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

Upon hearing Liu Mu ask about the mud film, Wei Cheng immediately became interested. He clapped his hands at the workers beside him, and soon four people carried in a box.

Wei Cheng carefully opened the box, revealing a clay figure in the shape of a human, about the same size as Emperor Kangxi.

"Your Majesty, the material used for this clay film is refractory clay used in cannon making. It has two layers inside, and it will solidify simply by pouring molten iron or copper into it!"

"And as Your Majesty mentioned, your right leg is broken, but I've filled it with pig bones, so it absolutely won't affect its use."

Wei Cheng still doesn't know that this mud film was used to cast the image of Emperor Kangxi. He thought Liu Mu was using it to make a statue, so he deliberately carved patterns on the surface, which were all kinds of blessings and symbols.

Liu Mu shook his head as he read it. Then he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and slapped it into Wei Cheng's hand.

"Discard all these fancy details. Engrave every single word of this paper onto your back, and make sure the kneeling posture is one of devout worship, not that of a Buddha or a Taoist priest!"

Wei Cheng was completely confused, so he opened the paper and involuntarily read aloud: "The chieftains of the Jurchen people in later generations sincerely kneel before the tomb of the Great Ming Emperor Taizu..."

Upon reading this, Wei Cheng's hands trembled, and he involuntarily looked at Kangxi before tentatively asking.

"Your Majesty, are you letting this person in?"

"Then cast it with molten copper?"

Kangxi remained calm upon hearing this. Since he had failed to commit suicide once, he simply thought he would live one more day at a time.

Upon hearing this, Liu Mu patted Wei Cheng on the shoulder.

"He was Emperor Kangxi, the emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty!"

"Go find a skilled craftsman now. It doesn't need to be very sturdy or particularly beautiful; just make it according to his design, understand?"

It turns out they were making human-shaped coffins for the emperor!

Wei Cheng is numb!

Seeing this, Liu Mu shook his head and led his men toward the nearest mine. He needed to confirm that the Eight Banners soldiers sent this time posed no threat.

There are only 3,000 guards here, but they have to manage nearly 30,000 Eight Banners soldiers, which is extremely difficult.

As for why there are so few?

They would naturally die from exhaustion.

Every single piece of coal in each of these truckloads passed through his hands; this was a contribution to the Han Empire.

……

When Tong Guowei was captured outside Beijing, he was dressed in a set of hemp clothing with bloodstains on it, clearly indicating that this was a hemp garment with a story behind it.

Under the supervision of the foreman, Tong Guowei was chained up with iron chains on his hands and feet before being given a pickaxe more than a meter long, and then he entered the mining area.

With the technology available at the time, they could have mined medium to deep coal seams, but the Han dynasty only mined shallow ones.

The main advantage is that it saves time and effort. Once steam engines can pull goods, it will be easier to dig deeper. This can be considered a technological advantage.

When Tong Guowei was assigned to a pit, there was a dark-skinned man inside digging coal.

Seeing Tong Guowei enter, he patted the coal pile beside him, which had been dug up and was now cracked, and said in an almost hoarse voice:

"New guy, this is the place I've dug before, so you can relax a bit. I hope you don't die too quickly; digging coal alone is too lonely!"

Tong Guowei recognized the voice immediately, so he stepped forward and wiped the old man's face with a burlap cloth. After seeing the face clearly, he exclaimed in surprise.

"Mr. Mischief, Lord Mi!"

"You're not dead!"

Mi Sihan, feeling dizzy from the faint light, squinted at Tong Guowei, a look of surprise on his face.

"Tong Guowei!"

But as soon as the name Tong Guowei was uttered, Mi Sihan fell silent again. Even Tong Guowei, the emperor's brother-in-law, had been captured by the Han court to mine. The Qing Dynasty was doing well; it might already be in decline, and they were forced to go to Changbai Mountain to fight as guerrillas.

However, as a last hope, Mi Sihan took a few deep breaths and grabbed Tong Guowei's shoulders with both hands.

"Tell me, how is my Great Qing Dynasty now?"

Tong Guowei was so uncomfortable from being shaken that he shouted out.

"It's over! The Qing Dynasty is over!"

"A month ago, Emperor Kangxi led his troops in a surprise attack on Beijing, but was defeated and captured alive by Galdan!"

Upon hearing this, Mi Sihan felt as if the sky had fallen, and he looked utterly dejected.

"Master Mi?"

Are you alright?

Tong Guowei quickly waved his hand in front of Mi Sihan's eyes and called out a few words, but Mi Sihan remained unmoved and simply walked step by step towards the mine exit.

"The Qing Dynasty is gone!"

"The Qing Dynasty is gone!"

When he appeared outside the mine, Missham looked at the sun in the sky and muttered like a fool.

*Smack!*

Just then, a riding whip lashed across Mishan's back, instantly revealing a bloody welt.

"You're already slacking off after just starting work?"

"Don't think you can get away with this just because you're old!"

The speaker was a short man, none other than Tang Sanchui, the son of Tang Hao from Beijing. He was once a lowly foreman, but now he was a foreman wearing green official robes and holding the rank of seventh grade.

Despite being hit, Mi Sihan didn't cry out in pain. Instead, he knelt down on both knees with a thud and kowtowed three times towards the direction of Beijing.

"Your Majesty, how could this servant live without you!"

Just then, Liu Mu led Kangxi to this spot, and Mi Sihan knelt down, directly facing Kangxi.

Liu Dingbian, the Marquis of Dingqing, who was standing next to Liu Mu, had already drawn his sword and stood directly in front of Liu Mu.

Marquis Dingqing, Liu Dingbian, was none other than Batel.

Based on his merit in capturing the emperor, he should at least be a duke, but considering that Liu Mu let him go, he was demoted to a marquis.

After all, there were so many imperial guards present at the time. Anyone else riding Liu Mu's black dragon steed could have captured Kangxi!

"Minister Mi!"

"You're so thoughtful!"

"Only today do we know who is loyal and who is treacherous!"

When Emperor Kangxi saw that Mi Sihan was still kneeling to greet him despite his condition, he was moved to tears and wanted to help Mi Sihan up, but he discovered that he was already disabled.

When Mi Sihan heard that familiar voice, he was completely bewildered. How could the emperor have arrived after just a couple of kowtows?

However, upon seeing Kangxi's broken right leg, Mi Sihan knew that this was not an illusion!

However, neither of them spoke.

Everything remained silent.

After all, the Qing Dynasty is gone, so what's there to say?

Liu Mu, standing to the side, felt a pang of jealousy. The Aisin Gioro clan's ability to train their servants was truly remarkable. Even in the state of the capital, there were still so many loyal servants.

Just then, Wei Cheng came running over at lightning speed.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the mud mask is ready!"

"Absolutely identical, except for the deeper smallpox scars on the face, which I've also etched onto them!"

As soon as Wei Cheng finished speaking, Liu Mu couldn't wait to open the box, revealing a kneeling clay figure inside. The proportions were similar to those of Emperor Kangxi, with the nose and forehead being replicas.

This is simply a work of art.

After carefully closing the lid, Liu Mu looked at Wei Cheng.

"Well done this time!"

"If only I could build the train I described!"

"The position of Vice Minister of Works is yours!"

The emperor is making empty promises again, but these promises are truly tempting. Haven't you seen that Li Zheng has already entered the capital?