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

Fukuoka Castle is perched on a mountainside. When viewed from the direction of Hakata Bay, the outline of the entire castle resembles a crane spreading its wings, so locals also call it Crane Dance Castle.

The outer stone wall is only five meters high, and appears bluish-black in the midday sun. The deep black tiled roof of the castle tower protrudes from the top of the stone wall. It is wide and layered, a unique style of Japanese castle construction with large roof tiles. The roof tiles are engraved with the Kuroda family's wisteria pattern.

Outside the stone walls was a moat. Strangely, the drawbridge was lowered, and the heavy wooden city gate was wide open. The guards at the city gate were leaning against the gateposts, holding long spears and yawning.

Several farmers were carrying bamboo baskets filled with radishes and dried fish, while a farmer's wife was slowly crossing the bridge with her child in tow.

The old hunter lay on the earthen slope by the roadside, observing everything clearly. He turned to Yarha and said, "They don't know yet that their lord's troops have all been wiped out, and the city gates are undefended. Let's charge in first."

Upon hearing this, Yarha drew his long sword without hesitation and pointed the tip of the sword towards the city gate.

"Follow me! We'll have three days of freedom after we enter the city!"

The nearly nine hundred Jurchen hunters behind him were stunned for a moment, and then went crazy. Three days of freedom meant that they could do whatever they wanted for three days, rob whomever they wanted, and no one would care.

Looking at this city from outside the stone walls, you can tell it's not the dilapidated fishing village from before; it must have at least 30,000 inhabitants.

Faced with such a great temptation, a Jurchen woman let out a strange cry, brandished an axe, and was the first to rush out.

The guards at the city gate were just switching their spears from their right to their left to take the city entry tax from a peasant woman when they heard a strange scream rolling over from the other side of the dirt road.

He looked up and saw a group of tall barbarians in leather robes and iron armor rushing towards the city gate. The one at the front had already stepped onto the drawbridge. The guard opened his mouth, wanting to shout "Close the gate!"

But his mouth opened without making a sound. Yarha had already rushed in front of him and slashed down with his sword. The guard's body was split open from his neck to his ribs, and blood splattered on the city gate pillar.

Just as another guard raised his gun, Yarha swung his sword back and plunged it into his stomach, the tip protruding from his back. The guard glanced down at the hilt of the sword in his stomach, his legs buckled, and he collapsed to his knees.

There were still three foot soldiers inside the city gate. Hearing the noise, they jumped up from the benches on the inside of the gate. Two of them went to close the gate, and the third, holding a long spear, had just turned around when Yarha had already stepped over the fallen corpses and crossed the threshold.

He kicked the gatekeeper in the waist, sending him flying and crashing into the city gate. The gate bounced back and opened even wider.

The Jurchens poured into the city gate like a flood. The foot soldiers with spears were simultaneously chopped down by three axes, and the other two foot soldiers had only run a few steps when they were pinned to the ground by arrows shot from behind.

The city gate was captured in less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

Hearing the screams, the guards on the city gate rushed down the steps and collided head-on with the Jurchens surging into the city.

The captain of the guards was halfway through drawing his sword when a meteor hammer flew from the opposite side and struck him in the chest. The captain of the guards fell backward and rolled down the steps.

The remaining guards turned pale and ran back as fast as they could. Some of them fell from the steps into the moat. Yarha didn't chase after them. He stood under the city gate tower and glanced in the direction of the castle tower.

The castle tower is spread out on the gentle slope inside the stone walls.

Unlike the Central Plains, Japan, like Korea and all small countries, did not build large cities. Even a large domain like Fukuoka only built a castle tower that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, for the lord and samurai to live in.

The area where commoners and artisans lived was called a castle town, surrounded by only a low wooden fence and earthen wall, which was only good for keeping out wild boars. The castle town of Fukuoka Castle was a whole size larger than that of Kuroda Castle, with a population of 10,000 in Sansei. Wooden houses and tiled houses lined up one after another, and the streets crisscrossed, making it much more impressive than a town like Kuroda Castle that only had one street.

When the Jurchens stormed into the city, there was first a series of muffled thunderous footsteps, followed by screams of agony.

An old man who was squatting by the roadside selling dried fish looked up, but before he could see who it was, an arrow pierced his neck. The dried fish in his hand scattered all over the ground, and he fell backward into his fish basket.

Yarha pointed his knife forward: "Let's split into three groups and kill all those who resist first?"

Nearly nine hundred people scattered in a whoosh. Several Jurchens carrying axes rushed into the nearest rice shop. Two screams came from inside, and the door was smashed open from the inside. A savage from the North Sea carried a bag of fine rice out, threw it into the middle of the street, and went back inside. A moment later, he came out carrying a young Japanese woman and put her with the rice bag. The Japanese slave was terrified and dared not run away.

Next door was a cloth shop. The door was kicked open, and a woman's scream and the thud of something being overturned came from inside. A Jurchen woman with a pockmarked face dragged a piece of coarse cloth out of the shop. She was then dazzled by a small box of silver hairpins on the counter. She tucked the cloth under her arm and reached in to pour all the silver hairpins into her bosom.

The people on the street finally realized what was happening. A young woman screamed, threw down her bucket, grabbed her child, and ran, her wooden clogs clattering on the stone pavement.

Several vendors overturned their stalls and ran away, scattering dried fish, radishes, and straw sandals all over the street.

The two old people couldn't run fast, so they helped each other into the alley. Several female warriors wielding knives rushed in from the alley entrance. They barely managed to turn around and try to run, but the knives were already slashing down from behind.

Just then, a blacksmith rushed out of his shop with a hammer and smashed it into the Jurchen man's back. Unfortunately, the difference in their physical strength was too great. The Jurchen man glanced at him and then stabbed him in the stomach with a knife.

The blacksmith looked down at the hilt of the knife on his stomach, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and collapsed forward onto his doorstep.

Yarha stood at the crossroads in the middle of the street, radishes and crushed dried fish scattered at his feet. He held a knife in his left hand and an axe in his right, covered in blood. Turning to the old hunter, he shouted, "Pile all the grain over at the city gate! Get everyone out here! Anyone who dares to hide in a house and shoot an arrow will be burned down, house and all!"

The old hunter, emerging from a tavern with a jar of sake in his right hand and a Japanese woman by the neck in his left, chuckled upon hearing Yarha's words: "I gave the orders long ago. I hope my bones don't fall apart after three days of freedom."

After the old hunter finished speaking, he went into the next shop. A sound of tables and chairs overturning came from inside. A moment later, he came out, carrying a Japanese woman and a huge package in his hands, seemingly unconcerned about the weight.

As time went by, fires began to rise in the castle town. Several shops that had been ransacked were set on fire, with flames licking out from the gaps in the doors and thick smoke rising into the sky.

The streets were filled with the cries of women and children, people were running wildly in the alleys, people were knocking on doors, and a man with a broken leg was crawling on the ground.

By the time the sun had set, all the shops on both sides of the main street of the castle town had been looted.

As for those slums, the Jurchens don't go there. The women there aren't pretty, and there's no gold or silver. If they really went there, they might have to help them out.