The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Judging from what he found after entering the camp, the emptiness of this Tartar camp far exceeded Yang Zhen's prior expectations.

Previously, Yang Zhen never dared to imagine that their "breakthrough" would be so smooth. He also never imagined that after entering the Tartar camp, before being ambushed and surrounded by a large Tartar force, they would have already set fire to most of the haystacks and grain silos by "sprinkling gunpowder" and "pouring tung oil".

At this point, Yang Zhen felt that half of his mission was complete, and now it was just a matter of figuring out how to make a clean getaway.

Just then, Yang Zhan'ao, who had been holding the vanguard battalion's flag and standing beside Yang Zhen, suddenly shouted, "Sir! There are enemies on the left!"

Yang Zhen was startled and quickly raised his gun to the left. He saw several figures dressed in the uniforms of Tartar soldiers suddenly rushing out from the darkness of the southern fence.

In a panic, Yang Zhen hurriedly pulled the trigger. With a "bang," the figure at the front screamed and fell backward to the ground.

The figures behind him froze for a moment. At that critical moment, two of Yang Zhen's personal guards beside Yang Zhan'ao shot out two arrows with a "whoosh".

Immediately following were two screams, and two more people fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

There were two Tartars left. They seemed to realize that the people in front of them were too tough and that they were no match for them, so they immediately turned around and fled into the darkness.

At that moment, with a "thud," Yang Zhan'ao, who had already planted the flag in his hand on the ground, drew his strong bow and shot an arrow at the fleeing black figure.

In the darkness, a scream was heard, and another person fell to the ground.

At this moment, Yang Zhen's modified "Lumi Gun" had been reloaded with ammunition, and his courage immediately grew. Without saying a word, he chased after the dark figure not far away.

As Yang Zhen ran, he said to Yang Zhan'ao and the other two, "Come with me! Let's go take a look! If we can capture someone alive and get some information about the enemy, our trip will have been worthwhile!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhanao quickly followed and ran alongside Yang Zhen. In just a moment, they were getting closer and closer to the fleeing dark figure.

However, just as Yang Zhen raised his gun and tried to aim at the dark figure while running, he saw a flash of light ahead, followed by a deafening explosion coming from the direction of Xiaoling River to the south.

He said "a burst" rather than "a single sound" because the consecutive, loud explosions were so dense that his ears could hardly distinguish one, two, three, four, or which came first.

Yang Zhen was startled by the sudden explosion and almost fell to the ground. Just then, he saw the dark figure who had been desperately running away also stumble and fall to the ground from the loud explosion.

Yang Zhen was overjoyed and was about to rush forward to grab him when he saw Yang Zhan'ao pounce on him like a tiger, pinning the struggling figure to the ground.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! Good sir! I'm not a Manchu! I'm a Han Chinese too!"

The dark figure struggled and cried out in a sob, "Heroic grandfather! I am also a Han Chinese! If I hadn't truly had no other way to survive in Liaodong, who would willingly serve as a servant to the Manchu Tartars!"

"You traitorous dog! You're a lackey of the Manchus, and you still dare to be unreasonable?!"

Yang Zhanao grabbed the dark figure by the collar and lifted him up, but then heard him trying to defend himself. He swung his right hand and slapped him across the face. The sound of the slap landed squarely on the man's right cheek, making him see stars and bleed from his mouth and nose.

Yang Zhan'ao was about to fight again when he heard Yang Zhen say from behind, "Stop! If you kill him, we'll just have to catch another one! Take him with us and leave!"

At this moment, Yang Zhen had already guessed that the explosion and the beam of light that had just shot out from the direction of Xiaoling River must have been Yan San's doing.

Moreover, he had already seen from afar that the large contingent of Tartars who had been charging menacingly towards the granary and haystack area with torches had immediately split into two groups and turned back after the explosion in the direction of Xiaoling River.

Seeing this, Yang Zhen felt somewhat relieved. He stepped forward and said to the thin, blood-covered Tartar man, "If you tell the truth, I'll spare your life!"

The man could tell that Yang Zhen was in charge, and he nodded vigorously at Yang Zhen.

"What is your name? Who is your master? What kind of camp is this? Who is the highest-ranking Manchu in this camp?"

Yang Zhen fired off a string of questions.

The second Tartar said, "This servant's surname is Ma, and I don't have a given name. Because I was the sixth child born, I'm called Ma Liu. Everyone calls me Little Liu!"

Having said all that, Ma Liu noticed Yang Zhen's impatience and quickly added, "My master is named Wuyashan, and he is the Ba Ya La Ga Bu Xi Xian Chao Ha under the command of Lord Arsalan, the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Ba Ya La Ga Bu Xi Xian Zhang Jing!"

Because in the past, Ma Liu often used the title of "Master" to scare the other Ahha around him and to resist the invasion of other Manchu Tartars, so he can now pronounce such a complicated title and name very fluently.

