The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Chapter 200 The Great Han Imperial Army

After returning to Dhaka, Liu Weiqing immediately oversaw the large-scale construction of temples. In order to consolidate his rule, each temple had a gilded sculpture of him wearing a python robe and holding a sword next to the statues of gods.

It's made to be more magnificent than God!

The temple plaques, as well as descriptions of the god's power and authority, are written in both Chinese and Bengali.

Originally, Liu Weiqing's idea was to first implement the Sinicization of the entire population, and kill those who disobeyed, but Zhang Ying disagreed.

It is easy to encounter resistance from the people and expose one's intentions if one starts with Sinicization. It would be better to start with Hindu beliefs and proceed slowly. Cutting flesh with a dull knife is more painful.

This also reflects Zhang Ying's confidence in Confucianism. In this era, Confucianism played a crucial role in consolidating imperial power.

Besides temples, Liu Weiqing began to bestow titles upon Kshatriyas. Kshatriyas of the general rank were almost all Han, Mongol, and Tibetan, with the remainder being Indian natives.

Furthermore, it is stipulated that both Chinese language and written characters must be accepted.

……

While Liu Weiqing was stirring up trouble in Bangladesh, thirty large galleons, fifty medium galleons, fifty large Fujian ships, one hundred medium Fujian ships, and more than two hundred small Fujian ships had already arrived in the waters off Anping Royal City.

The massive fleet, the dark muzzles of cannons, the red flags with black dragons fluttering in the sea breeze, and the shouts of the Han soldiers on the decks made the artillerymen along the coast tremble.

Just as Zhou Peigong had predicted, even after losing Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, and more than 20,000 troops, Zhu Jing still did not want to submit after receiving a letter from Zhu Xin.

Where is the comfort of being a subject compared to being a local king?

They even wrote a letter hoping to restore the old relations between the Ming Dynasty and Korea, and expressed their willingness to pay tribute and become vassals of Korea every year.

After being sternly rejected by the Han envoy, they publicly stated their refusal to submit and even sent their navy to loiter around Xiamen.

When the news reached Beijing, Liu Mu felt embarrassed and immediately ordered Xu Chuang to encircle and suppress Taiwan.

After assembling all his forces in the South Seas, Xu Chuang clashed with Zhu Jing's navy in Penghu. After three days of fierce fighting, the Taiwanese navy was defeated and retreated to Taiwan.

Anping Royal City, also known as Fort Zeelandia, was built after the Dutch invasion. It was later recovered by Zhu Chenggong and renamed, and in later generations it became Tainan City!

……

Among all these warships, the largest galleon was a full fifty meters long. It was pulled out of the shipyard by Xu Chuang after he captured Bavilia.

According to its class, its size is comparable to the British first-class battleships. Unfortunately, it is a merchant ship, and even with further modifications, it only has 68 cannons, which is comparable to the third-class battleships, and it is even slower.

However, Xu Chuang was already very satisfied and specifically ordered the craftsmen to modify the design, replacing all the Dutch markings and patterns with those in the Han Dynasty style. The most striking feature was the tiger's head swallowing waves on the bow!

At the very front of the deck, Yin Huasheng, his face darkened by the sea breeze, looked impatient as he ate a pomelo.

"Old Xu, this Zhu Jing is really something else. We can't beat him in a fight, and now he won't surrender. Does he expect us to back down? Jian Shou is completely clueless!"

"Furthermore, today is already the tenth of the month, and there are only twenty days left until the end of the year. The court is preparing to launch a campaign against Wu Sangui, and we mustn't spoil His Majesty's mood!"

Xu Chuang, who was observing the coastal forts with binoculars, revealed a mocking expression upon hearing this.

"Our army has nearly 500 warships and 50,000 troops on land and sea. Zhu Jing knows that the situation is hopeless and is unwilling to submit. He is probably reorganizing his forces at this moment."

"But all of this is ultimately in vain!"

"Pass down the order: attack the island at dawn tomorrow!"

……

Meanwhile, inside the royal palace of Anping Royal City, sat more than twenty generals and five or six civil officials, all looking tense.

Zhu Jing, who sat at the head of the table, was only in his early thirties, yet he held the reins of power over the entire island of Taiwan, which gave him considerable authority.

He glanced at the civil and military officials, then smiled kindly. "Gentlemen," he said, "the Han court has now dispatched troops. I wonder if any of you have any thoughts on this?"

"To surrender or to fight!"

"You can talk about anything!"

As Zhu Jing finished speaking, the generals assumed he intended to surrender, and one by one they began to express their opinions, most of them wanting to surrender.

With the Central Plains reduced to such a state of chaos, and the ashes of the Manchus scattered to the winds, who doesn't know that the Han emperors were magnanimous and exceptionally kind to their military generals?

Now that the Han Dynasty is vigorously developing its navy, these generals who rely on the sea for their livelihood have naturally received the news. In fact, the Han envoy even visited them last time they came.

At the age of thirty-something, and having led troops in naval battles for many years, they could easily become commanders of a guard, or even inherit the title of commander of a thousand households, which would benefit their descendants.

Just as the main hall was in an uproar, a scholar-official in his early teens, wearing a silk cap and a white Taoist robe, stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, do you know of Sun Quan of Jiangdong in the past?"

This person was none other than Chen Yonghua, the foremost scholar in Taiwan.

As soon as he spoke, the hall fell silent!

These were all mid-to-high-ranking generals, not illiterate soldiers. Plus, with the popularity of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, they naturally knew this part of the story. In other words, Chen Yonghua did not approve of surrendering.

Just then, a general wearing armor, with a full beard and a scar on his eye stepped forward.

"Liu Guoxuan is willing to die alongside His Majesty!"

call! ! !

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jing, who was seated at the head of the table, let out a long sigh of relief. His clenched fist slowly relaxed, and he picked up the wine cup on the table and smashed it hard on the ground.

With a loud bang, the wine cup shattered on the ground, and the door of the main hall was instantly pushed open, with more than a hundred soldiers rushing in.

They charged into the hall with muskets, not caring who was who, and immediately pointed their wounds at everyone's heads.

Zhu Jing's previously kind smile had turned into anger as he walked step by step to the center of the main hall.

"Surrender? His name is Liu Mu, originally Galdan. He's a barbarian from the western regions. How could I, the Prince of Yanping, possibly submit to him?"

"Ding Zhen!"

……

After Zhu Jing finished speaking, he read out each name one by one. After he finished reading one name, the musketeers took one away. After they were all taken away, gunshots rang out outside the main hall.

After the surrender faction was eliminated, only eight people remained in the entire hall. Most of them were Zhu Chenggong's old subordinates, all of whom were determined not to surrender to the Han and were willing to fight to the death.

Zhu Jing revealed a hint of madness.

"If you want my Taiwan, then you'll have to pay with your lives!"

……

The next day, after sunrise, as drums sounded, all the Han army warships set out, with the galleons, which had the most cannons, positioned across the sea to blockade the port of Anping.

Fifteen minutes later, all the warships raised green flags, indicating that the ammunition was loaded. Upon seeing this, Xu Chuang immediately gave the order!

"fire!"

After Xu Chuang gave the order, the red flag was raised to the top, and all the cannons of the galleons opened fire almost simultaneously, aiming at the blue stone fort on the shore.

These days, firing cannons on a ship at sea is all about experience, as there are no fixed positions due to the turbulent waves.

We need to fire one shot at a time.