Zhu Jinsong doubted how Qianlong, the old dog,’s brain was wired.
Wanted to play large-scale flanking and pincer tactics like朕? Wanted guerrilla warfare?
What kind of stupid head would come up with that!
Did your Great Qing have the support of its people, or were your Eight Banners strong enough?
And asking France to mediate? Asking whom? Pierre? Or Louis XVI?
Who the hell do you think would listen to you!
Of course, neither the wild ideas of Qianlong, the old dog, nor the so-called mediation by Heshen, the Grand Chancellor, could stop Zhu Jinsong’s army from advancing.
On the contrary, Zhu Jinsong now desperately wanted to reach Shenyang quickly and drag Qianlong, the old dog, back to the capital.
It wasn’t about dragging Qianlong, the old dog, back to the capital to be executed, but to be kept there—Zhu Jinsong really wanted to see what expression Qianlong, the old dog, would have when he saw his pen pal, Louis XVI.
...
From the *Three Strategies of Huang Shigong*: “Under a fragrant bait, there must be a dangling fish; under heavy rewards, there must be men ready to die.”
Although the Eight Banners nobles of the Great Qing were all men who spent their days playing with birds and walking dogs, there were many within the Eight Banners who did not receive the Eight Banners’ army provisions. Apart from their share of the banner silver, they had no other income, and their lives were quite difficult.
These were the target groups for Heshen, the Grand Chancellor, and Zhangjia Qinggui.
Especially Zhangjia Qinggui, who had served as the Shengjing General for so many years. He might not know Shenjing like the back of his hand, but he was close enough to it. Recruiting desperadoes was a simple matter.
As for the recruited desperadoes not knowing how to conduct warfare… Don’t say these desperadoes didn’t know; even the regular troops of the Great Qing’s Eight Banners didn’t know!
What was even more infuriating was that in terms of ruthlessness with a blade, the regular troops of the Great Qing’s Eight Banners might not even be as savage as these desperadoes.
Besides, what was so difficult about warfare? Just charge forward with firearms and sabers. Kill one Ming soldier and get rich, kill three and get promoted. Kill eight or ten, and you’d get both promotion and riches.
As long as the money was right, there were plenty of Eight Banners warriors willing to die for it!
Of course, the reason Heshen, the Grand Chancellor, resorted to such tactics only after reaching Shenjing wasn’t because he didn’t want to use them in Zhili. It was because they simply wouldn’t work there.
The reason was simple: no matter how down on their luck the Eight Banners nobles in Zhili were, they still had the common folk to exploit. These Eight Banners nobles had long since become completely useless and could never become desperadoes.
As for the exploited population, let alone Qianlong’s, the old dog's, trick of driving out the Han people, even without his active involvement, those Han people knew to flee to Zhu Jinsong for survival. Even as desperadoes, they would certainly be fighting against the Qing officials. Therefore, the Grand Chancellor’s tactics naturally wouldn’t work.
It was vastly different outside the Pass.
This was mainly due to the good deeds of Old Nurhaci outside the Pass.
In the thirty-fifth year of the Wanli reign, the forty-year-old Old Nurhaci destroyed the Huihe部 of the Jurchens. In the forty-first year of the Wanli reign, he destroyed the Ula部. In the forty-sixth year of the Wanli reign, he massacred Qinghe and Fushun. In the forty-seventh year of the Wanli reign, he massacred Kaiyuan and Tieling, and destroyed the Yehe部. In the first year of the Tianqi reign, he massacred Shenyang and enslaved all the civilians of Liaodong. In the second year of the Tianqi reign, he massacred Liao West.
In other words, Old Nurhaci, by himself, turned the vast territory of Liaodong and the Nurgan region into a “land of no people”!
Another reason was that the Ming emperors and wise rulers of the Great Qing, in order to leave a retreat for themselves, had always declared that the lands beyond the Pass were the “land of our ancestors’ rise” and should be “properly protected.” Therefore, they imposed a blockade on the Northeast region, prohibiting Han people from migrating from within the Pass to outside the Pass.
