The Fallen Nation System, Turning the Tide - Chapter 5: Departure

Chapter 5: Departure

“Does this warrant sending six hundred thousand troops to subjugate them?”

Xia Chenglie was rendered speechless. When the first city fell, accusations piled high on his desk in Chang’an. With the loss of a second city, the emperor urgently summoned him back to court for questioning. After the third city fell, he faced universal condemnation and complete ruin of his reputation.

Now, someone stood before him saying the loss of the cities wasn’t his fault, her eyes filled with trust.

“Your Majesty…” Xia Chenglie attempted to refuse, but Xu Ying sharply interrupted: “General Xia, are you defying an imperial decree?”

Hearing himself addressed as “General” after so many years, Xia Chenglie felt dazed. Staring at the dark-skinned, slender woman before him, boundless melancholy surged in his heart. Could things be different this time?

“This general… obeys the decree.”

Xia Chenglie slowly bowed, and after painfully uttering these four words, he felt his blood begin to boil. Long-buried yearnings for galloping across battlefields abruptly awakened.

He had suppressed these desires for years, deliberately avoiding such thoughts. But at the slightest touch, they erupted instantly. The familiar sensations returned swiftly – the rout of abandoning armor and fleeing felt as recent as yesterday. His ears burned hot, and endless shame flooded his heart.

When the news of Xu Ying’s personal expedition reached the Northern Barbarians, they heard the Jin Dynasty had a new female emperor who launched a personal campaign immediately after ascending the throne. Unexpectedly, by the time they received the news, the female emperor had already reached Youzhou.

Tegin Tanmuhu asked: “How many troops has the female emperor mobilized?”

The scout hesitated before replying: “Reporting to Tegin, approximately six…”

“Sixty thousand?” Seeing the scout falter as if struggling to speak, Tanmuhu drew a sharp breath and tentatively asked: “Six hundred thousand?”

They hadn’t done anything particularly noteworthy – at most, they had harassed a village several months earlier.

But the drought had left nothing harvestable. Not only did they gain nothing from entering the village, but the villagers desperately demanded food from them, threatening to fight to the death and eat their flesh if refused. Instead, the villagers ended up taking their provisions.

Does this warrant sending six hundred thousand troops to subjugate them?

The scout coughed dryly, interrupting Tanmuhu’s wild speculations, and said sheepishly: “Tegin, it’s six hundred.”

“Six hundred men?” Tanmuhu slammed the table, furious. “Who is this damned emperor trying to insult!”

The scout hurriedly explained: “They reportedly started with a thousand men when leaving Chang’an, but hundreds deserted along the way. Only six hundred remained when they reached Youzhou.”

“Deserted?” Tanmuhu sat down.

“Yes, many Han people don’t recognize this female emperor. Even soldiers under her command fled to join others. Tegin, I believe this is our perfect opportunity to attack the Jin Dynasty.”

Tanmuhu felt tempted by this suggestion when a deep, authoritative voice interjected: “Unacceptable.”

A tall middle-aged man entered from outside the tent. The scout immediately lowered his head and stepped aside upon seeing him. Tanmuhu reluctantly stood up to make space, clasping his fists in salute: “Yabgu.”

Yabgu Yanjie said: “The Jin people are cunning. We’ve never heard of a female emperor in Jin history. This woman managed to kill all her father and brothers to seize the throne in extremely short time, proving her calculating nature and ruthless methods. She launches a personal expedition soon after taking the throne with only a thousand troops, showing no reaction even when reduced to several hundred men. This is highly abnormal. There’s a Han saying: ‘Unusual events surely portend mischief.’ We must not lower our guard.”

Yanjie then asked the scout: “Have you identified the general the female emperor intends to use?”

The scout replied: “Reporting to Yabgu, the female emperor has appointed Xia Chenglie as chief commander.”

“Isn’t that the ‘Little War God’ who lost three cities in his first command?” Tanmuhu roared with laughter. “This empress isn’t much either, daring to appoint Xia Chenglie as chief commander. That old fool He Chongguang must be fuming!”

