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

Chapter 222 The Handling of Wu Sangui

As the overlord of the southwest, Wu Sangui had received gifts from the Portuguese, Dutch, and British, and he was no stranger to flintlock muskets.

After loading the flintlock pistol with ammunition in order, Wu Sangui looked confused and finally looked to Liu Dingbian for help!

"May I...see Liu Mu?"

Upon hearing Wu Sangui address him as "I" and also call him Galdan, Liu Dingbian considered for a moment, then extended his right hand and waved it. Wu Sangui understood and immediately handed over the flintlock pistol.

You certainly can't bring this thing when you meet the emperor!

At this moment, Liu Mu was lying on a fur blanket without any regard for his image, with some dried fruit placed on it.

As for Zhou Peigong, he was also nonchalant, with his legs crossed and eating sunflower seeds.

Because the war was so boring, Wu Sangui's army was even less capable of fighting than he had expected.

Upon approaching, Liu Dingbian immediately saluted upon seeing this!

"Your Majesty, Wu Sangui requests an audience with you!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Mu simply nodded, remaining lying there while eating dried fruits such as longan or red dates.

When Wu Sangui was allowed to approach, he saw Liu Mu's nonchalant demeanor through the gaps in the Imperial Guards and couldn't help but shake his head. He simply couldn't understand how he could have been defeated by someone who looked like a thug.

Liu Mu glanced at Wu Sangui and found that he had lost most of his energy and spirit, and was no longer the person he had been fighting to the death with just over half a month ago.

"Oh, it's Emperor Zhaowu of the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

Liu Mu was never one to respect the elderly or care for the young, and seeing Wu Sangui's behavior, he couldn't help but mock him.

When Wu Sangui heard this, he was completely flustered and didn't know what to say for a moment. After feeling suffocated, he started coughing violently.

Seeing this, Liu Mu shook his head, put down the dried fruit, and with a quick somersault, sat up cross-legged and straightened his robes.

"Tell me about it!"

"What business do you have with me?"

Knowing that Liu Mu had already made concessions, Wu Sangui finally calmed down and stopped coughing. However, he still couldn't bring himself to say it. After hesitating for a dozen breaths, he suddenly knelt down with a thud.

"I, Wu, have spent my life opposing the Ming, surrendering to the Qing, and opposing the Qing again. I acknowledge all of this, but I implore Your Majesty not to implicate my innocent family members."

Upon hearing this, Liu Mu immediately shook his head and did not immediately answer. Instead, he asked a question in a thoughtful manner.

"Wu Sangui, Beijing has fallen, and you stood by and watched it die. Did you even consider giving Emperor Chongzhen a chance to live?"

"You led the Qing army into the pass, resulting in the massacre of millions of Han people. Have you ever thought about giving the people an explanation?"

"Furthermore, when you strangled Yongli with a bowstring, did you ever think of leaving a single bloodline for the Zhu family?"

"You don't have any, right?"

Wu Sangui was speechless upon hearing this, but judging from his facial expression, he still did not regret it. Liu Mu didn't care and waved to Liu Dingbian.

"Send him on his way!"

Seeing Liu Dingbian draw his sword to strike, and knowing that Liu Mu also had no intention of letting the Wu family descendants go, Wu Sangui disregarded everything else, stood up abruptly, and pointed at Liu Mu:

"Everyone in the world curses me, but who has ever thought from my position? Back then, bandits broke into Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, the Ming Dynasty was doomed, the Manchus were eyeing us covetously in the north, and warlords were ruling their own territories in the south. My Shanhaiguan army was a lone force, with no food or supplies inside and no reinforcements outside. Li Zicheng was in front, and Dorgon was behind—how could you expect me to choose?"

"If we surrender to Li Zicheng, will our entire family be slaughtered by this bandit leader?"

"As for surrendering to the Ming? Back then, it was a case of the nation abandoning itself!"

"So, all that's left is to die in battle? That would just be filling a ditch in vain, not even making a ripple. That's not worth it at all. I'm not reconciled!"

Liu Dingbian was stopped by Liu Mu at this point, because Liu Mu also wanted to hear what else Wu Sangui had to say.

Upon seeing this, Wu Sangui wiped the foam from the corner of his mouth.

"My initial intention in inviting the Qing army into the pass was to seek revenge, not to betray my country for personal gain. Who would have thought that the Manchus, with their wolfish ambitions, would devour the entire country in one fell swoop?"

"Furthermore, my execution of Yongli was a necessity driven by the circumstances; the Manchus forced me to pledge allegiance! If I hadn't done it, my entire Wu family would have perished!"

"As for this uprising, I am old and do not want to be meat on the chopping block, at the mercy of others. Kangxi wants to discard me after he has served his purpose, to abolish the feudal system, and to kill me. If I do not rebel, I will be waiting to die! If I rebel, it is to seek survival, to fight for a way out!"

At the end, Wu Sangui's voice suddenly turned stern:

"Liu Mu, now that you've seized power, you stand on your high place and call me a thief! But if our positions were reversed, you might not be more noble than me, nor might you have done any better!"

"And why should I, Wu Sangui, a military general, bear the blame for the rise and fall of this empire for all eternity?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Mu stood up with a single effort, looking calmly at Wu Sangui:

"Borrowing troops for revenge? Forced by the circumstances? Seeking survival? Wu Sangui, you've used excuses your whole life, and you were still deceiving yourself until your death."

"The rise and fall of the nation is indeed not your responsibility as a military general. However, the decision to let foreign tribes into the pass, the massacre of Han people, and the execution of the Ming emperor were all your own choices!"

"No one will hold a knife to your neck and force you to open the Shanhaiguan Pass, nor will anyone force you to fight your way from north to south and become the Qing Dynasty's henchman and butcher."

"No one forced you to strangle Emperor Yongli with your own hands, to exchange the blood of the Han people for your title of Prince of Pingxi."

"You have never lived your life for the Ming Dynasty, for the people, or even for survival. You only cared about your own power, territory, and ambition. You would surrender when there was profit to you and rebel when there was none. You were fickle and only cared about profit."

"Now that you've lost, you're blaming everything on the current situation. So you're not a hero, much less a great man; you're just a coward who doesn't dare admit his sins."

At this point, Liu Mu's murderous intent was already rising, and Liu Dingbian, standing to the side, had already gripped the hilt of his knife tightly.

But in the end, only Liu Mu spoke lightly and casually.

"Wu Sangui, I have decided not to kill you, but to send you to keep Kangxi company, as a way of apologizing to the Han people of the world."

After Liu Mu finished speaking, Wu Sangui lay on the ground. Taking advantage of Liu Dingbian's distraction, he even tried to seize the knife and commit suicide, but was kicked away by Liu Dingbian.

Who in this world doesn't know that Emperor Kangxi was alive, but after being cast in molten copper, he is now forever kneeling at the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum!

If Kangxi went down to see Zhu Yuanzhang, he could say that Zhu Yuanzhang was a descendant of the emperor and that it had little to do with him. But if Wu Sangui went down to see him, he would probably be skinned alive by Zhu Yuanzhang.

So Wu Sangui was truly terrified, constantly crawling towards Liu Mu's side, and even attempted suicide, but was restrained by the Imperial Guards.

Liu Mu was already furious and couldn't control himself. He clapped his hands and gave an order to the Imperial City Guards!

"Send it to Nanjing at top speed!"

"Place it right next to Emperor Kangxi!"

……

Wu Sangui was sent away overnight, but Liu Mu did not continue south. Instead, for the next month, his army was stationed at Bowangpo.

Only the messenger was dispatched from the west.