There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 355 Slaughter Through
Wang Kun reacted swiftly; he had just rallied a few subordinates when he led a group of men to open the city gates.

Wu Jun, who was already out of the city preparing to test the waters for an attack, couldn't help but laugh and cry. He had set out from Huizhou, boldly divided his troops through Yanzhou Prefecture, and fought all the way to Hangzhou, but he hadn't actually fought a single proper battle. He had only managed to fire a cannon in Chun'an County, but the magistrate of Chun'an County was too slow to fire.

Standing next to Wu Jun, the staff officer Shi Xiuwen was equally speechless, saying, "Hangzhou, a major city, has already been captured?"

Wu Jun laughed and said, "Times have changed. Our Han Dynasty is no longer the 'rebels' of the past. These corrupt Qing officials are not real Tartars. Of course, we must consider leaving ourselves a way out."

Having said that, he waved his hand and ordered, "The entire army will attack the city. I want to have lunch in Hangzhou this afternoon."

The city gates are open, there's no need for any probing, just go all in.

Including the civilian laborers of the Han army, Wu Jun's main force of the Han army had a strength of about 10,000 men. The sight of 10,000 men forming a battle formation and launching a charge was enough to scare away any enemy.

Qing Antai stood on the city tower, waiting and waiting, but no reinforcements came. Instead, he saw the city gates being opened and tens of thousands of Han soldiers launching a fierce attack.

Even if Qing Antai were completely stupid, he would now realize that someone had joined the thief.

"That traitor Nikan is indeed untrustworthy; they all deserve to die, they deserve to die!"

Qing Antai pressed his hands against the parapet, his face flushed with anger. He quickly summoned his personal guards: "Go and tell Deputy Commander Chengming to immediately organize the Eight Banners army's defense line. We absolutely cannot let Hangzhou be taken away by the Han traitors like this."

"Yes!"

The guards received the order and withdrew, quickly running to the section of the city wall where Chengming was located.

The guards were startled to see that the section of the city wall was crooked and covered with a bunch of people lying on it.

Once they saw that these people's arms were still flailing around, they were certain that no one was dead.

The guards quickly pulled Cheng Ming out of the crowd. He was also lying on the ground, his eyes glazed over and grinning foolishly. He was drooling uncontrollably, and his whole body reeked of the pungent smell of tobacco mixed with burnt gunpowder.

"Deputy Commander Chengming, Deputy Commander Chengming, the Provincial Governor has ordered you to quickly organize the Eight Banners Army to defend the city!" The guard called out cautiously a few times, but the other party did not respond at all. Instead, he mumbled something that could not be heard at all.

Goodness, he's got a pre-battle high!
It would be impossible to regain consciousness in less than an hour or two, and even if he did, he would definitely be weak and abnormal.

The guards had seen their masters indulging in their usual debauchery before, and they instantly realized that Cheng Ming was out of the question, as were the two thousand Hangzhou Eight Banners soldiers.

It should be said that these two thousand Hangzhou Eight Banners were of little use to begin with. From the moment Fan Jianzhong took over as the Hangzhou General, he was unable to completely suppress and control these Eight Banners troops.

There was no other way; Fan Jianzhong was a Han Chinese from the Eight Banners, while most of the two thousand Hangzhou Eight Banners soldiers were Manchus.

The Manchu Eight Banners were higher than the Mongol Eight Banners, and the Mongol Eight Banners were higher than the Han Eight Banners, which was two ranks higher!
If Fan Jianzhong hadn't been the Hangzhou General, he would have had to kneel down and greet Cheng Ming, the Deputy Commander.

The two thousand Eight Banner soldiers were usually left to roam freely. At most, they would ride their horses out for a stroll. Drills were out of the question; they would be too tiring!

Take the Eight Banners soldiers on the city wall, for example. Many of them, in order to enjoy their masturbation, didn't even wear cotton armor. They just put on a uniform of the Eight Banners soldiers and pretended to be guarding the city.

What combat effectiveness can such an army have?

