Chapter 85

Accompanied by the wails of these high officials and nobles and the tens of thousands of imperial clan corpses before them.

Xingshan truly resembled a human hell.

Clearly, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian had not the slightest intention of stopping!

It was not until this moment.

That Hong Hong Chengchou, standing amidst the hundred officials, suddenly had a terrifying thought.

Could this matter of the imperial clan joining the campaign have been a trap from the very beginning?!

Thinking of this, cold sweat immediately began to pour down Hong Hong Chengchou's back.

And looking at the expressions of the officials around him.

It was obvious that more than one person had seen through this point.

But what could they do even if they saw through it?

The hundred officials knew what Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian was thinking; Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian knew the hundred officials knew what he was thinking; and the hundred officials also knew that Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian knew that they knew what Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian was thinking.

So what then?!

Some matters, if not put on the scale, weigh not even two taels.

But once placed on the scale, even a thousand jin cannot hold them down!

These two hundred and fifty thousand members of the imperial clan.

Were precisely the great scale Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian had prepared for the entire court of civil and military officials!

How many people this current case would implicate.

Depended entirely on how long Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian wished to continue killing before stopping!

Thinking of this, Hong Hong Chengchou could not help but shudder where he stood.

If he had not commanded the army in this battle, he feared that among the several tiger benches before him, one would inevitably be reserved for himself.

Soon, under the mutual biting and accusation of these few officials.

Grand Secretary Wen Wen Tiren, Duke of Britain Zhang Zhang Zhiji, Marquis of Wuqing Li Li Guorui, and more than twenty other noble gentry and scholar-officials.

Were immediately stripped of their titles and offices on the spot by Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian.

And this was merely the beginning.

At this moment, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian, sitting upon the dragon throne, felt increasingly moved by those words of Su Qiao.

The Great Ming's true threat had never lain outside.

But right here within this imperial court!

Now, the pretext to resolve this internal threat had finally been seized.

He absolutely could not let these hundred officials slip away so easily!

The efficiency of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot was pushed to its absolute limit.

The Fanzi conducted interrogations at the front, the Ministry of Justice issued judgments at the rear, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian approved sentences from the side, and the axe-wielding executioners chopped heads on the hilltop.

Just as Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian was purging the court.

The Eight Banners elite led by Huang Taiji had already retreated to the banks of the Dalinghe River, near an unnamed village.

After several bloody battles, even Huang Taiji's dragon robe had been dyed red with blood.

In this battle, although the Ming army suffered heavy losses, the Eight Banners army on the other side had likewise gained no significant advantage.

Fan Fan Wencheng made a rough estimate.

In this battle, the Eight Banners soldiers suffered around fifty thousand casualties, a loss that did not even include the Deng-Lai New Army, the Han Eight Banners, and the naval troops who had defected on the battlefield.

These were Jurchens; for every one who died, there was one less!

One must remember.

Since the time of Nurhaci, the Later Jin had already begun capturing wild Jurchens from the Tungus mountains to register them into the Banners!

For the Manchu Qing, this kind of battle.

Could truly not be considered a victory.

There are hundreds of millions of Han people under heaven.

The Han can afford to die.

But can the Manchus afford to die?!

Just as every soldier in the Qing army hung their heads in dejection.

Huang Taiji casually glanced and discovered that high mourning banners had already been hung at the village entrance in the distance.

Every household in the village had already hung white cloth!

Seeing this scene, Dorgon's expression immediately became twisted.

"Do these Han commoners truly have no fear of death?!"

"This is still the territory of our Great Qing!"

"Are they so eager to wear mourning for the Zhu Emperor?!"

Huang Taiji made no sound.

He simply wore a gloomy expression and led a group of Plain Yellow Banner Eight Banners soldiers slowly into the village.

Hearing the commotion at the village entrance.

The villagers had also slowly begun to move.

Before long, surrounded by several strong young men.

An elderly man with a shaved head, holding a dove staff bestowed by the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission of the Great Ming, slowly walked out of the village.

Afterwards, a crowd of bald villagers knelt on the ground without expression.

Calling out "Long Live Your Majesty" without any emotion.

Dorgon shouted sternly in a harsh voice.

"You Han people pride yourselves on etiquette above all, do you not?! The Son of Heaven stands before you, and this is how you pay your respects?!"

The old man did not even deign to look at him properly; he tapped the black earth at his feet with his dove-headed staff and sneered.

"I am but a commoner, ignorant of ritual propriety."

Hong Taiji shot a glaring look at Dorgon.

Then, forcing a smile onto his face, he looked at the old man and asked,

"Old sir, then how do you explain why every household in this village wears mourning? Could it not be for the imperial clan of the Great Ming..."

"Your Majesty speaks strangely."

"This humble commoner wears mourning for the Eight Banners officers and soldiers who died in battle."

Gnashing his teeth, Dorgon shouted furiously,

"Then where are your queues?! With your braids all shorn off, how can you claim to mourn the Eight Banners?!"

Hearing this, the old man could not be bothered to explain further to Dorgon; standing aside to himself, he casually remarked,

"It is cooler."

The words had barely left his lips when Dorgon drew the horseman's saber from his waist.

Yet, in the very instant Dorgon drew his blade,

noisy footsteps echoed from the courtyards surrounding them.

From time to time, the cold gleam of a firewood chopper flashed into view.

Had Dorgon pressed his interrogation with even one more question,

the entire village populace would have risen in rebellion that very moment.

"Do you intend to rebel?!"

Dorgon's explosive roar reverberated through the village.

At this moment, however, Hong Taiji calmed himself and forcibly suppressed the fury in his heart.

"Enough! Dorgon, arriving uninvited has already breached propriety! Hurry up and take your men and get out of this village!"

Scolded head-to-toe by Hong Taiji for no apparent reason, Dorgon stood frozen on the spot in a daze.

Before Dorgon could even react,

Hong Taiji cupped his hands in salute to the clan elder and said,

"Since that is the case, We shall not disturb you further!"

With that, Hong Taiji turned and departed the village.

Times change, and circumstances differ.

Had this been before this battle,