The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 438: Preparing for War
Commander Li Shunyi walked into the tent with a flattering smile on his face, followed by two guards. Oboi stretched out his big hand like a bear's paw and stopped the Korean guards.

Du Du glanced at the Commander, his whiskers trembling, and he hummed softly, as a greeting to his ally.

Legend has it that Tongzhi Gong was the illegitimate son of the famous Korean general Yi Sun-sin. There are also rumors that his original surname was not Li, but he changed it after he came to power. No, he changed his surname to Li.

It is said that Li Shunyi, like the deceased Jiang Hongli, relied on male beauty to rise to power.

The difference is that Kang Hong-lip was Gwanghaegun's man, while the man behind Lee Sun-eui was King Lee Jong of Joseon.

Du Du did not understand these rumors. With the current level of political and civilization development in the Qing Dynasty, it was difficult for Du Du to understand what the homosexuality and the love between men were.

If he knew that the handsome and fair-skinned Korean commander in front of him was a gigolo, it would only increase the Qing Dynasty's contempt for Korea.

"Your Majesty the Emperor,"

Li Shunyi stared at the Qing Emperor's raised head and the thick nose hair under his nostrils, his voice humble and soft.

"When can the army attack? We have been here for five days."

Du Du waved his hand, as if to shoo away a pesky fly:

"It will be soon. Once the Bordered Blue Banner has massacred Fuzhou, I will attack the city with all my strength. Shenyang is well prepared, and this battle will be difficult to fight."

The commander stared at the Tartar emperor's strong physique, his throat moving slightly.

He came to the court today, as usual, to ask the Qing emperor for food and supplies.

The Korean soldiers' looting of a few scattered Liao people around Shenyang was not enough for the needs of the 20,000 to 30,000-strong army. Before they arrived, the Shenyang defenders had already fortified their cities and cleared the countryside, and pulled all the food and wood within a hundred miles radius back to the city forts, leaving not even dried cow and horse dung for the Koreans.

"Lord Commander, are you asking me for food again?"

Du Du was keenly aware that this delicate Korean civil servant had a bad look in his eyes and was always looking him up and down, which made his scalp creep. In the past, the Qing Emperor would have whipped him, but today he had just finished communicating with the Empress Dowager Cisi and was in a good mood, so he didn't want to hit anyone for the time being.

"Your Majesty, please be advised that all the food in the nearby villages has been requisitioned by our army. Our country has always been poor and it is difficult to sustain food supplies. Your Majesty is also aware of this. The food and fodder that the Qing Dynasty provided us last time has long been used up."

When the Western Expedition Army set out from Sinuiju, the King of Joseon escorted Lee Sun-yi all the way to the Yalu River. Before leaving, he instructed the commander-in-chief that once they arrived in the Ming Dynasty (Joseon still regarded the former Ming Dynasty as its suzerain), they would have to rely on themselves for everything, as Joseon had always been poor and had difficulty in obtaining food and fodder.

"So you killed all the Liao people?"

Du Du glared at him, more in shock than in reproach.

"Kuandian was also massacred. Aren't you afraid that Liu Zhaosun's disciples will seek revenge on you in the future?"

"Haha, that's just revenge against Yuan Chonghuan,"

The commander laughed twice. He knew that the Qing army was also massacring Fushun. He shook his head and quoted from the classics:

"Your Majesty, this is just too soft-hearted. Consider how Korea, a country that has lived in a remote corner for generations, bordering China, could survive beside a nation with a population of billions and a formidable national strength? It relies on adaptability and adaptability. For example, Tieling Guard in northern Pyeongan Province was originally under the jurisdiction of the Yuan Dynasty. After the Ming Dynasty took over, it was out of reach. Furthermore, Emperor Yongle was busy with the Jingnan Campaign and had no time to visit the east, so Tieling Guard came under our jurisdiction. Later, the matter was settled, and Emperor Xuanzong had to admit that the Tieling you now occupy was actually a later Ming Dynasty establishment in Liaodong, and it is not the original Tieling at all."

Li Shunyi concluded: "This is how our small country survives."

Du Du was not interested in this period of history. In order to balance the power of Korea, Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty set up Jianzhou Wei near Liaodong and Pyeongan Province of Korea, which is the hometown where the ancestors of the Qing Dynasty lived today.

