Chapter 266
Zhu Ci's mood was somewhat complicated; he was aware of both Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang Bumu Tai and Su Mo'er.
Whether it was their political talent or the various scandals, both women left behind many legends.
However, Bumu Tai certainly could not become Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang now, under the current circumstances, even if Bumu Tai possessed great political skill, she would be unable to turn the tide.
After thinking it over, considering that Bumu Tai had raised Kangxi, he felt that agreeing to the other party's conditions was no big deal.
After all, there were so many Manchus; no matter how much he hated them, he couldn't slaughter them all.
Since he intended to spare lives, sparing one or two more wouldn't make any difference.
Bumu Tai and Fulin's lives can be spared, but as for the others.. that simply won't do.
The entire Manchu Court, from top to bottom, must be buried alongside the people of Great Ming.
Zhu Ci did not see Su Mo'er, Fu did not say much either; naturally, he would arrange this matter properly.
Anyway, with Su Mo'er there, the Qing Army basically had no room for resistance.
Su Mo'er personally led the Ming Army all the way to Jinzhou Prefecture.
However, the Ming Army did not attack directly. Leading them, Zhang Huangyan said very politely, "Miss, our Emperor's word is his bond; once he has agreed to your master's request, he will not change it. Now, it is time for your master to show his sincerity."
The ones leading this expedition were Zhang Huangyan and Li Guo.
The main reason for having Zhang Huangyan come was to prevent potential naval battles; although the Tartars had no ships, Russia had been competing with the Central Plains Empire for Vladivostok for quite some time.
As for Zhang Huangyan, he was half-doubting Su Mo'er. Throughout the journey, he had continuously ordered people to look after Su Mo'er closely; it was called care, but in reality, it was surveillance, as he was worried that everything Su Mo'er had said previously was a conspiracy by the Qing Court.
Su Mo'er glanced at him and said, "Earl of Anyuan, please wait a moment. The city gates will be opened at the Hour of the Rat today. If they are not opened, you can simply launch a forceful assault."
After Su Mo'er finished speaking, she walked toward Jinzhou Prefecture all by herself.
Li Guo, standing nearby, glanced over and said, "She is indeed a remarkable woman."
To maintain such composure even in the midst of enemy troops was truly something that commanded respect.
Standing to the side, Zhang Huangyan frowned and looked at him, saying, "There are so many good women in the Han people, why are you looking at her?"
Li Guo hurriedly said, "This general was merely speaking casually. Rest assured, General, this general knows what is important."
Zhang Huangyan's brow relaxed upon hearing this, he offered a subtle hint, saying, "Setting aside the fact that the Tartars are all barbarians, even if a few beauties existed among them, they wouldn't be worth gambling one's future on. Our Emperor isn't particularly fond of the Tartars."
Li Guo nodded quickly and said, "Thank you for the reminder, General."
They set up camp quite far outside the city, waiting until midnight.
Just as Su Mo'er had said, at the hour of the Rat, a crack appeared in the city gate.
After the scout reported, Li Guo was slightly surprised: "It's actually true."
In fact, Zhang Huangyan and he had already prepared for the Tartar Empress Dowager to go back on her word; they hadn't placed all their hopes in them to begin with.
They had even prepared to launch a forceful assault at any moment; not to mention, they had brought a significant number of firearms, having practically emptied out the entire reserves of the Great Ming.
Zhang Huangyan made a decisive command to attack.
Aobai was woken from his dream. The moment he woke, he kicked the house servant beside him away and asked irritably, "Who gave you such audacity to make a racket at this hour?"
It was a heavy kick, the house servant clutched his stomach, gasping intermittently, "My Lord.. the.. the Ming Army has.. has broken in."
Impossible.
This was Aobai's subconscious thought. Over the past two days, the defenses of Jinzhou City had been jointly arranged by him, Ebilun, Hong Chengchou.
There could be no loophole; even if there were, it would be impossible to have no warning beforehand and just let the enemy fight their way in.
It was only when he faintly heard the sound of firearms that he knew this was likely real.
If it were outside the city, the sound heard should not have been that of firelocks, but that of cannons.
Aobai could not even bother to groom himself; he simply grabbed a robe and rushed toward the Jinzhou Prefecture Yamen.
When he arrived there, he happened to run into Ebilun and Suksa-ha at the entrance, followed immediately by Hong Chengchou and Ajige, who also rushed over.
By the time they reached the main hall, Bumu Tai was already sitting in the seat of honor with Fulin in his arms, while Haoge sat in the first seat to the left, his expression extremely gloomy.
He had arrived early only because he was already staying within the prefectural office, simply waiting for the "Coronation Ceremony" to be held in a couple of days.
As a result, the Emperor was never crowned, the city fell.
Bumu Tai looked haggard as he held Fulin close, asking slowly, "Everyone.. what.. should we do now?"
Aobai looked around and found that Suoni, Ebilun, Suksa-ha all looked quite listless; these few were also somewhat older, meaning only he and Haoge were in better spirits.
Aobai asked directly, "How did the Ming Army get in?"
Haoge was somewhat irritable: "It must be the work of Ming Army spies."
"The Ming spies don't have that much capability to open the city gates," Ebilun said slowly.
Only someone with real power could order the city gates to be opened. Although the Qing Dynasty is currently in decline, it is not that easy for a spy to climb to such a high position.
Bumu Tai said nothing, merely holding Fulin and comforting the terrified child.
"Why is Grand Secretary Hong remaining silent?" Suksa-ha suddenly spoke up and asked.
