Who killed the Ming Dynasty?

Archers appeared from both flanks, and torches suddenly lit up.

The rocket flew overhead and precisely struck the haystack where the fleeing soldiers were hiding.

The firelight illuminated the faces filled with despair—

Behind them was a sea of ​​inferno, before them stood a wall of cold, gleaming iron, and overhead, a rain of arrows transformed into a sky full of fireflies.

A few quick-thinking fleeing soldiers crouched down, trying to squeeze through the gaps, but were caught by chain spears extending from behind the shield wall, which hooked their belts and dragged them behind the shield wall.

In less than half an hour, the rear military headquarters was a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​fire, with the stench of burning flesh spreading in the wind.

Zhou Dingchang reined in the reins and brandished his embroidered spring knife:

Those who resist will be executed!

The blade reflected the firelight, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

......

North of the city, Da'anmen.

Inside the watchtower, the flames flickered violently, casting Zhu Cilang's figure onto the map, its light flashing and dimming as if being torn apart.

His brows were furrowed, and his fingertips hovered over the rear military headquarters on the map.

"Report—!"

A sharp scream shattered the silence inside the building.

"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief! Commander Zhou has breached the rear guard headquarters!"

The moment the messenger burst through the wooden door, a night wind carrying gunpowder smoke rushed in, and the lamplight suddenly dimmed.

Zhu Cilang remained motionless, only the shadow between his brows flickered in the firelight.

"Report—!"

Another urgent report rang out!

A second figure burst through the half-closed door, bringing in a gust of cold wind.

"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Wang Jing has breached the walls of the Shu Prince's residence!"

Even if the internal walls were breached, there were still the palace walls—the inner city walls of the Shu King's Palace, which was Zhang Xianzhong's last line of defense.

Zhu Cilang abruptly shook his sleeve and tapped his fingers heavily on the Duanli Gate, the main attack gate of the palace wall:

"Order Commander Zhou to reorganize the Xuanjia Battalion and lock down the main passage to the south gate before the end of the day."

"If the Eighth Prince escapes—make him bring his head to us!"

"Yes, sir!"

Where is Zhang Wu?

Zhu Cilang's gaze remained fixed on the map as he demanded an explanation in a deep voice.

"Reporting to the Commander!"

"Commander Zhang has set up a triple barricade on the main street in the south of the city, and is currently engaged in fierce fighting with the reinforcements from the former military headquarters."

"The enemy's vanguard has already suffered three defeats, and we have yet to make an inch of progress!"

A draft passed through, and the wick popped with a "crack," the flame leaping half an inch higher.

The candle flame flickered wildly in his pupils as he stared at the Shu King's Palace on the map:

"Order General Wang to deploy the Fire Dragon Crossbows at the Duanli Gate! Before 3:45 AM, breach the Shu King's palace and strike at the heart of the enemy!"

The five fingers suddenly closed up half of the map.

"This governor demands to personally witness the Eighth Prince's head hanging at the Duanli Gate!"

"Yes, sir!"

In the brief silence, Zhu Cilang pressed hard on his throbbing brow.

......

Inside the palace walls of the Shu King's Mansion, candlelight flickered.

"Clang—!"

Zhang Xianzhong slammed his hand on the table, causing the candlestick to tremble violently. The bronze base slid off the table, knocking a crack into the "Great Western King" gold seal!

"Report—!"

The palace gates suddenly burst open.

A messenger, riddled with arrows, collapsed to the ground, blood splattering everywhere.

"The walls within the city have fallen! Commander Wang... has died in battle at the breach. The garrison troops outside the city... have all collapsed!"

"Wang Shangli, that donkey-shaped sac is utterly useless!"

Zhang Xianzhong's blade almost pierced the scout's nose, the sound like thunder:

"Ten thousand defenders couldn't even hold out for two hours?"

A foul wind, carrying deafening shouts of battle, rushed in through the window, whipping the documents on the desk into a frenzy.

Wang Zhaolin was deathly pale, his voice trembling uncontrollably:

"Your Majesty! The surrender letter from that old traitor Shi Kefa... is poisoned bait. Our scouts... have all been lured to the Jialing River by that brat commander!"

