The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Ma Teng, whose name means "brave" in Dutch, looked at the Ming soldiers who were still gathered together in a daze and knew that they were just ordinary farmers who would never charge into battle. He immediately gave another order.

"Continue pushing for another 200 yards!"

"Replace all with grapeshot!"

On the islands of Nanyang, no matter how brave the natives were, they would be scattered by cannons; this was the god of war.

At a distance of less than a hundred paces, the power of the three-pounder will continue to increase, and a solid shot can instantly tear three or four people apart. This time, the even more brutal grape shot will be used instead.

A row of soldiers fell to the ground with a loud bang; the iron ball, about the size of a thumb, had pierced their skulls.

Such a bloody scene was unbearable for the peasant army; in fact, most of the soldiers thought it was divine retribution.

After three rounds of artillery bombardment, the army of more than 10,000 men was routed and scattered before they could even launch an attack. Even the general's threat of killing deserters to deter them was ineffective.

Zhu Xin had never handled cannons before and was completely bewildered. This was nothing like the war his family's retainers had described. How could the war have collapsed after only a few hundred deaths?

Left with no other choice, Zhu Xin could only flee with the routed army. After returning to the main camp, he immediately arranged for his generals to stabilize the morale of the troops.

The Dutch army did not pursue, but instead guarded the south gate of the camp. This was mainly because they had too few cavalry; otherwise, they could have launched a charge and ended the battle in one fell swoop.

Just as Zhu Xin was feeling troubled and lost in thought in his tent, even somewhat desperate, his personal guards came to report.

"Princess, an envoy from the Han Dynasty requests an audience!"

An envoy from the Han Dynasty?

What are they doing here?

After whispering a few words, Zhu Xin waved his hand.

"Let him in!"

From easily gathering five thousand soldiers to failing to breach the city in five days, they were now easily wiped out by an unknown army.

In just half a month, Zhu Xin felt like she had gone from heaven to hell. Why was restoring her country so difficult? She had completely lost her energy and spirit!

Soon a Han army centurion wearing a cloth-faced armor swaggered into the tent and was immediately awestruck by Zhu Xin's appearance.

It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

Moreover, he also possesses a heroic air.

"Zhou Hu, Commander of a Thousand Men of the Han Dynasty, greets the Princess of the Ming Dynasty!"

That's right, it was Zhou Hu who came. Yin Huaxing wasn't good at talking, and knowing that Zhou Hu was involved in a gang, he let him in to find out what was going on.

Zhu Xin simply waved his hand upon hearing this.

"Please have a seat!"

"What business do you have with me, Princess?"

Zhu Xin hated the Manchus and Wu Sangui, but he had no interest in this unfamiliar giant, after all, the man had defeated the Manchus and entered Beijing.

Zhou Hu was very good at reading people's expressions. He could tell from her appearance that the princess of the Ming Dynasty was depressed because of the enemy's army. So he stepped forward, bowed, and tried to comfort her.

"Your Highness, the enemy only has firearms; their new army has never seen cannons before. In close combat, it's hard to say who will win, so there's no need to worry!"

"My general's mission this time is to capture Fengyang, then cut off the Tartar emperor's supply lines, and completely trap him in Xuzhou City. He will soon be engaged in battle with that unknown army. I wonder if the princess would be interested in watching the battle?"

Zhou Hu's words made a lot of sense. The defeat in battle was due to the failure of firearms. Zhu Xin immediately realized this and his spirits recovered considerably. He even showed a slight smile.

"If that's the case, this princess will definitely watch!"

Zhou Hu stared in even more stunned silence, and subconsciously said:

"Your Highness, I, Zhou Hu, was also a member of the Grand Canal transport gang. After the Tartars entered the pass, I also launched a rebellion under the banner of the Ming Dynasty, but unfortunately, it ended in failure every time!"

"Now that Liu Han has taken control of Beijing, just like the Hongwu Emperor before him, things have spiraled out of control. Not only has he recovered the Nurgan Regional Military Commission of the Ming Dynasty, but he is also vying with Tsarist Russia in the border regions. Why should a mere woman like the Princess exert herself so much..."

Seeing that Zhou Hu stopped halfway through his sentence and his face turned red with embarrassment, Zhu Xin was also very curious and quickly pressed him for details.

"What are you trying to say?"

When Zhu Xin pressed him for an answer, Zhou Hu became defiant and immediately lowered his voice.

"Princess, then I, Zhou, will speak frankly!"

"When the Manchus take over the country, none of the Zhu family's descendants can escape that fate. The princess is so beautiful; why not let her enter the palace as a concubine? That way, not only will the Liu and Zhu families save face, but the Zhu family's descendants can also be protected!"

"Then you can whisper sweet nothings in my ear, and maybe the Ming Dynasty can be restored. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"

"Let me tell you..."

Next, Zhou Hu recounted how young and handsome Liu Mu was, and how generous his rewards were, such as bestowing the title of King of Jin upon Wanyan Wu and promising frontier generals the title of Duke.

"Our Emperor possesses such great power, yet apart from the Empress of the Borjigin clan and a few noble ladies sent as tribute from Korea, he has not actively engaged in any extramarital affairs!"

"Such a good husband, you'll never have another one like him!"

Zhou Hu's words were so effusive that they praised Liu Mu to the skies, making Zhu Xin quite tempted.

After today's battle, she finally understood that there was absolutely no possibility of restoring the country. It would be better to rely on the harem to rise to power and preserve the Zhu family bloodline.

Seeing the hesitation on Zhu Xin's face, Zhou Hu knew that the matter was settled and extended an invitation.

"With war imminent, why doesn't Your Highness watch the battle first?"

"Let's see how powerful my Han army is!"

Zhou Hu certainly didn't work for nothing. Since ancient times, civil and military officials who delivered concubines to the emperor, regardless of their evaluation, always saw their status rise steadily.

It's not easy to find a generous boss.

Shouldn't we seize the opportunity?

……

Ma Teng had just finished setting up camp, and the accompanying Manchu officials had also communicated clearly with the Niru Ejen in the city, which immediately boosted the morale of the Green Standard Army soldiers in the city.

Ma Teng was also invited into the city, where Qing officials bowed and scraped in an antique-style room.

A young lady from an unknown gentry family was brought in and forced to serve Ma Teng wine. The woman could only comply through tears, her whole body trembling with fear.

Looking at the obsequious Qing officials and the girl who was obviously from a noble family, Ma Teng felt for the first time that he, Ma Teng, might be able to become the emperor of this Celestial Empire.

If I could become the emperor here and rule over these hundreds of millions of people, why would I need to be an officer for William III?

Just as Ma Teng was indulging in his fantasies, a Green Standard Army messenger rushed in.

"I hereby inform you, my lords, that the Han court has dispatched over five thousand troops, who are already arrayed outside the north gate!"

Upon hearing this, the Manchu officials immediately translated for Ma Teng.

"Mr. Ma Teng, our Great Qing's greatest enemy has arrived! We implore you to lead your troops to defeat him!"

In fact, Ma Teng understood Chinese, but he deliberately didn't say so in order to test him and prevent these Apple officials from deceiving him. Upon hearing this, he nodded.

"It's alright, let's hope their army can fight!"

"Too weak, no interest in fighting!"