Chapter 209: Risking Life (V)
The Six Ministries is a general term for the six ministries in the central administrative agencies, and it is said to have started in the Zhou Dynasty.
The six ministries were first established as components of the Shangshu Province in the Sui and Tang dynasties. The six ministries of Li, Hu, Li, Bing, Xing, and Gong were compared to the six officials in the Zhou Li. Since then, the six ministries in the true sense have appeared.
The front gate of the imperial city is called Daqing Gate. Outside Daqing Gate and inside Zhengyang Gate is commonly known as Qipan Street. Inside Daqing Gate and outside Tiananmen Square is the long corridor called Qianbu Corridor. The central ministries and government offices of the Qing Dynasty were basically located inside Zhengyang Gate and on both sides of the Qianbu Corridor of the imperial city. Among them, the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Household Department, the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, etc. were located on the west side (near the Great Hall of the People today), and the Imperial Clan Court, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, the Honglu Temple, the Imperial Observatory, the Imperial Hospital, etc. were located on the east side (near the History Museum today).
As a secret sect in Zhili and Jingji area, the power of Tianlijiao should not be underestimated. Jingcheng is a big city, but it is hard to imagine that thousands of people could be stuffed into the city without being discovered.
Thousands of people suddenly started killing in the capital with weapons, and the momentum was indeed quite impressive. Some people suddenly poured out of Qipan Street and ran straight to the gate of the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City does not have only one gate, nor is it always locked and closed. If it were, the people living in the Forbidden City would starve to death.
The guards and eunuchs at the door were a little touched to see the vegetable transporters delivering vegetables on this day. As they were checking, several strong men who were pushing the carts suddenly pulled out their weapons and started to attack.
The guards and eunuchs just managed to block the attack, but suddenly a lot of people came out from the Chessboard Street near the Forbidden City and headed straight for the small gate. In a hurry, the guards wanted to kill the strong man in front of them quickly, so their moves became much faster.
With a scream, the sturdy man took advantage of the guard's anxiety and the flaw in his moves and stabbed the guard in the abdomen.
The people swarming here have already reached the small door. There is strength in numbers. Although the small door has been closed, these people pulled out the vegetables on the car, revealing a hammer made of thick wood.
Tianli Sect also made careful plans. This vegetable transport vehicle was equipped with new bearings that Tianli Sect bought from Huo Chong. It was extremely convenient to drive and run.
The vehicle, with the ram on it, was pushed hard by several people and turned into a battering ram, which began to hit the small door violently. After a few hits, the bolt inside was directly broken, and the small door was opened. The Tianli Sect rushed in through the small door, holding weapons and rushing along the passage.
The passage was lined with red walls on both sides, and it looked gloomy and cold. However, the influx of Tianlijiao followers suddenly filled the place with heat and enthusiasm.
As he was running, a group of guards appeared in front of him. They squatted in three rows, assuming a three-stage attack posture. Sparks were coming out of the matchlocks in their hands.
The Tianli Sect members did not rush forward foolishly. Many of them knew the power and use of the matchlock gun, so they immediately retreated. However, at this time, the Tianli Sect had already erected a ladder by the wall, and some people had already climbed over the wall and continued to kill people in the Forbidden City.
The firing method of the matchlock gun is to move the burning matchlock to the primer tube to ignite the gunpowder in the primer tube. The gunpowder burns and sprays sparks into the barrel of the matchlock gun.
Not to mention the problems that may arise in this process, the fuse itself cannot burn indefinitely.
The guards waited for a while, but did not see the Tianlijiao followers rushing over. Feeling uneasy, they sent someone to check. Before the people arrived, they heard a violent banging sound coming from a nearby door.
The ground was slippery with snow, and the guard who had gone to check almost crawled back and shouted, "The thieves are banging on the door!"
The guards were shocked and didn't care about anything else. They ran towards Tianli Sect with their muskets raised. As they approached Tianli Sect, several men with swords suddenly jumped down from the walls on both sides. They jumped into the crowd of guards and swung their swords to kill people.
The musket formation collapsed completely, and before the guards could re-arrange their formation, the Tianli Sect members rushed up wielding cold weapons and engaged in battle with the guards. The Tianli Sect members who had climbed onto the wall lifted up tiles and smashed them on the guards below.
Although the guards were all proficient in martial arts, they had never experienced such a chaotic battle. Although they defeated some Tianli followers, they were divided.
The guards could be heard screaming. The short knives and daggers of the Tianli sect were stabbing from all angles, and even the guards with armor on could resist.
However, someone bent down and smashed the guard's knee with a small hammer. This was really unstoppable. In this ant-like attack, the Tianli Sect finally dealt with this wave of guards and rushed to the next door.
At this time, Qipan Street was in chaos. A group of people wearing conspicuous red scarves and Eight Banners cotton armor rushed into Liubu.
The doors of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel were already closed. The group knocked on them, but the people inside refused to open the door.
This action angered the group, so they installed explosives at the door and blew it open. Without waiting for the smoke to clear, the group shouted and rushed in.
The people inside had never seen such a scene before, so most of them fled in all directions, and the few who were brave enough stepped forward to fight were immediately shot to death by those who rushed in.
