Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Feng Yi probed, "Today I learned that there is such a magnificent army in the world. I can't help but admire the young master's great talent and strategy even more. I am willing to follow him wholeheartedly and do something for him. Please report to him on my behalf."

Zhang Dabiao smiled and said, "Don't worry, sir. I will report back to the Duke."

Feng Yi said: "Thank you very much. In addition, I want to write a letter back to persuade my brother not to change his principles and to serve the young master with all his heart and soul. What do you think..."

Zhang Dabiao understood what he meant. He glanced at him and said thoughtfully, "The Grand Protector has issued a strict order that nothing about this matter can be leaked. If you write a letter back to Beijing, although it is with good intentions, I am afraid something unexpected will happen."

Feng Yi hurriedly said, "Don't worry, brother. I am not someone who doesn't know the difference between the important and the unimportant. It's just a letter from home. I have no other intentions. I will never ruin the Shao Bao's plan."

Zhang Dabiao smiled and said, "I trust you, sir. How about this, after you finish writing the letter, let me read it and I will mail it back for you?"

"Thank you brother."
-
Yan Shuangying stood tall at the bow with a resolute look. The long-term exposure to the scorching sun and the attack of sea breeze had greatly changed his image and temperament. He was like a bronze statue, standing still despite the tossing of the wind and waves.

Looking at the Incheon Port and the naval camp that gradually became clear before his eyes, he raised his hand and shouted, "Prepare for battle!"

"Yes!" The messenger went to deliver the message with a colorful flag in his hand.

Suddenly, a fleet of more than ten warships of various levels gradually lined up in a line on the sea, facing the coast in the distance, under a series of complex sail and rudder operations by the boatmen and sailors.

Yan Shuangying looked at the sparse old-fashioned naval vessels at the Incheon Port and sneered, "Aim at the enemy ships and camps, and fire!"

"aim!"

The navy roared in unison, and countless black gun muzzles stretched out from the gun ports under the side of the ship, pointing at the target in the distance.

"fire!"

Boom, boom, boom!

Hundreds of cannons spewed flames and roared in unison, shaking the earth and sky. Accompanied by curling smoke and the pungent smell of gunpowder, various types of shells bombarded the Incheon Port like raindrops.

Bang, bang, bang!

But there were broken wood flying everywhere in the harbor, pierced hulls, broken masts and poles. There were screams everywhere in the naval camp nearby, and the walls of the camp collapsed and the camp was in tatters.

The Goryeo navy was in a state of panic as if the end of the world was approaching. They were terrified and screamed wildly, running for their lives in all directions and no matter how their officers ordered them to do so, they would not stop.

"No escape! Quickly sail out to sea to meet the enemy! Quickly order the artillery to fire back! No escape! No escape!"

Seeing this tragic scene, Jin Qinghe, the naval officer guarding the port, had blood filling his pupils and he shouted with all his might. He then drew his sword and chopped down several deserters in succession. Only then did the soldiers calm down a little and were hesitant to advance or retreat.

Suddenly, there was a sharp whistle in the air. Before Jin Qinghe could turn around to check, a twelve-pound bullet had already blasted his upper body into pieces. Bright red debris flew everywhere. The bullet bounced off the ground and cut the two sailors next to him into four pieces.

Ah! The sailors were pale and shouted. The courage they had just mustered was shattered by the cannon. They dared not stay any longer and ran away, wishing their parents had given them a few more legs.

After firing more than a dozen rounds and seeing that there was no one living in the port, Yan Shuangying ordered a ceasefire and directed the warships to land.

The warship slowly entered the port. Looking at the broken and half-sunken warships, the ruined camps, the broken limbs and bodies all over the ground, and the blood flowing, Yan Shuangying was shocked. The firearms of the Western barbarians were so sharp and powerful!
If it weren't for the Duke's unique vision and foresight, and his early cooperation with the barbarians, what would the Celestial Empire do if its navy faced such a powerful force one day?

