I'm letting you win over the female lead, not conquering cities and territories!

In the days following his takeover of Qingmu Pass, Qin Hao did not rush to expand externally, but instead swiftly initiated a series of sweeping internal reforms.

Conquering the world is easy; ruling it is difficult.

Qin Hao understood this principle better than anyone else.

The first thing he did was to completely abolish the various absurd taxes that his predecessor, Zhao De, had set up in order to buy lychees and jewelry for his wife.

Qin Hao dismissed all the "city gate damage fee," "express customs clearance tax," and even the "beauty reward" imposed on the people in the city.

Not only that, Qin Hao also replaced the moldy old grain in the granary with new grain.

The old grain was distributed at a fair price or even given away for free to the city's long-term emaciated people and low-level military dependents.

Initially, the people of Qingmu Pass and the merchants passing through were extremely wary and fearful of this "rebel" general who rose to power through a mutiny.

Everyone was whispering among themselves that this was just a "new broom sweeping clean" approach, and once the heat died down, all crows were black, and this Qin fellow might be even more ruthless than Zhao De.

However, as time went by, everyone gradually realized... that this General Qin seemed to be serious!

The passing merchants were pleasantly surprised to find that as long as they paid the basic 10% customs duty according to the laws of the Great Qian Dynasty, the menacing Chiyan Army would not only not demand bribes, but would even escort them through the desolate road outside the city where they were most likely to encounter bandits!

The people in the city have truly felt the changes.

Soldiers no longer engage in forced buying and selling on the streets; their military discipline is so strict it's appalling.

The fertile land that Zhao De had seized was remeasured and returned to the common people.

This once lifeless and resentful border town has been transformed in just a few days, radiating an unprecedented vitality.

"General Qin is truly a divine being! Aoki Tensei!"

"What traitors? They're heroes forced into this situation! Anyone who dares to say a bad word about General Qin, I'll be the first to fight them to the death!"

In the streets and alleys, in teahouses and taverns, the initial indifference and fear gradually turned into heartfelt support.

In this chaotic world, Qin Hao initially managed to win over the most precious thing in this small border town—the hearts of the people.

……

However, the peaceful and prosperous life within Qingmu Pass was ultimately just a small microcosm of this messed-up, chaotic world.

It was the evening of the seventh day after Qin Hao took over Qingmu Pass.

The setting sun, like blood, dyed the entire city wall of the pass a crimson red.

Qin Hao was standing on the reviewing stand, supervising the physical training of the six hundred soldiers.

Suddenly, a piercing, almost deafening neighing of a warhorse shattered the tranquility of the training ground.

A scout whom Qin Hao had sent to scout out the southern wilderness rushed into the training ground, stumbling and crawling.

He was covered in dirt, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked as if he had just crawled out of hell. He stumbled and fell in front of the reviewing stand.

"Report—!!!"

The scout's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper being rubbed, carrying an uncontrollable sob of despair:

"My lord! It's...it's all gone! It's all gone!"

Qin Hao frowned sharply, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

He strode down from the command platform and helped the scout to his feet.

"Slow down! Everything's gone?"

"The Crimson Flame Army... Commander-in-Chief..."

The scout clung tightly to Qin Hao's armor, tears streaming down his face, and burst into loud sobs:

"Seventy thousand brothers... wiped out!!!"

boom--!

Upon hearing this, the three hundred veterans of the Crimson Flame Army who had broken out with Qin Hao on the training ground felt as if a bolt from the blue had struck their minds.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, staring blankly in their direction, unable to believe their ears.

"Explain yourself! What exactly happened?!" Qin Hao's eyes were icy cold.

"Three days ago... the commander-in-chief ultimately did not choose to break through."

The scout, weeping, tremblingly recounted the horrific scenes of hell he had discovered.

Faced with the encirclement of 120,000 city defense troops, Commander Zhao Wudi, for the sake of his inviolable "loyalty to the emperor and love for the country" and to prove that the Chiyan Army had not rebelled, finally ordered the entire army to lay down their weapons, remove their armor, and walk out of the camp empty-handed to surrender to the imperial envoy who had come to deliver the imperial decree.

