The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 459: Sunset in Shenyang
On the first day of April in the first year of Taichu in the Great Qi Dynasty, at the beginning of the evening hour, at Guangji Gate in Shenyang.

A dark red setting sun sank into the Liaodong sky, and the afterglow illuminated the blood-stained walls of Guangjimen. The earth was about to disappear into the underworld.

In the evening, a strong wind blew across the fields. The dry north wind swept across the earth, and the flying dust hit the city walls, making a rustling sound.

Standing on the top of the city wall and listening carefully, it seems as if thousands of dead souls are humming and wailing.

The Battle of Shenyang lasted until nine months and eighteen days.

After suffering heavy casualties, the coalition forces finally eliminated all strongholds and fortresses outside Shenyang and are continuing to attack the main city.

The Qi army's food and supplies were exhausted, and the people in the city kept fleeing. The remaining Qi army and the enemy fought back and forth. Every city wall and every piece of rubble cost hundreds of lives on both sides. The city was often captured by the Qing army during the day and recaptured by the Qi army at night.

If breaking into the city is considered as occupying Shenyang, then in the past three months, Dudu and his coalition forces (Qing army, Cossack cavalry, Korean soldiers, and mercenaries from four countries of the East India Company) have occupied Shenyang hundreds of times.

The reinforcements from the interior were slow to arrive, and the defenders waited for four months. What they finally received was an imperial edict from the retired emperor in Shandong.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Qing army had not yet attacked the city today, Kang Yingqian urgently summoned the generals of the Great Qi Dynasty and rushed to the North Gate City Wall to receive the imperial edict.

Ma Shiying, who was as thin as a monkey, struggled to lift up the wide sleeves of his robe. Because his waist had become two times thinner, the second-rank official robe with the crane patch looked like a costume. However, he still wore this official robe on such an important occasion.

Ma Shiying trembled as he unfolded the blood-stained imperial edict and raised his voice:

"I have been appointed by Heaven, and since I have a long and prosperous life, how can I be murdered by a mere bandit? In the battle of the capital, I annihilated 100,000 enemies and moved on to Shandong; in the fierce battle of Linqing, I completely annihilated the four towns in Jiangbei that rebelled against the Ming Dynasty. It is clear that the will of Heaven is on my side and the people are united... You are ignorant of the will of Heaven and have hastily supported the crown prince to succeed the throne without waiting to investigate the truth. As a minister, you disregard the safety of your sovereign and take the credit for supporting him. What is your intention? I have strict military discipline and wanted to punish you, but the soldiers in Shenyang are in great danger, so I will let bygones be bygones. I have decided to name the new emperor the Taichu, which means to sweep the world clean with the spear. From now on, Important military and national affairs are still reported to me, and decisions are made according to my instructions. Major matters are issued by imperial decree. The imperial calendar in the palace uses the Wuding reign title. Because your isolated army has held its ground against the enemy for over six months without surrender, I am deeply heartened. In Dengzhou, tears well up before I even speak. I raise a toast to you from afar. While the rebellion in Shandong remains unquenched, the main army will remain stationary. All the officials in Shenyang, for their hard work and outstanding contributions, will be promoted one rank higher: Kang Yingqian Yongning Earl, Qiao Yiqi Ningyuan Earl, Ma Shiying Jiangxia Marquis, Qi Jin Shaoxing Marquis, Qin Jianxun Suining Marquis...

Ma Shiying was already out of breath after reading this half-written and half-vernacular imperial edict.

Ever since Ma Shiying returned from Shandong and brought back the news that the emperor was alive, everyone has been waiting anxiously for four months, hoping that the Qi army inside the pass would come out to provide assistance. The soldiers' eyes were bleeding from anticipation, but they did not expect that the result they waited for would be like this.

According to the imperial edict, "The Retired Emperor governs the country." All major matters were still decided by Emperor Wuding. Liu Kan was at best a puppet emperor.

