The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

It was already bright outside, and sunlight was shining in through the doors and windows.

The candles were almost burning out.

The Sixth Prince now looked tired and his face was gloomy.

Several military ministers also had bloodshot eyes and tired looks on their faces.

At this time, another cannon shot was heard outside the hall.

The Sixth Prince stood up, walked to the window, took a deep breath, and looked out the window with worried eyes.

After Liu Quan came back yesterday, cannon fire was heard outside the city. Two huge bronze cannons took turns firing at a section of the city wall. After dusk, another bronze cannon appeared.

If the fighting continues like this, the city wall will sooner or later have problems.

Suddenly, the palace door was pushed open!
The Sixth Prince turned around abruptly.

Several military ministers also raised their heads in surprise.

The eunuch in charge walked in with the frightened commander of the guards.

The Sixth Prince frowned: "What's the matter? Why are you so flustered?"

The head of the imperial guards walked up to the Sixth Prince and knelt down, "Your Highness, let's make peace with the Zhongtang family."

The Sixth Prince asked anxiously, "What happened to Heshen's family?"

The head of the imperial guards swallowed his saliva and said, "Several old men led their troops to attack He Zhongtang's family and slaughtered them with blood."

The Sixth Prince's expression changed first!

Several military ministers also changed their expressions!
It was the leading military minister who came to his senses first and asked anxiously, "What's going on?"

The guard leader said: "Yes, they are colluding with the Prime Minister to sow discord and want the heads of several elders and the lives of three clans."

The Sixth Prince immediately turned his gaze towards the chief military minister.

The leading military minister knelt down hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty, this matter has nothing to do with me! I don't know how they knew it."

Several other military ministers spoke up, "We have been with the prince the whole time, it is impossible for anyone to leak the news."

The Sixth Prince was stunned for a moment and wanted to say something, but swallowed the words back. He realized that it was meaningless to pursue the ins and outs of the matter at this moment, as the dead cannot be resurrected.

After a moment of silence, the Sixth Prince asked the guard commander, "Where are those daring servants?"

"Several old gentlemen have gone to the military camp with their families." The commander of the guards answered cautiously.

At this point, what else did everyone not understand? A few old guys were worried about being sold out by the court, so they killed the chicken to scare the monkey and warned them.

Several military ministers looked at each other.

The Sixth Prince was so angry that he trembled all over: "How dare you! How dare you!"

The hall became quiet again.

After a long while, the leading military minister coughed and said to the Sixth Prince: "Prince, negotiation is impossible. Prepare for war with all your strength. Also, don't let the news get out."

The Sixth Prince had nothing else to say but nodded.

Li Hu did what he said and immediately launched an attack on Shengjing City after noon.

Shengjing City is square inside and round outside, and the outer city wall is also called the Guan Wall.

In the previous life, the wall of Shengjing City was a circle of earthen walls, and it was only seven feet and five inches high. After Kang Lao San fled back to Shengjing City, he reinforced and repaired it. The inner part of the wall was rammed earth, and the outer part was covered with bricks and stones, and it was two feet and five feet high.

In addition, the moat of Shengjing City was inside the city, protecting the Jurchens in the inner city, but there was no moat in the outer city.

The Korean slaves were too weak, so Li Hu did not dare to use them, so he ordered the Mongols to drive the Jurchens to test the city.

The overwhelming flow of people surrounded the Great North Gate and the Small North Gate, making it impossible to get through. The main force of the besieging crowd was the captured Eight Banners soldiers, and more were the elderly, the weak, women and children who were driven there.

Neither Li Hu, Wang Daniu, Wang Yaozu, Zhang Xi and others, nor Heshen, a genuine Jurchen, cared about driving the Jurchen people to attack the city.

When attacking a city, the troops don't rush in all at once, but are divided into multiple waves. After one wave stops, another wave attacks like a tide, leaving no chance for the defenders on the city wall to breathe and minimizing the losses caused by their artillery.

Of course, this is just a test attack. If an opportunity is discovered, all the troops will be pressed forward. At that time, human life will be worthless.

The setting sun lost its dazzling light and became as red as blood.

Seeing that the Jurchen captives were repelled again as soon as they approached the city wall, Bai Wu, the leader of the White Tiger Hall, put down the telescope, clasped his hands and said, "My lord, let me lead the sword and shield battalion."

A gust of wind blew, and Li Hu looked up at the sky and said, "The weather is going to change."

He Shen: "It will be even more difficult to attack the city if it snows."

Wang Daniu: "It would be nice if we could have a dozen or twenty bronze cannons."

Li Hu looked at the battlefield again, and then ordered the messenger beside him: "Sound the horn to withdraw the troops."

Bai Wu was anxious: "Your Majesty." Li Hu: "Siege is different from field battle. Blood and courage alone are far from enough."

