Chapter 92: The Han Dynasty

After occupying the Forbidden City, he had entered the imperial palace in broad daylight and even sat in the emperor’s chair.

Ma Jun’s ambitions were already as clear as day.

Clad in armor, he had no choice but to draw himself up proudly, his spear still dripping with blood. In all the long history of the world, there had surely been few who had sat upon the emperor’s chair in such a state.

The soldiers below, who had only moments before been swept up in excitement, all froze at the sight of what Ma Jun was doing.

Daoist Master Xuanzhen of Greenwood Hall was an old fox, and Ma Jun had never been gentle in dealing with him. After years of war, he was still dressed in a Taoist robe, yet the blood-soaked treasured sword in his hand made it plain at once that he was no peaceful monk of the clouds and wind.

Master Xuanzhen stepped forward half a pace and said no more. He bent his knee and knelt, shouting, “Long live the emperor!”

“Long live the emperor!”

Ma Jun’s authority was laid bare in that instant. Nearly ten thousand soldiers surged forward and cried out in unison.

“Hahaha...” After a long laugh, Ma Jun nodded. “Rise, all of you! Pass the word: today is a glorious victory! I shall host a feast in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and drink with our brave men to celebrate together!”

The war had brought a stage of victory at last, and the Tartars had finally been driven off. All the soldiers were overjoyed.

The celebration went on for a full day.

From morning onward, Ma Jun and his chief subordinates arranged for different groups of soldiers to enter the Hall of Supreme Harmony in batches to drink and celebrate.

By evening, the capital had been largely restored to order, and the main army was encamped outside the city. Only ten thousand soldiers remained to guard the Forbidden City.

As for Ma Jun himself, he naturally slept within the imperial palace.

Those former palace maids and eunuchs had all been sent away by Ma Jun.

There was no one to attend them, so he and Mu Jianping alone spent half the night shamelessly at work in the Hall of Heaven and Earth.

Early the next morning, Ma Jun, dressed in a black robe, came to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to discuss future affairs with his subordinates.

“My friends, after years of hardship we have driven off the Tartars. Our achievements will surely go down in the annals of history,” Ma Jun said lazily, smiling as he sat there.

“That is all thanks to the Great General’s wise leadership!”

The flatterers immediately came forward, as was the custom. It was habit, it was tradition. Chinese tradition.

Next should have come Ma Jun’s mock modesty, but he did not do so. Instead, he wiped the smile from his face. “However, driving off the Tartars was done so that the common people of the realm might live and work in peace. Yet now... south of the Yangtze, it still lies in the hands of Wu Sangui and the others. The former glory of the Han people still seems far away. What do you all think?”

“Of course we must unify the rivers and mountains!” Li Shili cried out.

“Those traitors to the race, along with the people of Taiwan and others, have all enthroned descendants of the former Ming as emperors. I’m afraid they’ll turn around and call us rebels instead!” Guan Anji said solemnly.

“What then should be done?” Ma Jun frowned, as though truly troubled.

“Gentlemen, I have a word—pray listen!” Li Xihua stepped forward, glanced around, and spoke in a ringing voice.

“Please, Military Advisor Li, speak your wisdom!”

“From the moment Great General Ma Jun rose to prominence, he killed Oboi, provoked Wu Sangui into war with the Qing court, assassinated Kangxi and Shunzhi, and led us in driving off the Tartars! Which of these was not a deed that shook the world?” Li Xihua declared with force. “At the end of the Ming, disasters and chaos struck from every direction. The people were driven from their homes, and bones lay everywhere. Truly, the Mandate of the House of Zhu had run its course. Now the Great General has recovered the realm of the Han people—must it be handed back to the Zhu clan again? I, Li Xihua, beg leave to request that the Great General take the throne!”

“Please, Great General, ascend the throne! I, Li Shili, will be the first to support you!” Li Shili said hurriedly.

“Please, Great General, ascend the throne!”

His officers and soldiers supported him with one mind. That was, of course, exactly what Ma Jun liked to see.

