There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 217 Everyone Wants to Surrender
"Boom boom boom!"

Outside Xiangyang, the Han army's cannons continued to fire relentlessly without stopping.

Li Youji, Yao Tongzhi, Ma Shiye and their gang originally planned to wait for Bai Nan to continue attacking the city for two more days, then set fire to the city at night to create chaos and cooperate with the Han army to capture it.

Unfortunately, before they could implement their plan, Mingliang preemptively seized their military power.

It wasn't that Mingliang had seen through them, but rather that he had never trusted these people from the beginning. He had given them authority out of necessity to stabilize morale, but Vice General Qian's report made him wary of Li Youji and other Han generals once again.

Mingliang wasn't too confused. Although he was ill, he didn't dare to actually kill Li Youji in the inner Han army. He could only transfer him away under a pretext, preventing them from handling important matters of city defense and only letting them manage the military warehouse and equipment.

Having suddenly lost his military power, and with Mingliang becoming wary, Chen Xingye could only appease Li Youji and his men, telling them not to act rashly and to wait for the army outside the city to create an opportunity for them.

Bai Nan remained calm and led over seven thousand soldiers to continue the siege, while all the cannons were brought out to bombard the city.

Instead of trying to breach the city walls, they used relentless volleys of bullets to instill fear in the Qing army.

They then divided their forces into several groups, each led by a centurion with over five hundred Han soldiers, to recapture the counties and towns under the jurisdiction of Xiangyang Prefecture. Along the way, gentry and common people vied to act as guides, telling them where Qing troops were stationed and how many soldiers were stationed there.

The gentry and common people of Xiangyang Prefecture suffered terribly. First, the White Lotus Rebellion raged, and then the Qing army returned.

Although the White Lotus Sect was highly destructive, it was restrained by impoverished leaders like Wang Cong'er, so it didn't really go on a killing spree. Instead, it looted food and coerced some people to join the rebellion and army.

The Qing army was quite formidable; they stormed in and immediately said, "Fellow villager, may I borrow your head?"

Or: "Fellow villagers, call out all the villagers! Should we massacre the village, or behead them one by one, and choose one?"

When the White Lotus Sect was in Xiangyang, some of the common people became rebels and bandits under the sect, some struggled to survive, and others chose to trust merchants (spies) and head south to join the Prince of Han.

After the Qing army recaptured Xiangyang, the gentry and common people were no longer subjected to the ravages of the White Lotus Rebellion; the government troops came directly to "shave" their heads.

The common people are like leeks; they grow back after being harvested.

The passing of bandits is like a comb, and the passing of soldiers is like a grate.

Things have only gotten a little better in the last six months or so, because the government troops have all been wiped out by the Han army, so we can only recruit soldiers from our own prefecture. They are all from our hometown, so at least they won't come to behead us and take our food every now and then.

Now that the Han army has arrived, they have been warmly welcomed by the gentry and villagers.

These gentry and villagers of Xiangyang had not seen such a regular army for almost two years. They no longer believed they were rebels; they insisted that these were heavenly soldiers and generals descended from the sky, and they were vying to become their guides.

what?
When the Han army arrives, they will divide up the land owned by the landlords and gentry.

Then let's split it!

Living a precarious existence, with lives constantly threatened by government troops and the possibility of being branded as "traitors," what was the big deal about a few abandoned fields?

Furthermore, the Han army only allocated their land, not their property. Even when the Han army's centurion passed through their village, several local gentry families took the lead in donating grain. Although the Han army accepted the donations, they still issued IOUs, stating that it was all borrowed grain from the army.

They are so benevolent! It seems that the world is truly on the verge of restoring the Han dynasty.

No comparison, no harm!

The Qing army and the White Lotus sect were both rotten, which ironically made the Han army, which "seized" the landlords' land, appear as a "benevolent and righteous army" in the eyes of the landlords.

Meanwhile, Mingliang, despite his illness, personally oversaw the defense of the city. Even when he saw the Han army split up, he remained cautious and dared not attack. Although the Qing army in the city, including the laborers, numbered at least tens of thousands, several times more than the Han army, Mingliang, having already suffered several crushing defeats in field battles against the Han army, dared not underestimate them.

"boom!"

The cannons outside the city were still firing incessantly. Mingliang did not stay on the city wall because it was not safe. Several city walls had been bombarded before, and a single shot would cause them to collapse.

Mingliang was reading quietly below the city when Vice General Qian came over to report: "Sir, the Han traitors' cannons are really powerful. I have already offered a generous reward, but no gunners dare to go up."

"Those who dare not go up will be treated as cowards and deserters," Mingliang ordered, turning a page slightly.

Deputy General Qian hesitated for a moment: "This..."

