Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 360 Li Yi: My life is like walking on thin ice, can I make it to the other side?

Cai Bingwen was not a loyal person who would rather die than surrender.

But he had been an official of the Qing Dynasty for such a long time and was highly valued by two generations of Qing emperors.

He was also somewhat loyal to the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, he wanted Nerjing'e to come forward and represent the Eight Banners in the city to negotiate with the Tang Dynasty.

In this way, they could use the capital's status as a token of their surrender to gain lenient treatment for the Eight Banners descendants in the city.

In this way, Cai Bingwen can be said to be worthy of the Qing Dynasty and the high regard shown to him by the two successive monarchs, Xianfeng and Yi.

Upon hearing this, Nerjing'e understood the profound meaning of Cai Bingwen's words and nodded immediately.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"Thank you for your reminder, Lord Cai. I understand!"

As he said this, Nerjinge's face showed obvious relief.

……

On the tenth day of June in the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty's Zhaowu reign, Li Yi led his troops to Tianjin.

Along the way, wherever the Tang army passed, the people surrendered at the sight of them.

After arriving in Tianjin, Li Yi ordered the various units of the Tang army to rest for a while, while he met with officials in Tianjin.

The next day, the army set out again and headed towards the capital.

As the army got closer and closer to the capital, the morale of the various Tang army units became higher and higher.

Everyone knows that the fruits of victory are waiting for them ahead!
The loud military songs sounded all the way!
In just three days, the Tang army advanced to the outskirts of the capital.

As soon as Li Yi arrived outside the capital, he saw Zhang Biao coming towards him from a distance and saying.

"I am Zhang Biao, the commander of the Second Brigade of the Imperial Guard Division, and I am here to see Your Majesty!"

Hearing this, Li Yi dismounted, helped Zhang Biao up, and then said.

"Your family led a lone army deep into the enemy's rear, attacked the city and captured the stronghold, and supported the main force of the army in the battle. Your contribution is invaluable!"

"Tell me, what reward do you want?"

Zhang Biao heard this and shook his head.

"Your Majesty, you once taught us that obeying orders is a soldier's duty."

"I am only following orders, I dare not take credit for it!"

Li Yi patted Zhang Biao on the shoulder, looked at him with admiration in his eyes, and then continued to ask.

"What's the situation in the capital?"

"Are you sure about attacking the city?"

Zhang Biao and his men waited outside the capital for such a long time. Why didn't they attack the city?
Is it impossible to defeat it?

of course not!

To put it bluntly, the reason why Zhang Biao did not launch an attack on the capital was to wait for Li Yi to come in person and give them the order to attack the city!
Give the credit for capturing the capital to Li Yi!

In this case, Li Yi would naturally not let Zhang Biao and others wait in vain. He has always been clear about rewards and punishments.

Li Yi will still give the task of attacking the capital to Zhang Biao.

This is also the reason why Zhang Biao and others did not attack the city after besieging the capital.

Because they all understand that what belongs to them is theirs.

No one can take it away!
Zhang Biao heard this and responded.

"Your Majesty, it is not a problem. As long as Your Majesty gives the order, I will lead people to capture this city for Your Majesty."

"It's just that some time ago, the Qing demon officials Ner Jing'e and Cai Bingwen, who were in charge of the defense of the capital, sent envoys to our Tang Dynasty to surrender."

Li Yi raised his eyebrows when he heard this.

"Really? What did Qing Yao say when he asked to surrender?"

Zhang Biao scratched his head and spoke.

"In reply to your Majesty, when Nerjing'e sent an envoy to surrender, he said that he was surrendering to the Tang Dynasty this time, not for glory and wealth."

"I only ask for an intact capital city in exchange for the Tang Dynasty's leniency in dealing with the remnants of the Eight Banners in the city."

"I dare not take the initiative, so I come to report to the king!"

"Please make the decision, Your Majesty!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi showed a thoughtful expression on his face.

After thinking for a long time, he spoke.

"Well, send someone to reply to the Qing Yao in the capital and tell them that I only accept unconditional surrender."

"Don't accept any threats!"

"In addition, Zhang Biao, your troops should immediately prepare to launch an offensive against the capital. If the Qing army refuses to surrender, then launch an attack!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Biao immediately clasped his fists in agreement.

His expression was slightly excited!
What he is facing is the capital city. If he can really take it down, then his contribution this time will be huge!

Zhang Biao turned and left, while Li Yi stood with his hands behind his back, looking towards the direction of the capital.

In fact, for Li Yi, it would not matter even if he agreed to Qing Yao's conditions in the capital.

Lian Yi had already fallen into Li Yi's hands. The demise of the Qing Dynasty was a foregone conclusion. Even if Li Yi did not deal with those useless Eight Banners in the capital, they could not cause any trouble.

But Li Yi didn't want to.

He didn't want to let those Eight Banners descendants go so easily.

After the Eight Banners entered the Shanhai Pass, they first enclosed land and occupied houses, then shaved their heads and changed their clothes, relocated the borders and banned the sea, and then launched a literary inquisition, ruling the Shanhai Pass by keeping the people ignorant.

How many Han people died at the hands of the Qing Dynasty?
For more than two hundred years, the Eight Banners have exploited the world's wealth to serve themselves and enjoyed more than two hundred years of prosperity and wealth. Now it is time to pay a price.

Of course, Li Yi would not kill all the bannermen.

But the procedure of public trial followed by labor reform is absolutely necessary.

