96: Chapter 6 Entering the Capital

The Capital finally revealed its outline in the early morning of the third day.

Li Ling stood on the running board of the jeep, holding his binoculars and looking at the grey city walls in the distance. The morning mist had not yet fully dispersed, and the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City loomed indistinctly in the fog like a golden mirage. Figures moved on the city walls; those were the defending rebel forces. The city gates were crowded with fleeing commoners—some pushing carts, some carrying shoulder poles, others supporting the elderly and leading the young. Cries and curses blended together, as noisy as a boiling pot of porridge.

"This is the Capital?" Li Ling put down his binoculars and smacked his lips. "It's more run-down than I imagined."

His words were not out of affectation. From the time he transmigrated until now, the only major cities he had seen were Jiangning Prefecture, Shanghai, and Jinhai. Jiangning Prefecture had been managed by him like a modern metropolis, with wide streets, orderly streetlights, and Western-style buildings everywhere; Shanghai was the domain of foreign concessions, with foreign firms and hotels lining the streets; Jinhai was a heavy industrial hub of the north, with towering chimneys and intersecting railways. In contrast, the Capital before him was grey and dusty, like an old man in his twilight years. The city walls were tall but mottled, the bricks weathered and peeling, with weeds growing from the crevices. Most of the colored paint on the gate tower had peeled off, revealing the greyish-white wood grain beneath. The water in the moat was turbid and green, with garbage and dead fish floating in it, emitting an unpleasant stench.

Li Ling habitually wanted to complain to the system in his mind, but there was no response after he called out twice. He froze for a moment, only then remembering—that fellow had said a few days ago that it had discovered some "singing and dancing system" and had run off in high spirits, claiming it was going for an "exchange of learning." Before leaving, it even left behind a sentence: "Don't look for me if there's nothing, and definitely don't look for me if there's something." At that time, Li Ling had cursed it for abandoning friends for love, but the system ignored him completely and went offline.

"Fine, it's good that you're not here, saves you from arguing with me every day," Li Ling muttered to himself, glancing at the city wall again. "Anyway, I don't need you right now."

Pulling his thoughts back, he waved his hand and ordered the troops to continue advancing. Three thousand Marines marched in formation in the morning light, their grey uniforms like a torrent of steel, surging along the official road toward the city gate. Armored vehicles guarded both sides of the column, their machine gun turrets rotating slowly, pointing their dark barrels at the faintly visible rebel soldiers on the city walls. Further away, a low rumble echoed faintly from the sea—it was the three Dreadnoughts in the direction of Bohai Bay coordinating their actions. Although their artillery shells could not reach the Capital, the deterrent force was more than enough.

On the city walls, the rebel flag was still flying—a large banner embroidered with the character "Zhao" fluttering loudly in the cold wind. The defending soldiers lay behind the battlements, their rifles aimed at the troops below, but their hands were trembling. They had never seen such an army—neat formations, uniform dress, sophisticated weaponry, and those steel beasts spewing black smoke. This was unlike any army they had fought before.

"Listen up, people on the wall!" Wang Hu shouted at the top of his lungs. "We are the troops of Lord Li Zhenshan, the Southeast Commissioner! By the secret imperial decree of the Emperor, we have come to save the sovereign! Open the city gates immediately, without delay!"

The city walls fell silent for a moment, and then a shrill voice rang out, "What proof do you have?"

Li Ling took out the secret decree from his breast pocket and held it high. The imperial jade seal was stamped on the bright yellow silk, shining brightly in the sunlight.

"The secret decree is here! Why haven't you opened the gates yet!"

Another commotion broke out on the city walls. Several rebel officers huddled together and whispered for a long time, and then the shrill voice rang out again, "We are ordered to defend the city. Without orders from above, we dare not open the gates! Wait here, I will go report!"

Li Ling sneered and turned to walk back to the jeep.

"We're not waiting anymore," he said in a deep voice. "Pass the order: artillery, prepare. If they don't open the gates in five minutes, blast them open."

"Yes, sir!"

