Chapter 686 Making things difficult and humiliating
Chapter 686 Making things difficult and humiliating
Beijing!
As the New Year approaches, the capital, which has become very deserted after the Qing Dynasty withdrew from the customs, has become somewhat lively.
Everyone inside and outside the palace is buying new year’s goods!
Many Ming products appeared in the capital.
Businessmen, that's it, as long as there is profit, they dare to do business.
As for whether they are colluding with the enemy, they don't care!
The Eight Banners soldiers who were left behind by the Manchus and the Green Camp military also began to make corresponding preparations for the New Year.
A large number of wine, meat, grain and other materials were purchased, and the merchants doing related business, especially the eight Shanxi merchants, made a lot of money.
Emperor Xuantong, who was supported by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, also personally brought a large amount of wine, meat and food into the Qing army's barracks to reward the troops under Obai's instructions.
Obai and Xuantong sat side by side at the top. Obai, who was wearing cotton armor, looked extremely tall compared to the thin and shrunken Emperor Xuantong beside him.
At the banquet, Oboi took off his helmet, took it in his hand, and then poured a jar of fine wine into it.
With Obai's movements, the wine in the helmet almost overflowed.
Oboi held his helmet in both hands and said to Emperor Xuantong who was sitting beside him.
"I would like to offer a toast to Your Majesty!"
With that said, he put the helmet filled with wine into Emperor Xuantong's hands.
Xuantong was forced to accept it, with a look of embarrassment on his face.
But Obai's eyes were always staring at Xuantong.
It seems to be saying, if you dare to refuse, I will chop off your head and make it into a drinking vessel.
Emperor Xuantong held the helmet in his hands and felt a little nauseous as he looked at the wine that was almost overflowing and the oil and scalp of Obai floating on the wine.
He mustered up the courage and politely refused with an ugly face.
"This... this is too much wine. I am so overwhelmed that I can't drink it!"
When Obai heard this, his face darkened and he said.
"What? Your Majesty doesn't give me face?"
"I am leading the Eight Banners to guard the country for Your Majesty. Is it possible that Your Majesty is not even willing to drink a glass of wine that I propose to you?"
As soon as Obai said this, Xuantong's face turned even paler.
The other Manchu generals in the big tent also started to cheer.
"Yes, you must drink it!
"If Your Majesty doesn't drink, you're not saving face for me! You're looking down on us Qiu Ba!"
"Drink him, drink him!"
"Your Majesty, please don't give me a toast and you will be punished with a drink!"
"..."
These Manchu generals were no match for the Ming Dynasty on the battlefield. They were suppressed and defeated by the Ming Dynasty. Even now they cannot even defeat Wu Sangui.
The anguish in my heart is understandable!
They regarded humiliating the "Ming Emperor" openly and openly as a way to vent their emotions.
Even though this "Ming Emperor" was a puppet supported by the Manchus themselves, humiliating him gave these Manchu generals a great sense of psychological satisfaction.
Under the cheers of countless people, Emperor Xuantong did not dare to refuse, so he had to pick up the helmet filled with wine and bring it to his lips.
The strong liquor entered his throat, scratching his throat like a sharp knife, and the liquor rushed straight into his stomach like a line of fire.
A large amount of wine poured out of his mouth, flowing down Xuantong's cheeks and beard, completely soaking the robe on his chest.
A helmet's worth of wine quickly ran out!
A small amount went into the throat, and a large half was sprinkled everywhere, but Obai and others didn't care much about it.
What they wanted to see was that Emperor Xuantong drank from his helmet under their pressure.
As for whether a helmet's worth of wine has been drunk, it really doesn't matter.
Seeing this scene, Ao Bai burst into hearty laughter, then raised a wine jar in his hand, raised his head and poured it into his mouth.
A large amount of wine spilled all over his head and face, and the cotton armor on his body was even stained with wine, but he didn't care.
When a group of Manchu generals saw this scene, they all praised Obai for his drinking capacity.
“Keep your alcohol consumption low!”
"Shaobao's majesty remains as strong as before!"
"Shaobao is indeed a brave man, worthy of being the number one Batulu in Manchuria!"
"..."
Obai drank all the wine in the jar and threw the jar in his hand to the ground with a bang.
"Ha ha!"
"Hahaha!"
"It's so happy, it's so happy!"
Oboi slumped down at the front seat, smelling of alcohol. He was so drunk that he took off his cotton armor and threw it aside.
He squinted his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the strong liquor in his belly.
While they were drinking and feasting, a Qing army general suggested.
"It's boring for me just to drink. How about we invite some dancers to dance?"
Hearing this, everyone agreed.
"Yeah yeah!"
"I think it's okay!"
"..."
Emperor Xuantong suppressed his drunkenness and stood up and said.
"I...I'm going to make arrangements for the generals!"
