My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 333 Huang Taiji: This flintlock musket is truly a divine object!
Upon arriving, Zu Dabi found that people were already waiting for them.

However, the person who came was not Zu Dashou himself, but one of Zu Dashou's confidants.

Come to think of it, Zu Dashou is quite busy these days.

As the highest-ranking military officer in Liaodong, he was responsible for defending the border and resisting the Jurchens. He had countless military affairs to handle every day. For him, sending a message was just a trivial matter and not worth his personal trip.

When the messenger saw Zu Dabi, he quickly stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and respectfully greeted him.

"Greetings, sir."

Zu Dabi was Zu Dashou's older brother, so the title "Grandpa Zu Dabi" was well-deserved.

Immediately, Zu Dabi waved his hand, signaling him to stand up, and then asked impatiently:
"Where's the imperial edict? Show it to me quickly."

Upon hearing this, the guard dared not delay and hurriedly and carefully took out an imperial edict from his bosom. The edict was wrapped in a layer of exquisite silk, making it appear exceptionally solemn.

As for the edict given to Huang Taiji, he put it in a box and carried it on his back to distinguish it from other documents.

Then, he respectfully handed the imperial edict to Zu Dabi with both hands.

Zu Dabi eagerly accepted the imperial edict and opened it, but soon breathed a sigh of relief and a relaxed expression appeared on his face.

He originally thought it was some major event, but it turned out to be that the emperor was going to celebrate his birthday, and the Ministry of Rites had asked the civil and military officials to prepare congratulatory messages and gifts in advance.

This wasn't a problem for him, after all, Liaodong was a vast and resource-rich region.

There are vast forests here, inhabited by all kinds of rare wild animals. Tiger skins and animal hides can be easily obtained in large quantities by sending people to hunt.

Furthermore, many ginseng plants over a hundred years old grow deep in the mountains. These ginseng plants are precious tonics with extremely high medicinal value, and are highly favored by high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital.

It would be perfectly acceptable to use it as a gift for the emperor!
But what happened next was interesting, because the edict also said that this matter should be informed to the Jurchens, and that the Jurchens should send an envoy to the capital to congratulate the emperor on his birthday.

Just thinking about it made Zu Da-bi laugh.

After reading the imperial edict, Zu Dabi then directly opened the letter written by Zu Dashou.

As he watched, Zu Dabi suddenly raised his head and glanced at Li Dingguo beside him. His gaze carried a peculiar meaning, leaving Li Dingguo completely bewildered and filled with doubt and confusion.

Then, Zu Dabi, too lazy to waste any more words, went straight to the point and looked at Li Dingguo, saying:
"To put it simply, the emperor is going to celebrate his birthday, so he needs to send someone to inform the Jurchens so that they can send an envoy to congratulate the emperor."

"Lord Hong and Zu Dashou discussed it and decided to let you do this task."

Upon hearing this, Li Dingguo's expression hardened slightly. He hadn't expected to be assigned this task so inexplicably.

Seeing Li Dingguo's somewhat surprised expression, Zu Dabi smiled and said:

"What? You're afraid to go?"

As he said this, there was a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Li Dingguo snapped back to his senses, a resolute and determined glint in his eyes, before he said solemnly:

"What is there to be afraid of? Even if it were a dragon's den or a tiger's lair, this humble general would not be afraid."

Upon hearing this, Zu Dabi nodded in satisfaction and continued:

"Don't worry, the Jurchens are not some kind of dragon's den or tiger's lair. They were all scared by us before and can't cause any trouble. So you won't be in any danger this time."

“Originally, anyone could have gone to do this, but they insisted on choosing you, so I guess they want you to go to the Jurchens to gain some experience. Don’t let them down.”

Li Dingguo quickly clasped his hands in greeting and said:

"Rest assured, sir, I understand. I will certainly live up to your mission."

Zu Dabi continued:
"Alright, it's getting late. Go and rest to recharge, and we'll set off first thing tomorrow morning."

Li Dingguo did not speak, but simply bowed to Zu Dabi before going to rest.

Time flies, passing by in the blink of an eye, and the next morning has arrived.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the earth was still shrouded in a light morning mist when Li Dingguo quickly got up and methodically put on his armor.

