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

Batel was only eighteen years old, but he was exceptionally brave. Relying on his armor, he slashed left and right with the curved sword on his back and advanced eight meters ahead of everyone else.

Such a valiant appearance.

The Qing soldiers around them were so frightened that they retreated step by step.

The Juyong Pass was not a large fortress, but it had become extremely crowded as more and more Han troops entered.

The Manchu commander-in-chief, Bukku, was covered in blood and looked so disheveled that he couldn't even find his helmet; only his thin rat tail swayed behind his head.

Seeing everyone retreating, he disregarded his status and killed the Niru Ejen of the Bordered Yellow Banner with a single stroke.

"Attack! Anyone who dares to retreat even half a step will die!"

At this moment, the Eight Banners were filled with a fierce and decisive killing intent. These defeated Eight Banner soldiers, intimidated by Bukku, gritted their teeth and began to fight their way back.

Batel had just killed one person when he turned around and saw Buk killing someone to establish his authority. Although he didn't know what kind of high-ranking official Buk was, someone who dared to kill Eight Banner soldiers to establish his authority must have a very high status.

"Brothers, let's keep charging!"

Thinking of this, Batel took off his mask, put on a new thick-backed curved knife, and charged forward with a shout.

Bukku was completely exhausted. When he saw Batel charging towards him, he started to retreat without thinking. However, he was blocked by the people behind him. It turned out that they were all Manchu soldiers blocking the alley.

"Han dog, come on!"

With nowhere to retreat and Juyong Pass completely crumbling, going back would mean certain death. So Buku steeled his resolve, raised his sword, and charged forward.

But the phrase "Han dog" really angered Battier.

The Khan not only taught him to read and write, but also placed him under the command of nobles. Because he didn't receive the respect he was entitled to, Batel felt that he was a Han Chinese, and calling someone a "Han dog" was the same as calling him a Han dog.

With all his might, he slashed diagonally with the curved blade on his back.

puff!

Blood splattered.

Buku's neck was unarmored and was severed, flying into the air. His knife was blocked by his helmet, but it still grazed Batel's nose.

"You bastard, come here!"

With lightning speed, Batel reached out and grabbed the rat's tail, cursing as he did so. In this way, Buku's head fell into his hands, his face still filled with resentment.

"The commander-in-chief is dead! The commander-in-chief has been killed!"

"I surrender! I surrender!"

"I am a bondservant of Prince Yu's family, who dares to kill me?"

Whether they were Manchu soldiers or Green Standard Army soldiers, they all retreated in fear. Some people shouted out in fear, which led to more and more people finding out.

Commander-in-Chief? This is actually the Commander-in-Chief's head?

Batel subconsciously looked at the human head in his hand, then tied it to his belt with a rat's tail, and even wrapped it with a strip of cloth, for fear that someone else would snatch it away.

This is an incredible achievement!

They all start with at least a thousand households!

When Batel charged again, the Green Standard Army soldiers had already begun to surrender. With only about a thousand men, they directly rendered the Eight Banners soldiers powerless to resist.

These Green Standard Army soldiers were at least trained, and a large portion of them had participated in the pacification of the south, while the Eight Banners soldiers sent by Kangxi were all young masters from the Manchu city of Beijing.

They managed to hold on until this point.

That already shows commendable courage.

Galdan, who had already entered the city, saw that the road out of the pass had been cleared and immediately gave the order!

"Subutai will be the commander, and Liu Weiqing will be the deputy. You two will lead all the cavalry, carrying dry rations, and depart immediately. Upon arrival in Beijing, you must not attack the city or engage in battle with the Manchu army. Simply gather provisions and forge siege weapons in the surrounding area!"

"Here you go!"

After receiving their orders, the two began to organize their troops, and in less than a quarter of an hour, they passed through Juyong Pass in unison.

……

The Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City, Beijing.

Emperor Kangxi covered his forehead with a copy of the Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government), still deeply troubled by the issue of the marriage alliance. He was reading about Sima Yi's art of forbearance to refresh his mind before he finally calmed down.

Just then, the personal eunuch hurried in.

"Your Majesty, Prince Yu requests an audience!"

Just as Kangxi was about to summon him, Prince Yu rushed in and said, "Your Majesty, Galdan refused the marriage alliance, killed all the envoys, and launched a full-scale attack on Juyong Pass. He should have already broken through the pass and is marching towards the capital."

"However, the bridges along the way have already been destroyed by my personal guards, which should be enough to hold them off for a while!"

Upon hearing this, Kangxi sat up in shock. Just as he was about to devise a plan, he found himself at a loss for what to do.

He naturally wanted to stay and fight, but the Qing Dynasty didn't belong to him alone. The majority of the Eight Banners nobles in the city were involved. Whether to stay or defend was not so simple!

"Quickly, summon all ministers to the Hall of Supreme Harmony for a meeting!"

"Please invite the Empress Dowager as well!"

Following Kangxi's nearly mute decree, all the eunuchs and guards began to summon people to court.

It was just after lunchtime, and even though it was an extremely urgent imperial decree, the noble ministers of the Eight Banners only gathered in the Hall of Supreme Harmony a quarter of an hour later.

Those Han officials did want to come, but it was clear that Kangxi didn't invite them this time; you can't get into the decision-making circle by acting like a dog.

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was already aware of the situation. She even forgot about ruling from behind the curtain and sat directly next to the dragon throne. Emperor Kangxi did not mind and instead regarded her as the core of his leadership.

Once all the ministers had arrived, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was afraid that Emperor Kangxi might not realize the gravity of the situation. Offending Aobai was not the same as offending the Eight Banners nobles. If these people joined forces, the emperor would lose his position. So she took the initiative to speak.

"Galdan refused the marriage alliance and is now leading an army of 100,000 south. I suspect Juyong Pass has already been lost. You are all Manchus yourselves, so tell me your thoughts: should we defend or retreat? And if we retreat, where should we retreat to?"

"Let's discuss this here in the Hall of Supreme Harmony today!"

The moment Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang spoke, the Hall of Supreme Harmony erupted in chaos.

After fighting for so many years, and only just now taking control of the Central Plains, they haven't even figured out how much land they have in Hebei or how many servants they have. Are they already going to run away like this?

In the ensuing heated discussion, one-third of the respondents wanted to fight, but the majority wanted to flee.

Songgotu stood up on behalf of most of the Eight Banners people, but judging from his constipated expression, he didn't want to say it.

"explain!"

Kangxi guessed that these Eight Banner nobles wanted to flee and return to Liaodong to continue their lives. Since entering the pass, the elite of the Eight Banners had suffered heavy casualties, and almost every family had hanged themselves with white silk. But Kangxi still wanted to hear about it.

"Your Majesty, if we retreat to Nanjing, the prestige of our Great Qing will be completely lost. In addition, with Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing in Taiwan, as well as the fickleness of the gentry in Jiangnan, going there will be a dead end, and we will be in danger of being surrounded."

"While retreating to Taiyuan or Chang'an would indeed allow us to continue managing affairs of state, those are harsh and cold lands, absolutely unable to support the Qing army, and we would also be vulnerable to being surrounded by Galdan and Wu Sangui!"

"Therefore, we suggest that we take our Eight Banners families and retreat to Liaodong first, in order to preserve our ancestral heritage."

"As for Beijing, we'll defend it if we can, and if we can't, we'll follow the example of the founding emperor and take it back another day!"

After finishing his speech, Songgotu prostrated himself on the ground. As the highest-ranking official under Kangxi, he knew the young emperor too well and there was no way he would back down.

Even he himself didn't want to quit.