However, his tongue-twisting words were as meaningless to Yang Zhan'ao, who immediately made a move to hit him again, but was stopped by Yang Zhen.

Ma Liu's words, especially the latter half, seemed irrelevant to him, but to Yang Zhen now, they were like thunder in his ears.

In April of the ninth year of the Chongzhen reign, Huang Taiji ascended the throne in Shenyang and changed the name of the country from "Jin" to "Qing". The Jurchen Eight Banners were also renamed the Manchu Eight Banners.

What shocked him most was that the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Bayara Zhangjing Arsalan mentioned by Ma Liu was the Qing general in history who led his troops to block Yang Zhen's forces and finally killed Yang Zhen.

It turns out that the men led by Arsalan were actually "Gabuxi Xianchaoha" selected from the Manchu Eight Banners Bayalali!

Many of Yang Zhen's questions were instantly answered, but he still did not expect that he would hear the name Arsalan from the mouth of "Baoyi Aha" of "Gabuxi Xianchaoha", one of the most elite soldiers of the Tatars, in this situation.

Yang Zhen stopped Yang Zhan'ao and then asked Ma Liu, "Where is Arsalan now?! Who's in charge of this camp now?!"

"Replying to Grandfather, the camp is now almost entirely composed of idiots. My master, Uyashan, after resting a few days ago, went to patrol towards Jinzhou with Lord Alsalan on orders. Now, all affairs of the camp, big and small, are in charge of Prince Loto! The former head prince, three days ago, personally led his troops to escort a batch of provisions to Songshan Army!"

Prince Loto?! Yang Zhen had never heard of this person before.

However, the mention of the Grand Prince in Ma Liu's words immediately caught Yang Zhen's attention: "Quickly! Who is the Grand Prince who was originally in charge of this camp?! What kind of prince is he?!"

"The prince who used to be in charge was the First Prince, Daishan! I've overheard my masters talking about him, and they all privately call him Prince Li!"

It turns out to be Prince Daishan!

Daishan held a very prestigious position within the Manchu Eight Banners, and even in the later Qing Dynasty, his status was considered superior, as he was personally appointed as a Grand Beile by Nurhaci during his lifetime.

At that time, Huang Taiji was only the Fourth Beile. Without Daishan's strong support, Huang Taiji would not have been able to inherit the Khanate of the Later Jin, let alone later change the name of the country and become emperor.

Therefore, when Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he bestowed upon Daishan the title of Prince Li, the first-ranking prince whose title was hereditary.

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhen asked Ma Liu, "Which Tartar leader is in charge at the Niangniang Palace camp?! And which Tartar leader is in charge at the Songshan army?! Is the Manchu ruler Huang Taiji at the front, and in which army?!"

After asking a series of questions, Yang Zhen suddenly realized that he was getting a little impatient. Given Ma Liu's status, he might not be able to answer these questions.

Sure enough, Ma Liu was initially bewildered by Yang Zhen's question, then quickly replied, "This—this servant really doesn't know! However, this servant has heard that there are two large camps, one at the Empress's Palace and the other outside Songshan City, garrisoned with many Manchu soldiers and Han bannermen! This servant also heard that the fighting on Songshan City was fierce a few days ago, and even the Three Princes of Shun were there!"

Yang Zhen asked several more questions, and seeing that Ma Liu really couldn't say anything, he wanted Yang Zhan'ao to kill Ma Liu on the spot.

But then he thought again. Although this Ma Liu was of low status and didn't know much, he did know the name Arsalan. So, on a whim, he asked him again, "Ma Liu, do you know Arsalan?!"

Ma Liu was a quick-witted fellow. Seeing Yang Zhen's unfriendly expression, he had a bad feeling. Then, when Yang Zhen asked the last question, which happened to be something he could answer, he immediately nodded frantically like a chicken pecking at rice: "I recognize him! I recognize him! This servant recognizes him! But he might not recognize this servant!"

After saying his last sentence, Ma Liu realized he had talked too much and quickly slapped himself, saying, "This servant knows! If Grandfather Hero asks me to deliver a message, whether it's a verbal or written message, this servant will definitely deliver it!"

At this point, Yang Zhen no longer had time to listen to what Ma Liu had to say. Since he recognized which one was Al-Salan, he might need him sometime, so he decided to spare his life for now.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhen said to Yang Zhan'ao, "Forget it, let's take him with us for now!"

At this point, Yang Zhen turned to Ma Liu and said, "If you want to live, stick with me! Don't even think about running away, or I can kill you with the blink of an eye!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Liu knew his life was temporarily spared, and he nodded hurriedly. Yang Zhan'ao grabbed him by the back of the neck, and he quickly left the place with Yang Zhen.

To be honest, Yang Zhen's interrogation of Ma Liu lasted quite a long time, but in reality, it was only a short while.