After a moment of thought, Ma Jun’s expression grew grave. “Wu Sangui, Geng Jingzhong, and the others once aided the Tartars, and only later rose in rebellion when they had no other choice. If men like that were to seize the world, what justice would remain under Heaven? As for the Zheng family in Taiwan, I have the greatest respect for Old Prince Zheng Chenggong. But his descendants have huddled in a tiny corner, spending all their days scheming against one another. Therefore, for the sake of the Han people’s realm, someone must step forward and unify the world. Since one’s name must accord with one’s station, I, Ma, shall boldly proclaim myself emperor for the time being. Once the realm is unified in the future, we may seek out another worthy and enlightened ruler.”

“Great General, you are sage beyond compare!” One man prospers and even his dogs and chickens rise with him; the faces of the assembled officers all lit up with joy.

“Since this is the realm of the Han people, there is no need for any restraint! Our state shall be called Han. I hope that all of you will join me in restoring the great prosperity of the Han dynasty of old! As for the enthronement and related matters, I’ll have to trouble you to see to them!” Ma Jun said with a smile.

A month later, though the preparations had been hurried, the mighty Han Dynasty was founded amidst great momentum.

Its state title was Han, and the calendar was unified. The founding year was set as the First Year of Han, with subsequent years following in order, without any separate reign title.

The emperor of the Han Dynasty was Ma Jun, and the empress was Mu Jianping. All those who had followed him in conquering the world were promoted and rewarded with titles and honors.

Once this nation came into being, the common people of the realm broadly accepted it.

This was mainly thanks to Ma Jun’s tangible achievements over the years, as well as the excellent propaganda and promotion that had allowed people to recognize him.

Of course, warlords like Wu Sangui and the others would not acknowledge it. They branded Ma Jun a rebel.

Chen Jinnan, who had followed Zheng Keshuang and suffered humiliation, also heard the news, and for this reason he had not lacked for lectures and criticism from Zheng Keshuang.

Chen Jinnan was deeply angered by Ma Jun’s course of action, yet in his heart there was also a trace of relief, along with helplessness.

The world stood in the final calm before the storm.

Wu Sangui, Zheng Keshuang, Geng Jingzhong, and the rest of the warlords joined forces to form a great punitive army, preparing to contend with the Han Dynasty.

Meanwhile, Ma Jun was rapidly stabilizing affairs within his borders: land was being allotted to the people, rewards were being granted to civil and military officers and soldiers, and preparations for war were underway all at once.

In order to wage this great battle, Ma Jun specially had Qian Yaoduo transfer in three hundred thousand lower-grade bioengineered troops from the Undercover Dimension.

Qian Yaoduo had been operating there for decades. Because of the different flow of time, his development had been astonishingly rapid, and the Junma Group he had established had become the largest capital conglomerate in that dimension.

Still, transporting lower-grade bioengineered troops with the Heaven-and-Earth Ring had kept Old Qian busier than he could hardly bear.

These lower-grade bioengineered soldiers were outfitted and supplied through the American base in the Deer Cauldron dimension. They were equipped only with cold weapons and ordinary armor. No firearms were made.

Even so, the combat quality of the lower-grade bioengineered troops was extremely high, comparable to that of veterans seasoned by a hundred battles. Their discipline was excellent as well.

With them added to the soldiers he had recruited himself, the Han Dynasty assembled an army of six hundred thousand, determined to fight a decisive war for the region south of the Yangtze.

At the beginning of the tenth month, the great war began.

The Han army of six hundred thousand, made up of lower-grade bioengineered troops and ordinary men mixed together rather than kept apart, advanced in interwoven formation. In this way, under the impetus of the bioengineered troops, the ordinary soldiers also displayed astonishing fighting power.

The army marched forward like a force of overwhelming destruction, and the warlords’ punitive alliance suffered one setback after another. At the same time, many soldiers defected to the Han side.

Like a rolling snowball, the Han army grew larger with every battle, filling Wu Sangui, Geng Jingzhong, and the others with dread.