Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 138 The Knife Starts Bleeding
Liaodong, Shengjing.

Gongshun Palace,

"Get off!"

Kong Youde returned to his mansion with a worried look on his face. He waved and scolded the two Korean women away.

He had just returned from Huang Taiji's palace.

The Ming army was severely criticized for its firearms.

"A cannon that can be carried by two people, and is extremely powerful, just as powerful as the Red Cannon, and has a firing rate more than twice that of the Red Cannon?
And the musket with a range of over 10 steps can fire rounds per minute, how is that possible?"

As the commander-in-chief of the Qing Dynasty's firearms battalion, no one knew the Ming Army's firearms battalion better than him. They were equipped with nothing more than three-barreled muskets, which had a lethality of only a few dozen steps and were prone to exploding.

Not to mention hitting people, it would be good enough if they didn't die themselves.

The most powerful weapon in the Ming Dynasty was the Rumi gun in the Beijing Camp, but it could not reach this level.

He was called to the palace by Huang Taiji the day before yesterday, and was questioned and rebuked by Duoduo, Yuetuo and others yesterday, which made him feel both aggrieved and confused.

Kong Youde was born a miner, but later he couldn't make it, so he ran away to Pi Island and followed Mao Wenlong to make a living. Because he liked studying firearms and tinkering with gunpowder, he made two contributions and was promoted by Mao Wenlong.

Later, Mao Wenlong was killed by Yuan Chonghuan, so he took his people to join Sun Yuanhua. It happened that the Ming Dynasty Emperor Chongzhen wanted to establish a pure firearms camp.

Because of his familiarity with and research on firearms, he was noticed by Sun Yuanhua and was soon promoted to lieutenant general.

Chongzhen invested a lot of money, manpower and material resources. In addition to artillery, he also invited Western instructors from Macau. Kong Youde mastered all kinds of knowledge, including accurate shooting, rangefinder, and artillery structure.

He was already heartbroken because he thought Mao Wenlong was "innocent but suffered slaughter". In the fourth year of Chongzhen, when he was supporting Dalinghhe, he encountered heavy rain, wind and snow, insufficient supplies, and mutiny of soldiers. In addition, under the instigation of Li Jiuchen, he launched the Wuqiao Mutiny.

He brought the most elite firearms troops of the Ming Dynasty and defected to Huang Taiji.

It was because of his surrender that the Qing Dynasty not only caught up with the Ming Dynasty's firearms, but also had the ability to cast its own cannons.

By the tenth year of Chongzhen, the total number of artillery pieces of the Qing Dynasty had actually surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with Chongzhen, Huang Taiji placed high hopes on the artillery battalion. He provided them with food and wages, and almost met all their requests.

In addition, with the Manchus' adequate supervision, the Qing Dynasty's muskets were superior to their predecessors and much more sophisticated than those used on the Guanning front of the Ming Dynasty, and at least they would not explode.

Huang Taiji commended his achievements and named him King Gongshun when he ascended the throne last year.

It is no exaggeration to say that before Dorgon and Yuetuo entered the Pass, Kong Youde lived a very comfortable life.

Not only was he made a king, but there were also more than 30 women in his backyard who were rewarded by Huang Taiji. Of course, these were all captured from the Ming Dynasty and Korea.

He wanted to marry a Manchu woman, but Manchus and Han people did not intermarry.

This was the national policy of the Qing Dynasty and also a means of national oppression.

Kong Youde held a set of three-layer armor that was pierced by a musket in his hand, and looked at it again and again, "How is this possible? A musket with a range of 100 steps can penetrate three layers of armor?"

Although no cannons or muskets were seized during this entry into the Pass, some things were still brought back, such as the armor of seriously injured or dead Qing soldiers, which was stripped off and given to the Qing Firearms Battalion for research.

"It has always been my Tianyou Firearms Battalion that has been suppressing the Ming army. Where did they get these firearms?"

"How did you do it?"

Kong Youde was puzzled and punched the table, causing the tea bowl to fall to the ground.

In order to win over the three Shun kings, Huang Taiji named the troops led by them, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, "Tianyou Army".

Shang Kexi's troops were called "Tianzhu Army".

At this moment, Geng Zhongming walked in from outside, his face horrified, "Prince Su, something big has happened."

Kong Youde frowned and looked at the other person, "What happened again? I told you a long time ago, don't go to that kind of place. If it really doesn't work, you can spend more money and get it at home."

"Hauge is back."

"Who?" Kong Youde's eyes suddenly widened and he looked at the other person in disbelief. "Say it again?"

"It was indeed Haoge. How could I lie to you? Not only did I see him, but many other people also saw him." Geng Zhongming looked at Kong Youde with his Adam's apple rolling. "He was exchanged for Chao Pichang."

"Chao Pichang, the general of Changping?"

