Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 191 General Who Pacifies Liaodong

At the Iron Shipyard in the west of the city, this torrent of iron and blood, driven by the will of imperial power, seemed to have crashed into an incomparably solid dam.

The name Iron Dock itself carries a metallic, stubborn feel.

Nominally, it was a workshop for building and repairing cargo ships and barges for the Wang family's salt gang, but in reality, it was the den and private army camp run by Wang Zonghai, a big shot who was a giant in both the underworld and the legitimate world, for twenty years.

On the wall, there is a watchtower every fifty steps, connected by flying bridges.

Inside the walls, the docks, warehouses, workshops, and residences are laid out in a chaotic manner, yet they secretly conform to the defensive formation. The narrow alleys are perfect for hiding people.

When the vanguard of the Beijing garrison attempted to launch a strong attack from the main gate, they were met with a hail of arrows, boiling oil, and musket pellets reeking of sulfur spewing from the firing ports in the walls.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The shield bearers at the forefront had their heavy armor pierced by several specially made heavy arrows, and they fell to the ground with a muffled groan.

The soldiers following behind tried to drag them back, but suddenly a dozen or so shirtless desperados wielding double knives rushed out from a side alley outside the wall. Their eyes were bloodshot, and they roared as they charged into the ranks of the Beijing garrison, hacking and slashing wildly, disregarding their own lives.

This was a battle that was completely chaotic, yet extremely fierce.

The soldiers of the Beijing garrison were well-trained. In small formations of three, they reacted quickly, thrusting out their spears and parrying with their sabers, instantly killing the madmen on the ground.

But just as they regained their footing, several windows on the watchtower were suddenly pushed open, and several small, dark-looking breech-loading cannons were pushed out!

"Boom! Boom!"

The deafening sound of cannons rang out, and although the aim was extremely poor, it still cleared a small, bloody clearing in the dense crowd.

Lu Xiang-sheng's face was ashen. He waved his hand and ordered, "Retreat! Halt the attack! Archers, suppress the enemy!"

The first probing attack ended in a humiliating retreat after suffering over a dozen casualties.

The firelight cast flickering shadows on Lu Xiang-sheng's face, and a centurion beside him whispered:

"Sir, those inside are all desperate criminals. They are various bandits gathered by Wang Zonghai over the years, wanted criminals by the government, and some Japanese vagrants who have no way to survive at sea. They know that once captured, they will be executed by slow slicing, and their families will be exiled three thousand miles away. For them, surrendering or resisting will both end in death."

Lu Xiang-sheng remained silent, simply gazing at the distant iron dock that lay like a ferocious beast in the darkness.

He could imagine what it would be like inside.

……

Inside the dock, the air was thick with the stench of blood and gunpowder.

A one-eyed, burly man, holding a still-dripping blood-stained goose-feather knife, roared at the group of terrified bandits around him:
"Look closely, you bastards! These are the imperial court's lackeys! You think kneeling and begging for mercy will make them let you go? Dream on!"

He pointed outside, his voice hoarse and frantic: "Your parents, wives and children are all in Tianjin! If we surrender, none of them will survive! If we fight to the death and hold out until dawn, our master's main force will return from the sea! Then we'll have all the gold, silver, treasures, and women we could ever want!"

"If you don't want to die! If you don't want your family to die with you! Then pick up your knives! They want us to die, so let them die first!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

These ordinary people, these people who have spent half their lives licking blood from the edge of a knife, may not understand anything about national righteousness, but they understand the most basic truth—to survive!

When the path to surrender is completely blocked, and resistance becomes the only option, the most primal ferocity in human nature is fully unleashed.

They were not soldiers; they were a pack of wild beasts driven to the brink of despair.

Like a mad tiger, a cornered beast will fight!
……

The news was quickly delivered to the emperor's ears by the messenger captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The banquet hall was no longer as magnificent as it had been before.

The floor was littered with shards of glass, spilled wine, congealed blood, and long scratches left from being dragged away.

Zhu Youjian sat in the middle of this mess.

Instead of returning to his clean and tidy bedchamber, he had a chair brought to him and sat in the main seat, as if admiring a painting that he had just torn to shreds with his own hands.

A eunuch knelt at his feet, carefully wiping a small oil stain that had splattered on his boots with a silk handkerchief.

Tian Ergeng knelt on one knee before Zhu Youjian and reported the battle situation at the Iron Shipyard in detail, his words carrying a hint of apology: "...I am incompetent, causing the Beijing garrison's strong attack to be thwarted, resulting in the loss of seventeen soldiers. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

Zhu Youjian seemed not to have heard him.

