Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors-Chapter 512 - 268: Limited Edition Cheat_4

In short, though his status was slightly lower than the two prime ministers, his destructive power was even greater, clearly a fighter among the worthless.

In the real course of history, he had lucked out and narrowly avoided the fate of being captured by the Jin Camp.

Even Emperor Gaozong of Qi, who detested him to the bone, only demoted him and did not put him to death.

But in this historical instance, the situation was completely different.

During the emperor’s personal campaign, Geng Xidao was the most overzealous, and thus, he was dealt with most harshly. Not a single male from his family was spared; all were executed.

At this moment, Geng Xidao was shouting loudly on the execution platform.

"Our Qi shares the world with the scholars! The emperor is tyrannical! How can he kill at will?

"We ministers are wholeheartedly devoted to our country, yet Your Majesty wants to wrongfully kill me! Alas! How unjust!"

However, before he could yell much more, the citizens below were already furious, cursing loudly.

"Traitor! A minister who misled the country, and you still have the face to talk about sharing the world?"

"Dog official, leaving you alive is the real cruelty to the people! If not for you, how could Mr. Li be dismissed?"

"If not for His Majesty’s wise and valiant leadership, the Jin people would have breached the city by now with your complicity!"

"Execute him quickly! I can’t stand it any longer!"

Rotten eggs and spoiled cabbage leaves rained down on the execution platform like a storm, hitting Geng Xidao all over his head and face.

The foul-smelling juice flowed down his face, and Geng Xidao finally closed his mouth in a daze.

He realized that perhaps the people were not on his side either...

Another wave of heads rolled.

The scene was a bit gruesome.

But compared to scenes of the people being plundered and slaughtered by the Jin, or starving to death because of the exploitation by corrupt officials, wasn’t this scene ten times less bloody?

Wang Shiyong glanced at Zhang Jingbang, knowing that before long, it would be their turn.

At this moment, Wang Shiyong felt some regret.

If only he hadn’t been so eager to gather gold and silver, as well as women, for the Jin inside the city; if only he had stayed true to his own conscience, would his fate be different after the new emperor entered the city?

He could tell himself that he did it all for self-preservation, but he could never truly deceive his own heart.

Because they, the officials, were the ruling class in the court of Qi.

The Qi Dynasty’s philosophy of "sharing the world with the scholars" was not just empty talk.

And this meant they always had a choice, whether to speak out for justice or to stand by and not cooperate; it was all their choice. Under the circumstances of that time, at worst, they would be demoted like Li Boxi, and the possibility of beheading was not high.

But they had still chosen to serve their own interests, becoming accomplices to Emperor Yingzong of Qi and the Jin people.

Now, retribution was swift.

Since sharing the world with the scholars could not save Great Qi, then naturally... there would be an emperor who did not share the world with the scholars, to let them know that their presence was not, in fact, important.

Wang Shiyong closed his eyes in resignation.

A chill touched his neck, and suddenly, everything spun around him, and it was all over.

...

In Fan Cun’s vision, scenes flashed by like a zoetrope, sweeping past hurriedly.

After winning the great victory at Jingping, his mission as Prince Yun was essentially completed.

Following that, the entire historical instance would naturally evolve in a new direction.

With the elite of the Jin decimated in the defeat at Jingping and rebellions breaking out in their rear, Wanyan Sheng led the remnants of the Jin Army’s elite everywhere to put out fires. But soon, Wanyan Sheng was held accountable for the major defeat in the offensive against Qi, and military nobles vied for his position, plunging the Jin court into chaos.

In Qi, a vigorous reorganization began.

The new emperor, shortly after his enthronement and victorious battle against the Jin, first purged the court of corrupt officials, then promoted usable talents from the Imperial College, followed by reforming the examination system, revising the official system, and elevating the status of military officers.

Liu Fa, Zhong Pingyuan, and other generals of the Western Army were granted important positions.

He was not afraid of militaristic generals becoming uncontrollable, for even when tied together, they were no match for him.

Under this new emperor’s thunderous approach, the once stagnant Qi Dynasty was invigorated. Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan split their forces for a northern conquest, using Taiyuan as a pivot to recover lost territory, and also took advantage of the Jin’s internal strife to reclaim abandoned lands.

Subsequently, they continued to expand the borders, seizing many Jin fortresses and establishing the Liaodong Circuit.