I'm afraid they are not much better than the Koreans. I can't help but feel admiration for Jia Cong again. Now that I have such powerful soldiers in my hands, who else in the country can be capable of fighting?
Yan Shuangying and his 4,000 new soldiers set foot on Goryeo territory without encountering any resistance. Looking at a small town in the distance, they shouted, "Brothers, we have trained hard for years. The Duke is generous and kind. He feeds us with good meat, good food, and sufficient food. Let's test our quality today! I give you one hour to capture Incheon County!"

"Don't worry, General! We will not hesitate even if it means death!" The soldiers shouted in unison, their fighting spirit soaring to the sky.

Yan Shuangying nodded, waved his hand and said, "March!"

"Yes!"

The team marched neatly along the main road towards Incheon County. The rear team could hear the sound of wheels, and dozens of the latest Gribeval system artillery carriages provided by France were pulled by strong horses and slowly followed.

The three calibers of field cannons, 4 pounds, 8 pounds, and 12 pounds, were all shiny and bright. One could imagine how powerful they would be when attacking a city.

Behind them were hundreds of large carts, each pulled by two horses and loaded with supplies and ammunition, followed by a thousand soldiers.

Incheon County heard the bad news early, and the county magistrate Shen Mingyuan was so scared that he was at a loss. It was only with the reminder of his own military commander Zheng Zecheng that he ordered the four cities to be closed and all the defenders to go up to the city to defend. At the same time, he lit beacons and sent people out of the city on horseback to the capital Seoul to report the incident and seek help.

Yan Shuangying ordered his men to raise the Jia family's black tiger-head flag, and also a large banner with "Duke Dingguo of the Heavenly Dynasty" embroidered with large and flamboyant characters, and then led the army forward.

Soon they arrived at the city of Incheon and surrounded it on three sides, leaving only the east side, in order to weaken its fighting spirit.

At that time, the power of the Celestial Empire was spreading widely, and Goryeo admired it deeply. Even the king had to be conferred the title by the Celestial Emperor before ascending the throne. The official language was Chinese, and even the capital was called Seoul. A large number of books were introduced from the Celestial Empire.

Therefore, the county magistrate Shen Mingyuan was also proficient in Chinese characters. When he saw the words on the big banner from afar, he was already frightened and turned pale.

Who in Goryeo didn't know the reputation of Duke Dingguo Jia Cong? When he was stationed in Liaodong, he killed the Tartars and Jurchen barbarians on the grasslands, leaving corpses all over the ground and making them flee. Who among the Goryeo people who also suffered greatly from the Jurchens didn't respect him like a god?
Now that they saw him raising an army to attack, the morale of the Shiting army had already dropped by 70% to 80%. The literate defenders had already been informed that looking at the mighty military display of long guns and short cannons outside the city, they suddenly felt powerless.

Shen Mingyuan boldly asked loudly: "Master Dingguo of the upper country, why did you send troops to invade my territory?"

Yan Shuangying rode out, pointed his spear and shouted, "It is because that country is ruled by treacherous officials who persecute the people, and the officials are corrupt, and the people are living in misery, so the Heavenly Kingdom has raised an army to attack them, just to comfort the people and punish the criminals, and save the people!
If you are smart, open the city and surrender immediately, and I will spare your life. Otherwise, our army will break into the city and all the officials will be beheaded!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the officials in the government offices in the city felt a chill in their hearts, and they all looked at the county magistrate Shen Mingyuan.

Shen Mingyuan's face turned pale and he looked at Zheng Zecheng, the military governor, and said, "Old Zheng, do you think we can hold this place?"
Zheng Zecheng whispered, "Sir, we are defending the city and waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out. The Celestial Empire has come a long way and you see they don't have any siege equipment, so how can they do anything to us?

Don't fall for their bluffing. In addition, Inchon is not far from Seoul, and reinforcements will arrive in no time. If you surrender without a fight, you will die anyway, so it is better to fight to the death."

Shen Mingyuan calmed down and said, "This makes sense."

He raised his voice and said: "General Rong, Goryeo has always followed the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, admired the customs of the Celestial Empire, and followed the example of the superior country to rule the world with benevolence and filial piety. How can it be said that the people are living in misery?