In an instant, everyone's gaze focused on Hong Chengchou.
Hong Chengchou's heart sank; he had already had a premonition before he arrived.
Although this matter had nothing to do with him, until a result was found in the short term, he would inevitably be the one under suspicion.
Hong Chengchou composed himself and said, "This official is merely wondering whether we should fight or retreat."
"Ha, is Minister Hong being evasive because he has a guilty conscience?" Haoge asked through gritted teeth.
Bumu Tai spoke at this moment, "Everyone, it is too late to pursue this now; we should instead think about how to deal with the Ming Army."
The city has fallen; how can we respond now?
The great army is indeed still resisting for now, but it is only a matter of time before the enemy strikes.
Everyone looked at each other, the disadvantages of a collective leadership became apparent, as no one could make a decision alone.
Haoge said with a dark expression, "We still have men; we can just drive them out."
How could it be that easy!
Bumu Tai glanced at Haoge and said, "Prince Su, do not be impulsive. For the time being, our only option is to fight while retreating. We weren't planning to stay in Jinzhou anyway. It would be better if Prince Su and Minister Hong escorted my son and me to retreat first, while the other officials discuss how to resist the enemy forces."
Haoge instinctively wanted to object, but fortunately, he was not entirely brainless.
As long as Bumu Tai and Fulin are still alive, they can still be forced to abdicate once things are safe.
That's not right.. Why can't the abdication happen now?
Haoge looked up at Fulin, then glanced at Bumu Tai before saying, "Empress Dowager, the military situation is urgent. It would be better to write the Abdication Edict first, so that those below know that the reigning monarch is currently in power."
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: I knew keeping Haoge around would be useful. *Cat gives a thumbs up. jpg*
Next update tomorrow at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 267
Bumu Tai had long suspected that Haoge would make a scene, so she simply asked, "Does Prince Su intend to stay behind?"
Haoge was taken aback and had no time to say anything before Bumu Tai spoke again, "Given the current critical situation, it is only reasonable for Prince Su to escort His Majesty and the Empress Dowager to evacuate."
If Haoge were to ascend the throne ahead of schedule, he would have to stay behind to boost morale.
Haoge hesitated for a moment. He turned his head to look around, only to find that none of the remaining people had any intention of speaking.
Although many people had been willing to support him before, in essence, these people also felt that a ten-year-old emperor would be unable to cope with the current situation, it did not mean they were loyally devoted to Haoge.
When Haoge had just spoken up to demand that Fulin abdicate, they were already feeling dissatisfied; at a time like this, Prince Su was still fighting for the throne.
Haoge pondered for a long while and felt that Bumu Tai had a point; it was indeed too dangerous right now, he could not stay; he had better leave Jinzhou first.
Bumu Tai stood up and said, "Everyone, prepare to evacuate together. Minister Hong, please follow me."
Hong Chengchou followed silently behind Bumu Tai. Upon reaching the Rear Office, he found that the palace attendants who were evacuating were packing their belongings in an orderly manner, busy but not chaotic; one could clearly see the Empress Dowager's ability to command her subordinates.
Bumu Tai said softly, "I know that Minister Hong could never become an internal agent for the Ming Kingdom, but given the current chaos, I fear Minister Hong's life would be in danger if he stayed. For these few days, please stay by my side and the Emperor's side to protect us."
Hong Chengchou immediately bowed and said, "Rest assured, Empress Dowager. As long as I am here, I will ensure the safety of both you and His Majesty."
Bumu Tai nodded slightly. "Alright."
They evacuated very quickly; before arriving at the prefectural office, Aobai and his men had already ordered people to begin packing their belongings.
All of these people understood very clearly that once the city gates were breached, staying behind to fight to the death would be meaningless.
The only question was, who would stay behind?
The final decision after the discussion was that Aobai, Ebilun, Suksa-ha would all stay behind.
Although only Zhang Huangyan and Li Guo had arrived, Jinzhou was not particularly far from Beijing; what if the Emperor of Ming brought men and attacked?
Even if this sounds a bit preposterous, but.. isn't it preposterous that the Emperor of Ming defeated the thirty-six-year-old Dorgon when he was only eighteen?
Who knows what this Emperor might do?
Of course, letting them stay behind wasn't for a fight to the death, but rather to provide a temporary delay; once enough time had passed, they would also have to flee.
The place to be evacuated this time was Yizhou. Yizhou was north of Jinzhou; although they had been running east previously, at this moment, they could no longer continue heading east.
Further east is Shengjing. Currently, Li Zicheng is departing from Shengjing for Shanhai Pass. If they were to encounter Li Zicheng on the road, they would be caught in a pincer movement, there would be no need to run.
On the road to Yizhou, Bumu Tai specifically summoned Haoge, Ajige, Hong Chengchou, Fan Wencheng to his carriage.
She glanced at Haoge and said, "I have invited you all here because I wish to ask Grand Scholar Fan to draft an Abdication Edict."
The others were stunned upon hearing this, but only Haoge's eyes lit up.
Bumu Tai sighed and said, "The situation of the Qing Dynasty is now critical, neither my son nor I can do much. Even if Prince Su were to convene a discussion under the Regent's orders, it would be far too cumbersome. Therefore, I feel it would be better to have Fulin abdicate. However, since this is so sudden, we can only draft the abdication edict first and handle the other matters later."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Haoge: "Fulin is only ten years old now; you said you would ensure he lives a life of ease."