Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"Your Majesty, I, Zhou Youde, am here to pay my respects to you," Zhou Youde came to the tent of Great Khan Lianhua and saluted respectfully.

"Stand up, and have a seat," Sultan stared calmly at the man in front of him. Seeing that he was courteous, thoughtful, and cautious, he showed a satisfied look. When this man first surrendered, he did not trust him very much. Because this man surrendered after being defeated in battle, his loyalty should be discounted. More importantly, he surrendered to the Qing court early and joined the Han Army Red Banner, so he naturally had to be more cautious. But after all, he was the first Manchu frontier official to surrender to him, and he couldn't ignore him too much, so he kept him by his side to monitor, no, to use him. In the siege battles of these days, this man worked particularly hard in the siege, and many of his soldiers and generals who surrendered were killed and wounded, which was considered a token of his surrender. Beijing is where Emperor Shunzhi lived. Attacking Beijing meant wanting to kill the Manchu emperor, and there was no turning back. Therefore, among all the surrendered generals, he was trustworthy.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Zhou Youde carefully sat down with half of his buttocks.

Sultan became more and more satisfied, and according to the Han people's custom, he called him by his given name in a friendly way to show his closeness. "Yi Chu, I heard that you had a very good reputation when you were an official in Shandong, and were deeply loved by the people of Shandong?" This was indeed true. Last year, when Zhou Youde first took office as the governor of Shandong, he repeatedly petitioned Emperor Shunzhi to relax the maritime ban in Dengzhou, Laizhou and Qingzhou so that local fishermen could fish for a living. Later, he restored food rations for the poor and orphans, returned the land occupied by the garrison to the people, exempted the arrears of rent and taxes, and cancelled the land quotas and household registrations that had been inflated by the escapees. In just one year, he really did a lot of good things.

"I have only fulfilled my duties as an official. I dare not say that I have a very good reputation," Zhou Youde replied modestly.

"Well said! The people are the foundation of the country, and caring for the people is the duty of an official, but there are always some people who don't understand this truth~" After Sultan talked about the truth that "if an official does not serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes", he changed the subject and said, "In the early Yi period, Niu Wancai, the general of Tianjin Town, sent someone to ask me for help, saying that Zhu Zhixi, the governor of the Qing Dynasty's rivers, brought more than 20,000 troops to rescue Beijing, and was now approaching Jinghai. Haha, Doni's army was defeated, but there are still people who dare to touch my tiger's whiskers, which is unexpected. You have been the governor of Shandong for more than a year, and have served in the same province as Zhu Zhixi. You know his background well, and explain it to me."

Zhou Youde heaved a sigh of relief. He knew that the man in front of him looked kind, but he was ruthless, no, he was decisive and murderous. He was not very trusted because of his identity as a "bannerman". It was only after he urged his subordinates to attack the city hard a few days ago that he gained some trust. However, after all, the foundation of the newly surrendered people was unstable. He was summoned to the account alone this time and he didn't know why. He was inevitably nervous. He was relieved when he heard that he was asked about this matter. He said calmly: "Your Majesty, don't worry. I think there is no need to send reinforcements. The strength of Niu Zongzhen alone is enough to defend Tianjin."

"Oh, why?" Sultan was stunned. Niu Wancai's troops had only 6,000 people, while the Qing army mentioned in the letter for help had more than 20,000 troops. They were outnumbered.

"I am an official in the same province as Zhu Zhixi. I know very well that although his subordinates claim to have 24 battalions and more than 20,000 soldiers, most of them are civilian laborers, and there are no more than 8,000 to 9,000 real combat soldiers. Even those combat soldiers have not been trained for a long time, and are not much different from civilian laborers. They may be okay to patrol the dike, but they are definitely no match for the troops under Niu Zongzhen in fighting a war," Zhou Youde explained seriously to the Great Khan.

"More than 20,000 civilians? Hahaha~" Sultan couldn't help laughing out loud after hearing what he said. After laughing, he slowed down his tone and said, "Despite this, I still plan to let you bring 4,000 troops to support Niu Wancai. If our army is defeated, you will defend Tianjin with Niu Wancai; if our army wins, you should take advantage of the victory to go south to pacify Shandong for me. You are the governor of Shandong, and you are familiar with the local officials in Shandong. You have a very good reputation. It would be a great idea for you to pacify Shandong."