Zhao Wudi believed that as long as he confessed his crimes and his brothers did not resist, the Empress of the Great Qian Dynasty would show leniency and at least spare the lives of these 70,000 elite soldiers.

But he overestimated the love-struck empress sitting on the dragon throne, whose mind was filled only with palace intrigue and romantic tales.

"They had just laid down their weapons... when the 120,000 city garrison troops attacked..."

The scout trembled as he recalled the scene he had witnessed from afar:

"A massacre...it was a one-sided massacre!"

120,000 heavily armored infantry and archers unleashed a furious barrage of arrows and swords at their unarmed comrades!

The commander-in-chief attempted to break through the encirclement and resist, but was instantly pierced by a hail of arrows and died on the command platform!

"Seventy thousand people... seventy thousand precious lives! Not a single one was spared! Not even the wounded who surrendered were spared!"

The corpses piled up into small mountains, and the blood filled the ravines of that desolate mountain... a true spectacle of bloodshed!

Dead silence.

The entire drill ground at Qingmuguan fell into a deathly silence that lasted for several minutes.

The only sounds were the rustling of autumn leaves in the wind and a few heavy, suppressed breaths.

Then came a series of heart-wrenching wails.

"The commander-in-chief is so foolish!!"

"Seventy thousand brothers... seventy thousand brothers who fought desperately against the barbarians in the northern frontier and survived, were all slaughtered by their own people like pigs and dogs!"

"A tyrannical ruler! The Great Qian Kingdom is finished! Utterly rotten!"

The three hundred veterans had bloodshot eyes, their fists clenched so tightly that their nails dug deep into their flesh, oblivious to the blood flowing between their fingers.

Anger, grief, and despair churned violently in the air above the training ground.

But after this extreme grief and indignation, when the three hundred surviving veterans slowly raised their heads and looked at Qin Hao, who stood in front of the reviewing stand with a cold expression.

The despair in their eyes gradually transformed into a chilling fervor and a sense of relief.

If... if they hadn't been awakened by Lord Qin's resounding words that night.

If... they, like those scouts, had chosen to return and follow the commander's "loyalty and righteousness."

So at this moment, in that blood-stained battlefield, among the 70,000 headless corpses piled up like mountains, they would definitely have a place!

It was the commander's blind loyalty that sent 70,000 battle-hardened elite troops to hell;

It was Lord Qin's decisiveness, ruthlessness, and brilliant wisdom that snatched them back from the clutches of the King of Hell!

"grown ups!"

A veteran platoon leader wiped away the blood and tears from the corner of his eyes, suddenly drew his sword from his waist, and knelt heavily on one knee in front of Qin Hao.

"The commander-in-chief's blind loyalty led to the downfall of the entire army! The incompetent and corrupt Daqian dynasty destroyed its own Great Wall!"

Only you, my lord, are the true wise ruler who can lead us to survival!

"From this day forward, the Great Qian Crimson Flame Army will cease to exist!"

The sergeant roared to the sky:

"Only the sharp blades under General Qin's command! Wherever their blades point, we will fight to the death!"

"Where the blade points, I will die ten thousand times over!!!"

Whoosh—!

On the training ground, all six hundred soldiers, whether they were the original Chiyan Army or the newly surrendered city defense troops, knelt down on one knee at this moment.

The deafening roar seemed to tear the oppressive sky apart!

Looking at this army whose morale had been completely united to the extreme, even to the point of being imbued with a kind of fanatical devotion, Qin Hao took a deep breath of the autumn wind, which carried a chilling aura.

The blood of 70,000 people proves the absurdity and cruelty of this female-oriented online world.

"General, brothers, may you rest in peace."

Qin Hao silently recited a sentence in his heart, then suddenly opened his eyes, his deep eyes bursting with an ambition that could swallow the heavens and the earth.

"Since this world has been thrown into chaos by these love-obsessed fools, then I will redefine the ironclad rules of this world!"