There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 462 The Fall of Jining City
Yinghe finally failed to escape this time. He was able to escape the Battle of Xuzhou only because it was dark and he could not see clearly. He also abandoned tens of thousands of Eight Banner troops as bait.

This time it was broad daylight. He no longer had any Eight Banners troops left to abandon. Even the Shandong Green Standard Army, which was prepared to be used as cannon fodder, had defected and surrendered before him.

The deployment of the 2000 Solon battalion was truly Britain's trump card.

But this trump card was ultimately no match for the Han army's rockets and rifled guns. Under the bombardment of guns and cannons, even the bravest Solon warriors would be reduced to bloody corpses.

Hada led 1000 Han soldiers of the Solon battalion into the battle, becoming the final straw that broke the Qing army's back.

Countless surviving warriors of the Solon camp, upon seeing Hada charging in, decisively chose to defect and join him.

The Han army's Solon battalion was like a sharp knife, piercing deep into the heart of the Qing army's Eight Banners forces. Yinghe, surrounded by his personal guards, even tried to escape using the same old trick.

But it was all in vain. Faced with the brave and fearless warriors of Sauron, his personal guards offered only a little resistance before surrendering.

Those who were reluctant to surrender quickly dispersed. Before Yinghe could even escape the north gate, Hada, who was leading the way, swung his swift knife and cut off the hind leg of his horse.

The warhorse instantly overturned, and with the immense inertia, Ying and his entire body were thrown into the air.

He fell and his face was covered in blood, and his front teeth were knocked out, but he was still not dizzy. He was just feeling lightheaded and in excruciating pain all over his body.

Yinghe struggled to get up, but before he could, Hada dismounted and pressed down on him, shouting in Manchu, "General Yinghe is dead! General Yinghe is dead! Surrender now! Surrender now!"

Upon hearing this, the Qing army finally collapsed and began to kneel down and surrender en masse.

Some refused to surrender, but faced with the Han army's encirclement and the use of mortars to block their escape routes, those who dared to continue charging were already corpses on the ground.

The battle continued until the morning of the following day.

Post-war statistics showed that the Qing army suffered over 10,000 casualties.

Those who died included both Manchu Banner soldiers and Green Standard Army soldiers.

The Eight Banner soldiers were all killed for fleeing and resisting, while the Green Standard Army soldiers brought it upon themselves. Seeing that the Han army was busy pursuing the Eight Banner soldiers and seemed to have no time to care about them, they took advantage of the chaos to burn, kill, and loot.

Upon receiving the news, Yang Fang unsurprisingly set aside a militia battalion to suppress the rioting soldiers.

Anyone who committed arson, murder, and looting, regardless of who they were, was beheaded, and heads rolled in the streets and alleys.

They killed several batches of surrendered Green Standard Army soldiers before finally scaring them off.

Zhang Tiren, the prefect of Jining, was secretly rejoicing that he had chosen the right side this time, and he had decisively agreed to the request of the Han army spies to help capture the city.

With such a disciplined army that does not harm the people, the world will belong to the Han Dynasty sooner or later!

Zhang Tiren had secretly decided that even if the Qing army attacked again, he would not defect and surrender. At most, he would send his concubine and son to the south.

In this way, even if he dies in battle in Jining, he can still secure protection for his son under the new dynasty.

After the Battle of Jining, the Han army stayed in Jining for another three days.

They were both settling down and resting, and also busy beheading people.

Those thousands of Eight Banners from beyond the Great Wall who surrendered, and more than a thousand Eight Banners from Qingzhou, all of them had to have their heads chopped off one by one.

The Han army could accept surrender, but never the Eight Banners. All Eight Banners, regardless of whether they were Manchu or Han, were to be completely wiped out.

The Solon tribe was spared, a special favor granted by the Han emperor. The Solon tribe had truly suffered; nominally part of the Eight Banners, they were in reality slaves of the Manchus, their status no different from that of the Han people.

Several thousand Manchu soldiers were to behead the enemy; hundreds of their swords were worn dull from the chopping. Mass graves had been prepared in advance for the bodies to be burned and buried.

