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

Once Ouyang Jing and Li Guangdi's matter was resolved, he stepped forward with the account books, saying, "Your Majesty, this is a complete inventory of all the wealth and military equipment in the capital!"

"Your Majesty, please decide on the arrangements!"

After nearly eight days, the inventory was finally completed, and Galdan picked up the most important ledger of valuables.

The gold was 630,000 taels, the silver was 15.8 million taels, and various rare antiques and treasures, at 70% of the market price, were equivalent to 30 million taels of silver.

In addition, there were large quantities of furs and ginseng from Liaodong, which were worth millions of taels of silver.

Upon seeing this, Galdan became somewhat puzzled.

"MC Jin!"

"Why is there so little cash?"

Ouyang Jing had come prepared. "I have checked the Qing court's accounts. Most of the silver was used for the military expenses of suppressing the Three Feudatories, and Wu Sangui even swindled two or three million taels from us."

"The national treasury is practically empty; this mere ten million taels of silver was all seized from the residences of the Eight Banners!"

Galdan nodded upon hearing this. Unlike the Yongzheng and Qianlong eras, there had been no systematic bloodletting of the wealthy merchants in the southeast. The entire Qing court was gritting its teeth and living a frugal life.

However, with ten million taels, it can support the construction of the garrison and the manufacture of military equipment and firearms.

We're really poor!

This is also why Galdan pondered the military system day and night, because he encountered the same problem as Zhu Yuanzhang.

What remained were provisions, warhorses, and weapons.

The total grain reserves of the Qing court and the families of the Eight Banners, plus the grain intercepted from the Grand Canal, amounted to 13 million shi (a unit of dry measure).

There are more than 5,600 top-quality Mongolian warhorses, which are currently distributed in horse farms around Beijing.

Bombardier Cannon

The twelve gates weigh between five thousand and eight thousand catties.

Sixty doors weighing two to three thousand catties each.

One hundred and twenty doors weighing eight hundred jin.

The other three hundred-pound Frankie cannons weighed three to five hundred pounds each.

Five thousand six hundred muskets.

The warehouse also contained a large number of abandoned cannons and three-barreled guns, as well as crudely made firearms.

Galdan closed his eyes after reading it. He hadn't expected that such a large city as Beijing would only have such limited resources. However, they did have a lot of firearms, enough to form a mixed army of 30,000 men.

"Ouyang Jing, convey my decree to Liu Weiqing and Zhao Hongxie, ordering them to form the Tiger Legion with a strength of 50,000 men, and transfer all arquebuses and breech-loading cannons there!"

As for Subutai, he has already led 30,000 cavalry northwards, his target being the Khorchin and Liaodong.

……

Outside Hengzhou City in Hunan, Wu Sangui, in his early sixties, watched as the three characters "Huiyanmen" were changed to "Zhengyangmen," and his ambition was laid bare.

Fang Guangchen, who was also in his early sixties and was Wu Sangui's chief strategist, looked worried.

"My lord, although the Manchus have lost Hebei, our spies have discovered that Prince An has led Emperor Kangxi from Henan to the southeast, and they might just raise their banner in Nanjing!"

"The situation is still unclear; it's too early to declare oneself emperor!"

Ugh!

Wu Sangui sighed.

"How could I not know this? But I am already sixty-two this year. I have some hidden injuries from my youth, and I don't know how much longer I will live. It would be better to become emperor sooner to unite the people and lay the foundation for my grandson, Shi Fan!"

Fang Guangchen felt as if he had eaten shit when he heard the name Wu Shifan. In the eyes of these strategists, Wu Sangui was good in every way, except that he did not have many offspring.

What use is a child of a few years old? If there isn't enough time to nurture him, how could Wu Sangui have lived to be eighty?

Seeing that Fang Guangchen remained silent, Wu Sangui knew what these scholars were worried about, so he changed the subject.

"What about the envoys going to Guanzhong?"

