The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 185 How to surrender without conditions?

Heshen and Ji Yun were both smart men, and Ji Yun was also a scholar, so he immediately understood what Zhu Jianxuan meant.

Just like the ancient monarchs who destroyed their country, they led all the civil and military officials to open the city and surrender unconditionally, leaving it to the new monarch to decide.

What kind of treatment you will get in the future depends entirely on how the other party arranges it.

Heshen and Ji Yun did not say anything more, nor did they mention whether Qianlong could give up his title and go to Liaodong to become a real de facto vassal king.

Heshen and Ji Yun felt that the situation had not yet reached that point, and were even afraid that when they proposed it, Zhu Jianxuan would agree directly.

They felt that it would be necessary to make such a request at least after the Central Plains was occupied.

The two were really afraid that Zhu Jianxuan would kill someone again.

So after the two of them received Zhu Jianxuan's reply, they quickly said goodbye and prepared to go back to the city to report.

Zhu Jianxuan ordered the guards to prepare a box to put Mingliang's head in.

Heshen held the box with mixed feelings and came out of the hall where Zhu Jianxuan was with Ji Yun, preparing to go back in the carriage prepared by the Ming army.

As a result, Duan Yucai, the secretary who had always been with Zhu Jianxuan, followed him out and called for another carriage to go back with the two of them.

This was a four-wheeled open carriage, piled high with boxes.

He Shen took a look at the box beside him that contained Mingliang's head. It was basically the same as those boxes. He was immediately frightened and shuddered:

"What are these...?"

Duan Yucai made a direct introduction:

“These are the heads of the main generals who died in Jeju Island, Incheon, Haeju, Jiaozhou, Nampo, Dengzhou, and Lushun.

“As well as the heads of a few naval commanders from various places, but the total number is relatively small.

“Because most of the naval commanders sank directly into the sea when their ships were destroyed, and we didn’t have time to rescue them.

“There will be generals from the Joseon royal capital, Pyongyang, Jinan, Kaifeng and other regions in the future.

“Because it is located inland, it is difficult to obtain and transport, so it will take some time, so please stay tuned.

"This is a list. It's not complete and we can't recognize all of them..."

Heshen and Ji Yun almost fell to their knees.

What do you mean it's located inland and difficult to obtain? What do you mean please stay tuned? What the hell is there to look forward to?

But at the same time, Heshen finally understood how this army came here.

Finally I know why no battle reports were sent back.

They came directly by sea, and destroyed all the ports around the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea along the way, and naturally defeated all the garrison fleets.

Now the entire Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea are under the control of the Southern Ming Navy.

The Ming Dynasty had a well-developed maritime transport system, and there were steamships that traveled as fast as the wind.

Now, it is only five or six days' voyage between Tianjin and the capital, and Jiangnan, the rear base of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

The army led by the King of Wu will never lack supplies. They can stay around the capital and control the passages between the capital and the local areas.

The local areas were completely isolated from the capital, and were leaderless.

The large army of the Southern Ming court could march northward by land, and occupy and take over Henan, Shandong, Zhili and other places step by step.

At the same time... they could continue to cross the sea and land in Liaodong, and Korea was completely separated.

The Whale Sea and North Pacific routes were also completely cut off.

The only thing the imperial court in the capital can do in the future is to wait for death.

Even if the Southern Ming did not attack directly, they would have been trapped to death.

Heshen and Ji Yun were speechless.

Duan Yucai gave a few more instructions and reminders, or warnings:
“After you two go back, you’d better try to persuade Hongli seriously.

“Our great king now has the patience to continue the siege until the city runs out of ammunition and food and is forced to surrender.

“But you should understand that the longer you resist, the heavier the punishment will be. The king’s anger must be vented in one direction.

“At the same time, because Shuntianfu City is the Beijing City of our Ming Dynasty, our king wants to take over the entire city intact, so he did not attack the city directly.

"If the city and the Forbidden City itself are damaged because of you, then all the officials in the Qing court will have no meaning to survive.

“In addition, I can see that our king cares about Hongli, and Hongli is still somewhat useful.

"If he can surrender himself and cooperate with our king, your sins will be reduced accordingly.

"If he survives and dies in the city, or if he commits suicide, a puppet son or grandson will take over.

"I can't say whether the king will be furious or what he will do."

Heshen and Ji Yun both understood Duan Yucai's meaning, and now they did not raise any questions and just agreed obediently.

The two men said goodbye in despair and returned to the city with a cart full of boxes of heads.

Agui, who was in charge of the city defense, had ordered the city gates to be sealed, that is, the door openings were filled with stones and bags of earth, so that even if the city gates were blown open, there would be no way to enter the city.

Now all personnel and materials entering and leaving can only go up and down through the hanging basket.

Heshen and Ji Yun, as well as all the "gifts" they brought back, had to travel into the city in a basket, and were transported back and forth for a long time.

The generals guarding the city didn't know what Heshen brought back and were very confused.

Heshen and Ji Yun changed into two carriages of the Qing court and took all the gifts back to the Forbidden City to report.

The captain of the guards at the gate saw that they were carrying two carts of things and could not allow them to bring them in directly, so he demanded that they open the carts for inspection.

Even if it was the car Heshen brought, it would not be allowed, but the inspection could be less thorough.

He Shen had no choice:
"Check it out. These are the heads of Qing generals killed by the Southern Dynasty on the battlefield. While you check, send everyone to the palace to report to His Majesty first."

The captain of the guards was shocked: "What are you talking about, sir... These are heads! They are all heads!"

He Shen nodded weakly:
"Yes, there is the prince consort Mingliang, and there is the eldest son of the Grand Secretary, Attis..."

