The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 270 Another Plan to Eradicate Inheritance

On the sixth day of the third lunar month, dark clouds loomed over the city.

Just past dawn, a swift horse galloped out from the ranks and stopped a hundred paces away from the city of Chengdu.

The mounted cavalrymen held high their tin trumpets and sang aloud:
"Listen up, garrison troops on the city wall!"

"By order of my commander-in-chief, I have come to show you the way!"

The sound carried far across the empty battlefield, drowning out the wind, and clearly reached the crenellations.
"Heaven cherishes life, and my commander, unwilling to commit further bloodshed, has ordered me to persuade you to surrender!"

"Now that my 40,000 troops are at the city gates, do not resist any longer!"

"As a righteous army, we have always only punished the ringleaders, regardless of whether they were coerced into following us, and we would never commit the act of massacring an entire city!"

"Surrender the city now and welcome my righteous army, and I will guarantee your safety and well-being!"

"If they are stubborn and unyielding..."

Seeing the cavalry coming to persuade them to surrender, many of the garrison soldiers, especially the conscripted able-bodied men and newly recruited militia, hesitated, and whispers began to rise among them.

Just then, a strong and resonant voice came from the city wall behind them, silencing the whispers:
"Don't listen to the treacherous soldiers' lies!"

"Clever words and a flattering demeanor, all empty talk!"

The crowd looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zhu Xieyuan, the governor-general of the three provinces who had been appointed to the post in a time of crisis.

He snorted coldly, strode out of the city tower, and glanced at the wavering defenders on the city wall.

"A bandit is a bandit, how could he possibly keep his promise?!"

"Everyone should think about how the rebel She Chongming tricked the Chongqing government back then!"

"His Highness and all the officials and gentry of the city are very considerate of you, and yesterday they specially took out real gold and silver to reward you."

"Don't easily believe the thieves' lies, lest you lose all the bounty you just got!"

These words jolted the previously wavering defenders back to reality.

The She'an Rebellion back then caused a huge uproar, and almost everyone in Sichuan knew that this guy was a fickle person.

She Chongming used his clever words and flattery to deceive Chongqing Prefecture, and then went on a killing spree, causing widespread panic.

But they had also heard that these bandits from northern Sichuan did not seem to be people who broke their promises.

Seeing that the soldiers defending the city were still wavering, Zhu Xieyuan made a tough decision and promised a generous reward:
"Soldiers, His Highness the King of Shu and I will never treat you unfairly!"

"Listen carefully, everyone who defends the city walls will be rewarded with five taels of silver per day!"

"We'll pay every day we hold out, and we'll never be late!"

"If you defeat the enemy soldiers, there will be a great reward!"

Five taels a day—this amount was an unimaginable fortune for the soldiers and militia defending the city, enough to make them risk their lives to defend it.

"We swear to repay the kindness of the Prince and the Lord with our lives!"

A quick-thinking officer immediately took the lead in shouting.

"The city is here and the people are there!"

A generous reward will surely bring forth brave men; the unease that had just begun to rise was instantly suppressed, and shouts from the city walls shook the heavens.

Zhu Xieyuan nodded in satisfaction upon seeing this, then pointed to the cavalrymen who had come to persuade him to surrender below the city walls and said sternly:
"Shoot my arrows!"

"Drive the bandits back!"

Having received the promise of a generous reward, the garrison was now united in their hatred of the enemy. Upon hearing the order, more than a dozen archers immediately stepped forward, drew their bows, and nocked their arrows.

Whoosh whoosh—

A flurry of arrows rained down on the city below. Although they were too far away to reach the enemy cavalry below, the meaning was clear.

Upon witnessing this scene, Jiang Han from the Central Military Office put down his telescope and let out a cold snort:
"Stubborn!"

"Artillery battalion, advance!"

Although Jiang Han did not know how many soldiers were stationed in the city, he figured that the government troops probably couldn't muster many men at this time.

Once the defenders on the city walls are cleared, we can then launch a full-scale attack using ladders.

At his command, the artillery battalion on the left flank moved in response. One heavy cannon after another was loaded onto gun carriages and slowly pushed onto the battlefield by livestock and artillerymen.