Geng Zhongming nodded. "Thousands of our Eight Banners soldiers outside the Great Wall saw it. Tens of thousands of people from both sides confronted each other. They saw a group of Qing soldiers hand Chao Pichang over to the Ming army. Then the Ming army released Haoge and left."

The room suddenly fell into silence.

Geng Zhongming continued, "Brother, do you remember that I was almost kidnapped a few days ago? After I went back, I thought about it and felt that something was wrong. How could ordinary people know that I often go to Baochun Garden? And I always changed people to serve me, and never chose the same person."

"But the other party seemed to know all my information and went straight into my room. If I hadn't had a stomachache that day and went to the toilet, I would probably be the one taking over now."

Kong Youde looked at him and said, "You mean, the emperor is just trying to fool us. On the surface, he ordered that we would not be exchanged for Haoge, but he is secretly doing something?"

The muscles on Geng Zhongming's face twitched, "I...I..."

He didn't admit it, but his eyes showed that he thought so.

Before the two of them finished talking, they heard footsteps outside again. The butler came over and said, "Master, King Zhishun is here."

The old butler glared at Geng Zhongming fiercely. The other party had just barged in without even notifying him.

"Let him in."

Soon, Shang Kexi came in from outside. When he saw Geng Zhongming, he was startled. "Prince Huaishun is here too. It seems that Prince Gongshun also knows everything."

The three Shun princes seldom met each other, for fear that Huang Taiji would be suspicious, but they had no choice in the current situation.

Han officials had the lowest status among the Manchus. Even though Huang Taiji announced the expansion of the Eight Banners of the Han Army from the original two banners to eight, like the Eight Banners of Mongolia, no banner chief was appointed.

There was only one position of commander, and it was held by these surrendered generals. Every time they attacked the Ming Dynasty or Korea, the Eight Banners of Han were the first to rush to the front, suffering heavy casualties. They were treated like animals and were ordered around.

These are all acceptable. The dead are Han people. They are already rich and prosperous and have already reached the shore. All we have to do is force those Han people to go up and die.

But things are different now. The Ming court has captured Hauge and specifically demanded that he be exchanged for a well-known Ming general who surrendered. This is equivalent to putting a knife directly on the necks of these people.

Although Geng Zhongming escaped, the Manchus had no choice but to replace him with Chao Pichang, but what about next time?
If the Ming court captured a Manchu noble again next time, which surrendered general would be used in exchange?
Who can guarantee that the next one is not yourself?
Kong Youde frowned, his eyebrows twisted together to form the Chinese character "川". "Could there be any trickery involved? From what I know about the emperor, he would never do such a thing."

Kong Youde had witnessed Huang Taiji's courage many times. If he did so, it would be tantamount to destroying his own "cutting down big trees" strategy.

"He wouldn't have been able to do such a thing before, but that may not be the case now." King Zhishun Shang Kexi suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Both of them looked at each other.

Shang Kexi glanced at the two of them and said, "There's news from the palace that the emperor is dying and has been unable to get out of bed for the past few days."

The pupils of Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming suddenly shrank. "Is the news accurate?"

"That's right!" Shang Kexi narrowed his eyes. "Duoduo and Ajige have been in frequent contact these days, and Ajige's bondservant sent someone to inform Dorgon. Now Dorgon has returned to Shengjing."

"The emperor didn't let him come back, but he actually..." Kong Youde understood everything at once, his eyes filled with shock and anger, "In that case, the situation must have reached the most critical moment." "No wonder!" Geng Zhongming couldn't help swallowing.

Under normal circumstances, Huang Taiji would certainly not make such a foolish decision, but if it involves a fight for the throne, it is really hard to say.

The others didn't know, but the three of them had heard Huang Taiji talk more than once about his admiration for Confucianism and his praise for the Central Plains' practice of "establishing the eldest rather than the youngest".

Although the Qing Dynasty's policy of "appointing the virtuous rather than the eldest" could select wise ministers, it easily led to mutual struggle and fratricide.

The Qing Dynasty was in a stage of rapid development. Once internal strife broke out, the pace of the attack on the Ming Dynasty would certainly be affected.

Therefore, Huang Taiji had always wanted to promote "establishing the eldest son rather than the youngest son" as a national policy, but the resistance was too great and it could not be tried out.

Now that Huang Taiji is seriously ill, he naturally wants to make his own prince the emperor. Among the princes, Haoge is the eldest son and has made great achievements, while the others are almost not yet adults.

Huang Taiji had enough reasons to exchange Hauge back. Compared with the struggle for the country and the throne of the Qing Dynasty, could these surrendered generals from the Ming Dynasty really not be sacrificed?
They don’t have the confidence!

……

Not only King Sanshun, but almost all the surrendered generals of the Qing Dynasty were shocked after hearing about this incident.

Especially in Chao Pichang's Han army camp,

If even Chao Pichang is like this, where will these small soldiers and generals go?

