The old emperor only desires immortality; you must not rebel.

The Holy Emperor returned to the capital six days later.

News of the mutiny in the southwest had already spread throughout the capital.

The most obvious impact of the Southwest Uprising was that grain prices in Kyoto soared again.

Last time, it was due to the manipulation of major powerful families who deliberately raised grain prices. This time, it was because of the militia in the southwest that trade routes were cut off, making it difficult to transport grain from outside.

With grain unable to be transported in from outside, grain prices in the capital naturally skyrocketed.

In less than half a month since the Southwest Uprising, grain prices have tripled.

However, the Holy Emperor had previously confiscated the property of several powerful families and also seized a large amount of grain. The people of the capital had surplus grain and money, so the slight increase in grain prices was still within a controllable range.

Upon hearing that the Holy Emperor had returned to the capital, the officials of the city spontaneously gathered in front of the palace gates.

At this time, the Holy Emperor certainly needed them to take charge of the situation, and at the very least, he should send people to the southwest to find out what was going on.

But the officials waited for a long time, and no imperial edict was issued.

The courtiers waited from morning till night, but now that they had all arrived, they could no longer leave.

The officials waited until nightfall before they were forced to leave.

……

inside the palace,

The Holy Emperor sat behind a desk, on which lay a scroll of names.

This was all thanks to the Emperor's most loyal prime minister during these days, who meticulously recorded the lives of the officials and the evidence of their corruption.

After turning the last page, the Holy Emperor calmly said, "Draft an edict!"

Eunuch Wei hurriedly presented the imperial edict!

He glanced at the roster cautiously, his curiosity piqued.

The Holy Emperor has been flipping through the roster ever since he returned; it seems another high-ranking official is about to suffer misfortune.

"Dismiss Feng Yue, Vice Minister of Revenue!"

"Song Yuanyu, Minister of the Strike Department!"

"Dismiss Ma Qian, Deputy Commander of the Five Cities Garrison!"

……

The Holy Emperor read out the names of more than thirty officials from the capital in one breath; they were all powerful figures who had once held power in the Qing Kingdom.

Before Wei Gongping could recover his composure, the Holy Emperor's calm voice rang out again.

"Those crossed off this list will have their property confiscated and be sent to build me a wine pool and meat forest!"

Eunuch Wei's eye twitched!

More than a hundred!

Now, more than half of the officials in Kyoto are probably gone!

Thinking of the officials waiting outside the palace gates, Eunuch Wei felt a chill run down his spine.

"Send word to Fu Songnian!"

圣天子

Not long after, the greatest Confucian scholar of Qi strode into the palace with a triumphant air.

Fu Songnian was a smart man; he had already guessed something when the Holy Emperor brought them to Qing Kingdom.

However, one should naturally appear foolish in front of the Holy Emperor, preferably pretending to know nothing, otherwise how can the Holy Emperor demonstrate his wisdom?

As soon as Fu Songnian stepped into the palace, he performed a great prostration.

"Do you know why I summoned you here?"

The Holy Emperor cast a noble gaze upon him.

Fu Songnian immediately shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, I do not know. Please enlighten me!"

"Take your Qi officials and teach my Daqing officials how to be good officials!"

The beasts of Qing Kingdom need some motivation.

And now, the Holy Emperor has found this motivation for them!

The officials of Northern Qi had left their homes and now could only unite firmly around the Holy Emperor.

Fu Songnian was overjoyed!

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Fu Songnian knelt down again, overjoyed.

The Holy Emperor stood up, strode down, and waved his hand: "My personal guards, I want to see grain within three days!"

A chill ran through Wei Gonggong's heart.

He looked up at the sky outside the palace and could faintly see a blood-red hue on the horizon.

The officials in Daqing thought they could use this to control the Emperor, force him to the negotiating table, and make him bow his head and compromise.

But they were wrong!

The reason why the Holy Emperor is the Holy Emperor is because he is different from others.

They will eventually pay the price for their arrogance!

Upon hearing the Emperor's command, the loyal guards roared in unison.

"loyalty!"

"loyalty!"

As the Holy Emperor's most loyal guards, they will carry out the Holy Emperor's orders meticulously.

……

While the emperor's personal guards were breaking down the gates of the capital's officials and wielding their swords against the beasts, the holy emperor had already embarked on his journey to the southwest.

The Holy Emperor will use his iron fist to show them what true gratitude is!

……

On the southwestern land,

A siege is underway.

On one side were the Southwest Protectorate soldiers from Daqing, fully equipped and clad in armor.

On one side were the starving rebels, ranging from seventy-year-old elders to teenagers, armed with farm tools.

When a popular uprising occurs, it will begin to engulf everyone.

The number of people will increase exponentially, like a snowball rolling downhill.

Starving people, lacking food, would rob villages, and the people whose food was stolen would only join them.

As the population grows, the demand for food naturally skyrockets, leading to an increasing number of people being drawn into a vicious cycle.

"Release the arrows!"

Waves of arrows were unleashed!

Arrows rained down, and the starving corpses fell in droves, their blood staining the earth red, yet their emaciated bodies shed little blood.

Countless corpses lay on the valley path leading to the hill.

"kill!"

"Kill these corrupt officials!"

"Kill them!"

Starving people, armed with farm tools, followed one after another.

People keep falling, and people keep moving forward.

As they charged to the front of the army, they were met with a long spear that gleamed with a sharp, cold light.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

The spears pierced their bodies, and then the shield bearers sent them flying.

On horseback, the commander, whip in hand, roared as he watched the rioters pouring up from the foot of the mountain, "Keep firing!"

"Shoot these lowly people to death!"

"The Emperor is benevolent; it is your honor to pay taxes to His Majesty, yet you dare to rebel!"

"By order of His Majesty, I have come to wipe out you lowly scoundrels!"

"Hahaha!"

"Brothers, aim carefully! These are all battle merits!"

A head is a battle achievement. The more people you kill, the more you are recorded in the merit book, and the better you can be rewarded and your children will be honored in the future.

This is an incredible achievement!

As long as you kill enough!

These lowly people are much easier to kill than the Yue people in the mountains of the southwest.

"Get the logs ready!"

Just as everyone was about to push the log down the hill, the sky suddenly darkened.

It felt like dark clouds were hanging over my head!

The sunlight moved away from the heads of the starving people, and then shone again, before moving over the heads of the officers and soldiers.

Accompanied by a series of rolling sounds like thunder, it swept over our heads.

The moment they all looked up, what they saw was a huge small mountain, like a dome, falling down on them.

Terrified screams echoed everywhere!

"Boom!"

When the hill fell, it stirred up a huge wave of dust.

Amidst the billowing smoke, a tall figure could be vaguely seen standing proudly atop the hill.