Chapter 870: What? The Great Qing Is Gone! — Twelve (Please Subscribe)

How could Shi Kefa possibly let the Shunzhi Emperor go!

The Shunzhi Emperor is the Eyeer Jasag Khan of the Great Mongol Nation!

If he could be captured and made the Ming's Prince Gong, Zhu Cilang would have the legal basis to command the Mongol tribes.

The Zhu Emperor has truth enough in hand, and the Great Mongol Nation's heavenly principle lies in Tibet, already under the blade of the Ming's Western Pacification Army — so of course everything is negotiable... Add to that the legal basis in Shunzhi's hands, and winning over the Mongol tribes on the steppe becomes much easier.

And once the Mongols on the steppe submit to the Ming, the Ming's northern frontier will be secure, and the Ming will also have the means to keep Russia out of central and western Siberia... If Russia can be held back, then the Ming's map will look huge — just looking at it will be a joy!

So after discovering that Nikan had led cavalry toward the Tianjin garrison, Shi Kefa immediately sent men to recall Li Yuanyin, who was prowling outside the Qing army's main camp.

Li Yuanyin did not come alone to see Shi Kefa; his personal guards were also leading along a big-bearded Manchu man, bound hand and foot and sighing mournfully.

"Who is this man?" Shi Kefa asked.

"This man is called Liuyong," Li Yuanyin said with a grin. "His Manchu clan name is Aisin Gioro. He's a great-grandson of the old chieftain Nurhaci, and he serves as a banner chief under Dodo!"

Whether or not it was because Li Yuanyin had mentioned Nurhaci, Liuyong, who had been like a defeated rooster, actually snorted and puffed out his chest.

"Oh," Shi Kefa glanced at this fellow who would rather die than submit, then waved a hand. "Liuyong, Liuyong — keeping him is useless! Drag him out and kill him. Cut off his head and send it to the Tianjin garrison. Let's see if that Fulin still dares not to surrender."

Li Yuanyin laughed. "The Governor-General is wise... Just send this fellow's head to the Tianjin garrison, and that boy Fulin will know that even his Imperial Uncle has been defeated. He'll surely surrender."

"Hahaha!" Shi Kefa, thinking of the glorious battle merits he had won, could not help bursting into loud laughter.

His personal guards, having received his order to kill, went up and shoved Liuyong toward a nearby patch of open ground that looked rather nice.

Liuyong panicked at once. He had always thought himself a true man and a hero, unafraid of death, but now that it came to the point, he discovered that of all things hard since ancient times, death alone is hardest!

Seeing himself about to be dragged off to be beheaded, he could hold out no longer and shouted loudly: "Don't push, don't push... I still have something to say!"

Shi Kefa and Li Yuanyin exchanged a glance, both suppressing wicked grins.

Shi Kefa beckoned to his personal guards, and Liuyong was led back. The two guards also kicked him hard in the calves, and Liuyong could no longer stand — with a thud he dropped to his knees before Shi Kefa.

Shi Kefa sat on a camp stool, his dark face set hard, brimming with killing intent.

"What do you have to say?" Li Yuanyin demanded loudly.

"I, I..." Liuyong gritted his teeth. "I can go to the Tianjin garrison to see, to see the Great Khan!"

He did not even dare call Fulin "His Majesty," only "the Great Khan."

Shi Kefa nodded. "Oh? And what will you say to Fulin?"

Liuyong was stunned. He did not know what to say either. Persuade Fulin to surrender? Would Fulin listen? Would the boy chop him down with one stroke?

"You don't know what to say?" Shi Kefa asked.

Liuyong, his face crumpled in misery, shook his head, thinking: They won't behead me, will they?

A trace of a smile appeared on Shi Kefa's dark face. "Then just tell the truth... Say that Dodo has been defeated by this official and will not be coming to rescue Fulin!

If Fulin is unwilling to surrender, this official will lay a long siege to Tianjin and keep besieging it until he is willing to surrender!

This official will absolutely never let him go!"

That was indeed the plain truth! The Shunzhi Emperor would certainly believe it.

"Just say that?" Liuyong, seeing hope of staying alive, quickly asked one more question.

"Saying that is enough," Shi Kefa said with a smile. "Liuyong, are you willing to go and say it?"

"Willing, willing..."

Shi Kefa nodded, then said to Li Yuanyin: "Vice Regional Commander Li, you go too... Take three thousand cavalry and follow the eastern barbarian cavalry fleeing toward Tianjin. You absolutely must not let them enter the Tianjin garrison city."

"This officer obeys!"