The heads were all concentrated and tanned, then transported in batches by fast ships to various prefectures and counties in Shandong, to inform the Han officials and gentry in those prefectures and counties that the Manchu Qing dynasty was finished.

If you don't prepare to disembark now, you might not have another chance later.

The Han army concentrated on beheading people for almost three days, with the executioners being Han army militia members who took turns serving as executioners.

This saves both time and effort, and also allows the militia battalion to experience bloodshed, enabling them to quickly adapt to the battlefield.

After thousands of Manchu soldiers had their heads chopped off, it was time to deal with the remaining big fish.

When Yinghe was escorted to the empty execution ground, the city of Jining was already deserted. Although they were somewhat tired of seeing the Eight Banners being beheaded, this time it was the governors of the Eight Banners being beheaded, and more than one at that. Even if they were tired of it, they still had to come and see something new.

Yinghe looked around the execution ground, where crowds of onlookers watched with expressions as if they were watching a monkey show. Looking around the execution ground again, he saw that it was covered in unwashed, mottled bloodstains.

It's unclear whether it was because so many heads were chopped off that the bloodstains couldn't be washed off, or whether the Han soldiers deliberately didn't wash them clean.

Yinghe longed to be a "Hero of the Eight Banners" and bravely faced death, but as death approached, he saw the basket beneath him, still faintly smelling of blood.

"Where did this slutty guy come from? Holy crap, this son of a bitch pissed himself!"

The Han soldier in charge of escorting Yinghe cursed angrily and kicked him, knocking him to the ground.

Looking at Yinghe's lower body, it was already soaked from the middle and steaming.

Holy crap, I actually peed my pants from fear!

"Ugh~ Ugh~ Ugh!" Yinghe seemed to want to beg for mercy, but her mouth was already stuffed with cloth, and she couldn't say a word. She just kept struggling and twisting.

Two Han soldiers pulled the man up with disgust, trying to make him kneel down properly, but he couldn't kneel at all; his legs were completely trembling with fear.

There was no other way. After trying for so long, he couldn't kneel down, so we had to let him off easy. We found a few spearmen and stabbed him to death with their spears.

The corpse was dragged away and its head was cut off. Even in its final moments, the man's face still showed pleading and fear.

The later ones fared slightly better. Wang Bingtao (of the Han Eight Banners), the Governor-General of the Eastern River, Tie Bao, the Governor-General of the Grand Canal, Kang Jitian, the Governor-General of the Southern River, and Guan Ming, the Deputy Commander of Qingzhou who was added to the list, were all beheaded one by one.

(Fun fact: Tie Bao in history claimed to be a descendant of Zhao Si, the Prince of Yue, who was the emperor of the Song Dynasty.)

Every time one was chopped down, the onlookers below would cheer.

These were high-ranking local officials, like governors, yet they were all killed with a single stroke, much to the delight of the people of Jining.

……

Qufu County.

The day after Jining was captured by the Han army, the magistrate of Qufu County personally opened the city gates and surrendered.

With Jining and Yanzhou gone, the small county of Qufu was naturally beyond defense, and there was no need to defend it.

Because everyone knows that there is a Duke Yansheng's Mansion in Qufu County, and the Duke Yansheng's Mansion is a place that even the Manchus had to treat with respect when they entered the pass.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the Qing Dynasty is now so focused on fighting that they're even targeting the Duke Yansheng's residence. Even if Yinghe were to ask the Duke Yansheng's residence for grain, he would still have to send a special envoy from the governor-general to Qufu County in person to pay respects at the Confucius Temple before he could make his request in a more tactful manner.

In other parts of Shandong, the government directly demanded money from the gentry, and anyone who dared not give it was killed and their property confiscated.

The Qufu Yansheng Duke's Mansion in history managed to survive until the Republic of China era, and later even fled to Taiwan with the bald man.

Therefore, according to the thinking of the Qufu County Magistrate, the Qufu gentry, and even the Confucius family of Qufu, no matter who came to Qufu, they had to show respect to the Confucius family. Moreover, since it was the army of the Han Dynasty that came, they had to win the support of the Duke Yansheng's Mansion even more.

The Han army general in charge of attacking Qufu County was Bao Guoduan, commander of the Third Division of the Second Division. His original name was Bao Laosan, but he paid a scholar to change his name.

