Chapter Eleven: Huang Taiji Returns to the Capital

  Songshan, Qing army's main camp.

  Emperor Taizong of the Qing dynasty was holding a meeting with his officials in the grand tent, including Prince Rui Dorgon, Prince Yu Dodo, Prince Wu Ying Aji, and others from the imperial family, as well as Manchu officials such as Dahai, Ganglin, Xifo, Soni, and surrendered officials Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi, Li Yongfang, Tong Yangxing, Zhang Cunren.

  The face of Huang Taiji looked not too good.

  Although the Qing army won a complete victory, Hong Chengchou in Songshan City and Zu Dashou in Jinzhou City were still resisting stubbornly. As long as Songshan City and Jinzhou City could not be taken down for one day, this protracted decisive battle could not end for one day, and the consumption of grain and grass every day was counted in tens of millions, which was a heavy burden for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, who were already suffering from food shortages.

  Emperor Taizong asked Grand Secretary Gang Lindao: "Has the imperial edict written in My own handwriting been shot into Songshan City?"

  Gang Lin replied, "It was already shot yesterday."

  Hong Taiji asked: "Is there a response from Hong Chengchou?"

  Gang Lin said: "There is, but..."

  Hong Taiji impatiently interrupted Geng Jimao: "Where is the letter?"

  Gan Lin had no choice but to take out a letter from his sleeve and hold it up high with both hands, saying: "The letter is here."

  Emperor Taizong of Qing murmured: "Nian."

  Gang Lin was at a loss for words: "This..."

  Hong Taiji said again: "Nian!"

  Gang Lin gritted his teeth and unfolded the letter, reading aloud: "The Governor of Liaodong, Minister of War, and Left Vice Censor-in-Chief Hong Chengchou writes to the Jian Nu chieftain: Your ancestors were nothing but a group of savage barbarians living on the borders of our great Ming dynasty, drinking blood and eating raw flesh. It was our great Ming dynasty that civilized them, teaching them etiquette, shame, and the ways of farming and hunting. But instead of being grateful, you savages have risen up in arms against us, seizing our cities and slaughtering our people..."

  "How dare he!" Dolon burst out, interrupting Gang Lin's words. "Hong Chengchou is so presumptuous, daring to insult our Jurchen ancestors like this - it's simply a sin that will not be forgiven even in death! When we capture him after breaking through Songshan, I will definitely chop him into ten thousand pieces!"

  "Alas..." The emperor's face showed no anger, but instead a long and melancholic sigh. "The Ming dynasty has already rotted to the core, yet Hong Chengchou is still willing to die for her. This Hong Chengchou is indeed a loyal minister! Pass down my orders: after breaching the city, make sure to capture Hong Chengchou alive and bring him before me in my great tent. I will personally decide his fate."

  The Prince Su Ke Hao Ge said in dismay: "Imperial Father, Hong Chengchou spoke disrespectfully and insulted our Manchu ancestors, why not kill him?"

  "You don't understand." Huang Taiji shook his head and looked at Haoge with some disappointment, saying, "This is the way to govern a country."

  Hao Ge was speechless.

  Haug didn't understand the good intentions of Huang Taiji, nor did he know that Huang Taiji wanted to set an example for all the officials in the Central Plains by surrendering Hong Chengchou, to show off the Qing Dynasty's reputation for being courteous to scholars and eager to recruit talents.

  "Your Majesty!" Suddenly, General Ao Bai of the Yellow Banner burst into the tent and knelt down on one knee to report, "Urgent news from Shengjing."

  "Shengjing?" Huang Taiji's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly stood up, shouting loudly, "Speak quickly."

  Ao Bai's expression was serious as he reported: "The messenger says that Empress Dowager is critically ill and requests Your Majesty to return to Shengjing immediately."

  "What? Consort Chen..."

  Emperor Taizong was originally in poor health, and before this expedition, he had been bleeding from the nose. Suddenly hearing that his beloved Empress Nara was critically ill, he fainted due to a sudden attack of anger. Fortunately, Dorgon and Haoge were quick-witted and rushed forward to support Emperor Taizong, while also hastily summoning the imperial physician.

  The imperial physician arrived and administered medicine to relieve his chest and regulate his breath. The Taizong of the Great Qing finally slowly regained consciousness.

  "Hurry, hurry and prepare the imperial carriage for me. I want to rush back to Shengjing immediately."

  Dorgon said with some concern: "Your Majesty, you are so ill, how can you still rush on the road?"

  "I can't think about that anymore." Hong Taiji said, suddenly tears streaming down his face. "If it weren't for the fact that Empress Chen's illness has reached a point of no return, the Empress Dowager wouldn't have sent me an urgent message from 600 li away. I must rush back to Shengjing to see Empress Chen one last time. Fourteenth brother, I'll leave the battle at Songshan to you. I'll let two thousand iron cavalry stay behind to assist in the fighting."

