Fu Shanhe

Chapter 502 Capturing the Outer City
The darkness provided the best cover; the government troops only knew of the enemy attack, but they did not know how many enemy troops there were.

Unlike the meticulously selected household servants, most of the officers and soldiers suffered from night blindness, which was a great disadvantage for them in night combat.

Despite having a numerical advantage, they were at a disadvantage on the battlefield.

While a fierce battle raged at Yongding Gate, a group of soldiers quietly gathered not far from Guang'an Gate.

"After completing this job, in addition to the 100 taels prepayment, each person will receive a 200 taels bonus."

Furthermore, the retired emperor promised that everyone would be promoted three ranks upon success.

Brothers, your promotion and fortune are just around the corner.

"First, secure the city gates. Once Admiral Shi's army arrives, open the gates and let them in!"

"The city's defending general, Chu Xingyu, spoke with great passion."

Just days ago, he was a loyal subject of the Emperor of Dayu, but now he has become the vanguard welcoming the rebel army into the city.

On the one hand, someone has a handle on us; on the other hand, the other party has given us too much.

Each soldier received 300 taels of silver, and he, as the city gate guard, received an even greater reward of 30,000 taels.

On one hand, there's the risk of having one's secrets exposed and being disgraced; on the other hand, there's the chance of promotion and wealth. It's an easy choice.

Without much hesitation, he went from being a loyal subject of the emperor to a loyal subject of the retired emperor.

"Lord Centurion, letting the rebels into the city is a capital offense!"

A junior officer said, his body trembling.

When I received the money, I knew it wouldn't be easy to get it.

I initially thought they were smuggling in-demand items or reselling military supplies.

The consequences of being caught are certainly very serious, but there is still room for maneuver.

After all, prices in the capital were too high, and the salary from the imperial court was too little; without doing some private work, it was impossible to support one's family.

They had done similar deals before, but the returns were much lower.

The lion's share of the profits went to the high-ranking military officers, and even if they were caught, there were people above them protecting them.

To everyone's surprise, this time they were letting the rebels into the city, a crime punishable by the execution of the entire family.

"Nonsense!"

"When did I give you permission to let the rebels into the city?"

"Remember this, those are government troops!"

"The power struggle between the retired emperor and the emperor and his son is a matter for the Ji family themselves. How could there be any rebels?"

Chu Xingyu immediately reprimanded him.

The prestige of the Great Yu Dynasty had been ingrained in everyone's very being for many years.

If he directly called it a rebellion, not only would the soldiers not dare to do it, but even he himself wouldn't dare to take the risk.

However, when the issue is transformed into a power struggle between the emperor and the retired emperor, the situation changes dramatically.

Even if a rebellion succeeds in capturing the capital, and reinforcements from all over the country rush in, the only outcome will be certain death.

If it were a power struggle between a royal father and son, the nature of the conflict would be entirely different.

Regardless of who wins or loses, the world belongs to the Great Yu.

It does not involve a change of dynasty; it is merely a power struggle within the palace, and local forces generally do not get involved.

The imperial court had long been in arrears with military pay, and the people in the capital garrison had long been resentful and had accumulated a great deal of discontent.

Even knowing that Liaodong troops were coming, the imperial court did not organize any morale-boosting activities for the troops, but instead directly ordered them to prepare for the defense of the city.

The meager daily rations were simply not enough for everyone, and they had to take turns on night duty every few days, so morale had long since collapsed.

Without external intervention, Liaodong Town has a very high probability of winning.

"Lord Centurion is right. We are merely following the orders of the Emperor Emeritus to restore order."

Upon receiving the signal, Chu Xingyu's confidant immediately echoed.

With a legitimate reason for their resistance, the officers and soldiers who were initially resistant gradually accepted the reality.

It would be naive to talk about withdrawing now that the money has already been received and it's time to take action.

At this point, retreating means certain death.

"All right!"

"It's time for the switch. Everyone stay calm and don't give us any openings!"

Seeing that the emotions had been built up enough, Chu Xingyu immediately made the decision.

In theory, these matters can be explained after the rotation of personnel.

But in these extraordinary times, the soldiers guarding Guang'anmen are not just a single centurion.

To ensure absolute safety, in addition to the regular guards, each gate was also assigned a centurion.

This number is almost the limit.

There's only so much space at the city gate; there's not enough room to house any more troops.

In addition to those directly guarding the city gates, the entire city wall along the line was heavily guarded.

Even if something unexpected happens, troops from both sides can provide immediate reinforcements.

Everyone was a familiar face, so there was no need to exchange passwords, and the rotation went very smoothly.

Everyone successfully reached their positions, and Chu Xingyu began to strike up a conversation with the centurion sent by the Beijing garrison.

