Li Cheng was not there, Alna was not there either.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Where is everyone? Where did they all go? An evil kitty arrogantly kicks down the door. jpg
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 108
The only resistance Zhu Ci encountered upon entering the city was organized by the wealthy families and local gentry of the city—oh, some scholars as well.
After all, Zhu Ci had truly touched their interests. Originally, they did not need to pay taxes, but now the Emperor was making them pay taxes as well; who would be willing?
Zhu Ci did not care about this resistance. When he was in Suzhou, he used to have to find excuses to launch passive counterattacks, fearing he would provoke public indignation, but now the land redistribution policy had gradually gained momentum.
There were many who resisted him, but even more who supported him.
It was just that those who supported him were the silent majority; they lacked the courage to resist those wealthy landowners.
Zhu Ci did not blame them; the average person's ability to withstand risk was too low. Aside from those who had nothing, everyone had concerns. If they remained idle, they would have food to eat regardless of who won, but once they took action, they might lose everything.
As for those wealthy households and local gentry.. those who cooperate will at least leave you some property as a token of their gratitude, but don't even dream of keeping the land; it will certainly be divided up.
As for those who do not cooperate.. get out!
He didn't go around killing people indiscriminately; simply turning all the land deeds of these wealthy families and gentry into useless scraps of paper overnight was enough to make them suffer.
Your Majesty, there are many people crying and cursing at the entrance of the county magistrate's office. Should we drive them away?
Let them be." Zhu Ci said casually while looking at the fish-scale register. "Arrange for guards to watch them. Don't they want to cry? Then they won't be leaving. Let them cry at the entrance of the county magistrate's office, do not allow them any food or water.
"But the things they say are so terrible." Jiang Xueyan was somewhat unhappy.
These people cursed that their Emperor was only seeking profit for himself and was cruel and inhumane, so on—it was far too insulting.
Zhu Ci let out a cold laugh, said nothing, could not be bothered to care.
These people are unhappy? They're right to be unhappy.
The common people are happy; who do they think they are?
Zhu Ci had no time to pay them any mind; he was currently trying to deduce where Alna was.
Fengyang Prefecture is not like Suzhou or Yangzhou; most of those areas are plains, whereas this place is mountainous.
Zhu Ci guessed that the reason Li Cheng and Alna had both lost contact was likely because their war had entered the mountains.
The mountains were covered in dense forests and had complex terrain, making it no easy task to maintain communication.
Although he didn't want to admit it, Zhu Ci felt that Li Cheng might be the one being pursued.
If he were the one pursuing Alna, he would certainly leave someone behind outside and then find a way to send a message using a signal flare.
The signal flares in their hands were not specialized signal flares; they had a short duration, their sound and color were not that clear—they were essentially an enhanced version of red fireworks.
In this situation, it is just like a beacon tower; a person needs to be stationed at a certain distance to fire the signal flares, so that messages can be transmitted accurately.
The fact that he left no one outside meant that it was not safe for him out there.
But the question was, why hadn't Alna left anyone here either?
The entire Dingyuan Gate was wide open, no one was occupying it at all, which was truly a bit strange.
Zhu Ci pondered for a long while before calling Jiang Quan over and saying, "Hide one rocket carriage each at the North Gate and the South Gate."
Jiang Quan immediately reacted, "Is Your Majesty worried that they will attack the city?"
Zhu Ci put down his pen and said, "Alna being so generous might just be his way of luring me into a trap. Once I'm inside, it would be strange if he didn't act."
Although he didn't know what the other party was thinking, he felt it was better to be prepared just in case.
As for Li Cheng.. because there was not a single shred of news, he would not rush into the mountains to search for him for the time being; after all, around Dingyuan, there were only slightly more mountains to the west, while most of the east and south were plains.
Even the mountains to the west were mostly low hills, the kind with altitudes not exceeding four hundred meters, so they weren't very dangerous. The fact that there was no news of Li Cheng might mean he had fallen into Alna's trap.
Just as Zhu Ci had guessed, the Qing Army indeed came to attack the city at night.
Zhu Ci climbed onto the city wall to take a look, pulled out the single-lens telescope to peer through, but failed to find any sign of Alna; he had no idea where this fellow was hiding.
Hmm, the single-lens telescope was also contributed by Grand Secretary Fu; although it is not as easy to use as binoculars, it is still better than having nothing.
The walls of Dingyuan City were very low, making it not easy to defend.
But no matter how difficult it was, when he saw that the potential attackers consisted of only a hundred people, he felt something was not quite right, especially since the so-called siege by the Qing Army felt more like harassment.
Your Majesty, shall we open the city gates and pursue them?
Zhu Ci gripped the hilt of his blade, turned, said, "No need. Let's observe a bit more. When it's time to clear the battlefield, keep an eye out for any survivors."
This battle was not very intense; they didn't even use many rockets, they barely used any Single-shot Rockets.
To tell the truth, they did leave some survivors, the survivors weren't even Tartars, but Han soldiers who had surrendered previously. There was no need for any harsh interrogation; they would say whatever was asked of them.
Zhu Ci looked at the confession and couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. "Oh my, Alna was actually demoted."
According to the Han Army, Alna, who had originally been promoted to Jala E Zhen, was demoted back to Niu Lu E Zhen due to the defeat in the Yangzhou campaign.
Not only Alna, but even Dodo was reprimanded; the General of State Stabilization was demoted to General of State Stabilization and fined one year's salary.
