Minor Rebellion

Twenty years later, Tang Chuan, who was both the family's Deputy Chief Inspector and a historian, published his magnum opus, "An Analysis of the Causes of the Great Far East Rebellion of 779 – A Reconsideration of the Dialectical Relationship Between Historical Inevitability and Historical Contingency from Economic, Political, Cultural, and Geographical Perspectives." His actual goal in publishing this paper was to obtain a senior professional title and a pay raise. The real suffering fell upon the editors who reviewed his manuscript; not a single one could finish reading the title without gasping for breath or passing out.

In his paper, Tang Chuan argued: "The great rebellion of 779, while seemingly accidental, was in fact historically, economically, politically, culturally, and geographically inevitable.

The historical background of the Far East region: During the Empire of Light's rule over the entire continent, the Far East was actually a desolate land. It bordered the powerful Demon Kingdom, but its inhabitants were fierce and unruly. The Demon Kingdom contemptuously called it the 'Barbaric Lands' and paid it no mind. It wasn't entirely ignored, however; whenever demons invaded the core, civilized areas of humanity, their armies would pass through the Far East, plundering and pillaging as they went. Thus, the residents of the Far East – primarily various non-human races like Beastmen, the Dragon Clan, the Snake Clan, Elf-monsters, and the Dwarf Clan, along with a small number of demons – held no affection for the Demon Kingdom.

In the early days of the Zichuan Family's founding, they were surrounded by crises. The founder, Zichuan Yun, knew that the only way to maintain strength was to expand territory as much as possible, so he actively and frequently waged external wars of conquest. However, his westward expansion was blocked by the powerful Liufeng Family. The two sides fought fiercely for decades, with hundreds of thousands of casualties, yet the Zichuan Family couldn't seize a single inch of land!

In Zichuan Yun's later years, he had a sudden realization. Disregarding the strong objections of all his generals and important ministers, he turned his direction and actively marched into the Far East, a region historically considered the domain of the demons. To others, this was suicidal. They should have been grateful if the demons didn't bother them, yet someone dared to provoke them!

But Zichuan Yun's plan proceeded extremely smoothly: a Zichuan Family army of 300,000, under the banner of "Demons are brutal and bully all races! Unite to resist the demons! Great Liberation of the Far East, protect all races!" marched into the Far East! All the various races rejoiced and enthusiastically supported this human "liberation army." They formed various volunteer units and militias, fighting alongside the Zichuan Family army to resist the demonic invasion! Coincidentally, that year, internal power struggles within the Demon Kingdom left them with no time to deal with the minor disturbances in the 'Barbaric Lands.' They only sent a few token punitive expeditions – which gave the Zichuan Family the precious breathing room they needed to establish a foothold in the Far East. Over the next two hundred years, through the determined efforts of successive Commanders-in-Chief, they expanded their territory, and the Far East now accounts for one-third of the family's entire domain...

The demographic structure of the Far East: The original inhabitants of the Far East were various non-human races: Beastmen, the Snake Clan, the Dwarf Clan, Elf-monsters, the Dragon Clan, etc., making up over 70% of the total population. Humans accounted for less than 30% – yet this less than 30% of humans were the "nobility" in the Far East's social hierarchy. The other races often served as human slaves, servants, and laborers, performing the hardest and most tiring work, farming, building, and serving humans... Sometime later, the Zichuan Family's "liberation army" suddenly transformed into an occupying army. Of course, the various races would not accept this lying down. However, after the well-organized, well-armed, and well-trained Zichuan Army "patiently" "enlightened" them a few times with blood and fire, they sincerely "admitted their mistakes," returned to the "warm embrace" of their "benevolent father," the Zichuan Family.

Political reasons: The death of the Great Commander of the Far East, Ge Yingxing, was undoubtedly a significant trigger. Not only was Ge Yingxing the supreme commander of the Far East Army, but after his death, the Far East lacked a general with 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 garrisons stationed in various locations were all withdrawn – either to join the rebels or to suppress the rebellion – creating a power vacuum in many areas.

Those unruly Beastmen, Snake Clan, demons, and others woke up one day to find that the rule that had long pressed down on them was as thin as paper. They naturally thought: rather than be whipped by overseers and toil in the fields under the sun, it would be more to their liking to raise their claws and tear their human masters to shreds.

Of course, the fact that the rebellion could spread so rapidly cannot be attributed to the lack of attention and slow response from the ruling elite of the family..."