To successfully capture the city gate, surprise is key.

The closer the relationship, the easier it is for colleagues to lower their guard.

As time ticked by, the earth suddenly began to tremble.

Experienced veterans can instantly tell that a large cavalry force is approaching.

"Brother Zhou, look outside..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chu Xingyu's sword had already pierced through Zhou Baihu's body.

"Do it!"

At Chu Xingyu's command, his officers and soldiers immediately sprang into action, pointing their guns at their comrades.

"Bang bang bang..."

Caught off guard, most of the men brought by Commander Zhou were killed or wounded in an instant.

Upon seeing this, the remaining soldiers scattered and fled in all directions, calling for help from their comrades nearby.

"Ignore them, open the city gates and let the loyalist army into the city!"

Chu Xingyu gave the order decisively.

The soldiers, realizing what was happening, skillfully opened the city gate.

The commotion quickly attracted the attention of the surrounding guards, but it was too late.

After the city gates were opened, the Liaodong cavalry outside the city rushed into the city instantly.

The defending troops who had just arrived to help were met with a devastating blow.

If it weren't for the food shortage, their fighting strength wouldn't be much weaker than the enemy's, but unfortunately, reality is cruel.

In order to save food, the soldiers in the city have only been able to eat half full for the past few months.

As a result, even routine military training was forced to stop.

Training an elite force is difficult, but destroying one is very easy.

If you let them go hungry and neglect their training for several months, their combat effectiveness will collapse.

With the fall of Guang'anmen, the battle for Yongdingmen was also drawing to a close.

The slowly opening city gates served as a clear message to the outside world that victory belonged to the "loyal army."

With both city gates falling simultaneously, the fall of the outer city was inevitable.

Realizing the situation was dire, the defending troops had long lost their will to fight and began to retreat into the inner city.

Everyone was busy escaping for their lives, and no one noticed that some unfamiliar faces had joined the group.

……

Wenyuan Pavilion.

Upon receiving news of the rebels' attack on the city, a group of high-ranking officials, who were still asleep, were summoned for a meeting.

"Minister Luo, you are in charge of the Ministry of War, please explain the situation to everyone first!"

Jiang Shuhan said, looking exhausted.

Physical fatigue was secondary; the real problem was mental exhaustion. The rebel army was coming on strong, and they were even using the banner of the retired emperor, which undoubtedly struck at the heart of the Great Yu.

Whatever happened, the abolition of the emperor was not a glorious thing.

It was inconvenient for his subjects to publicize the emperor's perverse actions during his reign.

The result of this cold treatment was that it gave ambitious people an excuse to rebel.

“Someone in the city colluded with the rebels from the inside to open Yongding Gate and Guang'an Gate, letting the rebels into the outer city.”

The defenders are continuing their efforts, trying to see if they can drive the rebels out.

If the operation fails, it's only a matter of time before the entire outer city falls.

Luo Wenbo replied with a mournful face.

The battle was fought in a very chaotic manner; before we even understood what was happening, we had already lost two city gates.

The rebels arrived much faster than they had anticipated.

The Ministry of War was merely there for the spectacle in this great battle.

The specific military deployments were all made by the Governor-General's Office.

Now that the outer city has been lost in a muddle, the blame should be placed on the noble faction that controls the governor's office.

But this is obviously impossible.

The situation is so dangerous that we still need the noble faction to risk their lives.

Being too critical will only make the situation more unmanageable.

"With inside help from outside, it seems those Shanxi merchants are really restless!"

Marquis Weiyuan then took over the conversation, directly blaming the Shanxi merchants.

During the reigns of Jing and Li, the nobility wanted to take advantage of the Shanxi merchants.

On the one hand, these people are too rich, but more importantly, these bastards are colluding with the northern barbarians.

Eliminating these traitors will cut off the Northern Barbarians' supply channels.

If the border is strictly sealed off for two or three years, the imperial court will not need to intervene to suppress them. In order to compete for survival resources, the Tatars and the Guifang people will start fighting each other first.

Unfortunately, all preparations were made last time, but due to the failure of the Northern Expedition, all efforts were ultimately in vain.

The deep ties between Shanxi merchants and Liaodong garrisons after the war made the imperial court hesitant to take any action.

The court's concessions did not earn their loyalty; instead, they emboldened the Liaodong garrison and the Shanxi merchant group.

Now that the Liaodong garrison has rebelled, it's only natural that the Shanxi merchants, who have been under their protection, would lend a hand.

"My lord, it's best not to speak recklessly without evidence, lest it damage unity!"

Minister of Works Yue Xiangsong said with a frown.