Ruan Yuan, the governor of Zhejiang, knew that the Eight Banners in Hangzhou were even worse than the Green Standard Army, so he didn't take them with him when suppressing the rebellion, fearing that these Eight Banners elders might get hurt on the battlefield and cause him more trouble.

The Han army encountered no resistance or obstruction from the time they attacked the city until they entered it.

Of the two thousand Manchu soldiers in Hangzhou, some hadn't been given enough conscription and immediately tried to flee upon seeing the Han army. Others were still lying on the city wall and ramparts, rolling around haphazardly and acting crazy; you had no idea what they were doing.
Qing Antai sent his personal guards to gather people to defend the city, but they returned shortly afterward, followed by a large group of people.

"My lords, the governor... no, I mean those Manchu barbarians are just ahead."

Seeing his personal guards bowing and scraping as they followed Wang Kun, Qing Antai was completely speechless.

Behind Wang Kun were three shifts of yamen runners from the prefectural and county governments. He didn't call on the wealthy households, for fear that they would steal his credit.

Wang Kun said, "Lord Qing (a Han Chinese official title, such as Lord He), if you obediently surrender, you can be spared physical suffering!"

Qing Antai sneered: "You Nikan Han officials, our Great Qing supports you and makes you officials, and this is how you repay our Great Qing and His Majesty!"

Wang Kun shook his head, refusing to respond with any harsh words, and simply waved his hand: "Hold him down!"

A dozen or so constables rushed forward, carrying ropes in their hands.

The guards around Qing Antai, without being ordered, obediently stepped aside and watched as Qing Antai was kicked to the ground, then gagged and tied up with his hands behind his back.

After an unknown period of time, the Han army had basically taken control of all sections of the city wall.

Of the 2,000 Eight Banner soldiers, 1,800 were captured, and another 200 were not scattered, but rather hadn't been given enough strong drugs. So, while their minds were somewhat clear, they were also dizzy and confused, and when they ran, they didn't care whether they were running towards an exit or not; they just jumped wherever they could get out.

More than two hundred people jumped off the city wall, their faces contorted with abnormal madness as they died.

(This paragraph is taken from the story of that "idiot" disciple who jumped to his death by accident.)
Wang Kun led the Hangzhou officials to surrender, and then dragged out Qing Antai, who was bound hand and foot: "General, this man is Qing Antai, the Zhejiang Provincial Governor, from the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Feimo clan. He could not possibly surrender to the Han, so we, the guilty officials, have bound him and presented him to the Han army!"

Wu Jun didn't understand anything about the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner or the Femo clan; all he needed to know was that the other party was from the Eight Banners and was a Manchu Tartar.

Wu Jun waved his hand, completely ignoring Qing Antai's struggles and sobs: "Drag him away, and in a couple of days, take him to the execution ground along with those Tartar prisoners so the people can watch him be beheaded."

The Han Dynasty has already adopted a very lenient attitude towards the Manchu Eight Banners. Women and children will no longer be indiscriminately killed, as these are valuable human resources!

However, Manchu men were an exception. Anyone who saw a Manchu man, regardless of whether he was a Manchu soldier or not, was to be killed and slaughtered.

There's no need to send them to the mines to work; the Han Dynasty doesn't have enough food to support so many idle and useless people.

Moreover, the Han King has issued an edict that the Manchu ethnic group will be completely eliminated in the future, and there will be no more so-called Manchus; only Han people and other ethnic minorities will coexist.

Don't blame the Prince of Han for being too ruthless. Since he was against the Qing, he should be physically eliminated and culturally eradicated. Cutting the weeds out of the roots is the right way.

Upon hearing that he was to be beheaded, Qing Antai struggled even more violently. In a moment of carelessness, he broke free from the two constables holding him and began to kneel on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.

Is this... begging for mercy?
Ha ha.

Wang Kun had really thought that this guy would rather die than surrender and die with Hangzhou!

Unfortunately, kowtowing and begging for mercy were useless. Wu Jun ignored him and left. Two Han soldiers rushed up and punched and kicked the Tartar official until his head was swollen like a pig's head before dragging him away.

A day later, news of the fall of Hangzhou reached Xiaoshan County in the south and Yuhang County in the north.

