Late Ming Dynasty: Summoning players from Liaodong to support the Ming Dynasty

Chu Ze presented the bright yellow imperial edict and half of the tiger tally with both hands.

Deep in my mind, the long-silent scroll of "Landscape and State Map" suddenly trembled.

The golden light flourishes.

A vast map encompassing the entire North China Plain, Liaodong, and even southern Mongolia slowly unfolded in his mind.

On the map, the scarlet patches representing the Later Jin forces are spreading wildly along the gaps in the Great Wall defenses.

The scarlet color was shocking.

They were heading straight for that golden city that represented the heart of the Ming Dynasty.

The system notification sounded precisely on time.

[Ding! A world-class epic event has been triggered: The Defense of the Capital!]

[Ding! GM's jurisdiction has been temporarily upgraded! The Chosen One's activity area has been unlocked to the area along the "Loyalty Route"!]

Chu Ze's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile.

After holding back for so long, it's finally here.

Huang Taiji's gamble led to the downfall of the Ming Dynasty.

This is the perfect opportunity for him to completely unlock the players' shackles and unleash this power throughout the world.

Without hesitation, he immersed his consciousness into the scroll.

Activate the highest level of system broadcast privileges.

Edit the text, set the rewards, and issue the announcement.

The series of operations were performed smoothly and efficiently.

Inside and outside Guangning City, a deafening system notification simultaneously rang in the ears of all online players.

The extremely rare blood-red lettering was directly obscured on everyone's retinas.

[World Event Announcement: The Jisi Incident - The Defense of the Capital]

[Background: In the winter of 1629, Huang Taiji, the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty, personally led an army of 100,000, bypassing Mongolia, breaking through the Great Wall, and marching directly towards Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty! The capital was shaken, and the entire nation rushed to the aid of the emperor!]

[Faction Quest: The Road to Restoration - Chapter One: Bloodstained Loyalty to the King]

[Mission Objective: All Chosen Ones will serve as soldiers under the command of "General Chu Ze, the Vanguard of the Expedition," and must immediately prepare for the expedition to the capital!]

[Task Rewards:]

1. All players participating in this event will have their merit acquisition rate increased by 100%!

2. Killing Later Jin soldiers during the defense of the capital will have a very small chance of dropping the special title "Jianzhou Zhenyi"!

3. The top 1000 players in individual battle achievements will receive the limited-edition gold title [Loyal Vanguard]!

4. The final reward is determined by the total contribution of the faction. If the capital is successfully defended, all players will receive a massive amount of merit points and unlock a brand-new faction reputation system – [Ming Dynasty War Reputation]!

Dead silence.

The entire city of Guangning, including the surrounding construction sites, mines, and farmlands, fell into an absolute silence that lasted for three seconds.

Three seconds later.

boom!

The roar ripped apart the leaden-gray clouds in the sky.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"

"New version! Epic event!"

"The Battle of Beijing! Huang Taiji has launched a surprise attack!"

"Finally, I don't have to do manual labor anymore! War! War!"

The player forum crashed instantly.

Countless posts were being refreshed rapidly, with titles filled with rows of exclamation marks.

Brothers! Let's go to the Emperor's aid!

"100,000 Jurchen slaves! How many merit points would that take!"

Shenzhou Guild is buying medicine at high prices! Some will be mailed directly!

Urgent! Anyone have a horse?! High-priced rental! Infantry can't even get a sip of soup if they rush over!

How do I participate in battles using my life skills? I need help urgently!

At the foot of the city wall.

Wang Han ripped off his apron, which was covered in engine oil.

He pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, and the straw in his mouth had long since flown away.

"Everyone from the Shenzhou Guild! Stop doing manual labor!"

Wang Han yelled and roared in the guild channel.

"Combat formations, assemble at the training ground immediately! Logistics team, open all the guild warehouses!"

"Distribute all the wound medicine, bandages, and arrows we've stored!"

