Chapter 206: Awe‑Striking the Divine Land

Isn't that just collapse? Mid‑level officials are disappearing in large numbers, tax revenue falls short. Not only is the tax down, but all administrative affairs cannot be handled; when Bai Lang is in a good mood during his slaughter, he even picks out local officials and scholarly families for a good killing, usually wiping out all the male members of that clan.

"Studying for the imperial exams to become a Tartar official… the whole clan perishes, not a bit unjust." That's exactly how Bai Lang is, wiping out some scholarly families completely. The collapse of the Manchu Qing garrison's Green Banners of the Eight Banners across the regions also stirred many powerful local thugs and dispossessed people into restless motion. After all, Bai Lang has always shouted the slogan "Expel the Tartars! Restore China!"—the same rallying cry as Ming Taizu.

Ming Taizu rose from a beggar to the emperor; who says I cannot? Moreover, even scholars can't claim that expelling the Tartars and restoring China is treason—what kind of court is this, everyone knows, calling it a Tartar court is not an exaggeration.

The most important thing is the complete disintegration of the garrison's disciplinary organization—Bai Lang killed those commanding officers, and while killing them he also occasionally stormed the Junying for wanton slaughter, causing the soldiers who were eating rations to scatter en masse, blending into the civilian world as bandits, naturally creating many sources of chaos.

The Manchu city of the Eight Banners is also a hard‑hit area; they are the treasury of the silver Bai Lang has spent along the way, and the place the blood‑thirsty tiger in his heart must have. Only there can he kill men without any restraint, for Bai Lang does have his own rules.

Moreover, destroying these Manchu cities is meant to shake the Tartar realm, so even if Bai Lang does not kill women and children, he still has to kill some adults and set fires. With the cities like that, everyone's thoughts become active— the populace is not without grievance, and under these circumstances there are still those shouting rebellion.

However, the Red Flower Society is not among them.

Dragons and snakes rise from the land, ragtag heroes seize the moment; the Manchu Qing realm is at least dangerous south of the Qinling—now, following Bai Lang's steps northward, there are uprisings against the Qing throughout the area south of the Yangtze. Behind Bai Lang, the so‑called "Righteous Army" naturally follows.

Sharp‑minded people have already been using Bai Lang's rampage to expand their own power, and it's not that no one has ever contacted Bai Lang—this middle‑aged man before us is an example, speaking humbly and willing to serve Bai Lang, hoping Bai Lang will lead them to overthrow the Manchu Qing.

"Expelling the Tartars and restoring China is already someone's cause; as for this world… that family has no intention," Bai Lang is also very serious; he has at most five or six years left before he departs. What use is a short‑lived emperor to him? Does being emperor let one play a PS4 PRO? Compared with the chaos that will later engulf the world, it would be better to simply eliminate the post‑Qianlong turmoil and let the true dragon emerge.

These matters are internal competition within the Han family; Bai Lang doesn't care, as long as he kills the Tartars that's enough. Those who follow him to reap benefits, Bai Lang knows this well and doesn't mind—these people cooperating with him can very effectively dismantle Manchu Qing rule in the provinces, what's wrong with that?

Putting aside other things, just after he charges, this group follows, beheading a few more heads; those Manchu officers can't escape. Some have already surrendered voluntarily, whereas Han officers are more inclined to die for the Tartar court—no need to say, if Bai Lang doesn't act, the followers behind him will also kill their entire families.

That day, before Bai Lang, there was Hangzhou—the heart of Zhejiang—and he also saw members of the Red Flower Society.

Appearing before him were half of the Red Flower Society's leaders; at this moment Bai Lang's momentum seemed complete—at least to outsiders, with tens of thousands of troops behind him. The south was even more in flames, the big guys each seizing territory; some even tried to attack Yunnan‑Guizhou, others moved against Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi. Even Si Chuan was ablaze with beacon fires—Bai Lang truly hasn't gone to Si Chuan yet.

A female slave follows Bai Lang; these days Huo Qingtong seems to have resigned herself, even making Bai Lang's life comfortable—though she is actually a princess of her clan and never learned how to serve others. When Bai Lang charges, the green‑feathered yellow‑clad one never accompanies him…

Bai Lang's bravery has left those behind him with no doubts; among the ten thousand troops, seizing a general's head was a story only found in tales, now they witness it themselves. The world's number‑one rebel and number‑one fierce general is truly deserving of the name, and everyone is thrilled to the extreme.

And the Red Flower Society leaders appearing before Bai Lang tell him not to advance further: "What are you saying? I say your Red Flower Society is a rebel organization, right? Instead of seizing this chaotic moment to raise troops and capture territory, you come to me and say you won't go on? Are you people of the Tartar court or rebellious Han?"

It must be the Red Flower Society, the main faction of this world, and even the head of the Guard Headquarters is among them, bringing Princess Xiangxiang so the sisters could reunite. Otherwise, Bai Lang would have already slain the bandits before him cleanly; even without acting, the murderous aura he emitted during the questioning made the Red Flower Society leaders' hair stand on end.

Bai Lang has already killed many ministers and generals in this world; the murderous aura around him even overwhelms the Primordial Realm, the tiger within him roars and leaps as if about to take shape—if he returned to his own world, changes would likely occur immediately, and Bai Lang himself doesn't know whether he can control those changes, nor can he predict what changes might appear.

Anyway, killing so many people, especially officials and generals who wield power over a region, has indeed severely affected his cultivation—the tiger in his heart feels like it will lose control. The manifestation is natural; even though he repeatedly suppresses it, inadvertent emotional fluctuations still cause threads of murderous aura to leak out.

This aura of deterrence shocked the leaders present, and when they tried to answer Bai Lang's question they naturally lacked confidence. "We already have a plan to restore the Han realm, but if Bai Shaobao continues like this, it will only cause great chaos in the world."

Bai Lang, of course, knows what their plan is: "A broom won't make dust disappear on its own… relying on others to restore the Han realm is less effective than doing it yourself. So I won't heed your words; after I kill the officials in Hangzhou City, I will head west until I lay waste to Yingtian Prefecture!"

Bai Lang had already decided this; after killing dozens of Qing officials from the governor downwards in Yingtian Prefecture, he prepared to cross the river to Ping'anqing Prefecture, then head north through Hebei, straight into Beijing City to kill the Tartar emperor. Now the situation is set; the Qing troops daring to block him will have to be summoned from beyond the passes, as the troops inside the passes are already unable to stop him.