As the bell for withdrawal rang, the Mongols drove the Jurchens back like a tide.

Just then, Wang Yaozu came over with a beggar.

He Shen was startled: "Liu Quan?"

Li Hu took a closer look and found that it was indeed Liu Quan.

Liu Quan had already run to He Shen and knelt down, crying, "Master, our family is gone. Madam and Master are all gone..."

He Shen's face gradually turned pale, and his voice trembled a little: "What happened?"

Liu Quan: "They are all dead! Yesterday, a few old dogs who went out of the city to attack the camp brought people into our house and killed the wife and the young master. I went to deliver a letter to the tenth princess on behalf of the young master early in the morning, so I escaped. Taking advantage of the chaos, I bribed the Mongolians guarding the diving pipe and escaped from the inner city."

There were no water gates in the inner city of Shengjing. To prevent the city from flooding due to heavy rain, 72 submersible pipes were dug inside the city, directly connected to the moat outside the inner city. To prevent the enemy from digging the pipes and launching a sneak attack, the bottom was built with large blocks of stone, the upper layer was filled with rubble, and finally covered with gold sand. There were also people guarding day and night.

In the past, the Eight Banners soldiers were the ones guarding the place, but due to the shortage of manpower, these unimportant tasks were assigned to the Mongolian Eight Banners soldiers.

"what!"

He Shen was so angry that his eyes went dark and he almost fainted. Liu Quan quickly got up and supported him, "Master! Master!"

Suddenly, Heshen's face twitched in pain, and then a mouthful of blood spurted out. He roared: "I will not be a human being if I don't avenge this!"

Li Hu finally came back to his senses from his shock. Are all Jurchens so reckless? !
He Shen suddenly looked at Wang Daniu and said, "General Wang, give me a short knife."

Dagger? Wang Daniu was slightly startled and looked at Li Hu.

Li Hu was also stunned for a moment, then nodded.

Wang Daniu pulled out a sharp dagger from his waist and handed it over.

In front of everyone's astonished gaze, He Shen cut off his braid and then knelt down in front of Li Hu: "I, He Shen, am willing to swear allegiance to the prince until death!"

Li Hu looked at him: "Revenge?"

He Shen raised his head, his face full of sincerity: "Only by following the prince can I get revenge."

Li Hu nodded.

Heshen: "I, Heshen, kowtow to my master!" As he said this, he kowtowed three times respectfully.

Liu Quan followed up by saying, "Your servant Liu Quan kowtows to the master." He also kowtowed three times.

Li Hu extended his hand to support him: "If you have anything to say, please stand up and say it. By the way, there is no such thing as master and servant in the pass."

He Shen: "From now on, I will be your master's servant."

Li Hu looked at him and changed the subject: "It's not easy to attack Shengjing City! There are no artillery."

He Shen's eyes flashed: "I know a place where there are not only bronze vessels, but also a lot of them."

Li Hu: "Oh? Where?"

He Shen smiled, and then uttered a few words from between his teeth: "The imperial mausoleum of the Aisin-Gioro family!"

Li Hu was slightly stunned. He really didn't think about it in this way. After all, digging up people's ancestral graves is against the will of heaven and is the most vicious and immoral thing.

Wang Daniu, Wang Yaozu, Zhang Xi, Bai Wu and others looked at each other.

He Shen: "If my master trusts me, please give me the 30,000 Korean slaves. I will dig up the imperial tomb of the Aixinjueluo family and bring you the bronze vessels in the underground palace!"

Li Hu didn't say anything.

"Master, rest assured. The underground palace of the Aixinjueluo family's mausoleum is shallow, only three meters deep. Even if a group of strong men work with shovels all night, they can dig to the entrance of the underground palace."

He Shen's eyes flashed with coldness, "The imperial mausoleum of Qian Xiaosi was built by me, and the burial objects inside were also arranged by me. At least seven or eight bronze cannons can be cast!"

Bai Wu's eyes lit up: "Done!"

The commanders of each camp were all startled and looked at Li Hu together.

Li Hulue thought for a moment and said, "Okay. But it's freezing cold now, so bring more explosives."

He Shen was delighted: "Master, rest assured. Before dusk tomorrow, I will definitely deliver the bronze vessels from Qian Xiaosi's tomb to you."

Li Hu nodded.

Of course, it is impossible for a large army to have only one iron mold. As long as there is enough copper material, five bronze cannons can be cast in two days.

There was no shortage of gunpowder either. The Koreans sent over dozens of carts, enough for firing over a thousand shots.

The only thing missing was artillery shells. However, artillery shells were simple to make and could be cast by requisitioning iron tools from the surrounding people's homes.

Thinking of this, Li Hu's eyes flickered. Maybe he could capture Shengjing City! (End of this chapter)