Having received his orders, Li Yuanyin immediately went to muster his cavalry. Because his cavalry had already dispersed to operate, he could not gather a full three thousand, so he took a bit over two thousand riders and set out that very night. He did not go after Nikan either — Nikan had more than seven thousand riders under him, and catching up would not guarantee victory! So they headed straight for the Tianjin garrison.

The next afternoon, his cavalry arrived beneath the walls of the Tianjin garrison, inside Huang Degong's main camp.

And at that moment, inside Huang Degong's main camp there happened to be an envoy sent by the Great Qing to acknowledge his father — Sun Zhixie — and also a Ming envoy sent to the Tianjin garrison to urge surrender — Zu Kefa. The two of them had originally been supposed to go to Yunlong Mountain in Xuzhou to see Zhu Cilang, but it happened that Dodo had come to relieve the siege of Tianjin, so they had stayed outside the Tianjin garrison and not left. Now they could just as well enter the city together to report the good news to the Shunzhi Emperor — your Ama's army has just won a great victory and given that Brave Prince Dodo a thorough beating. How delightful!

The young Shunzhi Emperor had risen early that morning and was again circling a desk in his study on which a map was spread. The map was densely covered with unit designations — some were the designations of Imperial Uncle Dodo's forces, some of the Mongol tribes beyond the frontier, and some of Shunzhi's own direct troops.

Judging from this map, these Qing forces were either garrisoning cities, assembling and awaiting orders, or carrying out large-scale maneuvers, leading the Ming army by the nose. All these troop deployments were arranged around the "Decisive Battle of Tianjin."

And the situation of this "Decisive Battle of Tianjin," viewed from the map, was still extremely favorable to the Great Qing!

Victory was in sight!

Of course, the situation on this map had all been imagined by the Shunzhi Emperor himself...

The Shunzhi Emperor steadied his steps, let out a breath, and murmured to himself: "With Imperial Uncle directing operations outside, we can always defeat the southern barbarians. My Great Qing will not collapse just like that..."

His words had barely faded when the sound of hurried footsteps came. Shunzhi's heart gave a thump, and he quickly turned to look. The door curtain was suddenly flung open, and then Sonin burst in, his face full of panic and alarm.

What is this?

Before Shunzhi could ask, he saw Sun Zhixie, Zu Kefa, and also a big-bearded middle-aged man whom Shunzhi found somewhat familiar but could not name, following in together.

Shunzhi quickly asked: "Sun Zhixie, Zu Kefa, why have you come? So quickly..."

"Your Majesty!" Sun Zhixie dropped to his knees with a thud, then began to weep. "Your Majesty, the Great Qing is about to be no more!"

What? Our Great Qing is about to be no more? The Shunzhi Emperor's mouth fell open, and he was stunned.

The big-bearded middle-aged man also dropped to his knees with a thud and wailed loudly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty... defeated, defeated, a crushing defeat..."

Shunzhi looked at the big-bearded man. "You, who are you?"

"Your Majesty, this slave is Liuyong!"

"Liu Yong?" Shunzhi did not remember any minister named Liu Yong. "Sonin, which office is this Liu Yong an official of?"

"Your Majesty," Sonin said, "he is Liuyong, the Gūsa Ejenu of the Plain Red Banner beyond the pass! Son of Duoluo Humble Commandery Prince Wakda!"

"Wakda..." Shunzhi thought for a moment. "He, isn't he one of Imperial Uncle's men?"

Liuyong took up the question: "Your Majesty, this slave has come from Imperial Uncle's army!"

"What?" Shunzhi asked urgently. "Imperial Uncle, he..."

"Imperial Uncle has been defeated!" Liuyong wept. "A crushing defeat! Imperial Uncle suffered a crushing defeat at Desheng Lake... Your Majesty, the Great Qing is about to be no more! Wuwu... what is to be done?"

"This, this, this..." Shunzhi could barely speak. "Is this true?"

Sun Zhixie answered through tears, "It's true, all true... On the thirteenth day of the second month, the Grand Imperial Uncle's hundred-thousand-strong army met Shi Kefa's forces in a decisive battle south of Desheng Marsh and was defeated, losing over half its strength. They are now fleeing in defeat toward Beijing and will not be coming to the Tianjin garrison to rescue Your Majesty!"

"What of the Yellow River? Did Chen Tai and Tuhai not breach it?"

Zu Kefa laughed. "Our Great Ming's Henan Provincial Commander Yan Yingyuan has led a hundred thousand troops to surround the Henan Grand Camp, and has built a great dam to hem the camp in completely. Very soon he will release the waters and flood the camp!"

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