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

Upon hearing this, Kangxi looked at Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, who was standing to the side, only to find her resting with her eyes closed. This meant that he should handle the matter as he saw fit.

It wasn't that Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang didn't want to speak up, but rather that she was, after all, a woman, and she wasn't confident in making such a crucial decision about the fate of the Qing Dynasty. It was better to let Emperor Kangxi do it himself.

With Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang backing him up, Emperor Kangxi was full of confidence. So he walked directly to the foot of the imperial steps and looked intently at the many Eight Banners nobles.

"Imitating the founding emperor?"

"Once Wu Sangui unifies the country, do you really expect there to be a second Li Zicheng? By then, we'll be starving to death outside the Great Wall. How can we possibly hope to fight our way back?"

"I would rather die than retreat!"

Faced with Kangxi's call to defend Beijing to the death, almost all the Manchu nobles showed fear.

They had seen the battle reports from the front lines.

Throughout the southwestern defense, their proud Eight Banners troops have little advantage against Wu Sangui's elite army, and are currently suffering mostly routs.

On the contrary, the Green Standard Army, which they looked down upon, repeatedly repelled Wu Sangui's army by relying on the passes and gradually became the main force of the Qing Dynasty's resistance.

If Wu Sangui really did unify the country.

It looks like they really want to play ball!

However, in such an uncertain situation, asking them to gamble their entire fortune on tomorrow with Kangxi is just wishful thinking.

Amid the discussions among the Eight Banners nobles, Songgotu, who had originally intended to slack off, was once again forced to step forward.

"Your Majesty, is it possible for the inner city to be defended by only 20,000 Eight Banners infantry battalions?"

"If we don't retreat beyond the Great Wall, going to Xi'an or Taiyuan is fine too!"

With Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's support, Emperor Kangxi completely ignored Suo'etu. Instead, he clapped his hands outside the main hall, and soon four eunuchs carried forward a huge map showing the Manchu and Han cities of Beijing.

"I have ordered Fei Yanggu, the Commander of the Nine Gates, to relocate all gunpowder, artisans, and bondservants into the inner city to ensure the safety of all officials!"

"However, to increase manpower, all males of the Eight Banners and bondservant families who are fourteen years of age or older must go and collect weapons and armor to assist the Nine Gates Admiral, Fei Yanggu, in defending the city!"

This is a fight to the death!

All the Manchu nobles started making trouble again.

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang tapped the gold bricks with her cane. The unique structure of the Hall of Supreme Harmony amplified the sound several times over.

"At this critical juncture for the Qing Dynasty, we must sacrifice our lives to protect the nation!"

"Now, in this land beyond the Great Wall, where the dynasty rose to power, the population is less than ten thousand, and the farmland is almost entirely abandoned. What will we eat when we go back? Will you still go into the mountains to hunt?"

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's words hit her right where it hurt.

This left all the Manchu nobles speechless.

Let alone going into the mountains to hunt, the younger generation in their families can't survive a day without walking their birds and fighting crickets.

Kangxi seized the opportunity, saying, "Galdan has come from afar. With the defenses of this inner city, as long as we hold the inner city for half a month, the Eight Banners garrisoned in Baoding, Tianjin, Zunhua, and Chengde will be able to reach the outskirts of Beijing, preventing Galdan from focusing on attacking the city!"

"And the Khorchin Mongols already have 20,000 Mongol cavalry, who will surely reach Beijing within a month!"

"I have issued an edict ordering the Xiaoqi Battalion, which is en route to Hubei, to return with two horses each. At the same time, I have instructed the Eight Banners throughout the southwest to adopt a defensive posture against Wu Sangui, even if it means dividing the country along the Yangtze River!"

Before Kangxi could finish speaking, and before the Eight Banners nobles could even reply, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang stood up and exclaimed, "Excellent! Excellent!"

"This is the Emperor of my Great Qing Dynasty. With such a wise ruler on the throne, what are you afraid of?"