Du Du didn't know that for thousands of years, the territory of Japan had been "fluctuating", sometimes large and sometimes small. Apart from occupying Okinawa and Ryukyu, there was not much change in the end. In contrast, the people of the Three Koreas, from initially hiding in the southeast corner of the peninsula to coveting the northeast in the early Ming Dynasty, their ability to seize and plunder by trickery was simply shameful for the Japanese.

"Food and fodder are on the way. We will have to wait for a few days. Our army is also short of food and fodder."

Du Du thought this greedy Korean was hateful and just wanted to get rid of Li Shunyi as soon as possible.

"This time, I came here to report important military information."

Du Du shook his head impatiently. Although he was patient by nature, he still had the hot temper of a Tungusic man. After listening to the commander's nagging, he was already filled with anger.

"Say!"

Li Shunyi sensed Du Du's anger and dared not say anything more. He said directly:

"Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youxiao was imprisoned on Jeju Island. The Qi army stationed in Korea fled in panic and failed to take Zhu Youxiao away. Now he is in my hands, as well as Kang Guangxu."

Dudu's small eyes narrowed into lines, sparkling with wisdom.

The Ming emperor was not dead yet, and Du Du always thought that Zhu Youxiao had been killed.

Keeping him will be useful in the future. After the Qing Dynasty destroys the State of Qi and enters the south, Zhu Youxiao can be used to threaten the southern barbarian court.

"Where are people?"

Li Shunyi replied: "Kuandian."

"Who is Kang Guangxu?" "He is the only son of the thief Kang Yingqian. He was originally exiled to Ningguta, but somehow ended up in Kuandian. When Kuandian fell, I captured him. Now he is imprisoned with Emperor Chongzhen."

"Kang Yingqian's only son?"

Du Du stroked his whiskers, his eyes sparkling, "So Kang Yingqian has a son. I've been in Kaiyuan for over three years and didn't even know about this."

"It's absolutely true. I've asked several people around him, and he admitted it himself. It's absolutely true."

Li Shunyi continued, "God bless Korea, God bless the Qing Dynasty. We have captured these two people. They look only fourteen or fifteen years old. They must be Kang Yingqian's sons in his old age. It just so happens that Kang Guangxu is trading with the Shenyang garrison."

"Only fourteen or fifteen?"

"Yes, he's a dandy boy, similar to Li Chengliang's youngest son."

Li Chengliang's youngest son, Li Rubai, was notorious in Liaodong and Korea for his various absurd behaviors and was often used as a negative example for educating children.

Du Du's eyes flashed with the scene of the old Khan favoring the young prince Dorgon Dodo when he was alive. The Jurchens doted on their youngest sons, and he could imagine Kang Yingqian's love for this child.

"Then why don't you quickly bring these two people to Shenyang and hand them over to me?"

Li Shunyi looked embarrassed and stammered:
"The roads in Kuandian and Shenyang are bumpy, and remnants of the Qi army often appear. I wanted to send more troops to escort them, but we're running out of food and fodder..."

Du Du gritted his teeth, interrupted the governor's complaint, and said to Fan Wencai:
"Grand Secretary, have the Ministry of Revenue quickly allocate 5,000 dan of grain to the Korean army."

Fan Wencai looked hatefully at the Korean bastard who had cheated money and food from his master, and walked out with gritted teeth.

Du Du stared at Li Shunyi and said word by word:

