Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 186 Would rather die than surrender
February 7 night
Ningguo Mansion

"Zhongcheng! Please retreat first. We will invite you to patrol the city after we defeat the Tartars!"

Hearing what the soldiers said, Qiu Zude showed a miserable smile. He was not stupid, so how could he not know that the Ningguo Mansion was in danger? How could he possibly come to patrol the city again?

He was born in Chengdu, Sichuan, and was originally the governor of Shandong. However, he was stripped of his title during the Hongguang period because of his defeat by the rebels.

To be honest, that defeat was not Qiu Zude's fault. He was forced to withdraw from Shandong because his central army rebelled and robbed the seal.

What's more, in this turbulent time, ministers who have lost their lands are like crucian carp crossing the river. If someone protects him, the crime would not be so serious.

Unfortunately, he was unwilling to establish a relationship with Ma Shiying, and had no connection with Donglin. So it was understandable that he was treated as a chicken to be killed for the monkeys.

Normally, he should have returned to his hometown after being deprived of his citizenship, but Zhang Xianzhong was causing chaos in Sichuan at the time, so he could only temporarily live in Ningguo Mansion where he once served as a magistrate.

This was nothing. In the midst of war, there were displaced people everywhere, but no one cared about him being dismissed from office and expelled from the government.

Coincidentally, the place where Jin Sheng started his rebellion was less than a hundred miles away from Ningguo Mansion. After hearing the news, Qiu Zude, relying on his familiarity with the land, started to contact people in all directions.

In the original history, after he raised his army, he attacked Ningguo Mansion several times, but due to the gap in strength between the two sides, he was unable to enter the city until his defeat.

But I don’t know whether it is lucky or unfortunate.

In this time and space, Qiu Zude, with the help of his insiders in the city, took advantage of the Qing army's lack of manpower and captured Ningguo Mansion in one battle. But at the same time, he also became Duoduo's first target after he came out of the mountains.

With a clang.

Qiu Zude drew his sword from his waist, and then looked solemnly at the Qing army that was constantly climbing up the city wall.

There was nothing special about tonight. After dark, his soldiers just did their work as planned. But who would have thought that before he could even rest, there were bursts of shouts and screams coming from the city.

In this situation, Qiu Zude knew that he had been ambushed by the Qing army, but he was not completely ignorant of military affairs, so how could he not have taken precautions?

just
"when!"

"puff!"

A soldier took advantage of the opportunity and slashed at the Tartar in front of him, but the Tartar just turned his body slightly and blocked the attack with his armored left arm.

Then, without waiting for the soldiers to react, the Tartar used the force of his sideways movement to stab him diagonally, and then most of the three or two feet long sword was embedded in his abdomen.

"Stab~!"

As the sword was drawn out, a big hole was immediately torn in the soldier's clothes, and then the five-colored things fell to the ground with a rustling sound.

It was only three or four feet. Although Qiu Zude saw it too clearly, he knew what the five-colored things were and why the soldiers were so vulnerable.

The soldiers under his command were all recruited nearby, and they haven't even been equipped with complete weapons, let alone armor.

"Zhongcheng! Let's retreat quickly! We can't hold on any longer!"

Seeing that more and more Tatars were climbing up the city wall and their own casualties were increasing, the soldiers beside Qiu Zude couldn't help but shout anxiously.

If other officials were here, they would probably retreat and wait for the next day after seeing this situation. However, the charge of "abandoning the border lightly" had been weighing on Qiu Zude for more than a year, making him restless day by day and sleepless nights.

In the current situation, how could he be willing to retreat again?
"As soon as I withdrew from Shandong, I was cursed for eternity. If I withdraw again today, how can I face my ancestors?"

"Zhongcheng! As long as there is green, there is no need to worry about running out of firewood. You must keep yourself useful to the court."

"I have made up my mind. You guys can run for your lives."

At this time, Qiu Zude had already decided whether to live or die, so he was not as flustered as he was at the beginning.

He gently pushed away the soldier beside him, then stood proudly with his sword in his hand, as if he was not on the battlefield, but the place where he had been on the list in his early years.

"In that case, please let the Minister watch us kill the enemy."

Seeing that their master had made up his mind, the soldiers looked at each other, then punched Qiu Zude and turned to join the battle.

