She took the initiative to speak: "Your Majesty, I have heard that a group of pirates has invaded the Central Plains from the coast. I wonder if that group of pirates is called the Shenyas Legion?"
Si Xitong nodded slightly.
Marilyn thought to herself that she had guessed correctly. She continued, "You invited me here because you want to know the origins of the God As Legion?"
"Judging from Miss Marilyn's tone, you seem to have heard of the God As Legion before," Si Xitong said. "Would you mind discussing it in more detail?"
Marilyn realized that His Majesty indeed wanted to learn about the God As Legion through her. So she told Si Xitong about God As's infamous deeds in the West.
The Godas Legion is essentially a pirate group, and also a mercenary force. They are a chaotic power affiliated with various Western nations, operating solely for payment and orders.
Those who joined the pirate crews were all notorious bandits who had committed arson, murder, and plunder from all corners of the world. They traveled overseas to slaughter islanders and plunder resources from the native inhabitants in order to expand their own conglomerates.
That's right, Shinra isn't backed by a government, but by a conglomerate. It's a conglomerate called Shinra.
This consortium has some connection to Anluo, and Anluo wouldn't sell its weapons to pirate groups to bolster their power. Anluo succeeded in doing so. But the Imperial Kingdom did not.
The Empire of Xi is an old and powerful nation in the West, and has long been at odds with the emerging Anluo Kingdom. Its military strength is inferior to Anluo's, so it has maintained a low profile in its development.
The Imperial Kingdom's method of development was simple: to go out to sea and plunder various places.
But this time, they suddenly attacked the Central Plains, targeting an Eastern superpower that even the Kingdom of Anluo had to consider establishing diplomatic relations with.
Marilyn said, "Perhaps the Imperial Empire has information about your country, which is why it dared to burn, kill, and plunder your country."
Si Xitong fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Which is stronger, Anluo Kingdom or Dixi Kingdom?"
The question was simple and straightforward. Marilyn was taken aback, thinking that the way he asked the question was a bit like a marshal.
Marilyn answered honestly, "Overall, it is naturally not as good as Anluo. However, the Imperial Power still has a weapon advantage. Their cannons and guns are the latest models, and many of their weapons are still being copied from ours."
After hearing this, Si Xitong didn't ask any more questions. She then fell into deep thought with Marilyn.
Finally, Marilyn was asked to go back first. After Marilyn left the Golden Palace, Zhang Changle entered through a side door. He had clearly overheard Marilyn's words.
"Master?" Zhang Changle stepped forward and cupped his hands, saying, "It seems that the military equipment of the Anluo Kingdom has already surpassed that of our dynasty by decades."
The reason Anluo didn't choose to attack the Central Plains like Dixi wasn't because they didn't want to, but probably because of the succession struggle. The old king of Anluo needed Dajin to prove to his two sons who was superior.
Once things calm down in Parthia, it's hard to guarantee they won't consider invading the Central Plains. After all, the Central Plains' weaponry is generally inferior to that of Parthia.
“But Miss Marilyn seems to have some reservations.” Zhang Changle suggested, “Your Highness, we learned from the Anluo envoy and his delegation that the Anluo people refer to themselves in the West as the era of the First Industrial Revolution.”
"Their ships are no longer wooden ships. Although they are not as large as our dynasty's treasure ships, they are now sturdy and stable steel ships."
"There is also the so-called steam engine that drives iron ships forward."
Upon hearing this news, Si Xitong's expression softened somewhat: "Chang Le, how far has Gongsun Feng's situation progressed?"
Zhang Changle said, "Viscount Gongsun has already sent people to Anluo. I believe that the trade route centered on the four Southeast Asian countries will be opened soon."
He noticed that His Highness wasn't nervous at all. Outside, the fighting was raging fiercely, and the situation was extremely tense.
"Your Highness, should we proceed to the next step?" Zhang Changle said, "After all, speed is of the essence in war."
Si Xitong nodded to him. Just after Zhang Changle left, Xie Shangguang walked in.
Following closely behind was Xie Lanzhi.
Xie Lanzhi stepped into the palace with her hands behind her back. She pursed her lips and said in a feigned sad tone, "Your Majesty is so cunning. You have so many secrets hidden in private, yet you have not revealed a single one."
Si Xitong's eyes lit up as she stared intently at her, a hint of a smile in her eyes: "The Marshal is not directing operations from the Military Affairs Department, but instead has come to the main hall. Could it be that the war is already under the Marshal's control?"