"Now that the Eight Banners troops have retreated to the southeast, we must take over the Guanzhong Plain. With control of both the north and south, we will have the strength of a powerful Qin, and the Central Plains will be within our grasp. At that time... hahahaha!"

Fang Guangchen secretly shook his head. He knew that Wu Sangui's unfinished words were that he wanted to declare himself emperor in Guanzhong!

"Rest assured, my lord. With the throne you promised and our army's unstoppable advance, his advisors know what to choose. There's no reason for them to choose the weaker Galdan!"

"But why have you stopped advancing in Hunan? If you were to conquer Hubei and Henan, wouldn't those be far superior to the mere Guanzhong Plain?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Sangui looked towards Zhengyang Gate as if he were looking at a rare treasure.

"Let's wait and see, the situation is still unclear! We'll see if Galdan intends to hold the north or march south to destroy the Manchus. It won't be too late to send troops then!"

I'm getting old, really old!

How did we manage to open up Shanhaiguan back then?

Fang Guangchen shook his head upon hearing this. They had even invited Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, which meant they were aiming to unify the country.

The world must be unified.

Who's going to divide the country along the river with you?

Whoever tries to carve out their own territory will perish!

……

In the backyard of the Prince's Mansion in Guangzhou, Shang Kexi, who had just celebrated his 70th birthday, lay leisurely in a rocking chair. With the help of a maid, he opened his mouth and drank hot tea with relish, then ate a steamed dumpling.

Shang Zhixin, who was nearly forty years old, looked at everything in front of him with a deep frown.

"Father, the situation in the Central Plains is volatile. The Manchu Tartars have lost Hebei, and even on their deathbed, they are still shameless, ordering us to send troops north to wipe out Geng Jingzhong!"

"Shall we rebel?"

"This dragon throne is certainly not unsuitable for my Shang family to sit on!"

Shang Kexi smacked her lips, glanced at Shang Zhixin, then closed her eyes and slowly rocked.

"Our Shang family is caught between Wu Sangui and Geng Jingzhong. Who are you going to fight? Do you think you can defeat Wu Sangui?"

"Let's wait and see how Kangxi is doing in Nanjing. If we unite then, we can take down Geng Jingzhong. He has already betrayed the Ming Dynasty, and I don't want to bear the infamy again."

Upon hearing this, Shang Zhixin's face immediately turned sinister, and he then walked directly out of the courtyard.

……

Outside Wenzhou, Zhejiang, Geng Jingzhong led an army of 30,000 men in a stalemate with Prince Kang, Jieshu, inside the city for nearly three months, unable to advance or retreat.

This was torture for Geng Jingzhong, who was only thirty years old and in the prime of his life.

Chen Menglei, a Manchu scholar who was forcibly recruited, was only twenty-three years old, but he was already quite wise.

"Prince Jingnan, a scout has reported that the Mongols have already breached Beijing, and the fleeing Emperor Kangxi has led 30,000 troops south. Eastern Zhejiang is mountainous and lacks suitable land; perhaps we should abandon Wenzhou and head south to focus our efforts on recovering the entire Fujian region?"

"At that time, we can rely on the mountains to defend it!"

Chen Menglei was bitter. He had studied how to govern people's livelihoods and how to strategize to pacify the southeast, but because of his fame, he was directly recruited to be a strategist.

Now that he has joined Geng Jingzhong's team, the Manchus will not let him go no matter what, and can only let him live longer, just like Chen Menglei.

Geng Jingzhong was somewhat tempted by what he was being told, but when he saw the dilapidated state of Wenzhou, he hardened his heart again, and his eyes became resolute once more.

"No, we can't back out!"

"As long as we capture Prince Kang, the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi will be as easy as taking candy from a baby!"

Ugh!

After sighing, Chen Menglei left the military camp!

Destroy it.

Stubborn and self-willed, lacking in foresight and strategic thinking.

What future can a lord like this have?