These people have followed Qiu Zude for many years. It was they who protected him from the siege of the rebels when he was defeated in Shandong. But now they are facing the well-equipped and powerful Tartars. Even if these people are truly veterans, how long can they hold out?
As time passed, the number of Ming troops on the city wall became fewer and fewer. Apart from a few old soldiers under his command, there were only a dozen or so people still fighting with the Qing army.

At this point, both the Qing and Ming armies knew that the situation was set and there was no possibility of reversal, so they each made their own choices based on the current situation.

"Brothers! Kill the Tartars!"

After a loud shout, one of the old soldiers made a feint forward, then suddenly pounced on the two Qing soldiers on the edge of the city wall, obviously wanting to die together and take them down the city with him.

His movements were sudden and his force was fierce, but his enemies were all elite soldiers found by Duoduo, and were no less powerful than those who attacked Yingtian at night. He had only taken two steps forward when several swords hit him.

"Kill~~, kill~~~ the Tatars."

After using up his last bit of strength, the old soldier still failed to finish shouting the last sentence. When his consciousness was about to fade away, he still had a thought in his mind: Zhongcheng didn't escape, and neither did we.

Watching familiar figures falling in front of him one after another, and the Tartars without any obstruction approaching him, Qiu Zude did not struggle fearlessly, but raised the sword in his hand and slashed it towards his neck.

"Whoosh!"

"嘡啷!"

At this moment, there was a sound of breaking air, and then he felt his hand go numb, and the sword weighing several kilograms fell directly to the ground.

"That's a high-ranking official! Catch him alive!"

Before he could finish his words, several Qing soldiers rushed over. Qiu Zude was just a weak scholar, how could he resist such a group of tigers and wolves?

After only a moment, he was tied up tightly and escorted to the city by several Qing soldiers.

At this time, the gate of Ningguo Prefecture had been opened, and a large group of Qing troops had already entered the city.

After learning the news, Duoduo did not wait outside because there was still a small group of Ming troops resisting in the city. Instead, he followed the large group of troops and went into the city with Kong Youde.

He finally chose to go north from Ningguo to join forces with Tunqi to attack Zuo Menggeng's troops.

There is indeed an element of him trying to save face in this, but it is undeniable that political stability is also an important basis for his choice.

As long as he could annihilate or defeat this Ming army and add some Spring and Autumn style writing when reporting the military intelligence, the impact of Nikan's defeat could be minimized as much as possible.

Of course, this could not hide the fact that he had lost his military might, but as long as a suitable reason could be found, it would be nothing more than a verbal battle.

To put it bluntly, Hauge only occupied Guanzhong, and he just tested each other with Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan. However, after taking over Lianghuai, Duoduo marched into the south of the Yangtze River. Even though he suffered some setbacks during the period, the land he gained was far more than that of the other two routes.

As long as this point is put on the table, who can say how badly he was defeated?
"Report~~~Your Majesty! The vanguard has captured the red-robed official of the Ming army!" Just as Duoduo was slowly walking towards the city gate, a soldier came galloping over. Hearing the news, he was naturally happy. He raised his whip and lightly whipped it, then rushed out with his horse.

As the old saying goes, it is appropriate to say something appropriate to the occasion.

When he was in Jiangbei, there were many second- and third-rank officials who handed in letters of surrender, but Duoduo didn't even look at them. But now, when he heard about a red-robed official of unknown rank, he was so eager to do so, as if he had a treasure in front of him.

It really makes people sigh that the same thing has different values ​​in different seasons.

Before long, the gate of Ningguo Mansion appeared in front of Duoduo. When he almost entered the gate, he saw several soldiers escorting a red-robed official waiting in the city.

"Has it been interrogated?"

No matter how anxious Duoduo was when he came, his tone instantly turned cold after seeing the real owner.

"Your Highness, we captured those who were captured when the city was breached, and we have not yet interrogated them."

Hearing this, Duoduo didn't say much. He nodded slowly and looked at him carefully.

The man was in his early forties, and his red robe had a peacock-shaped patch on it. He was obviously a young and successful man.

Seeing this, Duoduo became even more delighted, but his face still maintained the same expression as before, and even his tone became a little colder.

"Who are you? Why are you resisting the king's army?"

After he finished speaking, the red-robed official just stared at the moon in the sky in a daze, without any response to Duoduo's question.

He was not surprised by this. Although most of the Ming officials were insignificant, there were some tough ones like Shi Kefa.