This meant that in the Qianlong era, outside the Pass, there were only Eight Banners nobles and no Han people.
Without the common folk to exploit, and with the court only providing banner silver but no army pay, the lives of these Eight Banners nobles were naturally not easy.
On one hand, there was the hard cash offered by Heshen, the Grand Chancellor. On the other, there was the fear of retaliation from the Ming army. At the same time, the harsh and cold living conditions outside the Pass had cultivated a large number of desperadoes. Thus, Heshen, the Grand Chancellor’s tactics could naturally be implemented.
These desperadoes did not fail the expectations of the Grand Chancellor Heshen and Qinggui. They not only ambushed the Ming army but also dared to charge forward under the attack of Ming army firearms and cannons, truly becoming ruthless individuals.
Of course, no matter how ruthless they were, they were ultimately desperadoes. They were naturally invincible when dealing with ordinary civilians, but when facing the regular army of the Great Ming, they were like lighting a lamp in a latrine – searching for shit.
What was even more critical was that the Liao West region had no space for these ruthless individuals to survive. When Qianlong, the old dog, retreated to Shenyang, he conveniently withdrew the Eight Banners from outside the Pass back to Shenjing, effectively cutting off the roots of survival for these desperadoes in advance.
Therefore, these ruthless individuals did not delay the advance of the Ming army. They merely added some amusement to Zhu Jinsong’s personal expedition.
In the year 4488 of the Yellow Emperor’s calendar, in the twelfth lunar month, on the seventh day, Zhu Jinsong, leading the Fifth Army under the Rear Army Commandery and the Third Army under the Left Army Commandery that joined them at Ningjin, along with three hundred Solon Camp soldiers brought from Jinan Prefecture, officially arrived outside Shenyang city.
The Jiannu within Shenyang city panicked.
It was not a problem for our Great Qing to be unable to defeat the rebel Zhu; it was also not a problem to retreat to the harsh lands outside the Pass. But to be trapped in Shenjing by the rebel Zhu, wasn’t that a sure death?
However, when Heshen, the Grand Chancellor, and Zhangjia Qinggui, the Shengjing General, reported the news of Shenjing being surrounded to Qianlong, the old dog, he showed an expression of having expected it all along: “I already knew when the rebel Zhu first arrived at Shaling Fort.”
Seeing the utterly bewildered Heshen and Qinggui, Qianlong, the old dog, let out a cold laugh and said, “Aren’t you curious why I haven’t reacted at all, but instead allowed the rebel Zhu to surround Shenjing?”
Heshen realized that the situation was gradually slipping from his control.
According to Heshen’s analysis, if Qianlong, the old dog, had known about the arrival of the rebel Zhu’s army outside Shenyang, he would likely have already packed up and fled, so why would he calmly remain in Shenyang city to be besieged?
More importantly, how could he, a Grand Councilor, not know such crucial intelligence?
His lips twitched, and Heshen suddenly knelt down, stammering, “Your servant, your servant…”
Qianlong, the old dog, let out a cold snort and said, “Get up.”
After Heshen stood up, Qianlong slowly said, “It was I who ordered the news to be blocked, for the purpose of allowing the rebel Zhu to surround Shenjing.”
Heshen continued to look at Qianlong, the old dog, with bewilderment: “This…”
Qianlong said, “Our Great Qing’s Eight Banners have lived in times of peace for too long and have long forgotten what it’s like to live by the edge of a knife.”
“But it’s alright, I will lead them to experience it properly until they regain the valor of their ancestors.”
After speaking, Qianlong, the old dog, turned his head without looking back and instructed the head eunuch standing behind him, “De Quan, send out word saying that if the rebel Zhu breaches Shenjing, he will massacre all the Jianzhou Eight Banners in Shenjing. Tell them to abandon all illusions and pick up their knives to fight the rebel Zhu to the death.”
Heshen mused that this was his method of leading the Eight Banners disciples to experience life on the edge of a knife?
Damn it!
And regaining the valor of their ancestors? What valor did your ancestors have? Are you trying to fool yourself into becoming foolish?
