If the Tang Empire won, it would say to its opponents: "You damn well behave yourself in the future, or be careful that I wipe out your entire clan. Pay tribute obediently every year!"
<...Wanyan Qi was also a fierce general who had fought on battlefields large and small. He had killed at least 800,000 people. For them, killing was just a matter of beheading.
But when Wanyan Qi heard the emperor's nonchalant tone, his heart still trembled.
Although his tone was normal, as if he were discussing a neighbor's family matter, it contained an imposing authority that was so great that no one could refuse, nor dared to refuse.
Wanyan Qi couldn't help but say, "Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Go now, I await your good news."
"This guilty subject takes his leave!"
Wanyan Qi turned and left, mounted his horse, and led his men swiftly towards the capital.
Three miles outside the gates of Shangjing, countless princes and ministers of the Jin Dynasty lined up neatly on both sides to welcome His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty.
Before long, they saw Wanyan Qi return with his men.
Shi Li'ai's son, Shi Feng, asked, "Lord Zhenwu, where are we going?"
"By imperial decree, go forth and arrest the traitors."
The surrounding princes and ministers were shocked. They had originally recommended that Wanyan Qi go to negotiate surrender, but why did he come back saying that he was going to arrest the traitors?
Before everyone could react, Wanyan Qi had already led his men into the city.
Once Wanyan Qi entered the city, he began to gather his troops. He didn't have many men left, as most of them had been forcibly conscripted by Wanyan Qi's mother and died on the front lines.
Currently, they only have a little over a thousand people under their command, but these thousand-plus people can now roam freely in the capital city.
Once all the soldiers were assembled, Wanyan Qi's list was also completed.
The Jin Dynasty had four major ethnic groups: Jurchen, Han, Khitan, and Bohai.
Almost half of Wanyan Qi's list consisted of nobles from the Khitan and Bohai ethnic groups.
For example, Yelü Hongge, the Duke of Wei, was a member of the royal family of the former Liao Dynasty.
For example, Li Zhonggan was a leader of the Bohai people and a descendant of the king of the Bohai Kingdom during the pre-Tang Dynasty.
These people weren't entirely against surrendering; some hoped for a miracle, while others had already begun discussing surrendering to the Song Dynasty.
However, surrendering required a grand gift, or rather, something slightly different from what was given to the princes and nobles outside the city, which delayed their departure to welcome the emperor.
This gave Wanyan Qi an opportunity.
His men re-entered these people's homes and, without saying a word, began a massacre.
Not to mention the servants and maids in the mansion, even the beautiful young ladies were killed. Their heads were cut off and held in their hands, dripping blood all over the ground.
In short, not even chickens and ducks were spared; all the living were killed.
Wanyan Qi acted very quickly, carrying out massacres throughout the capital city. People could be seen riding horses with human heads hanging from their waists, galloping towards the city walls. Some people even transported heads to the city walls in horse-drawn carts.
When the nobles and princes of the Jin Kingdom who were waiting outside the city for Emperor Zhao Huan heard what had happened inside the city, they were all terrified and turned pale.
No one knows what triggered Wanyan Qi, but he suddenly started killing people in the city.
They began to worry that they might be killed.
However, some astute individuals immediately deduced that Wanyan Qi had received an imperial order from the Emperor of the Song Dynasty; otherwise, he would have had no motive to kill.
The thought sent chills down everyone's spines and made their scalps tingle. They were thankful that they had left the city.
By the afternoon, the area in front of the city gate was filled with heads hanging down.
These people were all nobles and high-ranking officials in the capital, always surrounded by servants and living a life of extravagance and debauchery.
Now, however, he has ended up in the tragic state of being beheaded.
Even girls as young as thirteen or fourteen were not spared.
War is inherently cruel.
The city walls were stained with blood, making them look particularly gruesome.
The streets of the city were also piled with corpses, and screams could be heard from the Yelü Mansion ahead. A beautiful woman dressed in gold and silver, surrounded by several servants, escaped from the mansion, but was still beheaded by the soldiers who caught up with her and then thrown into the pile of corpses in the middle of the street.
Half a day feels like a hundred years to people in the capital.
Approximately 8,000 people died in total.
In the afternoon, the nobles and princes outside the city, who had been waiting patiently, finally saw a large group of people approaching them.
They were drenched in cold sweat; it was the longest day they had ever experienced.
A long path parted in the middle of the heavily armored Imperial Guards, and the emperor walked forward, escorted by a group of elite cavalry.
"Long live the Emperor!"
The crowd shouted in unison.
Zhao Huan, dressed in military attire, was full of vigor and high spirits.
His years as an emperor had instilled in him a sense of authority. Even when he was merely riding a horse, his every move exuded the aura of a king standing atop a towering peak, looking down upon the world.
Zhao Huan glanced around and saw that the people who came included Han Chinese, Jurchens, and Khitans.
They once gathered on this land, plotting day and night how to conquer my capital, Tokyo.
They once had tens of thousands of brave warriors, clad in armor and wielding sharp weapons, navigating complex situations with unparalleled skill.
In the past, the entire Song Dynasty, from top to bottom, feared these people like tigers.
In the eyes of the Han people of the past, they were invincible.
But now, they have all submitted to me.
The Han cavalry crushed all resistance. My warriors fought their way from the Great Wall to here, sending all the rebels to meet the King of Hell with swords and blood.
Let all those with ulterior motives kneel here.
Everyone buried their heads, cold sweat pouring out of their brows.
Even with their heads buried, they could still seem to smell the stench of blood wafting from the city.
"Everyone, stand up and speak."
When the emperor's voice reached their ears, everyone was initially startled, but then relaxed slightly.
This is the first time anyone here has seen the legendary Emperor of the Song Dynasty.
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