Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 280 Australia-Song Dynasty!

Sitting on the large ship crossing south, Yue Fei was deeply troubled. Gazing towards Lin'an, where the flames of war still raged, this former hero of the Northern Expedition couldn't help but feel extremely dejected.

[If given a choice, he would absolutely not have followed the emperor on the boat south, but would have chosen to live and die with Grand Tutor Zhou and the officials and soldiers!]

Dying on the battlefield is the kind of death every general dreams of...

Unfortunately, he had no choice.

After the emperor, in a fit of rage, decided to cross the river to the south, he, as the emperor's most loyal and trusted general, naturally could not refuse the emperor's order. Therefore, no matter how much he wanted to die with the army, he could not fulfill his wish...

Thinking about it, he couldn't help but think of that young man again... Although you were over seventy years old when you died, in Yue Fei's eyes you were still that young man practicing with a spear on the platform.

Yes, he recognized your true identity a long time ago. Although you used illusion magic to conceal your true appearance, your aura couldn't fool him. Especially after he heard about you exchanging insults under two different aliases, he became even more certain of your identity!

You must be the one who impersonated him!

[However, what he didn't expect was that you ultimately didn't enter the court under the guise of being his disciple, but instead became a rising star in the emperor's inner circle, even rising rapidly through the ranks to the position of Grand Tutor!]

Honestly, your growth trajectory has truly exceeded his expectations...

However, he harbored no resentment towards you because of this; on the contrary, he greatly admired you. He admired your unconventional rise to the position of Grand Tutor and your unwavering commitment to war until your final sacrifice.

At the same time, he was naturally aware of the pressure the authorities were putting on you. Although you didn't make the classic "self-sacrificing" choice of the protagonist, he didn't think you made the wrong choice...

After all, everyone has self-respect. To choose death over losing it makes you a hero in your own right.

[On the contrary, it's the government... the government is truly disgusting! They actually use the people to morally blackmail you. Clearly, they could still protect the world, but to force you to submit, they choose to feign weakness. Even when they're beaten and forced to flee south by boat, they refuse to reactivate their divine power to protect you!]

This is truly... disgusting!

[In his heart, Yue Fei silently cursed the emperor.]

However… he couldn’t bring this matter up publicly, nor could he express any dissatisfaction or resentment towards the emperor, because he was, after all, a loyal subject. Since the emperor had made this choice, he could only follow orders…

This is undeniably a helpless situation.

Yue Fei sighed and turned to look at Han Shizhong beside him... Yue Fei could tell that his old friend of many years was also in a bad mood at this moment. If he had a choice, he would probably prefer to die fighting alongside the Grand Tutor in Lin'an rather than sail south with the Emperor...

"Where else can we cross to if we go south?"

Han Shizhong muttered to himself, "The Song Dynasty moved south from Bianjing to Nanjing (Shangqiu), and then from Nanjing to Lin'an... Now even Lin'an has been lost. Where can we go further south?"

Liu Guangshi glanced at him, then said in a muffled voice, "I heard from the Emperor that there are many islands in the south, some even larger than the Song Dynasty. Once we get there, we won't have to worry about finding a place to stay."

"Moreover, it seems the Jurchens won't be advancing further south. As long as we don't launch any more northern expeditions and simply continue the Song Dynasty's legacy, things should be peaceful from now on..."

As he was speaking, Yue Fei suddenly asked him, "While there are many lands overseas, can they truly be considered part of the Song Dynasty?"

【"this……"】

Liu Guangshi was speechless.

Yue Fei slowly said, "We were originally from the Central Plains, but later we migrated to Jiangnan... Although Jiangnan is a remote corner of the country, it is still the land of the Song Dynasty, and the people of Jiangnan are still subjects of the Song Dynasty."

"Now we're moving again and again, even going to overseas islands to continue the Song dynasty's rule... What are we continuing? The Song dynasty never owned that land, and the local people were never Song citizens. Even if we build a country there called the Song dynasty, can it truly be considered the Song dynasty?"

Everyone fell silent...

In the ensuing silence, everyone's gaze spontaneously turned to the distant cabin, the Emperor Zhao's private quarters.

【…】

Listening to the discussion outside the cabin, Zhao Gou remained silent for a long time. As emperor, he naturally didn't want things to come to this, but... he had no better option.

Although the claim that His divine power had declined to the point of being unable to protect the country was merely a performance to force you to submit, His divine power had indeed weakened considerably!

After all, He had to use His divine power to cover the vast territory of the Song Dynasty every day for over two hundred years. Who could withstand that kind of drain?

[The key is that He isn't like Zhu Youjian. Even if Zhu Youjian's divine power was greatly depleted, he could recover it using the magic of the diagrams, but poor Him can't do such a simple and crude thing.]

[If He wants to regain His divine power, He either needs you to engage in "ditch literature" (a form of online literature), or He can only invade the Jin Dynasty through a northern expedition... But you are unwilling to cater to His needs, nor are you willing to let Him launch a northern expedition with heavy casualties. Once you do that, He is at a loss!]

Seeing that you were such a die-hard, and also because He was truly fed up with the Song Dynasty, this "bottomless pit of divine power," He then took the initiative to migrate south across the sea.

The Jurchens only desired the lands south of the Yangtze River, so as long as they remained far away overseas, they could achieve true and lasting peace!

Yes, it's no longer temporary peace, but lasting peace!

[He has made up his mind that once He reaches the Ryukyu Island, He will build a new capital city for the Song Dynasty there. He will no longer name it "Lin'an," but rather "Chang'an," signifying lasting peace and tranquility!]

【Chang'an, the capital of the Song Dynasty!】

[Hmm, perfect...]

Of course, while meticulously planning for the future of the Song Dynasty, He couldn't help but think of you.

He thought you would eventually break down and either submit to Him or agree to His northern expedition... but in the end, you truly preferred to die on the battlefield rather than do as He wished!

Your unwavering will truly moves Him! He even couldn't help but feel a surge of sincere admiration for you...

But more than anything, there was doubt and confusion.

He didn't understand. Even if you didn't want to lose your dignity, did you have to love the people to this extent? You'd rather die in battle than actively harm them...

Besides, you're a time traveler; didn't you come here to plot something big, or to die in this foreign land?

What are you after?!

After much thought, He still can't understand your thought process...

However, though He couldn't understand it, your image and perseverance were deeply etched in His heart.

He will probably never forget you, this special person, in his entire life...

【…】

In the 261st year of the Shaoxing era, the Southern Song Dynasty fell, and Grand Tutor Zhou Hui, along with all his officials and soldiers, perished in battle!

In that year, the Jin dynasty destroyed the Southern Song dynasty, unified the country, and formally established another unified dynasty after the Tang dynasty, historically known as the Jin dynasty!

The following year, the Song emperor's ship, attempting to cross the sea south, veered off course and did not land on "Ryukyu Island," but instead landed on another large island... or perhaps the mainland.

[Australia Song Dynasty, officially established!]

【…】

You died; a wrong choice led to a wrong ending...

……

(End of this chapter)