weaving

Chapter 1556 Is Luo Rucai a soldier or a thief?
On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, the county seat of Sishui fell.

County Magistrate Kong Zhang, Clerk Zhang Ziqin and other officials were killed by the Jurchens. Twenty-three people, including student Wang Guoru, died defending the city. After looting the city, the Jurchens set it on fire, leaving only twenty-seven survivors.

The seventh day, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).

More than two thousand bandits entered Qingzhou Prefecture and arrived at the city of Mengyin.

Mengyin County could not withstand the attack and was captured by the Jurchens in just one hour. Magistrate Ye, Clerk Cui Wanzong, and other officials fell into the hands of the enemy and were beheaded in front of the county government office. The people were robbed, and the county was burned to the ground.

On the seventh day, Dingtao County fell.

Liang Zhaodou, the magistrate of Dingtao County, personally went up the city wall to defend it. He was cut down by the enemy and fell to the ground. Fortunately, he only broke his left leg and did not die, thus escaping death.

On the eighth day, Chengwu County fell, and the county magistrate, Ren Wanmin, died on the city wall.

On the same day, Yutai County fell, and the county magistrate Li Shicai and the instructor Dong Ru died in battle. The clerk Wang Tingyi was shot by an arrow and fell to the ground, but managed to survive.

On the ninth day, several thousand enemy cavalrymen rushed to the city of Jinxiang and immediately launched a fierce attack.

However, Luo Rucai's right battalion was stationed in Jinxiang County, and Yang Shengzu was also a brave general. He commanded his men to fight back fiercely, especially with the nearly two thousand new Yunzhou muskets they were equipped with, which caused great casualties to the enemy.

The Jurchens attacked the city for a day without success. When they retreated, they were ambushed and killed by Yang Shengzu's eight hundred cavalry. They suffered heavy losses and retreated that night.

…………

Liu Zeqing, the Shandong General Commander, had been stationed in Dongchang Prefecture. Together with Ma Dai, the Dongchang General Commander, he resisted the attack of Turge and held the city of Dongchang Prefecture from falling into the hands of the enemy.

However, at the critical moment in Yanzhou, Prince Lu Zhu Yi firmly refused to allow Luo Rucai's troops to come to Yanzhou to help defend it, insisting on the local Shandong government troops coming to his aid.

Governor Wang Yongji had no choice but to mobilize troops from surrounding cities to provide assistance, and Liu Zeqing's troops also received the order.

However, when he led his troops to Dongping Prefecture, he heard the news that Yanzhou had been captured by the enemy. He dared not advance further into Yanzhou, so he temporarily stationed his troops in Dongping Prefecture and asked Governor Wang Yongji for instructions on the next course of action.

The tenth day, early morning.

A band of over three thousand rebels rushed to the walls of Dongping Prefecture. They first cut down trees to assemble siege ladders, and then began attacking the east and south walls of Dongping Prefecture at 9:00 AM.

Although Liu Zeqing dared not engage in open battle with the Jurchens, he was not afraid of them when it came to defending the city. He personally climbed the city wall and commanded with composure. After the Jurchens attacked fiercely for half a day, seeing no hope of breaking through the city, they led their troops away.

After the enemy retreated, Liu Zeqing received an order from Governor Wang Yongji to enter Feicheng and Tai'an Prefecture in Jinan Prefecture to garrison and support the defense of Jinan Prefecture.

…………

On the seventh day of the twelfth month, a group of Jurchen cavalry from the north attacked and captured Putai County, and the county magistrate Rao Nai was killed.

On the eighth day, the Jurchens captured Binzhou City again.

Xue Weiqin, the former Minister of Works, was captured by the Tartar soldiers. The Jurchens, knowing that he had served as the Minister of Works in the Ming Dynasty, wanted to take him back to Liaodong. Xue Weiqin resolutely refused and cursed them incessantly, and was eventually killed by the Tartars.

On the ninth day, the Jurchens marched north to attack and capture Zhanhua County.

Song Yizhen, the magistrate of Zhanhua County, was quite capable. He rallied the gentry to climb the city walls and personally braved arrows and stones. The entire city was mobilized, with men defending the walls and women boiling water and cooking rice. The Jurchens attacked for a whole day but failed to break through the city, so they retreated south.

