A Small Rebellion

Twenty years later, Tang Chuan, the family's part-time Deputy Chief Inspector and full-time historian, published his monumental work, "An Analysis of the Causes of the Great Far East Rebellion of 779—Some Further Reflections on My Personal Views Regarding Several Analyses of the Dialectical Relationship Between Historical Necessity and Historical Contingency from Economic, Political, Cultural, and Geographical Perspectives." The real purpose of publishing this paper was to earn himself a senior professional title and a pay-grade increase—but the ones who truly suffered were the editors reviewing it: not a single one who read the title in one breath managed to keep breathing without passing out.

Tang Chuan argued in the paper: "The Great Rebellion of 779 might have appeared accidental, but it in fact possessed historical, economic, political, cultural, and geographical inevitability:

The historical origins of the Far East Region: During the Empire of Light's rule over the continent, the Far East Region had originally been a barren land. It bordered the powerful Demon Kingdom, yet because its inhabitants were fierce and unruly, the Demon Kingdom contemptuously called it the 'Barbaric Lands' and paid it no attention at all—though saying it paid no attention whatsoever would not be entirely accurate. Whenever the demons invaded the core, prosperous regions inhabited by humans, their armies had to pass through the Far East Region and would conveniently burn, kill, and plunder there as well. Thus, the inhabitants of the Far East Region—mainly Beastmen, the Dragon Clan, the Snake Clan, elf-monsters, the Dwarf Clan, and other races, along with a small number of demons—held no goodwill toward the Demon Kingdom.

In the early days of the Zichuan Family's founding, dangers lurked on every side. Its founder, Zichuan Yun, understood that the only way to remain powerful was to expand his territory as much as possible, so he actively and repeatedly launched wars of territorial expansion. But on the path westward, he encountered the powerful Liufeng Family. The two sides fought fiercely for decades, suffering hundreds of thousands of casualties—yet the Zichuan Family failed to gain even an inch of land!

In his later years, Zichuan Yun suddenly came to his senses. Ignoring the vehement opposition of all his generals and senior ministers, he changed direction and actually launched an initiative to march into the Far East Region, which had always been regarded as the Demon Race's sphere of influence. To others, this was simply courting death: if the demons did not come looking for trouble, one should have burned incense in gratitude and celebration. Yet someone actually dared to provoke them on his own initiative!

But Zichuan Yun's plan proceeded with extraordinary success. Three hundred thousand troops of the Zichuan Family Army marched grandly into the Far East under banners proclaiming, "The Demon Race is brutal and oppresses all races! Unite and resist the Demon Race! Far East Liberation, protect all races!" The various races erupted in cheers, flocking to support this human "liberation army." They formed all kinds of volunteer forces and Volunteer Armies, fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Zichuan Family forces against demon aggression. As it happened, the Demon Race was embroiled in an internal power struggle that year and had no time to mobilize a great army to deal with the minor unrest in the "Barbaric Lands." They merely sent several punitive detachments as a token gesture—giving the Zichuan Family precious breathing room to establish itself in the Far East. Then, after more than two hundred years of enterprising expansion by successive Great Commanders, the Far East territories had come to account for one-third of the family's entire domain...

The population structure of the Far East Region: Its original inhabitants were the various nonhuman races—Beastmen, the Snake Clan, dwarves, elf-monsters, the Dragon Clan, and so on—making up more than seventy percent of the region's total population. Humans accounted for less than thirty percent—yet that less than thirty percent formed the "nobility" of Far Eastern society. The other races were often left with no choice but to serve humans as slaves, servants, and laborers, taking on the hardest and most exhausting work, farming, building, serving... At some point, the Zichuan Family's "liberation army" suddenly transformed into an army of suppression. Naturally, the various races would not simply accept this, but after the well-organized, well-equipped, and well-trained Zichuan Army patiently "enlightened" them a few times with blood and fire, they sincerely "admitted their mistakes," returned from the wrong path, and went back into the "warm embrace" of the Zichuan Family, their "kind father."

Political causes: The death of Ge Yingxing, Great Commander of the Far East, was undoubtedly one important fuse—not only because Ge Yingxing had been the commander-in-chief of the Far East Army, and after his death there was no longer any general in the Far East with both the strength and prestige to command universal respect, causing widespread unrest. The main reason was that Ge Yingxing's death led to civil war within the Far East Zichuan Family. The Zichuan Family Garrison units stationed throughout the region were withdrawn one after another—either joining the rebels or going to suppress them—creating a vacuum in local rule.

Those unruly Beastmen, Snake Clan members, demons, and the like woke up one day to discover that the rule long pressing down on their heads was no thicker than a sheet of paper. Naturally, they felt that compared with enduring an overseer's whip or laboring in the fields beneath the sun, raising their claws and tearing their human masters to pieces suited them far better.