"This old woman is willing to take out 300,000 taels of her personal savings as a reward for the Eight Banner soldiers who are fighting!"

When Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang spoke, it was practically the final word.

These Manchu nobles and princes dared not disobey the imperial family as long as their collective interests were not violated. In fact, after this argument, they even inexplicably gained confidence.

So everyone offered to donate money.

However, he donated more than three million taels of silver in a short time.

Emperor Kangxi was also a tactful person; he immediately stepped forward.

"Write it all down, make sure it's clear, not a single penny can be missed. Consider this silver a loan from the imperial court. As long as we get through this crisis, I will repay it double!"

The Manchu nobles who had been gritting their teeth and donating money all smiled upon hearing this, as if the previous unpleasantness had never happened.

A court assembly that would determine the fate of a dynasty.

That's it!

Meanwhile, chaos reigned in Beijing. Twenty thousand Manchu infantrymen demolished houses around the inner city, and any Han Chinese civilians who dared to speak out were killed on the spot.

At the same time, rumors began to spread within the city that hundreds of thousands of cannibalistic barbarians were about to reach Beijing.

Although these were rumors spread by the Qing Dynasty, they frightened ordinary people so much that they hid at home and stayed indoors, fearing that they would be eaten.

Those Green Standard Army soldiers who were driven out of the inner city, knowing that the Mongol army was about to arrive and that the Eight Banners soldiers were all defending the inner city to the death, soon had no more scruples.

They began burning, killing, and looting in Seoul.

All night long, Seoul was engulfed in bloodshed.

The next day, as dawn broke over Qingcheng, Liu Weiqing led 7,000 light cavalry, arriving at Yongding Gate on two horses.

Seeing the black smoke and flames rising from the city, Liu Weiqing could only remain where he was, even though the city gates were open, because Galdan's military orders forbade entry.

Just then, a middle-aged scholar wearing a mandarin jacket rushed out of Yongding Gate, carrying a poor-quality horse, followed by two Green Standard Army cavalrymen.

"Damn it, go up and chop those two Green Standard Army soldiers down!"

Already furious, Liu Weiqing unleashed Galdan's private swear words.

Two guards rushed out quickly, longbows in hand, and arrows were already nocked when they were two hundred meters away.

"So many cavalry! The Mongols are coming!"

"Run!"

Upon seeing this, the two Green Standard Army soldiers exclaimed in surprise and turned their horses around, no longer caring about chasing the middle-aged scholar.

Swoosh.

Two unarmored Green Standard Army soldiers were shot through the heart by arrows from eighty paces away.

Two bodyguards switched to sabers and quickly beheaded two Green Standard Army soldiers. Using the speed of their Ili horses, they soon caught up with the middle-aged scholar.

Everyone thought the scholar was going to run away, but instead he ran straight to Liu Weiqing's banner. Due to his poor horsemanship, he tumbled off his horse.

Fortunately, it was just a poor-quality horse with a shoulder height of 1.2 meters.

It didn't damage the root cause.

The middle-aged scholar scrambled to Liu Weiqing's horse and cried out, "General! General! There are Green Standard Army soldiers causing trouble in the city. Please lead your troops into the city to quell the unrest. If we don't go in soon, the people will be slaughtered!"

Liu Weiqing's Chinese was getting better and better, and he could understand the gist of what he was saying. It was that the Green Standard Army was killing civilians and he was told to go in and kill the Green Standard Army soldiers.

The middle-aged scholar seemed to realize that Liu Weiqing was wary of the trap, so he stood up and pointed to the imperial city.

"The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty has ordered a desperate defense of the Imperial City; there are no troops left outside Beijing!"

As the middle-aged scholar drew a few strokes, Liu Weiqing understood and immediately raised the command flag.

"Enter the city, all troops! Kill all those armed!"

As the army charged forward, the middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief, but Liu Weiqing asked curiously.

"Are you a scholar? What's your name?"