Yanjie shot Tanmuhu a sidelong glance. “Don’t underestimate the enemy.”

Before losing three cities consecutively, Xia Chenglie had indeed been regarded as a youthful prodigy in everyone’s eyes, a recognized threat by both the Western Rong and Northern Barbarians.

At twelve, Xia Chenglie began following his father Xia Qiyuan into battle. Every engagement he participated in ended in victory, earning him the title “Little War God.”

Yet a turning point came years later when Xia Qiyuan passed away from illness. Xia Chenglie was appointed chief commander to shoulder the heavy responsibility of resisting the Western Rong. What should have been an assured victory instead became consecutive retreats, shocking everyone. Since then, Xia Chenglie had vanished from public view.

For some reason, Yanjie always felt the empress’s heavy reliance on Xia Chenglie held deeper implications, making him suspect the truth behind those three lost cities.

Tanmuhu remained unconcerned about the Yabgu’s grave demeanor. “Yabgu, you’re too suspicious. This might just be internal strife within the Jin court. Those Jin people are full of cunning schemes they love nothing more than fighting among themselves.”

A scout suddenly recalled crucial information and added, “The empress didn’t bring any ministers on this personal campaign. The one traveling with her appears to be her elder sister.This was strange a royal expedition without trusted ministers or troop mobilization, called a northern campaign yet lacking even the specifications of an imperial tour. Could it truly be internal conflict?

Yanjie couldn’t decipher Xu Ying’s tactics. “Let’s first observe how the empress deploys her forces. If their military strength proves inadequate, we’ll seize this opportunity to breach Youzhou and enter the Central Plains.”

“Yes.” Tanmuhu curled his lips, confidence gleaming in his eyes.

With rainfall having returned only months earlier after three consecutive years of drought, Xu Ying estimated that various regions couldn’t contribute much grain, and Youzhou’s granaries were nearly depleted.

Winter was approaching the Northern Barbarians must have already prepared their winter provisions.

She handed command authority to Xia Chenglie. Cold weather disadvantaged military operations, so Xu Ying ordered him to seek quick resolution and assigned a special mission: seize enemy provisions if available, capture prisoners alive if not, then demand ransom from the Beidi Khan while press-ganging captives into labor.

Xia Chenglie accepted his orders and departed. During troop inspection, he recognized most faces in the ranks. The fervent expectation in their eyes nearly made him avert his gaze.

“Young General, is His Majesty planning to reuse our Xia Family Army again?”” an old officer excitedly approached Xia Chenglie after assembly.

After Old General Xia’s death, Xia Chenglie had surrendered military power and returned to Chang’an. Their Xia Family Army had been dispersed and incorporated into other regiments, the name vanishing entirely, never mentioned again.

Now Xia Chenglie’s reappearance before them stirred overwhelming excitement.

Beyond the army’s revival, the veteran worried about another matter: “Would His Majesty assign some supervisor to obstruct your orders, Young General?”

“Old Hou, your information is outdated. The emperor has changed it’s that princess who can summon rain now.”

Another corrected: “What ‘summon rain’? Even the God of Thunder and Lightning Goddess obey our current emperor’s commands now.”

Old Hou waved dismissively. “Who cares what divine powers the emperor holds? Any ruler who doesn’t suspect the Xia Family Army and lets us slaughter Northern Barbarians is a good emperor.”

The old officers chattered incessantly, but their central concern remained the Xia Family Army they had never forgotten their identity.

Xia Chenglie’s heart was unsettled. He let out a breath and spoke up to dispel their concerns and reassure everyone: “His Majesty has high hopes and has entrusted me with full command of the army. I will restore the prestige of the Xia Family Army!”

Restore the Xia Family Army.

The cold gleam of the Red Tasseled Spear reflected into everyone’s eyes. All present felt a chill in their hearts, their bodies trembling slightly uncontrollably. They had waited far too long for this day.

Fortunately, it had finally arrived.

The emperor’s personal campaign was mainly to boost morale; few actually took to the field. Xu Ying estimated that at most, the enemy would capture her alive to humiliate the Jin dynasty or torture her for some time, but wouldn’t kill her immediately. Therefore, she didn’t depart with Xia Chenglie.