To conquer this formidable city in the southwest, Jiang Han practically emptied his coffers.

There were a total of fifty-eight heavy cannons weighing four to five hundred catties each, and twelve Hongyi cannons weighing one thousand catties each.

Zhuang Qirong of the Ministry of Works was no stranger to casting these thousand-pound Hongyi cannons, having participated in cannon casting with Wang Zheng when he was in Shaanxi.

However, the heavy Hongyi cannon was not Jiang Han's target.

If he remembers correctly, there was an even more advanced and heavier type of artillery in the Liaodong war zone at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

That is the famous Dingliao General Bronze Cannon.

As a pinnacle of military technology in the Ming Dynasty, this cannon is renowned for its prowess.

Although the cannon-casting technology of the Ming Dynasty was introduced from the West, the clever and skillful Ming craftsmen had long since developed their own set of theories based on the Western cannon-casting technology.

The bronze cannon of the Dingliao General is the crown jewel among them.

This cannon was about twelve feet long and weighed as much as 2,500 kilograms. Its effective range far exceeded that of Western cannons of the same period, about 800 paces (1200 meters).

The shells fired weigh up to 12 kilograms and can easily destroy any target on the city wall, or even penetrate the city wall directly.

In terms of casting technology, the Great General has gathered all the advanced technologies of the late Ming Dynasty, including layered molds, copper-iron composites, directional cooling, and so on.

However, this type of cannon would not appear until after the Battle of Songjin, which is eight or nine years away from now.

But at least they now know the direction to take, and Zhuang Qirong has been leading the team to overcome this challenge.

The messenger, carrying a command flag, jogged out from the center of the army and arrived at the front artillery position. Auxiliary soldiers and militiamen were leading mules, unloading boxes and boxes of artillery ammunition.

"Load the explosives! Compact it!"

The gunners were operating the gun in a tense but orderly manner, first stuffing a measured amount of gunpowder into the breech, then compacting it with a push rod, and finally filling in the heavy solid iron bullet.

Once everything was ready, the battalion commander received the command flag and waved it towards the central command post behind him.

With Jiang Han nodding, two military flags were raised at the central command, officially ordering an attack on Chengdu.

On the position a hundred paces away from the moat, fifty-eight heavy cannons were lined up in a row along the central Hongyi cannon.

"put!"

With a command from the artillery battalion commander, the artillerymen lit the fuses, bent over and covered their ears, and one after another, the heavy cannons burst into flames from near to far.

boom--!
The cannon in the center shook the earth, and the loose soil underneath exploded like boiling water.

Amidst the swirling dust and smoke, the heavy cannon, along with its chassis, suddenly recoiled, sending the shells hurtling through the air in parabolic arcs before crashing down on the defenders atop the city walls.

Accompanied by deafening cannon fire, solid iron bullets weighing seven or eight pounds each whistled through the air and splattered all over the crenellations of the city wall.

Broken bricks and stones rained down like a storm, catching the defenders who were hiding behind the crenellations with their bows drawn and arrows nocked. They were hit directly by the collapsing rammed earth and bricks and immediately fell to the ground.

More shells flew over the crenellations and headed straight for the defenders on the city wall.

One of the unfortunate souls was struck directly in the chest by a heavy iron bullet. Before he could even scream, he was torn to pieces like a smashed watermelon, his blood and internal organs splattering all around him.

Faced with such fierce artillery fire, the defenders on the city wall did not dare to raise their heads and could only cry out for help as they hid in the distance.

Seeing this, Zhu Xieyuan immediately led his personal guards forward and blocked the defenders' retreat:

"No retreat!"

"Return the fire! Fire back!"

"If you retreat, the enemy soldiers will rush forward and fill the river!"

As expected, while the defenders were being forced to move to their artillery positions, Jiang Han, who was below the city wall, had already issued a second order: fill in the river and level the moat.

Jiang Han did not expect the cannons to collapse the tall city wall in front of him.

The reason for firing the cannons first was mainly to cover the advance of his auxiliary soldiers and civilians to fill in the moat and trenches outside the city.

