In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 930 Unification Under One Rule (The Finale)

After watching the two spirit-feathered chickens depart, the elite Yang family army on the city wall took a deep breath, gripped their weapons firmly with determined eyes, and faced the vast number of enemies.

A fierce battle erupted on the city walls, with enemies charging in one after another, and the elite soldiers of the Yang family army falling one after another.

However, the death of their comrades did not frighten these men of the Yang family army in the slightest. On the contrary, it aroused their fighting spirit. Even though they knew they were doomed, they did not retreat a single step!

Meanwhile, upon seeing the two Spirit Feather Chickens return, Yang Zheng officially issued military orders and launched a full-scale attack.

Previously, the ground attack was just a feint; the real attack was carried out by the elite Yang family army sent to the city walls. But from this moment on, the real main force of the attack became the ground troops!

There were simply too few soldiers that could be sent from the city walls. Unless they were all first-rank martial artists like Tian Yu, they simply couldn't influence the outcome of the war.

The vanguard troops sent to the city walls were actually there to tie down the defenders' forces and distract their attention, creating opportunities for the main ground forces!

Therefore, upon learning that the vanguard had arrived, Yang Zheng immediately issued a military order for a full-scale attack!

"kill!"

Amidst deafening battle cries, the Yang family army, covering the entire mountainside, pushed various siege weapons and launched a fearless charge towards the city ahead!

Because the defenders on the city wall had their attention diverted by the advance troops, the Yang family army easily approached the city wall and then began to scale it using siege engines such as siege towers and ladders!

Soon the first soldier climbed onto the city wall, followed by the second, the third, the fourth...

As more and more soldiers of the Yang family army climbed onto the city walls, the outcome of the siege was completely decided!

"It's over, everything is over!"

Looking at the Yang family army soldiers surging onto the city walls, Cui Wu was filled with despair.

The Yang family army has hundreds of thousands of troops, while our side, even including the forcibly conscripted laborers, has only 30,000 troops. A tenfold difference in troop strength, and now we have lost the advantage of the city...

The moment the advantage of the city was lost, the outcome of this siege was no longer in doubt, and the fate of the Xia Dynasty... was also coming to an end!

"Your Majesty, this old general is incompetent and can only atone with his death!"

Cui Wu drew his sword, held it across his neck, and slashed his own throat.

A line of blood appeared on Cui Wu's neck, and the spray of blood made Cui Wu clearly feel his life slipping away.

At that moment, many scenes flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern: the hunger of his childhood, the high spirits of his youth, and the frustrations of his middle age...

In his final moments, Cui Wu thought of the generals who had favored him in the army when he was young, of the late emperor who had shown him kindness, of the corrupt court he now ruled, and of the people who had sold their children and resorted to cannibalism because of the court's bad policies...

"Perhaps, a change of dynasty is not necessarily a bad thing!"

Cui Wu smiled slightly. He was well aware of the emperor's incompetence and the officials' corruption.

How could he not pity those poor people?

His gratitude for the court's recognition and support prevented him from making the decision to betray it.

For him, death now is a kind of relief.

As he fell to the ground, Cui Wu even had a slight, relaxed smile on his face.

With Cui Wu's fall, the leaderless garrison completely collapsed. Whether they were soldiers belonging to the imperial court or laborers forcibly conscripted, they all chose to surrender.

At this point, the capital city was completely without any defensive capabilities!

Yang Zheng's 500,000-strong army poured into the capital, unleashing another massacre!

Of course, Yang Zheng did not slaughter those poor common people, but the powerful and wealthy who enslaved the people and rode on their heads!

One after another, magnificent mansions were breached, and the Yang family army poured in, arresting or beheading the nobles living inside. The cries of the nobles echoed throughout the capital.

Meanwhile, Yang Zheng led his troops into the palace and met Emperor Xia Yuanyao, who was hiding in the inner palace, trembling with fear.

"Yang Zheng, you can't kill me!"

Upon seeing Yang Zheng stride towards him, Xia Yuanyao collapsed to the ground, his face filled with terror, and said, "I am the rightful emperor of the Xia Kingdom. If you kill me, the whole world will not tolerate you!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Zheng immediately laughed: "The people of the world? Who are the people of the world? Are they the common people who can't even get enough to eat, or the extravagant nobles in the capital? Or are they the scholars who only know how to talk big all day long but don't know the hardships of the common people?"

"They are naturally nobles and scholars!"

"Hahahaha!"