"Newly acquired high-quality stirrups and fine steel spears can be upgraded based on battle merit points!"

"In this cross-map main storyline campaign, our Shenzhou must secure the first kill! Anyone who lags behind will have their DKP deducted for three months!"

A tall, thin man squeezed out from the crowd.

"Boss! Those steel spears were meant to be exchanged for city-building token fragments! What if we give them all to our guild headquarters?!"

Wang Han slapped the tall, thin man on the back of the head.

"What kind of base are we building! If the capital city falls, this wretched city of ours will be wiped out by the system sooner or later!"

"Send them all! Leave none behind! Faction reputation is the real prize in this major event!"

Not far away, the guild leader of the Aoshi Guild was not to be outdone.

He jumped onto a wheelbarrow and brandished the iron sword in his hand.

"Brothers of Aoshi! Those bastards from Shenzhou want to steal the first kill! Can we let them?"

"cannot!"

"Alright! Let's bring out all our best ballistae! This time, let's show the whole server who the number one guild is!"

"You arrogant fools, your few broken ballistae are just for show! When it comes to a real fight, we'll have to rely on the heavy infantry of Shenzhou!" Wang Han said without backing down.

"Bullshit! I brought three hundred archers this time, all with steel arrowheads. They can't kill those Jurchens!" Guild Master Aoshi roared.

Shi Dali threw down the cart, gripped the exaggeratedly broad-bladed greatsword with both hands, and roared to the sky.

"Awooo—!"

His two-meter-tall, burly body jolted violently, his muscles bulging.

"Today, I'm going to block the city gates of the capital! I'll show those Jurchens what the insurmountable Wall of Sighs is all about!"

Xiao Ran, dressed in a red robe and silver armor, brandished his spear.

The tip of the gun tore through the air, producing a loud bang.

"Sisters! We've been practicing that battle formation for half a month, and today is the day to test the results!"

Her voice was clear and bright, brimming with undisguised excitement.

"Anyone who dares to hold me back on the battlefield, I'll send them back to town to resurrect without the Jurchens even lifting a finger!"

The other end of the construction site.

Zhou Keke had her hair covered in dust and was holding a mud trowel in her hand.

She stared at the cement wall that was only half-painted, paused for two seconds, and then suddenly slammed the trowel on the ground.

"I'm not fixing it! What's the point of fixing it!"

Her cheeks flushed with excitement.

"Let's go! To the front lines! They definitely need to build fortifications there! I need to drill holes in the capital's city walls!"

Inside the blacksmith's shop.

Gongshu Ban emerged from the black smoke, his eyebrows half-burned.

He held in his hand a double-barreled musket with an extremely ugly design but a complex structure.

"War is good! War means we can test new equipment!"

He was so excited that he was trembling all over.

"My 'double-shot pistol' hasn't seen blood yet! This time, I'm going to test its penetrating power on a few heavily armored soldiers!"

The temporary wounded soldiers' camp in the west of the city.

Anji pushed up his homemade monocle on the bridge of his nose and threw the blood-stained gauze in his hand into the wooden bucket.

He took off his leather apron and put on a pair of tight-fitting clothes.

"Brothers, take all the hemostatic powder and anesthetic."

His tone was flat, even carrying a hint of dark humor.

"A meat grinder of 100,000 troops—this is the perfect opportunity to level up my medical skills. Once we get to the front lines, anyone who dares to steal my seriously wounded soldiers will be given an amputation package."

At the edge of farmland.

Tian Qianhe carefully stuffed the huge potato she had just dug out into the cloth bag.

She patted the dirt off her hands, her wheat-colored face beaming with excitement.

"Transport the grain! Load all the potatoes from the cellar onto the trucks!"

She yelled at the casual players under her command.

"An army marches on its stomach! Anyone who dares to steal potatoes from my garden on the road, I'll smash their head in with a hoe!"

Chemical workshop.

Cheng Huaxue carefully sealed a bottle of liquid that was bubbling with green bubbles.

