Chapter 56: I'll Still Be Mine Even If I Kill You [Read More]

The flag owner's mansion.

All the living people in the mansion were trapped in the front yard by Cao Bianjiao and his men, and they knelt on the ground in a sea of ​​people. After General Li arrived on horseback, Xiao Cao immediately caught up and reported the situation in the mansion to him one by one.

"There are only Huang Taiji's two daughters here. The eldest daughter doesn't even have a name, and the younger daughter is named Makata. The Tartar's wife stayed in Shenyang. She didn't bring her daughters to Shenyang because she was afraid that they would catch a cold on the way back. Huang Taiji's descendants also have a son who went with them to the war."

"There are about 40 Han servants and 20 Tartar servants in the palace. The manager is an old Tartar. There is not much property. The brothers looted more than 7,000 taels of silver, 26 pieces of cotton cloth, and 42 pieces of silk. It seems that the Tartars are really short of cotton and silk. Even a flag owner doesn't have much in stock."

He sighed and thought that a dignified Fourth Beile of the Later Jin Dynasty might not have as much cloth in his mansion as a small landlord in Shandong and other places in the south.

Li Hao followed the direction of his finger and saw Huang Taiji's two daughters.

The eldest daughter was about five or six years old, wearing a white embroidered cotton coat with a collar and brown cotton pants. She should have understood the situation, as she was shaking like a sieve while holding her two-year-old sister, and she didn't even dare to raise her eyes.

"Hey, your father is Huang Taiji?"

Li Hao asked, then remembered that the woman might not understand Chinese, so he changed his mind and prepared to ask the Han servants.

"Yes~ Please spare my sister and me, General. All the gold and silver in this mansion are for you to take."

Huang Taiji's eldest daughter actually spoke slowly and incomplete Chinese.

How stupid! Even if I kill you, all the money in this mansion will be mine, General Li muttered to himself.

"When will the cycle of revenge end?" He turned to Huang Taiji's eldest daughter, "I am also a soft-hearted person, and I can't stand the bloodshed you see. So, Gou Quanzhong, first take off this big cotton coat, then find a well and drown these two to death, leaving their bodies intact."

As General Li's original servant, Gou Quanzhong carried out the general's orders thoroughly.

Li Hao then asked the Han servants, "I never kill surrendered Han people, but you have committed some sins by following the Tartar chieftain. How about this? Stab each of the old Tartars in charge, and that will be considered redemption. How about that?"

After saying this, he ordered a Han villager who had surrendered earlier to throw the knife in his hand to the old Tartar in charge.

This group of Han servants had originally had no hope of surviving, but after hearing this, many of them moved.

Until a middle-aged man who was the leader stood up, walked over, picked up the knife, and stabbed the old Tartar in the belly. The bright white goose feather blade was instantly dyed red, and the tip of the knife was stained with a bit of yellow-green bile.

"Okay, you're brave, what's your name?"

General Lee asked.

"Liu Tingxiang." The middle-aged man answered with his hands hanging down.

"When your parents gave you this name, they wanted you to seek fame and honor. How could you get mixed up with the Tartars? I think you still have some courage. The Han people who are willing to atone for their sins will be in your charge. From now on, you will obey me directly."

Li Hao ordered.

"Yes."

Perhaps because he had been a servant for too long, Liu Tingxiang kept his head down and his hands hanging when he replied.

General Li couldn't stand this fact of his and pointed it out specifically and ordered him to correct it.

After the first Han servant demonstrated, the people behind him rushed to poke the old Tartar.

After being stabbed with the first blow, the old Tartar couldn't help but wailing in a low voice. After the next few blows, he started screaming loudly until he was out of breath.

"We have captured a few minor officials such as Daizi and Bashiku. Bring them here and make the remaining Han servants atone for their sins."

Li Hao issued another instruction. Soon, the five Zhengbai Banner officers who were tied up were stabbed to death.