Xie Lanzhi choked instantly. How could she possibly know that this battlefield wasn't aimed at her at all?
Those who came for her were all engaged in hand-to-hand combat, unlike the weapons of today which have entered a semi-industrialized era.
She, Xie Shangguang of Yue Kingdom, stood before the hall without going up, and stopped joking. She said in a deep voice, "I know everything."
"Little Phoenix, you are now experiencing the industrial age I've been talking about."
"To be honest, the Central Plains is still in a backward stage. Even though we have tried our best to catch up, being backward is being backward. This is a fact that no one can deceive themselves about."
Si Xitong glanced at Xie Shangguang.
Xie Shangguang obediently withdrew.
Now that only they remained in the Golden Palace, Si Xitong naturally set aside her airs, descended the steps, and stood before Xie Lanzhi. Their eyes met; one was calm and collected, the other somewhat worried.
Xie Lanzhi said, "Faced with modern weapons and unconventional combat capabilities that cover all aspects, military strategy can no longer compensate for this."
"I have already assigned personnel to plug all the loopholes that can be plugged; the remaining issue is firepower."
"Fear of insufficient firepower?" Si Xitong smiled, recalling that the person in front of her had mentioned it before. She said, "Is that so?"
Xie Lanzhi nodded: "This era has not yet experienced a century of tragedy like my world."
"Little Phoenix, I firmly believe that you will push the wheels of history forward."
Si Xitong, her hands hidden behind her dragon robe, moved slightly. She suppressed the urge to embrace her and quickly turned away, leaving only her back view. As she walked, she ordered, "Please, Marshal Xie, immediately dispatch troops to counterattack Hai Kou and recover Yue and Shi Kingdoms."
Xie Lanzhi smiled and said, "Yes!"
The Shi Kingdom, located next to the Southern Region, is facing a continuous increase in refugees, putting increasing pressure on its border defenses. The Grand Master of Ceremonies is forced to consider expelling the refugees.
If this continues, the Southern Region will be overcrowded by the Shi Kingdom. Public order will collapse, and the local people will be harassed.
This is a reality that Xie does not want to see.
Just as the 50,000 Southern Region soldiers were holding off the enemy outside, news suddenly came from the Shi Kingdom that its capital had fallen. Blast open by two cannons, the Shi Kingdom's ruler, Shi Yang, was captured by the sea monster before he could even react.
At the same time, the capital was massacred, resulting in the deaths of at least eight thousand people.
After the fall of the Stone Kingdom's capital, Makino, the highest-ranking officer of the Sea God As Legion, finally appeared.
Shi Yang never imagined that in just two days he would become a slave of a conquered nation, and the first ruler of a country captured by the sea monsters in the five days since their invasion.
Shi Yang felt a little regretful about his unwarranted pride.
He was bound to his throne and carried to the palace gates in a palanquin by two pirates, where he personally witnessed his people fleeing through the streets, being hacked to death by the pirates. Women were taken into houses by the pirates, children were hacked to death in front of them, and men's corpses littered the ground. Old people were beaten to death.
Shi Yang had never cared about the people of the Shi State Mansion; what did it have to do with him? But now, watching them being killed by pirates right before his eyes, he began to waver.
Until a black, tin-plated, high-wheeled cart, pulled by three horses, entered the city.
One of the car doors opened, and a man from the Central Plains dressed in Western clothes and wearing a tall hat got out of the car.
He used a ceremonial cane, not because he was lame, but as a nobleman's ornament.
This man is Makino. He has a small mustache and looks neither like a foreigner nor a Chinese, but rather a man somewhere in between.
Seeing the disheveled Shi Yang, he took off his tall hat and bowed to him in a gentlemanly manner: "King Shi, I was very surprised to receive your letter."
Shi Yang stared at him, feeling disgusted by the strange and incongruous aura emanating from the other man.
Rather than the kind of demeanor that Marshal Xie possessed, which made him look up to him and even admire him.
This man was utterly disgusting. In this place strewn with corpses and flowing with blood, his leather shoes were stepping on a pool of blood, yet he appeared polite, like a demon in human skin.
He was completely undisguised in his disgust towards Shi Yang.
Mu Ye said, "After so many years, the people of the Central Plains are still as unruly as ever."
Shi Yang immediately questioned, "Aren't you from the Central Plains?!"
Faced with his questioning, Mu Ye put his hat back on and smiled: "Twenty years ago, I was a citizen of the Great Jin Dynasty, but I have long since abandoned that corrupt and filthy identity and crossed the ocean to reform myself."
