Chapter 374: Ran Min ascends the throne!

The news spread throughout the northern border in five days—

A Han army had come from the south, with seven or eight types of flags, equipment never seen before, destroying whoever they fought.

The five major tribes of the Xiongnu, Jie, Di, Qiang, and Xianbei united for the first time.

Three hundred thousand cavalry gathered outside Pingyang City, claiming to be "invincible under heaven."

They had never seen firelocks, let alone emperors who could fly in the sky.

The commander of the coalition rode a tall horse, looking at the eight hundred thousand troops lined up opposite, and frowned.

Then he looked up at the ship in the sky, and his frown deepened.

Ying Zheng ascended on his sword, hovering in front of the enemy formation.

Liu Bang followed closely, Liu Che and Liu Xiu on the left and right, Li Shimin, Zhao Kuangyin, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, and Yang Jian lined up behind—

Five at Foundation Establishment, four at Qi Refining, nine people lined up in the high sky.

The coalition commander looked up at them, his mouth hanging open.

Ying Zheng struck first.

A fireball condensed in his palm, the size of a millstone, crimson and scalding, dragging a tail of flame as it slammed into the center of the cavalry formation.

Boom!!!

Soil flew, fire soared into the sky, horses and men blown away together.

The place where the fireball landed left a three-zhang-wide crater, the mud at the edge scorched black.

Liu Bang threw the second, Liu Che the third, and Liu Xiu the fourth.

A dozen fireballs landed simultaneously in the formation of three hundred thousand cavalry, blasting a dozen large craters.

Before the coalition could react, the firelock infantry in the back fired in unison.

Three rows fired in rotation, a barrage pressing over from three hundred paces away, the front row of cavalry falling like wheat cut by a sickle.

The first row fell, then the second, then the third.

The coalition commander watched the first three rows of cavalry turn into corpses in an instant, and turned his horse to run.

Ying Zheng flew above him, looking down coldly.

The commander looked up at the person in the sky, and the sword in his hand dropped.

Gu Shanhe lay on the spirit ship the whole time, legs crossed, holding a handful of melon seeds.

At this moment, Gu Shanhe's inner thoughts: (Now that I am a Nascent Soul stage expert, such a small scene doesn't require me to act.)

A month later, the main force of the five tribes was surrounded in the last valley.

The valley entrance was sealed by firelock infantry, and there was no way out over the valley.

Ying Zheng flew above the valley entrance, raised his hand, and a giant fireball slammed into the valley.

No sound came from the valley—the moment the fireball landed, everything was over.

The Five Barbarians' Chaos was pacified.

Ran Min stood on the Yecheng city wall, watching the smoke and dust dissipate in the valley in the distance, silent for a long time.

It wasn't until his deputy general shouted "General, we won" that he came back to his senses.

He slowly loosened his hand gripping the city wall bricks.

……

Half a year later, the world was initially settled.

Ran Min ascended the throne in Yecheng, the dynasty name Wei, the reign title Yongxing.

The coronation ceremony was very simple, without extravagant processions, without the three-kneel-nine-kowtow—

Ran Min stood on the high platform in plain clothes, below him were the eight emperors and the eight hundred thousand troops in formation.

Gu Shanhe stood beside him, watching him receive the Imperial Jade Seal, watching him read the first imperial decree to the officials—

Reduce taxes for three years, release all Han people forced into slavery.

Someone below cried.

Not the officials, but the commoners standing in the distance, a dense mass.

They were dressed in rags, their faces thin, but their eyes were bright.

After the ceremony, Gu Shanhe called Ran Min alone behind the high platform.

"I gave you the throne, but you must remember how to sit on it."

"Treat the people as human beings, and you will sit steadily."

"Treat the people as grass, and you won't last many days."

Ran Min: "I will remember."

Gu Shanhe: "I will come back to check from time to time to see if you are doing well."

With a wave of Gu Shanhe's hand, eight space-time gates opened on the wilderness plain.

The eight hundred thousand troops formed up and walked in order into the light gates of their respective dynasties.

Ying Zheng's Qin army finished walking first, Liu Bang's Han army second, Liu Che's Han army third—

The two "Han" flags were one after the other; the soldiers glanced at each other but didn't speak.

When the last light gate closed, a system notification sounded in Gu Shanhe's mind.

【Mission completed. Rating: SSS. Rewards being distributed.】

【Infinite supplies, infinite ammunition, infinite spirit stones, infinite spirit weapons, infinite pills, infinite talismans, infinite cultivation techniques.】

Gu Shanhe stood in place for two seconds.

Gu Shanhe's inner state: "System, you are too good to me, I love you to death."