Her long, flaxen-colored curly hair was pinned up at the back of her head with a wooden hairpin, and her tight-fitting shorts accentuated her sharp lines.

"The potassium nitrate extraction process is too slow."

She frowned slightly, then relaxed.

"However, the existing stockpile is enough to make simple explosive charges. A dense formation of 100,000—it's practically the perfect testing ground for explosive yields."

In the shadows of the corner.

Qin Jue, dressed in black night clothes, silently wiped the dagger.

He did not participate in any of the guild's commotion.

But a bloodthirsty fanaticism was revealed on his face hidden beneath the mask.

With an army of 100,000, there must have been many high-ranking generals.

Assassinating Huang Taiji is a bit unrealistic, but taking down a few Beile and Gushan Ezhen would definitely earn a huge amount of merit.

At the foot of the city wall.

Qian Lele held up the black cube and jumped high in the air.

Her multicolored hair danced wildly in the wind.

"Family members! Did you see that?! The entire server is mobilized!"

She spoke at the top of her lungs into the live stream camera.

"This atmosphere! This scale! Even epic blockbusters wouldn't dare film something like this!"

"Send rockets and gifts! I'm off with the main force right away, I guarantee to get you the latest frontline reports!"

The screen was instantly flooded with comments.

"Go go go!" Huang Taiji!

"The spirit of the Ming Dynasty! The Emperor guards the nation's gates!"

"Catfish, be careful! Don't feed kills at the start of the game again!"

White light flashed repeatedly at the respawn point in Guangning City.

Players who had just logged off frantically reconnected.

Players who had just died and returned to the game didn't even have time to repair their equipment. Bare-chested and carrying a broken iron sword, they rushed out.

The entire city of Guangning was completely transformed in just a quarter of an hour.

The bustling construction site has disappeared.

Instead, a roaring war machine, exuding terrifying killing intent, was installed.

Tens of thousands of players flocked to the military camp and training ground from all directions.

They had no fear of war whatsoever.

There is no reverence for death.

There was only endless greed and excitement.

Outside the city gate.

Lu Jian slumped down in the mud.

The dozen or so guards behind him tightly reined in his frightened warhorse.

They stared at the incredible scene before them.

One second they were staggering and undisciplined street urchins.

Upon hearing the news of the "impending crisis in the capital," a chilling fervor erupted instantly.

They shouted slogans that were incomprehensible to them.

"For the Alliance!"

"Demacia!"

"First kill! Loot the gear!"

Lu Jian couldn't understand a single word of these words.

But he could sense that pure, extreme desire to kill.

This is not a desperate army going to their deaths.

This is a group of lunatics who went to a grand festival.

Lu Jian felt ice-cold all over.

He finally truly understood what the "natural disaster" Chu Ze had mentioned really looked like.

This is not human.

This is a monster in human skin.

In their eyes, the life and death of the Ming Dynasty was nothing more than a carnival where they could exchange it for merit.

One of the guards' hands trembled so violently that he could not even hold the hilt of his sword.

"Boss...aren't they...aren't they afraid of dying?"

Lu Jian did not answer.

He stared intently at the horde of heavenly soldiers surging toward the armory like a tidal wave.

fear death?

These monsters don't even know how to spell "death"!

The 100,000 Jurchen cavalry were indeed terrifying.

But the tens of thousands of fanatical undead soldiers before him were even more terrifying.

This time, Huang Taiji has probably kicked a rock that can be broken even by the sky.

Chu Ze stood up.

He put the bright yellow imperial edict and half of the tiger tally into his pocket.

He turned around and looked at the chaotic yet rapidly assembling army of players.

Wang Erniu, carrying a ring-pommel sword, strode over.

His face was menacing, and the veins on his forehead were bulging.

"General! This subordinate will immediately go and muster the troops!"

Wang Erniu's rough voice was filled with barely suppressed anger.

