"This Great Qing Emperor is quite something. He actually sent his Crown Prince over."
Looking at Crown Prince Aisin Gioro Fulin bound atop the distant city wall, Yan Yun could not help shaking his head speechlessly.
Atop the distant city wall.
The official restraining Fulin looked somewhat dejected as he watched the Yanhuang Empire completely ignore them.
Although he had been mentally prepared for this, he still could not hide his disappointment.
Seeing this, the restrained Aisin Gioro Fulin suddenly saw a glimmer of hope for survival in his eyes.
Since the Yanhuang Empire was ignoring them, he would not have to serve as the scapegoat.
However, before he could remain happy for long, he heard a cold voice beside him. "Your Highness, have a safe journey."
As soon as the words fell, Fulin felt a sharp pain in his neck.
He tried to cover his neck, but the two soldiers beside him held him back. In the end, he stopped moving completely.
Looking at the corpse in his hands, Chen Gaoming expressionlessly wiped the blood from his hands and said, "Take the Crown Prince's body away and make proper arrangements for it."
"Yes, sir!"
With his hands behind his back, Chen Gaoming gazed at the brutal slaughter beyond the city wall. His eyes were deep, and he could not help sighing inwardly. "Sigh, how did Great Qing suddenly end up on the verge of collapse? It seems I should make some preparations early. After all, I can't be buried with these barbarians."
With that thought, Chen Gaoming turned and left the city wall.
After returning to the city, he took advantage of his position to quietly siphon away a large amount of gold and silver. Then he vanished from the city without a trace.
When his subordinates came looking for him that evening, they discovered that Chen Gaoming's residence had long since been deserted.
The soldier froze for a moment before realizing that Chen Gaoming had fled.
He immediately returned to the city, gathered some valuables, changed into civilian clothing, and disguised himself. Before the city was breached, he slipped into the crowd of commoners and escaped.
He knew that staying here meant certain death. At present, fleeing was the only way to find a sliver of hope.
Besides, he was merely an insignificant nobody who did not even deserve to have a name. He probably would not be specifically targeted by anyone.
Chen Gaoming and the soldier were far from the only ones in the city to act this way.
It could be said that anyone who was not a fool was thinking of escaping at this moment.
Once the army was defeated, everything fell apart. The tide of events was unstoppable.
By the time the Yanhuang Empire and the other two nations broke through the city gates, there were barely any people left in the city.
The chaotic streets were littered with all kinds of discarded items. Some soldiers and civilians were even fighting over valuable possessions.
Seeing this, Yan Yun waved his hand and ordered his men to search the city. Not a single person was to be spared.
Meanwhile, the armies of the Russian Dynasty and the Dzungar Khanate searched the city so thoroughly that they practically scraped the ground bare, as if they wanted to turn over the earth itself.
They had contributed nearly all the effort this time. Their losses had been tremendous, and they urgently needed some compensation.
Yan Yun pretended not to see it.
After all, one could not expect a horse to run without letting it eat its fill. Besides, he did not care for such a small amount of loot.
The next morning.
Aside from the houses, which could not be carried away, practically everything else that could be taken was dismantled and hauled away.
Looking at the rows of houses with their doors wide open, the corner of Yan Yun's mouth twitched. He could not help complaining, "Are all the soldiers under your command so desperately poor that they even have to tear off the doors and carry them away?"
The two men were somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this.
Yesterday, they had ordered their soldiers to take away everything that could be carried. But they had never expected their men to go so far as to leave no doors behind.
Seeing their expressions, Yan Yun waved his hand. "Forget it. What's done is done. These houses will have to be demolished and rebuilt anyway."
Afterward, everyone continued slowly advancing into the interior of the Qing Empire.
Time passed, and half a year flashed by.
The Qing Empire was destroyed.
In this battle, the Yanhuang Empire lost fewer than a thousand soldiers, while the Russian Dynasty and the Dzungar Khanate suffered losses ten thousand times greater than those of the Yanhuang Empire.
The other battlefields were the same. In response, the subjugated monarchs all complained tearfully to Ye Chen, as if they were holding a competition to see who had suffered the most.
Yanhuang Empire, Xuanhuang City.
Ye Chen looked at the documents in his hands. They were all letters of complaint sent by the kings of the empires that had served as the main forces in this war. Their contents described their suffering in the most exaggerated terms imaginable. Those people had completely abandoned all dignity.
Of course, the letters of complaint were only what appeared on the surface. Their true purpose was to express how much they had sacrificed for the war and how disastrous their losses had been.
In doing so, they were conveying another message: they had already suffered terribly and no longer possessed the slightest ability to resist. They hoped Ye Chen would go easy on them.
None of those capable of becoming a nation's ruler was a fool. They understood that although they had submitted to the Yanhuang Empire on the surface and accepted its rule,
Ye Chen would certainly weaken them one by one afterward.
And this time, when they received Ye Chen's order to serve as the main attacking force, it was the first strike.
Using the war as a pretext, this strike had cut away most of their military strength.
Even though they knew Ye Chen was treating them as cannon fodder, they had no choice. Refusing this strike meant death.
The monarchs who understood Ye Chen's intentions had sent armies that could be said to represent the absolute limit of their respective forces.
Weakening themselves was the choice of clever people. The more thoroughly they weakened themselves, the safer they became. At the same time, they could ask Ye Chen for some compensation.
Heaven and earth were impartial, treating all things as straw dogs.
Yet an impartial monarch could also treat the common people as straw dogs.
Millions of soldiers had died because of this matter. Since they were not his own soldiers, Ye Chen did not care.
And from the moment those monarchs submitted to the Yanhuang Empire, those soldiers had actually already been abandoned by them.
Thus, the people who died this time were ultimately merely sacrifices in the transfer of power. At most, a monument would be erected for them in the end, leaving behind a faint trace of their existence in the world.
Ye Chen then used the information in his hands to reply to the former monarchs while also providing them with some "compensation."
As for the monarchs who had held back and failed to commit their full strength this time, he would impose certain punishments on them as well.
With the end of this war, the world had been completely unified.
The enormous world map behind Ye Chen had turned completely red.
The only words on it were "Yanhuang"; the names of all other empires had vanished.
Looking at the population totals, distribution map, and terrain marked on the map, Ye Chen could not help frowning.
He had discovered a problem: the imperial capital in North America was far too distant from the people in other regions.
Moreover, the entire world had only just been unified, and the people across the ocean had yet to truly accept the new order, especially those in the Hua Xia region.
After thinking it over, Ye Chen decided to establish another imperial capital in Hua Xia. Now that the world had truly been unified and the universe reorganized, everything had taken on an entirely new appearance.
Therefore, a new imperial capital was needed as well.
With that thought, Ye Chen said, "Yuan Lan, give the order. One year from now, move the capital to Chang'an City. Xuanhuang City will become the old capital.
"As for this place, apart from some essential equipment, keep the relocation as simple as possible. At the same time, prepare for the unification ceremony one year from now."
"Yes!"
Hearing this, Yuan Lan froze for a moment before hurriedly leaving to deliver the order.
Before you continue