The Marine Corps' Artillery Company immediately sprang into action. Six seventy-five-millimeter field guns were towed from behind the trucks, their muzzles aimed at the city gate. The gunners skillfully loaded the shells, aimed, and awaited the order.

On the city walls, the rebels saw the dark gun barrels and instantly fell into utter chaos. Some ran down, some shrank back, and others shouted, "Don't shoot, we surrender!" The officer with the shrill voice was spinning in circles with anxiety, scrambling down the city wall to ask his superiors for instructions.

Four minutes.

Four minutes and thirty seconds.

The city gate suddenly opened with a creak.

A middle-aged general in rebel uniform, leading several attendants and riding a thin horse, came out of the city gate. His face was sallow, and the bags under his eyes were so deep they could trap a fly, showing at a glance that he had not slept well. Seeing the lined-up soldiers, the armored vehicles, and the dark gun barrels outside the gate, his legs trembled.

"I... I am Zhao Desheng, the commander defending the Capital." He dismounted, cupped his hands in greeting, his voice trembling. "May I ask... may I ask which general is leading the troops?"

Li Ling walked over from the jeep and looked down at him. "Li Ling."

Zhao Desheng's face turned even paler, as white as paper.

Who in the entire Qingxia Kingdom did not know the name of Li Ling now? In five years, starting from nothing, he had built a navy capable of defeating the foreign powers' United Fleet, with five hundred thousand elite troops under his command, whom even the imperial family tried to win over. A figure like him—let alone a mere rebel defender like Zhao Desheng—even if the rebel commander-in-chief came, he would have to be extremely polite.

"Y-Young Master Li." Zhao Desheng's legs shook even harder, making him almost unable to stand. "This lower official... this lower official..."

"Stop with the 'lower official' talk," Li Ling interrupted him. "I ask you, do you want to fight, or do you want to surrender?"

Zhao Desheng fell to his knees with a thud. "Surrender! Surrender! This lower official is willing to surrender!"

The attendants behind him also knelt one after another, kowtowing like garlic being pounded in a mortar.

Li Ling looked at him, his heart completely untroubled. He had seen too many of these fence-sitters—they followed whoever was strong, surrendering to him today and potentially to someone else tomorrow. But this was an extraordinary time; he had no time to carry out a purge, so he had to stabilize them first.

"Surrender is acceptable," Li Ling said calmly, "but you must agree to a few of my conditions."

"Please speak, Young Master! Please speak!" Zhao Desheng nodded repeatedly.

"First, hand over all weapons; none may be hidden. Second, hand over all documents, ledgers, and secret letters of the rebel army. Third, all your men must gather outside the city to be reorganized. Can you do this?"

"Yes! Yes! We can do it all!" Zhao Desheng kowtowed. "This lower official will go handle it right away!"

He scrambled up and ran back into the city. Before long, a white flag rose on the city wall, and the rebel soldiers lined up, piling their guns on both sides of the city gate, then walked out of the city dejectedly to squat in the designated area.

The Marine Corps began to enter the city. Armored vehicles cleared the way ahead, infantry followed behind, machine gunners kept watch on the vehicle roofs, and snipers searched for targets from high vantage points. Everything was orderly, like a military exercise rehearsed countless times.

Li Ling did not enter the city with the main force. He stood outside the city gate, looking at this ancient city, a wave of complex emotions rising in his heart.

This was the Capital, the heart of the Qingxia Kingdom. For hundreds of years, countless emperors had issued orders here, ruling over this vast land. But now, it was like a terminally ill old man, gasping for breath, ready to expire at any moment.

"Five years," he murmured. "From bandit suppression to entering the Capital, it's been five years."

No one responded to him. The system was not there, so there was not even anyone to bicker with. He suddenly missed that foul-mouthed fellow a bit.

Li Ling shook his head and strode through the city gate.

The situation inside the Capital was even worse than Li Ling had imagined.