"If the Jurchens dare to attack the capital, I'll lead my men and raze them to the ground! Just give the general's word, and I'll be the first to charge!"

Li Xunyi scrambled over, not even bothering to pick up the crystal mirror that had fallen to the ground.

The old scholar was out of breath from running, his beard trembling.

He looked at the heavenly soldiers around him, who were shouting excitedly, his old face full of astonishment.

"General, these heavenly soldiers... upon hearing of the national crisis, not a single one of them is afraid to fight. On the contrary... on the contrary, they are so jubilant?"

Li Xunyi could not understand this emotion.

The Ming Dynasty's government troops were so terrified when they heard about the Jurchen army of 100,000 that they wet their pants.

But this group of people smelled the blood of hungry wolves.

Chu Ze patted the old scholar on the shoulder.

"Old Li, they are natural disasters. Natural disasters only know how to destroy, they don't know fear."

Su Qingying followed behind Li Xunyi.

She was dressed in a simple blue dress and held an account book in her hand.

"General, the logistics supplies have begun to be loaded onto the trucks, and the gunpowder and fire oil have been packed in batches."

Her voice was soft, yet clear and articulate.

"The laborers have assembled and are ready to depart at any time."

Chu Ze raised his hand to silence the crowd.

He walked up to Lu Jian.

Looking down from a high vantage point.

"Lord Lu."

Chu Ze's voice was calm and composed, without the slightest fluctuation.

"I accept the imperial decree."

"The 100,000 soldiers and civilians of Guangning City shall set off immediately."

Lu Jian looked up at Chu Ze.

His chapped lips moved, but no sound came out.

Chu Ze ignored him.

He strode towards the city gate steps and climbed them.

His dark-colored casual clothes fluttered in the wind.

He walked to the highest point of the city wall.

Below is a dense, dark mass of players.

For the past five years, he has been struggling to survive in this isolated city.

He carefully recruited players, accumulating spiritual energy little by little, fearing that it would arouse the suspicion of the Ming Dynasty court.

But now, everything is different.

The emperor's twelve gold tablets gave him the most perfect justification for his actions.

He was no longer a border general who controlled a region.

He was a savior sent by imperial decree to defend the emperor.

In this battle, he not only had to defeat Huang Taiji.

He also wanted to make the officials of the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor on the highest throne, take a good look at this force.

He wanted to use the blood of 100,000 Jurchens to pave the way for the establishment of a new order in the future.

The route of the "Map of Mountains and Rivers" was already clear in his mind.

Guangning is 800 li away from the capital.

Even a forced march by infantry would take more than ten days.

But the players are different.

Players don't need to rest or set up camp; as long as they have enough stamina potions, they can travel day and night.

All attention was focused on the faction leader NPC.

The noise gradually subsided.

Chu Ze suddenly drew his long sword from his waist and pointed it straight at the sky.

"Wang Erniu!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"You lead five thousand elite cavalry as the vanguard, one man on two horses, clearing paths through mountains and building bridges over rivers!"

"This subordinate obeys!"

"Su Qingying, Li Xunyi!"

"exist!"

"Logistical supplies will be transported in three batches. The first batch will accompany the main army, while the second and third batches will be transported by civilian laborers left behind. No one may disturb the civilians along the way; anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

"Yes, sir!"

Chu Ze's gaze swept across the entire room.

The sound, infused with internal energy, instantly drowned out the wind throughout the city.

"The Jurchens entered the pass and plundered the capital region!"

"In this battle, leave no survivors!"

"Target: The capital!"

"Follow me, kill the traitors!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Tens of thousands of players roared in unison.

The sound waves shattered the dark clouds in the sky.

A ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone directly onto the gray-white cement walls of Guangning City.

This massive war machine has finally revealed its most ferocious fangs.

Huang Taiji's army of 100,000.

The life-or-death calamity of the Ming Dynasty.

A complete upheaval is imminent in the face of the fourth catastrophe.