Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 388 Kong Youde Wants to Surrender to the Tartars

When discussing the escape, Kong Youde had something to say: "The north gate is right next to the water city. We can go directly to the sea from the water city. The sea is wide enough for fish to leap and the sky is high enough for birds to fly. As long as we go north, the court will no longer be able to do anything to us."

Li Yingyuan asked suspiciously, "The moment the topic of escape comes up, General Kong immediately has a plan. Did you already have a draft in mind? Were you thinking about how to escape even before my father died?"

Kong Youde retorted angrily, "Even your father wouldn't speak to me like that when he was alive. Who do you think you are, criticizing me with such sarcasm?" In truth, he had begun seeking a way out from the moment the war turned against him. This mutiny was instigated by Li Jiucheng; he was merely a passive participant. Now, forced into retreat by the imperial army and seeing no hope, his desire to flee intensified. He was quite enraged by Li Yingyuan's blunt remark.

Seeing the tension escalating between the two sides, Wang Zideng quickly stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "We're all brothers, discussing matters without hurting our feelings. Running away when you can't win is perfectly reasonable! It's just that when to run and where to run are things we need to carefully consider."

Seeing that someone suggested a compromise, Kong Youde went along with it, glared at Li Yingyuan, and continued, "Since there's no hope of pacification, they certainly won't go directly back to Dongjiang Town. Dongjiang Town is still under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, and the attitudes of Shen Shikui and Shang Kexi are unclear. Who knows if they'll trick us and sell it to the imperial court?"

Prince Deng asked, "So, what does General Kong mean?"

Kong Youde glanced at everyone, licked his lips, and said in a deep voice, "Since the Ming Dynasty has nowhere for us to stay, let's go all the way and go to Liaodong to surrender to Huang Taiji!"

This suggestion instantly ignited the entire room. Everyone was initially taken aback, then began whispering among themselves. After all, having served as a military officer of the Ming Dynasty for so many years, they were naturally at odds with the Tartars. To openly defect to the enemy was a psychological hurdle they couldn't overcome immediately. This was completely different from starting a rebellion. A rebellion was merely an internal conflict among the people, and they could be appeased afterward. But defecting to the Tartars would mean being condemned behind their backs, and could potentially ruin the reputation of their descendants.

Li Yingyuan remained silent, his expression shifting between light and shadow as he weighed the pros and cons of this move, considering whether or not he should take this gamble.

Wang Zideng hesitated and said, "Putting aside the reputation of surrendering to the Tartars, just based on how many Tartar soldiers we killed under Commander Mao back then, do you think Huang Taiji will tolerate us? What if we get killed as soon as we arrive?"

Kong Youde replied confidently, “Huang Taiji is a man of great talent and ambition, a true hero. He has the magnanimity to hold grudges and won’t dwell on the past. Even if he were to spend a fortune to buy our bones as a show, he wouldn’t do anything to us. Otherwise, how would the Han people dare to serve him in the future? The Tartar population is so small, while the Han people in the world outnumber them by dozens of times. Whether he entrenches himself in Liaodong or marches south to contend for the Central Plains, he will have to rely on us Han people. As for killing some Tartars, did Zu Dashou in Liaodong kill too few? When Dalinghe surrendered, Huang Taiji led all the princes and ministers out of the camp to welcome him and even offered sacrifices to Heaven! Even though Zu Dashou later feigned surrender and escaped, Huang Taiji still treated his sons and brothers with great courtesy and didn’t lay a finger on them.”

Hearing this, everyone felt somewhat relieved.

Li Yingyuan spoke up: "Huang Taiji isn't stupid. Zu Dashou has the Guan Ning Army and the Jinzhou defense line behind him. As long as Zu Dashou sincerely accepts the surrender, the Tartars can annex the Guan Ning Army and advance unimpeded, rendering the border defense line useless. They have solid leverage. What do we have? Just this rabble of tens of thousands of men?"

Kong Youde snorted: "I've thought about this problem too. Zu Dashou has leverage, and so do we. What's the most valuable thing in Dengzhou City? It's not gold or silver, nor grain, but cannons, Hongyi cannons!"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent; the real drama was about to begin.

Kong Youde looked around and continued, "The Tartars are formidable in open field battles, but they can't conquer fortified cities. They rely entirely on sieges to capture them. Back when Huang Taiji personally led an expedition to attack Dalinghe, a city whose walls and battlements weren't even fully built, Zu Dashou hastily engaged in battle, and the city's food supplies ran out in just a few days. The Tartars besieged it for three months, and in the end, they only managed to capture Dalinghe through persuasion. If we had the Hongyi cannons, Huang Taiji might have been able to breach the city in less than a month. Do you think Huang Taiji would take them seriously if we took all the Hongyi cannons from the city to Liaodong?"

Li Yingyuan licked his lips and revealed a greedy smile: "They will definitely take it seriously and will reward us handsomely and grant us official positions."

Seeing that even this troublemaker was attracted by his suggestion, Kong Youde smiled smugly: "Besides these cannons, there are also cannon-casting craftsmen in the city. We can present them to Huang Taiji all at once. The Tartars will have cannons and the ability to cast them overnight. With these valuable assets, rewarding them with gold and silver is just a small matter. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to even make us princes..."

Wang Zideng said with some concern, "This is a good idea, but won't the people of the Ming Dynasty gossip about it?"

Kong Youde glared at him: "What has the Ming Dynasty ever given us? Marshal Mao made such great contributions in Dongjiang, yet he was killed by the treacherous minister Yuan Chonghuan with a forged imperial edict; we followed Marshal Mao to kill so many Tartars, but in the end we were squeezed out of Dongjiang and ended up in Shandong suffering the humiliation of the locals. At this point, do you still care about your reputation and still think you can turn back?"

Prince Deng was speechless: "This..."

Kong Youde scanned the crowd, his face darkening, and said, "Reputation and word-of-mouth can't put food on the table. We're all struggling to survive, so why bother with these empty platitudes? Now, everyone here, please state your position. Those who are willing to follow me, speak up. Those who are unwilling, step forward. I won't force you."

After a moment of hesitation, the crowd exchanged glances, none of them immediately expressing their opinion. Li Yingyuan was the first to raise his hand and shout, "I agree! If the court is unjust to us, then don't blame us for being unjust!"

With someone taking the lead, the others also raised their hands and shouted, "Let's do it! Your subordinate is willing to follow General Kong!"

At this moment, a voice rang out: "I'm sorry, General Kong, my family members all died at the hands of the Tartars. I swore that I would never be able to coexist with the Tartars in this life, and I would never serve the Tartars."

Kong Youde took a closer look and recognized the man. He was a former captain under Geng Zhongming. He forced a smile and said, "I won't force anyone who doesn't want to come with me. I keep my word."

The captain clasped his hands in apology: "I'm really sorry, brothers, I can't work with you guys anymore. I'll never be envious of your promotions and wealth..." and then walked out.

Kong Youde gestured to the guards at the door. The two guards understood, and as the captain stepped out, they drew their swords and slashed at his neck. Blood splattered, and a head rolled to the ground. The captain never imagined that Kong Youde would break his promise.

"I said I wouldn't force you to come with me, but I didn't say I wouldn't kill you." Kong Youde spat on the severed head on the ground, then looked at the crowd. "Who else wants to end up like him?"

The rest of the people remained silent, and no one dared to voice any further opposition.

Kong Youde nodded in satisfaction: "Very good, everyone is willing to do it, then let's set off in three days, boarding the ship in Shuicheng and heading out to sea."