  Dorgon hastily said: "How can this be? These two thousand iron cavalry are the emperor's personal troops."

  "These two thousand iron cavalry are of no use if they stay by my side, but if they stay in Songshan, they can be of great use. Attacking cities and plundering the land is not possible without this elite iron cavalry." The emperor said to Ao Bai, "Ao Bai, quickly gather the guards and return to the capital."

  "Ah."

  Ao Bai responded with a "yes" and quickly left.

  ■■■

  Shengjing

  Wang Pu had been hiding in a residential house with fifty households for an entire afternoon, and to prevent the news from leaking out, Wang Pu ordered the massacre of all the slaves, old and young, in this household. The situation was forced, and it was really not Wang Pu's fault that he was ruthless.

  Time passed slowly in the difficult waiting, and finally night fell.

  As the city gate closed, the pedestrians on the street gradually decreased, and the originally bustling Shengjing City gradually became deserted. Fortunately, a thin layer of clouds covered the stars in the sky, and it was pitch black on the streets. It was another dark and windy night perfect for murder! At midnight, the entire Shengjing City had already fallen into a deep sleep. Wang Pu led fifty servants to sneak out of their residence, and under Zhen Youcai's guidance, they rushed towards the south gate.

  Inside the south gate, it was quiet and still, with only insects making a buzzing noise that annoyed people.

  Two torches were inserted obliquely on the city tower, under the dim firelight, two Jian slaves stood bored inside the city gate. Due to the hot weather, both of them took off their robes and only wore a short jacket. A team of Jian slaves had just passed by the city tower, holding torches and walking towards the distance. The lamp in the gatehouse leaning against the inner side of the city gate was still lit, it seemed that the gatekeeper hadn't fallen asleep yet.

  Scarface's body was completely shrunk against the wall at the edge of the street, slowly crawling forward like a snake. As the distance drew closer, Jian Nu's figure gradually became clearer. One of the Jian Nu inadvertently turned his head and seemed to have discovered something. Just as he was about to open his mouth to shout, a flying dart had already pierced his throat. Jian Nu hissed in air, but could never make a sound again.

  A cold light flashed, and another flying dart flew out of the scar-faced man's hand, shooting through the throat of another Jian Nu.

  Two janitors fell to the ground, and the sound of heavy objects falling startled the janitor-in-charge inside. When he came out to take a look, a lithe black figure had already darted out from behind the gatehouse like a cat. A flash of cold light, and the janitor-in-charge's throat was cut open, with scalding hot blood spurting out like a fountain, shooting over three meters away.

  The scar-faced man easily settled the matter with a few blows, and the two soldiers and fifty house slaves rushed forward, killing more than a dozen sleeping slaves in the gatehouse. The city gate thus fell into the hands of the Ming army without much effort. Wang Pu ordered two house slaves to change into the slaves' uniforms and continue to guard the original place, twenty house slaves hid inside the gatehouse to prevent unexpected events, and the remaining twenty or so house slaves went through the jar wall to open the city gate.

  Outside the city.

  More than half an hour ago, Big Beard had already led over a thousand households to sneak to the outside of the city gate. Just as they were getting impatient, a thread of firelight suddenly shone through the dark gap of the city gate, and then a figure poked out from the gap, pinching his throat and imitating the cry of an owl twice. Big Beard hastily responded with two cries of an owl.

  The city gate, which had been slightly ajar, suddenly swung wide open.

  The big beard raised his horse knife and led the way forward, more than a thousand riders quietly entered the Shengjing City like a group of terrifying knights from hell. Because the horses' hooves were wrapped in cotton cloth, and their mouths were already muzzled, the Jianlu patrol team that had been patrolling far away did not notice anything unusual here. At this time, Shengjing City was still immersed in sleep, unaware that disaster had arrived.

  After the expansion of Shengjing City by Huang Taiji, it presents a square shape, with a circumference of about 8 miles. The layout inside the city is in a standard "well" shape, with two main streets running vertically and horizontally, dividing the urban area into nine squares. The middle square on the north side is the imperial palace, and the two squares on either side of the imperial palace are the residences of the Manchu nobles, while the remaining six squares are the residential areas of ordinary Manchu nobility.

  Wang Pu's goal was first to deal with the Jianzhou troops stationed in the two military camps, then the imperial palace, and finally the entire city.

  Over a thousand soldiers entered the city from the South Gate, dividing into two routes. Da Hu Zi and Knife Scar Face each led 400 soldiers along the two main streets running north-south towards the Imperial Palace in the northern part of the city. From entering the city to the Great Qing Gate was only 500-600 meters away, urging their horses to gallop, they arrived in an instant. The two Jian Nu Jiao sentries guarding outside the military camp had just discovered something unusual when the dense cavalry had already killed their way to their faces.

  ……

  PS: I'm begging all new and old readers, Jian Ke is in urgent need of recommendation votes now.

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