Without asking any questions, the gang rushed into the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel, killing and hacking anyone they saw. They headed straight for their destination, as if they had been there many times before.
The commanders of the two battalions led their troops into the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue. Both of them felt that this place was both strange and familiar.
This was the first time for the two of them to enter here, but during the emergency training in Shandong, the two battalion commanders ran back and forth hundreds of times in the courtyards of the temporary Ministry of Personnel and Ministry of Revenue. Now there was no need to think about it at all, they could go when they wanted to and stop when they wanted to.
With such a wonderful feeling, the two battalion commanders led the commandos straight to their team's final destination, the archives.
Huo Chong had three main goals this time, the most important of which was naturally to attack the Old Summer Palace and kill Yongzheng.
The third one is to send people to cooperate with Lao Ba’s gang to rescue Lao Ba.
In Huo Chong's eyes, the archives of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue were much more important than Lao Ba's life.
Burning these important materials did make Huo Chong feel a little distressed. If Huo Chong had not entered as an assassin with a weaker side, but had besieged the capital with an absolutely superior force, finding a way to preserve these materials would certainly be the top priority.
At this time, there was no other way. In order to create the greatest possible chaos, the burning of these materials was enough to cause the political and economic chaos of the Qing Dynasty to last for a year or two before recovery.
Sure enough, when they blew open the sturdy door at the place where the intelligence pointed, they saw that the bookshelves inside were filled with various documents.
The commandos scattered small blocks of solid alcohol, which they had brought with them, all over the archives, then poured the alcohol over them and started to set them on fire.
Soon the fire started and soon ignited the papers and solid alcohol everywhere. With the solid alcohol helping the fire, the fire soon became uncontrollable.
Seeing that their goal had been achieved, the two battalion commanders immediately led their men out of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue and headed towards the holes that had long existed on the city wall.
At this time, flames also rose from the duty offices of the Six Ministries and the Grand Council in the Old Summer Palace. Huo Chong initially ordered the documents in these places to be burned, creating chaos in the Qing Dynasty's management.
By this time, the Han commandos had swept through more than 80% of the Old Summer Palace, killing everyone wherever they went.
Yang Mingde put away his gun in his class. He had just killed a few guys with high noses and deep eyes. They seemed to be foreigners, speaking in an incomprehensible foreign language. It was unknown what they wanted to say.
At this time, Yang Mingde had already replaced two rounds of bullets in his four revolvers. He didn't remember whether he had killed twenty or thirty people, or more.
The yard in front of him was the only yard that Yang Mingde had not searched along the way. The gate was closed and there was someone inside.
The solid wooden door was useless in front of the explosives. As soon as the door was blown open, a wooden-handled grenade was thrown in. A moment later, there was an explosion, and Yang Mingde led his men in.
Sure enough, the guards inside were either injured or panicked when faced with this unprecedented fighting method and weapons. They were unable to resist at all. After a round of shooting, the group of people were eliminated, and the big man commando team continued to move forward.
The courtyard also has two levels. After killing the outer level, everyone went straight to the inner courtyard. They blew open the door and rushed in to kill the guards.
The screams and cries were the same as before. However, this time, an unexpected sound rang out in the courtyard: a baby crying.
On the other side, the gate of the courtyard where Yongzheng was hiding was finally blown open. The guards protected Yongzheng, as if their flesh and blood could keep him alive.
After a brief exchange of fire, Yongzheng heard someone from the opposing rebels shouting with joy, "Yongzheng is here, Yongzheng is here!"
This shout immediately triggered the emotions of the rebels. They rushed forward with howls, killed the last few guards, and dragged Yongzheng out of the courtyard.
Although Yongzheng did not know any of the traitors, every traitor seemed to know Yongzheng. When you saw Yongzheng being carried out, you traitors all shouted: "Catch Yongzheng! Catch Yongzheng!"
What Yongzheng smelled was the strong smell of gunpowder in the Old Summer Palace, and what he saw was dead bodies all over the ground.
These rebels were so cruel! They killed everyone, no matter if they were men or women, or those who were neither men nor women.
He was dragged to an open space, and several rebels came up and slapped Yongzheng in the face.
Yongzheng had never expected that he would suffer such humiliation. His blood boiled, his brain went numb, and he fell into a daze.
But it was no use being inactive, as more members of the Han commando team rushed over and surrounded Yongzheng. Everyone squeezed in, trying desperately to beat Yongzheng.
The crowd was really furious at this time, and there were constant curses from the crowd. The most representative one was, "Fuck you! You bastard ordered the killing of my family."
The pain finally awakened Yongzheng's stagnant mind. The uniform Shandong accents around him initially made Yongzheng confused as to when he had killed the Shandong bannermen.
However, Yongzheng was not a fool after all. After a moment, he suddenly realized that the rebels in front of him were not the Eight Banners Army at all . They were actually the subordinates of the rebel Huo Chong!
The purpose of these Shandong rebels rushing into the capital city without fear of life and death was to avenge their relatives who were massacred by the Mongolian Eight Banners cavalry!