The Tartar servants on the side knelt quietly, they were not as brave as the armored bannermen.

After all the Han servants had redeemed their sins, General Li selected the five best-dressed Tartar servants and ordered Gou Quanzhong, who had returned, to translate his orders.

"I let you go because I want you to convey my words to Huang Taiji and Nurhaci. Tell them that Li Hao said that Liao was originally Han territory. You have occupied it for a few years. It is time to return. In one or two years, I will lead the army to recover the entire Liaodong area. If you are afraid of being killed by me, surrender as soon as possible. I will only kill the main culprit."

"Gou Quanzhong, tell them to remember to bring the cotton coat with them and personally deliver it to Huang Taiji, and explain the situation here clearly."

Li Hao paced back and forth and suddenly remembered something.

"Also, after these Tartar servants see Huang Taiji, persuade him to eat and drink enough before listening to what happened here, lest he faint from the pain."

General Li had seen a post on the Internet before, which stated that the millions of silver dollars spent by the Ming Dynasty in the Liaoxi Corridor every year were not as good as giving a pot of distilled liquor to Huang Taiji, who had high blood pressure, and a table of fish and meat. After persuading Huang Taiji to eat, he was scolded by the sharp-tongued assassins.

It might work wonders.

Gou Quanzhong spoke a few words in Manchu haltingly, roughly conveying General Li's meaning.

Afterwards, Cao Bianjiao led his men to escort these Tartar servants out of the city.

Li Hao took Liu Tingxiang and other Han servants from the flag owner's mansion to find Huang Long and others who were in charge of the armory. There was a severe shortage of manpower at the moment, so the speed of the armed surrender of the Han people had to be accelerated.

……

At the intersection of Cross Street, Zu Kuan reported the basic situation in the city to General Li.

"General, there are more than 780 civilian households in the city, nearly 500 of which are Tatars. The remaining 280 households are basically artisans and bondservants, not Han Chinese."

The Han people in Liaodong under the rule of the Later Jin Dynasty generally had three identities. The first was artisans, such as carpenters, blacksmiths, and cotton weavers. This type of Han people were neither part of the banner nor slaves, and their status was between slaves and Han people in the banner.

In recent years, many Liao people have fled, so the Eight Banners moved all the craftsmen stationed in the area into the big city.

The second group was the Han people in the banners, mainly the Han people who surrendered first when the Eight Banners first entered Liaodong. The able-bodied men among them were incorporated into the Eight Banners by the old slaves.

The third group was bondservants, which included the Liao army and Liao people who refused to surrender after being captured. The old slaves rewarded these people to the bannermen as slaves.

"The Han people basically opened their gates and surrendered. They seemed to think that the imperial court had sent a large army to attack us. Some of them were very happy and even helped us with our work. I think the Liao people are trustworthy."

"About 200 Tartar households surrendered, and the rest shut their doors tightly. Our people were still knocking on doors one by one to persuade them to surrender. Some half-grown Tartars were lying on the roofs and shooting randomly. More than a dozen of our people were injured."

Li Hao was very satisfied with the result. "This is already very good. But why did nearly 200 Tatar households surrender? Have you verified whether they are sincere?"

Zu Kuan had already prepared an answer to this question in his mind.

"This group of surrendered Tartars are basically not Jianzhou Jurchens. I haven't managed things properly in the past two years. Life in Liaodong is far less comfortable than when I was selling ginseng, deer antlers and other wild animals. Ordinary Tartars sometimes don't have enough to eat, and can barely survive without starving or freezing."

"That's fine. As long as there's a reason, you can gather all the surrendered men together and follow me to the gates of those stubborn Tartars. I'll ask them to pledge their allegiance to the Tatars."

Li Hao gave the order.

Although Amin was a reckless man, the Later Jin still had many Han ministers like Fan Wencheng. These Han ministers had quite good command capabilities, and there was not much time left for Li Hao and others.

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(End of this chapter)