"I am now the highest-ranking officer of the God As Legion. I have returned recently because I miss my former motherland."
"I also recall that twenty years ago, my motherland, out of fear of me and my masters, tried to exterminate us. Now, thinking about it, times have changed, and the Central Plains is indeed a country that I both love and hate."
"It remains as ignorant and arrogant as ever!"
Shi Yang couldn't understand what he was saying, but he sensed a sudden emotional fluctuation followed by an instant silence. Twenty years ago? Twenty years ago, he was only a few years old, living with his mother in a brothel. Who had ever seen him?
Looking at Shi Yang's bewildered and ignorant expression, Mu Ye took out a booklet from inside his suit. It contained a detailed investigation of Shi Yang from childhood to adulthood: "Shi Yang, his father is Shi Yang, his elder brother is Shi Jian. His mother is a prostitute."
When Shi Yang heard him address his mother in that way, he glared at Mu Ye, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
Unmoved, Mu Ye continued reciting: "His wife, Gongsun Feng, is currently a viscount of one of the four kingdoms of Nanyang. After seizing power a year ago, she acted arrogantly, neglected state affairs, and caused the people of the country to suffer."
"The person I admire most is a female general named Xie Ying."
Changing the subject, Makino raised his eyes and smiled, asking, "That patricide and patricide murderer, is that right?"
"I heard that she only took three years to bring the entire Southern Central Plains under her control. Because she fell in love with the daughter of the Emperor of Jin at first sight, all her subsequent achievements were for the benefit of the daughter of the Emperor."
Am I right?
Shi Yang remained silent. Suddenly, the people carrying him threw the sedan chair forward from their shoulders, causing Shi Yang to fall and bruise his face. Then they picked him up and threw him out again until the sedan chair fell apart.
Shi Yang lay face down on the ground, blood streaming from his nose.
Mu Ye interrupted his subordinates, saying, "How can you be so rude? Quickly help King Shi up."
He walked up to Shi Yang's head first, squatted down, and saw a pair of spotless leather boots in front of Shi Yang. Above him, he spoke in a soft, gentle, and refined tone: "Woman and woman, what a lewd, absurd, and disgusting relationship, isn't it?"
"A princess of the throne, in order to support the Jin dynasty, actually submitted to a woman. Shouldn't she be despised and humiliated by the world, leaving a lasting stain on her reputation?"
Shi Yang bit his lip, and actually thought this person was a lunatic?!
What's with all this talk of lewdness and debauchery? He's the truly absurd one! Shi Yang originally thought he already looked like a madman.
He never expected to meet a man even crazier than himself!
"It seems the King of Shi hasn't decided how to surrender to us yet." Mu Ye stood up, putting the booklet back in his pocket, his tone complex yet cold and puzzled: "The people of the Central Plains are traditional and ugly. They follow the customs left by their ancestors and worship and blindly obey them. So how can they tolerate masters who violate natural law and commit incest under such strict feudal etiquette?"
"Didn't the people of the Central Plains ever suspect them? Or did they use some means to deceive the world, or to silence the world? It's truly incomprehensible."
Shi Yang didn't understand what he meant by what he said earlier, but he understood that this person was questioning the relationship between the Marshal and His Majesty, and was even more concerned about why the people of the Central Plains would accept them.
Shi Yang suddenly chuckled, his laughter tinged with sarcasm: "Looks like your intelligence gathering wasn't enough."
Mu Ye glanced at him and said, "It seems that Lord Shi knows exactly what's going on. Could you clear up this mystery for me?"
“Of course, it’s about doing the opposite of what you do, and that wins the hearts of the people,” Shi Yang said matter-of-factly. “I don’t think anyone would be so idle as to meddle in the family affairs of the Marshal and His Majesty.”
"Why wouldn't you care? Aren't you Central Plains people the most polite, the most averse to violating tradition, and even... capable of exterminating people for the sake of your rule?" Mu Ye mocked. "It seems that quite a few things have changed in the Central Plains during my absence."
"But it doesn't matter."
Mu Ye made a thumb ring, signaling the pirates to carry the Shi Kingdom's mansion into the palace.
He turned and, leaning on his cane, entered the carriage.
Meanwhile, news of Shi Yang's capture by Mu Ye spread throughout the entire Southern Central Plains. With its capital city captured, the Shi Kingdom was effectively destroyed.
The generals of the Shi State government charged forward in waves, trying to save Shi Yang, but they all perished in the artillery fire.