[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-from-special-forces-to-the-multiverse":3,"chapter-from-special-forces-to-the-multiverse-from-special-forces-to-the-multiverse-chapter-131":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","From Special Forces to the Multiverse",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2315181,4527,"Chapter 131","from-special-forces-to-the-multiverse-chapter-131",131,"\u003Cp>After one night, the Jin state was like a giant stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring unprecedented turmoil. The Jin emperor, Jin Zhangzong Wanyan Jing, unexpectedly announced in an edict that he was abdicating the throne to the Sixth Prince, Wanyan Honglie. This prince had once been the subject of idle gossip among the people, mocked as “the prince who raises other men’s sons.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, he had suddenly risen to become the new ruler of Jin, and this abrupt shift left the entire state in shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The news spread like a gale, sweeping through every street and alley of Jin. People buzzed with speculation about the origins of this new emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the story of how this prince launched a coup in Zhongdu and slaughtered all his brothers spread like wildfire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This stunned the scholar-gentry who had planned to whitewash Wanyan Honglie’s image—they had intended to spread tales of how he was a virtuous prince who honored the wise and humble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, his acts of patricide, fratricide, and rebellion struck hard at the core Confucian values the scholar-gentry preached daily: loyalty and filial piety. How could they, who spent their days extolling loyalty and filial duty, support a man who embodied neither? And if Wanyan Honglie now issued an edict ordering the scholar-gentry to raise militia forces to crush Zhang Chu’an’s revolutionary base?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then everyone would see clearly what the scholar-gentry truly were: they had backed an unloyal, unfilial man to power for their own gain, yet now demanded he uphold loyalty and filial piety—was this not hypocrisy?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, even so, some could still praise him—after all, wasn’t there the precedent of Tang Taizong Li Shimin? Wanyan Honglie, too, claimed he acted for the sake of all the people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to elevate Wanyan Honglie to the same stature as Li Shimin was a challenge to their audacity and their skill at deception. Yet the scholar-gentry’s audacity and deception had always withstood scrutiny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even under these circumstances, they could still boast how virtuous Wanyan Honglie was—that his coup was entirely justified because his brother Wanyan Hongxi had ruthlessly purged dissenters and plunged the Great Jin into chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when he could bear it no longer had Wanyan Honglie resolutely launched his military revolt to restore clarity and order to the realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, tales of Wanyan Honglie’s childhood brilliance and his later humility toward the wise spread through every street and alley. Under their praise, Wanyan Honglie was being equated with Han Wendi and Tang Taizong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To suppress this negative public sentiment, they spent four full months and vast sums of wealth. To recoup these massive losses, they raised land rents by another twenty percent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only after quelling the public outcry did Wanyan Honglie dare to issue the prepared edict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The edict’s content was simple: first, it listed the crimes of Zhang Chu’an and Zhang Xiaofan—inciting Wanyan Hongxi to corrupt the court, purge opponents, and under the guise of Jin, seize the people’s farmland and ancestral homes, persecuting loyal officials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It accused them of secretly harboring private troops and plotting rebellion. Now, these two outlaws were fleeing the capital; the court immediately ordered its armies to capture them and authorized local prominent families to raise militia forces to assist in suppressing the rebels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When this edict was announced throughout Jin, countless scholar-gentry erupted in celebration. The court’s armies were finally marching to punish the rebels—and better still, they could now raise their own troops to crush these rebels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their hearts stirred with excitement. Hadn’t such an edict been issued only once before—in the late Eastern Han, when Emperor Ling issued it to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was during the late Eastern Han that the great aristocratic clans truly rose to power, for at that time they possessed wealth, grain, influence—and most crucially, armies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jingkang Disaster had taught the scholar-gentry that this world ultimately belonged to men of arms. After all, the Jurchens who emerged from the snowy mountains and black waters had no money, no influence, no culture—so how could they seize the Central Plains? Was it not because they could fight?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if they were now permitted to raise their own armies, then those with wealth, grain, and troops could rise from mere scholar-gentry to powerful aristocratic clans—and at best, become families with four generations of high ministers, their students and former subordinates spread across the land, even daring to ascend the throne itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This edict ignited the scholar-gentry’s deepest desires—and also ignited the fury of the revolutionary zones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Revolutionary Zone, stationed in the Dabie Mountains, erupted in uproar. From the very beginning of Zhang Chu’an’s establishment of the revolutionary base, they had adopted the strategy of encircling the cities from the countryside, quietly building strength without drawing enemy attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, stationing troops in mountainous regions was ideal. The Dabie Mountains, towering and rugged, had since ancient times been a strategic prize fiercely contested by military commanders. Their sheer cliffs, layered peaks, and steep precipices formed a natural military barrier, offering unparalleled defensive advantages. Throughout history, the Dabie Mountains had repeatedly served as a key battleground—whether controlling the southern passes or guarding the northern chokepoints, dominance here granted immense strategic advantage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the Dabie Mountains had played a pivotal strategic role in every historical era. Before the Song dynasty, the southern Dabie region—particularly the Four Southern Passes (Ruan Pass, Taihang Pass, Bai Pass, and Fuku Pass)—commanded high ground, allowing those who held it to overlook the Central Plains and exert powerful control. After the Yuan dynasty, as the political center shifted northward, warfare in the northern and central Dabie regions intensified. These areas became vital corridors for attacking or flanking the capital, their strategic importance growing ever greater, making them a must-contest territory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, this was the second major military zone established after the Shandong Zone in the Shandong Hills—and though second in establishment, it was the largest of the three zones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It fielded a full 200,000 regular troops, while the first-established Shandong Zone had only 70,000, and the newly formed Dabie Mountain Zone had just 30,000.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the Dabie Mountain Zone, upon seeing Wanyan Honglie’s edict, could not remain calm. After months of literacy education, they could all read its contents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The newly installed emperor of Jin was ordering the capture of their leader and listing a series of crimes against them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, framing loyal officials—but were those fat, greedy masters, in their fifties still raping twelve- or thirteen-year-old girls and selling their male relatives into slavery to the Jurchens, truly loyal officials?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the edict accused the two Zhangs of seizing private farmland—but they had given all that land to the people; they themselves took nothing. It accused them of inciting chaos in the court—but the officials appointed in prefectures and counties were all chosen by them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And once these officials took office, the bailiffs and scholar-gentry masters no longer dared to bully the poor as before. Whenever such tyrannical landlords were overthrown, their wealth was distributed to the poor. Now, the poor could eat, wear clothes, attend school, and meet their masters without kneeling or kowtowing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet the court wants to remove these officials—and kill them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is this the court that claims to put the people first?\u003C\u002Fp>",1212,"2026-06-20T13:48:22.834Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","a5fd26496c46bbb9527b2e49a76a5bab971a0962900e35d125eef8d8c7043968","from-special-forces-to-the-multiverse-chapter-132","from-special-forces-to-the-multiverse-chapter-130",205,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffrom-special-forces-to-the-multiverse-cover.jpg"]