The World Unites, Capital Moves to Chang'an

"This Qing Emperor is truly amusing, actually sending their Crown Prince over here."

Looking at the Crown Prince Aisin Gioro Fulin bound atop the distant city wall, Yan Yun couldn't help but shake his head and remark.

On the distant city wall.

The officials restraining Fulin, seeing that the Yanhuang Empire paid them no heed, couldn't hide the gloom on their faces.

Though they had braced themselves for it, disappointment still weighed heavy.

As for the bound Aisin Gioro Fulin, seeing this, a glimmer of hope for survival flickered in his eyes.

If the Yanhuang Empire ignored them, then he wouldn't have to be the scapegoat.

But before he could savor it long, a cold voice rang in his ear: "His Highness the Crown Prince, may you have a safe journey."

The words had barely fallen when Fulin felt a sharp pain in his neck.

He tried to clutch his throat, but the two soldiers at his side held him fast, and soon he went still.

Looking at the corpse in his hands, Chen Gaoming wiped the blood from his fingers expressionlessly and said, "Take His Highness the Crown Prince's body away and see to it properly."

"Yes!"

With his hands clasped behind his back, Chen Gaoming gazed at the brutal slaughter beyond the city wall, his eyes deep and thoughtful. He sighed inwardly: "Sigh, how did the Qing suddenly come to an end like this? I suppose I should start making some plans of my own. After all, I can't very well be buried with these barbarians."

With that thought, Chen Gaoming turned and left the wall.

Back inside the city, he took advantage of his position to quietly siphon off a large amount of gold and silver from the city's stores, then vanished from the city without a trace.

By the time his subordinates came looking for him that night, they found Chen Gaoming's residence already empty.

Seeing this, the soldier froze for a moment, then realized Chen Gaoming had fled.

He promptly turned back into the city, packed up some valuables, changed into civilian clothes to disguise himself, and slipped out with the fleeing populace before the city could be breached.

He knew that staying here now meant certain death; escape was the only chance at survival.

Besides, he was just a nobody whose name wasn't even worth remembering—no one would likely target him specifically.

And Chen Gaoming and this soldier were far from the only ones doing this in the city.

Anyone who wasn't a fool was thinking of running for their lives.

An army's collapse is like a landslide; the tide of fate cannot be stemmed.

By the time the Yanhuang Empire and the other two kingdoms breached the city gates, there were hardly any people left inside.

The chaotic streets were littered with debris, and some soldiers and civilians had even come to blows over scraps of valuables.

Seeing this, Yan Yun waved his hand and ordered a city-wide search, sparing no one.

As for the armies of the Russian Dynasty and the Zunghar Khanate, they scoured the city as if they were digging three feet into the ground, practically turning every stone over.

This campaign had been fought almost entirely on their backs, and they had suffered heavy losses—they desperately needed compensation.

Yan Yun pretended not to notice.

After all, if you want the horse to run, you can't starve it, and besides, he had no interest in such petty spoils.

The next morning.

The entire city had been stripped of everything movable except the houses themselves, which couldn't be carried away.

Looking at the rows of houses with their doors wide open, Yan Yun's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but remark, "Are your soldiers all that desperate for money? They even tore down the doors to take them."

Hearing this, the two men looked a bit embarrassed.

They had ordered their troops yesterday to take everything they could carry, but they hadn't expected their men to go this far—even the doors weren't spared.

Seeing their expressions, Yan Yun waved his hand and said, "Forget it, since they're already dismantled, so be it. These houses will all have to be torn down and rebuilt anyway."

After that, the group continued their slow advance deeper into the Qing Empire.

Time passed, and half a year flew by.

The Qing Empire fell.

In this war, the Yanhuang Empire lost fewer than a thousand soldiers, while the Russian Dynasty and the Zunghar Khanate suffered losses ten thousand times greater.

The same was true on other battlefields. In response, the subjugated emperors all came crying to Ye Chen, as if holding a contest of misery.

Yanhuang Empire, Xuanhuang City.

Ye Chen looked over the stack of documents in his hands—these were the lamentations sent by the kings of the empires that had served as the main force. The contents were nothing short of pitiful, these people had completely thrown away all shame.

Of course, these lamentations were just a facade. Their real purpose was to show how much they had sacrificed and how devastating their losses were in this war.

Thus conveying another message: they were already too broken to resist, and they hoped Ye Chen would go easy on them.

No one who rules a nation is a fool. They understood that while they had nominally submitted to the Yanhuang Empire and accepted its rule, Ye Chen would inevitably weaken them one by one.

And this order for them to lead the assault was the first blade.

That blade, under the guise of war, had cut away most of their military strength.

Even though they knew Ye Chen was using them as cannon fodder, they had no choice—because refusing this blade meant death.

The Emperors who understood Ye Chen's purpose had dispatched the maximum forces they could afford from their own hands.

Self-weakening was the act of the wise, because the more they cut themselves down, the safer they became, while also being able to ask Ye Chen for some compensation.

Heaven and Earth are ruthless, treating all things as straw dogs.

Yet, an Emperor can also be ruthless, treating the people as straw dogs.

The millions of soldiers who died in this incident—since they weren't his own troops—Ye Chen wouldn't care about them.

And from the moment those Emperors submitted to the Yanhuang Empire, these soldiers had already been abandoned by them.

Thus, those who perished this time were ultimately nothing but sacrificial pawns in the transfer of power; at most, a monument would be erected for them in the end, leaving a faint trace in the world.

Ye Chen then replied to these former Emperors based on the information he had, while also offering some "compensation."

As for those Emperors who hadn't used their full strength in this campaign, he would also mete out certain punishments.

With the end of this war, the world was completely unified.

The massive world map behind Ye Chen had turned entirely red.

The only words on it were "Huaxia," with no other empire names remaining.

Looking at the population concentration statistics, distribution map, and terrain on the map, Ye Chen couldn't help but frown.

Because he noticed a problem: the imperial capital located in North America was far too distant from the people in other regions.

Added to that, with the world just unified, the people across the ocean—especially those in the Huaxia region—had yet to pledge their allegiance.

Ye Chen thought for a moment and decided to establish a new imperial capital in the Huaxia region. Moreover, now that the world was truly unified and the cosmos reordered, it was a time of earth-shattering, transformative change.

Thus, a new imperial capital was also needed.

With this in mind, Ye Chen said, "Yuan Lan, issue the order: one year from now, we will move the capital to Chang'an City. The current imperial capital, Xuanhuang City, will be designated as the Old Capital.

As for this place, aside from some essential equipment, everything else will be moved with simplicity. At the same time, prepare for the Grand Unification Ceremony in one year."

"Understood!"

Hearing this, Yuan Lan was momentarily stunned, then quickly hurried off to relay the orders.