Just as Heshen was contemplating how to save his own life, Qianlong, the old dog, let out another cold snort and said, “Why are you still dallying? Come with me to the city walls!”
However, Heshen and Agui did not help Qianlong, the old dog, to stand. Instead, they knelt down with a thud. Qinggui directly exclaimed, “Your Majesty, this time we are in big trouble!”
Qianlong, the old dog, was startled and asked, “What trouble? The rebel Zhu only has around eighty thousand troops. Shenjing city has over a hundred thousand elite soldiers, over a hundred thousand Eight Banners disciples, a total force of over two hundred thousand. Coupled with the Hongyi cannons on the city walls, are we still afraid of the rebel Zhu’s siege?”
Heshen cried with tears in his eyes, “Our Hongyi cannons are not as powerful as the rebel Zhu’s, nor are they as far-reaching! Our Hongyi cannons on the city walls cannot reach the rebel Zhu, but the rebel Zhu’s artillery can reach the city walls of Shenjing, and our soldiers are suffering heavy losses!”
Qianlong, the old dog, was stunned. The half of his body that had just sat up from the couch immediately slumped back.
“How could this be?”
“Didn’t we buy the latest model of cannons from the French for our Hongyi cannons?”
“Does it not work even with explosive shells?”
Listening to Qianlong, the old dog, muttering to himself, Heshen said anxiously, “Your Majesty, how dare your servant deceive you?”
Heshen was indeed not deceiving Qianlong, the old dog, this time.
Although the Shenjing city walls were equipped with the latest model cannons purchased by the Great Qing from the French, neither Qianlong, the old dog, nor Heshen would have imagined that these cannons were actually models sold by the Ming dynasty’s arms industry.
These externally sold models of firearms and cannons were inferior to those equipped by the Ming army in terms of range and power.
The French gentlemen, after reselling them, tearfully earned nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver from the Great Qing—while the Ming dynasty’s arms industry tearfully earned over a million taels.
As the cannon fire outside grew denser and the shouts within the city grew louder, Heshen, the Grand Chancellor, couldn’t help but exclaim, “Your Majesty, let’s break out! If the city walls are breached, I fear we will have no more opportunities!”
Qianlong, the old dog, ignored Heshen, the Grand Chancellor, and instead fell into a daze.
Break out?
How to break out?
I am already eighty years old. Riding a horse to hunt is still manageable, as servants help hang the prey on the arrows. But is breaking out the same as hunting?
After coming back to his senses, Qianlong, the old dog, sighed and looked at Qinggui, instructing, “You go. Take the men who can break out and find the fifteenth prince in Gorkha. Heshen, you stay for now; I still have something to tell you.”
Qinggui was startled and asked, “Your Majesty…”
After speaking, Qianlong, the old dog, glared at Qinggui again and rebuked, “Why are you still standing here? Hurry up and go! If you don’t go now, you will be a sinner of the Great Qing!”
Hearing Qianlong, the old dog’s words, Qinggui could only reluctantly withdraw from Qianlong’s sleeping quarters and then try to organize men for a breakout.
After Qinggui left, Qianlong, the old dog, sat up from his couch and instructed Heshen, the Grand Chancellor, and the head eunuch De Quan behind him, “Let’s go too.”
Heshen and the head eunuch De Quan were slightly startled, then they acknowledged with a “Yes” and carefully helped Qianlong, the old dog, walk in the direction he indicated.
As Qianlong, the old dog, walked, he sighed, “This time, I was careless. I never expected that the rebel Zhu’s firearms would be even more powerful than the best firearms from the Western barbarians. I wonder if Qinggui can break out.”
Heshen said with a fawning smile, “Your Majesty, please rest assured. With Your Majesty’s boundless fortune, and with your protection, Qinggui will naturally be able to break out.”
Qianlong, the old dog, hummed and pointed to a corner of the dragon bed in the sleeping quarters, saying, “Fortunately, our ancestors were wise and left these means in the palace in advance, otherwise, I fear I would not have escaped the humiliation of capture.”