His gaze was fixed with great interest on a golden cup lying on the ground not far away.

The golden cup was stepped on by a fleeing salt merchant, becoming somewhat deformed. It lay there crookedly, the remaining wine at the rim resembling a dried-up tear.

Something so magnificent and precious is no different from a roadside stone in the face of absolute power.

After a while, Zhu Youjian slowly withdrew his gaze, as if he had just returned from a reverie.

He looked at Tian Ergeng, "How many people are left?"

"Your Majesty, according to intelligence, the core outlaws in the Iron Shipyard number between five and six hundred."

"Ah."

The emperor nodded, then, as if remembering something, asked in a deep voice, "I remember that the newly built 'Dingliao General' guns were also brought along with the fleet heading south this time, is that right?"

Tian Ergeng's breath hitched, and he replied, "Your Majesty, yes. There are four cannons in total, all on the ship. They say they're going to test them at sea."

“There’s no need to go to sea.” Zhu Youjian’s tone remained as calm and collected as ever. He raised his hand and waved it lightly, as if shooing away an annoying mosquito.

"Send an order to the Beijing garrison: Use cannons."

He paused, then added,
"Leave no one behind."

Tian Ergeng understood that this was the verdict.

"I...obey the order!"

Tian Ergeng kowtowed heavily. As he got up to leave, he felt a tingling sensation in his back. He knew the emperor wasn't angry; the emperor was just... annoyed.

It's like someone trying to kill a cockroach with a handkerchief, only to get their hands dirty from the cockroach's struggles.

So he decided to get a different hammer.

……

Late at night.

After the fright of the first half of the night, the people of Tianjin had already barricaded their doors with everything they could find.

The entire city fell into a suffocating silence.

suddenly!

"boom!!!!!!!"

An unprecedentedly loud noise came from the west of the city!

This sound was completely different from the sporadic cannon fire that had been heard before.

It was deep and powerful, full of explosive force, as if a rumbling thunder in the sky had been dragged to the ground and detonated in everyone's ears!

The earth is trembling!
The paper windows of countless homes were shaken by this invisible sound wave, making them buzz and some even crack.

The sleeping child was startled awake and burst into tears.

The timid hid under the covers, covered their ears tightly, and trembled violently.

They didn't know what had happened, only that the gods were angry and had sent down lightning as punishment. The entire city of Tianjin seemed to hear the thunder god descending to earth with this loud noise!
……

Iron dock.

As the soldiers of the Beijing garrison unloaded the four jet-black "Dingliao General" heavy cannons, their barrels gleaming with a cold metallic light, from the boats along the canal and transported them to the front lines, the bandits on the wall let out disdainful sneers.

"Haha! Look, the henchmen are out of options, so they've brought over a few big lumps of iron!"

"Such a big cannon, by the time they finish loading it, it will be dawn!"

However, their laughter quickly froze on their faces.

They saw that the artillerymen of the Beijing garrison moved with such skill that it was as if they had practiced a thousand times.

Cleaning the breech, loading the propellant charge, inserting the shell, adjusting the angle... all the actions are done in one go, full of cold efficiency.

A battalion commander calmly raised the command flag in his hand.

"put!"

As the command flag was waved, the four cannons roared almost simultaneously, a roar powerful enough to tear the sky apart!

The cannons spewed flames that stretched for several feet, and four heavy iron cannonballs, with a deathly shriek, ripped through the night sky and slammed into the iron dock’s proud main gate and the walls on both sides!

"Boom——!!"

Gravel, iron filings, wood, and even human remains were hurled into the air amidst a tremendous roar!
The gate, covered with three layers of iron sheets and secured with a massive wooden bolt, shattered instantly like paper under the direct impact of the cannonball!
The dozen or so thugs who were blocking the door didn't even have time to scream before they were turned into a pile of minced meat by the shockwave and flying debris.

Two jagged gaps were blasted into the sturdy walls on both sides.

A watchtower groaned under the intense tremors before collapsing, burying the dozen or so bandits on it, along with the small breech-loading cannon, beneath the bricks and stones.

These shots not only blasted open the gates of the iron dock, but also shattered the courage of all the desperados inside.

They had seen killing, hacking, and even cannons.

But when had they ever seen such terrifying, heavenly power?

After a brief period of deathly silence, riots and panic spread like a plague throughout the dock.

Lu Xiang-sheng coldly watched the scene unfold before him, and then gestured again.

The battalion commander raised his command flag once again.

"Round Two, Ready!"

Another roar.

Lu Xiang-sheng looked up at the iron dock whose gate had been blasted open and was filled with howling ghosts and wailing demons inside; the last resistance had been torn apart.

(End of this chapter)