There must be a traitor who slandered our country, sowed discord, and deceived the emperor. I wish to stop the war and ask our king to personally submit a memorial to the emperor and explain the whole story to ensure a thousand-year friendship between the two countries."

Although Shen Mingyuan was only a small county magistrate, he came from a prominent family and was quite smart. Even if there was a fight, he would not be the first to break off relations and would delay it as long as possible.

Yan Shuangying laughed loudly and shouted, "Since you are stubborn, don't blame me for being ruthless! My men, attack the city!"

"attack!"

Bang, bang, bang, the sound of war drums rang out to the sky. The new army continued to advance until they were about one hundred and twenty steps away, then stopped.

This distance was beyond the range of ordinary bows and arrows. The two dilapidated catapults and crossbows on the city could only throw bullets and shoot arrows randomly. Naturally, there was no accuracy. After being fired several times, they became silent. It was estimated that there was a malfunction.

"Get ready to reload!"

Wow, the soldiers all raised their guns to their chests, pulled the lock on the bolt back, and opened the lid of the medicine pool.

"Take out the bullet!"

The soldiers took out long paper shell bullets from their magazines, put them in their mouths, bit the paper shells, poured some of the gunpowder into the medicine pool, and closed the lid of the medicine pool.

"Load gunpowder!" Pour all the remaining gunpowder in the paper shell bullet into the barrel. There is a lead bullet at the bottom, which is directly stuffed into the barrel together with the paper shell.

"Take out the cleaning rod!"

The soldiers pulled the cleaning rod out from under the barrel, inserted it into the barrel, tamped it back and forth several times to tighten it, and then inserted the cleaning rod back into its original position.

"Gun to shoulder!"

The soldiers raised their guns and pulled down the padlock again.

"Aim, shoot!"

Bang! There was a flash of fire in the forest of gunfire, and when the smoke cleared, dozens of people had fallen on the city wall.

At the same time, dozens of large and small field artillery had already been loaded and lined up, bombarding the city walls and gates.

There was a continuous deafening roar of cannon fire. The iron bullets were like thunder hurled by the god of death, indestructible and powerful. In an instant, the city wall was riddled with holes, and stones on the parapet flew everywhere. Countless people who were close to it were killed or injured. The defenders were horrified, having never seen such cannons before. They all lay down to avoid it, trembling with fear.

"Change!"

The soldiers in the front row retreated after shooting, while the soldiers in the back row who had been prepared advanced with guns raised.

"Aim, shoot!"

Bang! Another row of bullets shot out from the muzzle with white smoke, hitting the city wall like raindrops.

"Change!"

The third row of soldiers took turns to fight and fired another round of volleys.

In fact, the accuracy of the flintlock rifle at that time was extremely low. It had no accuracy at all beyond ten feet, and it was time-consuming to reload. It was far inferior to the accuracy and shooting speed of a sharpshooter.

However, it is extremely difficult to train a sharpshooter, but musketeers can be trained in large numbers. With the musket's range of hundreds of feet and the enormous power of the projectile, as long as the shooting density is increased, the enemy can still be terrified.

After Jia Cong's unsparing investment and rigorous training, the 7,000 elite soldiers of the Jifeng Camp can now fire four rounds in 20 breaths, and the Liaodong New Army can also fire three rounds, which is enough to rival the elite troops of the Western Yi Army.

After three rounds of volleys, no one on the city dared to show their heads. Yan Shuangying smiled coldly and waved his hand, saying, "Forward! Break the city!"

"Forward! Break the city!"

All the soldiers shouted in unison, reloaded their ammunition, and slowly approached. At the same time, they made way, displayed several 12-pound heavy cannons, and fired at the city gate.

Boom boom boom! Wood chips flew all over the city gate, smoke and dust rose up, the door panels were shattered into pieces, and they were blown away, exposing the streets in the city to the sight of the government troops.

Shen Mingyuan was lying on the city wall, feeling the heavens and the earth shaking. He was so frightened that he dared not defend it anymore. He hurriedly said, "Commander Zheng, quickly reorganize the troops to meet the enemy. I will go to Seoul to ask for help." After saying this, he did not even bother to pick up his official hat and ran away.