The captain of the guards almost sat down after hearing this.

I suddenly didn't want to touch these boxes, but now I couldn't just let them go.

I can only let my subordinates go and watch it with gritted teeth.

As it turned out, they really were all heads, and each of them looked like they had died with their eyes open. Although they had all been treated with lime, many of them had already begun to shrivel and rot.

Several guards looked through the boxes one by one and almost vomited out of disgust.

When Qianlong received the report, he was also visibly stunned.

He immediately ordered the imperial carriage to take him to Wuying Palace, and asked the guards to go back and inform Heshen to send the things to the square in front of Wuying Palace and not to bring them to the harem.

The guard who informed returned to the door, and the inspection of the box was basically completed. Heshen entered the Forbidden City with two carriages.

Qianlong also quickly arrived at the Wuying Palace Square and asked the guards to put all the boxes on the ground and open them. He then suppressed his nausea and looked at them one by one.

Finally, his eyes fell on the freshest and brightest head.

It was indeed Fu Cha Mingliang, the son-in-law of his twelfth uncle. Although he was not very popular with him, he was still a relative after all. Now only this head was left.

He Shen described the situation at that time with a very painful expression:
"…Because Mingliang called himself the Qing Dynasty and called the Southern Dynasty the Southern Ming, King Wu ordered him to be dragged out and beheaded…"

Finally, Heshen gave the list of other heads to Qianlong.

After reading it through, Qianlong closed his eyes and stared blankly for a long time, then asked weakly:
"What are the conditions of this King Wu? What exactly does he want?"

He Shen replied in the same feeble manner:
"The King of Wu demands that Your Majesty...lead all the civil and military officials to open the city and surrender...

"According to the secretary of King Wu, the Southern Ming's Northern Expedition Army should be conquering cities in the Central Plains.

"All the major ports around the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea have been occupied by the Southern Ming, and the power of the Qing Dynasty has been completely severed.

"Without direct dispatch from the imperial court, and without mutual support between the Central Plains, Liaodong, and Korea, it is very likely that they would be defeated and occupied one by one by the Southern Ming.

"The key is that we may not be able to wait for the army to come to our aid."

After hearing this, Qianlong became even more depressed:
"Is there no room for negotiation? Didn't he suggest that we go back to Liaodong?"

He Shen thought for a moment and said:

“No, the King of Wu has always been very tough. It was he who beat Fengshen Jilun in the beginning, and now he has directly killed Mingliang.

“There are also the heads of the garrison commanders from various places. These are actually the attitudes he showed.

"The King of Wu's secretary also reminded...

Qianlong understood that the King of Wu's attitude left no room for discussion.

I can only surrender the city unconditionally and let the other side do whatever they want without any promises or guarantees:

"Arrange a group of people to see if they can sneak out of the city and contact the generals stationed in the grasslands, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and the Northeast."

Qianlong still refused to cry until he saw the coffin, and now he is still instinctively considering saving himself.

Qianlong felt that although the Ming Dynasty was good at naval warfare and had controlled the sea, it could not control the grasslands, the northwest, and the northeast inland, so there was still a glimmer of hope.

He Shen felt that this kind of thing was meaningless:
"Your Majesty, the army of the Southern Ming Wu King is now invincible in field battles, and the defenders inside and outside the capital are easily defeated.

"Even if there are troops from the grasslands and outside the Great Wall that can come to the king's aid, it will only be meaningful if they can defeat the king of Wu's army."

Then Heshen conveyed Duan Yucai's final reminder and warning to Qianlong in the most tactful way possible.

Heshen tried to be as tactful as possible, but Qianlong was still furious and then laughed out of anger.

Subconsciously, I wanted to say angrily: If he wants the complete Forbidden City, then I will wait until he attacks the city, or when the city runs out of food, and then burn down the Forbidden City.

But at the last moment, he forced himself to hold back.

Once you say these angry words, it will not do you any good.

The Southern Ming court and the royal family must have attached great importance to the palace in Shuntian Prefecture. Now the Eight Banners descendants and officials in the city all understand this.

In particular, the King Wu of the Southern Ming has already issued a direct threat.

If he still publicly declared that he would burn down the Forbidden City, the officials and generals under him would probably tie him up directly.

In order to avoid actually doing those things, which would completely anger and crush the King of Wu.

That could lead to a massacre without any bottom line.

You must show an attitude of actively protecting all your people so that they will not betray you immediately when they are threatened.

Qianlong suppressed his anger, laughed dryly and said:
"Whether he wants to humiliate me or wants me to cooperate with him.

“Let the people of the Northeast, Far North, North America, and other places, and the people of the mountains, forests, and grasslands, all obey him directly.

“Since he wants these things, he has to offer conditions in exchange.

"Go out and tell him to let the Ming Emperor appoint my successor as the King of Qing, and let the King of Qing lead the Eight Banners to retreat to Liaodong.

"The original Qing territory except the Central Plains will be used as the fiefdom of the Qing king.

“Let the King of Qing become a true vassal king of Ming.

"Then I can open the city walls and surrender, and I can hand over Shuntian City and the Forbidden City intact to the Ming Dynasty.

"You want me to leave the city without any conditions. This is really unrealistic."

Heshen and Ji Yun were both helpless. They had just returned from outside and now had to go out again. The main reason was that the King of Wu was too dangerous.

However, the two had no way to disobey Qianlong's order, and this was also a matter concerning their own lives and property, so they could only agree obediently and go out of the city to negotiate again.

Qianlong looked at the head box on the ground again and arranged for the guards to find a place to store it first, so that the family members in Beijing could claim it and take it back for burial.

(End of this chapter)