Of course, the rebellion's rapid spread could not be separated from the ruling upper class's lack of attention and sluggish response..."

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The rebellion that began in an unnamed village in Shalu Province in the Far East expanded to seven villages on the third day, over a hundred villages and six towns on the fourth day, and nearly a thousand villages and more than a hundred towns on the sixth day.

In light of this, Lin Wei, the provincial high official and Red Guard Captain, urgently dispatched a punitive force to suppress the rebellion. But the result was that three thousand human troops fled in defeat before a joint army of various races ten times their number...

One week later, Shalu Province was in full rebellion. The insurgents surrounded Longke City, the provincial capital, and the unrest had spread into the neighboring Minsk Province, Yalimei Province, Yun Province... Urgent requests for reinforcements flew in like snowflakes...

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"Chief Inspector Di Lin, could you repeat what you just said?" Zichuan Canxing could hardly believe his ears.

"Yes, sir. Since the rebellion in Shalu Province in the Far East has already begun to spread, it must be swiftly extinguished with a thunderous blow! Therefore, this subordinate recommends that all rioters involved in the rebellion be executed, their corpses exposed in the wilderness to shock those harboring treacherous intentions and serve as a warning!"

Several commanders attending the meeting exchanged knowing smiles. "Here he goes again! Di Lin, the King of Killers. It seems he has never had an idea other than 'execute them all.'"

President Commander Luobo Minghai gave an even colder "Hmph," his tone dripping with sarcasm as he sneered, "Di Lin seems to think these rioters are as easy to kill as the civilians in the Imperial Capital—though isn't killing civilians what you do best?"

Commander Fang Jin asked Di Lin, "How many troops would be needed to execute all those tens of thousands of rioters?"

Ignoring Luobo Minghai's provocation, Di Lin answered Fang Jin, "An estimated two to three hundred thousand troops."

"Where are we supposed to get such a large force?" Ming Hui asked. "Are we going to draw troops from the Central Army or the Black Flag Army? Let me make this clear first: the Border Defense Army cannot be moved. Liufeng Shuang has been extremely active lately, constantly provoking us. Who knows what that dead bitch is planning."

"Her plan is to tie down the Border Defense Army so you cannot deal with the Far East!" Di Lin answered coldly, cursing inwardly, You can't even see something this obvious! What a complete idiot!

Di Lin respectfully said to Zichuan Canxing, "A week ago, drawing troops from the Border Defense Army or the Central Army would have been a good idea, but it is too late now! It would take at least three weeks to transfer forces from here to Shalu Province in the Far East, while the rebellion must be crushed as soon as possible!"

"If we do not transfer troops from here, where will the forces come from?"

Di Lin replied softly, "Glock Province!"

A silence fell. Everyone was too astonished to speak.

"You want us to pull back the entire army campaigning against the great rebel Lei Hong just to deal with a few country bumpkins? You want them to make a huge about-face right in front of the enemy while the two armies are facing each other, so Lei Hong can kick their asses?"

Di Lin said gravely, "There is another option: we could negotiate peace with Lei Hong and accept his terms. As long as he is willing to send troops to quell the insurgents, we promise to pardon his crimes. He will certainly agree."

Nearly everyone was enraged by Di Lin's proposal. Fang Jin stood up and shouted furiously, "Are we supposed to let the murderer of Lord Ge Yingxing go free!?"

Di Lin remained calm and expressionless. "It is only a promise. We do not necessarily have to carry it out."

"This plan will not work." Zichuan Canxing sighed. "If we pardon Ge Yingxing's killer, the people will rise in revolt before tonight, and the Elder Council will impeach and remove us by tomorrow morning. What a pity. It was a very good plan."

He turned to Sterling, who had not spoken since the meeting began. "Commander Sterling, what are your thoughts?"

Sterling seemed somewhat distracted. Upon hearing Zichuan Canxing address him, he immediately considered it. "This subordinate agrees with transferring troops from Glock, but there is no need to pull back the entire army... Sending several divisions should be enough to quell the rebellion. After all, the rebels are merely a rabble. Their combat strength will not be too great, and they lack a unified, coordinated command system... This subordinate believes suppressing them should not be difficult."

Sterling's compromise proposal won the support of most people. Zichuan Canxing announced, "Very well, today's coordination meeting is concluded. Next time, the Commanders' Office and the Inspectorate should exchange views more often. Do not keep impeaching each other over every little thing. It damages harmony among colleagues..."

Everyone filed out of the meeting hall, leaving Di Lin alone standing there blankly. Sterling called to him several times, but Di Lin kept a grim face and did not respond, so Sterling could only leave on his own.

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"A small rebellion?" Di Lin muttered to himself, then burst into wild laughter at the empty meeting hall. "Hahaha, a small rebellion! This is a great storm capable of destroying the very foundations of the entire family! You fools are at death's door!"