Chengdu was first built during the Hongwu period of the early Ming Dynasty, and it bore the important responsibility of "protecting the princes and controlling the southwest".

After Fu Youde conquered the Shu-Xia regime, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong to oversee the construction of Chengdu City to intimidate the chieftains in the southwest.

Li Wenzhong expanded the city walls of the Song and Yuan dynasties into a magnificent city with a circumference of twenty-six li.

Its city walls are constructed of brick and stone, reaching a height of 32 feet and a top width of 25 feet, allowing four horses to ride abreast.

But that's not all; the outer defenses of Chengdu are not to be underestimated either.

The Chengdu Plain has a well-developed water system, and the city of Chengdu itself is situated along the water, embraced by two rivers.

"The waters of the Neijiang River flow south around the city. The waters of the Waijiang River flow east around the city to the north, and then they meet south of Zhuojin Bridge."

This natural layout was cleverly incorporated by the craftsmen who built the city at the time into a moat, which stretched across the front of Jiang Han's army.

"quick!"

"Fill it up for me!"

Under the cover of artillery fire and the roars of the supervisory team, thousands of militiamen, carrying sandbags, bundles of straw, and even door panels, charged toward the moat with shouts.

Seeing the situation was dire, the defenders on the city wall had no choice but to bravely lean out and fire arrows and cannons at the enemy soldiers, braving their cannon fire.

Along the moat, people kept falling to the ground, wounded by arrows, screaming as they tumbled into the river, their blood instantly staining the water red.

But the people behind them ignored them, simply hoisted the sandbags and bundles of straw on their heads, and forced their way to the moat.

"Hurry! Fill it out quickly!"

"Once I've filled it in, I can storm the city walls and kill those bastards guarding them!"

As bag after bag of sand and gravel was thrown into the river, the once surging moat gradually became blocked.

Seeing this, the auxiliary soldiers who had been waiting for a long time carried the planks and immediately followed, filling in several channels several feet wide in the river.

"Brothers, follow me and break through the city!"

With a roar from the vanguard Cao Er, thousands of elite soldiers pushed more than ten siege engines and assembled wooden ladders across the moat and surged toward the city wall not far away.

When the defenders on the city wall saw the enemy soldiers attacking, they quickly grabbed their bows, crossbows, and muskets, trying to stop the enemy from climbing the wall.

But the vanguard below the city simply raised their rattan shields and easily blocked the government troops' long-range firepower.

Seeing that lead bullets and arrows could not move the bandits, the defenders could only carry rolling stones and logs, along with hot oil and molten gold, and stand ready for battle.

Ladders were placed one by one on the city wall, and thousands of soldiers began to swarm up the city.

Stones and logs rained down from the city walls as if they were free, one after another, causing people to fall from the ladders with screams of agony. Hot oil and molten gold poured down, tearing flesh from those drenched and emitting inhuman screams. A stench of burnt flesh and excrement instantly filled the air below the city walls.

Even though Zhu Xieyuan led his personal guards to defend the city, it was clear that a garrison of 12,000 men could not possibly cover the entire 26-mile-long city wall.

At this moment, at Yinghui Gate on the east side, Shao Yong led his men in a fierce attack.

At Qingyuan Gate to the west, Li Zicheng led the troops; outside Guangzhi Gate to the north, Li Laowai led the troops.

At the central command post, Hei Zi, standing next to Jiang Han, watched with gleaming eyes, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Seeing his brothers fighting on the front lines, he could no longer contain himself and immediately volunteered to join the battle to Jiang Han:
"General, let me go too!"

"If I don't keep moving, my bones will start to rust!"

Jiang Han glanced at him and chuckled, then cursed:
"You've been in Hanzhong for so long without touching a knife, don't get rusty and embarrass me!"

Hei Zi pounded his chest loudly:

"Don't worry, General Qi!"

"We've never forgotten our knives-chopping skills! They're as natural as eating and drinking!"

Jiang Han nodded upon seeing this:
"Okay, let's go!"

"Watch out, you better come back alive!"

"Got it!"

Upon hearing this, Hei Zi was overjoyed and, with a shout, led his personal guards out.

The rebel army launched a three-pronged attack on the city simultaneously, and urgent reports came from all the city gates requesting reinforcements.