So they were supposed to go for training today, but no one showed up. A Niulu Zhangjing from the Zhenglan Banner came to check on them, and when he found out about this situation, he got so angry that he took out his whip and started whipping everyone.

He was still not satisfied after beating two people, and he kept yelling for Chao Pichang to come out. Not only did he curse him harshly, he also cursed Chao Pichang's mother. This made one of Chao Pichang's personal soldiers unhappy, and he went up to argue with him.

As a result, he was hit on the face by Niulu Zhangjing's whip, and his face was immediately covered in blood.

The military officer who followed Chao Pichang was named Tu Zhaosheng. He was already unhappy, and when he thought about how the Han army had treated him like animals before, a nameless anger rose in his heart.

Looking at the Tartar in front of him, his eyes suddenly became angry and he stood up suddenly, "Shut up!"

"What? Do you still want to rebel? Since you've surrendered, you should kneel down. If you want to be a slave, you should have the consciousness of a slave. Don't even mention scolding you. Even if I ask you to eat shit, you have to hold it in your mouth..."

"I drafted my ancestors!"

Tu Zhaosheng pulled out his knife and stabbed the man in the neck.

"Gugugugugu..." Niulu Zhangjing of the Zhenglan Banner's eyes suddenly bulged out and he desperately reached out to cover his neck, but no matter how hard he tried,

Blood and blood foam were gushing out as he looked at the Han army in front of him.

He didn't understand, what was going on?
I just cursed a few words, and I had cursed no less than this in the past. Why, why... did the Han army dare to attack me?

After twitching a few times, Niulu Zhangjing finally stopped moving.

Maybe, it was just because he drank a little too much last night, and he didn't know anything about Chao Pichang when he woke up in the morning, so he came here to show off.

Tu Zhaosheng, who had just taken action, looked at this scene and sat down on the ground. "Murder! I killed all the people..."

The others were also horrified when they saw this.

However, their actions were very decisive. A large group of people formed a circle and blocked the body of the Manchu Niulu Zhangjing in the middle to prevent it from being seen by more people.

"General Tu, you... the Han people killed the Manchus, and it was a crime of insubordination, so the whole family should be executed." An old centurion could not help but whispered.

Fortunately, Tu Zhaosheng is single, and after Chao Pichang surrendered to the Tartars last year, he did not have time to start a family here.

"What should I do?"

"It's over, it's over... General Chao just had an accident, and a lot of people died in the camp again. This time it's completely over."

"The sky is falling..."

There were discussions one after another, but Tu Zhaosheng suddenly straightened his body, gritted his teeth, stood up, and looked at everyone:

"The Manchus are dead, and Commander Chao has been exchanged by the Tartars. I don't want things to develop to this point. Even if you hand me over, I'm afraid you can escape the death penalty, but you can't escape the punishment of living."

What Tu Zhaosheng said is true.

If the Tartar died in front of them but they did not help him, they would be accomplices. Even if they handed Tu Zhaosheng over to the Tartar, they would not escape punishment.

If a Han Chinese kills another Han Chinese, the crime will be more severe.

I'm afraid that even if I survive, it would be worse than death.

Tu Zhaosheng stared at everyone with a sharp gaze, "Let me ask you one more question, do you miss your mothers, do you miss your brothers and sisters?"

"What do you mean?"

"What else could it mean? Rebel against the Later Jin and return to our Ming Dynasty."

"If we go back, will the Ming Dynasty forgive us?"

Tu Zhaosheng gritted his teeth and said, "You've heard of Zu Dashou, right? He surrendered to the Later Jin, but the Ming Emperor said he had forgiven him? Didn't he let him continue to serve as the general of Jinzhou?"

"Make your own decision. If you stay, you will die. If you run away, you may have a chance of survival."

"But we have to do it as soon as possible. Once this is discovered, we won't be able to escape even if we want to."

Everyone was silent. After a few seconds, someone gritted his teeth and shouted, "Count me in. We only have one life to live. Why do we have to kneel?"

"Count me in!"

"Count me in……"

"..."

Soon, most people stood up, and the few who did not stand up were also noticed by everyone.

Several people immediately responded and joined in, because they knew that there was no second choice in this matter. Once the majority reached a consensus, the remaining people would have no choice but to join in or die.

Tu Zhaosheng looked at everyone and said, "We can't just go by ourselves. We need to take all the brothers with us. Otherwise, if we suddenly run away, it won't be easy for them."

"General Tu, what do you mean...?"

"That's right, let's make some noise as a token of our surrender to the Ming Dynasty." Tu Zhaosheng stared at everyone with burning eyes.

Everyone took a deep breath and said, "Okay, let's do as General Tu said."

"We really need to prove our sincerity when we go back."

Tu Zhaosheng nodded to the crowd, "Gather everyone, anyone who doesn't cooperate will be killed!"

……

(End of this chapter)