Yang Zheng burst into laughter and said coldly, "In my eyes, they have never been human! Don't worry, after you, I will send them one by one to meet the King of Hell!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Yuanyao trembled even more violently, stammering, "Yang Zheng, you can't kill me! Please spare my life, I can abdicate the throne to you!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Erlang and the others following behind Yang Zheng were somewhat moved. Although Xia Yuanyao was weak and incompetent, he was indeed the legitimate ruler of the Xia Kingdom, at least in the minds of many ignorant people and blindly loyal scholars.

If the King of Liang could accept Xia Yuanyao's abdication, unifying the world would be much smoother. At least many scholars who were loyal to the court, as well as officials from various regions, would be willing to serve the King of Liang.

Thinking of this, Yang Erlang couldn't help but say, "King Liang..."

Before Yang Erlang could speak, Yang Zheng waved his hand to interrupt him: "What I want, I will take myself. As for abdication..."

Yang Zheng drew his sword and beheaded Xia Yuanyao with a single stroke: "I find your throne too tainted!"

Xia Yuanying's head was thrown high into the air before falling to the ground, his eyes wide open, as if he had died with his eyes open in disbelief.

Yang Zheng then turned around and ordered, "Pass down the order: in the capital, every single noble who has committed heinous crimes shall be executed without exception!"

"promise!"

…………

…………

With the fall of the capital, the Xia Kingdom, which had ruled the land of Kyushu for 302 years, was completely destroyed. Yang Zheng, who had massacred all the nobles in the capital for three days and three nights, took control of all the territories of Jingzhou and then declared himself emperor, establishing the Liang Kingdom with the reign title of Taiping.

When the news spread, the people of Qingzhou, Liangzhou, Youzhou, and Mingzhou were overjoyed. They spontaneously held celebrations, feeling a sense of joy at the establishment of a new dynasty and the renewal of everything.

The rebels in Yuzhou and the White Lotus Sect were utterly despondent. The moment Yang Zheng conquered Jingzhou and declared himself emperor, they knew they had completely lost the chance to compete with him for the throne.

Of course, both were extremely ambitious people, and it was absolutely impossible for them to surrender to Yang Zheng. So, the moment Yang Zheng declared himself emperor and established his country, the rebels in Yuzhou and the White Lotus Sect also declared themselves emperors one after another. The former established the Wu Kingdom, and the latter established the Ming Kingdom, attempting to unite and rival Yang Zheng.

However, Yang Zheng, who ruled over five states, possessed both high-yield grain crops and the wealth of the major families in the capital, was not someone they could contend with.

In the second year of the Taiping era, Yang Zheng ordered Marquis Yang Erlang, known as the Marquis of Fierce Valor, and Marquis Zhou Yingjie, known as the Marquis of Loyal Martial Valor, to lead troops on an expedition, thus beginning the journey to unify the world.

In August of the second year of the Taiping era, Marquis Yang Erlang led his army to defeat the White Lotus Rebellion and incorporated Qiongzhou and Yuezhou into the territory of the Liang Kingdom. For this military achievement, Yang Erlang was granted the title of Duke of Lieguo, reaching the highest position among the officials.

In September of the same year, Marquis Zhongwu Zhou Yingjie defeated the rebel army in Yuzhou and incorporated Yuzhou into the territory of Liang. He then led his army south and took Haizhou by surprise.

For this military achievement, Zhou Yingjie was granted the title of Duke of Zhongguo.

With this, the flames of war in the Nine Provinces were completely extinguished, and the land was unified!

(End of the book)

P.S.: This book ends here. To be honest, the author himself is not very satisfied with this ending, but there's nothing he can do about it.

About three or four months ago, the author suddenly started experiencing dizziness. He went to the hospital and saw neurologists, ophthalmologists, otolaryngologists, and cardiologists, undergoing numerous tests, but they still couldn't find anything wrong. Every day, he endured severe dizziness and forced himself to write, sometimes even misspelling basic names, and the errors weren't even detected during the final check…

In short, the author is finding it difficult to continue and plans to go to the hospital for a proper check-up after finishing the story.

The author will likely write some epilogues or side stories later, so feel free to follow if you're interested.

Finally, thank you to the following readers from the "Exploding Heaven Gang": Girl's Brother, Night Emperor Who Loves Sticky Rice, Holding a Medicine Jar, Duanzi~GG, Huizong Emperor Who Loves Udon, Pingchangzai from Linzi, Tianjue from Yu'an County Prince's Mansion, User 10086, Elderly Man, Old Yan Lemon, Qingzhou Has Gone, Y(?H?)Y, Xiao Jie Ta, Leng Feng, Phoenix Emperor Who Loves Reading Novels, and Zhao Rong Who Likes to Be Brave, and many others who send gifts to the author every day. Thank you to all the readers who have sent gifts and followed this book!