Zhu Xieyuan only had so few men at his disposal, and he also had to defend against the main force of the rebel army at the South Gate, so he couldn't spare any more manpower.

Left with no other choice, he could only temporarily hand over the defense to Shen Yunzuo, the magistrate of Huayang County, and let him lead his men to hold the line for a while.

Meanwhile, Zhu Xieyuan, accompanied by the imperial inspector Liu Zhibo, rushed to the Shu Prince's residence to request Zhu Zhishu to increase the amount of money to be paid and to recruit the people in the city to defend it.

They figured that now that the enemy troops had already begun their attack on the city, even if the King of Shu was stingy, he should realize the seriousness of the situation by now.

However, they seriously underestimated Zhu Zhishu's shamelessness and stinginess.

Upon hearing the words "increased military pay," Zhu Zhishu jumped up from his chair as if he had been stepped on.

"You want more money?"

"Didn't we distribute two thousand taels before? And the various clans of my Shu vassal state also donated tens of thousands of taels. Where would we find any money left over?"

"Do you intend to empty my treasury?!"

Zhu Xieyuan's voice was hoarse, almost pleading:
"Your Highness, the enemy's offensive is too fierce!"

"My brothers are fighting to the death under the enemy's gunfire!"

"Rogues are currently attacking the other three cities, and we urgently need silver to recruit more able-bodied men to help defend them!"

Liu Zhibo, standing to the side, was so anxious that his eyes turned red.

"Your Majesty!"

"Now is not the time to be stingy with money. If the city falls, everything will perish."

"Are you going to leave the mountains of gold and silver in your treasury to the thieves outside the city?"

Zhu Zhishu listened to the faint sounds of cannon fire in the distance, slumped on his throne, and large beads of sweat rolled down his face.

The two people in my ears kept admonishing me:
"Your Highness, if the enemy troops breach the city, we might still be able to escape, but it's hard to say about your Shu Prince's Mansion."

"As far as I know, the bandits had previously captured Yinchuan in Ningxia and massacred the entire Qing family."

"The primary target of this bandit attack is your Shu King's Mansion!"

Zhu Zhishu was annoyed by the two arguing, especially Liu Zhibo's statement that "the target is the Shu Prince's Mansion," which hit a nerve.

He suddenly stood up, pointing wildly inside and outside the hall, and shouted hysterically:

"Gone! Not a single penny left!"

"I only have this Chengyun Hall. If you two gentlemen are in urgent need, then we can dismantle the main hall and sell the proceeds to pay the military expenses!"

Zhu Zhishu's words are utterly shameless.

Chengyun Hall is the main hall of the Prince's Palace, symbolizing the authority of the prince. How could it be sold? And who would dare to buy it?

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhibo trembled with rage. He stepped forward, pointed at the King of Shu's nose, and fiercely berated him:

"You surnamed Zhu! I never expected you to utter such nonsense at a life-or-death moment!"

"No one can afford to buy Chengyun Palace; only the river bandits outside the city are willing to pay for it!"

"Are you going to sell this entire palace, along with your own head, to him?!"

As he continued his tirade, Liu Zhibo's mind went blank. He disregarded all decorum between ruler and subject, and suddenly stepped forward, raising his hand to slap the foolish and stingy Zhu Zhishu.

"you!"

"Liu Zhibo, what are you trying to do?!"

The King of Shu screamed in fright, his obese body shrinking backward.
"If you dare lay a finger on me, I will definitely charge you with the crime of disrespect!"

Liu Zhibo, his face filled with grief and indignation, laughed loudly and shouted:

"idiot!"

"Once the enemy troops breach the city, we will both die by the sword!"

"We're about to lose our heads, and you're still talking to me about hierarchy?"

When the guards from the Prince's Palace saw that he was not willing to give up, they immediately surrounded him.

Although Zhu Xieyuan, who was traveling with him, was also furious, he still managed to maintain a shred of rationality.

He held onto Liu Zhibo tightly, who was almost out of control, and dragged him out of the main hall of the palace.

Liu Zhibo gradually regained consciousness after being pulled by Zhu Xieyuan.