At the same time, the more than one hundred soldiers that Zu Dabi had carefully arranged had already assembled neatly and were ready for battle.

Without exception, these soldiers were among the most elite and valiant warriors in Liaodong.

They stood tall and straight, like evergreen pines and cypresses standing proudly in the cold wind, their eyes sharp and firm, revealing a fearless courage and determination.

After all, they were heading to the territory of the Jurchens, where they would most likely clash with Jurchen high-ranking generals, and might even meet Huang Taiji.

Therefore, they must not lose to the Jurchens in terms of morale; they must let them know how brave and fearless the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are.

Then, the group strode out of the pass with firm steps, and like a sharp arrow, headed straight for the Jurchen camp.

As early as yesterday, when Zu Dabi received the imperial edict, he had already informed the Jurchens of what would happen today.

So when they began their operation, the Jurchens had already arranged for people to come and meet them.

On the Jurchen side, the person in charge of receiving them was a Jiala Zhangjing named Akdun, whose official position was similar to that of a garrison commander in the Ming Dynasty, but whose actual number of people under his jurisdiction was higher.

In the Ming Dynasty, a thousand-household commander was in charge of 1,120 people, while a Jiala Zhangjing was in charge of 1,500 people!

The atmosphere was fairly amicable when the two sides met.

Akdun greeted Li Dingguo and the others politely, without showing any hostility on his face.

They didn't even confiscate the weapons of Li Dingguo and his group, but instead led the way, guiding them towards their destination, Shenyang.

However, everyone knew in their hearts that this was only temporary.

When they enter Shenyang, these weapons will definitely be confiscated, since Shenyang is the capital of the Jurchen state, and they will not easily allow outsiders to bring weapons into the country.

Thus, the Jurchens led the way, with Li Dingguo and the others following closely behind.

At this moment, snowflakes were falling from the sky, but much less than in the previous days.

Braving the light snow and the biting wind, the group made their arduous journey toward Shenyang.

This journey will take at least ten days.

In fact, in terms of distance, Shenyang is not far from the current border, only about 200 kilometers away.

If one is in a hurry, it would only take two or three days to arrive. However, it is now the dead of winter, and heavy snow has blocked the roads, making them extremely difficult to travel.

The ground was covered with thick snow, and if you stepped on it, you would sink deep into the snow, and it took a lot of effort to take each step.

Therefore, the time required is at least three times longer than before!
Meanwhile, the Jurchens had also learned of Li Dingguo and his group's arrival.

However, considering Huang Taiji's poor health, no one reported this matter to him.

Of course, Huang Taiji had no time to deal with this matter at this moment.

Because at this time he had something more important to do, which was that a few days ago, the spies sent out by Huang Taiji finally obtained a flintlock gun from the Ming Dynasty!

In fact, both Hong Chengchou and Zu Dashou were wrong. The fire that occurred in Songshan City was indeed set by Jurchen spies.

However, those spies were very well hidden and did not attract anyone's attention.

Moreover, one of the so-called two burned flintlock muskets was not a real flintlock musket, but a musket that looked very similar to a flintlock musket.

To avoid arousing suspicion from the Ming army, the Jurchen spies deliberately poured oil on the arquebuses when they took away the real flintlock muskets.

When the fire raged, the musket was burned into a blackened stick, making it impossible to tell if it was a real flintlock musket.

Furthermore, since no other firearms were lost or damaged, the Ming army basically concluded that it was just an ordinary fire.

And so, the Jurchens finally succeeded in stealing a flintlock musket!

However, the cost was enormous; more than 130 spies died in the process of completing this mission.

These spies were willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Jurchens' great cause, just to obtain this flintlock musket that was of vital importance to the Jurchens.

At this very moment, inside the imperial palace in Shenyang, Huang Taiji sat quietly by the bed, holding in his hand the hard-won flintlock musket!

His face was somewhat pale, and his expression was somewhat listless, but when he saw the flintlock pistol in his hand, a glint of excitement and greed flashed in his eyes.

He reached out and gently stroked the flintlock pistol in his hand, as if he were caressing an extremely precious treasure.

In fact, for Huang Taiji, this flintlock musket was no different from a treasure.

Then, Huang Taiji muttered to himself:
"It was this thing that caused me to suffer such a great loss in the Battle of Songjin. Without it, the Ming army would never have been able to defeat us. This thing is indeed a divine artifact."

