Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Which Part Offended You?

The Celestial Screen.

[Comprehensive assessment of the Qing Dynasty's founding quality.]

[Founded through slaughter, winning no hearts of the people.]

[Forced hairstyle change and clothing replacement, destroying culture.]

[Literary inquisitions flourished, imprisoning thought.]

[Even compared to the Yuan Dynasty, it falls short.]

[When judging the founding level of Huaxia's unified dynasties through the ages.]

[The Qing Dynasty can be called the bottom of the bottom.]

[But given that the Manchu Qing's founding difficulty was top-tier.]

[And the founding did not cause a chaotic era.]

[In this regard, it surpasses the Western Jin.]

[Comprehensive rating: NPC.]

[Translated as: roadside.]

[Commonly understood as: passerby level.]

[Or literally understood as: a stray dog by the roadside.]

Four large characters, bright red and stinging to the eye.

[A stray dog by the roadside.]

The bullet comments completely boiled over.

[Haha! The blogger really knows how to rate!]

[When it comes to sarcasm, I bow to you.]

Great Qin.

Ying Zheng found it amusing.

"I see this Celestial Screen uses crude wording, yet hits the mark precisely."

Early Han.

Liu Bang clicked his tongue.

"A stray dog by the roadside."

"This Qing Dynasty, truly embarrassed to the extreme."

Great Ming.

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily.

"Well said."

"I like it."

Great Qing.

Kangxi flew into a rage, slamming his palm on the railing.

"People of later generations dare to humiliate my Great Qing like this."

"I am irreconcilable with them."

Late Ming.

On Coal Hill.

Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian, looked up at the sky, tears bursting from his eyes.

"If I had perished to a strong enemy, I could still argue."

"Yet the Jian slaves are rated as a stray dog by the roadside—then what am I? Worse than a roadside stray?"

"For seventeen years I abstained from music and women, from comfort and pleasure."

"Yet I caused the people to be displaced and suffer endless hardship."

"I am guilty!"

Wang Chengen knelt beside him, weeping bitterly.

"Your Majesty, you have already done your utmost."

"This realm is not something you alone could save."

Chongzhen smiled bitterly.

"Done my utmost."

"What use is doing my utmost."

"I am still the emperor who lost the dynasty."

"I will still hang myself on this Coal Hill."

"Better to let Great Ming fall sooner, let men of ambition save the Han people's realm sooner."

"Ancestors, this descendant Zhu Youjian has no face to see you."

He threw his belt over a tree branch.

Wang Chengen lunged forward.

"Your Majesty, no!"

"Get lost!"

Chongzhen kicked him away.

"I am the Son of Heaven of Great Ming."

"The Son of Heaven dies for the state, as is proper."

"Wang Chengen, get far away from here, go live!"

Wang Chengen crawled over, crying and shouting.

"Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty!"

Just then.

The Celestial Screen suddenly changed.

[Rewards and punishments are about to descend.]

Great Qing.

Kangxi's spirits lifted.

"Rewards."

"I'd like to see how the Celestial Screen rewards my Great Qing."

Yinzhen said in a low voice.

"Imperial Father, what if it's punishment?"

Kangxi said angrily.

"Shut up."

The Celestial Screen's voice was majestic.

[The Aisin Gioro clan won the realm by being the least bad, and ruled it by remaining backward. They should receive heavy punishment.]

[But considering the people of Huaxia should not suffer further turmoil, and due to the special nature of the Late Qing, the Qing Dynasty's legitimacy will not be diminished.]

[Instead, exclusive rewards and punishments will be applied to Qing emperors.]

[If a Qing emperor can abandon the decadent Manchu customs, restore Huaxia orthodoxy, and advance Huaxia integration.]

[Carry forward Huaxia civilization, restore Huaxia to its leading position in the world, and let the people of Huaxia live in peace and prosperity.]

[Then for each item completed, lifespan shall be increased accordingly.]

[If a Qing emperor fails to complete them, or even stubbornly clings to his ways and wallows in backwardness, then his lifespan shall be reduced accordingly.]

[At the same time, after death, he shall be sent to the Late Qing era to endure all the suffering the people of Late Qing endured, as punishment.]

Great Qing.

A golden light fell into Kangxi's brow.

Countless images immediately appeared before his eyes.

Western barbarian warships broke through the maritime borders.

The iron hooves of the great powers trampled through cities.