No one can escape!
Besides, if the Eight Banners were not dealt with, where would Li Yi get so much money and land to reward his soldiers?
To put it bluntly, conquering the world is a process of wealth redistribution.

What Li Yi had to do was to seize the wealth from the old ruling class and distribute it to the heroes who had followed him to conquer the world.

Without clearing out the ruling class of the previous dynasty, that is, the Eight Banners, Li Yi would not be able to offer enough benefits to satisfy the appetites of the heroes following behind him.

Why did these ministers of the Tang Dynasty choose to follow Li Yi to conquer the world?
Of course, this was due to Li Yi's personal charm, but more importantly, it was because Li Yi could give them official positions and titles, and bring them wealth and glory.

If it weren't for these reasons, they would have nothing better to do than to put their heads on the line and follow Li Yi in rebellion.

To put it bluntly, the current regime of the Tang Dynasty is composed of these meritorious officials.

Li Yiruo has always understood that power comes from below, not from above.

If he wanted political stability, he had to first stabilize these heroes, give them enough benefits, and make them willing to obey his orders.

Therefore, the Eight Banners must be liquidated!

Li Yi could pick out a few sensible ones from the Eight Banners, such as Fu Ji, the governor of Anhui who voluntarily surrendered Luzhou City to the Tang Dynasty, and treat them preferentially as an example to demonstrate his Li Yi's generosity.

But there is no doubt that the Eight Banners as a whole must be liquidated.

……

On the city wall of Beijing, Cai Bingwen looked out at the Tang army camp outside the city.

Looking at the main force of the Tang army arriving outside the city, his heart was pounding.

"The main force of the Tang army has arrived. Judging from their flags, the King of Tang should have already arrived outside the city."

"The fate of the capital, and the fate of the hundreds of thousands of Eight Banners in the capital, is about to be decided."

Nerjing'e clenched his fist nervously, hoping that his negotiations would yield a good result.

"Master Cai, what do you think we, the bannermen, should do in the future?"

Nerjing'e asked with some trepidation.

Cai Bingwen shrugged and said.

"If the King of Tang is magnanimous and is willing to forgive the Eight Banners in the city and not settle accounts, the Eight Banners will continue to farm, work, study, and do business, just like ordinary people, and do what they should do."

"If the Tang King refuses to forgive the Eight Banners..."

Cai Bingwen stopped talking halfway through.

But Nerjing'e understood the meaning of his words.

If Li Yi is unwilling to forgive the Eight Banners, then the Eight Banners will most likely have no future.

"Hey!"

Nerjinge sighed heavily.

Just when the two were waiting anxiously, the Tang army outside the city finally sent an envoy.

The Tang army envoy stated directly that the Tang Dynasty accepted the surrender of the capital, but would not accept conditional surrender.

Cai Bingwen and Nerjing'e looked at each other, and finally, it was Cai Bingwen who asked.

"Is His Majesty the King of Tang really unwilling to forgive the hundreds of thousands of Eight Banners in the city?"

"If the hundreds of thousands of Eight Banners in the capital fight to the death, the Tang Dynasty will probably not feel good, right?"

Upon hearing this, the Tang army soldiers just sneered and said.

"You can try it!"

"The Tang Dynasty has never had an attitude of exterminating the Eight Banners. After you surrender, all you will do is to undergo forced labor."

"Re-education through labor does not necessarily mean death!"

"But if you dare to resist, once the capital is captured, all the people from the Eight Banners will be killed, leaving no one alive."

"If you don't believe me, you can try it!"

Upon hearing this, Cai Bingwen opened his mouth but could not say anything.

Nerjinge, who was standing by, showed a look of pain on his face. After gritting his teeth for a while, he finally spoke.

"We are willing to surrender!"

……

Day two.

On June 15th of the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty’s Zhaowu reign, in the capital.

The Yongdingmen gate is wide open!

The Qing army flag on the city wall was lowered.

Instead, there was a Tang army flag fluttering in the wind.

A large number of Tang army soldiers marched into the capital city in a mighty manner, imposed martial law along the streets, and blocked off all the markets.

After the army stabilized the situation in the main capital and ensured safety, Li Yi also led the army and rode towards the city gate.

Amid the sound of horse hooves, Li Yi looked up at the tall and majestic Yongdingmen city gate tower in front of him, his eyes slightly solemn.

After five years, he has now reached this point.

If we count all the entrepreneurs throughout history, there is no one who can surpass him in terms of success.

However, the more this happened, the more awed and cautious Li Yi became.

This world is fair. If someone takes advantage of you here, you have to pay it back somewhere else.

Li Yi conquered the world successfully, but it was not easy to rule the world.

If conquering the world is compared to a big test, then Li Yi has now successfully passed this test and achieved a good result that satisfies him.

But he understood when he stepped into the city gate.

Sitting on the dragon throne!
Then, the second big test, which is about governing the world, should begin.

Li Yi was not sure whether he could complete the second major exam as smoothly as he completed the first major exam.

As if remembering something, Li Yi turned around and asked Li Liangdao who was standing beside him.

"Li Liang, do you think I can successfully reach the other side of the abyss in my life, walking on thin ice?"

Li Liang was obviously stunned when he heard this.

He didn't know why Li Yi was so sentimental at this moment, but he still responded.

"Your Majesty is the chosen one by Heaven, and is the common ruler of the world."

"No matter whether it's an abyss or not, as long as the king wants to fill it up, just fill it up!"

(End of this chapter)