I'm the Emperor, or are you? Why are you asking me about this?

Meanwhile, the emperors had each set out with their forces and begun conquering cities and territory.

In just over a month, the four emperors and their armies had swept all the way to the capital. They had faced almost no resistance along the way.

Perhaps it was because they marched under the banner of Overthrow the Qing and Restore the Ming. Wherever they went, Han people who supported the cause would lend a hand. When they attacked a city, Han collaborators inside would open the gates, letting the attackers strike from within and without.

The four emperors' forces hadn't dwindled along the way. On the contrary, their ranks had only grown.

Clearly, the Han people under the Great Qing hadn't yet become the completely numb and docile masses of later generations. Many still wanted to resist the Great Qing; they simply lacked a leader and the strength to stand against it.

So they could only resort to little acts of defiance.

And figures like the four emperors were exactly the kind of leaders they needed.

As for those Manchu grandees who had lorded it over everyone, they were in for a world of misery.

During this time, Chang Yuchun received special instructions from Zhu Yuanzhang to treat the enemy well. So Chang Yuchun magnanimously decreed that anyone shorter than a cartwheel would be spared. And to ensure everyone was treated equally, Chang Yuchun even brought along a wheel.

"I'm giving you a chance. Dig a big pit yourselves, and save my men some effort. Once it's dug, I'll give you a chance to live: anyone shorter than this wheel will be spared."

Chang Yuchun held up the wheel as he spoke to the captured Manchu grandees.

The captured grandees were despairing, but at least they felt a little relieved. Judging by the wheel Chang Yuchun had brought out, the children in their clans would be spared. After all, the wheel was over half a person's height.

With no other choice, they dug with all their might, hoping to secure a chance for their people to survive. Once the pit was ready, they looked eagerly at Chang Yuchun, hoping he would keep his word.

Chang Yuchun looked at the pit and nodded with satisfaction. Then he dropped the wheel on the ground. Once it had fallen over, he said, "Now we'll measure. Anyone taller than this wheel lying on its side gets killed."

The Manchu grandees: "..."

If you're going to wipe us out, just say so! Isn't it cruel to give us hope and then plunge us into despair? And you even made us dig the pit we'll be buried in. What kind of person are you?!

With the wheel lying on its side, who could possibly be shorter than it without being buried in the dirt?

Chang Yuchun paid no mind to their indignation. He had his men bring all the prisoners to the edge of the pit, went through the motions of comparing each one's height to the fallen wheel, then brought down his blade and tossed the bodies into the pit.

Chang Yuchun watched as the bodies slowly piled up in the pit and sighed, shaking his head. "What a pity. The dead can't shovel dirt over themselves, so our men still have to bury them."

One of the deputy generals beside Chang Yuchun suggested, "General, we could pay the men for their work."

Chang Yuchun considered this, nodded, and turned to the deputy general. "Go collect some gold, silver, jewelry, and the like from these people's homes and give a share to the men. That'll cover their fees for swinging their blades and shoveling dirt. I'll seek approval from the higher-ups."

"Brilliant, General!" The deputy general grinned, clearly pleased with the idea.

The Manchu grandees still waiting their turn heard Chang Yuchun's utterly unabashed conversation. They were so furious they could have spat blood, and one after another cursed him for being less than human.

Chang Yuchun narrowed his eyes at the men who were cursing. "These ones are getting mouthy. Guards, give them a taste of torture. I hear they came up with something called the Ten Great Tortures of the Great Qing. Use those on them. I want to see how effective they are."

At his words, the men went white with fear. They dropped to their knees and kowtowed, begging for mercy. They knew all too well what those tortures were like; nobody could endure them. Now they wished they could just die.

Unfortunately, Chang Yuchun wouldn't allow it.

When the generals serving the other emperors heard what Chang Yuchun had done, they all decided they had to come up with something even more outrageous. They weren't nobodies, after all. How could they let Chang Yuchun beat them at outrageous antics?

And so the Manchu grandees were in for a world of misery.

A little over a month later, the four emperors met again outside the capital. Their four armies surrounded the city so completely that not even a drop of water could get through.

The four emperors announced that the people inside the city had three days to leave. The Han people could leave safely. With the help of the real-time map, they could tell whether those leaving were Han.

This had also been their trump card when hunting down Manchu people in other cities. It had hardly ever failed.

As for whether the Manchu people might make a desperate move and take Han people hostage, that wasn't their concern. At a time like this, it was up to the Han people to show their courage.

If they had any courage, they didn't even need to kill the Manchu people; they only had to break through the encirclement and escape. The city was in chaos now. Anyone who still couldn't get out would just have to consider themselves unlucky.

Inside the Forbidden City, Qianlong no longer carried himself with the confidence he had shown before. His once-bright, piercing eyes were now webbed with red veins, and they held the despair and madness of a cornered beast.

Qianlong had never imagined that the Great Qing Dynasty, which he believed to be the strongest in all history, could be so weak and helpless!

In just over a month, the armies led by those emperors had cut through his realm with barely any resistance. Now they were right at the gates of the capital.

Anger and fear tangled together until Qianlong was nearly beside himself. A little over a month ago, he had still boasted of ruling over the glorious Kang-Qian Golden Age. Now, in the blink of an eye, he had become a cornered beast trapped in a lone city.

"Heshen! You swore that my Manchu Eight Banners were invincible, that they could never be defeated and could conquer any foe! So where is that invincibility now?

"Where did the enormous military funds I allocate to the Ministry of War every year go? Why can my people do nothing against those decayed remnants from a thousand years ago? They can't even put up the slightest resistance!

"Wasn't it said that a Jurchen force of fewer than ten thousand could be defeated, but once it reached ten thousand, it was invincible? Where is this so-called invincibility of yours? Tell me!"

Qianlong roared furiously, his voice echoing through the empty hall.

At that moment, Heshen was kneeling before the throne on both knees. He didn't dare look up at Qianlong, seated upon the dragon throne.

He grumbled inwardly, The whole "Jurchen under ten thousand can be defeated; above ten thousand, they're invincible" thing was what Your Majesty liked hearing. I was just bragging and flattering you. You actually believed it. How's that my fault?

Only a fool would believe something like that.

Even as he grumbled inwardly, Heshen still forced himself to explain, hoping to save his life. "Your Majesty, please calm down. This defeat wasn't truly our army's fault. The Han people were simply too cunning and devious. They planted spies in every city, and it was only because those spies worked with the attackers that we were so easily defeated."

Qianlong's face turned livid. "I don't care about any of that. Now tell me: what should I do?"

How should I know? Am I the Emperor, or are you? Why are you asking me about this? If I had a solution, why would you need to be Emperor? Heshen continued grumbling inwardly.