There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 231 Unification of Hubei

Huangzhou.

"Your Excellency, the Han traitors have already gathered their troops in Wuchang County, and I'm afraid they will attack us soon."

"Oh, I see."

Tang Dingwen, the prefect of Huangzhou, was sitting in the backyard of the prefecture, idly teasing the myna bird in its cage.

Song Zhiheng, the magistrate of Huanggang, who rushed over, frowned upon seeing the scene and said, "Your Excellency, shouldn't we immediately call upon the entire city to resist the bandits and defend the city?"

Tang Dingwen put down the birdcage, his eyes filled with mockery: "Defend the city against the enemy, easy for you to say. Where in the city's treasury is there even a single penny of usable silver left? Do you think we can use it to defend the city? The governor suffered a terrible defeat. He himself died at the hands of the Han traitors, and his army was reduced to ashes. Now, there are uprisings in various counties of Huangzhou Prefecture. We can't even suppress the rioters. What do we have to defend the city?"

The puppet Qing dynasty only had Huangzhou Prefecture left in Hubei. To the north was the White Lotus Rebellion, to the northeast was the Dabie Mountains, and to the west and south it bordered the Han dynasty directly.

The puppet Qing government didn't care about the time of day; they levied exorbitant taxes year-round. The people of Huangzhou had long since rebelled, and they had already captured a county town and killed a county magistrate.

Huangzhou Prefecture couldn't collect any money or grain at all. Even if it could, it would have to be used first to quell local rebellions. The treasury was already so empty that mice could run around in it.

Song Zhiheng said, "The treasury is empty, but the prefect can call on all the gentry and merchants in the city to donate money, and recruit civilians and militia. With everyone united, we will surely be able to defend Huangzhou."

Tang Dingwen was too lazy to say anything more: "Then go! The official seal of this prefecture is placed in the main hall of the yamen. Take the official seal and leave. Don't bother this prefecture again."

The way the prefect of Huangzhou was giving up infuriated Song Zhiheng. He had come all the way here specifically to seek advice from the prefect, and couldn't help but question him: "Is the prefect just going to sit here and wait to die?"

Tang Dingwen said without any regrets: "The only hardship throughout the ages is death! The day the Han traitors breach the city will be the day I die for the Qing Dynasty and the Emperor."

Upon hearing this, Song Zhiheng immediately ignored the cowardly prefect who was determined to die, went to the front hall of the prefectural government office, took the prefectural government seal, and then quickly left the office.

Listening to the loyal old attendant's report, Tang Dingwen shook his head helplessly, his face filled with melancholy and envy: "It's so good to be young!"

This prefect of Huangzhou is truly speechless. He was already determined to die and was even willing to commit suicide to defend the city, but he dared not defend the city or resist, let alone provoke or offend those gentry and powerful families.

Now, Song Zhiheng, having obtained the prefect's official seal, immediately summoned all the remaining yamen runners and officials in the city, preparing to solicit donations of money and grain from wealthy and powerful families to recruit soldiers to defend the city.

Yes, the task of soliciting money and grain from wealthy households and recruiting soldiers to defend the city was all handled by this county magistrate.

Other officials in the prefectural city, such as the Assistant Prefect and Vice Prefect of Huangzhou, as well as the temporarily stationed Governor of Hubei and the Manchu Commander-in-Chief, were either impossible to meet with or simply claimed to be ill and stayed at home.

In comparison, the prefect of Huangzhou's attitude of giving up and waiting to die was actually quite good.

At least this guy was just shirking his responsibilities, handing over his official seal and power. Those who wanted to defend the city could take the seal and defend it, while those who didn't could surrender with the seal. It was a great achievement.

Song Zhiheng, accompanied by a group of yamen runners, went to the wealthy families and powerful clans in the city to donate money to recruit soldiers.

However, as if they had agreed beforehand, when the magistrate of Huanggang came with his men to ask for money, they either politely refused or didn't even let him in the door.

These wealthy families in Huangzhou had a simple plan: Huangzhou city was definitely not going to hold out. Rather than stubbornly defending the city and antagonizing the Han Dynasty, they decided to protect their property and wait and see. If the Han army breached the city, they would switch sides and join the Han government. After all, the Han Dynasty would only distribute their land, not their households.

The Han army failed to breach the city, but Huangzhou was held?
Then let's hold on!

They were all wealthy and powerful families in Huangzhou. Every one of them had some connections and influence. A mere magistrate of Huanggang was nothing to them!

It was difficult for Song Zhiheng. He thought that with the official seal of the prefect and his personal visits to various wealthy households to persuade them, he would be able to raise some money and grain to defend the city.

But in reality, those wealthy and powerful families completely ignored him. Several of them wouldn't even let him in the door, only sending doormen to say he wasn't home.

Song Zhiheng's face was dark. He really wanted to lead the yamen runners to confiscate the property of wealthy families one by one, which would surely raise enough money and supplies.

But he couldn't do that, because he was an official appointed by the imperial court. If he did that, even if he managed to defend Huangzhou, his career would be over.

Moreover, Song Zhiheng didn't have the ability to confiscate their property either. These wealthy and powerful families weren't stupid; how could they not be on guard against the government resorting to desperate measures?