But at this moment, Obai, who was drunk and staring, opened his mouth and said.
"No, I don't want to watch the dancers dance!"
"What's the point of dancing?"
"Why don't your Majesty dance a song to cheer up the brothers?"
When Oboi spoke, his eyes were fixed on Emperor Xuantong, and his palm was also placed on his own sword, which was leaning on the edge of the table.
When Emperor Xuantong heard this, his face turned blue and white, but he stood motionless.
If the toast just now was just to make things difficult, then asking him to dance now is pure humiliation!
Throughout the ages, only the kings of subjugated countries would be so humiliated!
The most typical example is Ji Li Khan, who after being captured to Chang'an, performed dances for the emperors and ministers of the Tang Dynasty at a banquet.
Now, although his Xuantong is a puppet, he is not the king of subjugation.
His Ming Dynasty is not dead yet!
How could Obai humiliate him so much?
Puppet also wants to save face, okay?!
Obai stared at Xuantong coldly, but Xuantong remained silent, as if he was expressing his protest with silence.
Just when the atmosphere was deadlocked, Obai pulled out his saber with a clang, and then slashed the saber at the table in front of him.
The sword flashed and the leg of a roasted lamb on the table was chopped off.
Oboi held the mutton leg in one hand and a knife in the other, and strode towards Xuantong.
When Xuantong saw this scene, he didn't dare to confront Obai at all. His legs went weak and he collapsed on the ground.
He put his head in his hands and said shivering.
"Don't... don't kill me!"
"I jumped, didn't I miss the jump?!"
Xuantong was so frightened that he even spoke Henan dialect.
Before he was made emperor, he spent most of his life begging in Henan.
Seeing this, Ao Bai threw the saber in his hand on the ground, then handed the leg of lamb to Xuantong and said.
"Eat, dance when you're done!"
Xuantong mustered up his courage, took the leg of lamb and took a bite. Then he reluctantly walked to the middle of the tent and danced.
But, having never learned to dance, he danced very funny.
Appreciating Xuantong's funny dance, the generals of the Qing army in the tent burst into bursts of laughter, wanton and arrogant.
"Haha, hahaha!"
"..."
…
After a long time, the Qing army's banquet was over, and Obai was sent back to his tent, smelling of alcohol.
When he regained consciousness again, he was woken up by someone.
"Save the security, protect the security less!"
"Ao Shaobao, please wake up, there is a message from Shengjing!"
Obai opened his sleepy eyes with difficulty, climbed up from the bed, looked at the small yellow door lying in front of him, and couldn't help but frown and said.
"伱...what did you say?"
Seeing Obai wake up, Xiao Huangmen repeated what he just said.
"Shaobao, there is a decree coming from Shengjing. Please Shaobao accept the decree!"
As soon as Xiao Huangmen said these words, Obai was shocked, quickly got out of bed, knelt beside the bed, touched his forehead to the ground and said.
"Slave Aobai accepts the order!"
Xiao Huangmen cleared his throat and spoke.
"Pass the Queen Mother's oral message!"
"Obai, why did you attack the Kong family in Qufu and exterminate the Kong family? How are you going to explain it to the Ai family and the Qing Dynasty?!"
When Obai heard this, he was completely stunned.
What's going on with this accountability?
When did I take action against the Kong family in Qufu?
Obai blinked his eyes in confusion and asked.
"what do you mean?"
Xiao Huangmen, who was responsible for delivering the oral instructions, also had a confused expression and asked rhetorically.
"Shaobao, weren't you the one who attacked the Kong family in Qufu and wiped out the entire family?"
"It was after receiving this news that the Queen Mother ordered me to hold Shaobao accountable!"
Obai was even more confused.
"What?!"
"The Kong family in Qufu was exterminated? When did it happen? Why didn't I know!"
Ao Bai and Xiao Huangmen looked at each other, and it was obvious that both of them were confused.
The source of information about Borzigit actually comes from Daming Daily.
After she read the news in the Ming Dynasty Daily that Obai had killed the Kong family in Qufu, she immediately contacted him. Some time ago, the Qing Dynasty received the news that the Kong family in Qufu was going to join the Ming thieves again.
Then he came to his own judgment!
There is a high probability that Obai did this and did not run away!
From her point of view, Obai probably made the decision out of anger because he could not see the duplicity of the Confucian government betraying the Qing Dynasty.
Destroy the Confucius family!
However, the Borzigit family felt that although the Confucian family was hateful, they were descendants of Confucius after all and represented the orthodoxy of Confucianism in the world.
Now that Obai has wiped out the Confucius family, doesn't this end the possibility of the Qing Dynasty entering the country again?
In anger, the Borzigits stopped investigating and sent people into the customs to hold Obai accountable.
