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

As the situation reversed again, Metsuiko, who had hidden himself once more, heard the old woman let out a wail and immediately cursed under his breath:

"I told you long ago not to hire just anyone. Now you've ruined the company's plans. These damned Southeast Asian natives, of all things to eat, they have to resort to cannibalism! They're practically savages!"

Metsuyi had managed Southeast Asia for decades, so he naturally knew that most of the local inhabitants had the custom of sacrifice and cannibalism, but there was nothing he could do because the Dutch had a small native population and could only recruit these people.

In fact, whether the locals ate black or white skin was irrelevant, but the Chinese children, who didn't have body odor and were fair-skinned, were simply irresistible to them.

Since being invited by Emperor Kangxi, several months have passed, and many children must have been eaten. How could this not enrage the people?

The gentry's actions this time can only be said to have inadvertently set an example, giving these people the opportunity to gather together and unleash their emotions.

If it were an individual citizen, considering their family and personal safety, they would most likely swallow their anger and remain silent.

Click click click.

The mere three hundred-odd Dutch soldiers were quickly torn apart by the enraged populace, each one as if tortured a thousand times over.

Meanwhile, the gentry and their servants mixed in with them quickly opened the gates of the barbican and the inner city, and even took the time to remove the heavy gates that the Dutch soldiers had lowered.

Zhou Peigong, who was outside the city, had long heard the shouts of battle from inside the city and knew that the people had reached their limit and had already organized a large army to approach the city wall.

However, just as the army was about to enter the city, Zhou Peigong rode his horse to the city gate, raised the imperial flintlock pistol in his hand, and pulled the trigger. After seeing that the soldiers were stunned, he shouted to all the Han soldiers.

"After entering the city, kill all those who resist. Anyone who kills ordinary people must be killed without mercy. Don't come to me for an explanation after you've lost your head."

"Zhou Hu, Xu Chuang, you two supervise!"

After Zhou Peigong finished speaking, he spurred his horse and rode away. He had his reasons for saying this, and it was also a reminder to those elite soldiers who had worked so hard to train that they should not be executed by military law for disturbing the people.

As Zhou Peigong gave the order, the Han army began to advance from Shangyuan Gate. The gentry were overjoyed and went back to their homes to cut off their queues, change into new clothes, and prepare to welcome the royal army.

Some of the captured Green Standard Army soldiers were also arquebusiers. Due to their large numbers, the Dutch soldiers could not stop them and were quickly killed.

Why were there no prisoners or wounded soldiers?

Because the Nanjing civilians followed behind, any wounded Dutch soldier would inevitably be beaten to death. Compared to that, it would have been better to be killed outright.

When Zhou Peigong saw that the army had advanced to about 50,000, he ordered the advance to stop again. Nanjing was a very large city, and even if 120,000 Green Standard Army soldiers entered it, it would not feel crowded.

However, once soldiers have crossed the line into bandits, some things have already been done, and killing them would be pointless, so it is best to stop them if possible.

The following morning, after a day and night of mopping-up operations, ninety percent of the eight thousand Dutch soldiers brought by Metzück were killed, and the remainder were gathered together. Their only fate was to mine.

As for why they couldn't escape, it was naturally a matter of skin color. The Eight Banners and bondservants could cut off their queues and pretend to be commoners, but even shaving off their eyebrows wouldn't help them.

When Metsuiko was captured and taken to the Southern Zhili Prefecture, he was covered in pig excrement, so smelly that it made people wrinkle their noses.

It turned out that after the guards were killed and scattered, he knew that the red-haired old man could not possibly escape. He was chased by the people and jumped directly into the pig manure pit.

He tried to get away with it by this means, but he was caught by the latrine cleaners and then sent to the government office.

Zhou Peigong sat behind his desk, looking at Metsuiko with a half-smile, and slapped the gavel.

"Red-haired devil, do you now know why you were defeated?"

Upon hearing this, Metsuiko immediately lowered her head, revealing a resentful expression, and cursed:

"It's all because of those indigenous soldiers who cannibalize people; otherwise, those merchants wouldn't have been able to open the city gates at all!"

Zhou Peigong, who was initially quite pleased, suddenly flew into a rage upon hearing that the Dutch were eating people and stood up abruptly.

Because he knew absolutely nothing about it.

The two-week period he mentioned was based on the assumption that the people would run out of food by then, and that their anger towards the Qing Dynasty would also be directed at the Dutch, leading to an inevitable attack.

I never imagined it would turn into cannibalism.

Although cannibalism still exists in China, it occurred when people were on the verge of exchanging children for food.

These Dutch soldiers were all physically strong; they weren't hungry, they were simply satisfying their appetites.

"Okay, okay, okay!"

The kind-hearted Zhou Peigong was so angry that he couldn't speak, so he waved his hand at Zhou Hu.

"Take him away and keep him under guard until His Majesty decides what to do!"

"As for the other Dutchmen, they're all at the execution ground!"

"Slicing!"

After finishing his speech, Zhou Peigong left, leaving Zhou Hu dumbfounded. He hadn't expected that a civil official could be so ruthless.

Lingchi (death by a thousand cuts) was a punishment reserved for the emperor.

The punishment of dismemberment was roughly equivalent to slow slicing.

……

On the third day at noon, nearly 700 Dutchmen, all with their legs bound, stood in the center of the market, surrounded by a huge crowd of people, with children even crawling on the rooftops.

"Execute!"

At Zhou Hu's command, more than 700 soldiers in military uniforms, holding bayonets, marched forward.

The Dutch soldiers' eyes widened in shock. For the first time, they felt fear. They hadn't expected to die even if they surrendered. Weren't they supposed to be going to mine?

One of the blond Dutch officers, seeing the bayonet about to be thrust into his body, suddenly trembled violently, spat out the cloth strip from his mouth, and turned to shout at Zhou Hu.

"No, no, no, I'm a nobleman!"

"I demand a ransom, please don't kill me!"

Zhou Hu shook his head. "You can speak some dialect, but I can't understand any of it. How can I give you a chance?"

puff!

The Han army's bayonets shaved directly into the arm, and then with a swift slash, a chunk of arm muscle hung limply to the ground.

Since there was no cloth to gag him, the blond Dutch officer let out an extreme scream, which immediately drew cheers from the crowd.

Some people even rushed up to grab the meat slices.

Perhaps it was taken back to be used as a sacrifice for the child.

……

On the fifth day, Zhou Peigong had initially stabilized Nanjing, and the city gates were wide open. All nearly 20,000 Eight Banner troops inside the city were imprisoned.

Liu Mu arrived in Nanjing with the Imperial Guards. Upon learning that the Dutch soldiers were eating people, he immediately instructed Zhou Peigong to bring out Metsuiko.

The location is right at the entrance of Shangyuan Gate.

When Metsuiko was dragged out, half-dead, everything seemed normal at first; after all, at her age, she would have aged even more in prison.

However, when Metsuiko saw Liu Mu's gilded dragon-patterned armor, she began to convulse as if she had seen some kind of ferocious beast.

This left Liu Mu completely bewildered.

What are you afraid of if you fall to the ground?