Since Xu Sanlang set a precedent by changing his name to "Xu Yuanrang," many Han generals have had the idea of ​​changing their names to varying degrees.

For example, Chen Younian felt that his name was not good enough, so after he went to Guangdong, he also changed his name to "Chen Jingyuan", which means to pacify the border and plan distant strategies, which fits his war in Guangdong and Guangxi.

He Shunan changed his name to He Mingtao, which has a simple and direct meaning: he is a brilliant strategist and a master of military tactics.

"General, the magistrate of Qufu County, accompanied by the Duke of Qufu, requests an audience with you!"

"What Duke Yansheng? Let them in, but not too many. Just let the county magistrate and that so-called Duke Yansheng come."

Bao Guoduan looked bewildered. He seemed to have heard that the Duke Yansheng was a very powerful figure among scholars, so after thinking about it, he decided to summon everyone in.

Because it had been discussed beforehand, the two were led into the tent, but instead of kneeling, they bowed with their hands clasped in greeting.

"Zhang Tigan (Kong Qingrong, Duke Yansheng), Magistrate of Qufu County, pays his respects to the General!"

(Note: During the Qianlong era, the magistrate of Qufu County was no longer a member of the Kong family.)
"No need for formalities! I'm not a general, my name is Bao Guoduan, just a commander under General Bai. Just call me Commander Bao!"

Bao Guoduan waved his hand, not really caring about it.

The young Duke Yansheng, Kong Qingrong, was somewhat at a loss. Zhang Tigan, the magistrate of Qufu County, was more experienced and quickly said, "General Bao, what are you saying? General Bao's military might is overwhelming for the people of Qufu County. Your promotion to general is only a matter of time. Now that your heavenly army has arrived in Qufu, the gentry of Qufu and the Duke Yansheng's mansion have prepared food, wine, and meat for the royal army. We hope you will accept them!"

Zhang Tigan's eloquent words indeed pleased Bao Guoduan. As the saying goes, one cannot hit a smiling face, so he nodded gently and said, "You landlords and rich folks from Qufu are quite kind, but our Han army has military regulations. We will accept this grain as a loan, and we will have the clerk write you an IOU later. As for the wine and meat, you can take them back and eat them yourselves! Drinking is not allowed in the army, nor is it allowed to waste large amounts of meat and fish."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tigan immediately began to flatter, saying, "The royal army is disciplined and worthy of being called the heavenly army of our Han people. The Duke of Yansheng's Mansion expresses its heartfelt respect for the Great Han Dynasty and requests that the dragon throne of the Great Han Emperor be enshrined in the Confucius Temple. We also request that the General present this memorial to the Great Han Emperor!"

Bao Guoduan was somewhat puzzled: "I think I've heard of the Temple of Confucius. Isn't it supposed to be in Zhejiang? How come you have one too?"

The impetuous young Kong Qingrong quickly explained, "That's the Southern Confucian school of Zhejiang, not the authentic one. The authentic Confucian school is from Qufu."

"Oh I got it."

Bao Guoduan nodded pretentiously, but he didn't understand a word of what he said.

He had all sorts of nonsense about Southern Confucianism and authentic traditions, but he did understand the previous explanation about the offering of the Han Dynasty emperor's dragon throne.

Bao Guoduan did not agree, but took the document and glanced at it casually. He found that it was full of ornate language and contained many unfamiliar characters.

Unable to understand it, Bao Guoduan simply put away the memorial and said, "I will forward it to His Majesty. You should leave now! We still have to go to attack Sishui County, so we can't stay in Qufu for too long."

After a series of misunderstandings, Kong Qingrong and Zhang Tigan left satisfied.

In their view, if the Han general accepted the memorial, then the matter should be considered settled, and they could go back and remove the Manchu tablets and replace them with the prepared Han emperor's throne.

I wonder how this Han emperor will bestow titles upon the Kong family. The Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty granted the Kong family the title of king, but Zhu Yuanzhang, the beggar emperor, stripped them of the title. The Manchus, however, gradually restored the title and posthumously conferred it upon several families every few years.

(End of this chapter)