"If we don't kill a few, these Xiangyang soldiers won't obey orders," Mingliang said calmly.

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, Deputy General Qian had no choice but to obey. Under this threat, coupled with the previous generous reward, a few gunners finally went up to fire the cannons.

And then, it was completely useless!

The Qing army's cannons were not powerful enough, and their range was not as far as that of the Han army's cannons. As soon as the Qing army's cannons fired, the Han army's cannons would be aimed directly at the cannon positions on the city wall and fire in unison.

With dozens of cannons firing simultaneously, one or two shells were bound to hit the target, and even one hit could shatter the morale of the Qing army.

After a few exchanges, in less than half an hour, the Qing army artillerymen were exhausted.

If these Qing soldiers hadn't all been from Xiangyang, they probably would have abandoned the city and fled, or simply surrendered.

Having no other choice, Mingliang could only personally put on his cotton armor and go up to the city to boost the morale of his troops.

"Ok?"

As soon as Mingliang reached the city wall, he saw a rider coming from the Han army's position outside the city. The rider stepped on the several moats that had been filled in and ran down to the city.

"I am Hesheli Fuzhina, and I am also a member of the Manchu Eight Banners. If anyone's entire family isn't enough to be slaughtered, feel free to shoot arrows!"

At the start, Toshina used a loudspeaker to shout incoherently at the city wall. The Qing soldiers, who did not know his identity before, all understood what he was saying.

Mingliang wanted to order the arrows to be fired, but now he had no chance. He could only wait and see what the other side wanted to say.

"Gucheng, Guanghua, Junzhou, and Zaoyang have already surrendered. Those who surrender now will only be punished as ringleaders; ordinary Qing soldiers and lower-ranking officers will all be pardoned!"

"Repeat: If you surrender now, only the ringleaders will be executed; the rest will be pardoned!"

"If you surrender now, only the ringleaders will be executed; the rest will be pardoned!"

"..."

With just a few words, the morale of the soldiers in the city instantly wavered.

Mingliang realized this wouldn't work and hurriedly ordered the arrows to be fired, but no one obeyed. He had no choice but to draw his bow and shoot the arrow himself.

Then, due to old age and frailty, coupled with illness, he had long been drained of energy, and the arrows he shot were weak and powerless.

Tomio mockingly lapped the horse around twice, then turned and walked away.

Brightness had scared the other party away, and he was about to take a break when he ordered his men to be on high alert.

It was only afternoon when more than a dozen cavalrymen arrived, all of them Manchu cotton-armored cavalry.

These cavalrymen weren't as eloquent as Fuzhina; they simply fired arrows to deliver handwritten messages. Not all Qing soldiers might recognize the messages, but as long as the officers could read them, that was enough.

Mingliang had no choice but to order the confiscation of the letters urging surrender and to bring out several large boxes of silver and valuables to distribute as rewards to the officers and soldiers below.

At the same time, they did not forget to spread the message that if they surrendered now, the soldiers could live, but the officers with power would certainly not live, and they should not believe the Han army's lies.

is that useful?
It's useful, but not very much.

The officers were indeed afraid that the Han army would not let them go, but they were now an isolated city, and the entire Xiangyang region was lost. A few days ago, the Han army had even crossed the river to besiege Fancheng and blockade the Han River waterway.

How is this played?
Isolated and without support, their escape routes cut off, and the Han army outside the city promising not to retaliate... well...

"Brothers, I'm afraid we can't hold Xiangyang."

"Big brother, you're not really going to surrender, are you?!"

"Yes! Although those corrupt officials are not human, Xiangyang is our hometown. If we really hand it over to the rebels, we will be talked about behind our backs by our neighbors."

"What are you talking about? Didn't you hear us? The traitors... no, the Han army said they'll only settle scores with those corrupt officials, not with us ordinary soldiers and civilians. If you surrender, you surrender!"

"But the higher-ups say that rebels are all untrustworthy..."

"Breaking their word? That's probably not referring to them! They're not even Han Chinese, how can you believe what they say? Besides, even the messengers from outside the city who came to persuade us to surrender were Manchus, how could the Han army possibly make things difficult for our own people?"

"Hey, I think Big Brother is right! The Han army can even subdue the Manchus, so there's no reason for them to turn against their own Han brothers!"

"But……"

"What 'but'? I, Wang Laosan, have only one question. Brothers, will you continue to serve those corrupt Manchu officials, or will you join us and surrender to the Han army?"

"..."

"Alright, I'll do it with you, brother! I've been fed up with those corrupt officials for a long time, let's fuck them!"

"Then I'll do it too!"

"I did it too..."

"Big brother, when are we going to make our move?"

"Tomorrow night, on my command, we'll set it on fire... wait, what's all this noise?"

"Big brother, look at that! It's so bright!"