Zheng Zecheng watched him riding away, spitting on the ground, looking at the frightened guards around him, and couldn't help but cursed: "Coward!"

Suddenly, a shout was heard from the bottom of the city. The government troops, as fierce as wolves and tigers, had rushed into the city. The sound of gunfire was heard continuously, and in an instant, there was a burst of screams.

No matter how low the accuracy of the flintlock rifle is, it is still reliable for close-range shooting. It was just a county town with only a few hundred defenders. How could they withstand the attack of 4,000 new troops? Hundreds of corpses were left in just a few moments.

"Stop! I surrender!" Zheng Zecheng did not want to see the one-sided massacre, so he hurried down the city, held the knife in both hands, and knelt down to surrender.

When the defenders saw him like this, they hurriedly threw away their swords and guns and knelt on the ground.

Yan Shuangying rode in and shouted, "Who are you?"

"I am Zheng Zecheng, the military governor of this city."

Yan Shuangying sneered and said, "I just said that all officials who stubbornly resist and fight against the heavenly soldiers will be beheaded. Kill them!"

"Sir..." Zheng Zecheng wanted to beg for mercy but was shot to death.

When the surrendered soldiers saw their leader being killed, they trembled slightly and hurriedly bowed even lower.

Yan Shuangying took a quick look and ordered his men to seal the four gates. He shouted, "Send someone who can speak Mandarin."

A civil official knelt forward and trembled, speaking in unstandard official language, and kowtowed, saying, "I am Li Chengen, the county supervisor, and I pay my respects to the general."

Yan Shuangying was already familiar with the Goryeo official system and knew that the Goryeo county magistrate was a fifth-rank official and the county supervisor was a sixth-rank official who was the county magistrate's assistant, so he shouted, "Where is the county magistrate?"

"General, they just... abandoned the city and fled, saying they were going back to Seoul for help." Li Chengen said tremblingly.

Yan Shuangying sneered, "Well, since he has escaped, I will not care about him. I will lead the royal army to punish the unjust, and I do not want to kill more people. Get up, everyone.

The officers in this city should gather their soldiers, and the county supervisor should quickly take people to prepare meals and issue a notice to reassure the people. "

"Yes, yes, I'll go right away." Seeing that he had saved his life, Li Chengen hurried away.

After Yan Shuangying assigned the defense tasks, several officials took him to the county government office to rest.

In the main hall of the county government, Yan Shuangying placed Jia Cong's banner at the main seat and asked the Goryeo officials to pay homage. He then sat down at the bottom and asked, "County Supervisor, how is the population and people's livelihood in this county?"

"General, there are more than 36,000 households in this county, with a total of more than 100,000 men, women, young and old," Li Chengen reported hurriedly.

Yan Shuangying asked, "How many wealthy households are there, how many upper households are there, how many middle households are there, and how many lower households are there?"

Li Chengen said: "There are more than twenty wealthy and prominent families in this county, with more than 2,000 upper households, more than 5,000 middle households, and the rest are lower households."

Yan Shuangying nodded, bowed to the sky and said: "Before coming here, the Duke instructed that the royal army is not coming here to burn, kill, rob, or change the dynasty, nor to be tyrannical, but only to save the poor people of Goryeo from the stupidity of the current Li family.

I only give you one day to capture the local tyrants and evil gentry who usually oppress the good and bully the people in this county, and execute them according to law and confiscate their property.

"Except for the necessary military rations, the rest of the land and money will be distributed to the poor people! Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, I obey your command." Li Chengen nodded in agreement, secretly thinking about pushing those people who were usually at odds with him out to take the blame.

"Come back. Don't think about being clever or filling in the numbers. I will send people to investigate. Only 20% of the more than 20 wealthy families will be kept, and the rest will be killed. As for who to kill, you decide for yourself.

If the killing makes the people cry out for justice, you will take your own head. Understand?" Yan Shuangying said calmly.

Li Chengen's heart trembled, and he bowed and said, "I dare not do that, I will deal with it impartially."

"Go ahead." (End of this chapter)