Treaty after treaty, ceding land and paying indemnities.

The people displaced, corpses of the starved strewn across the fields.

Internal rebellions rose on all sides, the realm shattered.

Naval battles ended in crushing defeat, the fleet annihilated.

The capital fell, a panicked flight north.

The humiliations of the Late Qing flashed by, scene after scene.

Kangxi trembled all over.

"Impossible, this is impossible!"

"How could my Great Qing fall to such a state."

Yinzhen was greatly alarmed.

"Imperial Father, what's wrong?"

Kangxi roared.

"Fake!"

"All fake!"

"I absolutely refuse to believe it!"

Yongzheng's timeline.

Yongzheng's face was ashen.

He stared at a golden light.

It not only showed the disasters of the Late Qing.

It also showed his own lifespan: 58 years.

Yongzheng's fingers were trembling.

"This, how is this possible?"

"Great Qing, and my own fate."

Yongzheng took a deep breath.

"Someone, summon Nian Gengyao!"

"I want reform! I want to extend Great Qing's life!"

Qianlong's timeline.

The Ten Perfections old thief flew into a thunderous rage.

"This is the Celestial Screen's poisonous scheme to sow discord in Great Qing!"

"Shameless! Utterly shameless!"

Heshen beside him trembled and lowered his head.

"Master, what do we do now?"

Qianlong's face was dark.

"What do you mean what do we do?"

"Reform, of course!"

"What do Great Qing's traditions have to do with me!"

"My full eighty-nine years of lifespan!"

"Am I supposed to give up long life and go suffer in the Late Qing?"

"Heshen, gather all the Han officials for me! Draft a plan!"

"I must live to a hundred! Understand?!"

Qianlong was also somewhat excited.

By this period he was already thoroughly enjoying himself.

So he knew all the more the benefits of a long-lived emperor.

The Celestial Screen's punishment was harsh.

But the rewards were not bad either.

If he succeeded.

Wouldn't he be able to be emperor forever?

Wasn't it just restoring Han clothing and culture?

As long as he could keep enjoying power, he didn't care at all!

At this moment.

The Celestial Screen continued.

[Li Dingguo of the Late Ming, loyal and brave, commendable.]

[Zheng Chenggong of the Late Ming, had the heart to protect the nation.]

[Grant them the Leader buff.]

[May they continue to resist, and protect our Huaxia's attire and culture.]

[Also Shi Kefa, Yan Yingyuan, and other righteous patriots who resisted the Qing.]

[All granted the Adversity buff.]

[In desperate straits, they shall receive empowerment.]

[The firmer their resolve to revive Huaxia, the stronger the empowerment.]

Southern Ming.

Li Dingguo suddenly raised his head.

A warm current surged into his body.

"The Celestial Screen grants power."

"This is telling me to keep fighting."

He gripped his long saber tightly.

"Soldiers."

"Even Heaven is helping us."

"Kill the Tartars, restore Great Ming."

The soldiers' blood boiled.

"Kill."

Taiwan.

Zheng Chenggong likewise assembled his army.

"Charge with me!"

"Join forces with Prince Li of Jin!"

"Restore our Huaxia!"

And in Yangzhou and other timelines.

Shi Kefa and the others were all roused.

Countless righteous patriots, the people of Huaxia.

Grew ever firmer in their resistance against the Qing.

"Drive out the Tartar slaves!"

"Restore our Huaxia!"

[Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian.]

[Though incompetent and losing the dynasty, the Son of Heaven dying for the state shows commendable integrity.]

[Grant him one Spirit Qi Pill, which allows him to remain clear-headed in desperate straits, unconfused by external things.]

Late Ming.

Coal Hill.

Chongzhen, about to hang himself.

Suddenly felt his mind become clear.

"Old companion! We're leaving!"

Chongzhen suddenly spoke.

"Your Majesty! Where are we going?"

Wang Chengen wiped his tears while growing excited.

"Leave the capital."

"Bring reliable men and horses."

"Go south, rebuild Great Ming!"

"No, rebuild Huaxia! This rotten Great Ming, we don't need it!"

Chongzhen's eyes blazed.

He had never felt so clear-headed and refreshed.

Since he couldn't save Great Ming, then he wouldn't save it!

He would learn from Emperor Taizu—raise the precious blade, descend to Jiangnan!

These rotten officials and landlords, the refugees can kill them, the Jian slaves can kill them—why can't I?!