On the tenth day, Lijin County was captured by the Jurchens, who then fled from there into Jinan Prefecture.
... On December 11th, the Jurchen general, Doro Raoyu Beile Abatai, arrived in Qufu.

Qufu is the ancient capital of the State of Lu, and also the hometown of Confucius, the great Chinese thinker, educator, and founder of the Confucian school. It is also home to the Temple of Confucius, the Confucius Mansion, and the Cemetery of Confucius.

Abatai came here to carry out the orders of the slave chieftain Huang Taiji.

Before he led his army away from Liaodong to invade the Ming Dynasty, Huang Taiji told him that he must not disrespect the Confucius Temple, that he must not attack Qufu by force, and that he must also pay homage to Confucius, the "Sage of Chinese Confucianism," on Huang Taiji's behalf.

Abatai led a thousand bandits to the outskirts of Qufu, set out various offerings, and then stammered through a sacrificial text written by Huang Taiji himself, thus concluding the worship ceremony.

He also praised the reputation of the officials, gentry, and people in Qufu, and noted that Huang Taiji, the false emperor of Jianzhou, was devoted to Confucianism and especially revered the Duke Yansheng. He said that his visit was only to pay homage and had no intention of attacking Qufu.

The reason Qufu was able to be preserved was all thanks to the name of the Duke Yansheng. It was because the emperor himself could not bear to see the "Three Confucius Sites" suffer from the calamity of war, and all the gentry in the city should be grateful for the protection of the Duke Yansheng.

After displaying his military might, Abatai led his army away, heading straight for Jining Prefecture.

…………

At the foot of Jining Prefecture, another 20,000 to 30,000 enemy cavalrymen gathered.

"Are you sure it's Luo something-or-other who's guarding Jining?" Abatai asked Turgh, who was sitting to the side, as he sat on the tiger-skin general's chair.

Turg immediately replied, "It's Luo Rucai, it can be confirmed that it is this person."

“Isn’t he a rebel from the South? How did he become a government soldier?” Abatai asked again.

Turg glared at him and said, "I can't really explain it either."

Abatai turned to Zu Zerun, Liu Zhiyuan, and Jin Li, the three generals of the Han Army Banner, and asked, "You guys have been to the South, tell me what happened."

Zu Zerun glanced at Wu Shoujin and Jin Li, and seeing that they had no intention of speaking, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and clasp his hands in a fist and say, "Luo Rucai has a nickname called 'Cao Cao,' and he is also cunning, scheming, and fickle."

As far as I know, he had surrendered to the Southern Kingdom court many times before, but soon rebelled again. This shows that even if he is working for the Southern Kingdom today, it does not necessarily mean that he has truly surrendered to the Southern Kingdom.

Moreover, Luo Rucai had previously desecrated the ancestral tombs of the Southern Ming emperors. Even if he genuinely wanted to surrender to the court, how could we guarantee that the Southern Kingdom wasn't using him? And once we returned with our troops, how could we possibly tolerate him?"

After hearing Zu Zerun's words, everyone nodded in agreement.

Turgh then said, "Beile Abatai, before we set out, the Emperor said that if we encounter bandits, we should report to him. We have seen that the Ming government is in disarray, which has led to this change. Our expedition against the Ming is for the same reason."

The Emperor instructed us to appease them with kind words, and further warned the soldiers not to mistakenly kill even one or two of them, lest we antagonize them. If they wish to send an envoy to see the Emperor, we should take the envoy back with us; if they have a letter, we should return it with a reply.”

Although Abatai was quite displeased with Turge's conquest of Yanzhou and capture of the Ming Dynasty's Prince Lu, he dared not disobey Turge's words, which were indeed spoken by Huang Taiji himself.

The Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Gushan Ejen Baiyintu suddenly said, "What the Emperor said was about the attitude towards bandits. But this Luo Rucai is a member of the Southern Ming government army, and he is no longer a bandit."

Shuo Tuo, the chieftain of the Manchu Plain Red Banner, was not impressed by Baiyintu's words: "Didn't Zu Zerun just say that this Luo fellow might not be truly surrendering to the Southern Kingdom? Baiyintu also heard that."

Turg also had a question: "Is this guy surnamed Luo a soldier... or a thief?"

Baiyintu glanced at Shuotuo, about to retort, when Abatai's voice came: "Alright. I've already made my decision on this matter, so stop arguing."