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

In fact, the riverbank at Baguazhou is very close to Shangyuan Gate in Nanjing, only about four or five miles away. If the Manchu cavalry had been patrolling the riverbank, the Han army would have had no chance of landing.

At such a close distance, Zhou Hu, who set off first, had already reached the Shangyuan Gate. However, strangely, the guards on the city wall were neither the Eight Banners nor the Green Standard Army.

Unable to understand the reason, Zhou Hu ordered his army to set out in all directions and begin blocking the roads leading south from Nanjing.

Meanwhile, in the Nanjing Imperial City, the new Qing emperor, Chani, sat high on the dragon throne, his eagle eyes fixed on the Dutch governor, Metsuiko, and a group of Dutchmen armed with muskets.

"You bastards! Are the treaties you just signed worthless pieces of paper? Instead of resisting the Han army, you want to hold me hostage?"

"Haven't our Great Qing Dynasty treated you well enough?"

Why did you fall to the ground?

Chani’s voice was extremely harsh, but upon closer inspection, one would find that his hands were trembling, he didn’t know where to put his legs, and even cold sweat was dripping from his temples.

boom!

When confronted by Chani, Metsuyi did not speak. Instead, he raised his flintlock pistol, aimed it at the head of an Eight Banners official, and pulled the trigger.

Within just a few steps, his brains were splattered out.

At this moment, there were already more than a dozen Manchu corpses lying on the gold bricks. They were all Manchu nobles. Judging from the wounds and the uncongealed blood, they had obviously been shot to death on the spot by muskets.

After killing a Manchu nobleman, Metsuiko blew out the white smoke from the muzzle of his gun and looked at Chani with a mocking expression.

"Why? At this point, your question is truly naive, Your Majesty the Emperor of Qing."

"Now our East India Company's fleet and a large number of soldiers have been captured by the Han army, and we can only use you as a bargaining chip in our negotiations."

After speaking, Metsuiko let out a long sigh. This time, he had really miscalculated, as had the entire East India Company's top management.

This time, it wasn't just ships that were deployed. The East India Company's leadership also sent 3,000 regular troops and 5,000 indigenous soldiers to Nanjing to support the Qing Dynasty.

This is solely due to the recently signed treaty concerning vassal states.

That's right, it means that from then on, the Qing Dynasty was a vassal state of the Netherlands, which was almost equivalent to the Netherlands directly occupying Southern Zhili and Jiangxi, which was famous for its high-end porcelain.

So who has the guts to resist Southern Zhili and Jiangxi, the goose that lays golden eggs, after all, they can go from being a middleman to a developer?

But things changed too quickly. Just as the 8,000-strong army arrived in Nanjing at dawn, Metsuike saw a large number of Eight Banners cavalry fleeing towards the city.

After a little inquiry, he learned the whole story. Metsuike then acted decisively, taking Chani hostage and disarming the Eight Banners soldiers, and subsequently taking control of the entire city of Nanjing.

He wanted to exchange Nanjing for warships and prisoners of war, but most importantly, he wanted to obtain trading rights. This would mean losing access to silk and porcelain, something the Dutch East India Company could not afford.

By noon, hundreds of thousands of Han troops had crossed the river and completely surrounded the city of Nanjing.

Meanwhile, the Dutch on the city walls had already raised their torches, ready to fire their cannons at any moment.

Shortly afterward, Metsuiko brought Chani directly to the location of Shangyuan Gate.

"I am the Governor-General of the Dutch East India Company. May I ask if I may see your commander?"

At this moment, Zhou Peigong was riding his horse, pacing back and forth outside Shangyuan Gate, considering how to launch a strong attack while minimizing losses. The answer was that Nanjing was difficult to breach.

When Zhu Yuanzhang built Nanjing, he did so according to a plan for future generations. Not only were the lowest sections of the city walls 14 meters high, but the quality of the bricks was also guaranteed, as they all had inscriptions carved on them by craftsmen.

If they were to launch a direct assault, given the Dutch flintlock muskets, it would take at least 20,000 to 30,000 men to fill the pits before they could breach Nanjing. Now that someone wanted to talk, it suited Zhou Peigong's wishes perfectly. So he spurred his horse forward a few steps and looked at Metsuiko.

"I am Zhou Peigong, Minister of War of the Great Han Dynasty. You may speak to me about anything. However, your mere country of Holland dares to participate in the war in the Central Plains. Aren't you afraid of being annihilated by the Great Han Dynasty?"

Through historical documents, Zhou Peigong already knew that the Netherlands was a small country, with a territory no larger than Taiwan and a population of no more than two million. Compared to the Han Dynasty, what he said was true.

But to Metsuiko, this so-called truth was nothing but a raging incompetence.

According to his logic, if the Eastern Kingdom of Qing has become a vassal state of the Dutch, then the Eastern Kingdom is nothing more than that.

Perhaps the Ming Dynasty, which drove them off the coast, did so by exhausting the strength of the entire nation.

"So what if we offend your Han Kingdom? My Dutch East India Company is open to all choices on the high seas."

After giving an arrogant reply, Metsuyi took out another piece of paper and shot it directly down to the city walls with an arrow.

"Listen carefully, the Qing Dynasty has already signed a treaty, becoming a vassal state of the Netherlands. There are also twenty-eight other treaties signed, in which the Zhoushan Islands, Taiwan Island, Ningbo Prefecture, Shaoxing Prefecture, and other places have been ceded to the Dutch East India Company!"

"We, the Dutch East India Company, are not greedy. As long as you, the Great Han, recognize the Zhoushan Islands and Taiwan as Dutch territory, and we abolish all tariffs thereafter, we will withdraw from Nanjing and cease to be enemies of the Han!"

Metsuiko spoke loudly, and all the generals behind Zhou Peigong could hear him. They were all filled with righteous indignation, and Xu Chuang's eyes even turned red. After all, he came from the navy and had a greater affection for the island.

"Lord Zhou, I, Xu Chuang, am willing to lead the vanguard in attacking the city. We must take this red-haired devil's head!"

Metsuiko's white hair was mixed with red, so Xu Chuang calling him "Red-haired Devil" wouldn't be wrong.

Upon hearing that Xu Chuang wanted the vanguard position, the other generals also began to volunteer, expressing their desire to be the vanguard in attacking the city.

Zhou Peigong, however, remained calm and even chuckled softly, taking out his folding fan and performing a somersault.

"Leaving aside the fact that the Manchus were merely barbarians, and that even our Han people do not recognize them as the legitimate rulers of the Central Plains, the fact that they signed such a humiliating and unequal treaty makes it impossible for it to be valid!"

"Because the millions of people of our great Han Dynasty will not agree!"

"Furthermore, you barbarians from foreign lands probably don't know how formidable my Chinese people are. My Great Han will not be attacking any cities from now on. If you can hold out for half a month, I, Zhou Peigong, will consider you formidable!"

After Zhou Peigong finished speaking, he slowly walked back to the front of the army, surveyed the troops, and then loudly gave the order.

"On my orders, the ten guards of the capital garrison will leave all their cavalry behind and march south to recapture the cities. Fight as far as you can, and stop when you encounter Geng Jingzhong's army!"

"Set off!"

After receiving the order, the ten adjutants gathered together to discuss the direction of the southward march, and then each left. Soon after, the army set off at an astonishing speed.

Zhou Hu, on the other hand, temporarily led all the cavalry.

Suppress 120,000 Green Standard Army soldiers and rebels!