He walked out of the Shu King's palace gates in a daze and came to the Jinshui River outside the royal city.

The two stopped and looked back at the sprawling palace complex of the Shu King's residence, remaining silent.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Shu Kingdom was the wealthiest in the land.

Since the Prince of Shu took up his fiefdom in the early Ming Dynasty, the Shu vassal state has been rooted in Sichuan for more than two hundred years, accumulating astonishing wealth.

Putting aside other things, just in the Chengdu area, a full 70% of the land belonged to the Shu vassal state, making it the most prosperous of all the vassal states.

Even the nouveau riche Prince Fu from Henan couldn't compare to the Prince of Shu.

Despite possessing immense wealth, Zhu Zhishu acted like a miser, refusing to part with a single penny even when the enemy troops were at the city gates.

Recalling Zhu Zhishu's hateful face, and thinking of the soldiers fighting valiantly on the city walls, Liu Zhibo felt a surge of resentment and despair welling up in his heart, making it hard for him to breathe.

"How come all the descendants of the founding emperor are such scum?!"

"Oh my God!"

He looked up to the sky and cried out in grief, tears streaming down his face.

In utter despair, Liu Zhibo suddenly stomped his foot and jumped into the Jinshui River flowing beside him!

"Brother Anhou! You mustn't!"

Zhu Xieyuan had been keeping an eye on him. When he saw Liu Zhibo jump into the water to commit suicide, he rushed forward and, together with several guards, dragged Liu Zhibo out of the river.

But Liu Zhibo was already heartbroken and still struggled to throw himself into the river.

"Imperial Inspector Liu! Marquis An!"

"Why bother?"

Zhu Xieyuan held him tightly, earnestly persuading him,

“Even if the prince has a thousand faults…we are officials appointed by the court, and we have a duty to defend our territory. Even if we are to die, we should die on the city walls. How can we take our own lives?”

Liu Zhibo, soaked to the bone, collapsed to the ground and wept uncontrollably.

"Defend? With what can we defend?"

"The soldiers have no will to fight, the people have no fighting spirit, and the feudal lords are as stingy as rats!"

"Brother Maohe, Chengdu is finished. What else can we do but die for our country?"

"Once the bandits outside the city obtain the wealth of the Prince of Shu's mansion, and then take the opportunity to annex Sichuan, our Great Ming will have one more formidable enemy!"

"If the bandits are merely a minor ailment, then these rebels are a serious threat to our very being."

Zhu Xieyuan felt as if his heart was being torn apart upon hearing Liu Zhibo's words.

He paused for a moment, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes, and then slowly said:

"Perhaps... there is another way, which might be able to temporarily slow down the enemy's offensive..."

Liu Zhibo suddenly raised his head, his face filled with disbelief:
"What method?"

Zhu Xieyuan's face was pale, and he spoke almost word by word:

"Dig open the Dujiangyan Irrigation System to divert water and defend the city!"

"what?!"

When Zhu Xieyuan spoke of the events of the Tianqi era, his tone was filled with deep sorrow.

When She Chongming rebelled and besieged Chengdu, Zhu Xieyuan, then the Sichuan Provincial Governor, was also responsible for defending Chengdu.

In order to buy time and wait for reinforcements, he had no choice but to send troops to breach part of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System and divert the Minjiang River water into the moat of Chengdu.

The raging floodwaters submerged villages and farmland along the way, while also hindering the rebels' fierce offensive.

She Chongming's army besieged Chengdu for a full hundred days but failed to breach the city. It was only when Qin Liangyu from Chongqing led six thousand White Spear Soldiers to its rescue that She Chongming finally withdrew.

Now, facing Jiang Han's large army besieging the city, he thought of this method again.

Perhaps we can repeat our old trick and use the flood to block the enemy troops, giving Chengdu a chance to catch its breath.

But Liu Zhibo, who was standing to the side, was stunned and didn't know what to say.

That's Dujiangyan, the source of livelihood for countless people.

Once it is dug open, there will surely be a devastating flood, causing immense suffering and loss of life.

Moreover, where can one find another Qin Liangyu now? Where in Sichuan can one expect reinforcements?
(End of this chapter)