The two counties of Yuhang and Xiaoshan were immediately on high alert, and hurriedly summoned their officials and militia to defend the city.

Yuhang and Xiaoshan counties, one located on the Grand Canal and the other backed by Hangzhou Prefecture, are both fertile and prosperous places.

Therefore, the magistrates of these two counties, if they were to commit corruption and evil deeds, would be so ruthless that they would want to fleece the land. Even if they surrendered, they would probably not have a good ending.

After all, the Han Dynasty might consider their great merit in surrendering the city and reduce their punishment, but if their punishment was too heinous, they could only be spared the death penalty but not escape punishment.

Even those guaranteed a minimum wage were sent to work in slave mines. For scholars like them, even working in ordinary mines would be physically exhausting, let alone in slave mines specifically for the most heinous criminals and Tartars. The counties of Yuhang and Xiaoshan were in a flurry of activity, preparing to defend the city.

Meanwhile, Wu Jun was busy restoring order to Hangzhou while also working to clear out the Manchus from the city.

The men were all detained in one place, and there was no need for interrogation; they were simply taken to Caishikou to be beheaded in front of the people of Hangzhou.

Women and children were sent to nursing homes to work, the elderly were forced to remarry, and the children were all given Han names and sent to nursing homes, where they could only learn Chinese characters and language from now on.

However, just in case, these children who were converted from Manchu to Han will not be allowed to take the imperial examinations or become officials in the future.

These restrictions could only be lifted after the three generations of the dynasty completely submitted to the Han dynasty.

……

Two days later, the Han army set out from Hangzhou, with 500 soldiers each in the north and south.

Xiaoshan County is the closest to Hangzhou, separated only by the Fuchun River, and is also accessible via the Grand Canal.

Five hundred Han soldiers traveled directly to Xiaoshan County aboard the navy's warships.

When Yang Rupeng, the magistrate of Xiaoshan County, saw that only a few hundred Han soldiers had come to the city, his confidence soared: "These Han traitors have only sent a handful of a few hundred soldiers. They are extremely arrogant. Men, follow me and kill the traitors!"

"Kill!"

After he finished speaking, no one moved; instead, the local militia and yamen runners all watched him silently.

Yang Rupeng instantly realized something was wrong and was about to beg for mercy.

One of the constables waved his hand: "Go! Arrest them!"

Seven or eight yamen runners rushed forward and pinned Yang Rupeng to the ground.

The foreman said in a low voice, "Sir, Xiaoshan County is right next to the Grand Canal and is a crucial hub for Zhejiang salt trade. The Han army came by waterway through the Grand Canal, and even the mighty city of Hangzhou fell. Those Eight Banners gentlemen couldn't hold out, let alone us, who have no soldiers in Xiaoshan County. We can't defend it on our own. Please use your official robe to exchange for our lives!"

Before the five hundred Han soldiers who were marching south along the canal could even begin their attack on the city, Xiaoshan County surrendered voluntarily.

The fact that things went so smoothly left the Han army captain who led the troops speechless.

What is the actual situation in Zhejiang?
They fought their way here, conquering cities and territories, but they never won a single proper battle; they all surrendered.

The only place that did not surrender was Yanzhou Prefecture, which served as the gateway to Zhejiang.

This may sound absurd, but it is the result of the combined effect of multiple factors.

First, the governor of Zhejiang, Ruan Yuan, and the Zhejiang military commander, Li Changgeng, took away most of the Qing army in the province to suppress the uprising, which directly led to the city of Hangzhou being sparsely defended, with only two thousand useless Eight Banners soldiers who were high on drugs guarding the city.

Even the Zhejiang navy, which was highly regarded by Hangzhou General Fan Jianzhong, was blocked outside Hangzhou Bay by Cai Qian, the pirate king who had been recruited by the Han Dynasty, and could not even enter the bay.

Furthermore, Wu Jun led his army to bypass Yanzhou entirely, instead sending troops to cross over the city, leading all the officials and gentry in Zhejiang, including the governor Ruan Yuan, to believe that Yanzhou had already fallen.

With the fall of Yanzhou, Zhejiang was like a house without doors; outsiders could come and go as they pleased, but the outsiders couldn't get out.