"Commander-in-Chief, have your men bring Emperor Chongzhen and that Guangxu to Shenyang within five days, otherwise..."

~~~~~
After unifying the fighting spirit, the people in Shenyang prepared for war, and the civil and military officials of the Great Qi each performed their duties and began to get busy.

The Empress Dowager Cisi, along with her female relatives Fujiwara Chiyoko and Tokugawa Senhime, sat in the Wuding Hall; Kang Yingqian was responsible for the overall coordination and dispatch of the city's defenders; Xu Guangqi, Mao Yuanyi, and Song Yingxing formulated a battle plan; Zhao Lujiao, Zheng Yishi, Jin Yinghe, and Qi Jin each led a team to guard the four gates; Qin Jianxun and Pei Dahu led reinforcements to be on guard in the city, ready to reinforce the defenders at each gate at any time; Ge Yewen and Xie Yang were responsible for the army's logistics supply and the appeasement of the people; Qiao Yiqi and Mori Ti organized the Shenyang militia to assist in defending the city; Yang Tong and Fujiwara Kyoji were responsible for cleaning up the spies; the workshop production was commanded by Lei Jiangtou and the missionary Ginni.

Within the scattered forts, watchtowers, and barriers lay thousands of soldiers and scouts, elite death squads drawn from the sixteen Imperial Guards. Like stubborn nails, they lodged firmly in the Liaohe plains surrounding Shenyang. Though small, extracting them one by one required considerable effort and bloodshed.

Along the Hun River, within a twenty-li radius, hundreds of fortified towers and emplacements guarded the main city of Shenyang like stars surrounding the moon. By the end of September, twelve trenches, two feet wide and seven feet deep, had been built between these towers, along with an equal number of breastworks. Sharp caltrops were embedded between the trenches and breastworks. Due to insufficient workshop capacity, mines were placed only in strategic locations.

There are one hundred and twenty watchtowers and fortresses of various sizes, with the number of defenders ranging from five to fifty.

These forts supported each other and were stocked with enough food, ammunition and wood for the defenders.

According to the battle plan formulated in advance, these outer fortresses will play an important role in delaying the Qing army's attack on the main city. The soldiers and sentries guarding the watchtowers are destined to die here.

In late autumn, Liaodong is covered with dark clouds, and snow will fall as soon as the north wind blows.

The Qing army's siege of the city has just begun, and only by stockpiling enough supplies can we survive this long winter.

Starting in August, the Shenyang defenders implemented a policy of "fortifying the city walls and clearing the countryside." Xie Guangkun led the pacification troops to carry out forced demolitions. This civil official, who was well versed in military tactics, strictly followed the city defense requirements in the "Jixiao Xinshu" and demolished all the houses near the Shenyang city walls. Those that could not be demolished were burned down. Otherwise, when the Qing army attacked the city, the Tartars could easily use the houses as a means of climbing up the city walls. If they did not demolish the houses now, it would be too late to do so when the enemy attacked, and the houses would become weapons for the enemy to attack the city...
Of course, the Civil Affairs Bureau made certain compensation to the owners of these houses. Xie Guangkun became more and more excited as the demolition went on. Later, he not only demolished the houses, but also all the temples, Taoist temples, City God Temples, Niangniang Temples, and Medicine King Temples in the suburbs of Shenyang.

The Qing Palace in the western suburbs of Shenyang.

Zhang Zhenren, with his white hair and youthful face, stood aloof from the world. Holding a whisk in his hand, he looked at Ge Yewen and Xie Guangkun standing before him. He heard that both of them were civil servants in Qi. Zhang Zhenren recalled:

"Amitabha, I remember that Emperor Wuding once promised to rebuild the golden body of Zhenwu God."

He stole a glance at the group of pacification soldiers and Kaiyuan residents behind Xie Guangkun, who were holding axes, pickaxes, shoulder poles, and baskets, and said with a pleasant face:
"Are you two here today to fulfill a vow for the Emperor?"

Ge Yewen didn't waste time talking to the Taoist priest. He waved his hand and shouted, "Tear it down!"

Upon seeing this, Master Zhang rushed forward to stop them, but he could do nothing. A group of villagers, brandishing pickaxes and axes, immediately began banging on the courtyard wall, some carrying bricks, others carrying wood.

Xie Yang touched his bald head, and with his dirty hands, he pulled Master Zhang and said to the Taoist priest earnestly:
"The late emperor made a wish in the Great Qing Palace, saying he would die before reaching adulthood on his fiftieth birthday. Prime Minister Kang wanted to punish you all for treason and assassination, but I pleaded for your mercy. Now that the Tartars are here, why are you still bringing up the golden statue instead of expiating your crimes?! I think this palace is quite sturdy, so it's a good opportunity to dismantle the fortress."

Thus, the Qing Palace, which had existed for three hundred years and had the good fortune to witness the two emperors Wu Ding and Empress Cisi rushing towards each other, was tragically murdered and could not escape the disaster.

The removed bricks, stones and rubble were taken to various city walls to repair the battlements, breastworks and reinforce the battlements.

The remaining beams and wooden planks were pulled back to the city and piled up in a large warehouse.

In the famous Battle of Dalingh River in the late Ming Dynasty, Zu Dashou's troops were besieged in Dalingh River City for several months. Finally, the wood in the city was exhausted, the weather was freezing, and they could not continue to survive, so they had to surrender to the Qing army.

Of course, the defenders of Shenyang would not make such a low-level mistake.

(End of this chapter)