Originally, the northern expedition was merely to escape Chang’an and provoke Liu Xu.

After he selected a suitable candidate from the imperial clan, his first move would undoubtedly be to kill her. Rather than giving Liu Xu time to carefully choose, it was better to create chaos, activate extreme speed mode, and accelerate the path to national collapse to avoid mission failure.

Before Xia Chenglie’s departure, Xu Ying specifically called him to her side and instructed: “Remember, if you cannot win, do not stubbornly persist. Lead the soldiers in a swift retreat. Preserving lives is most important not a single person should be lost.”

In the past, he had only received orders to secure victory at all costs. Hearing such words as “run if you can’t win” suddenly, Xia Chenglie looked up in astonishment.

Xu Ying patted his shoulder. “We can recapture lost cities, but the dead cannot be brought back to life.”

Unless, of course, you’re the protagonist and can cheat.

Xia Chenglie hesitated for a long moment. The female emperor’s trust weighed on his shoulders, and the frustration of past misunderstandings suddenly dissipated. The lofty ambitions of his youth quickly filled his empty chest.

Finally, Xia Chenglie resolutely clasped his fists, his words firm and decisive: “This general obeys the command!”

As Xia Chenglie led the troops to depart, He Chongguang who had been confined to his residence by imperial physicians received the news. He beat his chest in anguish, exclaiming: “A woman rules the empire; the nation will surely fall!”

With these words, he vomited a mouthful of black blood and suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Xu Ying was so pleased she ate an extra bowl of rice.

After handling matters of the northern expedition, Xu Lang approached her again to discuss relocating the capital. They couldn’t afford to lose power for too long; if too much time passed, reclaiming authority would become difficult.

After some thought, Xu Ying decided to take this opportunity to assemble her team for national collapse, just in case Liu Xu proved incompetent and failed to kill her.

Last time, she had seen two books in the database: New History and Records of Famous Ministers. Her hatred points were only enough to exchange for one, and she hesitated over which to choose.

New History was the official historical record, but it was written in ancient classical Chinese. Despite having transmigrated over a decade ago, Xu Ying still struggled with formal classical writing.

Records of Famous Ministers could help her avoid virtuous ministers. It was privately compiled by modern scholars, making it easier for Xu Ying to accept and read quickly. However, it wasn’t very useful at the moment.

After much deliberation, Xu Ying decided to exchange for New History, hoping to find villains within its pages who could help her rapidly collapse the nation.

Opening the system database, Xu Ying noticed her hatred points had increased slightly. At this rate, she should soon be able to exchange for Records of Famous Ministers as well. Her mood lightened as she proceeded to exchange for New History.

After obtaining New History, Xu Ying watched the flickering numbers while waiting for the system to load, then patiently began reading.

Before long, her eyelids grew heavy. Never before had she felt such overwhelming drowsiness. Her eyes closed unknowingly.

The next morning, Xu Ying woke up with no memory of how she had fallen asleep the previous night. She only recalled intending to assemble a team and exchanging for New History…

Read New History!

Xu Ying slapped her forehead as she suddenly remembered. She hurriedly opened the system to read the book.

After reading one line, my mouth felt a bit dry, so I got up to pour a glass of water.

After reading two lines, my back started itching, so I reached inside my collar to scratch it.

After reading three lines, the birds chirping outside the window became too noisy, so I went to close it.

I couldn’t read this book any further it was full of exaggerated praise for Xu Long, completely lacking the factual integrity a historian should have. The system actually described it in the recommendation as having “the style of the Grand Historian.” If Sima Qian heard this, he’d jump out of his coffin to curse.

“System, this is consumer fraud! Refund my hatred points!” Xu Ying protested.

“The recommendation comes from a Yuan Dynasty scholar. The system only extracts relevant evaluations for recommendations. The quality of the content requires the host to discern independently.”

Of course recommendations only say good things no one would attach negative reviews to promote something.

Xu Ying was so angry she felt like vomiting blood.