The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 461 Can We Remain Neutral?
The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty expressed great satisfaction with the performance of the Allied Forces on the Liaodong battlefield during this period.

Du Du and his allies knew very well that after the fall of the outer strongholds of Shenyang, it was only a matter of time before the main city of Shenyang was captured.

But to everyone's surprise, this day came so quickly.

In late March of the second year of the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns, the Qing army besieging the city discovered that the number of defenders at the gates of Shenyang was decreasing day by day. The soldiers behind the battlements looked pale and walked as lightly as dead ghosts.

After careful observation, the Red Haired Barbarians and the Korean Governor-General all concluded that the food in the city must have been eaten up, otherwise the morale of the Qi army would not be so low. Several of them suggested that the Qing emperor immediately launch a fierce attack and capture Shenyang in one fell swoop.

The Allied Forces' long siege was like a hanging rope put into Shenyang, slowly tightening around the necks of the dead.

Now it’s time to tighten the ropes. How could Dudu bear to let the defenders die so easily?
The process of tightening the rope should be slower and slower so that the emperor can observe the deceased's reaction at the end of his life more carefully.

Coupled with the continuous flow of food from the south by European allies, Du Du felt that the Qing army's precarious supply line was back on track.

The defenders in the city were killing each other because of hunger. Du Du speculated that if this continued, Kang Yingqian and his men would start eating human flesh by April at the latest.

So at the end of March, with Shenyang within easy reach, Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong said this to his allies:

"Although the Qi army was defeated, Kang Yingqian would still fight like a trapped beast, surrounding them without attacking them, and then attacking the city when they were too hungry to move."

In order to satisfy his own perverted desire for revenge, Du Du rejected everyone's request to attack Shenyang.

The remnants of Liu's bandits are already trapped in a jar. Directly conquering Shenyang and killing all of Liu's bandits would be too easy for his enemies. Du Du is willing to continue to torture his prey.

If the existence of Liu Zhaosun is the lingering nightmare of the Qing Emperor, then the Qi army generals and officers who are still alive in Shenyang City are the various monsters and demons that appear in Du Du's nightmare.

Of course, it's not just because of personal grudges.

Du Du had witnessed Liu Zhaosun's method of converting the Xia people into barbarians. He knew very well that only by completely eliminating Kang Yingqian, Qiao Yiqi, Wang Huazhen and others (both physically and spiritually) could he truly defeat the State of Qi.

Only then can the backbone of the Han people in Liaodong be completely broken, and only then can the Han people inside and outside the Great Wall crawl at the feet of the Qing Dynasty and be loyal slaves for generations to come.

This long and cruel execution needs to be known to everyone in the world.

Representatives of the British, French and Dutch East India Companies warned Dudu more than once to ask the Qing emperor to end the Liaodong conflict as soon as possible, then lead his troops into the pass and resume the tea, porcelain and silk trade between China and Europe.

European civilized people traveled thousands of miles from Mumbai, Manila and Jakarta to Liaodong, not to watch the cannibalism show, but because they were businessmen, and businessmen had to do business.

The Koreans began to ask the Qing army for food and supplies again, although they had already looted a lot of supplies when they crossed the Yalu River to Liaodong.

Du Du ordered the Eight Banners Army to continue the siege but not attack, and at the same time sent people to Liaodong to question why Elli had delayed in delivering food and grass to Shenyang.

April 2nd.

Rupprecht Kollen, the merchant and plenipotentiary representative of the British East India Company, went to the Tatar emperor's tent to meet him.

This was the eighteenth time that Kelun met Dudu, and of course the last time.

Colen lived in Macau for two years. Before that, he had been engaged in trade in Nagasaki, Japan for fifteen years. His many years of living experience in the East made the English businessman accustomed to thinking about problems with an Eastern way of thinking.

"Your Majesty, your army is as boundless as leaves, and your food supply system is efficient and powerful (here refers to burning, killing and looting). It is impressive. If it were in Europe, the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty would surely be invincible..."

Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong and Kelun were old acquaintances. They had dealt with each other many years ago. As soon as the British opened their mouths, Du Du knew what the red-haired barbarian was going to say, which was nothing more than urging them to implement the signing of the treaty as soon as possible and attack the city of Shenyang as soon as possible.

"If you can't wait, you can attack the city first,"

The reinforcements brought by the Red Haired Barbarians totaled no more than 500 people, many of whom were assigned to the Uzhenhachao Artillery Team as artillery instructors, and the rest were missionaries. It was definitely unrealistic to expect them to attack the city.