System: 【Get lost, it's disgusting.】

……

Afterward, the spirit ship stayed over the wilderness for three days.

Gu Shanhe organized the system space, the spirit stones and pills filling half the cabin.

When Ying Zheng came to find him, he was stuffing a box of talismans into a storage slot.

"Where to next?"

Gu Shanhe turned back: "Three Kingdoms."

"You haven't seen Cao Cao, Liu Bei, or Zhuge Liang yet, have you?"

Ying Zheng didn't answer, but the corners of his mouth moved slightly.

Liu Bang poked his head out from behind: "Liu Bei? A Liu? I have to go see if he's a descendant of my family."

Liu Che also walked over: "I want to see Zhao Zilong. Loyal and righteous, a good general of Shu Han."

Liu Xiu shook his head with a smile: "Three Kingdoms, I want to see it with my own eyes."

Li Shimin: "Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, three masters in one play."

"I want to see how they sing."

Zhao Kuangyin: "I want to see just how divine Zhuge Liang is."

Zhu Yuanzhang: "I've long wanted to see the demeanor of Prime Minister Zhuge."

Yang Jian: "The Three Kingdoms have famous generals like clouds; I've long wanted to see them."

Zhu Di was the last to walk over: "I want to see Lu Bu."

"I heard he is the number one warrior of the Three Kingdoms; I want to see just how well he can fight?"

After hearing everyone's words, Gu Shanhe turned and walked to the bow, raising his hand.

The light in his palm gathered into an arc, slicing a door open in the void.

The frame was larger than before, the color golden, the light shining from within warm, carrying the scent of grass, trees, and wind-blown sand.

"Let's go, to the Three Kingdoms."

The eight emperors boarded the spirit ship one by one.

Then, the spirit ship slowly sailed into the light gate.

……

Half an hour later.

The moment the spirit ship passed through the light gate, what Gu Shanhe saw first wasn't water, but smoke.

There was a thin mist on the river, as if the morning dew hadn't dissipated, or as if the smoke from the cooking fires of the camps on both sides had mixed together.

Below the mist was water, yellowish in color, flowing fast, carrying silt from upstream.

Red Cliffs.

He scanned with his divine sense and saw the camps on both banks.

The camps on the north bank stretched for dozens of li, dense and packed, with a large flag planted at the center, vaguely showing a "Cao" character.

The camps on the south bank were lower, but the layout was compact, with obstacles and deer antlers in front, and neat shipyards behind, with dozens of warships docked.

At the entrance of the south bank's main camp, several flags were embroidered with "Cao", "Liu", and "Sun".

Gu Shanhe turned to look at the eight emperors behind him and said: "We've arrived, we've come at just the right time."

"The Battle of Red Cliffs shouldn't have started yet."

Liu Bang was the first to lean over the bow to look down.

As he looked down, the hull passed right under the clouds, the sunlight shining from the side, casting the shadow of the entire ship onto the Yangtze River.

The huge shadow swept over the tents of the Cao camp, and everyone in the tents ran out, looking up at the sky.

"What is that?"

"A ship? Why is it in the sky?"

"Report to the Prime Minister quickly!"

Cao Cao was discussing matters with Xun Yu and Guo Jia in the main camp.

The map was spread on the table, and he held a vermilion brush, pointing toward the south bank.

"That brat Zhou Yu thinks he can stop me, Cao Cao, by uniting with Liu Bei?"

"We've seen his shipyards on the south bank clearly, less than a hundred ships, while I have—"

Halfway through, a commotion outside the tent interrupted him.

He frowned: "What is it?"

A guard rushed in and knelt: "Prime Minister! There is—there is—a ship in the sky!"

When Cao Cao walked out of the tent, the spirit ship had already moved from over the river to directly above the Cao camp.

The hull was three hundred zhang long, hanging overhead like a moving dark cloud.

Because of the height difference, the people standing on the deck couldn't be seen clearly, but several figures could be vaguely counted, some wearing clothes that reflected light.

Cao Cao squinted for a long time, his face showing no panic.

He only said one thing: "Go, have the arrow formation prepared."

On the south bank, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang also walked out of the main tent.

Zhou Yu stood on the shore looking up, his hand on his sword hilt, his gaze following the spirit ship.

"Kongming, look at the flags on that ship," Zhou Yu said.

Zhuge Liang had seen them long ago.

His gaze rested on both sides of the bow, where seven or eight flags of different colors hung—

"Qin" in gold on black, "Han" in black on red, and "Tang", "Song", "Ming"...

Zhuge Liang's fan stopped for a moment.

"Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Ming... flags of six dynasties, all appearing in one place."

His voice wasn't loud, but the generals around him all heard.

"This defies reason." ===== CHAPTER 375 =====