His voice, though not loud, was filled with resentment and bitterness.

Huang Taiji always believed that the Jurchens originally held an absolute advantage in the Battle of Songjin, but it was the appearance of the flintlock musket that allowed the Ming army to turn the tide of the battle and lose the war.

Therefore, Huang Taiji both hated and loved the flintlock musket, and kept sending people to try to get one from the Ming army.

Now my wish has finally come true.

At this moment, there were only two people in the huge palace: Huang Taiji and Fan Wencheng.

Fan Wencheng stood quietly to the side, watching Huang Taiji's infatuated expression, and couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of the flintlock musket.

Then, a slight smile appeared on his face, and he said respectfully:
"Your Majesty is right, this is indeed a divine weapon. I just didn't expect the Ming army to be able to develop such a powerful firearm. It has truly impressed me."

As he said this, Fan Wencheng carefully observed Huang Taiji's expression.

He knew that Huang Taiji was not in good health at the time, so he had to be extra careful with every word he said.

In fact, Huang Taiji's health had been deteriorating since the beginning of winter.

Sometimes he would suddenly fall into a coma, and the coma would last for one or two days.

When he woke up, he was not very lucid and often said some incomprehensible things.

However, Huang Taiji never truly died; he relied on medication to sustain his life.

This is probably because Liaodong is a vast and resource-rich land, where you can easily find a lot of things like century-old ginseng, thousand-year-old he shou wu, and deer antlers.

It was thanks to these precious medicinal herbs that Huang Taiji was able to survive until now.

Moreover, upon learning that they had finally acquired a flintlock musket from the Ming Dynasty, Huang Taiji seemed to experience a sudden burst of energy, as if he were experiencing a brief resurgence of vitality.

Not only could he get up, but he could also get out of bed and take a few steps, which surprised everyone.

Surprised as they were, everyone knew that Huang Taiji was already at his last gasp. His body was like an oil lamp about to go out, and it was impossible to say when he would be completely extinguished.

This is not the most critical issue. The most critical issue is that even now, Huang Taiji has not made up his mind about who should be his successor.

Hauge was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate. He was Huang Taiji's eldest son, had some prestige in the army, and had a group of loyal generals under his command.

However, Huang Taiji did not seem to like Hauge very much and never made up his mind to make him his successor.

This has made Haug very anxious lately, and he is restless all day long, always feeling that someone might be going to take the throne from him.

Perhaps for this reason, Huang Taiji's brothers, such as Dorgon and Mangultai, also began to make moves in secret.

They all felt this was a rare opportunity and wanted to get a share of the spoils in this battle for the throne.

So they began to secretly gather influence and befriend powerful figures in preparation for their struggle for the throne.

Therefore, although the Jurchens appear calm on the surface and everything is proceeding in an orderly manner, there are actually undercurrents within them, and various forces are eager to make their move. A fierce power struggle is about to erupt.

Of course, this was not something that Fan Wencheng, an outsider, could get involved in. He was well aware of the stakes involved, so he couldn't say anything.

Just then, Huang Taiji's voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence in the hall.

"Mr. Fan, you said before that if you could get your hands on a flintlock musket, you might be able to replicate it. Now that you've got the flintlock musket, do you really think you can replicate it?"

Huang Taiji stared intently at Fan Wencheng, his eyes filled with expectation, as if hoping to get a positive answer from him.

Upon hearing this, Fan Wencheng quickly stepped forward and respectfully said:
"Your Majesty, rest assured. I have already gathered a large number of firearms craftsmen. These craftsmen are the most skilled artisans. Once we bring this flintlock gun back and disassemble it, they will be able to replicate it one by one."

"However, Liaodong is not as vast and resource-rich as the Ming Dynasty, and some things may be extremely difficult to obtain. But Your Majesty, rest assured, I will definitely find a way to solve this."

Upon hearing this, a glint of joy flashed in Huang Taiji's eyes, and he continued:

"Mr. Fan, rest assured, replicating this flintlock gun is now the top priority of our Great Qing Dynasty. Whatever materials or anything else you need, just let us know."

At this moment, Huang Taiji's tone was firm and resolute, because he knew the importance of the flintlock musket to the army!
(End of this chapter)