Seeing that his flattery tactics were not working, Colen put on the appearance of an English businessman and said to the Qing Emperor:
"Your Majesty, due to the presence of pirates in the waters north of China, the East India Company's cargo ships have not returned to Jakarta for a long time. The company needs to pay the sailors about three hundred taels of silver every day, and this does not include the pension for the artillery instructor who died in battle. According to our country's laws, the state must pay the families of each soldier killed in battle a pension of one thousand pounds, or about three thousand taels of silver. There is also our fallen missionary, the Reverend Joseph Babbitt... Your Majesty, please allow me to propose that these expenses mentioned above be added to the relevant terms of the treaty previously reached between the Kingdom of Britain and the Qing Empire as a supplementary agreement. I wonder if Your Majesty would accept it?"

"Yes, all your losses this time will be converted into silver, and I will double it and pay it all!"

Dudu was deeply disgusted by the petty calculations and profiteering displayed by the red-haired barbarians. Every time he interacted with these golden-haired, blue-eyed foreigners, he felt like he was back in his childhood, when he and the old Khan had set out from Hetuala, bringing the tribe's goods to trade in Haixi. For a time, they traded wolf skins for salt, and every time they made these exchanges, the cunning Haixi merchants had the same expression.

"Your Majesty, your generosity rivals that of the greatest European monarchs. May God bless the Qing..."

Before Kelun could finish his words, chaos suddenly broke out outside the Qing emperor's tent.

The Qing army exclaimed in surprise from all directions.

"The Qi army is coming, Liu Zhaosun is coming!"

"The Zhenghong Banner camp has been burned! Hurry and save the master!"

~~~~~~
Later that day, the Qing army and the Qi army were fighting endlessly. Before the dust settled, the East India Company sent representatives, to be more precise, a delegation from Britain, France and the Netherlands, to explain to Emperor Wu Ding that their actions in Liaodong were purely commercial activities and hoped to gain their understanding.

Emperor Wu Ding was surrounded by strong guards, and those who observed carefully in the delegation discovered that there was also a graceful Portuguese woman nearby.

The burly Liu Zhaosun looked like the astronomer Copernicus, holding a compass and pencil, and gesturing at the map of Liaodong.

"We only sold the Tatars some outdated artillery, but we never imagined they would use it to attack your Majesty's cities and massacre your subjects. This is tragic! Technology is not guilty, science is not guilty. Europeans never participated in this war, nor did they ever intend to oppose the Emperor. This is a misunderstanding."

A Dutch businessman spoke incessantly for a long time. His Chinese was OK, but with a slight Cantonese accent, probably because he had been in Macau for too long.

He repeatedly stressed that technology is not guilty, it is just that the people who use technology have lost their conscience.

The emperor turned his back to everyone and when he heard that Jishu was not guilty, he just laughed and had no other reaction.

Messengers kept coming into the tent from outside. They made their way through the crowd of red-haired barbarians and presented the battle reports they had just received from the front line to the emperor.

Liu Zhaosun took the illegible war report and recognized it as Lu Xiangsheng's handwriting. After reading it, he said happily:

"Well, Magistrate Lu is attacking the Zhenghong Banner, and Dorgon has been captured by them,"

Seeing that the other party ignored him, the Dutch businessman had no choice but to bite the bullet and say:
"Your Majesty, I didn't expect you to have such a powerful army. We will not interfere in the decisive battle between you and the Tatars. The East India Company will declare neutrality. Is that okay?"

"No."

Liu Zhaosun looked back at the group of red-haired barbarians and refused decisively.

"You need to pay for this mistake,"

A British businessman nearby shouted with his neck red:

“We’re just businessmen!”

The astronomer put down his compass and pencil, resumed his butcher's nature, and waved his hand:
"That's not a reason!"

The East India Company's envoy was dragged away by the pacification troops.

Half an hour later, Xiaodao Liu set up a small tent in front of the central army tent, and Zhang Mazi personally arranged the red-haired barbarians to line up for castration surgery.

Xiaodao Liu has been in the business for many years, and his main clients are people from the former Ming Dynasty. Of course, there are occasionally some Korean Annamites.

Considering that the power of Da Qi will soon expand to foreign lands (such as Sakhalin Island and Australia), the business of castrating the red-haired barbarians needs to be practiced in advance.

The great leader once said, learn war in war.

There were twelve envoys sent by the East India Company to declare "neutrality". Seven of them died on the spot. The remaining five were disabled but determined, and were fortunate enough to become the first generation of foreign eunuchs in the Great Qi Empire.

(End of this chapter)