"That damned Shi Kefa! Yesterday he was offering me the Nine Bestowments, and today he's breached my city!"

Zhang Xianzhong's eyes were bloodshot and his sword shattered the corner of the table with a "crack".

"I'll skin all those pedantic, hypocritical scholars who spout nonsense about morality and feed them to the dogs."

"Father!"

Ai Nengqi knelt on one knee and pounded his chest with his wrist guard.

"Your subject requests permission! Lead the old guard and personal guards, and risk your lives to tear open the east gate."

"While the Zhu bandits haven't completely surrounded us, I'll fight my way through the city walls, even if it means tearing them apart! Once we reach Chongqing—"

His voice grew increasingly urgent.

"My eldest brother's cavalry can block rivers and stop their flow, my second brother's musket battalion can burn the sky and split the earth, and my third brother's Dragon Scale Formation is best at defending strategic locations."

"It's not time to resign yet!"

"Report—!"

Another scream pierced the chaos as a second messenger smashed through half of a carved door, tumbling and crawling:

"The four gates of the inner city... are a forest of torches. They're all clad in black armor. We... are trapped like an iron barrel!"

"boom--!"

Another rocket streaked across the night sky outside the palace, turning the screen inside the palace a blood-red hue.

A muffled thud of a door being rammed came from afar, mixed with the dying cries of a soldier.

Amidst the commotion, Zhang Xianzhong seemed to hear the wind of Tongguan when he was nineteen. He slowly bent down, picked up the broken piece of the seal, and wiped away the bloodstains with his fingertips.

The golden seal of the "Great Western King," which symbolizes supreme power, is now cracked and menacing, just like his crumbling empire.

Blood boiled in his pupils:

"Do you know why I specifically dug up the Zhu family's ancestral graves?"

His voice suddenly lowered, lost in distant memories; the sounds of battle outside the walls seemed to be shut out at that moment.

"When I was ten years old, my father was severely injured by a tax collector who whipped him with an iron ruler at the Yan'an government office—all for paying three liters less grain."

"That night I was curled up in the county government's stable, secretly eating bean dregs, when I heard the corrupt official say, 'If the refugees starve to death, then they should keep their mouths shut.'"

Memories surged, and his voice was hoarse and heavy.

"From that time on, Zhang Bingzhong changed his name to Zhang Xianzhong—to whom should this loyalty be offered?"

He trampled the broken pieces of porcelain under his feet.

"When I was nineteen, I led three hundred salt smugglers to storm Tongguan. When government arrows pierced my shoulder blades, I chewed on an arrow shaft and shouted—'Even in the Hall of Hell, we'll cultivate unclaimed land!'"

Everyone inside the hall held their breath and lowered their heads.

The Eighth King repeatedly brought up these old stories, each time as if tearing open old wounds. These memories were both the source of his strength and the root of his pain.

Have you ever seen a Guanyin clay rupture its intestines?

He didn't seem to be asking a question, but rather stating a fact that would never be forgotten.

"I've remembered what Brother Wang Er shouted before he was executed by slow slicing in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign (1627) when the uprising broke out in Chengcheng: 'In a world that cannibalizes people, it is actually a time of mercy.'"

He gripped the shards tightly, the sharp edges piercing his palm, blood dripping mixed with gold dust.

"Everyone says I'm a demon! Yes! I kill officials! But this world is just a giant graveyard!"

He took a sudden step forward, and the sound exploded.

"When the Zhu family emperors sat on their dragon thrones, weren't they all paved with human bones?"

"They eat people, but they do it politely, with an air of dignity!"

"I want to smash this golden cage and open a path to survival for all the poor people in the world. What's wrong with that?"

"BOOM—!!!"

Another earth-shaking roar came from outside the hall, and dust fell from the beams as if in response to his question.

He suddenly turned around, his curved blade cleaving through the screen inside the hall.

"See this? This is the Yu Gong Map found in the Shu King's Palace."

"Once we've broken through the Zhu family's defenses, I'll distribute three things to the people of the world—ownerless fields, tax-free salt, and a sun without an emperor!"