Thus, Hangzhou, being a major city, naturally dared not be attacked, and Wang Kun, the Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, decisively surrendered with the officials of Hangzhou.

He believed that if Yanzhou fell, Hangzhou could withstand one or two attacks from the Han army, but not eight or ten. The Han army could come in at any time, and they would be unable to get out. Hangzhou would fall sooner or later.

The process was completely wrong, but the result was completely right!
On the afternoon of the same day that Xiaoshan County surrendered, Yuhang County was also captured by 500 Han soldiers marching north.

Yuhang County did not surrender; the magistrate of Yuhang County did indeed stubbornly defend the city for a while, but only by a little bit.

The garrison in Yuhang County consisted of only about twenty summoned yamen runners and a little over a hundred conscripted laborers. They hadn't even demolished the city's protective bridge, and dared not leave the city to do so, fearing a surprise attack from the Han army.

Five hundred Han soldiers swaggered across the city bridge, then pushed the ladder and climbed up the city wall in two or three steps.

The people around the county town even voluntarily donated their door panels to be used as shields by the Han army. This was because a civil instructor accompanying the Han army promised them that after capturing Yuhang County, they would be allocated land and given grain to ensure they had enough to eat.

Most of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, was thus captured by the Han army.

The southward-bound Han army also captured Xiaoshan County, and their advance could reach Shaoxing Prefecture via the Grand Canal.

The Han army has not yet attacked the three counties of Lin'an, Yuqian, and Changhua west of Hangzhou. However, they have been blocked, and when they will surrender depends on when the Han army besieges them.

Li Hengte, the prefect of Shaoxing, was now in a state of panic and at a loss.

The Han army captured Xiaoshan County, which was now very close to him. They could cross the Grand Canal at any time and march south to attack his Shaoxing Prefecture.

Most importantly, this guy was an old acquaintance of the Han army; his father was Li Fenghan, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, who had died in battle almost a year ago.

Li Fenghan died in battle at Jiujiang, and also lost tens of thousands of troops in Liangjiang. Although he died, he could not escape responsibility. As a result, his second son, Li Hengte, was demoted and transferred to the position of prefect of Shaoxing.

Even so, it was only because their family belonged to the Han Eight Banners, which could barely be considered a low-ranking bannerman, that they were exempted from most of their crimes and were able to continue serving as officials.

Li Hengte knew he couldn't hold Shaoxing Prefecture, but he dared not surrender, much less flee.

He was a Manchu, and while he could run away from the monks, he couldn't run away from the temple, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and defend Shaoxing to the death.

At the same time, he hurriedly sent three letters of appeal for help in one day, requesting assistance from Ruan Yuan, the governor of Zhejiang Province in Jinhua Prefecture.

When Ruan Yuan saw the letter of appeal for help from Li Hengte, the prefect of Shaoxing, he was completely stunned.

what's the situation?
Wasn't the Han traitor's army confronting him in Lanxi County?
How did they suddenly reach Hangzhou, and even take it?

Were Provincial Governor Qing Antai and Hangzhou General Fan Jianzhong just sitting around doing nothing?

The Han rebels confronting them number nearly ten thousand; the number of troops they could send out wouldn't exceed this one. Hangzhou is a large and formidable city; with two thousand Eight Banner troops and the Zhejiang navy, surely it shouldn't be unable to hold out?
Moreover, the problem is that it has only been a few days. They have only been in a standoff with the Han traitors in Lanxi for a few days, and Hangzhou is already gone.

Ruan Yuan couldn't understand it, so he sought out Li Changgeng and showed him the letter requesting help.

Li Changgeng looked equally bewildered: "Hangzhou is gone? How did it disappear?"

Ruan Yuan said, "The problem now is not how Hangzhou was lost, but that we must retake Hangzhou as soon as possible, otherwise, the whole city will be..."

The second half of the sentence needs no further explanation. Putting aside the Han army's past reputation, these anti-Qing rebels would absolutely not show mercy to the Eight Banners and the Manchus.

If the whole city is destroyed, every single one of them will suffer.

(End of this chapter)