This aspect shows how deeply the credibility of Ming Daily is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
After all, even the captive chieftains like the Borzigit clan believed in the news reported by the Ming Dynasty Daily.
On the other hand, it can also be seen that Borzigit is politically incompetent.
If the old lady Bumbutai was the one who had the final say in the Manchu Qing Dynasty now, no matter how much she suspected that it was Obai who had done the thing, she would not order someone to hold him to account so recklessly.
However, Mrs. Borzigit did not care about the impact at all, or maybe she did not expect the impact of this matter.
So he sent someone to hold Oboi accountable!
After hearing Xiao Huangmen tell the whole story, Obai felt aggrieved and as uncomfortable as eating shit.
Good guy, you are the Queen Mother of the Qing Dynasty!
Why did you believe the Ming thief’s lies?!
Ao Bai had no choice but to explain that what happened in Qufu was really not his fault and that he was wrongly accused.
After hearing this, Xiaohuangmen was full of suspicion and prepared to return to the outside of the pass to return his life to the Borzigit family.
At this moment, a sentry rider broke in from outside and reported a report from a distance.
"Urgent report, urgent report, urgent information from Jiangnan!"
The expression on Obai's face straightened, he stood up from the ground, and took the initiative to face the sentry rider without even wearing his outer robe.
"What's wrong? What happened to Jiangnan?"
Now Obai even had a stress reaction. When he heard the words "urgent report", he felt like his head was buzzing.
The sentinel knight gasped, knelt down in front of Obai with a thud, took out a piece of information from his arms, presented it to Obai with both hands, and opened his mouth to explain.
"Reporting to Shaobao, according to the news from my Qing sentry in Jiangnan, the Ming thieves defeated the main force of Guan Ning's army led by Wu Sangui in Huguang!"
"And on the banks of the Huai River, we caught up with the defeated troops of Guan Ning's army who wanted to cross the river, and severely wounded them. Only less than one-third of the remaining troops of Guan Ning's army successfully crossed the river, and the rest were wiped out by the Ming thieves."
"After the Battle of Huguang, the Ming army united with Li Dingguo's troops to launch an attack on the southwestern provinces!"
"In just a few months, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shu, and Hunan have all surrendered to the Ming thieves!"
"Everyone south of the Yangtze River has returned to the Ming Dynasty!"
When Obai heard this, the expression on his face changed from shocked to solemn to so gloomy that he could drip water.
The sentry rider then reported.
"Moreover, there are rumors among the people in the south of the Yangtze River that the Ming Emperor is already preparing to launch a large-scale Northern Expedition after the spring of next year. The target may be our Qing Dynasty!"
The expression on Obai's face became even more solemn.
In the spring of next year, if the Ming army mobilizes its main force for the Northern Expedition, it is really unknown whether it can hold Beizhili by then.
Today's Ming army's combat effectiveness has been tested by war!
They used victory after victory with disparity in casualties to tell the world that there was no strong city or fortress in the world that they could not conquer.
As long as they want to, no one can stop their attack!
If a place can be temporarily protected, it's not that the Ming army can't conquer it, but that they don't want to attack it.
That's all!
The sentry rider then spoke.
"There is also news that the Kong family in Qufu has been exterminated!"
"According to the Ming thieves, I, the Qing Dynasty, did it, but according to the gossip I got from Jiangnan, the black hand behind the Qufu incident may be the Ming thieves court in Nanjing."
"But it's also possible that they are local bandits from Shandong!"
Obai's face kept changing, a clear layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and the expression on his face kept changing.
The drunkenness made me sober in an instant!
After a while, Obai finished reading the information in his hand, took a deep breath and spoke.
"Go down with the order and summon the generals to discuss matters!"
"..."
…
It’s the same big tent where the banquet was held yesterday!
Oboi was wearing Eight Banners cotton armor, with a lightning rod high on his head, sitting at the top.
There is a huge table in front of him!
On the table is a map of the terrain of Beizhili and surrounding provinces.
Including Beizhi, Shanxi, Shandong, Liaodong and other places!
On this map, the strongholds that were the focus of Manchu and Qing operations are specially marked.
The lines of defense are also drawn with special colors.
While waiting for the generals to arrive, Oboi kept his eyes fixed on the map, as if thinking about military strategy.
In fact, this was not the case, he was just thinking about the next path for the Qing Dynasty.
If Beizhili cannot be defended, he will retreat to Liaoxi.
If Liaoxi cannot be defended, then retreat to Liaodong!
What if Liaodong cannot be defended?
Where else could the Qing Dynasty retreat?
Between the white mountains and black waters further north?
The bitter cold in that place is worse than that in Mobei. It's not easy to survive!
If the Qing Dynasty really retreated to any place, I wonder if the Eight Banners would have to pick up the traditional craft of fishing and hunting again.