The number of armed guards and servants outside was almost the same as the number of his yamen runners.

Manufacturing weapons privately and hiring private retainers is tantamount to treason.

But Song Zhiheng had no choice. It was questionable whether Huangzhou could even be defended. Could he possibly submit a memorial to report these powerful local clans now?

He couldn't raid the house, and he didn't dare to either, because there would be no benefit in doing so. Not raiding it would leave him some room for maneuver.

Unable to obtain money and grain from wealthy households, Song Zhiheng could only organize the yamen runners to guard the city and persuade the common people to persevere, hoping they would spontaneously bring money and grain to help the government overcome the difficulties.

Haha, this is so damn abstract. They're risking their lives to defend the city for the government, and they still have to provide their own money and supplies. Two days later, the Han army's navy sailed down the river and docked at the wharf on the north bank of Wuchang County.

Upon hearing the news, Song Zhiheng hurriedly climbed the city wall to check the situation, but unfortunately he was too far away to see anything clearly.

It didn't matter that they couldn't see clearly. The Han army's warships stopped in Wuchang County for a while and then began to cross the river to the north bank of Huangzhou Prefecture.

The Han army has crossed the river!
Song Zhiheng quickly discovered the situation, but there was nothing he could do. Huangzhou City had cannons for river defense, but he had no gunners who knew how to operate them. All the guards were temporary yamen runners who had been temporarily put up to defend the city, as well as some laborers who had been forcibly conscripted.

These laborers didn't even have enough food, so there was no point in expecting them to operate cannons or help the government defend the city.

It took the Han army about two hours to cross the river, and the cannons defending the river in Huangzhou City didn't fire a single shot. They just stood there dumbfounded, watching the Han army slowly cross the river.

"These corrupt Qing officials in Huangzhou Prefecture are really incompetent!" Yang Fang said with disdain as she put down her binoculars.

He had only glanced around a few times when he saw that the walls of Huangzhou were filled with yamen runners in their uniforms, along with a few scattered young laborers. In total, there were less than a thousand people, and they were all undisciplined and in disarray.

Seeing that the opponent was so weak, Yang Fang didn't bother to waste any more time and immediately ordered the giant cannons to attack the city, determined to take Huangzhou City within the day.

"Boom boom boom!"

When Yang Fang attacked Huangzhou, he brought a total of six siege cannons. Three of them were brought by himself, and the other three were transported by the navy.

The six giant cannons fired simultaneously, the sound of which shook the heavens and the earth. The laborers and civilians on the walls of Huangzhou City fled hastily amidst the explosions, without any orders from anyone.

Song Zhiheng hurriedly shouted, "Come back! Come back! No one is allowed to escape! Defend the city! Defend the city!"

It was completely useless; nobody paid any attention to him, and even his personal advisor abandoned him and ran away.

"boom!"

Song Zhiheng was furious and about to personally draw his sword to boost morale when suddenly a cannon rang out.

A cannonball, bigger than a head, flew straight in an arc from outside the city and crashed into the window of the city tower.

"Oh!"

There was no loud bang, but Song Zhiheng was instantly smashed to pieces by the shell, his limbs flying everywhere. The shell continued its momentum, smashing into the brickwork of the city wall and shattering the bricks.

With the county magistrate killed in battle, there was no one left to organize resistance. The yamen runners and laborers on the city walls all fled.

Many who couldn't run simply jumped off the city wall, since they didn't want to be bombarded anyway.

Seeing that the city walls were already in chaos, Yang Fang drew his sword and ordered: "All troops, attack the city!"

"Dudududuwuwuwuwu~~~~~"

"Dudududuwuwuwuwu~~~~~"

As the bugle sounded, the vanguard of the Han army launched an assault on the chaotic city of Huangzhou.

"kill!"

"Long live the Great Han! Long live the King of Han!"

The battle cries were deafening. Huangzhou City offered no resistance whatsoever, and the city walls were captured and taken by the vanguard of the Han army in the blink of an eye.

The city gates were wide open, but the common people all kept their doors tightly shut, not daring to come out. The local gentry and powerful families, on the other hand, reacted much more readily, sending people to the city gates to offer food and drink and line the streets to welcome them.

Huangzhou Prefecture fell into the hands of the Han Dynasty amidst this eerie atmosphere.

Upon hearing the commotion outside, Tang Dingwen simply took out a rope he had prepared beforehand and swiftly hanged himself.

The Assistant Magistrate and Vice Magistrate of Huangzhou also committed suicide. They had no choice but to do so; they were the last prefectural officials in Hubei, and if they fled, Emperor Qianlong would not spare them. They had to die for their cause.

As for Hubei Governor Huiling and Manchu Commander Chengde, they acted swiftly and had already fled without anyone knowing when.

Anyway, they've already lost a lot of cities and suffered many defeats, so what's one more Huangzhou Prefecture? They might as well just wipe them out completely!

One of them was from the Mongol Eight Banners, and the other from the Manchu Eight Banners; they certainly wouldn't die.

Hubei was thus unified!
(End of this chapter)