At the age of fifty-four, he collapsed and was posthumously known as Emperor Shizu of Qi.

...

Fog gradually enveloped Fan Cun’s view.

Then, a system notification appeared.

[Trial Illusion: A Journey of Eight Thousand Miles with Clouds and Moon]

[Instance Cleared!]

Like the song of Chu, this time’s clearance rating was not a comment or a poem, but a summary of a person’s life.

[Emperor Shizu of Qi, the tenth emperor of the Qi Dynasty, the revitalizer, the third son of Emperor Qihui, mother being the Wang concubine.]

[In the eighth year of the Zhenghe period, he topped the imperial examination and was ennobled as Prince Yun the same year.]

[He campaigned against Xia Country with Tong Dao Fu, decisively saving Liu Fa at a critical moment to win the great victory at Tong’an City, leading to the elimination of Xia Country. He was appointed as the Grand Marshal of the northwest forces, in command of the Western Army.]

[During the Jingping period, he led the Western Army to lift the siege of Taiyuan, then proceeded to the capital to support the king and ascended the throne.]

[He abolished the chancellor’s position, personally attended to all matters, and consolidated supreme authority over state affairs.]

[He fought a decisive battle against the Jin forces below the capital city, trapped the Jin Army for over a month with the loyalist forces, and after a bloody battle of six days, pursued them to the southern banks of the Yellow River, leaving the battlefield covered with enemy corpses, an event later known as the Great Victory of Jingping.]

[The former Emperor Yingzong of Qi was lost in the chaos of battle and was ultimately never found.]

[During his reign, he worked diligently on governance, utilizing Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan to launch the northern conquests, reclaiming Yanyun and establishing the Liaodong Circuit, bringing the Qi Dynasty’s territories to their greatest extent and its national power to its zenith.]

[At the age of fifty-four, he passed away, honored posthumously as Emperor Shizu. On the day of national mourning, the people of the capital wept bitterly, as if mourning a close relative.]

[There are unofficial histories that speculate Emperor Yingzong was in the Jin camp at Moutuo Ridge on that day, and Emperor Shizu killed him with a hailstorm of arrows from his Divine Arm Bow, but such rumors are considered unreliable.]

[Evaluation: Compared with General Han Fuyue, who salvaged desperate situations and prevented the collapse of dynasties, Prince Yun seemed more like a special-edition cheat code, transforming the fate of the Qi Dynasty at the crossroads of doom!]

Reading this evaluation, Fan Cun’s first reaction was contemplative.

"Indeed, not everyone has the remarkable destiny of Emperor Taizu of Sheng..."

In fact, Prince Yun was essentially a stand-in fought by Emperor Taizu of Sheng and Fan Cun. Among them, Emperor Taizu of Sheng was mainly responsible for governance and strategy, while Fan Cun controlled his body to charge into battle.

Therefore, his workload was comparable to that of Emperor Taizu of Sheng.

Yet, while Emperor Taizu of Sheng lived into his seventies, this man collapsed at fifty-four.

It’s clear that such inhuman levels of work were not sustainable for most people.

Sometimes, this is the paradox of feudal monarchy.

Those emperors who devoted themselves to state affairs and worked tirelessly often died young due to overwork. Living to fifty was passable, but some enlightened rulers died in their twenties or thirties, a cause for deep regret.

Had they lived longer, much of history might have been different.

In contrast, those emperors who indulged daily in feasting and pleasure, unburdened by state affairs, living carefree and with attention to health, often lived to a ripe old age, well into their seventies or eighties.

And the damage they inflicted on the governance of their dynasties was even more profound and lasting.

It seems to be an insolvable problem.

"Although along the way it was mostly relying on the special-edition cheat code that is Emperor Taizu of Sheng...

"Still, experiencing the possibility of ’Emperor Taizu of Sheng’s spirit crossing into the Qi Dynasty’ was pretty exhilarating!"

Fan Cun didn’t have high hopes for first clear or a high score because he knew that the route he took was certainly not the fastest to clear the game, and relying entirely on the official cheat code that was Emperor Taizu of Sheng would surely not grant him a high score.

But the entire process still left him feeling delighted; the high blood pressure from the first phase of the instance had completely cured.

"I wonder how the military generals’ route is faring?"

The sourc𝗲 of this content is fre(e)novelkiss