These men had just found a secluded spot on the city wall under the cover of night to plot their defection and cause trouble when a huge fire suddenly broke out in the city before they could even make a move.

Wang Laosan, the junior officer in charge, immediately realized that someone had beaten him to it.

Wang Laosan reacted quickly, immediately standing up, raising his knife, and shouting, "Run! The rebels are attacking the city!"

After shouting, he yelled at his dozen or so men, "Aren't you coming with me? Let's fight our way out!"

"Yes, yes, the rebels have entered the city!"

"Kill the corrupt official and welcome the Han army!"

There were a dozen or so shouts, it was very chaotic, but chaos has its advantages. It was late at night and no one had time to distinguish between them, plus there was a fire in the city, so an entire section of the city wall was blown up in an instant.

"Run! Xiangyang has fallen!"

"My shoes! Who stepped on my shoes and knocked them off?!"

Mingliang was sleeping and resting inside the city tower. The old man was seriously ill and had been working hard in his armor for many days. He was sleeping very soundly, and it took Deputy General Qian and his personal guards many calls to wake him up.

The first thing I heard when I woke up was the shouts and commotion outside that the city had fallen and the rebels had entered!

Mingliang's mind was foggy and he didn't understand the situation at all. He had only been in a light sleep for a short while when Xiangyang City fell.
Not to mention him, Chen Xingye and Li Youji, who were leading the yamen runners and laborers to set fire to warehouses and create chaos in the city, were all completely dumbfounded.

They received a telegram from Bai Nan, informing them that Bai Nan would launch a general offensive outside the city tonight, and that they should try to create some chaos in the city so that the Qing army in Xiangyang would be unable to attend to both ends.

As a result, as soon as the fire started, chaos broke out on the city walls.

The chaotic torches were waved everywhere, and they could see them clearly even inside the city.

Master Ma was somewhat at a loss: "What...what do we do now?"

Chen Xingye reacted quickly, shouting, "Brothers, the Han army has already entered Xiangyang! Come with me to capture the prefect! We'll achieve great merit! We'll save our lives and our families!"

In an instant, the yamen runners and laborers realized that they had been brought here by Li Youji and Master Ma to set fires and cause trouble. Now, they were simply surrendering!

A large group of yamen runners dressed as government officials, along with another large group of laborers, armed with various weapons, followed Chen Xingye and charged towards the government office.

As Chen Xingye led his men to the government office, he shouted along the street, "The Han army has entered the city! Those who want to live should stay at home and not go out!"

"When the Han army enters the city, don't go outside!"

"When the Han army enters the city, don't go outside!"

"..."

When Chen Xingye led his men to the prefectural government office, the prefect Hong Shiquan was still unaware of anything. He was only awakened by the commotion outside and assumed that the official granary had accidentally caught fire.

"Master, master, the rebels have entered the city! The rebels have entered the city!"

"Quick, quick, help the old man out the back door."

Hong Shiquan had just gotten up, wearing only a single layer of clothing, when he was so frightened that his legs went weak. He immediately asked his personal servant to help him run away.

Everyone under heaven could surrender to the Han army, but he alone could not surrender; the Hong family could not surrender. As descendants of the traitor Hong Chengchou, they had accepted the benefits of the Hong surname, so when the Qing Dynasty collapsed, they would naturally be subject to corresponding reckoning.

Hong Shiquan had just put on a coat and was about to leave through the back door with the help of an old servant when he heard a banging sound coming from the front door.

"Thump~ thump!"

"Oh!"

The door was kicked open.

"Gentlemen, I know where that corrupt official is sleeping. I'll take you there right away."

"Da da da!"

Hong Shiquan was so frightened that he was scared out of his wits. In his panic, he had his old servant carry him over the wall. After finally managing to climb over the wall by stepping on the old servant's shoulders, he shouted down, "Quick, quick, hand me the box!"

The old servant struggled to lift the box full of gold and silver notes, but before he could raise it above his head, he nearly fainted, and the box fell to the ground.

Gold ingots and silver notes were scattered all over the ground.

"Oh my, my precious darling!"

The sound of the boxes and gold ingots falling to the ground quickly alerted the constables who were conducting the search.

The constables rushed over, startling Hong Shiquan so much that he forgot about taking the money and jumped over the wall, falling to his death.

The old servant had just gotten up when he saw his master abandon him and run away. Seeing the gold ingots and silver notes on the ground, greed arose in his heart. Just as he was about to reach out to pick them up, he stepped on the silver notes.

"Old man, tell me quickly, where is that corrupt official?"

"Master...Master...Master ran away by climbing over the wall!"

"Damn it, come with me and chase after them. Keep these gold and silver notes safe; they're evidence of their crimes, presented as tribute to Master Chen."

(End of this chapter)