However, despite the punishment, Alna's subordinates did not truly become three hundred Niu Lu E Zhen; instead, they were five hundred, which served as Dodo's way of appeasing him.
Dodo knew very well that their defeat was not only because the Ming army had new firearms, but also because they had encountered one strange celestial phenomenon after another.
The imperial court did not see it that way. They only saw that with the mobilization of an army of one hundred thousand, plus nearly another hundred thousand who had surrendered while advancing southward, there were at least two hundred thousand men. How could they fail to defeat even five thousand of the enemy?
Not only that, but several Red-coated Cannons were also broken.
One must realize that the Qing Army does not yet have the capability to produce Red-coated Cannons; after all, the Wanggong Factory and the Armament Bureau have long been defunct, with every Red-coated Cannon that breaks, they have one fewer.
True, the carriages can be repaired, but even the gun barrels have been damaged by the explosions, making it impossible to fire projectiles steadily. How can they be used then?
In this situation, even Dodo had no way to argue.
And although Alna was the most ferocious and always took the initiative to attack, he was the one who fought Zhu Ci the most, naturally, he was also the one who lost the most.
The first one to be held accountable was, of course, him, but being demoted to Niu Lu E Zhen and being allowed to keep two hundred men was already the result of Dodo looking upon him with respect.
This time he came to Fengyang, but instead of going to the Prefecture City, he came to Ningyuan, perhaps to wash away his previous shame.
Zhu Ci was happier to see the news of Alna's demotion than he was to see Dodo being cursed.
In the original work, Alna had enjoyed smooth sailing since his rebirth, with his official rank only increasing and never decreasing, his military campaigns always ending in victory. Does this count as breaking his invincible status?
Does this count as breaking his protagonist halo?
Zhu Ci knew very well that people have luck, once this luck is interrupted, it is not easy to rise again.
Thinking carefully, what was Alna's fortune? Was it not simply that after his rebirth, he gained a god's-eye view, knowing the course of the war and understanding the situation of the Ming Army?
Now that Zhu Ci is here, more than half of his "prophetic vision" has been destroyed, naturally, his advantage is gone as well.
Without this advantage, relying solely on personal ability, Alna was not a particularly formidable figure; otherwise, he would have risen to prominence long before his rebirth, rather than ending up destitute and dying as described in the original story.
Of course, one could not underestimate this man too much; after all, he had accumulated a lifetime of wisdom, there might just be unexpected aspects to him.
But no matter what, Zhu Ci felt much more at ease.
In the past, he had viewed Alna as a thorn in his side, becoming excessively cautious whenever he encountered this person.
Otherwise, in a situation like last night, he would most likely have sent men to pursue, even knowing that the opponent had set a trap.
As long as the opponent does not have Red-coated Cannons, he holds an absolute advantage; what is there to worry about?
Therefore, when he ordered no pursuit yesterday, even Jiang Quan was somewhat puzzled, feeling that it did not seem like His Majesty the Emperor's style of conduct.
So when the next day came and the Qing Army arrived to harass them again, Zhu Ci didn't bother defending the city at all. Instead, he ordered the city gates to be opened, rode out on his horse, drew his long saber, pointed it forward, shouting, "Alna, why don't you come out? Is the coward afraid?"
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: It's just a demotion, why didn't they just behead him? An evil kitty standing on the city wall, taunting. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 109
Zhu Ci had left the city to provoke him on purpose; based on his understanding of Alna, this man was someone who was inherently confident, even arrogant.
By repeatedly taking the initiative to attack, he had essentially treated himself as his own greatest enemy. Now that he had been demoted from Jala E Zhen to Niu Lu E Zhen, he would certainly blame Zhu Ci for everything.
Zhu Ci wanted to kill him, but in the face of the big picture, he could allow him to live for a while longer, but Alna had no sense of the big picture.
At least at this stage, when he was just beginning to emerge, he lacked such a perspective. If he truly had a sense of the big picture, he would have rationally weighed the strength gap between himself and the enemy, rather than recklessly focusing solely on fighting to the death against Zhu Ci.
In this situation, if Alna were truly here, he would certainly be unable to resist the urge to go into battle.
However, no matter how much Zhu Ci provoked him, he could not see the other's figure.
Your Majesty, it seems that Niu Lu E Zhen is not here.
Zhu Ci glanced at Jiang Quan and said helplessly, "Niu Lu E Zhen is a Tartar official title, not a person's name."
Jiang Quan scratched his head. "Their official titles and names are all so difficult to pronounce."
Zhu Ci..
Forget it, if I can't remember, then I can't. Once the Tartars are beaten back to their homeland, there will be no need to remember their official titles anyway.
However, since Alna was not here.. then he was clearly entangled with Li Cheng; these few hundred men outside must have been left there intentionally to disrupt the vision of the expected reinforcements.
Thinking about this, Alna hadn't expected him to come, otherwise he wouldn't have left only these few hundred people.
Zhu Ci narrowed his eyes. "Find a way to capture the opponent's Bashku, pry from their mouths where their leader has gone."
The Bashku was a petty official under the Niu Lu E Zhen, not a formal official position, but he was effectively Niu Lu E Zhen's deputy.
Alna had to leave a Bashku here to maintain control over the overall situation.
Unfortunately, Zhu Ci's reputation among the Qing Army was really quite poor, it was unknown how those rumors had even spread.
After that Bashku was surrounded, they actually committed suicide directly.