Appease Shandong? Zhou Youde was shocked when he heard this. It seemed that the Emperor Qianyuan was really determined to destroy the Qing Dynasty. Shandong was located in the south of Zhili. Once the appeasement was successful, Beijing would become more isolated. However, he had made extra efforts in attacking Beijing these days, and the Qing court would not let him go. If the Qing Dynasty could be successfully destroyed, it would be equivalent to eliminating future troubles for him. Thinking of this, he happily expressed his attitude: "I will live up to your majesty's high expectations!"

"Okay! Tomorrow morning you will lead an army to Tongzhou alone. I will ask Setel to send a ship to escort you south." After giving the order, Sultan suddenly stepped down from the Fearless Lion, patted Zhou Youde on the shoulder, and smiled warmly, "I trust you. David will never treat his meritorious officials unfairly. Try your best!"

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty!" At this moment, Zhou Youde suddenly became a little excited. He finally understood how this seemingly insignificant Xifan leader could have the power to unify the world. Apart from other things, just the means of winning people's hearts is not something that ordinary monarchs can have. Which monarch does not sit high in the Golden Palace and enjoy the worship of ministers? Who is willing to step down from the dragon throne and pat the minister's shoulder to show closeness? Although he knew that this was just a means to win him over, looking at the entire David, how many ministers can make the Khan step down from the dragon throne and pat their shoulders? It is impossible not to be moved by such treatment! ——
In Qing County, Hejian Prefecture, Niu Wancai, the general of Tianjin Town, was drinking and celebrating with his general He Yuankui. The battle of Qing County was won effortlessly. Before the siege, the defenders abandoned the city and fled. They easily entered the city, killing 3,000 enemies with only a hundred casualties. It was truly a gift of military merit to him, so how could he not celebrate?
"General, a Qing army was spotted thirty miles south of the city." The two were eating and drinking happily when a scout brought in military intelligence.

"Another Qing army has arrived?" Niu Wancai frowned and asked unhappily: "Can you find out clearly which group of people are coming? How many people are there?" "Judging from the flags of the Qing army, they are subordinates of Gao Mingzhong, the pseudo-Qing Jiangnan admiral. There are about 10,000 people, and they are coming by boat along the canal."

"Gao Mingzhong?" Niu Wancai was stunned for a moment, then said leisurely: "This man is a bit difficult to deal with, but fortunately he only has 10,000 soldiers. He Xian brother, don't drink too much yet, leave 200 people to guard the prisoners, and we will have fun after we fight him!"

“Yes, General!” He Yuankui couldn’t help but beam with joy when he heard that there was another battle to fight. The first two battles went so smoothly and he was in high spirits.

More than 4,500 guards lined up in the south of Qing County, standing still like a mountain and filled with murderous intent.

Gao Mingzhong arrived at the battlefield with 10,000 men. After all, he was an experienced warrior. Seeing the strict formation of the enemy army, he knew that it was a strong enemy and did not dare to act rashly.

"Please give me a hundred soldiers. I am willing to charge into battle!" Tan Zhi requested.

Knowing that he wanted to rescue Zhu Zhixi, Gao Mingzhong was moved by his loyalty and agreed to do so. He ordered the Lieutenant General Xu Dengdi of the Du Biao Camp to follow behind, the Deputy General Zhang Guojun of the Jinshan Camp to form the second formation, and the guerrilla Wang Dacheng of the Right Camp of the Navy to lead the navy on the canal to provide support.

The cannons roared, and the cannons of both sides began to fire at each other. Before the smoke cleared, Tan Zhi led a hundred soldiers to rush forward. They successfully approached the Wei army formation, but saw a lot of chariot guns placed in front of the formation.

"Move it for me!" Tan Zhi led his men and tried their best to move the roadblocks away.

"Shoot me!" Niu Wancai saw everything clearly from inside the formation and gave the order with a sneer.

Arrows rained down, quickly covering Tan Zhi and his men. Tan Zhi, who was urging his men to remove the roadblocks, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his forehead, and then his eyes went black, and he lost consciousness forever. (End of this chapter)