The rebellion, which began in an unnamed village in Shalu Province, spread to seven villages by the third day, over a hundred villages and six towns by the fourth day, and nearly a thousand villages and over a hundred towns by the sixth day.

In response, the high-ranking official Lin Wei, a Red Guard Captain, urgently dispatched a punitive expedition to suppress the rebellion. However, the result was that three thousand human soldiers were routed by a combined force of various races ten times their number...

A week later, Shalu Province was in full rebellion. The rebel populace surrounded the provincial capital, Longke City, and the rebellion spread to the neighboring Minsk Province, Yalimei Province, and Yun Province... Urgent requests for reinforcements poured in like snowflakes...

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

"Yes, Your Excellency. Given that the rebellion in Shalu Province, Far East, is spreading, it must be extinguished swiftly with overwhelming force! Therefore, I suggest that all rioting mobs involved in the rebellion be executed and their bodies left to rot in the wilderness as a warning to any who harbor ill intentions!"

Several commanders present at the meeting smiled knowingly: "Here we go again! Di Lin the King of Killers, he never seems to have any other idea besides 'execute them all'."

President Commander Luobo Minghai snorted, his tone dripping with sarcasm, and said with a cold laugh: "Di Lin seems to think the rioters are as easy to kill as the civilians in the Imperial Capital – but isn't killing civilians your specialty?"

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

Di Lin ignored Luobo Minghai's provocation and replied to Fang Jin: "An estimated twenty to thirty thousand troops would be needed!"

"Where would such a large force come from?" Ming Hui asked. "Would you need to draw from the Central Army or the Black Flag Army? Let me state upfront that the Border Defense Army cannot be touched. Liufeng Shuang has been very active recently, frequently provoking us. Who knows what that damned woman is up to."

"Her intention is precisely to tie down the Border Defense Army and prevent you from dealing with the Far East!" Di Lin replied coldly, inwardly cursing, "You can't even figure that out! You're as clueless as a bug in spring!"

Di Lin said respectfully 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's too late now! It would take at least three weeks for troops to be transferred from here to Shalu Province in the Far East, and the rebellion must be put down as soon as possible!"

"If not from here, then where will the troops come from?"

Di Lin replied softly: "Glock Province!"

A silence fell over the room, and everyone was too stunned to speak.

"You want us to pull out the entire army that's supposed to be fighting the great rebel Lei Hong to deal with those country bumpkins? You want them to perform a complete about-face in the middle of a confrontation, leaving Lei Hong to stab us in the back?"

Di Lin said sternly: "There is another option: we can negotiate peace with Lei Hong and agree to his terms. As long as he is willing to send troops to quell the rebellious populace, we will promise him a pardon for his crimes! He will definitely agree."

Almost everyone was enraged by Di Lin's proposal. Fang Jin stood up and shouted angrily: "Are you saying the murderer of Lord Ge Yingxing should go unpunished!?"

Di Lin remained calm and composed, saying: "It's just a promise, not necessarily one we have to keep."

"This plan won't work," Zichuan Canxing sighed. "If we pardon the murderer of Ge Yingxing, the populace will riot before tonight, and the Elder Council will impeach and remove us first thing tomorrow morning. A pity, it was a good plan."

He turned to Sterling, who had been silent since the meeting began: "Commander Sterling, what are your thoughts?"

Sterling seemed a bit distracted. Hearing Zichuan Canxing's question, he thought for a moment: "I agree with drawing troops from Glock Province, but not the entire army... Perhaps sending a few divisions would be enough to quell the rebellion. After all, the rebels are just a disorganized mob, their combat effectiveness won't be too strong, and they lack a unified command system... I don't think suppressing it will be difficult."

Sterling's compromise proposal received the support of most attendees. Zichuan Canxing announced: "Alright, today's coordination meeting is adjourned. In the future, the Commanders' Office and the Inspectorate should communicate more and avoid impeaching each other at the drop of a hat, to preserve collegial harmony..."

Everyone filed out of the conference hall, leaving Di Lin standing there blankly. Sterling called out to him a few times, but he remained sullen and unresponsive. Sterling had no choice but to leave.

"A small rebellion?" Di Lin muttered to himself, then burst into laughter in the empty conference hall: "Hahaha, a small rebellion! This is a storm that could destroy the very foundation of the entire family! You fools are rushing to your doom!"