Garbage was scattered everywhere on the streets, and the snow was trodden black and hard, like a thick crust of mud. The shops on both sides were closed, their doors and windows boarded up, some even pasted with seals. Occasionally, a few small shops were open, selling coarse grains and miscellaneous flour, but long queues stretched from their doors, and though the commoners shivered with cold, they still persisted in waiting in line.

Even more shocking were the corpses of those who had frozen or starved to death. They were everywhere—under the corners of walls, beside ditches, inside city gate tunnels. Some corpses were half-buried in the snow, showing only a hand or a foot; some were curled up in a ball like frozen hedgehogs; and others had been gnawed beyond recognition by wild dogs, a truly miserable sight.

Li Ling's expression grew darker and darker.

He knew there was a famine in the north, but he had not expected it to be this severe. The Capital, at the feet of the Emperor, had actually reached the point of cannibalism. Did those high-and-mighty members of the imperial family, those incompetent court officials who held onto their posts without doing any work, know that their subjects were starving to death? Did they know that their realm was already riddled with holes?

"Pass the order," Li Ling said in a deep voice. "Draw two hundred thousand catties of grain from the military rations and immediately open the granaries to distribute it. Prioritize the elderly, children, pregnant women, and the wounded. Set up porridge tents in each camp area and distribute porridge twice a day, morning and evening."

"Yes, sir!" The adjutant took the order and left.

Li Ling's troops began to take action. The soldiers set up porridge tents at various intersections, set up large pots, and lit fires. As soon as the rice hit the pots, the fragrance wafted out, drawing a large crowd of commoners whose eyes were green with hunger.

"Line up! Line up!" The soldiers maintained order. "Elderly and children first! Don't crowd!"

At first, the commoners were somewhat afraid; after all, these soldiers wore strange uniforms and carried weapons they had never seen before. However, hunger triumphed over fear. They lined up and received porridge one by one. Some held their bowls with trembling hands, some wept after taking a sip, and others knelt directly on the ground to kowtow.

"Thank you, great army! Thank you, Young Master Li!"

"Young Master Li is a living Bodhisattva!"

"Heaven has opened its eyes! Someone has finally come to save us!"

Li Ling stood beside a porridge tent, watching the commoners wolf down the food, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He was a soldier, but also a politician. Opening the granaries to distribute food was, on one hand, a genuine desire to save lives, and on the other, a move to win the hearts of the people. But he did not care what others said; as long as the result was good, it did not matter if the process was a bit devious.

Just then, a grey-haired old woman tremblingly carried a bowl of porridge to Li Ling and knelt down with a thud.

"Young Master Li, this old woman kowtows to you!" The old woman wept bitter tears. "My son is a soldier in the Imperial Guard. He fled on the day the rebels attacked the city and hasn't returned since. I was home alone and starved for three days. If you hadn't come, I would have starved to death!"

Li Ling quickly helped her up. "Elderly ma'am, please get up. What is your son's name? Which unit was he in? I'll have someone look for him."

The old woman gave a name, and Li Ling noted it down, instructing his adjutant to check.

"Rest assured, as long as he is still alive, I will definitely find him and bring him back to you," Li Ling said.

The old woman departed, expressing her endless gratitude.

Li Ling looked at her retreating figure and sighed.

This was war. The winners were those in power, while the commoners suffered.

While distributing food, Li Ling's troops also took control of various vital departments in the Capital.

City gates, streets, bridges, warehouses, government offices, the telegraph office, the post office... troops were stationed at every key location. Although martial law had not been declared, anyone could feel that the power in this city had already changed hands.

As for the imperial family, Li Ling was in no hurry to see them. He wanted to leave them out in the cold for a bit, to let them know who called the shots now.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the adjutant came to report, "My Lord, the Imperial City has been completely secured. The rebel forces left behind have been disarmed, and all members of the imperial family are safe. His Majesty the Emperor invites you to enter the palace for an audience."

"Invites me?" Li Ling raised his eyebrows. "The wording is quite polite. Is it 'invites' or 'summons'?"

The adjutant froze for a moment. "It's... it's 'invites'."

"That's more like it." Li Ling stood up and straightened his military uniform. "Let's go meet my father-in-law."