"Are there any survivors?"

"There are two."

Seeing that the official was uncooperative, Duoduo asked a soldier beside him and waited quietly.

The soldier was quite perceptive. Without waiting for him to give any more instructions, he called someone to run towards the city.

"The royal army came here to avenge your emperor, but instead of helping, you tried to seize the city while our army was fighting the bandits. Is this reasonable?"

"I am the Prince of Yu. You have been defeated by me. If you can turn from evil to good, you will still have a high position and generous salary. I hope you will not make a mistake."

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Duoduo said a few more words, but the red-robed official was like a deaf-mute who only stared at the bright moon in the sky and refused to even turn his face.

Duoduo had seen such a situation before. If it had happened before, he would probably have ordered his men to drag the man away and behead him.

However, the current situation was special. Even though he did not intend to subdue the red-robed official, he also wanted to learn some information about the Ming army's deployment from him.

In this case, he had no choice but to use methods that he had not used for many years.

A moment later, two dying Ming soldiers were dragged over. Although the red-robed official still held his head high, Duoduo saw that he had closed his eyes.

"I ask you questions and you answer them. If you don't respond, the soldiers who are loyal to you will be stabbed. Am I clear?"

Those Qing soldiers were probably used to such scenes. When they saw that their prince had just finished speaking and the Ming official had not yet responded, they immediately chopped off the arm of a Ming soldier.

"Ah~!"

Even though the Ming soldier was on his deathbed, he still cried out in pain from the injured limbs. However, Duoduo asked another question after seeing tears streaming down the face of the red-robed official.

"Who are you?"

After he finished speaking, the red-robed official remained silent.

This situation was expected by the Qing soldiers, and without waiting for Duoduo to react, they removed the other arm of the Ming soldier.

"Ah~! Dog Tartar!"

Limb injury is a matter of great fear to living things, but the Ming soldier who lost both arms did not utter a word. He just cursed a few times and then fell silent.

"I am a ghost of the Ming Dynasty! Even in the underworld I am willing to drink the blood of the Tartars and eat the flesh of the Jian slaves!"

The red-robed official was no longer as calm as before, but he just kept cursing without any intention of giving in.

When Duoduo saw this situation, he knew that such means would be useless.

However, he couldn't help but want to ask the red-robed official about the Ming army's deployment, so he could only threaten again: "You don't care about your own life, nor the lives of your soldiers, but what crime have the people in the city committed? Do you really want to let them suffer the disaster of war because of your selfishness?"

"You! Bastard! Bastard!"

Duoduo's meaning was very clear. If the red-robed official did not cooperate, he would use his butcher knife on ordinary people. After hearing this, the red-robed official not only started to curse, but also struggled.

Seeing that the other party's mood had been completely stirred by him, Duoduo was not angry at all. Instead, he asked with a smile: "If you tell me all of Zhu Cilang's plans, not only will the people in the city not suffer from unprovoked disasters, but you will also be promoted to a high position and receive generous salary. Don't put the people in the city in trouble because of your own selfish desires."

As the voice spread, the red-robed official who was still struggling and cursing suddenly stopped all actions.

Seeing this, Duoduo thought that his threat had worked. But when he was about to strike while the iron was hot and say something else, he saw the official laughing like a madman.

"The rumors are true! The rumors are true! I was wondering where these Tartars came from, but it turns out they were forced into the mountains by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Seeing this situation, Duoduo was fully aware that his plan had failed. Adding on the pain in his heart caused by being poked by the red-robed official, his mind was completely occupied by anger for a moment.

"Skin him! Skin him with me!"

As soon as the words were spoken, several Goshas pounced on the red-robed official like wolves and tigers.

In a short while, several people stripped off all his clothes, waiting for Duoduo's order to make him suffer the punishment of being cut into pieces.

"I'll ask you one last time, do you want to surrender?"

Although Duoduo was already furious at this time, he still asked one last time due to various considerations.

However, he did not hear what he expected from the red-robed official. Instead, he was provoked by him and felt a little furious.

"You were driven into the mountains by my prince! It was such a relief! It was such a relief!"

"Slice it!"

In late July, the army attacked and captured the camp, captured Zude and his son and sent them to Jiangning; they refused to surrender and were crucified. He was given the title of Prince Taishi and Minister of Personnel in Fujian.

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(End of this chapter)