If he had a choice, he wouldn't have defended the Shanxi merchants.

Eliminating these unscrupulous merchants and replenishing the Great Yu treasury is a win-win situation.

Unfortunately, during the previous political storm, the Qingliu Group was eager to find allies and chose to ally with the Shanxi Merchants Group, which also lacked strong support.

As one of the leading figures of the "pure stream" (a term referring to the corrupt and upright officials in Shanxi), Le Xiangsong also received benefits from Shanxi merchants.

The hands that take people are short, and the mouth that eats people is soft.

If the Shanxi merchants were labeled as rebels, he, a high-ranking official who accepted bribes from rebels, would not be able to escape unscathed.

"evidence?"

"Lord Yue, don't you find this ridiculous!"

“There are very few forces in the world that have the strength to cooperate with the rebels and seize the city gates.”

Aside from the Shanxi merchants, who else would be so foolish as to help the Liaodong rebels?

Marquis Weiyuan said with a disdainful look.

Evidence is important, yet it can also be worthless; ultimately, it depends on the decision made by higher-ups.

If one is determined to deal with the Shanxi merchants, even a tiny bit of evidence proving their close relationship with the rebels would be enough to define the nature of the matter.

If you are not willing to take action, even the most compelling evidence can be ignored.

"Alright, you two."

"We'll discuss how to defend the city and the issue of the Shanxi merchants after the war."

Second Grand Secretary Bai Jilin stepped in to act as a peacemaker.

Based on the consistent experience of the imperial court in deliberations, once the topic is steered astray, even three days and three nights of arguing will only result in pointless literary nonsense, achieving absolutely no effect.

When it came to specific issues, the group of Qingliu Party members all chose to back down.

This kind of high-level, real-world scenario is their weakness.

Forcibly intervening will only bring shame upon oneself.

"If the internal hidden dangers are not eliminated, the enemy may use the same tricks again at any time."

Aside from increasing security, there's nothing else we can do!

The words of the Marquis of Zhendong plunged the situation into an awkward silence once again.

As it turns out, all talk of strategizing and winning battles from afar is nonsense.

In a real battlefield, the more fancy maneuvers you use, the faster you die; high-level gameplay is all about simplicity.

……

The high-ranking officials in the court were engaged in heated discussions as the battle outside the city had entered a critical stage.

One of the defending soldiers fell, but a new soldier immediately took his place, thus prolonging the war.

Unfortunately, individual efforts are nothing in the grand scheme of things.

On the overall battlefield, the defending soldiers continued to retreat, and the fighting quickly spread to the foot of the inner city.

Affected by the deteriorating battlefield situation, morale in the capital also began to waver.

While the central government was pondering how to stop the rebels, those below were already considering how to realign themselves with other factions.

The Liaodong garrison was operating under the banner of the retired emperor, which meant it was an internal power struggle within the royal family and did not involve a change of regime, so everyone felt justified in defecting.

The reason for the delay in taking action was the fear that a crisis would erupt at any moment and defeat the Liaodong Army on the battlefield.

"Brother, the battle in the outer city is almost over."

Next, it's time to go to the inner city. What do you think we should do next: a full-scale assault or a political inducement to surrender?

Shi Jingzhong asked eagerly.

The siege went too smoothly, and the fighting strength of the Beijing garrison was even lower than expected.

Apart from a few sons of noble families who led their troops in a valiant resistance, most of the officers and soldiers of the Beijing Garrison were merely going through the motions during the battle.

Having captured the outer city, only one final step remains to achieve ultimate victory.

"We should try both methods."

First, send letters to the city, telling the soldiers and civilians that the purpose of this uprising is to restore the retired emperor to the throne.

He had little interest in taking charge of the government.

"If all officials agree to this condition, this admiral can promise that all past transgressions will be forgiven."

Shi Jingfeng decisively chose to prioritize politics.

He could conquer the capital, but he couldn't kill all the officials.

If one wants to "hold the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords," one must do everything possible to maintain the authority of the central government.

If the imperial court loses its authority and is unable to command the people, then the emperor in its hands loses his meaning.

"Brother, these conditions are far too lenient."

"To wipe all the blame clean—wouldn't that just be letting those corrupt officials get away with it!"

Shi Jingzhong immediately complained.

They fought to the death, not to be dogs for the imperial court.

All the officials stopped investigating, and these people continued to occupy their positions. How could these "meritorious officials" possibly rise to power?
"Ha ha……"

"My promise to let them go does not mean that I will let them go after the Emperor Emeritus is restored to the throne."

"I can't guarantee what will happen to others, but at the very least, the retired emperor will definitely settle accounts with those who participated in deposing the emperor."

……

(End of this chapter)