Important military and national affairs were still reported to the emperor, and decisions were made according to his instructions. Important matters were issued by imperial decree. The calendar in the palace used the Wuding reign title.

"Taichu, Emperor Wu of Han used this reign title. I shed tears before I even spoke. I raise my glass to celebrate from afar, haha."

Kang Yinggan was leaning on a cane that was longer than himself, his body swaying unsteadily. Lin Yu supported him beside him. After listening to Ma Shiying's reading, Kang Yinggan immediately realized that Shenyang had become the emperor's abandoned son. He grinned at everyone:
"This kid is becoming more and more like his father-in-law. He's becoming more and more ruthless and shameless."

Hearing Lao Kang addressing the retired emperor like this, the people around him did not show any dissatisfaction. They all knew in their hearts that the current Emperor Wuding was no longer the original Liu Zhaosun.

"A promotion out of nowhere? Military Supervisor Kang is the Prime Minister, the highest official in the country, how can he be promoted? Are we going to make him the emperor?"

Wang Huazhen was still as sarcastic as usual, but his voice was much lower than usual.

"Without food and reinforcements, you're just toasting us from afar, and that's how you treat us?" Qiao Yiqi was furious.

Pei Dahu glared at Qiao Dazui, his face dark:

"You, don't talk about the emperor like that."

Like Pei Dahu, Dongguan boy Senti was also starving to the point of being skin and bones. He had returned to his state of being disconnected from prostitutes in Dongguan and said weakly:
"Don't worry, my dear handsome men, the emperor will come to save Liaodong. Who still has face? I'm almost dying. Give me something to eat, otherwise I'll eat people..."

Ge Yewen pushed away Sen Ti, who was trying to eat the Fujianese, and said angrily:
"For nine months, we've been besieging the city. We've been fighting hard in Liaodong, and now we're out of ammunition and food. People are starving to death in the city every day, while Liu Zhaosun is enjoying himself in Shandong, indulging in women every day, with no ambition to make progress. He's making excuses and refusing to come to our rescue. What's the point of saying a few words to him?!"

"How dare you address the emperor by his name?"

Pei Dahu drew out his sword and forced himself to move forward. Qi Jinzhao and other generals hurriedly stopped him.

Qin Jianxun said coldly, "If you have the energy to fight, why not go to the top of the city and throw stones? Three hundred militiamen escaped the other day. Now that the Tartars are attacking the city, we don't even have the manpower to throw logs."

"Let's run away. If we stay in the city, they will starve to death. We can't afford to feed them. Running away can save some food. I just hope the Tartars don't kill these people."

After Xie Yang finished speaking, he scratched his bald head out of habit. Due to malnutrition caused by long-term hunger, the few unruly hairs on Guangkun's head lost their last stubbornness and finally fell off. Now he is completely bald.

It is hard to imagine that this civil official who was in charge of the logistics of tens of thousands of troops and had tens of thousands of stones of grain and fodder was actually starved to death in the end.

Jin Yinghe comforted him: "Don't worry, Dudu will not kill the civilians, he will only use them as cannon fodder to drive the siege."

"Since we are going to kill them during the siege, why not kill them today? If any civilians try to escape from the city at night, we can just execute them." As soon as Prime Minister Kang finished speaking, Qin Jianxun sneered:
"Don't kill them. We're out of gunpowder and arrows. The workshop is dismantling the mines in the city and distributing the gunpowder to the musketeers. It's enough to last for another two days."

The White Spear Army commander's voice was hoarse, his face weary. His once-full forehead was sunken from hunger, and the beard between his lips was as thick as weeds. This man, with his haggard face, a look of vicissitudes, and bloodshot eyes, didn't look like he was in his twenties at all.

Qin Jianxun was responsible for defending the southern city of Shenyang and fighting against Korean soldiers who were ten times his number. The two sides fought back and forth, and he had not left the city wall for more than two months. When he heard that the emperor's edict had been sent to Shenyang, Qin Jianxun and other generals were full of joy and struggled to rush here.

