niu Jizong stood at the city gate, his face full of worry. "As soon as we retreat, they'll pop out again, and in a dozen years or so, they'll be a menace once more."

Jia Yi stood on high ground, gazing at the dead city, and suddenly a slight smile appeared on his lips.

A phrase flashed through my mind: sharp as a knife.

Plow the courtyard and sweep away the holes!

You want to hide in the mountains and wait for me to leave?

Ok.

Then I'll set fire to your entire hideout and destroy it.

Then I will grind all of this into dust.

"Sweep away the enemy's lair and eliminate their weaknesses!"

Jia Yi's tone was calm, yet it was like a cold blade drawn from its sheath, chillingly sharp.

Upon hearing this, Niu Jizong was taken aback and subconsciously advised, "Brother Yi, isn't this... a bit too harsh?"

He frowned and clicked his tongue. "If those censors heard about it, the memorials impeaching you would pile up like a mountain, heavier than snowflakes! The palace would be crushed!"

In his view, the Later Jin had already been defeated, so why go to such lengths to exterminate them?

"No need to show mercy," Jia Yi said calmly, his eyes sweeping across the wasteland like a blade.

Those who traveled through time had no mercy whatsoever for the Later Jin and the Japanese pirates.

Now that we have power in our hands and a golden opportunity has presented itself, wouldn't it be a waste of our fierce aura if we didn't strike hard?

"Fine..." Seeing that he was determined to do so, Niu Jizong could only shake his head and give up.

At a single command, an army of 70,000 swept across the northern border like a black tide.

The fields were all plowed flat, and fertile soil was turned into scorched earth;

The well was filled with rotting corpses, and the stench lingered for miles.

The granaries were burned to ashes, and the houses were reduced to ruins.

Everything usable, edible, and life-saving—destroy it all!

For three whole months, iron hooves trampled the setting sun, and the flames of war burned away all hope.

The former territory of the Later Jin dynasty, which once dominated the region, has become a desolate wasteland where even a stray dog ​​cannot find a way to survive.

Emperor Yuankang and the retired emperor, far away in the capital, had already learned of Jia Yi's actions through secret reports from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Instead of being angry, he clapped his hands in delight.

"A permanent solution, cutting off its roots, brilliant!" The retired emperor squinted and sighed with a smile, "So it won't pop up again to bite people in the future."

Emperor Yuankang nodded in tacit approval: "If you don't cut the weeds at the root, they'll grow back in the spring breeze. This kind of thing has to be done ruthlessly, precisely, and decisively!"

But the scholars in the court were not having it.

They all wore the guise of being upright and honest, yet they were jumping up and down cursing, as if they wanted to have the words "benevolence, righteousness, and morality" engraved on their foreheads.

Every day, they would gather outside the palace gates, shouting "Loyal and Brave Marquis is tyrannical and immoral!" and demanding that the Loyal and Brave Camp be recalled immediately and Jia Yi be severely punished to appease the people!

The Censorate went into a frenzy, submitting memorials and impeachments one after another. The number of memorials was so great that even the eunuchs couldn't carry them all; it was like a storm of paper.

The two emperors sneered and remained silent, suppressing all the criticisms without issuing a single word of approval.

—Let them make a scene if they want, I'll just watch the show.

Rongguo Mansion in Beijing.

"A bunch of pedantic, pretentious scholars! They're always spouting off their Confucian classics, what do they know about life and death on the frontier!"

Jia She cursed loudly in the mansion, his voice shaking the beams and pillars.

Upon learning that his son had been thoroughly humiliated by those civil officials, Old Jia felt an urge to grab a knife and storm into the Hanlin Academy to hack and slash his way through.

But all I can do is yell a few times behind closed doors.

Dare to utter a single word outside? You'll be drowned in spittle in no time, not even a bone fragment will remain!

"Enough!" Grandmother Jia slammed her hand on the table, her face darkening. "Today is the day your second brother returns home, shut up!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

That's right—Jia Zheng has returned.

This unfortunate fellow spent nearly half a year in jail before finally being able to step out of the prison gates today.

In fact, we should "thank" Jia Yi for his sweeping and decisive actions.

Taking advantage of the situation, Zhao Lu fanned the flames, inciting the Qingliu faction to exert pressure, saying that "the Jia family father and son are in cahoots with each other in their evil deeds," and dragged out the matter of releasing the person until now.

If it weren't for Grandmother Jia's inability to bear it any longer and her personal plea to the Empress Dowager, Emperor Yuankang wouldn't have dared to defy public opinion and forcefully grant him a pardon, which is why he was released.

Unfortunately, his official robes had been stripped off, and he had been demoted to a commoner, with no future prospects in officialdom.

"Big brother, this time... Yi-ge'er really went too far."

As soon as Jia Zheng returned home, he spoke with a stern face, his scholarly air emanating from him, "No matter what, slaughtering surrendered people and destroying their livelihoods is against the will of Heaven..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jia She rolled his eyes, slammed his chopsticks on the table, and got up to leave.

I can't be bothered to listen to this idiot's ramblings filled with Confucianism and Mencius!

The women's gazes were sharp as knives, all fixed on Jia Zheng.