"Minister Ma, does the emperor really not care about Liaodong, doesn't want us, and wants to leave us to fend for ourselves?"

Zhao Lujiao's face was filled with grief and indignation, and he still refused to accept this reality.

Zhao Lujiao's words resonated with the generals, and they all looked at Ma Shiying, as if Ma Shiying could answer this question.

After the fall of the capital, only Ma Shiying met Emperor Wuding, although that was four months ago.

"God, it's even harder here than in Troy! We've run out of gunpowder. Are we going to have to throw stones and fight the Tatars?"

Even the taciturn Ginnigo came out to complain.

Ma Shiying was so anxious that his face turned pale. This report was sent from Shandong a month ago. In the process of delivering it to Shenyang, countless scouts died.

When everyone heard that Emperor Wuding was still alive, they were all delighted. The emperor was the soul of the army, and as long as the emperor was alive, the Great Qi could not be destroyed.

"That's exactly what the emperor said. Given his temper, even if he only had a few hundred soldiers, he would have already fought his way outside the Great Wall."

Ma Shiying obviously could not answer these questions. Four months ago, he passed by Linqing and met the emperor, and found that Liu Zhaosun's temperament had changed drastically, and he was completely different from the person he knew before.

"The emperor said he wanted to make Du Du into a terracotta warrior, which shows he won't abandon Shenyang."

Everyone has heard words like this countless times and is too lazy to listen to them anymore. Now even Du Du treats it as a joke.

Everyone leaned on the battlements and looked at the Qing army camp.

Several Qing army soldiers in white armor came to the moat, slowly stopped, raised their bows, and shot signal arrows into the air.

The soldiers guarding behind the battlements did not respond to the provocation at all. They were either squatting or sitting, holding muskets without ammunition, and looking at the city with empty eyes.

Due to long-term hunger, many soldiers have become mentally distracted.

Whether it was because of hunger or fatigue, when Lao Kang walked to the front of the parapet, Lao Han stumbled and fell to the ground with a thud.

Lin Yu and Wei Zhao quickly helped the Prime Minister up. Kang Yingqian dusted off his python robe and said with a look of shame:

"Old, old."

Lin Yu carried a long shield and stood in front of the battlement. Although this thing could not stop Wu Zhenhachao's musket, it was at least a psychological comfort.

The giant hadn't eaten for two days. He was so hungry that his chest was sticking to his back. Like a bear that had just woken up from hibernation, his tower-like body was shaking slightly.

Wei Zhao, who was standing aside, looked like an eggplant hit by frost, wilted and without any energy. It was hard to imagine that he was the best swordsman in Tianjin.

There was enough food and grass in Shenyang City, but it was suddenly burned down by the Qing army.

It was mid-February. The Wuzhenhachao artillery stationed outside the city bombarded Shenyang City with a type of rocket that the Qi army had never seen before. The rocket was as powerful as the Divine Fire Flying Crow. Long flames fell on the city like raindrops, killing and injuring more than 300 people on the spot, setting three granaries on fire, and burning half of the stored food and grass.

Later, the defenders learned that it was a giant rocket used by the Red Haired Barbarians to support the Jiannu. For some reason, Wuzhenhachao only launched it once and never used it again.

Kang Yingqian and others certainly did not know that the red-haired foreign ships carrying firearms were intercepted by the Da Qi navy when passing through Bohai Sea, causing heavy losses to the East India Company.

~~~~
"I haven't heard from the Bordered Blue Banner for quite some time. I wonder how Elli is doing in southern Liaoning?"

Not only Ai'erli, but also Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong's Baturu Aobai never returned after going to Sakhalin Island. No news was ever sent back. It was said that he was eaten by a tiger.

Two miles away in the Qing army camp, Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong Du Du gazed towards the north, lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)